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Obama Scrambles To Create "New ISIS Narrative" After Putin Embarrasses Washington
One of the most amusing things about Russia’s headlong plunge into Syria’s five-year conflict is the extent to which it effectively represented Moscow calling time on Washington’s strategy of seeking to bring about regime change in the Mid-East by intentionally destabilizing otherwise strong (if not always benign) governments.
Until September 30 - which is the day a three star Russian general strolled into the US embassy in Baghdad and informed the staff that airstrikes in Syria begin “in one hour” - Washington, Riyadh, Ankara, and Doha seemed perfectly content to simply wait around for one group of rebels or another to finally succeed in taking Damascus. In the meantime, the US embarked on what one might call a “containment” strategy as it related to ISIS - the idea, basically, was to keep Frankenstein confined to the lab, but not to hit the monster hard enough to render it ineffectual in the fight to destabilize the Assad government.
Once Assad fell, the US would march in and “liberate” the country before promptly installing a puppet government - with the help of the Saudis of course.
All of that changed when the Russians arrived in Latakia.
Once Moscow’s warplanes began to turn the tide in favor of the SAA with the help of Hezbollah ground forces and the IRGC, Putin promptly moved to blow the whole charade wide open by asking (loudly) why the US wouldn’t partner with Russia in the war on terror. He of course knew the answer, but the point was to make the general public question why, if ISIS really is the greatest threat to humanity since the Reich, Washington was unwilling to partner with Moscow and also with Tehran. Between that and the seemingly endless stream of Russian MoD clips depicting hundreds upon hundreds of airstrikes against terrorist targets, The Kremlin made the White House look as though the US was not serious about eradicating the very groups the Western media were holding up as public enemy number one.
Since around mid-October, the US has embarked on a desperate attempt to counter the notion that maybe - just maybe - there’s a nefarious explanation for America’s perceived disinterest in eradicating terror. First, Washington released helmet cam footage of a raid on an ISIS prison which resulted in the first US combat death in Iraq since 2011. Next, the White House announced SpecOps would be sent to Syria. The Pentagon followed up by offering to send Apache helicopters and their crews to assist Baghdad in retaking Ramadi (assistance which PM Haider Abadi, under pressure from Shiite lawmakers and Iran to rollback American influence in the country, refused). Finally, the US began hitting ISIS oil tankers.
Previously, the US claimed it didn’t destroy the oil convoys because The Pentagon was concerned about collateral damage. Once Putin blew the whistle on the Turkey-ISIS oil connection and began posting video clips of oil tanker trucks streaming across the border with apparent impunity, Washington was forced to drop the “collateral damage” excuse and start bombing the trucks (although Russia will tell you that there’s not much bombing going on from the US side of things). All in all, this reinforces the notion that Washington has no strategy. Actually, that’s not true. There’s probably a strategy, but it doesn’t involve an all out effort to degrade and defeat ISIS and so, the narrative needs to be spun in way that makes sense to an increasingly incredulous public.
As The Hill reports, the US is now scrambling to craft a "new narrative" to feed to the impatient electorate. “Military officials on the Operation Inherent Resolve task force have recently formed a working group to formulate a ‘new narrative,’ The Hill writes, citing defense officials.
“The steps are preliminary, and are part of a larger effort to better communicate the U.S.'s military strategy amid heavy criticism from Republican presidential candidates who say Obama is losing the battle against the terrorist group,” the article continues.
"To say there's no strategy is just flat out wrong," Army Col. Christopher Garver, public affairs officer for the Combined Joint Task Force -- Operation Inherent Resolve insists.
“The new working group will look at how best to articulate what it is we're trying to do ... and do it in a concise easy to understand way," he adds.
Yes, the US wants to “articulate what it is they’re trying to do,” because as it stands, it’s Vladimir Putin, Sergei Lavrov, and Maria Zakharova that are doing the articulating when it comes to explaining what Washington is up to in Syria. The US desperately needs to recapture the narrative or else end up like Turkey, which is now widely understood to be what amounts to Islamic State’s number one state sponsor, all thanks to Moscow’s PR blitz in the wake of Erdogan’s move to shoot down a Russian Su-24 last month.
