The White House on Tuesday released an intelligence assessment saying it is “confident” that Syrian President Bashar Assad used sarin gas in a chemical attack on his people earlier this month. The four-page, declassified report is meant to push back on what it called Russian efforts to spread “disinformation” about the origins of the attack in order to cover up the involvement of Assad, Moscow’s closest ally in the region.
“It’s clear the Russians are trying to cover up what happened there,”a senior White House official said.
The White House did not say whether it believes Russia had prior knowledge of the chemical strike, yet questioned how its government could have not known.
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“How is it possible that their forces were co-located with the Syrian forces that planned, prepared and carried out this chemical weapons attack at the same installation and did not have foreknowledge?”another senior White House official told reporters.
The April 4 attack in a rebel-held area of Syria killed close to 90 people, including dozens of children, and prompted President Trump to retaliate by launching cruise missies at the base where the attack originated.
The report offered up evidence to rebut claims from Russians and others that deaths were the result of a government strike on an opposition weapons depot containing chemical weapons, that the chemical weapons attack was carried out by a terrorist group, such as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or that the attack was faked.
It says “physiological” evidence collected from victims showed “symptoms consistent with sarin exposure,” including frothing at the mouth and twitching. Responders also suffered symptoms from sarin exposure.
The White House says evidence of the chemical attack began to surface on social media a 6:55 a.m., while Moscow said the attack occurred around midday.
“The absolute mass of data we have … it’s just too massive for really any intelligence organization to fabricate in that short of period of time,”another White House official said. “That’s just not a feasible explanation.”
White House officials said that the Syrian regime had motivation to attack the rebel-held area with chemical weapons, using them as a force multiplier because of its lack of manpower in the specific region.
The incident has sparked a major diplomatic confrontation between the U.S. and Russia. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is in Moscow Tuesday but will not meet with President Vladimir Putin. Putin, in turn, has suggested the U.S. plans to stage a chemical weapons attack in Syria and blame it on Assad.
“We have information that a similar provocation is being prepared … in other parts of Syria including in the southern Damascus suburbs where they are planning to again plant some substance and accuse the Syria authorities of using [chemical weapons],”Putin said in Moscow.
Some have also questioned whether Assad was behind the attack, including Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii).
Image: Official: Russia Knew in Advance of Syrian Chemical Attack
The United States has concluded Russia knew in advance of Syria’s chemical weapons attack last week, a senior U.S. official said Monday. The official said a drone operated by Russians was flying over a hospital as victims of the attack were rushing to get treatment. Hours after the drone left, a Russian-made fighter jet bombed the hospital in what American officials believe was an attempt to cover up the usage of chemical weapons.
The senior official said the U.S. has no proof of Russian involvement in the actual chemical attack in northern Syria. But the official said the presence of the surveillance drone over the hospital couldn’t have been a coincidence, and that Russia must have known the chemical weapons attack was coming and that victims were seeking treatment.
The official, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on intelligence matters and demanded anonymity, didn’t give precise timing for when the drone was in the area, where more than 80 people were killed. The official also didn’t provide details for the military and intelligence information that form the basis of what the Pentagon now believes.
Another U.S. official cautioned that no final American determination has been made that Russia knew ahead of time that chemical weapons would be used. That official wasn’t authorized to speak about internal administration deliberations and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The allegation of Russian foreknowledge is grave, even by the standards of the currently dismal U.S.-Russian relations. Although Russia has steadfastly supported Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government, and they’ve coordinated military attacks together, Washington has never previously accused Moscow of complicity in any attack that involved the gassing of innocent civilians, including children. The former Cold War foes even worked together in 2013 to remove and destroy more than 1,300 tons of Syrian chemical weapons and agents.
Until Monday, U.S. officials had said they weren’t sure whether Russia or Syria operated the drone. The official said the U.S. is now convinced Russia controlled the drone. The official said it still isn’t clear who was flying the jet that bombed the hospital, because the Syrians also fly Russian-made aircraft.
U.S. officials previously have said Russians routinely work with Syrians at the Shayrat air base where the attack is supposed to have originated. U.S. officials say the chemical weapons were stored thereand that those elements add to the conclusion that Russia was complicit in the attack.
Last Thursday 59 Tomahawk missiles were fired on the government-controlled base in the United States’ first direct military action against Assad’s forces. The U.S. has been focusing its military action in Syria on defeating the Islamic State group.
On Monday, Col. John J. Thomas, a U.S. military spokesman, said the U.S. has taken extra defensive precautions in Syria in case of possible retaliation against American forces for the cruise missile attack. Thomas told reporters at the Pentagon that the increased emphasis on defensive measures to protect U.S. troops on the ground in Syria led to a slight and temporary decline in offensive U.S. airstrikes against IS in Syria.
There has been no Syrian retaliation so far for the cruise missile attack, which destroyed or rendered inoperable more than 20 Syria air force planes, he said.
Thomas said the U.S. intends to return to full offensive air operations against IS as soon as possible.
Four days after President Donald Trump ordered a missile strike on the Syrian air base that reportedly launched a chemical attack on civilians, it remains unclear if the White House is committed to toppling President Bashar al-Assad or is seeking an alternate end game.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), speaking to LifeZette and other reporters just before the bombing began , said he thought Trump was on the right path by condemning the chemical attack at a joint press conference with Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Wednesday. At the time Rubio was speaking, it was not known to the world that Trump had made the decision to attack the air base in Homs province, where it is believed the planes that dropped chemical weapons, near the town of Khan Shaykhun in a rebel-held area in northwest Syria, originated. But Trump’s words alone impressed the Florida senator.
“I think we’ll look back at yesterday as one of the moments where his presidency evolved in what I believe is a stronger direction,”said Rubio, speaking to reporters on his way back to his office on Thursday.
Rubio told reporters in the Capitol that he wanted more than just symbolic action. So far, some could say that is all that has been accomplished. Rubio said at a minimum, he wants Assad’s ability to launch attacks on civilians “degraded.” Rubio also said he wants an international coalition to strip Assad of such abilities.
And while the Tomahawk missiles employed by the U.S. Navy likely caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to the Syrian military, Assad remains in power. Some leaders clearly desire regime change in Syria.
And on Sunday, Nikki Haley, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told CNN that the White House has “multiple priorities.”
“Getting Assad out is not the only priority,”Haley told Jake Tapper of CNN. “So what we’re trying to do is obviously defeat ISIS. Secondly, we don’t see a peaceful Syria with Assad in there. Thirdly, get the Iranian influence out. And then finally move towards a political solution, because at the end of the day this is a complicated situation, there are no easy answers, and a political solution is going to have to happen.”
But it is what she said next that put her in conflict with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
“If you look at his actions, if you look at the situation, it’s going to be hard to see a government that’s peaceful and stable with Assad,”Haley said. “Regime change is something that we think is going to happen because all of the parties are going to see that Assad is not the leader that needs to be taking place for Syria.”
That clashed with Tillerson’s finesse on CBS News on Sunday. Tillerson told CBS News that the administration wants to focus on ISIS and then come back to ensuring a more peaceful Syria. He didn’t mention regime change.
Regime change is also opposed by Russia, a close ally of Syria. The Russian embassy in the United Kingdom tweeted out an ominous question about “real war”breaking out in Syria. The embassy also said Russia supports the leadership in Damascus to prevent ISIS from taking control of Syria.
A long-term war with the Syrian government, ending in regime change, is not entirely welcome in Congress, even if an international coalition takes up the fight. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told reporters on Thursday that the bombing by the United States was unconstitutional because the United States was not attacked. Paul wants an official declaration of war before action is taken.
“We’ve had no authorization of war against ISIS or anyone else for 15 years,”said Paul.
Complicating the matters for White House policy is that Syrian Christians prefer the protection of Assad against jihadists, said Paul.
Paul told LifeZette he is horrified by the images he sees after Assad attacks civilians, but he is not sure U.S. attacks are the answer. And Paul said the United States may not like a new regime in Syria.
“Is there an end to the progression of regime change in the Middle East?”Paul asked on Friday before an impromptu news conference in the Capitol.
“”Moderate rebels,” also known as Al Qaeda in Syria. They are known for possessing and using chemical weapons against Syrian civilians. I doubt it was Syrian government who conducted these attacks.”
Since before Donald Trump won last year’s presidential election, Democrats have been desperately trying to fool the American people into thinking that Trump somehow worked hand-in-hand with the Russians to steal away the White House from Hillary Clinton. But thus far, after months of pseudo investigations, not a scintilla of proof has been revealed. And this weekend, Democrat Adam Schiff once again showed that Democrats have nothing but lies and innuendo against Trump.
The California Democrat has been at the forefront of attempting to fool America into thinking Trump is all mixed up with Vladimir Putin’s corrupt Russian government. Over last weekend, Schiff appeared on CNN’s State of the Union with host Jake Tapper to continue pushing his false claims against the president. But when Tapper asked Schiff about actual proof, the congressman’s reply was telling for its evasiveness and lack of specificity.
When Tapper asked Schiff to get more specific during the April 2 broadcast, Schiff mumbled that he “can’t say” if the evidence against any ties to Russia are correct. He also softened his previous criticism of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R, CA) for having visited the White House before he made his revelations that the Obama administration had, indeed, been surveilling Trump and his campaign before the election. Schiff dissembled further by backing off his previous claim that evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia was “more than circumstantial.”
It other words, Schiff pretty much proved that all the charges he has been spreading around for the last few weeks are all just political bomb throwing meant to hurt Trump but are based on no proof whatsoever. Rep. Schiff has emerged as the Democrats’ chief attack dog in the House of Representatives — because everyone dismisses Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi as a loon — since Nunes made his proclamations about the proof of Obama’s surveillance of Trump.
One of Schiff’s main charges is that Nunes seemed to be coordinating with Trump because Nunes had visited the White House to look at secret intel the same day he announced what he had seen about Obama’s surveillance. Nunes and the Democrats called this visit to the White House “suspicious.”
But as the Democrats tried to make something out of Nunes’ visit to the White House grounds, the facts tell a different story. Nunes himself appeared on Fox News and noted that he often goes to the Executive Branch to view secret material and meet sources for his role as head of the Intel Committee.
“We go to the executive branch at least once or twice a week,”Nunes told Bill O’Reilly last week. “This is not unusual, because there are intelligence products that we don’t have access to in the House of Representatives, although we do have the clearances to see them.
Nunes also noted that he knew of the Obama administration’s surveillance of Trump even before last month’s revelations.
“So, we’ve known about this long before Trump actually sent his famous tweet out about the ‘wiretapping’ at Trump Tower,”Nunes added. “We’ve known that there was additional unmasking of Americans’ names. We’ve had sources that have provided that information. And so, what I had to do was that I needed a place that I could actually go and find this information and review it.”
For his part, Rep. Schiff was asked about this “unmasking” claim and once again he backed off his earlier harsh criticism saying he “can’t say whether anything was masked or unmasked properly.”Schiff said he disagreed with Nunes’ “characterization”of the evidence, but refused to go so far as to say Nunes was flat out wrong… despite he has essentially been saying Nunes is wrong for over a week.
Jake Tapper went on to press Schiff on whether or not there was evidence of “collusion” between Trump and Putin and Schiff backed off his past claims here, too, replying, “I don’t think we can say anything definitively at this point.” Schiff’s complete failure to back up his and his Party’s claims is telling. It seems to add more support to claims by two Obama officials that there is absolutely no evidence of Trump ties to Russia and Trump’s own claims that he and his campaign were the victims of illegal surveillance visited upon him by Obama.
Despite this complete lack of any evidence… and I mean there’s no evidence at all… the left is continuing to push the fiction that Trump is all tied up with Russia. Indeed, after Nunes revealed what he has seen as head of the Intel Committee, Democrats floated a talking point that Nunes should “recuse himself” from the investigation. Once again, this shows that Democrats are acting in a nakedly partisan political manner because there is no such thing as “recusing” oneself in a congressional committee. After this ridiculous call for Nunes’ recusal began making the rounds among Democrats, the California congressman laughed it off asking “why would I?”
“Why would I?” Nunes told the media when they asked him about the Democrats’ demands. “Because someone asks? That sounds like their problem.”
Asked Nunes if WH asked him to cancel today’s hearing. Response: “C’mon. … Nothing has been canceled.” WATCH: https://t.co/psgEviYgWH
Indeed, Nunes is 100 percent right. It IS “their problem.”Because the House Intel Committee is a political entity, not a legal or court-related one. There is no reason nor any conventions for anyone to “recuse” themselves from a political committee. Only judges, police officers, or lawyers have to recuse themselves from investigations to which they have intimate ties of a personal or political nature. This is because justice needs to be impartial. But politics does not. There is no requirement of recusal in politics. Sure, congressman can recuse themselves if they like. But there is no legal requirement to do so.
But the whole campaign against Trump launched by the Democrats has nothing to do with facts, truth, or what is good for America. It is all just a naked, partisan attempt to undermine Trump.
As Daily Caller recent noted, a former clinical psychologist is pointing out that Democrats are practicing the politics of destruction, not the politics of persuasion and debate. Psychologist Tim Daughtry, told the DC that Democrats are working to destroy the U.S. in a gross attempt to steal power.
The rise of vilification campaigns, as taught by Saul Alinsky, is reducing our civility as Democrats try to destroy, not debate, those who disagree with them, Daughtry explains.
Gaslighting is on display as arguments like the “Russians hacked the election” or “Putin is controlling President Trump” attempt to manipulate public opinion. Reality dislocation techniques can erode Trump’s approval ratings so as to slow the bold Trump mandates.
As always, truth and facts do not matter to Democrats. Only power does.
In the end, I feel quite comfortable predicting that there will never be any proof tying Donald Trump to the Russians. After all, Obama launched an illicit surveillance campaign against Trump way back in October, if not before, and his FBI, NSA, and CIA were sneaking around trying to catch Trump with a gotcha since then — and it continues still today with all the Obama quislings still in our government — and thus far there is no proof. Nothing, zero, zip, nada.
With the entirety of Obama’s police state trying to prove Trump is a Russian operative and with the subsequent complete failure to come up with even any circumstantial proof, one can’t come to any other conclusion than that this whole thing is just a mean spirited whisper campaign aimed at delegitimizing Trump in the eyes of the voters as opposed to a serious investigation looking for truth.
Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago-based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com and BigJournalsim.com along with all Breitbart News sites, RightWingNews.com, CanadaFreePress.com, and many, many others. He has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs across the country to discuss his news stories and current events and has appeared on TV networks such as CNN, Fox News, Fox Business Network, and various Chicago-based news programs. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is the owner and operator of PubliusForum.com. Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
The more hysterical liberals become about Russia, the more your antennae should go up. Their selective misgivings with Russia are just like their selective alarm with (our ally) Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the nationalist Chinese government, and (our ally) Ngo Dinh Diem, president of South Vietnam.
As explained in lavish detail inTreason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism, liberals instinctively lunge toward treason. They say Putin is a “thug” and a “bully” who kills journalists. Liberals never used to mind Russian leaders killing journalists. Nor millions of scientists, writers, Christians, Jews, kulaks, Ukrainians and so on.
Have you guys heard of the Evil Empire? Now Democrats are hypersensitive to a Russian leader’s flaws?
Liberals were cool with the show trials, the alliance with Hitler, the gulags, the forced starvations, the shooting down of American planes and goose-stepping through Eastern Europe. But that was when the Russian leader was Joseph Stalin or Nikita Khrushchev — not the beast Putin!
Back then, liberals were spying for Stalin (Julius Rosenberg’s code name: “Liberal”), the U.S. president was calling the bloodthirsty dictator “Uncle Joe,” and The New York Times was covering up Stalin’s infamous crimes. In the storied history of fake news, the Times’ Walter Duranty won a Pulitzer Prize for his false reports denying the Ukrainian famine, in which more than 7 million people were deliberately starved to death.
As far as the Times is concerned, those were Russia’s halcyon days!
Back when Russia was actually threatening America with nuclear annihilation, Jimmy Carter warned Americans about their “inordinate fear of communism.” Sting sang that “the Russians love their children, too.” But now liberals are hopping mad with Putin. They could never forgive Russia for giving up communism.
To add insult to injury, Putin embraced the Russian Orthodox Church! This was deeply offensive to fiercely Christophobic liberals.
Russia’s descent into insanity and madness was clear when Putin refused to allow LGBTQ marches through Red Square. For having the same position on gays as Obama did, circa 2008, Russkies were walking on the fighting side of liberals!
Trump’s election victory was the capstone of the left’s rage with Putin. To explain the inexplicable, Putin was made the center of liberals’ axis of evil, the mastermind of a malevolent plot to steal the election from Hillary Clinton. That’s how liberals became born-again John Birchers, seeing Russians under every bed. Now, no fear of Russia is inordinate. The Russians do NOT love their children, too.
We really could have used some of this fighting spirit about 50 years ago when the Soviet Union sought total world domination and Stalin’s spies were crawling through the U.S. government. But back then, liberals were blackening the names of Whittaker Chambers, Richard Nixon and Sen. Joe McCarthy. (Later proved 100 percent correct by the top-secret Venona Project.)
Russia’s loss of the left’s esteem happened very quickly. In 2008, The New York Times editorial page demandedthat Obama “signal to the Russians that he wants better relations,” and complained of the “alarming” deterioration of “Russian-American relations” under Bush.
It was considered the height of statesmanship when Obama was caught on a hot-mic in 2012, telling Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, “This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility. I understand you.”
