How Turkey Exports ISIS Oil To The World: The Scientific Evidence

Over the course of the last four or so weeks, the media has paid quite a bit of attention to Islamic State’s lucrative trade in “stolen” crude. 

On November 16, in a highly publicized effort, US warplanes destroyed 116 ISIS oil trucks in Syria. 45 minutes prior, leaflets were dropped advising drivers (who Washington is absolutely sure are not ISIS members themselves) to “get out of [their] trucks and run away.” 

The peculiar thing about the US strikes is that it took The Pentagon nearly 14 months to figure out that the most effective way to cripple Islamic State’s oil trade is to bomb... the oil.

Prior to November, the US “strategy” revolved around bombing the group’s oil infrastructure. As it turns out, that strategy was minimally effective at best and it’s not entirely clear that an effort was made to inform The White House, Congress, and/or the public about just how little damage the airstrikes were actually inflicting. There are two possible explanations as to why Centcom may have sought to make it sound as though the campaign was going better than it actually was, i) national intelligence director James Clapper pulled a Dick Cheney and pressured Maj. Gen. Steven Grove into delivering upbeat assessments, or ii) The Pentagon and the CIA were content with ineffectual bombing runs because intelligence officials were keen on keeping Islamic State’s oil revenue flowing so the group could continue to operate as a major destabilizing element vis-a-vis the Assad regime. 

Ultimately, Russia cried foul at the perceived ease with which ISIS transported its illegal oil and once it became clear that Moscow was set to hit the group’s oil convoys, the US was left with virtually no choice but to go along for the ride. Washington’s warplanes destroyed another 280 trucks earlier this week. Russia claims to have vaporized more than 1,000 transport vehicles in November. 

Of course the most intriguing questions when it comes to Islamic State’s $400 million+ per year oil business, are: where does this oil end up and who is facilitating delivery? In an effort to begin answering those questions we wrote: 

• The Most Important Question About ISIS That Nobody Is Asking
• Meet The Man Who Funds ISIS: Bilal Erdogan, The Son Of Turkey's President

Turkey's role in facilitating the sale of Islamic State oil has been the subject of some debate for quite a while. From "NATO is harbouring the Islamic State: Why France’s brave new war on ISIS is a sick joke, and an insult to the victims of the Paris attacks", by Nafeez Ahmed:

"Turkey has played a key role in facilitating the life-blood of ISIS’ expansion: black market oil sales. Senior political and intelligence sources in Turkey and Iraq confirm that Turkish authorities have actively facilitated ISIS oil sales through the country. Last summer, Mehmet Ali Ediboglu, an MP from the main opposition, the Republican People’s Party, estimated the quantity of ISIS oil sales in Turkey at about $800 million—that was over a year ago. By now, this implies that Turkey has facilitated over $1 billion worth of black market ISIS oil sales to date."

Here's what former CHP lawmaker Ali Ediboglu said last year: 

“$800 million worth of oil that ISIS obtained from regions it occupied this year [the Rumeilan oil fields in northern Syria — and most recently Mosul] is being sold in Turkey. They have laid pipes from villages near the Turkish border at Hatay. Similar pipes exist also at [the Turkish border regions of] Kilis, Urfa and Gaziantep. They transfer the oil to Turkey and parlay it into cash. They take the oil from the refineries at zero cost. Using primitive means, they refine the oil in areas close to the Turkish border and then sell it via Turkey. This is worth $800 million.”

Earlier this month, Ediboglu told Russian media that "ISIL holds the key to these deposits and together with a certain group of persons, consisting of those close to Barzani and some Turkish businessmen, they are engaged in selling this oil" ("Barzani" is a reference to Masoud Barzani, President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region). 

But even as Turkey's ties to the ISIS oil trade have been hiding in plain sight for the better part of two years, the Western media largely ignores the issue (or at least the scope of it and the possible complicity of the Erdogan government) because after all, Turkey is a NATO member. 

Unfortunately for Ankara, Erdogan's move to shoot down a Russian Su-24 near the Syrian border on Tuesday prompted an angry Vladimir Putin to throw Turkey under the ISIS oil bus for the entire world to see. Here's what Putin said yesterday after a meeting in Moscow with French President Francois Hollande: 

"Vehicles, carrying oil, lined up in a chain going beyond the horizon. The views resemble a living oil pipe stretched from ISIS and rebel controlled areas of Syria into Turkey. Day and night they are going to Turkey. Trucks always go there loaded, and back from there – empty. We are talking about a commercial-scale supply of oil from the occupied Syrian territories seized by terrorists. It is from these areas [that oil comes from], and not with any others. And we can see it from the air, where these vehicles are going."

“We assume that the top political leadership of Turkey might not know anything about this [illegal oil trade although that's] hard to believe," Putin continued, adding that “if the top political leadership doesn’t know anything about this, let them find out."

Obviously, Putin is being sarcastic. He very clearly believes that the Erdogan government is heavily involved in the transport and sale of ISIS crude. In the immediate aftermath of the Su-24 incident, Putin said the following about Ankara:

• PUTIN: OIL FROM ISLAMIC STATE IS BEING SHIPPED TO TURKEY
• PUTIN SAYS ISLAMIC STATE GETS CASH BY SELLING OIL TO TURKEY

As part of our continuing effort to track and document the ISIS oil trade, we present the following excerpts from a study by George Kiourktsoglou, Visiting Lecturer, University of Greenwich, London and Dr Alec D Coutroubis, Principal Lecturer, University of Greenwich, London. The paper, entitled "ISIS Gateway To Global Crude Oil Markets," looks at tanker charter rates from the port of Ceyhan in an effort to determine if Islamic State crude is being shipped from Southeast Turkey. 

*  *  *

From "ISIS Gateway To Global Crude Oil Markets"

The tradesmen/smugglers responsible for the transportation and sale of the black gold send convoys of up to thirty trucks to the extraction sites of the commodity. They settle their trades with ISIS on site, encouraged by customer friendly discounts and deferred payment schemes.  In this way, crude leaves Islamic State-run wells promptly and travels through insurgent-held parts of Syria, Iraq and Turkey. 

Since allied U.S. air-raids do not target the truck lorries out of fear of provoking a backlash from locals, the transport operations are being run efficiently, taking place most of times in broad daylight. Traders lured by high profits are active in Syria (even in government-held territories), Iraq and south-east Turkey.

The supply chain comprises the following localities: Sanliura, Urfa, Hakkari, Siirt, Batman, Osmaniya, Gaziantep, Sirnak, Adana, Kahramarmaras, Adiyaman and Mardin. The string of trading hubs ends up in Adana, home to the major tanker shipping port of Ceyhan. 

Ceyhan is a city in south-eastern Turkey, with a population of 110,000 inhabitants, of whom 105,000 live in the major metropolitan area. It is the second most developed and most populous city of Adana Province, after the capital Adana with a population of 1,700,000. It is situated on the Ceyhan River which runs through the city and it is located 43 km east of Adana. Ceyhan is the transportation hub for Middle Eastern, Central Asian and Russian oil and natural gas (Municipality of Ceyhan 2015).