Here’s Obama: "There is a legitimate criticism of what I've been doing and our administration has been doing in the sense that we haven't, you know, on a regular basis I think described all the work that we've been doing for more than a year now to defeat ISIL," he said.
Here’s a list of steps the US has taken in the mad scramble to counter the notion that the US military has either failed, or is under orders to avoid eradicating the group:
- On Nov. 30, the White House announced the president had tapped a new ISIS czar, Robert Malley. He held a Twitter chat two weeks later, answering questions from the general public and journalists.
- On Dec. 6, the president addressed the nation on ISIS from the Oval Office, reiterating and defending his strategy.
- On Dec. 8, the National Security Council press team began emailing to journalists daily summaries of "key developments" "in our unyielding campaign to degrade and destroy ISIL."
- On Dec. 14, the president himself visited the Pentagon, to convene a National Security Council meeting on ISIS. While he issued remarks afterwards, he did not take any questions from journalists.
- On Dec. 15, a senior State Department official briefed Pentagon reporters on efforts to target ISIS's oil assets.
- And on Dec. 16, Adam Szubin, Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial crimes, briefed White House reporters on efforts to shut down ISIS's financing.
For his part, Paul Ryan says the problem isn’t the messaging, it’s the strategy itself.
"This isn’t the first time the president has stressed that the American people just don’t get it, blaming poor communication for America’s discontent rather than the failed policies themselves," said a statement from Ryan’s office.
The issue was not with "a communications plan" to defeat ISIS but rather over the need for a "comprehensive plan to destroy this enemy and protect our homeland," it said.
Right. But what Ryan apparently either doesn't get or simply can't say, is that this isn't about destroying ISIS, it's about achieving larger geopolitical goals like rolling back Iranian influence in the Arabian Peninsula and helping ensure that the Mid-East balance of power doesn't shift too dramatically towards Iran once sanctions are lifted next year. As Amb. James Jeffrey, a former Army infantry officer put it, “if you're not willing to change policy ... or you're not willing to change your goals, then what you do is you reorganize the deck chairs on the Titanic."
In other words, the only way the US is going to reclaim some shred of its lost credibility is to simply stop trying to overthrow the Assad government and focus on "the terrorists." Of course that isn't going to happen despite the best efforts of Tulsi Gabbard and the handful of other lawmakers inside the Beltway who actually "get it."
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“The new working group will look at how best to articulate what it is we're trying to do ... and do it in a concise easy to understand way," he adds.
Yeah - explain it slowly since I'm such a dumb fuck and don't understand English - you fucking scumbags!! Your hubris and arrogance is amazing.
"Once Assad fell, the US would march in and “liberate” the country before promptly installing a puppet government - with the help of the Saudis of course" BS!
Saudis are nothing, I live in DC, you don't see all the think tanks, institutes, lobbying organizations, not to mention the US government filled with Saudis, no fucking way. What you will find is a powerful network of Jewish lobbyists working hand in hand with US/Israeli Jewish organizations, and duel citizens who ALL put Israel first. The idea this is done for Saudis is ridiculous, yet every blog puts Saudis first and mention Israel in passing, as if inconsequential. The most powerful nation on earth is controlled and manipulated by the most corrupting people on earth...
You keep thinking like an American.
Rationally, I would think that it would be the most powerful nation that would be doing the controlling.
So, which is the most powerful nation?
But Hillary says...
I see a glaring connection.
First there is news from the field where a Iraq Militia commander saya, there is noise of US trying to evacuate senior leaders of the ISIS.
Second there is news that US is going to import Syrian refugees with minimal verification. Or controlled verification that is to be done in Syria without the help of Syrian Government.
There. that's my connection.
I doubt the ISIS invited to US will attack the US or Israeli assets. They probably will be well fed for the next round of terror that can be initiated who knows where. After all they have been moving from Chechenya, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and all places where the regime refuse to listen to US dictats.
