The USA has launched airstrikes against targets in Syria with the help of Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Jordan. 14 strikes have been confirmed by the Pentagon but the operation is ongoing and news sources speak of 40 to 60 strikes.
Tomahawk cruise missiles (launched from a US Navy ship in the Red Sea), fighter jets, and bomber aircrafts were used, including armed Predator and Reaper drones, B-1 bombers, and stealth F-22 Raptors.
The air strikes targeted buildings, weapons depots, and checkpoints of IS (Islamic State) in and around Raqqa. IS had evacuated buildings, redeployed its heavy weaponry, and moved fighters’ families out of the city in appreciation of the strikes.
Near Idlib in the northwest of Syria, installations of Khorasan were hit by at least 8 missiles or bombs. Khorasan is described as a network of seasoned al-Qaida veterans and has its origins in the mountains of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
There are unconfirmed reports that Jabhat al-Nusra was also targeted.
About enemies of enemies
The Syrian government was willing to cooperate in coordinating strikes on IS, but US officials rejected any possibility of such cooperation. Syria warned, that strikes on Syrian soil without Damascus’ consent will be considered an act of aggression.
Syria’s air defenses are formidable, but they are mostly configured on Syria’s western coast, far from the areas targeted by the US air force. Until now there is no indication that US and allied planes were under attack from Syrian air defense. US President Obama has stressed repeatedly, that an attack against US airplanes would be a “casus belli.”
The bombing of Syria comes without explicit congressional authorization, Obama has asserted that the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force against al-Qaida provides him with sufficient legal authority.
The Syrian foreign ministry told, that the US informed its UN envoy before launching the strikes (the USA denied that). Minister Walid al-Moallem said, that he has received a letter from US Secretary of State John Kerry via the Iraqi Foreign Minister about the attacks.
This is of course not the same as asking for permission and planning a joint operation. The air raids in Syria are a breach of international law and a blatant act of aggression.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov urged the USA to respect Syria’s sovereignty, and stated “the necessity to strictly comply with the United Nations statute, norms of international law and unconditional respect of Syrian sovereignty.”
Russian President Putin spoke with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. saying that air strikes on IS bases inside Syria “should not be carried out without the agreement of the government of Syria.”
The USA has repeatedly rejected offers from Iran and Syria to cooperate in the fight against IS.
An ingenious plan
This is how the USA plans to sneak back in and revive last year’s failed plan for a bombing campaign that only Vladimir Putin’s intervention could avert. 12 months after failing to secure another WMD narrative laying blame on the Syrian government for a heinous gas attack, which bore all the hallmarks of Islamic terrorism, the US military machine has done the impossible and found a new backdoor into Syria.
Obama stated: “I have made it clear that we will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country, wherever they are. That means I will not hesitate to take action against ISIL in Syria as well as Iraq.”
Yet the USA was never threatened by IS (or ISIL), it just took the chance to weaken Iraq and start bombing Syria. The fragmentation of Syria and the unclear front lines make it inevitable that US airplanes will fly over territory that is under control of the Syrian government and that these airplanes will come near to positions of the SAA (Syrian Arab army).
It will be very tempting for US pilots to bomb these positions. The US will also for sure not miss the opportunity to test Syria’s air defense systems and generate extensive target lists, eventually using the cover of the IS campaign to hit key Syrian military targets.
The deception will most likely be carried out under a complete media blackout, with no mainstream media channels reporting “wrong targets” or “mistakes.” Attacks against Syrian positions will not exist for the Western public, and only the Syrian and Lebanese news agencies will report the incidents.
There have been almost 200 US air strikes in Iraq since August 7. Iraq’s Hezbollah Battalions complain that US warplanes have intentionally bombarded the positions of the Iraqi army and of Shiite volunteer forces in the Northern Babil province on the pretext of targeting IS strongholds.
“The intentional bombing of armed forces and popular forces shows wicked intentions of the US and the international cover-up of this attempt on the pretext of fighting ISIL,” a speaker from Iraq’s Hezbollah Battalions told the Arabic-language Al-Moslah news website.