The port of Ceyhan plays host to a marine oil terminal that is situated in the Turkish Mediterranean and has been operating since 2006. It receives hydrocarbons for further loading in tankers, which carry the commodity to world markets.

Additionally, the port features a cargo pier and an oil-terminal, both of 23.2m depth that can load tankers of more than 500 feet in length (Ports.com 2015). The annual export capacity of the terminal runs as high as 50 million tonnes of oil. The terminal is operated by Botas International Limited (BIL), a Turkish state company that also operates the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline on the territory of Turkey. 

The quantities of crude oil that are being exported to the terminal in Ceyhan, exceed the mark of one million barrels per day. Putting this number into context and given that ISIS has never been able to trade daily more than 45,000 barrels of oil (see Section 2, ‘The Upstream Oil Business of ISIS’, page 2), it becomes evident that the detection of similar quantities of smuggled crude cannot take place through stock-accounting methods. However, the authors of the present paper believe that there is another proxy-indicator, far more sensitive to quantities of ultracheap smuggled crude. This is the charter rates for tankers loading at Ceyhan.

The Baltic Exchange (2015 a) tracks the charter rates on major seaborne trading routes of crude oil. To render its service more efficient and easily understood, it uses the system of Baltic Dirty Tanker Indices (Baltic Exchange 2015 b). One of these indices used to be the BDTI TD 11, 80,000 Cross Mediterranean from Baniyas, Syria to Laveras, France (see Map VI). Route 11 was discontinued in September 2011, due to Syria’s civil war and soon thereafter, it was replaced by BDTI TD 19 (TD19-TCE_Calculation 2015), of exactly the same technical specifications as BDTI TD 11, with the exception of the loading port of Ceyhan instead of Baniyas.

From July 2014 until February 2015, the curve of TD 19 features three unusual spikes that do not match the trends featured by the rest of the Middle East trade-routes (see Graph IV): 

1. The first spike develops from the 10th of July 2014 until the 21st, lasting approximately ten days. It coincides with the fall of Syria’s largest oil field, the AlOmar, in the hands of ISIS (Reuters 2014); 
2. The second spike takes place from the end of October until the end of November 2014, lasting one month. It happens at the same time with fierce fighting between fundamentalists and the Syrian army over the control of the Jhar and Mahr gas fields, as well as the Hayyan gas company in the east of Homs province (International Business Times 2014; Albawada News 214); 
3. The third spike lasts from the end of January 2015 until the 10th of February, stretching roughly ten days. It happens simultaneously with a sustained US-led campaign of airstrikes pounding ISIS strongholds in and around the town of Hawija east of the oil-rich Kirkuk (Rudaw 2015);

The authors of this paper would like to make it clear from the very beginning that this has not been the case of a ‘smoking gun’. The evidence has been inconclusive. But even if volumes of ISIS crude found their way, beyond any reasonable doubt, to the international crude oil markets via the Ceyhan terminal, this fact would not conclusively point to collusion between the Turkish authorities and the shadow network of smugglers, let alone ISIS operatives.

However, having clarified such a politically sensitive issue, the authors believe that there are strong hints to an illicit supply chain that ships ISIS crude from Ceyhan. Primary research points to a considerably active shadow network of crude oil smugglers and traders (see section 2.1, page 3), who channel ISIS crude to southeast Turkey from northeast Syria and northwest Iraq. Given the existence of Route E 90, the corresponding transportation of oil poses no unsurmountable geographic and topological challenges.

An additional manifestation of the invisible nexus between Ceyhan and ISIS became evident through the concurrent study of the tanker charter rates from the port and the timeline of the terrorists’ military engagements (see section 3.4 on this page). It seems that whenever the Islamic State is fighting in the vicinity of an area hosting oil assets, the 13 exports from Ceyhan promptly spike. This may be attributed to an extra boost given to crude oil smuggling with the aim of immediately generating additional funds, badly needed for the supply of ammunition and military equipment. Unfortunately, in this case too, the authors cannot be categorical.

*  *  *

No, it can't be categorical and frankly, if the authors claimed to have discovered indisputable proof, we would be immediately skeptical. What they have done however, is identify a statistical anomaly and develop a plausible theory to explain it.

The key thing to note, is that this is a state-run terminal and it certainly seems as though charter rates spike around significant oil-related events involving Islamic State. Indeed, the fact that the authors mention collusion between Turkish authorities and ISIS operatives (even if they do so on the way to hedging their conclusions) indicates that the researchers think such a partnership is possible. 

Finally, note that Ceyhan is less than two hours by car from Incirlik air base from which the US is flying anti-ISIS sorties. In other words, ISIS oil is being shipped to the world right down the road from Washington's preferred Mid-East forward operating base.

Now that we can add what looks like quantitative evidence that ISIS oil is shipped from Turkey to the voluminous qualitative evidence supplied by ex-Turkish lawmakers, investigative reporters, and the Russian government (to name just a few sources), we can now proceed to consider one final question: where does the crude that helps to fund Bakr al-Baghdadi's caliphate ultimately end up? More on that over the weekend.

Comments

[Occident Mortal]

Report him to the Hague.

http://www.haguejusticeportal.net/index.php?id=6173

Email these guys

https://www.icc-cpi.int/en_menus/icc/structure%20of%20the%20court/office...

[BuddyEffed]

To me, something that would seem to make sense and that could de-escalate the tension over Syria would be for Russia to offer to France, and England, Turkey, and the United States and anyone else of importance to do their bombing for them within 5 minutes on any target.  

Having military planes of various  national flavors in the air over Syria seems dangerous as hell and fraught with the potential of escalation and direct conflict between these military powers.  

Russia could place several of their bombers on patrol in the area where they wait for coordinates to be given to them of any place that needs to be bombed within 5 minutes.  The country requesting a bombing mission could be kept aware of the current location of Russian bombers, and their intended tracks for the next hour so that when coordinates are relayed by radio then bombs could be released within a few minutes because the planes would be approaching the targets.  The allies against ISIS could even suggest routes for the Russian bombers to fly ahead of time, but not provide details on what leg of a mission or which exact coordinates that bombs would be released.  Any country that desires a strike mission would have to file a top secret request and their reasons for any bombing mission within 1 day that could be reviewed by France,  England, Russia, and the USA with strict confidentially agreed to and no media leaks.  The top secret requests would be at a general level and not contain any information that would give away any countries spying technology, or their human sources of recon.   Each bombing run should have a very specific reason, shouldn’t it with some kind of evidence or data?  The bombers could keep a list of excluded locations that could not be bombed just to make sure innocents are not harmed.  And very importantly, the accuracy and timing of the bombing missions could be easily determined by satellite or other reconnaissance. 

The above would seem reasonable in ways and France and the USA and anyone else could have any target taken out within five minutes time.

My skin in the game is that I have 2 children and I would not like to see the fight against ISIS escalate into war between countries.  War between countries with todays advanced BNC technology could end very badly for many with much collateral damage of innocents.  And the downstream detrimental effects to many countries economies might worsen the plight of many industries that rely on unfettered global trade.