I am so sick of looking at this asshole, thank God Putin came along and made this drudgery entertaining. By the time this is over we will have had like 3 presidents in 24 years and that doesn't even count the election circus, what a damn nightmare! If Hillary gets in for two terms I'll probably just throw my electronics out the window, there is only so much a human can endure. Someone will probably bomb us just to put us out of our misery at that point, which might be a courtesy really.
Why is Assad a target? Is he worse than the Castro brothers? Is he worse than the Chinese leader? Is he worse than the Iranians?POTUS is so inept that he is now embarrassing we Americans. And we have Hillary Liar Clinton waiting in the wings after her successful "Arab Spring" campaign that has killed, maimed and uprooted millions of Arabs. And congress continues to go along with everything these monsters order. Arm yourselves folks. America is about to become a dangerous place.
Good question skippy. I can't answer with 100% certainty but i believe it's his moustache.
Oder
To cut off Iran's feeder ways to Hezbollah.
To cut of the Shia crescent through Lebanon, Syria ,Iran and Iraq
To isolate Iran
To undermine Russia's Middle-east influence
To export Qatar's huge gas reserves via pipeline through Syria into Turkey and onto Europe and break Gazprom's stranglehold.
To strengthen Sunni Saudi influence over Shia Iran
etc etc
So the USSofA and NeoCon friends can isolate Iran , then Russia and ultimately China with a view to creating a NWO.
Doesn't seem like he was such a bad guy in 2009.
John Kerry and Bashar al-Assad dined in Damascus
Photographs showing John Kerry, the US secretary of state, dining in splendour with President Bashar al-Assad have emerged, as Mr Kerry likened the Syrian ruler to Hitler.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10283045/John...
Mr Kerry visited Damascus in February 2009, when he was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
He said in a press conference during the visit: "President Barack Obama's administration considers Syria a key player in Washington's efforts to revive the stalled Middle East peace process.
"Syria is an essential player in bringing peace and stability to the region."
Sunni Muslim, Indonesian citizen, Muslim Brotherhood member and President of the United States of America, Barrack Hussein Obama, will not act against ISIS because he and his administration created and supports ISIS. Barrack Hussein Obama is more than an acute embarrassment to the United States of America and the world. He's actively supporting Al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS with his administration's policies, with funding and with ITAR* controlled weapons and materiel. In short, he is an unindicted felon.
*ITAR—International Traffic in Arms Regulation.
If Paul Ryan wasnt a sellout POS, he would block all bills until Obama is impeached for his ISIS supporting treason.
"Might Makes Right" is the operating philosophy of the psychopaths controlling the foreign policy of the United States of America.
• Afghanistan was targeted after 9/11 because they were weak and had no Great Power protection;
• Iraq was targeted because they were weak and had no Great Power protection;
• Libya was targeted because they were weak and had no Great Power protection;
• Syria was targeted because they were weak and had no Great Power protection;
• North Korea was NOT attacked because they are NOT weak and because they border the People's Republic of China;
• Iran was NOT attacked because they are NOT weak;
• the coup against the legitimate government of Ukraine, orchestrated by psychopaths leading the government of the United States of America, is the most colossal American foreign policy blunder since the psychopath LBJ escalated the civil war in Vietnam into an all-out American war with devastating consequences.
President Barrack Hussein Obama unparalleled legacy of corruption, failure and anti-American actions will feature the alienation of the Russian Federation, turning them from potential friend and ally in the war against radical Islam into an enemy. But, that is one of his his roles as the Sunni Mullahs "Manchurian Candidate".
Obama, typical bureaucrat equates activity with productivity.
Sounds just like where i work
Here is the US strategy in play:
Russian intel spots 12,000 oil tankers & trucks on Turkey-Iraq border - General Staffhttps://www.rt.com/news/327063-russian-intelligence-oil-tankers-turkey/
With all the aerial footage you need.
Also, from the Russian MOD Press presentation on their progress in Syria:
Pentagon refuses to share intel on ISIS until Moscow’s stance on Assad changeshttps://www.rt.com/news/327120-pentagon-moscow-isis-intelligence/
In less than 3 months the Russians have conducted 5240 missions! The US something like 9000 in 16 months.