“Had the United States been honest in its claims, it would have targeted the ISIL positions in Jorf Al-Sakhar, Fallujah, and other regions identified by us instead of striking the Army and popular forces in Al-Awisat in Northern Babil last Wednesday,” the speaker said.
It could have been easy (and honest)
If the real objective was to eliminate IS, Washington would sit down with both Syria and Iraq to form a joint strategy for destroying the Islamic terror brigades. IS could be wiped out in a few weeks by a combined effort, but it will not happen because the USA is playing a wicket game. The US administration is in reality not committed to demolish IS, but only interested in regime change in Syria.
Obama stated: “In the fight against ISIL, we cannot rely on an Assad regime that terrorizes its people; a regime that will never regain the legitimacy it has lost. Instead, we must strengthen the opposition as the best counterweight to extremists like ISIL, while pursuing the political solution necessary to solve Syria’s crisis once and for all.”
How is arming and training rebels in a foreign country and fueling a civil war equivalent with pursuing a political solution?
Short attention span and failing memory (Publics Alzheimer’s)
In 2011 the preposterous claims of air raids against peaceful demonstrators and mass rapes by viagra enhanced Libyan soldiers led to UN Security Council resolution 1973, authorizing a no-fly zone. But the no-fly zone was instantly used as the pretext to launch a devastating bombing campaign, which killed 40,000 Libyans, destroyed crucial infrastructure, and contaminated many areas with Depleted Uranium ammunition.
Of course, Libya is now a beacon of democracy, stability, and peace, so the 40,000 Libyans didn’t die in vain.
The 600,000 Iraqis didn’t die in vain either, because life in Iraq, especially for women, has so much improved since the toppling of Saddam Hussein.
The 200,000 Syrians will also not have died in vain….
IS is a creation of the West. This was pointed out in earlier blog posts.
http://mato48.com/2014/08/25/is-the-trojan-horse-of-us-intervention/
http://mato48.com/2014/08/04/is-the-pinnacle-of-us-middle-east-strategy/
IS has links with Mossad, CIA, Saudi intelligence, and is supported by Turkey, Israel, USA, and the Gulf monarchies.
This is not a fringe conspiracy theory, Bahaa al-Araji, Iraqi deputy prime minister, said that in a speech at a demonstration in Bagdad, and most of the thousands of participants in this demonstration agreed.
IS serves as a lure for violent criminals and psychopaths from around the world, drawing them together in one area. The leadership of IS can gather information from these recruits about their associates or organizations in various countries. Effectively, after doing any dirty work assigned to them, the recruits are being set up to be killed, either by US air strikes or by the opponents they face in their deployments. Few in IS know who the undercover agents are and who the fools are (the fools who’s destiny is to be used up and finally be trashed like toilet paper).
This amounts to a giant-scale police entrapment scheme (as it is so popular at the FBI) with the ultimate goal of toppling Bashar al-Assad while disposing at the same time a collection of unwanted people.
Very sophisticated!
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the new Caliph, was imprisoned in US camp Bucca and thought to have been killed several times. In various stages of this life an impersonator could have been easily inserted. Al-Baghdadi is described as enigmatic and elusive, he is said to wear a mask or a veil most times and only a few chosen leaders of his inner circle are allowed to meet him face to face. According to some sources, al-Baghdadi is actually a former Jewish actor named Elliot Shimon, who was trained by Mossad.
SITE (Search for International Terrorist Entities Intelligence Group), provided consulting services to the FBI and received financial support from the US government. Mercenary contractor Blackwater hailed SITE as “an invaluable resource.”
According to its website, SITE “constantly monitors the Internet and traditional media for material and propaganda released by jihadist groups and their supporters.” SITE is the intermediary between Al-Qaeda’s supposed media arm, As-Sahab, and mainstream media. Also most IS videos, including the ones showing the beheadings of US hostages, were distributed by SITE.
SITE has in fact become the public relations arm of IS.
A coalition against or for IS?
The mysterious reappearance of 49 (so called) “hostages” from the Turkish consulate in Mosul are the latest indicator of the barely covered special relation of Turkey with IS. The “hostages” were moved on the night of Sept. 19 to 20 from Mosul to Raqqa and from there to Turkey’s Akcakale crossing, where Turkish officials took care of them.