[knukles]

So the jets are just down the road at incirlik from the port Ceyhan, to bomb this back into the squeezing blood from the stone age.
Then we'll really have no idea of who's fighting whom.  Of course, the NSA and WHiteHouse have no fucking clue (Take that either way you'd like .... fucking Progressives... and they thought Bush and do think Trump is out of control.)

[DutchR]

Mafia poker playing with the world at stake......

So, tomatos inside or outside?

The rest is out of my hands

[macholatte]

There has to be a huge spread between what Turkey pays ISIS and the market value.   my guess is that the Soros-Clinton-Obama Machine is getting a piece.   Nice work for a charity.

[nope-1004]

Just as we hear that gold is a barbaric relic not used in financial transactions, then get news that Venezuela or others are "selling their gold", my question is the same about oil as it is with gold:  Who's the idiot that didn't get the memo and is BUYING it?

In golds' case, it's always a CB or Goldman.  In the oil 'black market', it's likely Turkey.  Public is fed propaganda while insiders hoard.

Would hate to be in the turkish military about now.

[Occident Mortal]

If you read the London Stock Exchange Regulatory News Service for the various oil companies that are operating in Kurdistan (Genel, Gulf Keystone, DNO) you will see that it was the Kurdistan Regional Government who initially established the oil smuggling infrastructure across the Turkish border in response to the Iraqi Central Government refusing to share oil revenues with them.

If you pour through all the RNS's you will even find the price paid for a smuggled barrel of oil.

You will find that crude oil sells domestically inside Kurdistan / Western Iraq / Northern Turkey for around 50-60% discount to Brent.

[BaBaBouy]

""Russia claims to have vaporized more than 1,000 transport vehicles in November.

Of course the most intriguing questions when it comes to Islamic State’s $400 million+ per year oil business, are: where does this oil end up and who is facilitating delivery?""

The Feckers Can Now Carry The OIL Barrels On Camels... WELCOME  Back To The Izlamic DARK Ages...

[-.-]

1. Within the above cited paper (page 8) there are two critical pieces of information: two shipping routes correlate with three 2014 ISIS attacks on oil/gas targets in Syria; the authors mention the statistically strongest example, BDTD 19, but there was another route, BDTD 8, that I noticed also correlated with the specific dates.

2. BDTD 19, also referred to as TD 19, is a registerd AFRAMAX class ship whose route description is from port in Ceyhan, Syria across the Mediterranean to port in Lavera, France.

3. BDTD 8, also referred to as TD 8, is a registered AFRAMAX class ship whose route description is from port in Mena al Ahmadi, Kuwait across the Indian Ocean to port in Singapore. I cannot definitively state that I located the exact port, but based on the top three refineries in Singapore, I'd have to guess that it would be one of those ports. Pulau Bukom islandseems plausible in the heart of the Port of Singapore. It is good to note that I understand that this particular port is in Kuwait, south of Iraq, and perhaps too farfetched a location for ISIS oil to reach. 

4. AFRAMAX as a prefered category:

"Due to their favorable size, Aframax tankers can serve most ports in the world. These vessels serve regions that do not have very large ports or offshore oil terminals to accommodate very large crude carriers and ultra-large crude carriers. Aframax tankers are optimal for short- to medium-haul crude oil transportation. Aframax class tankers are largely used in the basins of the Black Sea, the North Sea, the Caribbean Sea, the South and East China Seas, and the Mediterranean. Non–OPEC exporting countries may require the use of tankers because the harbors and canals through which these countries export their oil are too small to accommodate the larger Suezmax or the larger still very large crude carriers and ultra-large crude carriers."

5. Baltic Shipping Route TC 1 (AFRAMAX class as well) which ships from Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia to Yokohama, Japan

[turtle]

When they start bombing this line of trucks the shit will really hit the fan... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pQdjwliLMA

[RonArgent]

Bush   Obama must be a (Kenyan) Oil man, er natural gas man.

[Manthong]

In case nobody out there is paying attention..

Shooter in Colorado (again)..  with an AK….

How convenient…

2^nd amendment.. 2^nd  amendment… we don’t need no stinking 2^nd amendment.

Look for OB-1 Kenyaobe to come out with as major gun control message next week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqomZQMZQCQ

..

[RonArgent]

I was thinking Hunter Biden would be involved somehow.

[Crash Overide]

Just where does Turkey get off acting this way around Thanksgiving?

How can NATO not kick them out after this?

Wait... do you think NATO knew Turkey was buying CIA terrorist oil all along?

[Manthong]

A bit OT but……….

OK.. listening to broadcast  radio..

Now.. three words were said about the newest shooting in Cannabis Colorado…

“Pro Life Shooter”

WTF is wrong with this .gov statement   ?????????

[palmereldritch]

Even MORE OT lol

Check out this article and remember to CTRL F 'ISIS'

http://www.helpfreetheearth.com/news170_liberty.html

And you thought the Matrix started with those movies...

And Paris was something else

[Anonymous User]

By the look of it, Erdogan has his place assured in the grand finale of Dancing with the Russians.

As a belly dancer.

http://goo.gl/EeUp0h

[palmereldritch]

#pronpoganda

[-.-]

..."Charterers confirmed to Platts that they received the SOMO notice instructing them not to use these ships for loading Iraqi oil.

Iraq is one of the world's largest exporters of crude and is currently locked in a dispute with the KRG about the sale of oil produced in the region.

"Ships that loaded Kurdish crude have been blacklisted by Iraq," said a chartering source whose company regularly lifts crude from Basrah.

"Maybe [maybe?] they [shipping companies] are getting a high premium [for loading Kurdish] crude and their activity is not reported," the source said.

The two oil-loading terminals at the port, Basrah Oil Terminal and Khor Al Amaya Oil Terminal, each export more than 70 million barrels/month of oil, which amounts to more than 70 Suezmax cargoes.

Suezmax vessels typically hold 1 million barrels of crude or fuel oil, and Panamax tankers can load up to 400,000 barrels of dirty petroleum products.

The United Dynamic and the United Carrier are managed by Greece-based Marine Management Services. MMS did not immediately response to phone calls and emails to its Greece office.

The Nautilus' owners could not be reached for comment.

The KRG has been exporting oil from the region under its control via pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan and then loading it onto ships. So far at least 15 ships have been loaded with Kurdish crude in Ceyhan, according to industry estimates.

KURDISH CRUDE DISCHARGED IN ASIA [puzzle piece]

Over the last couple of weeks [early Nov.], United Dynamic and another Suezmax managed by MMS, United Emblem, have apparently discharged two more cargoes of Kurdish crude around Southeast and North Asia [Singapore & Japan], according to market sources familiar with the developments.

United Emblem did a ship-to-ship transfer in the South China Sea, a Singapore-based shipping agent said. "Very few [people] want to talk about it," the agent said with reference to the secrecy involved and sensitivity of the matter. Names of receivers of the cargoes were not immediately available.