To hoots of laughter at the Democratic National Convention, Obama said: “You don’t call Russia our number one enemy — not Al-Qaida, Russia — unless you’re still stuck in a Cold War mind warp.”
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow couldn’t contain her hilarity over the GOP offering “an extra bonus of threatening Russia.”
But today, Democrats (and two especially showboating Republicans) are horrified that Trump wants to get along with Russia. Tonight, the threatening evil of Vladamir Putin will be the top issue on Rachel Maddow’s show, assuming she still has a show. (Maybe she can get a copy of Putin’s tax returns!)
When the same people who hailed Stalin as a beloved American ally are happy to threaten Putin with thermonuclear war, we may deduce that the left’s newfound Russia-phobia has some seditious objective. Historically, liberals show their manliness by demanding war with our friends and allies, while methodically undermining America’s ability to fight the wars it’s already in.
The No. 1 enemy of Western civilization today isn’t non-communist Russia. It’s Islam.
And who is a key ally in that fight? Russia has been dealing with these troublesome Muslims for centuries. It was Russian officials who tried in vain to warn our blind, incompetent government about the Boston Marathon bombers.
The left’s hysteria about Russia isn’t just an attempt to delegitimize Trump. It’s the usual Christophobic fifth column rooting for the Islamization of the West.
Commentary by Ann Coulter| Wednesday Mar 15, 2017 2:55 PM
The more hysterical liberals become about Russia, the more your antennae should go up. Their selective misgivings with Russia are just like their selective alarm with (our ally) Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the nationalist Chinese government, and (our ally) Ngo Dinh Diem, president of South Vietnam.
As explained in lavish detail inTreason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism, liberals instinctively lunge toward treason. They say Putin is a “thug” and a “bully”who kills journalists. Liberals never used to mind Russian leaders killing journalists. Nor millions of scientists, writers, Christians, Jews, kulaks, Ukrainians and so on. Have you guys heard of the Evil Empire? Now Democrats are hypersensitive to a Russian leader’s flaws?
Liberals were cool with the show trials, the alliance with Hitler, the gulags, the forced starvations, the shooting down of American planes and goose-stepping through Eastern Europe. But that was when the Russian leader was Joseph Stalin or Nikita Khrushchev — not the beast Putin! Back then, liberals were spying for Stalin (Julius Rosenberg’s code name: “Liberal”), the U.S. president was calling the bloodthirsty dictator “Uncle Joe,”and The New York Times was covering up Stalin’s infamous crimes. In the storied history of fake news, the Times’ Walter Duranty won a Pulitzer Prize for his false reports denying the Ukrainian famine, in which more than 7 million people were deliberately starved to death. As far as the Times is concerned, those were Russia’s halcyon days!
Back when Russia was actually threatening America with nuclear annihilation, Jimmy Carter warned Americans about their “inordinate fear of communism.”Sting sang that “the Russians love their children, too.” But now liberals are hopping mad with Putin. They could never forgive Russia for giving up communism.
To add insult to injury, Putin embraced the Russian Orthodox Church! This was deeply offensive to fiercely Christophobic liberals. Russia’s descent into insanity and madness was clear when Putin refused to allow LGBTQ marches through Red Square. For having the same position on gays as Obama did, circa 2008, Russkies were walking on the fighting side of liberals!
Trump’s election victory was the capstone of the left’s rage with Putin. To explain the inexplicable, Putin was made the center of liberals’ axis of evil, the mastermind of a malevolent plot to steal the election from Hillary Clinton. That’s how liberals became born-again John Birchers, seeing Russians under every bed. Now, no fear of Russia is inordinate. The Russians do NOT love their children, too.
We really could have used some of this fighting spirit about 50 years ago when the Soviet Union sought total world domination and Stalin’s spies were crawling through the U.S. government. But back then, liberals were blackening the names of Whittaker Chambers, Richard Nixon and Sen. Joe McCarthy. (Later proved 100 percent correct by the top-secret Venona Project.)
Russia’s loss of the left’s esteem happened very quickly. In 2008, The New York Times editorial page demanded that Obama “signal to the Russians that he wants better relations,”and complained of the “alarming” deterioration of “Russian-American relations”under Bush.
It was considered the height of statesmanship when Obama was caught on a hot-mic in 2012, telling Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, “This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility. I understand you.” To hoots of laughter at the Democratic National Convention, Obama said: “You don’t call Russia our number one enemy — not Al-Qaida, Russia — unless you’re still stuck in a Cold War mind warp.”
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow couldn’t contain her hilarity over the GOP offering “an extra bonus of threatening Russia.” But today, Democrats (and two especially showboating Republicans) are horrified that Trump wants to get along with Russia. Tonight, the threatening evil of Vladamir Putin will be the top issue on Rachel Maddow’s show, assuming she still has a show. (Maybe she can get a copy of Putin’s tax returns!)
When the same people who hailed Stalin as a beloved American ally are happy to threaten Putin with thermonuclear war, we may deduce that the left’s newfound Russia-phobia has some seditious objective. Historically, liberals show their manliness by demanding war with our friends and allies, while methodically undermining America’s ability to fight the wars it’s already in.
The No. 1 enemy of Western civilization today isn’t non-communist Russia. It’s Islam.
And who is a key ally in that fight? Russia has been dealing with these troublesome Muslims for centuries. It was Russian officials who tried in vain to warn our blind, incompetent government about the Boston Marathon bombers.
The left’s hysteria about Russia isn’t just an attempt to delegitimize Trump. It’s the usual Christophobic fifth column rooting for the Islamization of the West.
Was a last minute (final week) change in government policy instituted by President Obama meant as a measure to undermine the Trump administration?
That’s the question being asked in the Daily Caller today, after a story in Circa made major headlines early Thursday morning. U.S. officials, who spoke with Circa on the condition that they remain anonymous, explained that a rule change made by the Obama administration just 8 days before leaving office has led to the havoc that we are currently seeing in the intelligence community.
Obama changed the way National Security Agency intelligence is shared 8 days before leaving office, which allows globally intercepted communications to be disseminated across the entire intelligence community.
The change was part of a post-9/11 push by the executive branch to increase intelligence sharing, to ensure that NSA analysts do not miss critically important information. The change is “simply widening the aperture for a larger number of analysts, who will be bound by the existing rules,”the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said at the time.
Obama administration officials also scrambled to spread classified intelligence related to Russian meddling in the 2016 election to as many people within the U.S. government as possible. These officials said they spread the intelligence around to ensure Trump administration officials would not be able to quash the investigation. The officials also fought to keep the related intelligence at a low-classified level, giving more officers access to the raw information.
However as the officials made clear to Circa the people who now have the classified information in their hands don’t actually understand what it is they are reading, seeing, or even saying!
“We have people spouting off who don’t know the difference between FISA surveillance and a wiretap or a counterintelligence probe versus a special prosecutor, and it has hurts our ability to get to the truth and has wrongly created the impression that intelligence officials have a political agenda,” said one source directly familiar with the drama.
The information collected really has nothing to do with Trump or his team, it’s all about Russia, but because of the Obama administration’s meddling, the entire story has become convoluted and the media’s distortion is only making matters worse.While the FBI did briefly monitor one of President Trump’s servers, they found nothing illegal and they most certain did not intercept any emails or phone calls from the Trump team.
Many of the leaks have surfaced since former President Barack Obama in his waning days in office had his intelligence leadership brief a wider than normal audience about the sensitive Russia surveillance. Those leaks have created a false narrative that the FBI has been predominantly focused on Trump ties to Russia, officials said.
In fact, any FBI activity involving the president’s associates or advisers was mostly ancillary to a wider counterintelligence probe into Russian efforts to influence the election or curry favor with U.S. figures, the sources said.
“The (Trump-Russia) narrative in the media hasn’t been our primary focus and mostly involves pieces of information that came in incidentally. We check them out and we move on,” one official said, adding most of the work has involved old-fashioned investigative tactics and not surveillance.
Added another official: “I’ve never seen a case so misrepresented and leaks so damaging to a process that was meant to be conducted in secret so that foreign powers don’t know what we know and people’s reputations aren’t tarnished unfairly.”
When will the media divert their attention from President Trump, who has neither caused nor exacerbated these problems, and look to the real epicenter of our troubles – Barack Obama? All roads lead back to the FORMER President when it comes to the ongoing chaos surrounding Russia, the election, and the intelligence community.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Onan Coca
Onan is the Editor-in-Chief at Liberty Alliance media group. He’s also the managing editor at Eaglerising.com, Constitution.com and the managing partner at iPatriot.com. Onan is a graduate of Liberty University (2003) and earned his M.Ed. at Western Governors University in 2012. Onan lives in Atlanta with his wife and their three wonderful children. You can find his writing all over the web
Image: NYT: Obama WH Rushed to Preserve Russian Hacking Intel / Former President Barack Obama (AP Photo)
White House officials scrambled in the final days of the Obama administration to spread information across the government about Russian meddling in the election — and possible contacts between Trump associates and Russians, The New York Times reported.
The effort was to thwart any future meddling, and to leave a “clear trail of intelligence for government investigators,”the Timesreported.
According to the Times, the information included that from American allies, including the British and the Dutch, describing meetings in European cities between Russian officials — and others close to Russia’s president Vladimir Putin – and Trump associates, the Times reported, citing three unnamed former American officials.
Separately, American intelligence agencies had intercepted communications of Russian officials, some of them within the Kremlin, discussing contacts with Trump associates, the Timesreported.
According to the Times, some people in the Obama White House worried the intelligence could be covered up or destroyed — or its sources exposed — once power changed hands. The Times reported the push by intelligence agencies aimed to process as much raw intelligence as possible into analyses, and to keep the reports at a relatively low level of classification to ensure as wide a readership as possible across the government — and, in some cases, among European allies.
“This allowed the upload of as much intelligence as possible to Intellipedia, a secret wiki used by American intelligence analysts to share information,”the Times reported.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer responded, “The only new piece of information that has come to light is that political appointees in the Obama administration have sought to create a false narrative to make an excuse for their own defeat in the election.” “There continues to be no there, there.”
The FBI is conducting an investigation into Russia meddling in the election, and separately, the House and Senate intelligence committees are conducting their own probes.
FILE: Sen. Susan Collins said on Wednesday she’s open to using a subpoena to investigate Trump’s tax returns for potential connections to Russia. (AP)
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said on Wednesday she’s open to using a subpoena to investigate President Donald Trump’s tax returns for potential connections to Russia. Collins, a Republican who has served as a U.S. senator from Maine since 1997, sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. She appeared on Maine Public radio to talk about issues including the investigation.
Collins was asked if the committee would subpoena Trump, who’s also a Republican. She said she hopes for “voluntary cooperation” but is open to using a subpoena if necessary.
“This is a counter-intelligence operation in many ways. That’s what our committee specializes in,”she said during the radio appearance. “We are used to probing in depth in this area.”
Trump’s refusal to disclose his tax returns is a break with presidential tradition. He has said he would be happy to release them after the completion of an Internal Revenue Service audit. Using a subpoena to get access to the tax returns would be a more aggressive move than members of Congress have taken on the subject so far. House and Senate leaders have thus far shown no interest in taking such a step.
Last week, House Republicans blocked an attempt by Democrats to use an obscure law to obtain the tax returns from the IRS. Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee tried to frame the issue as a matter of national security, questioning whether Trump has any investments in Russia.
Collins also said during the radio appearance that she and other intelligence committee members will call for former national security adviser Michael Flynn to testify before the committee. Flynn resigned following reports that he had misled officials about his contacts with Russia.
Collins said the committee is in the midst of a “broad investigation” about Russian interference and it’s too early to speculate about the results. She touted the “bipartisan” nature of the committee’s probe and pledged: “We will get to the bottom of this.”
Russia has deployed its new cruise missile in an apparent violation of the Reagan-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. (Photo: Smityuk Yuri/ZUMA Press/Newscom)
Almost right out of the gate, the Trump administration is facing its first arms control challenge from Moscow. Russia has reportedly deployed its new cruise missile in an apparent violation of the Reagan-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, in effect since 1988.
The treaty prohibits the possession of ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. Russia’s ground-launched SSC-8 cruise missile has been under development and testing for several years.
Russia initially violated the treaty by testing the missile during Barack Obama’s presidency. Despite becoming aware of this apparent violation, the Obama administration did not take any forceful action to bring Russia back into compliance with the treaty, merely sending President Vladimir Putin a letter of concern in July of 2014. The Obama administration was less than forthcoming in discussing challenges that the treaty violation poses for the United States and its allies. The State Department’s annual compliance reports prior to July 2014 wrongly led Americans to believe there was no reason for concern over the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, even though the missile has reportedly been tested as early as 2008.
The Trump administration must do better.
The missile range limit of 500 kilometers is significant for U.S. allies in Europe situated close to the Russian borders and to Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave that borders Poland and Lithuania. The presence of Russian intermediate-range missiles would considerably complicate any U.S. efforts to defend its allies in the Baltics and Central and Eastern Europe should Russia decide to violate their territorial integrity.
Such a scenario is not as far-fetched as it might seem. Russia has a recent history of violating other nations’ sovereignty and territorial integrity. It also periodically issues nuclear threats against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies and conducts military exercises that simulate nuclear strikes against Poland.
Gen. Philip Breedlove, commander of Supreme Allied Command Europe and of U.S. European Command, said NATO allies are “concerned”over the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty issue and argued that violations “can’t go unanswered.”
For its part, Russia accuses the United States of Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty violations. But Russian accusations are baseless. U.S. missile defense systems do not violate the treaty because the treaty itself contains an exception for them. Neither do U.S. drones violate the treaty, as they are simply not mentioned by the treaty at all.
The Trump administration has a range of options to respond to the Russian treaty violations. Purely diplomatic measures to address the violation first begun during the Obama administration may not be sufficient. Historically, arms control tends to limit how the United States learns about military systems and their interactions in a broader context. This is why terminating the treaty is a viable option.
Currently, Moscow is doing whatever it deems necessary to its strategic interest regardless of the treaty, while the United States continues to abide by it. The administration should not ponder any future arms control initiatives and nuclear weapons reduction agreements at least until this issue is resolved.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Michaela Dodge specializes in missile defense, nuclear weapons modernization and arms control as policy analyst for defense and strategic policy in The Heritage Foundation’s Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies. Read her research.
NEW YORK — Long-simmering tensions between Donald Trump, the press and the intelligence community exploded into the open on Wednesday at the president-elect’s first press conference in six months. About 300 reporters jammed into the narrow, gilded atrium at Trump Tower to hear him reject media reports about intelligence officials investigating whether the Russian government has compromising personal and financial information that it could use against him.
Trump also denied reports alleging that the nation’s top national security officials and some members of Congress are looking into whether key figures in the president-elect’s orbit were in touch with Moscow during the presidential campaign about how to defeat Hillary Clinton and get Trump into the White House.
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Trump’s fury over the reports reached a boiling point about 50 minutes into the hour long press conference, when he compared the leaks to something you would expect to see in “Nazi Germany” — an attack he’d previously made on Twitter. “It’s all fake news, it’s phony stuff, it didn’t happen and it was gotten by opponents of ours and many of the other people, a group of opponents that got together, sick people,”Trump said. “It should never have been released and it’s a disgrace. I think it’s an absolute disgrace.”Ten of the 17 questions at the press conference — Trump’s first since winning the election — were about the disputed reports, his relationship with Russia, the news media or the nation’s intelligence agencies. Trump fielded the questions from behind a lectern next to a table stacked with documents in manila folders that he said were evidence of the legal work he’s undertaking to separate himself from conflicts of interest stemming from his businesses. He was flanked by more than a dozen top aides and allies, including Vice President-elect Mike Pence, incoming press secretary Sean Spicer, senior advisers Stephen Bannon and Kellyanne Conway, longtime confidante Rudy Giuliani and his two adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, who clapped and cheered him on as he vented frustration about the leaks he claimed were coming from top intelligence officials.
“It would be a tremendous blot on their record,”Trump said of the intelligence agencies. “A tremendous blot, because it never should have been written, had or released.”
Trump and his top aides are also furious with Buzzfeed and CNN for publishing the reports. At one point, Trump called Buzzfeed a “failing pile of garbage,”and he later shut down a question from a CNN reporter, accusing him of dealing in “fake news.” The two reports in CNN and Buzzfeed were markedly different.
CNN reported on Tuesday that U.S. officials briefed Trump and President Obama on allegations that the Russian government has compromising personal and financial information about him. It declined to include any details on the specific allegations, which were uncorroborated and came from a former British intelligence agent hired by Trump’s political opponents, who put together a 35-page dossier detailing the allegations.
Buzzfeed published a story that included the specifics from the 35-page dossier, coming under criticism from many in the media in the process. That led Spicer to begin the press conference with a fierce diatribe against both Buzzfeed and CNN. “The fact Buzzfeed and CNN made the decision to run with this unsubstantiated claim is a sad, pathetic attempt to get clicks,” Spicer said. “For all of the talk about fake news, this political witch hunt by some in the media is based on flimsy reporting and is frankly shameful and disgraceful.”
After being shut down by Trump at the press conference, CNN reporter Jim Acosta said that Spicer threatened to throw him out of the press conference if he continued to try asking questions.