Western media cited experts who estimate that IS earns between one and two million US$ a day from oil smuggling via Turkey, Jordan, and Iraq’s Kurdistan region. EU Ambassador to Iraq Jana Hybas-kova confirmed that European countries have purchased crude oil from IS (the EU voted to ease an oil embargo on Syria to allow oil to be sold on international markets from the IS controlled oil fields).
IS has laid pipes from villages near the Turkish border at Hatay. Similar pipes exist also at the Turkish border regions of Kilis, Urfa, and Gaziantep.
Authorities in the Kurdish region of Iraq are also turning a blind eye to IS oil smuggling. When IS began selling oil from the northern province of Salahuddin, the Kurdish peshmerga forces stopped the tankers first, but later allowed tankers to pass. This oil is refined in the Iraqi Kurdish region before being pumped through a new pipeline to Ceyhan, Turkey, where it is loaded on tankers and shipped to Israel or the USA.
Fighters from Europe, Russia, Asian countries and Chechnya are traveling in large numbers both to Syria and Iraq, crossing Turkish territory. At least 1,000 Turkish nationals are helping the foreign fighters sneak into Syria and Iraq to join IS. MIT (Turkeys National Intelligence Organization) is involved. None of this can happen without MIT’s knowledge.
The Birgun newspaper published pictures of a hospital in Antep, near the Syrian border, claiming that at least 700 IS fighter have been treated there. IS commanders Abu al-Waleed al-Libi and Muhammet Ali R., and IS fighter Ammar Alo were treated at Mehmet Akif İnan State Hospital.
Turkeys exports to IS controlled Syrian areas increased by 57 percent from 574 million US$ to 903 million US$ in the first half of the year. The Syrian town of Azez, opposite Turkey’s Kilis, fell into the hands of Islamic militants in September 2013. Turkey’s exports through this crossing increased by 79 percent since then. Turkish exports to IS include vehicles and spare parts, clothing, durable foodstuffs, electronic items such as cell phones and chemical products.
Looting of historical artifacts has become IS’s main source of revenue. The militants oversee the excavation sites and impose a 20 percent tax on the traffickers who send the excavated objects via Turkey to Western markets. Archaeological sites like the ancient city of Apamea in Syria, which figures on the World Heritage List, have been ravaged and resemble molehills. The antiquity trafficking IS controls is estimated to be worth one billion US$. Main centers for the illicit trade are Urfa and Kilis on the Turkish/Syrian border.
When Iraqi troops stormed the university in Tikrit, they found IS weapons depots originating from Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
Special training for IS and associates
The USA plans to train a new force of Syrian rebels in Saudi Arabia. The Pentagon estimates that it will take eight months for the first units to be ready. Congress agreed to provide 500 million US$ for this operation, which aims to build an army of 5,000 fighters.
The US government keeps track of rebels receiving assistance either through “handwritten receipts provided by rebel commanders in the field,” or through the reports of its allies. US and NATO guns and equipment have moved from FSA hands to IS hands, and US special forces have knowingly or unknowingly trained and armed future IS terrorists in Jordan.
Since 2011 CIA operatives along with Israeli, Jordanian, British, and French instructors train FSA rebels on the Jordanian-Syrian border with anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons. The FSA rebels receiving this elite training most times go straight to IS. IS commander Abu Yusaf confirmed: “Many of the FSA people who the West has trained are actually joining us.” Pentagon officials estimate that more than 50 percent of the FSA is comprised of Islamic extremists.
All this will not change with the new efforts of establishing another rebel army.
Despite sometimes at odds on the Syrian battlefields, the FSA, Jabhat al-Nusra, and IS have entered a tenuous allegiance of convenience to fight Assad-aligned forces in the badlands surrounding Arsal (at the Syria-Lebanon border)/
“We are collaborating with the Islamic State and the Nusra Front by attacking the Syrian Army’s gatherings in … Qalamoun,” said Bassel Idriss, the commander of an FSA-aligned rebel brigade. “We have reached a point where we have to collaborate with anyone against unfairness and injustice,” confirmed Abu Khaled, another FSA commander who lives in Arsal.”