"All this is being done under the radar for obvious reasons," said a VLCC broker in Singapore. The crude from Kurdistan is available at a heavy discount while shipowners charge higher freight for moving the cargoes, he said.

Unlike Iranian crude, shipping of which has been severely restricted by Western sanctions preventing ships getting insurance, KRG faces no such restrictions and Protection and Indemnity (P&I) clubs do provide cover for ships moving Kurdish crude, the broker said.

After ship-to-ship transfer, the crude gets blended with other grades so the origin cannot be traced and it is sold in smaller parcels to buyers in China and countries in Southeast Asia, market watchers said. [Singapore, Japan, and China [Spratly Islands for off shore refining and distribution to Asia, thanks Xi]]

There are at least a dozen VLCCs functioning as floating storage units within and outside Malaysia's Tanjung Pelepas port alone for blending and storage of crude and fuel oil, an official of a global port storage logistics company said.

But many in the tanker market are reluctant to load Kurdish crude when it can lead to being deprived of the lucrative business of Basrah loadings [ostensible, P.C. defense].

"The risk [part of this risk is the opportunity cost to not sale KRG crude at illegally discounted prices in order to increase overall margins] in carrying out such trades remains. Iraq's government can appoint lawyers and send sea marshalls to get the ship arrested on the grounds that the cargo belongs to them and was sold illegally," one of the shipping brokers said...."

Contact these guys for interesting historical details into the current landscape for illegal KRG crude sales...

--Sameer C. Mohindru; [e-mail]
--Edited by Alisdair Bowles, [e-mail]

The Article: (OCTOBER! 2014) http://www.platts.com/latest-news/shipping/singapore/iraq-bans-entry-of-...

[mvsjcl]

"Using primitive means, they refine the oil..."

What? They boil the stuff in open vats over campfires or something? I could have swore it required something more, ummm, scientific than that.

[WOAR]

Nope. Watch "The Land that Time Forgot." They refine their own oil in that movie.

It's not rocket science.

[Svendblaaskaeg]

"They refine their own oil in that movie."

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073260/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

[GhostOfDiogenes]

The Middle East doesn't just have one magical kingdom (house of saud).
It has several magical kingdoms.

Where the freaks come out at night.

[-.-]

Hey Occidental,

Here you go...http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d68a093c-95d2-11e5-95c7-d47aa298f769.html#axzz...

Keep up the good thoughts,

-.-

[-.-]

...consider one final question: where does the crude that helps to fund Bakr al-Baghdadi's caliphate ultimately end up?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_oil_imports

Gentlemen, place your bets. 

[-.-]

1.) Japan

2.) E.U.

Hint: http://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?v=93&t=10

[xavi1951]

The LAST thing you would want to do is tell anyone in Turkey what your plans/targets are.  They will advise ISIS of pending operations.

[Stuck on Zero]

Something doesn't make sense.  It would only take fifteen minutes to scatter those trucks all over the area. What's all the bullshit about 'run away from your trucks?'  There's a lot of BS going around.

[BuddyEffed]

Trucks attempting to leave the convoy could be targeted first and on a moments notice. Synth app radar paints a very accurate picture from many tens of miles away.

[No.Fifth.Turning]

I'm confused--per Obama, buring oil (and trucks!) contributes to global warming.  Where's the outrage? But I guess it's OK when it's at the elite level.  

[RonArgent]

your racists

[No.Fifth.Turning]

OMG, Obama reads ZH!!!!!!!

http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/11/27/official-environme...

[dogismycopilot]

you have never been to the desert then. Depending on the terrain (sand) you get stuck. really stuck. If it is rock you get flats and broken axles. 

Roads are the only way a tanker truck is going anywhere.

[-.-]

Dear Mr. Putin,

I am still waiting for the winner of season one of Who Want's to Be a 50xMillionaire?

Regards,

-.-

[-.-]

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=tr&u=http://www.denizhab...

Here is a story straight from Bilal Erdogan's company page; it was dated for the twenty-seventh (today) so I am curious as to how to best filter this already lost in translation news from a dubious source to say the least. 

[stay on target]

Am I only one who noticed that both authors of the study (George Kiourktsoglou, Alec Coutroubis) are GREEK?

You can always depend on the Greeks to dig up dirt about the Turks lol

Want to emphasize I still believe their findings to be true, just sayin'....

[The Duke of New...]

There would be all sorts of palms being greased in order for the US Military not to attack the ISIS oil infrastructure ... the Turks pay the kickbacks - the US lets them play.

[TruthHunter]

Can we impeach this child?(as Putin called him)  I believe we have passed

the point where shear incompetance becomes "high crimes".

We may have to recall some congressman who are slow to get it.

[Flagit]

The above would seem reasonable in ways and France and the USA and anyone else could have any target taken out within five minutes time.

I think you answered your own question.

The goal was never to fight them, only facilitate them and topple Assad/create chaos.

If you were an employer and had hired the US military to do this job, they would have been FIRED, on the spot, over a year ago. Granted, I'm not sure what douche would have hired them with the resume they currently have, references ect.

[Uchtdorf]

"The goal was never to fight them, only facilitate them and topple Assad/create chaos."

Exactly.

The US couldn't even defeat North Korea in 1953.

The US couldn't even defeat Cuba in 1962.

The US couldn't even defeat North Vietnam in 1975.

The US couldn't even defeat the Taliban after many years in Afghanistan.

Couldn't, or wouldn't?

[Main_Sequence]

From the perspective of international bankers and the MIC, sustained wars are much more profitable.

[HungryPorkChop]

Maybe the goal of war is more like a govt contract that runs on forever.  Why finish a large contract in 6 months when you can stretch it out for 10 years and get rich in the process?   

[Agstacker]

#governmentcontractsmatter

[eforce]

Well they could defeat them from a technical perspective but then...  "The goal was never to fight them, only facilitate them and topple Assad/create chaos."

[dogismycopilot]

What did Obama say, "ISIS is CONTAINED". Look at that word he used - "contained"  or what about "degraded"

Mutherfucking Nigger Obama has no intention of destroying ISIS. 

IT'S TRUE! THE US IS USING ISIS FOR TO CREATE HAVOC IN THE MIDDLE EAST!

[BarkingCat]

I have a better idea.
No one violates Syria's borders unless
authorized by Syrian government.

If France wants to bomb the nation responsible for the Paris attacks they can start with bombing themselves and then proceed to Belgium.
Alternatively or maybe additionally they could also bomb Turkey.

Let's not forget George Soros. Someone needs to shove one hand grenade into his mouth and one up is ass and
pull the pins. Use smoke granades so that he
does not go out too quickly. Let him feel the heat and smell some sulfer.

[Flagit]

I think you are dangerously near the new flash-point.

Russia has a UN Security Resolution. That is like the Sheriff pinning a Deputy badge on your chest, pointing to the mountains and saying "go get em'".

The What If's just went parabolic.

The last thing Russia will do is go On Tilt.

A chess program will analyze ALL potential moves up to 3-x moves in advance to consistently determine the best way to achieve your goal.