Pence followed Spicer at the press conference with another direct attack on the news media. “The irresponsible decision of a few news organizations to run with a false and unsubstantiated report when most news organizations resisted the temptation to propagate this fake news can only be attributed to media bias and an attempt to demean the president-elect and his incoming administration, and the American people are sick and tired of it,”Pence said.
Trump addressed some of the allegations directly.
Trump said he has no business deals in Russia, no deals in the works, and no debt with the nation. He said he reviewed the passport of his lawyer, Michael Cohen, who was said in the report to have travelled to Prague last year. Cohen never made the trip, Trump said.
And Trump addressed some of the report’s more salacious aspects, saying that they couldn’t be true because he always behaves as if he’s secretly being filmed when he’s travelling abroad and that he has a phobia of germs.
Trump also went out of his way to thank the news organizations that he said showed restraint by refusing to run the story or publish the disputed report.
“I want to thank a lot of the news organizations, some of which have not treated me fairly over the years, that came out strongly against that fake news and the fact it was written by primarily one group and one television station,”Trump said. “I have great respect for the news and freedom of the press, but some news organizations were so professional and have just gone up a notch as to what I think.”
Trump has long clashed with the news media, but his issues with the intelligence community have been picking up steam in recent weeks and appear to be coming to a head. Before his classified briefing last Friday, Trump refused to embrace the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia had interfered in the U.S. election by hacking the Democratic National Committee. Trump says that he doesn’t accept the intelligence reports as they’re relayed to him, but rather draws his own conclusions based on raw data he gets at the briefings.
On Wednesday, Trump erupted over what he described as an intelligence community that is leaking damaging information about him in an attempt to undermine his administration. “These meetings are confidential and classified, and it’s a disgrace that information would be let out,” he said.
Cyberattacks by foreign nations had “absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election,” President-elect Donald Trump said in a statement following a briefing by senior intelligence officials on their assessment that Russia hacked the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
While Trump conceded that “Russia, China, other countries, outside groups and people are consistently trying to break through the cyber infrastructure of our governmental institutions, businesses and organizations including the Democrat National Committee,”he stopped short of saying that he believes Russia was the perpetrator of the DNC breach — or that it was an attempt to influence the outcome of the presidential election.
“There were attempts to hack the Republican National Committee, but the RNC had strong hacking defenses and the hackers were unsuccessful,”Trump said in the statement.
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Trump called the meeting “constructive,”noting that he has “tremendous respect for the work and service done by the men and women of this community to our great nation.”
Trump’s reaction to the briefing has been hotly watched as a barometer for whether he will accept the overwhelming conclusion of the intelligence community that Moscow attempted to interfere in the 2016 election. Trump has repeatedly rejected that assessment, treating any such reports as an attack on the legitimacy of his victory. He called the furor over the hacks a “witch hunt” carried out by defeated Democrats in an interview with The New York Times on Friday morning.
He has been outspokenly critical of the intelligence community’s findings, tweeting, “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.”
In a series of tweets this week, he accused intelligence officials of delaying the briefing until Friday in order to build a case against Russia — an allegation rejected by other officials. Trump also appeared to side with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who released stolen emails believed to have been hacked by Russia. Trump noted Assange’s assertions that the emails did not come from Russia, while claiming that anyone could have hacked the DNC.
Senior intelligence officials have said publicly that there is no way to judge the impact of the hacks on the final vote tally. Trump noted in his statement that there was no tampering with physical voting machines.
“They didn’t change any vote tallies,”Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told lawmakers Thursday.
“We have no way of gauging the impact that — certainly the intelligence community can’t — the choices that the electorate made. There’s no way for us to gauge,”Clapper said.
Trump’s statement also called for the U.S. to do more to combat cyberattacks, saying that he will appoint a team to provide “a plan”within 90 days of his inauguration.
“The methods, tools and tactics we use to keep America safe should not be a public discussion that will benefit those who seek to do us harm,”he said.
The White House is imminently expected to release a declassified version of a recently completed intelligence report into Russian interference. President Obama received the full, classified version of the document Thursday and the so-called Gang of Eight in Congress reviewed it Friday. The public version could be released as soon as Friday afternoon.
The Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, has been shot while speaking at an art exhibit in the Turkish capital of Ankara.
Hurriyet quotes the Russian embassy saying it believes “radical Islamists” were behind the attack, and notes that Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu is due in Moscow tomorrow for talks on the Syrian crisis with Russia and Iran.
CNN Turk is running a photo that appears to show the gunman:
Update, 11:40 EST: Russia’s TASS news agency reports the exhibit Karlov was speaking at was a photo exhibit called “Russia in the Eyes of Turks.”The perpetrator is said to have fired shots in the air and shouted “Get out!”at the crowd.
Hurriyet Daily News had a reporter on the scene who confirmed the crowd ran after the gunman fired in the air, then Karlov was shot.
Update, 11:45 EST: According to Ragip Soylu, a reporter for the generally pro-Erdogan Daily Sabah, the attacker bypassed security by showing a police ID badge, and shouted something about Aleppo and Syria before he opened fire. More specifically, he is said to have shouted, “We die in Aleppo, you die here.”
Soylu also reports Karlov was shot “four or five times.” He has posted a photo that may be of the attacker, although noting this has not been confirmed by the authorities as yet:
The unconfirmed picture of the gunman in Ankara attack who targeted the Russian Ambassador pic.twitter.com/LEkcZdws2c
Update, 11:55 EST: An Associated Press photographer who was in the auidence reports the gunman shouted “Allahu akbar!” before opening fire, as well as saying something in Russian, and fired at least eight shots. Karlow was several minutes into his prepared remarks before the attack began.
Turkish media is reporting that the gunman has been neutralized. CNN Turk is reporting that special forces entered the building and ended a “brief hostage situation.”
Another photo of the gunman in action:
Update, 12:00 EST: The gunman has reportedly been killed by Turkish security forces:
Update, 12:05 EST: Turkish media are reporting that Ambassador Karlov has died of his wounds.
Update, 12:15 EST: Daily Sabah’s Ragip Soylu has posted video of the gunman during the attack:
Although the identity of the shooter has not been confirmed at the time of this writing, there have been claims he really was a plainclothes policeman, and possibly even a member of the Ambassador’s security detail.
Update, 12:20 EST: Russian President Vladimir Putin is meeting with his Foreign Minister and the heads of Russian security services about the attack. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said the Russians were in contact with Turkish authorities.
Hurriyet Daily News has updated its report to quote the attacker shouting to the crowd, “I will not leave here alive, do not approach me.”
Update, 12:25 EST: Chilling video of the attack as it happened:
Update, 12:45 EST: Turkish media are reporting that the gunman has been identified as 22-year-old Mevlut Mert Altintas, a serving police officer in the Ankara special operations unit.
His cries during the assassination have been translated, according to a report at Business Insider. At first, he shouted in Arabic: “We’ve made an oath to Mohammed to die in martyrdom, [it is] revenge for Syria and Aleppo.”
Altintas then switched to Turkish and shouted, “Don’t forget Aleppo. Don’t forget Syria… You won’t be safe. Only my dead body will leave here.”
He was described as speaking Turkish with an “educated, Istanbul accent” with “no trace of foreign accent, Arab or otherwise.”
Update, 12:55 EST: Below is a better-quality video of the assassin’s rant after shooting the ambassador. More explicit videos capturing the moment of the shooting have also been posted; one such video can be found here. (WARNING: graphic content.)
Update, 13:15 EST: The BBC quotes Turkish security sources who confirmed the assassin was a police officer, but they claimed he was off-duty when he attacked.
“We condemn this act of violence, whatever its source. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family,”said U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby, while U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power took to Twitter to “strongly condemn the savage attack.”
“I condemn in the strongest terms the heinous attack on Ambassador Karlov tonight,”said the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, John Bass.
“Shocked to hear of despicable murder of Russia’s Ambassador to Turkey. My thoughts are with his family. I condemn this cowardly attack,”said British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.
Update, 13:20 EST: According to a report from Turkey’s Andalou Agency, Andrey Gennadyevich Karlov was born in Moscow in 1954. He graduated from Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1976, and then from the Diplomatic Academy in 1992. He has been Russia’s ambassador to Turkey since July 2013. He was married, and has a son.
Update, 13:30 EST: A reporter for Russia Today offers a different account of the jihadi’s status with the Turkish police than what we’ve been hearing until now:
RT.com also reports that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin by telephone after the assassination.
Another remarkable, chilling image from Ankara: Ambassador Karlov looking at a painting in the art gallery, while his killer looms out-of-focus in the background behind him.
Update, 13:45 EST: Statement from the Turkish embassy in Russia, as related by Russia’s TASS news agency: “An inhumane tragedy occurred today with our distinguished colleague Andrey Karlov. There is no person in their right mind who would not condemn this evil act. We grieve with all our hearts. We bring our deepest condolences to the people of Russia. This is our shared pain and loss.”
Some unredacted photos of the dead gunman have emerged. (WARNING: very graphic image of bloodshed at the link.)
Update, 13:50 EST: According to Middle East Monitor, Ambassador Karlov “had been part of discussions between Turkey that led to an evacuation of east Aleppo getting underway late last week.”
Social media accounts linked to ISIS and al-Qaeda are reportedly celebrating the assassination, even though neither organization has formally claimed Altintas as a member.
Update, 14:05 EST: Statement from National Security Council spokesman Ned Price at the White House on the assassination in Ankara:
“The United States condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attack this morning in Kayseri, Turkey, which killed more than a dozen people and wounded many more. This cowardly attack appears to have targeted off-duty Turkish soldiers who were traveling on a public transit bus that was also transporting civilians. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims, their families and loved ones, and to all the people of Turkey. As President Obama told President Erdogan in their phone call on December 15, we stand united with Turkey, our NATO Ally, in our determination to confront and defeat all forms of terrorism.”
Update, 14:30 EST: There have been some accusations in Turkey that Altintas carried out his attack at the behest of Fethullah Gulen, the exiled cleric currently living in Pennsylvania who has been accused of masterminding the July coup attempt against President Erdogan. Turkey has been pressing the United States to extradite Gulen.
Perhaps the most prominent voice to openly accuse Gulen of involvement in the Karlov assassination thus far is Melih Gokcek, the mayor of Ankara.
“Russian Ambassador to Turkey got attacked basely. The only goal of this assassination is to ruin the relationship between Russia and Turkey,”Gokcek said on Twitter, as related by the UK Express. “Turkish and Russian officials will definitely find whoever responsible from this attack. But it is for sure, the ones who were responsible for downing of Russian Jet in the past, are responsible for this attack as well.”
This was a reference to the downing of a Russian warplane along Turkey’s border with Syria last November. Erdogan has accused the Turkish pilots who shot down the Russian plane of being linked to Gulen’s organization.
“Assailant is a policeman. According to what I have heard, he is a FETO member. The slogans of the assailant are just perception management,”Gokcek added. FETO stands for “Fethullah Terrorist Organization,”the Turkish government’s name for Fethullah Gulen’s followers.
The Express notes that Gokcek has a history of floating conspiracy theories, including an accusation that the British BBC news service was complicit in the terrorist bombing of Istanbul earlier this month. However, he’s not the only source for the theory that Altintas was a Gulenist.
Update, 14:45 EST: The mother and sister of gunman Mevlut Mert Altintas have reportedly been detained in the southwestern province of Aydin. Another report from Turkey says Altintas’ home has been searched, and his roommate has also been detained, as well as his father.
Update, 16:15 EST: Reuters quotes a senior security official in Turkey who said there are “very strong signs” the gunman belonged to Gulen’s organization.
Russian to President Obama – It’s Time to Put Up or Shut Up. The Russian government is challenging President Obama to prove that Russian hackers broke into the emails of top Democrats, or to stop talking about it.
“They should either stop talking about that or produce some proof at last. Otherwise, it all begins to look unseemly,”
CNN reported a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin slammed Obama’s statement in an interview with NPR that the U.S. would retaliate against Russia “at a time and place of our choosing.”
Dmitry Peskov said the U.S. was behaving poorly by making these accusations. “They should either stop talking about that or produce some proof at last. Otherwise, it all begins to look unseemly,” Peskov said, according to Russian state news.
The Obama administration has consistently blamed Russia for hacking into the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton campaign manager John Podesta’s emails during the election.
Those reports from the intelligence committee have been summarily dismissed by President-elect Trump, who sees claims of Russian interference as an attack on the legitimacy of his election victory. On Friday, Trump mocked the information that was revealed in the hacks and has so far refused to condemn them.
In recent days, calls have grown louder for the U.S. government to provide what proof it has that Russia is behind the attacks. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle were disturbed on Thursday after the leaders of intelligence agencies canceled a briefing to the House Select Committee on Intelligence.
President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks to the media on the situation in Iraq on the South Lawn of the White House, before his departure for vacation at Martha’s Vineyard, in Washington August 9, 2014. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
Hundreds of foreigners are expected to enter America within the next month in order to observe the American electoral process. The United States sends representatives to other nations with dubious democratic processes to survey the voting systems and look for fraudulent practices. But now it seems that America is the one being inspected and scrutinized.
With the help of President Barack Obama, the Organization of American States (OAS) will send roughly 30 to 40 spectators to polling locations across the country for the first time ever, according to The Washington Post. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has been consigning a small contingent of bystanders to U.S. elections since 2002, but this time it plans to send extra reinforcements.
The OAS is an intercontinental association that includes nations and sovereign states from North, Central and South America. Like the OAS, the OSCE is an international bureaucracy, but with mainly European members, including Russia.
Yury Melnik, a spokesperson for the Russian Embassy in Washington, told The Post that Russia is interested in sending officials to watch Americans cast their ballots.
Countries coming to monitor the American electoral process justify intervention because of external skepticism in the integrity of elections, likely stemming from new voter registration laws passed by states and vulnerability of some voting equipment to hacking.
FBI Director James Comey said in September concerning Russia and other possible evildoers, that any would-be hack of U.S. elections would encounter great difficulty, since the system “is clunky as heck.”
While stumping in Ohio, Donald Trump told a crowd in August that he was “afraid” the election in November is “going to be rigged.”
“So I hope you people can, sort of, not just vote on the 8th, go around and look and watch other polling places and make sure that it’s 100 percent fine,”Trump told a crowd of American supporters, not international officials.
“We are not policeman,”Audrey Glover, an ambassador from Britain who is heading the OSCE mission in America, told The Post. “We would not interfere. We would not intervene. We would observe, and record if we see anything untoward happening.”
This sort of international probing can be interpreted as a shot to American sovereignty, or at least a sign of distrust in the overarching democratic principles and practices the country cherishes and exercises.
Both member states and even Obama seem to want to reestablish confidence they feel may be diminished.
Before the elections in 2012, the state of Texas and Obama’s Department of State (DoS) got into a battle over the same issue. The United Nations-backed OSCE sent observers to monitor the elections in the state, and Victoria Nuland, a representative for DoS, said that these onlookers would be immune from state law, according to the Inquisitr.
The OSCE “is under the misimpression that the State Department can somehow help its representatives circumvent the Texas Election Code. Texas law prohibits unauthorized persons from entering a polling place — or loitering within 100 feet of a polling place’s entrance — on Election Day. OSCE monitors are expected to follow that law like everyone else,” Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott warned then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration.
Francisco Javier Guerrero, the OAS secretary for the strengthening of democracy told The Post that the latest invitation from the Obama administration is a sign that it is willing to be the inspected and not just the inspector.
“The United States has never done it before,”Guerrero said. “But of course, this is a unique election.”
“We’re eager to contribute to the United States,”he continued. “We feel we can give a different point of view.”
Turkey is trying to conceal its illegal military activity on the border with Syria and has canceled an agreed Russian observation flight over its territory because of that, Russia’s Defense Ministry said. “Such steps carried out by a country, which is a NATO member state, in no way contribute to the strengthening of trust and security in Europe,” Major General Igor Konashenkov, Defense Ministry spokesman, told the journalists at briefing in Moscow.
Konashenkov called the cancelation of the Russian observation flight over Turkish territory “a dangerous precedent and an attempt to conceal illegal military activity near the border with Syria.”
The violation of the Open Skies Treaty by Ankara won’t go without a proper response from Moscow, he said. Konashenkov also said Russia has boosted all kinds of intelligence and surveillance activities in the Middle East.
“So if someone in Ankara thinks that the cancelation of the flight by the Russian observers will enable hiding something then they’re unprofessional.”
The spokesman reminded that 32 foreign observation flights took place in Russian air space in 2015, in accordance with the treaty, with four of them carried out by Turkish observers. The earlier agreed observation flight over Turkish territory was canceled on February 3, after Russian experts revealed the route, which would have included airfields and areas near the Turkish-Syrian border.
The spokesman recalled that Moscow had previously provided the international community with irrefutable video evidence of Turkish artillery firing on Syrian populated areas in the north of Latakia Province. Turkey is also supplying manpower and weaponry to terrorists in the Syrian cities of Idlib and Aleppo, Konashenkov said.
The spokesman showed the media a photo of the Reyhanli checkpoint, saying that “through this very border crossing – mainly at nighttime – the militants, who seized the city of Aleppo and Idlib in northwestern Syria, are being supplied with arms and fighters from the Turkish territory.”
The terrorists in northern Syria are suffering losses and retreating to the Turkish border, the Defense Ministry spokesman said. According to Konashenkov, terrorist commanders have made major efforts to evacuate injured fighters and regain control of their units.
Russia still hasn’t received any data from Turkey concerning the alleged incident with the Russian warplane, which Ankara accused of violating its airspace, Konashenkov said.