Tomahawk cruise missiles (launched from a US Navy ship in the Red Sea), fighter jets, and bomber aircrafts were used, including armed Predator and Reaper drones, B-1 bombers, and stealth F-22 Raptors.
The air strikes targeted buildings, weapons depots, and checkpoints of IS (Islamic State) in and around Raqqa. IS had evacuated buildings, redeployed its heavy weaponry, and moved fighters’ families out of the city in appreciation of the strikes.
Near Idlib in the northwest of Syria, installations of Khorasan were hit by at least 8 missiles or bombs. Khorasan is described as a network of seasoned al-Qaida veterans and has its origins in the mountains of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
There are unconfirmed reports that Jabhat al-Nusra was also targeted.
About enemies of enemies
The Syrian government was willing to cooperate in coordinating strikes on IS, but US officials rejected any possibility of such cooperation. Syria warned, that strikes on Syrian soil without Damascus’ consent will be considered an act of aggression.
Syria’s air defenses are formidable, but they are mostly configured on Syria’s western coast, far from the areas targeted by the US air force. Until now there is no indication that US and allied planes were under attack from Syrian air defense. US President Obama has stressed repeatedly, that an attack against US airplanes would be a “casus belli.”
The bombing of Syria comes without explicit congressional authorization, Obama has asserted that the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force against al-Qaida provides him with sufficient legal authority.
The Syrian foreign ministry told, that the US informed its UN envoy before launching the strikes (the USA denied that). Minister Walid al-Moallem said, that he has received a letter from US Secretary of State John Kerry via the Iraqi Foreign Minister about the attacks.
This is of course not the same as asking for permission and planning a joint operation. The air raids in Syria are a breach of international law and a blatant act of aggression.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov urged the USA to respect Syria’s sovereignty, and stated “the necessity to strictly comply with the United Nations statute, norms of international law and unconditional respect of Syrian sovereignty.”
Russian President Putin spoke with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. saying that air strikes on IS bases inside Syria “should not be carried out without the agreement of the government of Syria.”
The USA has repeatedly rejected offers from Iran and Syria to cooperate in the fight against IS.
An ingenious plan
This is how the USA plans to sneak back in and revive last year’s failed plan for a bombing campaign that only Vladimir Putin’s intervention could avert. 12 months after failing to secure another WMD narrative laying blame on the Syrian government for a heinous gas attack, which bore all the hallmarks of Islamic terrorism, the US military machine has done the impossible and found a new backdoor into Syria.
Obama stated: “I have made it clear that we will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country, wherever they are. That means I will not hesitate to take action against ISIL in Syria as well as Iraq.”
Yet the USA was never threatened by IS (or ISIL), it just took the chance to weaken Iraq and start bombing Syria. The fragmentation of Syria and the unclear front lines make it inevitable that US airplanes will fly over territory that is under control of the Syrian government and that these airplanes will come near to positions of the SAA (Syrian Arab army).
It will be very tempting for US pilots to bomb these positions. The US will also for sure not miss the opportunity to test Syria’s air defense systems and generate extensive target lists, eventually using the cover of the IS campaign to hit key Syrian military targets.
The deception will most likely be carried out under a complete media blackout, with no mainstream media channels reporting “wrong targets” or “mistakes.” Attacks against Syrian positions will not exist for the Western public, and only the Syrian and Lebanese news agencies will report the incidents.
There have been almost 200 US air strikes in Iraq since August 7. Iraq’s Hezbollah Battalions complain that US warplanes have intentionally bombarded the positions of the Iraqi army and of Shiite volunteer forces in the Northern Babil province on the pretext of targeting IS strongholds.
“The intentional bombing of armed forces and popular forces shows wicked intentions of the US and the international cover-up of this attempt on the pretext of fighting ISIL,” a speaker from Iraq’s Hezbollah Battalions told the Arabic-language Al-Moslah news website.
“Had the United States been honest in its claims, it would have targeted the ISIL positions in Jorf Al-Sakhar, Fallujah, and other regions identified by us instead of striking the Army and popular forces in Al-Awisat in Northern Babil last Wednesday,” the speaker said.