Rumor has it that the Russians have a certain affinity for the game, and I am fairly sure a similar regiment has been implemented into their tactical planning.

As much as I would like to see them lob a cruise missile into Turkeys capital as a message to STFU, it is the least likely thing to happen. The focus is Syria, then Iraq. I think aggression toward Turkey will be confined to factual press releases, and radar locks.

[DukeMakewater]

You may be f*ched up, as well.  

[DukeMakewater]

You may be f*ched up, as well.  

[Kirk2NCC1701]

BarkingCat: "I have a better idea. No one violates Syria's borders unless authorized by Syrian government."

Vote up!        44         Vote down!    0

Fuck me, I wish had that original idea!  Oh, wait...

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-27/chief-russian-air-force-accuses-turkey-coordinated-ambush-downed-warplane?page=2

Fri, 11/27/2015 - 16:27 | 6847315  Kirk2NCC1701

Vote up!        1        Vote down!    0

I never saw this coming.  Oh, wait...

Thu, 11/05/2015 - 11:24 | 6753818  Kirk2NCC1701 

...Alternatively, and the more probable course of action, would be to impose a total No-Fly, No-Entry Zone over Syria to ALL foreign planes and vehicles, who do not have the permission of the Syrian government.  Do this at the UN.  Now!  That way, when the DOD/CIA tries to resupply their Rebels, they too get shot out of the sky.  What you gonna do then, bitch?

---

Or in subsequent posts...

Thu, 11/05/2015 - 12:04 | 6753932

Tue, 11/24/2015 - 18:06 | 6835078

_{/ Now where did I read "A prophet has no honor in his own village"? /s}

[DukeMakewater]

-21 Comments?  Really?  Did you read Buddy's post?  WTF?  

[strannick]

Wow. Just like that, Turkey becomes an oil exporter

[SoilMyselfRotten]

Another energy miracle

[Newsboy]

Turkey is strategically vital for passage of all kinds of valuables.

Erdogan, not so much.

[Bush Baby]

And they worry about Trump in the WHitehouse.

When he said bomb the oil and let Russia take care of business, he was dismissed as a WarPig.

[Freddie]

Democrats and RINO-cans love war, Obola, free shit and McCain.   Not like Americoons get a real choice to vote.

I am so sick of the endless ISIS lie because the USSA, EU-SSR, Saudis, Qatar, Turkey, Israel and the rest all support this ISIS.

[Noplebian]

The Filthy Cesspit That Is Geopolitics......

http://beforeitsnews.com/conspiracy-theories/2015/11/us-gives-their-prox...

[Thom_333]

You don´t need to convince me with scientific proof.It´s blatantly obvious. Like gravity.

However it smarts me to no end to conclude that Milosevic was right an the rest of the so called "world community" was dead-wrong. Manipulated by Bubba Clinton. 

Awful. This is just awful.

Europe has to undone the Serbia campaign and resurrect it´s southern borders. Shortly we will be clamoring for Vlad Dracul to clean stuff up.

[Thom_333]

Facts fall into place. The puzzle becomes solved.

Just imagine how Billary left the WH as paupers even collecting chairs and chinaware on their way out and a decade later their net worth is reported to be in multiple millions if not billions.

Hmm...wonder if oil , gas and Al-Saud had something to do with that...?

[Charming Anarchist]

Oh, how the rabbit hole goes deep..... right before our very eyes! 

<<Like gravity.>>

LOL

[NEKO]

So what's the covert operation now - get rid of Assad, fuck up anything Russia does, protect ISIS, start major war.... the Saudis will be rubbing their hands in glee. 

[JuliaS]

Bilal Erdogan is just a few syllables away from "Belial" - Hebrew for Devil, or "useless", depending on the dialect.

[Pachacam]

That's actually a pretty good idea! Did my part (pardon my english, i'm french) :

Dear Mrs/Mr, 

Since too much time now, I am the spectator of an insane situation that could lead to the greatest mess in humanity history.  The very foundation of our monetary system (who defines everything now), is nothing but a massive ponzi scheme. This system was the best we could have but the abuses made on its name seems to only lead to one end : a major conflict between the top 1%, who controls now 50% of the global ressources, and every other individuals. We are really in need for an massive update. To be viable, this system must be based on a perpetual growth of the economy because if there is no new entrants where can we find the ressources to pay the price (through interest-rates) of the money creation by private central banks ? Guess what? This is just impossible on a limited land and this is not a surprise.  So, when the world superpowers realized that they must seek ressources whatever it costs, we let them do horrible things... special ops, governement destabilization, war crimes, environmental crimes, humanitarian crisis, ... The human rights you swear to protect are dying on the altar of the delusional idea of infinite growth.
Think about all those humans who are suffering because of this and the monsters we have created.  ISIS is the best example to date. A bunch of fanatics who use the desparation of a growing part of the humanity that is left behind by this system, who has no role to play in this selective world, who is persecute like the slaves of a freewheel insanity.  Peoples of the world are begin to understand that there is no such thing as lack of ressources. There are just to concentrated to benefit the many.   There is no easy solutions to make things right but we absolutely should not make things worst like we are doing right now.  To really fight ISIS we need to show the world that superpowers can be a lighthouse in this page of history. We must accept our wrongs and stop this nihilism.  If you had a chance to destroy the Nazism before it was too late, what would you have done?  So please, do your job and bring us back to sanity, stand up against our desperate and schizophrenic governements, condemn Saudi Arabia for spreading their awful and powerful archaic view of Islam, condemn Turkey for the ISIS oil smuggling, condemn the US for spying the world, condemn Israel for their warcrimes in Palestine, condemn the European Union for what they did to Greece, for examples. Show the world that there still are peoples to defend our rights, our laws because if you don't, all of this is just a joke serving the private interests of the fews, like if all the others were dispensables, like democracy was doomed .... http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-27/how-turkey-exports-isis-oil-world-scientific-evidence Everybody knows, everybody sees the daily-basis warcrimes all over the globe but no one seems to care... If YOU don't, the humanity will be enslaved again and history will remind us as those who could make things right but didn't because of off-the-charts selfishness.

Thank you for your time,  Hopefully yours,

[SILVERGEDDON]

Sorry, that story, and the journalists who worked on it are locked up now.

Nothing to see here, move along sheeple.

[4 wheel drift]

erdogan sucks obama's small dick

[Raymond_K._Hessel]

The “ISIS Rockefellers”: How Islamic State Oil Flows to Israel
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-isis-rockefellers-how-islamic-state-oil...

[dsty]

Perfect site for you quote Herr Hessel

BTW the founder is Jewish who some how hates his own people it seems

This is some back ground on 'Global Researchs' leanings.