“Just a few minutes ago, another Turkish official said the data was passed to Moscow… No materials were passed to us by either military or diplomatic channels,”he stressed.
The spokesman said that false statements from the Turkish side “once again confirm that the whole story of the alleged violation of Turkish airspace was made up and is a poorly-orchestrated provocation.”
Turkey claimed that a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber violated its airspace on January 29, which was immediately denied by Moscow.
Relations between Russia and Turkey have been strained since November 24 last year, when Turkish Air Force downed a Russian Su-24 bomber for allegedly violating its airspace. The incident, in which one Russian pilot was killed, saw Moscow imposing a set of sanctions on Turkey and boosting the security of its Khmeimim airbase in Syria with S-400 missile systems.
Russian aviation has been carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), Al-Nusra Front and other terrorist groups in Syria since September 30 at the request of President Bashar Assad. The Russian Air Force carried out 237 sorties and hit nearly 900 terrorist targets in Syria on February 1-4, Konashenkov said. The airstrikes took place on Aleppo, Latakia, Homs, Hama and Deir ez- Zor provinces.
How is Barack Obama going to get out of this one? On Tuesday, the Russian military produced an impressive array of evidence that clearly shows that ISIS oil is being smuggled into Turkey on an industrial scale. The evidence included photographs taken by satellite and during aerial reconnaissance missions. What the Russians have shown the world is extremely compelling, and it raises some very disturbing questions. First of all, how involved is the Turkish government in all of this? There is no way in the world that a endless parade of trucks carrying ISIS oil could have marched through Turkish border checkpoints without the cooperation of the central government. Secondly, what did Obama know and when did he know it? The U.S. military has far better surveillance capabilities than the Russians do, and so it seems absolutely absurd to suggest that Obama didn’t know what was going on.
This new Russian evidence was presented to the world by Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov, and he says that “thousands of oil trucks” have been going back and forth over the Turkish border…
According to Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov, Russia is aware of three main oil smuggling routes to Turkey.
“Today, we are presenting only some of the facts that confirm that a whole team of bandits and Turkish elites stealing oil from their neighbors is operating in the region,” Antonov said, adding that this oil “in large quantities” enters the territory of Turkey via “live oil pipelines,” consisting of thousands of oil trucks.
But Antonov didn’t stop there. He went on to publicly accuse President Erdogan of Turkey and his family of running the entire operation…
“Turkey is the main consumer of the oil stolen from its rightful owners, Syria and Iraq. According to information we’ve received, the senior political leadership of the country – President Erdogan and his family – are involved in this criminal business,” said Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov.
“Maybe I’m being too blunt, but one can only entrust control over this thieving business to one’s closest associates.”
“In the West, no one has asked questions about the fact that the Turkish president’s son heads one of the biggest energy companies, or that his son-in-law has been appointed energy minister. What a marvelous family business!”
“The cynicism of the Turkish leadership knows no limits. Look what they’re doing. They went into someone else’s country, they are robbing it without compunction,” Antonov said.
During his presentation, Antonov gave us a lot of specifics. He even claimed that the Russians know precisely where much of this stolen oil ends up. The following comes from an Infowars report…
“The western route goes to Turkish ports on the Mediterranean coast, the north—to the refinery Batman in Turkey and the east—to the largest transshipment base in the village of Cizre,” the Russian Ministery of Defense web page states.
Oil from fields near the Syrian city of Raqqa—said to be the capital city of the Islamic State—is transported at night through the border town of Azaz, Syria and Reyhanli, Turkey to the port of Iskenderun and Dörtyol where the stolen oil is loaded on tankers.
The Russians claim the convoys are under the control of al-Nusra, the terror group funded by the Gulf Emirates and that cooperates with the Islamic State and supposed moderates in the Free Syrian Army.
Posted below is one of the charts that Antonov used during his presentation. As you can see, the Russians are not just making “vague accusations”…
If you would like to watch video of Antonov’s entire presentation, you can do so right here. What Antonov is saying in the video has been translated into English, so you will be able to understand it.To me, one of the most striking things about the presentation was when Antonov accused the Turks of supplying fighters, ammunition and vehicles to ISIS and Al-Nusra. The following comes from an RT article…
Up to 2,000 fighters, 120 tons of ammunition and 250 vehicles have been delivered to Islamic State and Al-Nusra militants from Turkish territory, chief of National Centre for State Defense Control Lt.Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev said.
“According to reliable intelligence reports, the Turkish side has been taking such actions for a long time and on a regular basis. And most importantly, it is not planning to stop them.”
If any of these allegations are true, Turkey should be immediately kicked out of NATO.
And if Barack Obama knew about any of this and refused to stop it, he should be facing impeachment proceedings.
For the moment, the official position of the U.S. government is that nothing that the Russians are saying is true…
Following Russian accusations, the US has again defended Turkey, denying any ties between Ankara and Islamic State.
“We flatly reject any notion that the Turks are somehow working with ISIL. Preposterous. And really very, kind of ridiculous,” Steve Warren, Pentagon spokesman, said.
Really?
As an American, I am utterly embarrassed that our “leaders” would continue to try to deny what Turkey is doing after everything that has come out. By flat out lying to the world, we are losing any credibility that we had left.
No wonder why most people over in Iraq are convinced that the U.S. is actually on the same side as ISIS. They don’t trust anything that we have to say anymore. The following comes from the Washington Post…
Ordinary people also have seen the videos, heard the stories and reached the same conclusion — one that might seem absurd to Americans but is widely believed among Iraqis — that the United States is supporting the Islamic State for a variety of pernicious reasons that have to do with asserting U.S. control over Iraq, the wider Middle East and, perhaps, its oil.
“It is not in doubt,” said Mustafa Saadi, who says his friend saw U.S. helicopters delivering bottled water to Islamic State positions. He is a commander in one of the Shiite militias that last month helped push the militants out of the oil refinery near Baiji in northern Iraq alongside the Iraqi army.
The Islamic State is “almost finished,” he said. “They are weak. If only America would stop supporting them, we could defeat them in days.”
If we are going to continue to lie about the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of stolen oil that has been smuggled into Turkey, why should anyone believe anything else that we have to say? The Obama administration and the Turkish government have been caught in a massive, massive lie. In the end, this is the kind of scandal that could potentially bring down the Obama administration, leaders in Congress, and many among the top brass in the U.S. military.
So what do you think about this emerging scandal?
About Michael Snyder
Michael T. Snyder is a graduate of the University of Florida law school and he worked as an attorney in the heart of Washington D.C. for a number of years. Today, Michael is best known for his work as the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog. Michael and his wife, Meranda, believe that a great awakening is coming and are working hard to help bring renewal to America. Michael is also the author of the book The Beginning Of The End
Russia has expanded its military operations in Syria to include a second airbase as well as other posts, according to a U.S. official briefed on the latest intelligence from the region – even as President Obama expresses muted optimism that Russian President Vladimir Putin eventually will “shift” his strategy and work with the West. Moscow’s presence has grown to a total of four forward operating bases, including recently added bases in Hama and Tiyas. But the most concerning to the Pentagon is the second airbase in Shayrat which can support fixed-wing aircraft, greatly expanding Russia’s capability for airstrikes, which began on Sept. 30.
“The Russians are operating helicopters out of Shayrat airport, but they are making [preparations] to land fixed-wing aircraft,”another U.S. official confirmed to Fox News.
Shayrat is located 25 miles outside of the Syrian city of Homs, an hour drive from neighboring Lebanon.
Since September, Russia has based its warplanes and helicopters at Basel al-Assad airbase in Latakia, one of the last remaining Assad strongholds along the Mediterranean coast. While the Pentagon cannot confirm any Russian military jets have landed at Shayrat, there are reports Russia has landed aircraft in the past few hours.
Russia’s two other forward operating bases are used to land its attack helicopters employed to defend the Assad regime against Syrian rebels. But when asked if the move to expand to a second airbase was defensive in nature in case Syrian rebels succeed in destroying the Latakia base, one of the U.S. officials pushed back.
“This is an expansion, not a defensive move at all,”the official said. He said Syrian rebels were nowhere close to taking the Russian airbase in Latakia.
The expansion comes as Russia spars with other world powers over its Syria approach.
While the Obama administration is trying to persuade Moscow to focus its efforts on taking out Islamic State targets, Russia is known to be targeting U.S.-backed rebels tasked with weakening the Russia-backed Assad regime. Obama acknowledged this during a press conference Tuesday, while also voicing hope that Russia at some point will cooperate.
While Russia’s military involvement has stoked tensions with the U.S., it has led to a direct confrontation with Turkey. One Russian Su-24 strike aircraft was shot down by Turkey last week – and on Monday, the U.S. State Department for the first time publicly backed Turkey’s claims that the Russian warplane had entered Turkish airspace.
A Russian Mi-8 transport helicopter then sent to rescue the downed pilots was destroyed with a U.S.-made TOW anti-tank missiles by Syrian rebels. After those incidents, the Russians now have 31 warplanes and 15 helicopters – thought to be at Latakia.
Obama, discussing Putin’s calculations, said Tuesday that the situation in Syria is “not the outcome he is looking for.”
But critics will point to Russia’s expanding influence – not just in the Middle East but in eastern Ukraine, since Russia annexed Crimea and sent troops into eastern Ukraine to support a separatist movement in 2014. The Obama administration had vowed to isolate Russia over the incident.
Obama said in October he does not want a proxy war in Russia, but the CIA’s arming of rebels in Syria and Russia’s airstrikes indicates the U.S. is already engaged in one.
A senior defense official also said Turkey was “really pissed” when Russia bombed Turkmen rebels fighting Assad in Syria, ethnically tied to Turkey, and warned Russia on multiple occasions not to invade its airspace before shooting down the Russian Su-24 last week.
Obama, speaking in Paris Tuesday, alluded to the different sides the United States and Russia have taken in Syria’s civil war.
“So long as they are aligned with the regime, a lot of Russian resources will be targeted at opposition groups that will be part of an inclusive government that we support,”he said.
Lucas Tomlinson is the Pentagon and State Department producer for Fox News Channel. You can follow him on Twitter: @LucasFoxNews
TEL AVIV – As Russia’s Caspian Sea fleet launched precision-guided cruise missiles at Syrian rebel positions, a Chinese naval vessel continued to loom menacingly in the background, maintaining its presence in the Mediterranean Sea amid Chinese denials that the People’s Liberation Army will enter the Syrian conflict.
A Middle Eastern defense official affirmed the Chinese military ship is located a short trip of several “hours” from the Syrian coast. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that while China’s intentions are unclear, the vessel’s presence is well known to Middle Eastern and Persian Gulf countries as well as to the U.S. and Russia.
The official said that China is reluctant to directly intervene in Syria or approach Syrian waters unless the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad formally requests the assistance of Chinese military advisers.
Even then, China may only take on an advisory role and not carry out military missions alongside the Russians and Syrians, the official said.
Reconfirming informationreported by WND last month, the official said another option being discussed is for the Russian government to make a public gesture toward requesting the Chinese presence.
A Syrian regime source confirmed knowledge of the Chinese vessel and said no decision has been made by Assad’s regime about requesting any Chinese assistance in fighting the years-long insurgency led by Middle East rebels.
Publicly, China has maintained a detached posture toward the Syrian conflict.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at the U.N. Security Council last week that “the international community cannot look on without lifting a finger, but also ought not to interfere arbitrarily.”
“A political resolution for the Syrian crisis is the fundamental way out,” he added.
And Zhang Junshe, a senior researcher at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute, was quoted by the Chinese Global Times tabloid last week calling reports of a Chinese warship advancing toward Syria “purely rumors.”
Junshe was speaking about the Chinese 152 Fleet, which recently finished an escort mission and in August embarked on a five-month tour to take the fleet from the Gulf of Aden to the Mediterranean Sea and the Baltic Sea.
Junshe said the fleet’s mission was planned before Russia started to act in Syria.
The Middle Eastern defense official who spoke to WND denied a report from Debka.com, a private website headquartered in Israel, claiming the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning-CV-16 has docked at the Syrian port of Tartus, accompanied by a guided-missile cruiser.
The Debka report prompted the chatter about China entering the Syria conflict as did the Lebanese English language website Al-Masdar Al-Arabi, which two weeks ago quoted a senior Syrian Army officer stationed in Latakia as saying “the Chinese will be arriving in the coming weeks” and will join the Russian military there.
On Wednesday, acting from 1,000 miles away in the Caspian Sea, the Russian navy bombarded Syrian rebel positions. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced at a televised briefing that Russian ships launched 26 cruise missiles in Syria, destroying 11 targets.
The Washington Post reported the naval strikes represented the first known operational use of state-of-the-art SSN-30A Kalibr cruise missiles.
Russian President Vladimir Putin boasted the strikes showed the professionalism of Russia’s military.
“We know how difficult it is to carry out this kind of anti-terrorist operation,”Putin said. “Of course, it is early to draw conclusions. But what has been done so far deserves a highly positive assessment.”
The Russian missiles traversed Iranian and Iraqi airspace, demonstrating clear coordination with both countries.
Iraq announced last week week it recently established an intelligence-sharing platform with the Russians, Syrians and Iranians.
The intelligence coordination could jeopardize U.S. security, because the U.S. maintains its own intelligence-sharing channels with Iraq.
The Russian strikes were backed up by a massive Syrian ground campaign, Gen. Ali Abdullah Ayoub, chief of the General Staff of the Army and Armed Forces, told Syria’s SANA state-run media agency.
The agency further reported that following the Russian missile salvo “hundreds of of terrorists were confirmed dead, and tens of armored vehicles, two Grad rocket launchers and a huge ammunition depot were destroyed as a result of the airstrikes.”
Senior U.S. military leaders and defense officials are debating whether military force should be used to protect Washington-backed Syrian rebels who have come under attack by Russian airstrikes in recent days. The Associated Press reported early Friday that the question was part of a broader debate within the Pentagon about the the broader dilemma of how the administration should respond to what White House press secretary Josh Earnest described as Russia’s “indiscriminate military operations against the Syrian opposition.”
Tensions between the U.S. and Russia are escalating over Russian airstrikes that are serving to strengthen Syrian President Bashar Assad by targeting the so-called “moderate” rebels rather than hitting Islamic State (ISIS) fighters it promised to attack.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry says Ankara and its allies in the U.S.-led coalition are calling on Russia to immediately cease attacks on the Syrian opposition and to focus on fighting Islamic State militants.
Meanwhile, a joint statement by the United States, France, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Britain expressed concern over Russia’s military actions, saying they will “only fuel more extremism and radicalization.” The text of the statement was released by the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Friday, and confirmed by the French Foreign Ministry.
The Pentagon on Thursday had its first conversation with Russian officials in an effort to avoid any unintended U.S.-Russian confrontations as the airstrikes continue in the skies over Syria. During the video call, Elissa Slotkin, who represented the U.S. side, expressed America’s concerns that Russia is targeting areas where there are few if any ISIS forces operating. Slotkin is the acting assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs.
A key concern is the prospect of the U.S. and Russia getting drawn into a shooting war in the event that Russian warplanes hit moderate Syrian rebels who have been trained and equipped by the U.S. military.
At U.N. headquarters in New York, Secretary of State John Kerry said: “What is important is Russia has to not be engaged in any activities against anybody but ISIL. That’s clear. We have made that very clear.”
“We are not yet where we need to be to guarantee the safety and security”of those carrying out the airstrikes, he said.
In an interview late Thursday on CBS’s “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Kerry described the military consultations as “a way of making sure that planes aren’t going to be shooting at each other and making things worse.”
“What is happening is a catastrophe, a human catastrophe really unparalleled in modern times,”Kerry said of the Syrian crisis, adding that Russia should help the United States “persuade Assad to be the saver of his country, not the killer of his country.”
U.S. officials made it clear earlier this year that rebels trained by the U.S. would receive air support in the event they are attacked by either IS or Syrian government troops. Currently, only about 80 U.S.-trained Syrian rebels are back in Syria fighting with their units.
The U.S. policy is very specific. It doesn’t address a potential attack by Russian planes and does not include Syrian rebels who have not been through the U.S. military training, even though they may be aligned with the U.S. or fighting Islamic State militants.
So far, the Russian airstrikes have been in western Syria. The Syrians trained and equipped by the U.S. have primarily been operating in the north.
U.S. officials said the issue is one of many being hashed out by top leaders within the department and the military’s Joint Staff. One official said they are weighing the potential fallout.
At worst, if Russia bombs rebels trained by the U.S. and American fighter jets intercede to protect the Syrians, the exchange could trigger an all-out confrontation with Russia — a potential disaster the administration would like to avoid.
Fueling the concerns is the fact that Russia has aircraft in Syria with air-to-air combat capacity, even though ISIS has no air force and the only aircraft in the skies belong to U.S.-led coalition or the Syrian government.
Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook would not provide details of the talks with Russia. But much of the discussion involved proposals for avoiding conflict between U.S. and Russian aircraft flying over Syria.
Kerry said he foresees further consultations with the Russians about air operations. And Cook said the U.S. side proposed using specific international radio frequencies for distress calls by military pilots flying in Syrian airspace, but he was not more specific about that or other proposals.
Russia’s defense ministry said that over the past 24 hours it had damaged or destroyed 12 targets in Syria belonging to the ISIS fighters, including a command center and ammunition depots. A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, Col. Steve Warren, said he had no indication that the Russians had hit Islamic State targets.
“While there is always danger of conflict, of inadvertent contact” between coalition and Russian warplanes, “we are continuing with our operations,”Warren told reporters at the Pentagon.
Now that Russia has officially begun conducting airstrikes on anti-regime forces operating in Syria, commentators, pundits, and analysts around the world will be keen to compare and contrast the results of Moscow’s efforts with the year-old US-led air campaign against ISIS targets in Syria and Iraq.
Clearly, Russia has a very real incentive to ensure that its airstrikes are effective.
Preserving the global balance of power means preserving the Assad regime and, by extension, ensuring that Iran maintains its regional influence.
On the other hand, the US and its regional allies actually have an incentive to ensure that their airstrikes are minimally effective. That is, for the US, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, the idea is not to kill Frankenstein, but rather to ensure that he doesn’t escape the lab.
As we documented earlier today, Russia wasted no time launching strikes against anti-regime targets once the country’s lawmakers gave the official go-ahead and the West wasted no time accusing Russia of breaking protocol by targeting “modetrate” Syrian rebels (like al-Qeada) that aren’t aligned with ISIS.
It’s against that backdrop that we present the following footage released by the Russain Ministry of Defense which depicts the opening salvo in The Kremlin’s battle against terrorism in the Middle East (note the vehicle traveling towards the compound at a particularly inopportune time towards the end).
And predictably, Western media reports regarding civilian casualties and Russia’s alleged targeting of “moderate” rebels (as opposed to ISIS) were countered by Moscow’s sharp-tongued spokeswoman and US foreign policy critic extraordinaire Maria Zakharova.
Russia has struck eight Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) targets in Syria, the country’s Defense Ministry said, adding that “civilian infrastructure” was avoided during the operations.
“Today, Russian aerospace force jets delivered pinpoint strikes on eight ISIS terror group targets in Syria. In total, 20 flights were made,” spokesperson for the Russian Defense Ministry, Igor Konashenkov, said.
“As a result, arms and fuel depots and military equipment were hit. ISIS coordination centers in the mountains were totally destroyed,” he added.
Konashenkov said that all the flights took place after air surveillance and careful verification of the data provided by the Syrian military. He stressed that Russian jets did not target any civilian infrastructure and avoided these territories.
“Russian jets did not use weapons on civilian infrastructure or in its vicinity,” he said.
Reuters reported that Russia targeted opposition rebel groups in Homs province instead of Islamic State forces. The agency cited Syrian opposition chief Khaled Khoja, who put the death toll of the bombardment at 36 civilians.
“Russia is intending not to fight ISIL [Islamic State], but to prolong the life of [Syrian President Bashar] Assad,” Khoja said.
Similar claims were made by the BBC, Fox News, Al Jazeera and numerous other news outlets.
Moscow harshly criticized the reports, labeling them an information war.
“Russia didn’t even begin its operation against Islamic State… Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov didn’t even utter his first words at the UN Security Council, but numerous reports already emerged in the media that civilians are dying as a result of the Russian operation and that it’s aimed at democratic forces in the country (Syria),” Maria Zakharova, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, told media.
Maria Zakharova, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman
“It’s all an information attack, a war, of which we’ve heard so many times,” she added.
Zakharova also said that she was amazed by the scale and speed of what she called “info injections” into social networks such as “photos of alleged victims” that appeared on the web as soon as the Russian operation began.
“What can I say? We all know perfectly how such pictures are made,” she said, remembering a Hollywood flick ‘Wag the Dog,’ which described the US media reporting on a fake war in Albania.
For those who missed it, see here for our assessment of the Western media’s take on the first round of Russian airstrikes (and by the way we, like Maria, were surprised at how quickly the propaganda machinekicked into high gear). Here is the bottom line:
The bottom line going forward is that the US and its regional and European allies are going to have to decide whether they want to be on the right side of history here or not, and as we’ve been careful to explain, no one is arguing that Bashar al-Assad is the most benevolent leader in the history of statecraft but it has now gotten to the point where Western media outlets are describing al-Qaeda as “moderate” in a last ditch effort to explain away Washington’s unwillingness to join Russia in stabilizing Syria. This is a foreign policy mistake of epic proportions on the part of the US and the sooner the West concedes that and moves to correct it by admitting that none of the groups the CIA, the Pentagon, and Washington’s Mid-East allies have trained and supported represent a viable alternative to the Assad regime, the sooner Syria will cease to be the chessboard du jour for a global proxy war that’s left hundreds of thousands of innocent people dead.
“In accordance with the decision of the Supreme Commander of the Russian Armed Forces, Vladimir Putin, warplanes of the Russian Air Space Forces today [Wednesday] have started an aerial operation, involving pinpoint strikes on ground targets of Islamic State [IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL] terrorists in Syria,” spokesperson for the Russian Defense Ministry, Igor Konashenkov, said.
The Russia airstrikes are targeting military equipment, communication centers, vehicles, arms and fuel depots, belonging to IS terrorists, Konashenkov added.
Russia’s Rossiya 24 channel said that the first airstrikes were carried out by two Sukhoi Su-24 attack aircrafts “213km north of [the Syrian capital] Damascus” near the city of Hama.
Meanwhile, Syrian state television has named at least seven areas targeted by Russian air strikes. They include areas around the cities of Homs and Hama, which are separated from each other by 44 kilometers.
Earlier, a US official told Reuters that Moscow gave Washington one-hour advanced noticeof its operations. The bombing is taking place in western Syria, near the city Homs, the official added. A Pentagon official also told Russia’s RIA Novosti that Russia urged the US to clear the skies for the operation. US State Department spokesman John Kirby said that Russia indeed requested that American aircraft avoid Syrian airspace during the Russian air missions, but the US military will not comply.
“The US-led coalition will continue to fly missions over Iraq and Syria as planned and in support of our international mission to degrade and destroy ISIL (Islamic State),” Kirby said.
Following the reports, Vladimir Putin said all Moscow’s foreign partners have been informed about Russian plans in Syria. During his meeting with the government, the president stressed that Russia’s participation in the anti-terrorist operation in Syria is based on international law and is being conducted “in accordance with an official request from the president of the Syrian Arab Republic [Bashar Assad].”
On Wednesday morning, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament unanimously gave formal consent to President Putin to use the country’s military in Syria to tackle Islamic State and other terror groups. The Russian air campaign in Syria is commencing just a few days after Putin’s address at the UN, in which he called for an international anti-terrorist effort in the country. The Russian president also met with US counterpart Barack Obama on the sidelines of the 70th UN General Assembly, with the two leaders agreeing that Moscow and Washington have common interest in Syria.
Bouthaina Shaaban, a cabinet-level adviser to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, says the US and Russia have reached an unspoken deal to end the Syria war
Damascus (AFP) – Russia and the United States have reached a “tacit agreement” on ending Syria’s bloody crisis, a senior adviser to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said. “The current US administration wants to find a solution to the crisis in Syria. There is a tacit agreement between the US and Russia to reach this solution,”Bouthaina Shaaban said in an interview with state television late Wednesday.
“The US recognises now that Russia has profound knowledge of this region and a better assessment of the situation,” she said.
“The current international climate is heading towards detente and towards a solution for the crisis in Syria.”
Shaaban said there was a “change in the West’s positions” over Syria’s war, which has killed more than 240,000 people and displaced millions since 2011.
Russia, a decades-long backer of Syria’s regime, has said it would not accept Assad’s departure as a prerequisite for launching any peace process in the war-torn country.
Russia, a decades-long backer of Syria’s regime, has said it would not accept Assad’s depart …
While the United States has called for Assad’s ouster for more than four years, Secretary of State John Kerry said last week that “it doesn’t have to be on day one or month one or whatever.”
On Wednesday, French President Francois Hollande called for a new Syria peace conference “so that all the countries who want to see peace restored in Syria can contribute.”
While Hollande maintained that there could be “no transition without (Assad’s) departure,”German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that the Syrian leader should be involved in the talks.
“We have to speak with many actors, this includes Assad, but others as well,”Merkel told a press conference after an EU summit on the migration crisis sparked by the Syrian war.
The diplomatic flurry came amid concerns about increased Russian military support to Assad, including Moscow’s announcement Thursday that it would hold naval drills in the eastern Mediterranean region in September and October.
On Wednesday, the Syrian military deployed Russian-supplied drones for the first time, a security source in Damascus said.
The army has received new weaponry from Russia for its fight against jihadists, including at least five fighter jets, a senior Syrian military official told AFP.
Is it ISIS – ransacking, raping and beheading its way across the region to carve out a new Caliphate and threatening terrorism inside U.S. borders – or is it Putin and his gang, cornering American statesmen in a deadly game of chess that could lead at any time to all-out nuclear war?
The answers may be conflicting, but it is clear that Obama has no idea what he is doing, and no way of containing all that confronts U.S. interests overseas. Check.
With Ukraine still boiling in the background, Vladimir Putin has taken things up a notch in Syria, by deploying 28 combat planes to aid Assad’s regime for reasons that don’t exactly rule out offensive attacks, or downplay concerns about Russian aggression..
This is just the latest and most pointed maneuver in the build-up of what has been dubbed “the largest deployment of Russian forces outside the former Soviet Union” since its collapse.
AFP reported that the Russia has sent in more than two dozen fighter planes to aid Assad against ISIS:
Russia has deployed 28 combat planes in Syria, US officials said Monday, confirming the latest move in Moscow’s increasing military presence in the war-torn nation.
“There are 28 fighter and bomber aircraft” at an airfield in the western Syrian province of Latakia, one of the officials told AFP… A second official… added there were about 20 Russian combat and transport helicopters at the base. That official also said Russia was operating drones over Syria.
This already complicated proxy war is taking on new dimensions, and arming up for a new phase of conflict.
Russia’s military build-up in Syria has grown to include the shipment of a half-dozen highly sophisticated battle tanks — and more troops— [the] first clear sign of offensive weapons arriving in Syria,” a defense official told Fox News. “This is the largest deployment of Russian forces outside the former Soviet Union since the collapse of the USSR.”
The catch, of course, is that Russia is preparing to defend Assad against ISIS – not to pick a fight with the West. But looks could be deceiving, and the schism between East and West cuts too deep to allow for a unified front against terrorism.
The United States has warned that Russian military backing for the Syrian regime only risks sending more extremists to the war-torn country and could further hamper any effort at bringing peace.
Moscow, meanwhile, has been on a diplomatic push to get the coalition of Western and regional powers fighting the Islamic State group to join forces with Assad against the jihadists.
The maneuver is interesting, because evidence continually points towards the covert Western-funding of Islamic State forces, as well as significant overlap between ISIS and anti-Assad rebel forces.
Putin’s latest tact would call the United States on the need to beat back the supposedly-unintentional outgrowth and takeover by the extremist ISIS forces in the region, and prioritize taking out America’s “number one terrorist threat” before belaboring the removal of Bashar al-Assad and empire building in the Middle East.
Two Russian warships have docked in northern Iran for a series of naval training exercises with the Islamic Republic, according to Persian-language reports translated by the CIA’s Open Source Center. The two Russian ships docked in Iran’s Anzali port on Sunday and will hold “joint naval exercises during the three-day stay of the warships in Iran,”according to a Persian-language report in Iran’s state-controlled Fars News Agency. “The [Russian] warships, Volgodonsk and Makhachkala docked in Anzali Port [near the Caspian Sea], in the fourth naval zone, on the afternoon of 9 August,” the report says.
The war exercises come just weeks after Iran and global powers inked a nuclear accord that will provide Iran with billions of dollars in sanctions relief in return for slight restrictions on the country’s nuclear program. Russian and Iran have grown close in recent years, with delegations from each country regularly visiting one another to ink arms deals and other agreements aimed at strengthening Iran’s nuclear program. Russia and Iran agreed earlier this year to begin construction on several new nuclear power plants. Russia has also agreed to sell Iran a controversial advanced missile defense system that can prevent attacks by Western powers.
The Russian fleet docked in Iran’s port “carrying a message of ‘peace and friendship,’” according to Iranian officials quoted by Fars. The fleet was “welcomed by Iranian naval commanders and staff.” The Russian commander of the fleet is scheduled to hold meetings with “local political and military officials” in Iran’s northern provinces, according to Fars.
Levan Jagarian, Russia’s ambassador to Tehran, reportedly attended the docking ceremony and called for “for boosting mutual ties between the two countries in various fields,” according to the report. The two nations went on to say that “expanding bilateraleconomic, political, and military cooperation is among the priorities of the visit.”
A Russian fleet also docked in northern Iran in October.
Last week, a senior Iranian naval commander warnedthe United States against ever taking military action on Iranian interests, claiming that the response would be “unpredictably strong.” “The western media are mocking at the U.S. for speaking of ‘on the table options (against Iran)’ because the U.S. always utters some words without the ability to materialize them,” Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Naval Commander Ali Fadavi was quoted as saying by the country’s state-run press. Iran is “ready to give such a powerful response to the slightest move of the U.S. that it won’t be able to make any other moves,”Fadavi was quoted as saying. The military leader went on to claim that “Iranian Armed Forces are now at the highest level of preparedness” and that “only the dead body of the American troops realizes the power of the Islamic Revolution.”
Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon adviser and expert on rogue regimes, said the Obama administration is fundamentally misreading Iran’s intentions in light of the recently inked nuclear accord. “We’re witnessing a new great game, and Obama is so self-centered he keeps playing solitaire,”Rubin said. “Obama simply doesn’t understand that the world is full of dictators who seek to checkmate America. What he sees as compromise; they see as weakness to exploit.”
Referring to a visit last week to Russia by IRGC leader Qassem Soleimani, who is responsible for the deaths of Americans, Rubin said it is clear that Moscow and Tehran aim to build a tight military alliance. “Visiting Russia to talk arms purchases and now this naval visit, it’s clear that Putin and Khamenei will waste no time to really develop their military cooperation,”he said.
An axis between Russia, Iran, and North Korea is beginning to emerge Rubin said, citing official releases that a North Korean delegation is currently visiting Russia to tour war games sites. “The Russian warship visit combined with North Korea scoping out war game sites in Russia suggest a new Axis of Evil is taking shape with Russia the lynchpin between Iran and North Korea,” Rubin said. “As for the United States, rather than the leader of the free world, Obama and Kerry have transformed us in much of the world’s eyes as the pinnacle of surrender.”
Meanwhile, Obama admitted Monday that Iran’s nuclear breakout time will shrink to “a matter of months” once the nuclear accord expires in around 15 years.
Image: Putin Lays Claim to North Pole (Newsmax File Photo)
Russia has filed claim with the United Nations for 463,000 square miles of of the Arctic Ocean, including the North Pole, according to reports.
The territory contains some of the world’s largest untapped reserves of fossil fuels, as well as valuable minerals, reports CNBC.
Russia’s claim is filed under the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, which establishes the rights to exclusive economic zones beyond a nation’s borders.
The convention allows for a 200-mile zone from recognized borders, except where a country can demonstrate that the continental shelf on which it sits actually extends farther then 200 miles. In such cases, the law recognizes a 350-mile limit.
The U.N. rebuffed a similar effort by Russia in 2002.
If the U.N. accepts Russia’s petition this time, it would give the government of President Vladimir Putin oversight of the the waters on economic matters, including fishing and oil and gas drilling, though will not have full sovereignty, The New York Times says.
Sen. Chris Murphy is warning that a congressional rejection of the Iran nuclear deal would be an “absolute blow” to presidential legitimacy on the world stage for years to come. “This would be an absolute blow to the legitimacy of this president, and of any president to negotiate a diplomatic agreement,”the Connecticut Democrat said Thursday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“This is an exceptional moment where you have the United States, our European partners, Russia and China all agreeing on a path forward, and if the United States Congress was to override that, I don’t know how any president in the future can ever sit across our allies and adversaries and negotiate a deal.”
Murphy chided Republicans for a “casualness of opposition”given the consequences, and questioned whether the party believes in diplomacy. “Republicans in Congress just simply don’t believe in the legitimacy of diplomacy as a tool in the toolkit of the American president,” he said. “They do zero oversight on our war we are fighting right now against ISIS, military engagement in the Middle East, but they do oodles of oversight on a diplomatic agreement with Iran.”
Lawmakers are just beginning what’s likely to be a polarized debate over the controversial nuclear deal. Congress has the power to reject the deal, but that would have to overcome a presidential veto, meaning two-thirds of Congress would have to band together against it.
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) on the same show pushed back against the idea that Republicans don’t support diplomacy, arguing that the terms simply amounted to a bad deal. He noted that the deal allows for a delay before monitors are able to access potentially secret nuclear sites, and expressed concerns about agreeing to lift arms and ballistic missile embargoes down the road if Iran follows the agreement. “This is a country that terrorizes the region already and we are going to make it easier for them to do that by lifting the sanctions and giving them tens of billions of dollars, in addition to now having access to the arms that would enable them to do that,”he said. Thune added that he’s approaching the deal with a “high level of skepticism”and said that his party isn’t against diplomacy, only weak diplomacy. “It’s got to be strong diplomacy and strong leadership. But that opportunity may have been lost, that window might have closed,”he said. “The next president is going to have to manage nuclear proliferation in the Middle East, and that’s essentially going to be the legacy of what this deal is.”
The nuclear deal reached with Iran on Tuesday is clouded by uncertainty about whether the Iranian regime will live up to its relatively weak commitments. One outcome is almost certain, however: Israel will launch a pre-emptive strike against Iran, hoping to weaken the regime and stop, or slow, its nuclear program.
Israel will attack–possibly by year’s end–because there is no other way to disrupt Iran’s advance to regional hegemony, which will become unstoppable once the deal’s provisions–especially the non-nuclear provisions–begin to take effect. Despite what the Obama administration and its media supporters are saying, there is almost no doubt that the Iran deal, should it survive Congress, will enable Iran to become a nuclear power.
President Barack Obama himself admitted as much in April, when he defended the provisional deal signed in Lausanne by admitting it allowed Iran to reach “breakout” shortly after the ten-year (now eight-year) expiration date. The only question is whether Iran will move that date forward and risk the meager diplomatic consequences of breaking the deal.
There are Israeli analysts–a minority–who believe that Israel can live in the shadow of a nuclear-armed Iran, at least for a while. After all, Israel has developed a lethal “second-strike” capacity, in the form of nuclear missiles aboard Dolphin-class submarines programmed to target Iran. That leaves the Iranian regime to weigh the odds of surviving an Israeli counterattack versus the chances of causing the end of the world as they know it. From a fanatical religious perspective, it is a win-win scenario–but cooler, or less pious, heads may prevail.
The problem is that the Iran deal goes so much further than the nuclear issue alone. The Iranians shrewdly bargained for a host of late concessions: an end to the international arms embargo, the lifting of a ban on ballistic missile technology, and an accelerated schedule of sanctions relief that will pour over $100 billion into depleted Iranian coffers.The regime knew that Obama would not walk away–that he had committed his political career to a deal, and he was already dismissing all other alternatives, severely undermining his own leverage.
Israel just might find a way to live with a nuclear Iran, but it cannot live with a nuclear Iran and an array of turbo-charged Iranian proxies on its borders.
Iran has already renewed its support for Palestinian terror groups in Gaza, and the U.S. has quietly allowed Iranian-backed Hezbollah to regroup in Lebanon, even as it has been weakened by losses in the Syrian civil war. Flush with cash, armed with advanced new weapons, and perhaps equipped with nuclear contaminants, these groups will pose an ever-greater threat to Israel’s security–and soon.
That is why the alternative that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented to Congress–and he did present an alternative to the present deal, though Obama pretended not to notice–included three provisions:
“first, stop its aggression against its neighbors in the Middle East;
second, stop supporting terrorism around the world;
and third, stop threatening to annihilate my country, Israel–the one and only Jewish state.”
None of those referred directly to the Iranian nuclear program. Obama ignored Netanyahu’s suggestions and forged ahead.
An Israeli strike might not stop the Iranian nuclear program. But it could stall that program, and create a renewed sense of vulnerability around the regime, which was near collapse as recently as 2009. Israel could also make Iran pay a direct cost for arming Hezbollah, Hamas, and other terror groups–a cost historically borne by the civilians of southern Lebanon or Gaza. It could project a conventional deterrent that would affect Iran here and now, as opposed to a nuclear deterrent whose effect might only be felt after an atomic exchange (i.e. not at all).
For Israel, the costs of such an attack on Iran–even a successful one–could be severe. It would be condemned and isolated internationally. It might suffer thousands of rocket attacks from Lebanon and Gaza. It may lose thousands of soldiers and civilians in a ground war. Obviously the consequences will be less damaging–or more bearable–if the pre-emptive strike is successful. The reason Israelis are willing to take the risk at all is twofold. First, they have done it before (Iraq 1981; Syria 2007). Second, the alternative–thanks to the Iran deal–looks far worse.
The Obama administration has done all it can to prevent an Israeli pre-emptive strike, from leaking Israeli attack scenarios to denying Israel air space over Iraq. As a result, the only realistic bombing plans–whether Israel targets Iran’s nuclear and political installations directly, or detonates an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) over the country–involve a Doolittle Raid-style attack from which Israel’s pilots will not expect to return, or a landing in Saudi Arabia. The latter was once a non-starter, but–ironically–Obama’s overtures to Iran have made it possible.
The Saudis are expected to respond to the Iran deal by seeking nuclear weapons of their own. But the monarchy could also strike an alliance with Israel–perhaps even a grand bargain. The Saudis could give Israel landing rights, logistical support, and intelligence. In return, Israel could accept Saudi Arabia’s proposal for a Palestinian state roughly along the “1967 lines”–plus Saudi control of Jerusalem’s Muslim holy sites, which would cement the royal family’s legitimacy. (Ironically, Obama, by provoking war, would enable Arab-Israeli peace.)
The clock is ticking, however. Before the Iran deal, it was thought that Israel could only carry out a pre-emptive strike in the time period before Iran actually became a nuclear power. Now, the deadlines are even shorter, and more complex. Israel would need to attack before Russian S-300 surface-to-air missiles, already sold to Iran, can be delivered and activated. It would also need to attack while Hezbollah and Hamas are still weak, war-weary and cash-strapped–i.e. before sanctions relief delivers billions to Iran’s regional war and terror efforts.
Israel must also be wary of attacking too soon. It will not attack in the next ten days, for example, because they coincide with a religious period of mourning for historic defeats. It would also make little sense for Israel to attack while Congress is debating the Iran deal.
But Israel will attack before it loses the option. It will do so because the purpose of Israeli statehood is to enable Jews to defend themselves, and not rely on the help or mercy of others.
Obama wants to build a new legacy, but Netanyahu has inherited an old legacy–one he cannot ignore.
The United States and Germany are prepared to engineer a coup in Greece to keep the country operating as a strategic asset on NATO’s vulnerable southeast European flank. Image Credits: Voice of America.
“A putsch in Athens to save allied Greece from enemy Russia is in preparation by the US and Germany, with backing from the non-taxpayers of Greece – the Greek oligarchs, Anglo-Greek ship owners, and the Greek Church,” writes John Helmer, the longest continuously serving foreign correspondent in Russia not connected to the corporate media. The primary tip-off; something is brewing can be detected by the presence of Victoria Nuland, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, in Athens in March.
Nuland, The Guardian reported on March 17, “flew into the capital amid mounting US concerns that the great euro debt crisis has begun to pose a geopolitical threat. Allowed to veer out of control, Greece could end up in the ambit of Russia, financially bereft and without the EU links that keep it bounded to the west. Nato’s south-eastern flank would be immeasurably weakened at a time of mounting global security worries over Islamic fundamentalists in the Middle East.”
Nuland and the United States may be working closely with Greek military to foment a coupfollowing the historic “No” vote in a referendum of the demands of the bankers. She is notorious for her role in the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Ukraine and it now appears she has been assigned for a repeat in Greece. Helmer writes that when Nuland visited Athens to issue an ultimatum against breaking the anti-Russian sanctions regime, and the Anglo-American think-tanks followed with warnings the Russian Navy is about to sail into Piraeus, the object of the game [became] clear. The line for Operation Nemesis has been that Greece must be saved, not from itself or from its creditors, but from the enemy in Moscow.
Russia to Rescue Greece from Bankers
Russia is reportedly prepared to help Greece as it battles the bankers on Wall Street and Brussels. It is believed a Greek exit from the eurozone will move the country closer to Russia and deepen divisions within NATO. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of the socialist Syriza party said in mid-June an alignment with Russia is possible and hinted Greece was “ready to go to new seas to reach new safe ports.”
On Friday a number of Greek military officers publicly called for a “yes” vote.
“Retired General Fragkoulis Fragkos, a former defense minister and one-time head of the Greek army general staff, called for a ‘loud yes on Sunday.’ In 2011, Fragkos was cashiered by then-Prime Minister George Papandreou amid rumors of a coup,” writes Alex Lantier. Clearly referring to Tsipras, Fragkos said that “the moral values and principles that have always defined us Greeks are not under negotiation with any clueless and historically ignorant politician who is advancing his own party interest.”
A group of 65 retired high-ranking officers issued a statement citing their “oath to the Fatherland and the Flag” and warning, “By choosing isolation, we place the Fatherland and its future in danger.”
Tsipras and Syriza prepared for a possible coup in January by shuffling military staff. “The leadership (of the military and intelligence services) was changed,” sources told Heller, “but not radically. The defense minister (Panos Kammenos) is rightist so there are no ‘radicals’ in command.”
Greek Military is an Operation Gladio Asset
US intervention in Greece is nothing new. Between 1987 and 1989 the US made a concerted effort to overthrow the elected Greek government of Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou. Prior to this in 1967 the Greek military installed the Regime of the Colonels following a coup d’état . The Greek military was under the control of the CIAfollowing Greece’s entrance into NATO in 1952. Elements of the Greek military were part of the CIA’s “stay behind” network under Operation Gladio and these elements (specifically LOK, or Lochoi Oreinōn Katadromōn, i.e. “Mountain Raiding Companies”) were directly involved in the 1967 coup.
Viktor E. and her friend Aleksey T left their home village of Kamchatka Krai
22-year-olds were fed up with being ‘persecuted’ by friends and neighbours
Pair are said to have watched ISIS recruitment videos before going to Syria
Viktor reportedly believed she would be accepted as a woman by ISIS
But the terror group regularly throws gay men to their deaths from the roofs of tall buildings or stones them in front of bloodthirsty crowds
Russian authorities have expressed fears for the lives of a transsexual man and his gay friend after they were reported to be heading to Syria captivated by Islamic State fundamentalist propaganda. Dubbed the ‘battle trannies’ by the Moscow media, the two suspects Alexei T. and Viktor E – who prefers to be known as Viktoria and dresses as a woman – are accused of maintaining contacts with armed extremist groups.
Another police source Alexander Vinogradov said: ‘We would always be interested in stopping people from joining a terrorist organisation but in this case there is a double motive, as our information is that this would not be accepted if they managed to get all the way to Syria, and it is unlikely that they would live very long once their sexual orientation was revealed.’
Accused: Dubbed the ‘battle trannies’ by Russian media, suspects Alexei T. and Viktor E (pictured left and right) – who prefers to be known as Viktoria and dresses as a woman – are accused of wanting to join ISIS
Wannabe jihadi: Former classmates said that Viktor (pictured) came to a school reunion dressed as a woman
He said that ISIS has been staging a non-stop campaign online to recruit new fighters from those who feel out of place but added it was unlikely they had transsexuals or homosexuals in mind when making the appeal. The pair claimed that they had suffered persecution and abuse from family and locals in the home in Kamchatka region in the extreme east of Russia. They hoped they would be welcomed if they went to Syria after watching an ISIS recruitment video online.
The case is the most bizarre of a number of recent examples of young Russians being coaxed into travelling to Syria, a trend of acute concern to the Moscow authorities. Reports said the 22 year olds had already left for Syria, while an unconfirmed police source was reported by local news source in Kamchatka as saying they were now in a mental health institute. The couple were put on a list of those wanted for terrorist or extremist activity after apparently being converted to radical Islam. ‘One of them was put there following a court decision because of his predisposition to suicide, and the other went there because he wanted to,’ said the report on kam.24.ru news agency.
Sick: ISIS are well known for their brutal treatment of those they accuse of ‘homosexual acts’, with numerous sickening propaganda videos released showing the jihadis throwing gay men from the roofs of tall buildings
Viktoria’s aunt said her nephew and his friend were not known as being the most intelligent people in the neighbourhood and she confirmed that Viktoria was taking hormone replacement therapy to start the transformation of becoming a woman. He ‘did not have enough money for the surgery and asked relatives but we all refused. ‘The next thing we knew was that they were wanted by the police after it was found they had gone to join ISIS. ‘Viktor had been walking around in women’s clothes and wearing makeup and was living with his mum before converting to radical Islam. ‘She told him that he would probably be killed if he went there dressed as a woman, but he said that if he could travel there as a woman, he believed they would accept him as a woman.’
Disturbing: In a photo taken in the city of Mosul, a gay man is dangled over the edge of a building by his ankles
An unnamed teacher said of Viktor: ‘He was a boy. He had girlfriends, had a very short haircut, clothes without any decoration. ‘He was a typical guy. And then later he came here to school to get a copy of his diploma with a different name on it, Viktoria instead of Viktor. At this point he was ‘wearing a short skirt, earrings and with long hair’. ‘He told me: ‘Change my diploma from Viiktor to Viktoria. If you don’t do so, I will complain. ‘ He claimed to have a Russian passport in the name of Viktoria.
The teacher added: ‘We have optional courses on Orthodox Christianity but not on any other religions. ‘Viktor was never interested in religion. I myself was teaching history, social studies and law. He wouldn’t say even a word about Islam.’
Russian police are understood to have confirmed that Viktor and Aleksey have been placed on a list for those wanted with regards to terrorist or extremist activity.
Gathered to watch: The horrific public murders of gay men draw some of the largest crowds in ISIS’ self-declared caliphate, with men photographed taking their young sons to watch the regular atrocities
ISIS has staged a relentless recruitment campaign online over the past year, often targeting those who feel persecuted or out of place in the West. It is highly unlikely the barbarians had transsexuals or homosexuals in mind while appealing for new members, however.
The terror group has been brutally clear in how it views gay men – releasing sickening videos of them being thrown from the roofs of high buildings in strongholds such as Raqqa and Mosul. Those who survive the fall are then set upon by bloodthirsty crowds who ‘finish them off’ by stoning the terribly injured victims to death.
The horrific public murders of gay men draw some of the largest crowds in ISIS’ self-declared caliphate, with men photographed taking their young sons to watch the regular atrocities. This is because under the terror group’s brutal interpretation of Islam, citizens are taught that being gay clashes with God’s ‘natural’ order, brings destruction to the family and marriages, and leads people to ignore religious guidance in other areas of life.
Shocking: Recently as group of executioners made a display of hugging a blindfolded gay couple and telling them they were forgiven of their ‘sins’, before pummeling them to death with hundreds of fist-sized rocks
Former classmates said that he came to a school reunion dressed as a woman.
Bashir Bashirov, head of the Union of Muslims of Kamchatka, said: ‘The first time they came to pray was about a year ago…They said they were man and wife. ‘The mosque is open to everyone, so how can we prohibit anyone coming? ‘We treated the newcomers as Muslims, we couldn’t even imagine there were not straight. And how can one tell? ‘She’ was wearing a hijab, had a female face, was sitting aside from the men,’he added.
Later they became influenced by radicals ‘and started blaming us for stepping aside from ‘pure Islam… I personally tried to change their minds but in vain. ‘The stopped attending prayers and started telling everyone that we ‘delude ourselves and practice Islam in a wrong way’.’
A former girlfriend of Viktor told how he beat her during their relationship, and kept her dresses after they split up, and started wearing them.
ISIS prisoner forced to dig his own grave (related)
Brutal: The shocking images were taken in ISIS-held territory in the province of Homs and show the two accused men being savagely executed by up to four jihadis
‘Viktor was very strange…He beat me black and blue. ‘But I didn’t complain to police because he threatened me with his older brother. He said that it would be bad for me,’ she said.
She tried to break up with him but he only hit her with greater force.
‘I came to school with a huge bruise under my eye. I was asked what happened, and I could not say, because one teacher was close to his mother. They hushed it up.’
She was deeply shocked when he told her he wanted to be a girl and go out with boys. When they split, his stepmother told him to return her dresses but ‘he wore them himself. ‘I saw him in one of my dresses.’
Islam is clear in its prohibition of homosexual acts based on the teachings of the Quran as it clashes with the ‘natural’ order in which God created human beings, brings destruction to the family and the institutions of marriage and leads people to ignore God’s guidance in other areas of life.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — With some lawmakers chanting “Death to the America,”Iran’s parliament voted to ban access to military sites, documents and scientists as part of a future deal with world powers over its contested nuclear program.
The bill, if ratified, could complicate the ongoing talks in Vienna between Iran and the six-nation group — the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany — as they face a self-imposed June 30 deadline. The talks are focused on reaching a final accord that curbs Iran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of economic sanctions.
Of 213 lawmakers present on Sunday, 199 voted in favor of the bill, which also demands the complete lifting of all sanctions against Iran as part of any final nuclear accord. The bill must be ratified by the Guardian Council, a constitutional watchdog, to become a law.
The terms stipulated in the bill allow for international inspections of Iranian nuclear sites, but forbid any inspections of military facilities. The bill states in part: “The International Atomic Energy Agency, within the framework of the safeguard agreement, is allowed to carry out conventional inspections of nuclear sites.” However, it concludes that “access to military, security and sensitive non-nuclear sites, as well as documents and scientists, is forbidden.” It also would require Iran’s foreign minister to report to parliament every six months on the process of implementing the accord.
Iran’s nuclear negotiators say they already have agreed to grant United Nations inspectors “managed access”to military sites under strict control and specific circumstances. That right includes allowing inspectors to take environmental samples around military sites. But Iranian officials, including Ayatollah Ali Khameni, have strongly rejected the idea of Iranian scientists being interviewed. In a statement Sunday, the U.S. State Department said inspections remain a key part of any final deal.
All parties “are well aware of what is necessary for a final deal, including the access and transparency that will meet our bottom lines,”the statement said. “We won’t agree to a deal without that.”
Thomson Reuters; Cuban-themed murals adorn SW 8th Street in Little Havana, Miami
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration is expected to announce an agreement with Cuba in early July to reopen embassies and reopen embassiessevered more than five decades ago, U.S. sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.
The two sides hope to conclude the deal by the first week of next month, clearing the way for Secretary of State John Kerry to visit Havana soon afterwards for a flag-raising ceremony to upgrade the U.S. Interests Section to a full-scale embassy, the sources said.
Since a breakthrough between the two former Cold War rivals announced in December, negotiators have settled all but a few differences and were confident they would soon be resolved, several sources told Reuters. They said the exact timetable for the formal embassy opening was unclear because of Kerry’s recovery from a broken leg suffered in a May 31 biking accident in France, as well as the looming June 30 deadline for a final nuclear deal with Iran, which would dominate Kerry’s schedule over the next weeks.
Restoration of relations would be the latest phase in a normalization process, which is expected to move slowly because of lingering problems over issues such as Cuba’s human rights record. A U.S. embargo will remain in place, and only Congress can lift it. The sources said the administration hoped to formally notify Congress within the next two weeks of its intention to reopen the Havana embassy. The State Department is required by law to give Congress at least 15 days’ notice of such an action.
Cuba’s Communist government is likely to act in sync with the United States on reopening of the embassies, issuing its own announcement on restoring ties, one source said. But it was unclear how fast the two sides would act in naming ambassadors. As part of its preparations to turn its interests section in Washington into a full-fledged embassy, Cuba erected a large flagpole on the front lawn of the building on Wednesday. The flag itself will await the formal announcement of relations. Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro pledged full restoration of ties on Dec. 17. The two leaders met in Panama in mid-April.
REUTERS/Peru Presidency Cuba’s President Raul Castro (L) stands with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama before the inauguration of the VII Summit of the Americas in Panama City April 10, 2015.
Major issues resolved, officials say
Cuba was formally removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism late last month, a critical step toward rapprochement 54 years after Washington cut off relations at the height of the Cold War and imposed an economic embargo. U.S. and Cuban negotiators have resolved all but a few minor differences since the last round of high-level talks in May in Washington, the sources said. The main obstacles had been U.S. demands for relative freedom of movement for their diplomats on the island, comparable to that in Russia and Vietnam, while the Cubans had objected to U.S. training courses in journalism and information technology given at the U.S. interests section in Havana.
Negotiators are now settling issues such as how many shipping containers will be allowed into Havana for renovating the U.S. mission there.
U.S. officials say there is little, if any, chance that hardline anti-Castro lawmakers in Congress would be able to block the restoration of ties.
The White House declined comment on the timing of any announcements. There was also no comment from the Cuban government.
(Editing by David Storey and Ken Wills)
Read the original article on Reuters. Copyright 2015. Follow Reuters on Twitter.
In Russia, where apparently babies are left in the street in boxes, a neighborhood cat is being hailed as a hero for saving the life of an abandoned baby. The “communal” cat climbed in next to a little baby boy left in a box outside, keeping the child warm and alerting a neighbor with constant “meows”..
The neighbor said of the cat; “She is very placid and friendly so when I heard her mewing I thought that perhaps she had injured herself because normally she would have come and said hello to me. You can imagine my shock when I saw her lying in a box next to a baby..”
From The Mirror: As well as making sure the three-month-old didn’t freeze to death, the moggy (cat) raised the alarm by crying out to make people aware of the boy’s presence. Irina Lavrova, 68, who lives near to where the tot was dumped in Obinsk, Russia, was throwing out rubbish when she heard Masha the cat meowing near the bins.
CENCat saves baby Purr-fect: The baby boy was looked after by Masha the cat
She went over to check Masha – a communal cat – was all right, and could not believe her eyes when she saw the baby boy lying among next to the moggy. “Masha is a communal cat who everyone takes turns in looking after,” she said.
Mothering instincts: Masha, pictured with Irina, used its long hair to keep the tot warm
“Clearly her mothering instincts had taken over and she wanted to protect the child.
“He was well-dressed with a little hat and whoever left him here had even left a few nappies and some baby food.”
The baby boy was taken by ambulance to hospital where he was given a check up and declared fit and healthy.
The baby boy is in good health, according to medics
See video report below:
Of course the kid still has to live in Russia..
A long-haired tabby cat has been hailed a hero after finding an abandoned baby in a street and climbing in the box he had been left in to protect him from the cold. As well as making sure the three-month-old didn’t freeze to death, the cat raised the alarm by crying out to make people aware of the boy’s presence.
A woman, who lives near to where the tot was dumped in Obinsk, Russia, was throwing out trash when she heard Masha the cat meowing near the bins.
She went over to check Masha – a communal cat – was all right, and could not believe her eyes when she saw the baby boy lying among next to the cat. The baby boy was taken by ambulance to hospital where he was given a check up and declared fit and healthy.
Evidence released by the Obama administration pointing to North Korea as the culprit behind the cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment is hardly conclusive, a number of private security researchers told The New York Times.
Last week, both President Obama and the FBI accused North Korea of hacking Sony’s computer systems.
Obama said he would take action, pledging a “proportional response” a few hours before North Korea’s Internet went offline.
North Korea denies any involvement in the Sony hack, called Obama “a monkey” and accused the U.S. of shutting down its Internet.
Breitbart News reports that “computational linguists at Taia Global, a group of cyber security consultants, performed a linguistic analysis of online messages from the Guardians of Peace, and concluded that, based on translation errors and phrasing, the group is more likely Russian than Korean.”
The Obama administration alleges that the cyberattack against Sony was in retaliation for “The Interview,” a comedy film depicting a satirical plot to assassinate Kim Jong-Un, North Korea’s leader.
“Security researchers remain skeptical, with some even likening the government’s claims to those of the Bush administration in the build-up to the Iraq war,” reports The New York Times.
The article adds:
“Fueling their suspicions is the fact that the government based its findings, in large part, on evidence that it will not release, citing the ‘need to protect sensitive sources and methods.’ The government has never publicly acknowledged doing so, but the National Security Agency has begun a major effort to penetrate North Korean computer networks.”
Security researchers suggest more proof is necessary to make a conclusive determination on who was behind the cyberattack.
“Essentially, we are being left in a position where we are expected to just take agency promises at face value,”Marc Rogers, a security researcher at CloudFlare, a top mobile security company, wrote in a Dec. 24 post for The Daily Beast. “In the current climate, that is a big ask.”
“Mr. Rogers, who doubles as the director of security operations for DefCon, an annual hacker convention, and others like Bruce Schneier, a prominent cryptographer and blogger, have been mining the meager evidence that has been publicly circulated, and argue that it is hardly conclusive,”notes the Times.
The article points out that some private security researchers do support the government’s claims.
“CrowdStrike, a California security firm that has been tracking the same group that attacked Sony since 2006, believes they are located in North Korea and have been hacking targets in South Korea for years,”reports the Times.
Plummeting oil prices and Western sanctions have severely wounded the Russian Bear
[Featured Image: CBS Video]
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas 1998.
Back in 1998, there was a resurgent US economy while Europe, Japan, and emerging markets floundered. The dollar strengthened and oil prices plummeted. We also had an embattled second-term Democratic president with Republicans in control of both houses of Congress.
But most reminiscent of all is what is going on with Russia. In August of 1998, Russia defaulted on its government debtsafter a crushing devaluation of the ruble. The 1998 Russian Financial Crisis was caused by both external shocks—the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and plummeting oil prices—and domestic woes.
Quite similarly, the ruble has halved in value this year (the worst performing currency of the year), due to the plummet in oil prices. Oil and gas account for half of the Russian state’s budget and 70% of the country’s exports.
Now, with oil nowhere in sight of returning to $100+ highs, the country’s ability to repay foreign debts is coming under serious doubt. Standard & Poor’s recently said there is a 50% chance it would downgrade Russian bonds to “junk” status. Even Peru and Botswana have higher credit ratings than that.
Last week the Russian Central Bank hiked its baseline rate to a whopping 17% in order to restore confidence in the Russian economy. However, the drastic move has been to no avail, as ruble sellers continue to outnumber buyers. But as history has shown, the Russian Bear, especially under the auspices of strong leaders, doesn’t go down without a fight. The Russian government has already plowed through $96 billion of its foreign exchange and gold reserves in (failed) efforts to prop up the ruble, according to Business Insider. This leaves about $414 left, but The Economist doubts how much is liquid and readily available—apparently, $170 billion is wrapped up in two big wealth funds, making them “inaccessible” in the short-term.
Instead of wasting its reserves in the trench warfare of the forex markets, the Russian government might just turn to bailing out its domestic banks and energy companies that need US dollars to pay back debts. Indeed, the whole bind on Russia right now, as was the case in 1998, is that significant portions of their debts are denominated in US dollars, meaning they must be paid back in US dollars. That is why the Russian Central Bank can’t “print its way out” of this mess, because only the Federal Reserve can print US dollars.
Business Insider reports that Russia has $100 billion worth of foreign debt due next year, and $600 billion in total. Only $38 billion of Russian government debt is denominated in US dollars, and only $6 billion is of that is due in 2015. So, it seems the Russian government can stave off default in 2015. As for Russian companies, that’s another story.
According to a CNBC report, which cites a Wells Fargo report, Russian companies have $160 billion in debt due to overseas subsidiaries and parent companies, and Russian banks have $200 billion in external debt. “Other sectors” have $300 billion. The report is unclear whether these figures are dollar-denominated debts, but some other reports suggest they are.
Rosneft, Russia’s state-owned oil company and the largest publicly traded oil producer, recently paid $7 billion in US dollar debt, and stated it has enough dollars to meet future debt payments. With $20 billion in cash, and $19.5 billion debt payments coming due, Rosneft can survive if it remains very financially prudent. However, Rosneft’s ability to meet the recent debt payments was courtesy of the Russian Central Bank, which basically printed $10.8 billion worth of rubles to specifically inject into the company. That is not exactly confidence-inspiring.
What would a Russian default n 2015 or 2016 mean for everyone outside of Russia? Pundits and analysts are divided: some predict doom, others are not so worried.
The 1998 default took down Long-Term Capital Management, a rock-star hedge fund that had two Nobel Prize-winning economists on its board, because of its exposure to Russian bonds. It also took a beating to US equity markets. But aside from that, there was no widespread, systemic catastrophe.
Today, it generally seems no Western banks or hedge funds are highly exposed to Russian debt, but reverberations of a likely Russian recession (to occur next year regardless of a default) could spell trouble for US companies that do a lot of business in that country. With falling oil prices and revenues and growing debts and deficits, it looks like Russia will be seeing a lot of red once again.
The Canadian Press – FILE – In this Thursday, Aug. 7, 2008 file photo, Russia’s strategic bomber Tu-160 or White Swan, the largest supersonic bomber in the world, seen at Engels Air Base near Saratov, about …more 700 kilometers (450 miles) southeast of Moscow, Russia. Russia’s defense minister says the military will conduct regular long-range bomber patrols, ranging from the Arctic Ocean to the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze) less
MOSCOW – In a show of military muscle amid tensions with the West, Russia will send long-range strategic bombers on regular patrol missions across the globe, from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, a top official said Wednesday.
The announcement by Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu came as NATO’s chief accused Russia of sending fresh troops and tanks into eastern Ukraine.
“Over the last few days, we have seen multiple reports of large convoys moving into Eastern Ukraine,”said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. “We assess that this significant military buildup includes Russian artillery, tanks, air defence systems and troops. His statement called the situation a “severe threat to the cease-fire.”
Moscow denied the allegation as unfounded, but Shoigu also said the dispute with the West over Ukraine would require Russia to beef up its forces in the Crimea, the Black Sea Peninsula that Russia annexed in March.
Shoigu said Russian long-range bombers will conduct flights along Russian borders and over the Arctic Ocean. He said, “In the current situation we have to maintain military presence in the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific, as well as the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.”
Shoigu would not say how frequent the patrol missions would be or offer any other specifics, but he noted that the increasing pace and duration of flights would require stronger maintenance efforts and that relevant directives have been issued to industries.
He said the Russian air force’s long-range planes also will conduct “reconnaissance missions to monitor foreign powers’ military activities and maritime communications.”
A senior U.S. military official said Russia has not previously flown actual bomber patrols over the Gulf of Mexico, including during the Cold War.
Long-range bombers have been in the area before, but only to participate in various visits to the region when the aircraft stopped over night at locations in South or Central America. During the Cold War, other types of Russian aircraft flew patrols there, including surveillance flights and anti-submarine aircraft.The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the flights publicly, also said that the pace of Russian flights around North America, including the Arctic, have largely remained steady, with about five incidents per year.
Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, declined to call this a Russian provocation. He said the Russians have a right, like any other nation, to operate in international airspace and in international waters. The important thing, Warren said, is for such exercises to be carried out safely and in accordance with international standards.
Russian nuclear-capable strategic bomberswere making regular patrols across the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans during Cold War times, reaching areas from which nuclear-tipped cruise missiles could be launched at the United States. But that stopped in the post-Soviet economic meltdown.
The bomber patrol flights have resumed under President Vladimir Putin’s tenure, and they have become even more frequent in recent weeks, with NATO reporting a spike in Russian military flights over the Black, Baltic and North seas as well as the Atlantic Ocean.
Earlier this year, Shoigu said that Russia plans to expand its worldwide military presenceby seeking permission for navy ships to use ports in Latin America, Asia and elsewhere for replenishing supplies and doing maintenance. He said the military was conducting talks with Algeria, Cyprus, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba, Seychelles, Vietnam and Singapore.
Shoigu said Russia also is talking to some of those countries about allowing long-range bombers to use their air bases for refuelling .
Ian Kearns, director of the European Leadership Network, a London-based think-tank , said the bomber patrols are part of Kremlin’s efforts to make the Russian military “more visible and more assertive in its actions.”
The new bomber flights “aren’t necessarily presaging a threat,”Kearns said. “They are just part of a general ramping-up of activities.”
But, he added, “The more instances you have of NATO and Russian forces coming close together, the more chance there is of having something bad happening, even if it’s not intentional.”
On Monday, the European Leadership Network issued a report that found a sharp rise in Russian-NATO military encounters since the Kremlin’s annexation of Crimea, including violations of national airspace, narrowly avoided midair collisions, close encounters at sea, harassment of reconnaissance planes, close overflights over warships, and Russian mock bombing raid missions.
Three of the nearly 40 incidents, the think-tank said, carried a “high probability” of causing casualties or triggering a direct military confrontation: a narrowly avoided collision between a civilian airliner and a Russian surveillance plane, the abduction of an Estonian intelligence officer, and a large-scale Swedish hunt for a suspected Russian submarine that yielded no result.
In September, the report said, Russian strategic bombers in the Labrador Sea off Canada practiced cruise missile strikes on the U.S. Earlier this year, in May, the report said, Russian military aircraft approached within 50 miles (80 kilometres) of the California coast, the closest such Russian military flight reported since the end of the Cold War.
Russia-West ties have dipped to their lowest point since Cold War times over the Kremlin’s annexation of Crimea and support for pro-Russia insurgents in Ukraine. The West and Ukraine have continuously accused Moscow of fueling the rebellion in eastern Ukraine with troops and weapons — claims Russia has rejected.
Fighting has continued in the east, despite a cease-fire agreement signed between Ukraine and the rebels signed in Minsk, Belarus, in September.
Stoltenberg, the NATO chief, urged Russia to “pull back its forces and equipment from Ukraine, and to fully respect the Minsk agreements. “
U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, said Wednesday that in the last two days “we have seen columns of Russian equipment, primarily Russian tanks, Russian artillery, Russian air defence systems and Russian combat troops entering into Ukraine.”
Breedlove, who spoke in Sofia, Bulgaria, wouldn’t say how many new troops and weapons have moved into Ukraine or specify how the alliance obtained the information.
The Russian Defence Ministry quickly rejected Breedlove’s statement as groundless.
Breedlove said the Russia-Ukraine border is “completely wide open,” and “forces, money, support, supplies, weapons are flowing back and forth.”
___
John-Thor Dahlburg in Brussels, Veselin Toshkov in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Lolita C. Baldor and Robert Burns in Washington contributed to this report.
Andrew MakhoninVladimir “Putin is a gift to caricaturists,” said Barry Blitt, a New Yorker artist, when he designed a Sochi Olympic-themed cover earlier this year, featuring the Russian leader in frilly ice skating attire. The caricature artists of Russia take a very different approach. On Friday a gallery titled “No Filters” with the work of about 100 cartoonists opened in Moscow, and just about all their images show Putin favorably: as a strongman, a political chess master, and a fighter against fascists and terrorists. In one conspicuously large work, Putin is spanking President Barack Obama, who has the body of schoolboy.
“Targeted sanctions,”the caption on that caricature reads – a jab at America’s economic strategy against Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. Another image shows Putin tugging on Obama’s ear, scolding him not to “touch” Ukraine again. A third shows Obama and Ukraine’s president, both dressed as peasant girls working the fields, cowering from Putin who sits atop a tank and asks, “Hey girls, have you seen any fascists here?”
There is some truth to the first image, at least. Putin has run circles around the U.S. when it comes to the war in Ukraine. The Obama administration has called for an end to Russian aggression since Putin invaded Crimea. The U.S. has tried to put pressure on Russia by initiating first targeted sanctions and then broad ones. That began in March, and yet Russia’s military incursion persists to this day, and has grown worse. Obama gave his own policies credit as being “the only reason” a ceasefire was agreed upon in September – some of the bloodiest fighting started shortly thereafter. And, in spite of strong rhetoric one week, like the U.S. “will not accept Russia’s occupation and illegal annexation of Crimea or any part of Ukraine,” Obama allegedly privately admitted around the same time that Crimea was “gone” for good.