It could have been easy (and honest)
If the real objective was to eliminate IS, Washington would sit down with both Syria and Iraq to form a joint strategy for destroying the Islamic terror brigades. IS could be wiped out in a few weeks by a combined effort, but it will not happen because the USA is playing a wicket game. The US administration is in reality not committed to demolish IS, but only interested in regime change in Syria.
Obama stated: “In the fight against ISIL, we cannot rely on an Assad regime that terrorizes its people; a regime that will never regain the legitimacy it has lost. Instead, we must strengthen the opposition as the best counterweight to extremists like ISIL, while pursuing the political solution necessary to solve Syria’s crisis once and for all.”
How is arming and training rebels in a foreign country and fueling a civil war equivalent with pursuing a political solution?
Short attention span and failing memory (Publics Alzheimer’s)
In 2011 the preposterous claims of air raids against peaceful demonstrators and mass rapes by viagra enhanced Libyan soldiers led to UN Security Council resolution 1973, authorizing a no-fly zone. But the no-fly zone was instantly used as the pretext to launch a devastating bombing campaign, which killed 40,000 Libyans, destroyed crucial infrastructure, and contaminated many areas with Depleted Uranium ammunition.
Of course, Libya is now a beacon of democracy, stability, and peace, so the 40,000 Libyans didn’t die in vain.
The 600,000 Iraqis didn’t die in vain either, because life in Iraq, especially for women, has so much improved since the toppling of Saddam Hussein.
The 200,000 Syrians will also not have died in vain….
IS is a creation of the West. This was pointed out in earlier blog posts.
http://mato48.com/2014/08/25/is-the-trojan-horse-of-us-intervention/
http://mato48.com/2014/08/04/is-the-pinnacle-of-us-middle-east-strategy/
IS has links with Mossad, CIA, Saudi intelligence, and is supported by Turkey, Israel, USA, and the Gulf monarchies.
This is not a fringe conspiracy theory, Bahaa al-Araji, Iraqi deputy prime minister, said that in a speech at a demonstration in Bagdad, and most of the thousands of participants in this demonstration agreed.
IS serves as a lure for violent criminals and psychopaths from around the world, drawing them together in one area. The leadership of IS can gather information from these recruits about their associates or organizations in various countries. Effectively, after doing any dirty work assigned to them, the recruits are being set up to be killed, either by US air strikes or by the opponents they face in their deployments. Few in IS know who the undercover agents are and who the fools are (the fools who’s destiny is to be used up and finally be trashed like toilet paper).
This amounts to a giant-scale police entrapment scheme (as it is so popular at the FBI) with the ultimate goal of toppling Bashar al-Assad while disposing at the same time a collection of unwanted people.
Very sophisticated!
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the new Caliph, was imprisoned in US camp Bucca and thought to have been killed several times. In various stages of this life an impersonator could have been easily inserted. Al-Baghdadi is described as enigmatic and elusive, he is said to wear a mask or a veil most times and only a few chosen leaders of his inner circle are allowed to meet him face to face. According to some sources, al-Baghdadi is actually a former Jewish actor named Elliot Shimon, who was trained by Mossad.
SITE (Search for International Terrorist Entities Intelligence Group), provided consulting services to the FBI and received financial support from the US government. Mercenary contractor Blackwater hailed SITE as “an invaluable resource.”
According to its website, SITE “constantly monitors the Internet and traditional media for material and propaganda released by jihadist groups and their supporters.” SITE is the intermediary between Al-Qaeda’s supposed media arm, As-Sahab, and mainstream media. Also most IS videos, including the ones showing the beheadings of US hostages, were distributed by SITE.
SITE has in fact become the public relations arm of IS.
A coalition against or for IS?
The mysterious reappearance of 49 (so called) “hostages” from the Turkish consulate in Mosul are the latest indicator of the barely covered special relation of Turkey with IS. The “hostages” were moved on the night of Sept. 19 to 20 from Mosul to Raqqa and from there to Turkey’s Akcakale crossing, where Turkish officials took care of them.