In the National Post, Terry Glavin accused Chossudovsky of 'mouthing Baathist propaganda'.^[17] Glavin quotes Chossudovsky's characterisation of the 'Syrian revolt' as a revolt of 'Islamists, Salafi as well as Muslim Brotherhood gunmen, [-] death squads supported directly by Turkey and Israel”.^[17]

A 2005 article in The Jewish Tribune criticized the Centre for Research on Globalization's website as "rife with anti-Jewish conspiracy theory and Holocaust denial." Michel Chossudovsky responded that he is of Jewish heritage and would be one of the last people to condone antisemitic views.^[18] The same article also reported that B'nai B'rith Canada wrote a letter to the University of Ottawa asking for the university "to conduct its own investigation of this propagandist site."^[18]

In a 2006 Western Standard article by Terry O'Neill, Chossudovsky was included among "Canada's nuttiest professors", "whose absurdity stands head and shoulders above their colleagues" and who were "peddling half-baked or discredited theories or plain old bigotry".^[19] Chussodovsky was said to hold that the U.S. had fore-knowledge of the September 11 attacks and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami; that Washington had weapons that could influence climate change; and that the large banking institutions are the cause of the collapse of smaller economies, characterised by O'Neill as " more like wild-eyed conspiracy theories than serious political discourse".^[19]

[Raymond_K._Hessel]

France and Israël launch a new war in Iraq and Syria
by Thierry Meyssan
http://www.voltairenet.org/article189385.html

You know ad hominem, but apparently that is all you know.

Same old tactics over and over. You must imagine they are working? Tou clearly didnt read the article (as usual). your boy disnt write it.

Ooops!

What do you make of Ryan Dawson's summary if the Israeli spies arrested on 9/11?

http://youtu.be/QphxGBXiA-M

Hmmm?

(Answer: some ad hom reply including no reference to the substantive content)

Mach schnell, Dumkopf! ;)

[Bay of Pigs]

Expect his butt buddy falconflight to weigh in now...

[Raymond_K._Hessel]

I keep confusing alphahammer and falcon flight and teh finn

Its almost like theyre the same awkward 15 year old ziopathic imbecile.

[nnnnnn]

its one and the same program inside of three peoples head  - basically they counts as one person

its comparable like installing windows vista on 3 devices  - all the same shit

[ThirdWorldDude]

Don't feed the cloned zombie trolls.

[DaveyJones]

"Chussodovsky was said to hold that the U.S. had fore-knowledge of the September 11 attacks "

you do tend to have foreknowledge of things you plan and execute

Articles full of labels and but hungry for evidence 

[Kayman]

Trolls shouldn't be up-arrowed or down-arrowed.  They should be ignored.

[GhostOfDiogenes]

I for one think ryan dawson is a piece of shit just like you are.

[nnnnnn]

GhostOfDiogenes

Member for

3 days 19 hours

[Bollixed]

Time spent on this site is not always as important as it may seem. Look at RKH, he's been here a whole almost 7 weeks yet his posts are some of the best.

But you are correct in your thinking that a troll is a troll...

[Kayman]

Being a troll and being on Zerohedge a short time doesn't equate to the same thing.  But if you are a troll you seldom survive the shitballs that you so richly deserve, ergo, not many long term trolls come to mind

MDB is one of the great, stone-cold satirists.

K

[gonetogalt]

Sure, but MDB wasn't on anyone's payroll.

So he isn't/wasn't a troll, as you say, a pure satirist.

Actually, I miss him, or more accuratly, the flak he drew...

[nnnnnn]

i want dutchboy to come back    why do they banned dutch boy?

[Zwelgje]

DB has a good hart but an ostentatious ego. Sometimes he was all over the threads.

[Analog]

GhostOfDiogenes a troll??  Hahaha, read some of his posts, he's too emotional and passionate to be a troll.  He needs to explain himself better here and there, but we all do.  And name-calling is lame, but many of us have done that too.

Look at RKH, he's been here a whole almost 7 weeks yet his posts are some of the best.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder....

[Raymond_K._Hessel]

I think you are a baby hasbara troll.
Who can be counted on to do little but sling juvenile, incoherent insults at your intellectual and physical superiors.

Welcome to fight club, faggot.

Israel wants Google, YouTube to censor Palestinian videos
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/foreign/26-Nov-2015/israel-wants-google-you...

Lets see you try to tell us what Dawson got wrong in his video.

Specifically.

Come on - swing the bat, Susan.

[Kirk2NCC1701]

RKH, nice quote/link, re "France and Israël launch a new war in Iraq and Syria" _{by Thierry Meyssan}

http://www.voltairenet.org/article189385.html

Looks like Northern Syria is the turf that is being fought for, as the pipeline corridor -- something I also speculated on, and others have also. E.g.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-14/war-paris-isis-claims-responsibility-deadly-attacks-killing-127-complete-summary-and?page=4#comment-6793867  

Sat, 11/14/2015 - 17:47 | 6793867   Kirk2NCC1701

Should we expect Syria to be carved up into Ally Sectors, the way Berlin was after WW2?

Lemme guess, the Americans get the Kurd Sector _{(the N+NE sector, i.e. Pipeline sector)} and the Golan Sector _{(Oil and Water sector)}. 

/heavy sarc

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-25/out-gas-gazprom-cuts-ukraine-will-turkey-be-next#comment-6840574

Wed, 11/25/2015 - 19:30 | 6840574   Kirk2NCC1701     

Russia just needs to close the Syria - Turkey border, and arm the Kurds to the teeth with AA and TOW missiles.

In parallel, Iran needs to support the Kurds on the ground, to break Turkey in half.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-27/chief-russian-air-force-accuses-turkey-coordinated-ambush-downed-warplane?page=1

Fri, 11/27/2015 - 13:53 | 6846668  Kirk2NCC1701

Like Dueling Banjos, we have Dueling Pipelines:

The Qatar-Turkey line, vs. the Iran-Syria line. The latter would go via N.Iraq and N. Syria, to the Mediterranean.

If the Saudis and US want to goad Erdogan into hothead acts, then all they have to do, is to convince him that the Russians are part of this.

The Russians, for their part, can add their gas to said pipeline and thus create a PipeNETWORK. Checkmate!

Fri, 11/27/2015 - 13:47 | 6846667  Amun

"as Putin and Hollande reached a consensus: there will be a barrage of air strikes against the fuel tanker truck convoys transporting stolen Syrian oil across Daesh-controlled territory on the way to Turkey.

There goes in flames the profitable racket of ‘Sultan’s’ son Bilal Erdogan, a.k.a. ‘Erdogan Mini Me’, one of three shareholders of marine transportation corporation BMZ.

Send in the Sukhois!

Putin delivered a sarcastic cruise missile as he said it was "theoretically possible" that Ankara didn’t know about stolen Syrian oil entering Turkish territory from all points Daesh, but he added that was hard to imagine.

So leaving nothing to the imagination, one of Russia’s S-400 AA missile defense systems is already on combat duty at the Hmeymim airbase, and another one is on the way.

From Pepe Escobar:

The ‘Sultan’ has been warned. From now on Russia has three major priorities:

1. A de facto no-fly zone already in effect south of the Turkish-Syrian border enforced by the S-400s. Ankara is so scared it grounded even owls and crows.

2. Already in effect; Russia will hit – hard - anything that suspiciously moves on every transport corridor in and out of Turkey. Turkish "humanitarian" convoys – carrying, what else, weapons – were pulverized in Azaz, which is only five kilometers from the Turkish border. And truck distribution points were also bombed near Raqqa.

3. Already in effect; Russia massively bombing the whole wide region where CIA ops run a cash and weapon highway to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and “innocent” Turkmen. Russia started carpet bombing the Jabal Turkmen area immediately after Russian pilot Lt. Col Oleg Pershin was rescued."

https://www.rt.com/op-edge/323634-putin-hollande-erdogan-isis/

[Global Hunter]

The National Post and Western Standard are Canadian neo-con publications, they love big business, they love law and order and they love wars (provided they're not the ones fighting it of course).  Their attacks on Chossudovsky tells me he's on to something...

[Rock On Roger]

All links to GR are banned at Globe and Mail.

And so is Rock on Roger.

[TradingTroll]

5 trolls downvoted this?

Chossudovsky should be  made an honorary member of ZH as a Jew who talks like that,

[Bay of Pigs]

You might want to read his comment again. Or do you have comprehension issues?

[DutchR]

Troll's drink a LOT

[HowdyDoody]

Hasbara trolls, like their Ukrainian brothers, spend far too much time snorting Ziocaine.

http://cs623327.vk.me/v623327036/16a8f/8Yq2-OXGmio.jpg

[bruno_the]

At least 5 people here can read russian. And one ukie troll.

For the rest... how ukrainian military prepares for an attack (in Donbass)

[nnnnnn]

before saying this you actually should read his comment first

[Flagit]

Thx for that research. I gave you a downvote as a thank you.

Having recently discovered that site, I wondered who was behind it. Now that I know the joos don't like it, I'm in like flint.

[gonetogalt]

Flynn. In like Flynn.

Edit: shoulda checked your link first...

[DaveyJones]

"

[blentus]

Did you eat mushrooms for breakfast?

[Normalcy Bias]

'Follow the money' will nearly always lead to the answers.

[falak pema]

Two outstanding media men are being tried for conspiracy and betrayal of patriotic values for having exposed the Erdogan/Isis link.

Its time the world defended the right of free speech and iconised these men who are SONS of Voltaire.

[trader1]

Think Putin is bold enough to capitalize on the opportunity?

[Analog]

"Putin", and the rest of the Russian Government, will be ethical, and follow International Law.  Nothing else.

[Escrava Isaura]

Now that's funny.

[Analog]

Your response to my post is devoid of information and intelligence.
If you are not a troll or bot then support/explain your post.

[jm]

He knows you are a brainwashed idiot or a bootlicker.

[Escrava Isaura]

That’s good one, too.

And you might be right, not that matters much.

Anyway, hope Analog is real and I have no reason to believe otherwise.

Goal here is to learn and to share while having some fun. At least, mine.

[Analog]

Thanks for your reply, Escrava Isaura, "Goal here is to learn and to share while having some fun" is a great attitude.

May I recommend:

http://www.moonofalabama.org/

http://johnhelmer.net/

http://nsnbc.me/

[Flagit]

Yes, but now they have a UN Security Resolution to "legally" conduct operation HULK SMASH!!

[Flagit]

Downvote?

Oh, Thor...

Sry bro. Operation Silver Hammer just didn't go over with our test audience.

[trader1]

So the EU will embarass Turkey by denying the EU fast-track bid and forcing them out of NATO?

Paving the path for a new socio-poltical revolution and transformation of "national borders".

[TheReverend]

These events will lead to calamity here in America. There is treachory taking place within our Government and very soon calamity will come here. The Lord gave me a message. He spoke and said, "You will see many die, brace yourself for the carnage. I am with you." For those remnant that still have faith and listen to his voice, hear this message and follow its instructions: http://www.churchfreedom.org/places-of-refuge-where-to-go-during-the-season-of-calamity/ 

The Lord is giving a remnant of his people a way to safety in the days ahead. Listen to this message and take to heart everything you hear and act upon it when the time comes. 

[Raymond_K._Hessel]

The Lord tells me I'm gonna come out of this alright.

But he's pretty sure yer fucked.

http://www.activistpost.com/2015/11/by-way-of-deception-how-turkey-consi...

[Normalcy Bias]

Reverend, you should rejoice in the fact that most churches aren't taxed just like any other business, which is exactly what most of them really are.

[chunga]

A buddy of mine told me a heart-warming but very off topic story a few days ago. He said he's still a believer but quit his church because some lady who was obviously poor wasn't wearing nice enough clothes.

She was informed by the boss of the church not to come back.

[Flagit]

I like to think of a Church as a slot machine.

Sure they pay out a little, but only a percentage of what they take in.

Salvation has a price.

Haha, just had a flashback from years ago. The Pastor telling me about Project Chance. It was a program designed to help low-income or poverty stricken families. After the first meeting at the church, someone stole the VCR and a case of communion wine.

[Normalcy Bias]

That's really sad and messed up. I'm no authority on Christianity, but I'm pretty sure Jesus wouldn't object if what that woman wore wasn't very fancy, AND would object to so much of the money donated to churches being used for lavish facilities, LARGE salaries, etc., instead of being used to aid the poor and downtrodden.

[chunga]

Yeah I felt bad for the lady. That's gotta be a blow to get join up with a church, then get kicked out for not being dressed up good enough. The right thing to do might have been to discretely offer to donate something for her. I don't know though...it could be one of these "mysterious ways" they're always referring to.

[lakecity55]

She may have a good heart like the widow of the "widow's mite" parable.
Maybe the Lord wants her in another church. I sure would not go to that one.

The best spiritual place I ever found was AA, but you have to be a drunk to get in, so I do not suggest anyone aim for that.

[HowdyDoody]

US churches are frequently just money making machines for their leader's benefit.

[Kayman]

Churches are like the lottery.  Give up scarce resources in the here and now with the hope of scoring big time when your heart does its last tick.

[DutchR]

God is so dumb that he can't text people his plans.

How old is he anyway, earthlings a pretty capable destroying this earth without any god

*no brainwaves involved

[Flagit]

And you thought roaming fees were bad?

Try the inter-dimensional connection fees on for size.

[Charming Anarchist]

The Truth does not need to be written down. 

Try inter-generational transfer of knowledge.  Everything man NEEDs to know to lead a moral life can be learned from his parents. 

The son of God never wrote anything down.  The Truth does not require literacy. 

[Kayman]

When he/she looks down on all the greedy, selfish morons breeding here on earth, he/she has got to weep.

[Jerome Lester H...]

Especially after reading the constant display of stupidity contained in the comments on this website

[nnnnnn]

"The Lord gave me a message. He spoke and said"

if the bush talked to you 2000 years back its called god

if the bush talks to you in 2015 it means you mentally sick

please visit a doctor you messenger

[Boxed Merlot]

The Lord gave me a message. He spoke and said, "You will see many die, brace yourself for the carnage...

The LORD may have revealed something to you, but even the apostle Paul was loathe to claim such an event as a singular witness has no validity to another that has had no such revelation.  In fact He says the motivation of why there will be those that claim to have a special revelation is their desire to garner honor from fellow men.