In the MoD report back briefing video the General states the oil shipping routes are changing to Iraq and he shows the concentration of almost 12000 trucks around the Turkish / Iraq border post. Where is the US coalition? Why is it safe to transit through Iraq? What war on ISSIL?
Of those 9000 how mamy bombed sand dunes and Syrian Govt targets were hit?
the even better question how many of those 9000 missions
the US flew and returned without releasing their bombs,
and how many of those missions were flown to supply
weapons, ammunition, and supplies to ISIS ???
12,000? Dang!
Why that's as much oil as the planned Qatar pipeline through Syyria. And the oil is cheaper. Cheap oil coutesy of IS. Who is going to put a stop to that?
Sort of like the guy who said that women with big breasts should be rewarded rather than punished.
Obama is a danger to America. He reminds me Lenin in many ways.
Obama is doing the best he can with the little time he has available, and the demands on his time include having to pray five times per day, as he explained. Thank God he is praying so much, as our country needs it. Let that be an example for all of us.
We might be able to afford to fight ISIS is we weren't broke - brought on by 5 decades of drunken sailor spending (in regard to government debt, mostly social spending) and the American people's hard nosed insistence that what they spend should go primarily go not to support their own country's manufacturing but the manufacturing of other countries.
If we don't spend like drunken sailors, push globalization and fight wars for the founders of the IMF/World Bank/CB's, how will the owners of these organizations make a profit? I'm just wondering what they have planned for us when the whole thing comes tumbling down.
Yeah, I guess trillions of dollars (23 trillion?) thrown at zombie TBTF banks qualifies as social spending.
Didn't they pay that back?
i think bottomless pit, black/off the books/secret military spending-and having 183 military bases around the world-and having to junk the new but obsolete F -5 (180 of them at a Billion a piece) could be a cause
and then the FED the NSA and CIA QUADRILLIONS down the drain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li58voy6xXM
<--- American propaganda on National Geographic Channel :
We are invincible
..
..
We are powerful
We are powerful
We are powerful
-------------
Cabals to cabalA$$LickerLiarObamma : 'You are not doing anything, Russia is gaining so much especially the PR'
cabalA$$LickerLiarObamma : 'Jast wait, I weel armtweest the National Geographic Channel to repeat key words in da people's minds. Dat weel make them condishuned.'
In response to Russia's wake up call,
instead of reacting by attacking ISIS for real,
Obama tripled down on......
cranking up his propaganda machine.
The US has no problems not fighting the IS. Every American and his dog knows the IS is a US creation intended to depose Assad failing which give an excuse of fighting it for the US to invade Syria. The US administration doesn't have to admit it, everyone already knows it and most Americans don't want the US administration to admit it, they like their government to lie and they pretend to believe the lies.
But with the IS having failed to depose Assad and Russian military presence on the side of the Syrian government making a US-led invasion of Syria impossible, the US is looking for a different strategy to achieve the same objective.
One likely possibility is that they will present it as impossible to defeat the IS without a unity government in Syria and the Syrian factions refusing to join a unity government unless Assad steps down. They will continue to provide air cover to the "moderate rebels" and IS to ensure Russia doesn't wipe them out. They will be hoping that Russia will tire of prolonged involvement and agree to Assad stepping down to save face for the West and Assad agreeing to step down and his own nominee takes over his position with him contesting the elections after the defeat of IS. While this might be workable if the West can be trusted, since the West cannot be trusted, it is unlikely Russia will accept any proposal their requires Assad to step down, especially since it will demoralise the Syrian Arab Army which stood by Assad through the thick and thin and may feel Russia betrayed Assad.
Russia will wait for the US/Western economies to collapse and during the ensuing chaos (1) expect Western governments to withdraw their air cover and support for the Syrian rebels and the IS or (2) let the Syrian government declare that any foreign aircraft operating in its airspace without its permission will be shot down, forcing the West to withdraw the air cover for the rebels and IS or challenge it and declare an open war on Russia.
If the West refuses to accept the humiliation of being forced to abandon its stooges in Syria, it will be annihilated. If the West eats crow and withdraws air cover to the rebels and IS, the SAA with Russian air cover will quickly mop the rebels who have no swtiched sides and the IS.
All Russia has to do is push Assad in to declaring a no fly zone and Russia as it's enforcer, that way Russia can leagally and withot any major repercusion take out any "Alliance" aircraft. Russia knows this, you should ask why they have not done this?
I think Russia is trying tobreak an alliance, since it has been forcing the US to act against it's interests even if ti has been moderately. Russia has also been propping up the narrative for there to be strife and division between NATO players. This is more strategical and long term than you think, it is not enough for Assad (or his people) to stay, or Iran to have influence in the region, because if the fighting sops it can easily be started again. This, I think has to do about ensuring that the US loses it's hold on the region once and for all.
According to Webster Tarpley, a no fly zone means bombing planes on the ground, airports, runways, and all the other infrastructure for aviation. President Hillary has been advocating a NFZ in Syria. This would assure that Assad loses the war and puts Syria back in the stone age.
See Tarpley's latest World Crisis Radio broadcast at Tarpley.net.
By the way, why not have President Hillary occupy the WH right now? Memory fails as to why the delay.
The whole concept of a no-fly-zone can't be more than 100 years old and really hasn't had time to be carved in stone.
It seems to me that there is a Russian declared defacto NFZ in Syria today.
And its rules are this: you may fly in Syrian air space if your mission is to destroy ISIS targets and you inform us where you are going and what your flight path is.
England, France and perhaps Germany have obeyed these rules.
Turkey is not welcome in Syrian air-space and the US refuses to obey other countries' rules.
Helping any terrorist group is a crime under the Patriot act. Government employees included.
yes the flunky gibbon in chief is humiliated again by tsar vladimir
I do think it is time for that one painful -- fart! The kind that brings you to your knees ..
https://youtu.be/v9mmLw_oFpg
Operation Inherent Resolve. WTF. I hear that name in my head with a slight lisp - it should be the name of a feminine hygiene product. If you're going to kill people, at least show them some decency and do it under a manly name.
Nuland and a succession of lame duck presidents have reduced the US to a dangerous laughing stock, while the EU has redued europe to a bankrupt irrelevance. Putin and China now rule the world.
but but buh ... he b obama the great and all powerful douche he know wat iz wat and how we b stupid and shit
Maybe Obama should bomb a hospital and a wedding party all in the same day to articulate our strategy because it makes about as much sense as anything else we are doing?
Dear God I hate these fuckers!!!
For the record I'm pissed off!
A nation gets the leadership it deserves and we deserve Obama.
Get it?
Yeah that means we're seriously and historically fucked.
tsar vladimir knows the score;the flunky gibbon is just a MIC whore
Get that galaxy sized clusterfuck out of the white house.
Trump/Gabbard 2016.
That pic of Putin says it all.
Imagining that Putin is facing Obama, the caption might read, "Yeah, riiiight, suuuure Hussain, tell me again how yer fightin' ISIS. I'm tryin' real hard not to laugh."
Well.....no one, regardless of political persuasion, is discussing the only way to win this war against ISIS and terrorists and whoever else are so scared of. The only way to win: stop fighting.
ZHers would do well to read David Stockman's piece (posted here on ZH) about Why There is no Peace on Earth 2015. The problem, simply stated, is unchecked imperial aggression by the USA since 1953. If the USA would just STOP IT, stop trying to engineer everything everywhere, we would not have a terror problem. None. More killing is not going to create fewer enemies.
Stay home, mind your own business, live and let live, damn it.
?? ??? ????? ??? ???? ?? ??? ??? ??????? ????? ??? ?? ?? ???????? ???? ????? ???? ISIS ?? ???????? ???? ?????::
This Obama gay is so fucked in the ass side way and every position that he can't let them down to do the work whoever fucked his ask of him to do.While his dirty little secret got exposed by Russia and Iran big time, this ISIS shit seemed not to have future near Syria, which means billion dollar wast to this terrorist sponsors(Israel,Saudi, Qatar etc) so they are trying to change the plan before this bastards run out killed by Russia and the like force.
Time will tell, this m.fuckers gonna head to Saudi and 'those chicken come home to roast' fulfilled.