Obama’s shortcomings aside, Putin is not the savvy strongman his propagandists present him as. Russia’s currency continues to hit record lows, and the nation’s economy is at recession levels. And the annexation of Crimea leaves Russia with a 10,000-square mile welfare money pit.
That Putin is fighting against fascism is laughable. The “Young Guards,” the youth-wing of his political party, set up the gallery to display the work of “patriotically oriented artists” who want to “restore in the minds of citizens respect and pride in their country.”
After Russia’s March annexation of Crimea, reports surfaced of serious human rights abuses against both Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians who refused Russian citizenship. Now, threats of military action from pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine have eastern Europe on alert, and have motivated Poland to make changes to its military structure that haven’t been seen since the Cold War.
[Polish Defense Minister] Tomasz Siemoniak said the troops are needed in the east because of the conflict in neighboring Ukraine.
“The geopolitical situation has changed, we have the biggest crisis of security since the Cold War and we must draw conclusions from that,” Siemoniak said.
He said that at least three military bases in the east will see their populations increase from the current 30 percent of capacity to almost 90 percent by 2017, and that more military hardware will be moved to those bases as well.
He said it was not some “nervous or radical move” but that because of this “situation of threat we would like those units in the east of Poland to be more efficient.”
According to the AP report, current military establishments along the eastern border of Poland are only 30% staffed as part of a long term plan to move troops to those installations only in the event of serious conflict.
After a series of warnings from the Kremlin that Warsaw was a possible target of a Russian nuclear strike, the Polish government that was installed in September toned down its language and said it was going to focus more on its own security than Ukraine’s problems.
Poland’s repositioning of military might eastward is a long-term plan, defense ministry spokesman Jacek Sonta said. “We are talking about a multiyear, gradual plan of strengthening these forces, not a quick relocation,” Mr. Sonta said. “It is difficult to give specific time frame and numbers.”
Western nations imposed harsh sanctions after Russia’s March annexation of the Crimea, causing Russia to double down on its aggressive strategy in the Baltic, raising concerns from western powers that the tension could affect trade between Russia and Europe:
“An attack on Putin is an attack on Russia. Without Putin, there is no Russia,” one Kremlin official told us.
The remark caused a flurry when it was subsequently leaked to the Russian media, with its implication that Mr Putin is now president for life, and the current regime could extend for decades.
“We do not want to close the door to anyone. It’s your leaders saying ‘we will punish Russia’ who is the problem. But they won’t succeed in isolating us,” he said, leaving the question unanswered.
Western powers have no choice but to push Putin on the issue of Ukrainian self-determination, but one has to wonder what we’ll be pushing Putin toward.
TEL AVIV – Russia has delivered a behind-the-scenes threat to retaliate if airstrikes carried out by the U.S. or its allies target the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Middle Eastern security officials told WND.
The security officials said Russia complained Sunday in quiet talks with United Nations representatives that the Obama administration’s current aerial campaign against Islamic State fighters in Syria is a violation of international agreements regarding control of Syrian airspace.
The officials said Russia warned it could potentially retaliate if U.S. or Arab airstrikes go beyond targeting Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, and instead bomb any Syrian regime targets.
The officials told WND they do not have any information about the seriousness of the Russian threat or whether Moscow meant it would retaliate directly or aid Assad’s air force in a military response.
The officials said Russian diplomats asserted terms regarding Syrian airspace were agreed upon last September as part of a sweeping deal to disarm Syria’s arsenal of chemical weapons by the middle of 2014.
At the time, the international community feared Assad could target chemical weapons inspectors acting in Syria. That fear in part lead to a deal in which Moscow says it was provided with significant responsibility over the skies of Syria, purportedly to insure against Assad’s air force acting against the international disarmament effort.
The officials further said that both the Russia and Iranian militaries are on heightened alert amid the ongoing situation in Syria.
On Saturday, U.S.-led coalition warplanes for the first time reportedly struck ISIS targets in Syria near the Turkish border as well as positions in the country’s east, according to activists and a Kurdish officials speaking to the Associated Press.
Nawaf Khalil, a spokesman for Syria’s Kurdish Democratic Union Party, or PYD, told the AP the strikes targeted Islamic State positions near the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani.
U.S.-coalition strikes also reportedly targeted a local ISIS headquarters in the northern Syrian town of Tel Abyad along the Turkish border, setting an oil refinery ablaze.
“Our building was shaking and we saw fire, some 60 meters (65 yards) high, coming from the refinery,”local businessman Mehmet Ozer told Time Magazine.
Time reported the strikes were also confirmed by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and were reported by Turkey’s Dogan news agency.
(CNSNews.com) – Russia on Tuesday accused the West of ignoring its warnings about the growing terrorist threat in Syria, and claimed that the moderate rebel front – the one the Obama administration wants to arm as part of its anti-ISIS strategy – “no longer exists.”
The remarks by Russia’s ambassador in Geneva Alexey Borodavkin came during a session of the U.N. Human Rights Council, which was discussing the most recent report by a U.N.-mandated independent commission of inquiry into the conflict.
The report, released late last month and roughly covering the first half of this year, recorded atrocities by the Assad regime and by some of its opponents, including the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL).
“The commission in its report,” Borodavkin told the council through a translator, “recognizes that the Syrian government is working against a huge army of trained armed terrorists.”
“The Free Syrian Army no longer exists,”he continued. “Armed groups qualified as ‘moderate’ are closely coordinating their activities with terrorist groups.”
The Free Syrian Army (FSA) is the mainstream rebel movement affiliated to the U.S.-recognized Syrian National Coalition which the administration wants to train and equip to fight ISIS jihadists in Syria. Lawmakers are expected to vote as early as Wednesday to authorize the proposal.
The commission of inquiry report to which Borodavkin referred does not state that the FSA no longer exists. It does say however that “ideological, political, tribal and personal” divisions and rivalries among rebel groups had prevented them from becoming more effective, and that “[e]fforts by external backers to reinforce the so-called ‘vetted moderate armed opposition’ failed to reverse the dominance of radical armed groups.”
The report also says that where “groups labeled as moderate” managed to score military successes against the regime they did so “closely coordinating with extremist groups, including the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra.”
Borodavkin used his intervention in Geneva to chide countries – especially Western countries opposed to Syrian President Bashar Assad – for their approach to the three-and-a-half-year civil war.
“It’s clearer than ever that the real threat to Syrian statehood and the whole region is the activity of terrorist groups,”he said.’
“I’d like to remind you that Russia right from the beginning suggested that we unite the efforts of the international community, the Syrian authorities and the moderate opposition to combat jihadists.’
“If we had been heard at the time, the spread of this cancerous tumor could have been stopped,”Borodavkin said.
“Now, regrettably, we must admit that our worst scenarios have materialized: the Islamic State [ISIS] has seized a third of the country’s territory, have proclaimed the Syrian city of Raqqa as a capital of their ‘caliphate’ and is committing heinous crimes. This is supplemented by violent raging of other terrorist groups.”
The Russian envoy said the new international focus on countering ISIS was to be welcomed, citing a meeting convened by France on Monday at which 26 countries, Russia and the U.S. among them, expressed support for a broad campaign against the jihadist group.
Russia was willing to contribute to the effort, he said.
On the sidelines of the meeting in Paris, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russian help in the anti-ISIS campaign included providing military and other assistance to Iraq “to strengthen its ability to ensure security.”
Moscow was “also providing military and other aid to Syria,” he said, as well as to other countries in the region, including Egypt, Yemen, Lebanon and Jordan.
Russia does not, however, support President Obama proposal to extend airstrikes against ISIS from Iraq into Syria, insisting that it would violate international law.
The Commander-in-Chief of the United States must be decisive. He should not be a hot-head, but should also not be paralyzed with indecision.
There was a time, not too long ago, that even Democrats understood that a swift response was necessary to external threats. Franklin Roosevelt, a man who helped set this country on a disastrous economic path, even understood this principle and asked for a declaration of war after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Yet, for some reason, months and years go by without President Obama acting decisively as he hopes that problems abroad will, somehow, solve themselves.
To be fair, he’s had a lot on his plate; when not agitating racial tensions and crusading for lawlessness as official policy, Obama is quite busy with vacations, golf and other leisurely activities.
On Thursday, President Obama addressed matters of international concern as he noted that Russia is responsible for the increased violence in Eastern Ukraine. He also addressed the worsening situation in the Middle East with regards to ISIS.
On the issue of Russia, Obama declared,
“Finally, I just spoke with Chancellor Merkel of Germany on the situation in Ukraine. We agree, if there was ever any doubt, that Russia is responsible for the violence in eastern Ukraine. The violence is encouraged by Russia. The separatists are trained by Russia. They are armed by Russia. They are funded by Russia. Russia has deliberately and repeatedly violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
However, rather than offer any solutions, Obama merely patted himself on the back and hailed his oh-so-stern economic sanctions as having a devastating effect on the massive Russian economy.
When he took questions, reporters wanted to know more about how his administration intended to deal with ISIS. After dancing around and explaining what should happen in the Middle East, that Iraq should be instrumental in diminishing the presence of ISIS, Obama offered no solutions and flat-out admitted that his administration has “no strategy” in dealing with ISIS.
Discussing military intervention, Obama candidly admitted, “I don’t want to put the cart before the horse. We don’t have a strategy yet.”
It’s important to note that this administration has been aware of the dangers posed by ISIS for months. In June of 2014, ISIS seized the Iraqi city of Mosul, wreaking havoc upon Christian and other minority populations.
For months, this administration has hemmed and hawed and hoped that ISIS will simply pack up and go away. Instead, they have gained massive ground and strong footholds in Iraq and have all but undone the stability American military members fought and died to help create.
Still, we are told by our president that after months of threats and increasing militancy, this administration does not have a strategy yet?
This president makes Jimmy Carter look strong and decisive by comparison…
Europe has acquiesced to Washington’s drive to war with Russia, a war that is likely to be the final war for humanity
byPaul Craig Roberts | Infowars.com | August 7, 2014
More evidence, about which I hope to write at length, is piling up that Europe has acquiesced to Washington’s drive to war with Russia, a war that is likely to be the final war for humanity. By Russia’s low key and unthreatening response to Washington’s aggression, thereby giving the West the mistaken signal that Russia is weak and fearful, the Russian government has encouraged Washington’s drive to war.
It appears that the Russians’ greatest weakness is that capitalism has raised enough Russians to a comfortable living standard that the war that Washington is bringing to them is scary, and they want to avoid it in order to continue living like decadent Western Europeans.
The same thing happened to the once fierce Vandals in North Africa in the 6th century when the Vandals were exterminated by a small force from the Eastern Roman Empire. The Vandals had lost the valor that had given them a rich chunk of the Roman Empire.
Russia needs to save the world from war, but the avoidance of war requires Russia to make the costs clear to Europeans.
Faced with economic sanctions, essentially illegal and warlike actions, applied to various Russian individuals and businesses by Washington and Washington’s EU puppets and by Switzerland, a country taught to be more fearful of Washington than of Moscow, Russian President Putin has asked the Russian government to come up with countermeasures to be implemented in response to the gratuitous sanctions imposed against Russia.
But, Putin says, Russia must hold back: “Obviously we need to do it cautiously in order to support domestic manufacturers, but not hurt consumers.”
In other words, Putin wants to impose sanctions that are not really sanctions, but something that looks like tit for tat.
The amazing thing about Russia finding herself on the defensive about sanctions is that Russia, not Washington or the impotent EU, holds all the cards. Putin can bring down the economies of Europe and throw all of Europe into political and economic chaos simply by turning off the energy supply.
Putin would not have to turn off the energy supply for very long before Europe tells Washington good-bye and comes to terms with Russia.The longer Putin waits, the longer Europe has to prepare against Russia’s best weapon that can be used to peacefully resolve the conflict that Washington has orchestrated.
Washington’s aggressive moves against Russia will not stop until Putin realizes that he, not Washington, holds the cards, and plays them.
The world has had enough of Washington, its constant lies, its constant wars, and its bullying. Putin would do well to spend a few hours with Belisarius, Justinian the Great’s great general.
“When I treat with my enemies,”Belisarius said, “I am more accustomed to give than to receive counsel; but I hold in one hand inevitable ruin, in the other peace and freedom.”
That is precisely the position that Vladimir Putin is in with regard to Europe. In one hand he holds the ruin of Europe. In the other peace and freedom in the relations between Russia and Europe. He needs to call up the European “leaders” and tell them.
If Putin does not put his foot down hard and make clear to the Europeans what the stakes are, Washington will succeed in its determination to drive the world to war, and “exceptional and indispensable” Americans will die along with all the rest.
ABOUT THE AUTOR:
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. His latest book, The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West is now available.
We could not have a better person in office than President Obama, if you want someone to do everything
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he can to destroy the country that is. This President has gone out of his way to make sure not only just a few of his Socialist policies ruin us, but that his whole time in office is dedicated to the destruction of the United States as we know it.
From supplying terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, and countless other Islamic Jihadists in N. Africa, the Mid-East, Indonesia, and Europe with billions of dollars in weapons, billions in financial aid, and actual military help, to purposely busing and flying in hundreds of thousand illegal aliens per day via Homeland Security.
We also have the countless scandals which amount to crimes perpetrated by this President. From Benghazi to the IRS situation, where Conservatives are targeted by the IRS for their voices of opposition to the Administration, we now have a Socialist Dictator in office who has declared war on any American who stands with the Constitution as the rule of law.
We now have the dirtiest most corrupt President ever to hold office, making Richard M. Nixon look like the most honest President we ever had, when comparing the two. At least Nixon loved America; Obama hates the very core of American values of which make us great.
Obama and John Kerry have done everything possible to damage beyond recognition the friendship the US has had with key allies such as Israel and Russia. Today, we stand in opposition to Israel because of Obama’s agenda to transform the Mid-East into a region completely run by terrorist organizations, labeling Israel as an oppressive state and doing everything possible short of cutting ties with them altogether.
The Benghazi cover up is clear to anyone who has been following US foreign policy. This Administration has to keep these events swept under the rug since it was the very terrorist organizations the Obama Administration is supporting who are responsible for killing Americans on that day.
I am an established writer with articles in over 20 publications of differing topics Political Commentary Columnist for the Cimarron News Press in Cimarron, New Mexico from 2001 to 2003 generating the controversy I was hired for. I also was a regular writer for several small coastal newspapers in Southern Oregon during the early 1990’s. BOOKS:
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Russian military produced an impressive array of evidence that clearly shows that ISIS oil is being smuggled into Turkey on an industrial scale. The evidence included photographs taken by satellite and during aerial reconnaissance missions. What the Russians have shown the world is extremely compelling, and it raises some very disturbing questions. First of all, how involved is the Turkish government in all of this? There is no way in the world that a 
Up to 2,000 fighters, 120 tons of ammunition and 250 vehicles have been delivered to Islamic State and Al-Nusra militants from Turkish territory, chief of National Centre for State Defense Control Lt.Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev said.
Ordinary people also have seen the videos, heard the stories and reached the same conclusion — one that might seem absurd to Americans but is widely believed among Iraqis — that the United States is supporting the Islamic State for a variety of pernicious reasons that have to do with asserting U.S. control over Iraq, the wider Middle East and, perhaps, its oil.
What Did You Say? 
The treaty prohibits the possession of ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. Russia’s ground-launched SSC-8 cruise missile has been under development and testing for several years.
Russia initially violated the treaty by testing the missile during Barack Obama’s presidency. Despite becoming aware of this apparent violation, the Obama administration did not take any forceful action to bring Russia back into compliance with the treaty, merely sending President Vladimir Putin a letter of concern in July of 2014. The Obama administration was less than forthcoming in discussing challenges that the treaty violation poses for the United States and its allies. The State Department’s annual compliance reports prior to July 2014 wrongly led Americans to believe there was no reason for concern over the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, even though the missile has reportedly been tested as early as 2008.
The Trump administration must do better.
The missile range limit of 500 kilometers is significant for U.S. allies in Europe situated close to the Russian borders and to Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave that borders Poland and Lithuania. The presence of Russian intermediate-range missiles would considerably complicate any U.S. efforts to defend its allies in the Baltics and Central and Eastern Europe should Russia decide to violate their territorial integrity.
Such a scenario is not as far-fetched as it might seem. Russia has a recent history of violating other nations’ sovereignty and territorial integrity. It also periodically issues nuclear threats against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies and conducts military exercises that simulate nuclear strikes against Poland.
Gen. Philip Breedlove, commander of Supreme Allied Command Europe and of U.S. European Command, said NATO allies are “concerned” over the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty issue and argued that violations “can’t go unanswered.”
For its part, Russia accuses the United States of Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty violations. But Russian accusations are baseless. U.S. missile defense systems do not violate the treaty because the treaty itself contains an exception for them. Neither do U.S. drones violate the treaty, as they are simply not mentioned by the treaty at all.
The Trump administration has a range of options to respond to the Russian treaty violations. Purely diplomatic measures to address the violation first begun during the Obama administration may not be sufficient. Historically, arms control tends to limit how the United States learns about military systems and their interactions in a broader context. This is why terminating the treaty is a viable option.
Currently, Moscow is doing whatever it deems necessary to its strategic interest regardless of the treaty, while the United States continues to abide by it. The administration should not ponder any future arms control initiatives and nuclear weapons reduction agreements at least until this issue is resolved.
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