There are somethings that are better off not being said in that the net effect of your assertion brings derision to the Name of the LORD of which you will be held to account.  Anyone who has watched TV for a year has already "seen many die" and the only direction the Lord gives regarding bracing has to do with coming to Him before your physical frame expires. 

He repeatedly instructs, even those to whom He miraculously healed, that there is a far worse calamity to befall man than any earthly ailment, injury or death, and that's to stand before the throne in the afterlife while still being in ones sins.

jmf

[Kayman]

Boxed Merlot

Isn't that the Apostle Saul ?  

I respect your belief in an Almighty but do not peddle fear. It is not very Christian of you.

K

[Boxed Merlot]

Isn't that the Apostle Saul ?...

Yes.  He was known as Saul of Tarsus and a rabid persecutor of Christians prior to his arrival in Damascus where he was to round up followers of the Christ and bring them back to the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. 

He’s the one of which the proverbial “Damascus Road” is known for because even though he was perhaps the one person on earth at the time with the most going for him by earthly standards, i.e. education, connections, status, Roman citizenship, freedom, etc., he counted it all as dung in comparison to his knowledge of Christ as LORD.

As for negativity being unchristian, what may I ask are people called to and saved from if not the curse of a sinful life into the blessed hope?

 ^“For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.  He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”  John 3:17-20  In my bible as a kid, this was printed in red, indicating these words were spoken by the person by which “Christian” is synonymous with, Jesus Himself.  You may wish to parse the words "condemnation" and "judgement", but I'm unable to think of them as anything but "negative".

Jmf.

[nnnnnn]

looking at erdogays face is like looking at a donkeys ass

[4 wheel drift]

kindly ...  please refrain from insulting the animal.....  these individuals  are pieces of excrement

[nnnnnn]

it all makes sense now

muslims tend to like animals asses - like a goats ass   no wonder erdogan won the election

if anyone here want to win election in a muslim country, all you have to do is to look like is a donkeys ass

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=2e8_1323253374

[zstard]

So great! Obama qualifies!

[nnnnnn]

vote for donkeys ass - get a donkeys ass

http://www.youngcons.com/obama-opening-100-million-dollar-mosque-in-maryland/

http://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/stories/calling-on-the-us-to-welcome-at-least-100000-syrian-refugees-next-year/

https://news.vice.com/article/the-clock-kid-ahmed-mohamed-wants-15-million-and-an-apology

[DutchR]

10 weeks 6 days

[nnnnnn]

if you post critical content and a few guys report you, you can get banned

i criticized jews, muslims and their cotribution to western society

if european jewish leaders are commiting crime and genocide and if muslims tend to be rapist and criminals if you let them enter western society, abusing the softness of western people i will say it out how it is and i dont care if i get banned

therefore zh's administration which banned me is wrong and should pull the head out of the sand or the sand out of the head

[Flagit]

I have only one question for you.

What does the name Francis Sawyer, mean to you?

[Rock On Roger]

You must have confused him by not including the underscore.

[Flagit]

Oh, is it Francis_Sawyer?

[Raymond_K._Hessel]

http://www.globalresearch.ca/turkey-is-a-pawn-on-the-chessboard-for-us-n...

[SoDamnMad]

Obama has had his aides call every US and European truck manufacturer to see about purchasing a fleet of liquid delivery trucks using the World Bank and paying or them through the US Fund for Democracy and Development.  s/

[Peter Pan]

Did the US really bomb an oil convoy or did they just bomb another wedding convoy?

If there is justice in this world, Erdogan should meet the fate of Mussolini.

[miki]

with his cojones in his mouth

[Reichstag Fire Dept.]

If I were Putin, Bilal Erdogan's ships would be on the bottome of the ocean shortly...

[GeorgeSilver]

Name the countries that buy it from Turkey.

[debtor of last ...]

Cuba and Venezuela.

[jomama]

Israel.

[FranSix]

Higginbothom the horticulturalist in Luxembourg?

[Benjamin123]

Not saying no but so far theres no evidence of that (of Israel buying oil from Isis). Perhaps tomorrow i'll read about it and will go AAAAAAAHHH thats the evidence i didnt know about yesterday.

I read that a lot of the oil used in Israel comes from Azerbaijan, so it goes out of the same terminal.

[jomama]

no evidence..?

http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.672599

https://willyloman.wordpress.com/2015/11/17/embarrassed-by-putin-us-mili...

[nnnnnn]

be careful guys 

if you click on the news site haaretz's they use script to enable your microphone and if you connect a webcam it takes pictures

also sometimes you dont need any kind of evidence, you are not 15. just let your criminal imagination go wild

obviously if there is somthing to steal, there will be someone to steal it

[maxwellsdemon]

Wrong nnnn.   No only should zerohedge readers click on Haaretz news stories, they should leave detailed anti Zionist comments on it as well.  Tell them you are support the boycott, divest, santion movement against Israel.  Israeli jews need to know just what the civilized world thinks of their behavior toward the Palestinian and that this will not be forgotten.    The Israeli's are teach our police tactics that they use against Americans that they have been using against Palestinians; in a very real sense, nearly all non-Jews

are being treated like Palestinians when they take a flight, ride a train, drive in their car...etc.    Eveytime the jewish Holocaust is mentioned by anybody, remind them of the Vietnnamise Holocaust, the Armenian Holocaust, the Chinese Holocaust, the Native American Holocaust....etc. That really bothers them.  Mention that the Russians lost 25 million during WWII.  When Ann Frank is mentioned (which is a terrible story of course), bring up the fact that hundreds of thousands of children took up arms against the Nazis, especially in Eastern Europe.   Mention to Haaretz readers what the Chief RAbbi of the ruling Likud party said in his weekly national radio address 5 years ago, that 'goys were made to serve Jews....goys are like cattle...goys have no purpose other than to serve jews." and that the funeral of this rabid rabbi drew over a million rabid supporters (the biggest crowd in Israeli history for a funeral).  Bring up the USS Liberty and the Chesed Golem incident.  Bring up the Mexican parliment incident as well.

http://911blogger.com/news/2007-04-04/follow-%E2%80%9Cprior-knowledge-911-attacks-overheard-hebrew%E2%80%9D-story-fbi-looks-documents-where-they-cannot-be-found

Bring up the fact that our money is made up of credit issued by private banks, at interest and demanding collateral  (assets although in the case of student loans the asset that is seized are future social security income stream) that the banks claims is theirs, until the principle and interest are repaid.  Mention that the credit issued is always less than the amount owed to the bank since credit equals principle (actually is less due to loan fees) and the interest grows daily and none of the interest (as credit money) was created when the loan was.  Thus the act of credit creation EVENTUALLY creates even more bankruptcies throughout the economy AND THE BANKS END UP OWNING THE ASSETS. 

Mention to the Haarets readers that the Rothschilds, Schiffs, WArburgs, all Jewish and pro Zionist bought land from Palestinians and then claimed it to be a country, using terror to drive off the inhabitants.  Tell them the non-jews have awoken