Western media cited experts who estimate that IS earns between one and two million US$ a day from oil smuggling via Turkey, Jordan, and Iraq’s Kurdistan region. EU Ambassador to Iraq Jana Hybas-kova confirmed that European countries have purchased crude oil from IS (the EU voted to ease an oil embargo on Syria to allow oil to be sold on international markets from the IS controlled oil fields).
IS has laid pipes from villages near the Turkish border at Hatay. Similar pipes exist also at the Turkish border regions of Kilis, Urfa, and Gaziantep.
Authorities in the Kurdish region of Iraq are also turning a blind eye to IS oil smuggling. When IS began selling oil from the northern province of Salahuddin, the Kurdish peshmerga forces stopped the tankers first, but later allowed tankers to pass. This oil is refined in the Iraqi Kurdish region before being pumped through a new pipeline to Ceyhan, Turkey, where it is loaded on tankers and shipped to Israel or the USA.
Fighters from Europe, Russia, Asian countries and Chechnya are traveling in large numbers both to Syria and Iraq, crossing Turkish territory. At least 1,000 Turkish nationals are helping the foreign fighters sneak into Syria and Iraq to join IS. MIT (Turkeys National Intelligence Organization) is involved. None of this can happen without MIT’s knowledge.
The Birgun newspaper published pictures of a hospital in Antep, near the Syrian border, claiming that at least 700 IS fighter have been treated there. IS commanders Abu al-Waleed al-Libi and Muhammet Ali R., and IS fighter Ammar Alo were treated at Mehmet Akif İnan State Hospital.
Turkeys exports to IS controlled Syrian areas increased by 57 percent from 574 million US$ to 903 million US$ in the first half of the year. The Syrian town of Azez, opposite Turkey’s Kilis, fell into the hands of Islamic militants in September 2013. Turkey’s exports through this crossing increased by 79 percent since then. Turkish exports to IS include vehicles and spare parts, clothing, durable foodstuffs, electronic items such as cell phones and chemical products.
Looting of historical artifacts has become IS’s main source of revenue. The militants oversee the excavation sites and impose a 20 percent tax on the traffickers who send the excavated objects via Turkey to Western markets. Archaeological sites like the ancient city of Apamea in Syria, which figures on the World Heritage List, have been ravaged and resemble molehills. The antiquity trafficking IS controls is estimated to be worth one billion US$. Main centers for the illicit trade are Urfa and Kilis on the Turkish/Syrian border.
When Iraqi troops stormed the university in Tikrit, they found IS weapons depots originating from Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
Special training for IS and associates
The USA plans to train a new force of Syrian rebels in Saudi Arabia. The Pentagon estimates that it will take eight months for the first units to be ready. Congress agreed to provide 500 million US$ for this operation, which aims to build an army of 5,000 fighters.
The US government keeps track of rebels receiving assistance either through “handwritten receipts provided by rebel commanders in the field,” or through the reports of its allies. US and NATO guns and equipment have moved from FSA hands to IS hands, and US special forces have knowingly or unknowingly trained and armed future IS terrorists in Jordan.
Since 2011 CIA operatives along with Israeli, Jordanian, British, and French instructors train FSA rebels on the Jordanian-Syrian border with anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons. The FSA rebels receiving this elite training most times go straight to IS. IS commander Abu Yusaf confirmed: “Many of the FSA people who the West has trained are actually joining us.” Pentagon officials estimate that more than 50 percent of the FSA is comprised of Islamic extremists.
All this will not change with the new efforts of establishing another rebel army.
Despite sometimes at odds on the Syrian battlefields, the FSA, Jabhat al-Nusra, and IS have entered a tenuous allegiance of convenience to fight Assad-aligned forces in the badlands surrounding Arsal (at the Syria-Lebanon border)/
“We are collaborating with the Islamic State and the Nusra Front by attacking the Syrian Army’s gatherings in … Qalamoun,” said Bassel Idriss, the commander of an FSA-aligned rebel brigade. “We have reached a point where we have to collaborate with anyone against unfairness and injustice,” confirmed Abu Khaled, another FSA commander who lives in Arsal.”
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen