Not ones to learn from recent history, the same old faces are readying their arsenals for a bit more war in the Middle East.
The decisions soon to be made in the comfort of the residences by Donald Trump 6,600 miles away from Syria, Theresa May 3,149 miles away, Emmanuel Macron 2,570 miles away and Vladimir Putin 3,368 miles away will directly impact the Syrians currently living in fear in bombed out houses.
Donald Trump has said that 'nothing's off the table' when it comes to a US response to a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria - so what is on the table?
The Diplomatic Route could include sanctions on Syria and it's allies but UN is a busted flush all the time some countries hold a veto and use it to block any action against their 'friends'.
There could be a limited strike like last time when US cruise missiles hit the airport where the Syrian planes launched the last chemical attack but that was pointless as the airport was quickly repaired and back in use within weeks.
A wider strike to target the Syrian Air Force seems the likely option but the Russian military is embedded with Syria's and several senior Russian figures have warned of a Russian response to a US attack, repeating a warning by the head of the military that missiles would be shot down and their launch sites targeted if they threatened the lives of Russians in Syria.
The coalition only seems to include the USA, France and the UK and the UK is hesitating in launching air strikes against Syrian targets as Theresa May is worried by the possible political fallout of taking military action without parliamentary approval especially in her already precarious position and MPs are not due to return from their Easter break until next Monday.
Apart from the complication of how Russia or Iran might respond if their own forces were hit by any allied strikes, the International chemical weapons watchdog, the OPCW, has announced that it is shortly to deploy a 'fact finding team' to Douma and an allied air strike taking place while UN inspectors are on the ground trying to establish the facts is not good with echoes of the Iraq Weapons inspectors being ignored while the military plans were firmed up.
Syria is already a basketcase filled with other nations military and terrorists fighting each other and any military action by the USA, France and UK is only going to heap even more death and destruction onto an already blood soaked nation from their tables safely thousands of miles away.
Showing posts with label Syria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Syria. Show all posts
Wednesday, 11 April 2018
Saturday, 15 April 2017
Penny Dropped Yet Donald?
My point last week was that the problem with bombing the Syrian Government forces as America did last week, is that in doing so you are helping the people they are fighting against which is the terrorist group Islamic State.
Seemed quite strange then that Britain, typically, was the first to applaud the strange decision taken by Donald Trump to hinder the Syrian forces by blowing up part of their airbase.
Russia was vilified for supporting the Syrian Government but it is the Syrian Government and the Russians who are fighting Islamic State so it seemed quite strange because that would put Britain and America on the side of Islamic State and the rebels.
As we found out today as at least 100 people lost their lives on transfer buses courtesy of a van bomb, these are the people who your actions helped, the people whose side of the argument that America finds itself on in Syria.
How many dead children will Donald Trump have to see this time, killed by traditional weapons rather than chemical ones, before the penny drops that both sides in Syria are as murderous as each other and throwing his missiles into the mix, especially in support of the terrorists, only prolongs an already over-long and disastrous conflict.
Seemed quite strange then that Britain, typically, was the first to applaud the strange decision taken by Donald Trump to hinder the Syrian forces by blowing up part of their airbase.
Russia was vilified for supporting the Syrian Government but it is the Syrian Government and the Russians who are fighting Islamic State so it seemed quite strange because that would put Britain and America on the side of Islamic State and the rebels.
As we found out today as at least 100 people lost their lives on transfer buses courtesy of a van bomb, these are the people who your actions helped, the people whose side of the argument that America finds itself on in Syria.
How many dead children will Donald Trump have to see this time, killed by traditional weapons rather than chemical ones, before the penny drops that both sides in Syria are as murderous as each other and throwing his missiles into the mix, especially in support of the terrorists, only prolongs an already over-long and disastrous conflict.
Sunday, 9 April 2017
Syrian War In A Nutshell
Syria wasn't supposed to be like this, it was meant to be a case of hijacking a popular protest, hand the protesters a few tonnes of arms and when it all turns violent, use the violence as a pretext for another 'humanitarian intervention' which includes bombing the Government into submission, install a western friendly puppet government and sit back and mop up the rebuilding and oil contracts.
Obviously Libya went wrong, as did Iraq and Afghanistan but Syria would be different but the West didn't anticipate Russia being in the mix.
Hot on the heels of the Arab Spring in 2011, a small revolt broke out in Syria, a protest that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad brutally put down but actually had the opposite effect of increasing the anger against the Syrian Government.
Now al-Assad has some friends that the West are not particularly fond of so they saw a chance to oust him and bring in their own more friendly Government so they began shovelling funds and arms to the protesters hoping they would do the regime change bit for them.
The Syrian Government retaliated with the military so the West sent even more arms and funds to the 'rebels', only the 'rebels' included remnants of Al Queada, now calling themselves Islamic State, who had popped across the border from Iraq.
Now armed with heavy weapons, the 'rebels' said thank you very much and not only fought against the Syrian Government forces but popped back across the border back into Iraq where they over-run the north of the country.
America, disturbed that the same people they have given the arms to had used them to attack cities in the country that America had spent a decade fighting for, they found themselves in the ludicrous situation of arming and fighting against the same group of people depending on which side of the Syrian/Iraq border they were stood on.
Al-Assad said he was fighting terrorists, Russia agreed and joined the frey by bombing the 'rebels' while the West watched on until a chemical attack in 2013 which the West blamed on the Syrian Government and made all sort of threats about removing al-Assad but the British Government voted against military action, mainly because the intelligence was that action against the Syrian Government would only benefit Islamic State and without Britain taking it's usual position by it's side in a war, America decided they couldn't justify it either so it went back to the Western backed, heavily armed 'rebels' fighting the Russian backed, heavily armed Government.
Then, a chemical attack in the past fortnight and America decided that the Government forces killing thousands with conventional weapons is one thing but using chemical weapons is beyond the pale and fired 59 missiles at the Syrian airport where the Americans believe the attack originated from.
That then brings us up to date in the Syrian civil war where Russia and Syria face off against the West and their rag tag band of rebels fighting for democracy and freedom/terrorists bringing death and mayhem depending on if they are doing their thing with the weapons the West handed them in Iraq or Syria.
I'm sure it will all work out fine in the end though like it hasn't in Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya...fifth times the charm.
Obviously Libya went wrong, as did Iraq and Afghanistan but Syria would be different but the West didn't anticipate Russia being in the mix.
Hot on the heels of the Arab Spring in 2011, a small revolt broke out in Syria, a protest that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad brutally put down but actually had the opposite effect of increasing the anger against the Syrian Government.
Now al-Assad has some friends that the West are not particularly fond of so they saw a chance to oust him and bring in their own more friendly Government so they began shovelling funds and arms to the protesters hoping they would do the regime change bit for them.
The Syrian Government retaliated with the military so the West sent even more arms and funds to the 'rebels', only the 'rebels' included remnants of Al Queada, now calling themselves Islamic State, who had popped across the border from Iraq.
Now armed with heavy weapons, the 'rebels' said thank you very much and not only fought against the Syrian Government forces but popped back across the border back into Iraq where they over-run the north of the country.
America, disturbed that the same people they have given the arms to had used them to attack cities in the country that America had spent a decade fighting for, they found themselves in the ludicrous situation of arming and fighting against the same group of people depending on which side of the Syrian/Iraq border they were stood on.
Al-Assad said he was fighting terrorists, Russia agreed and joined the frey by bombing the 'rebels' while the West watched on until a chemical attack in 2013 which the West blamed on the Syrian Government and made all sort of threats about removing al-Assad but the British Government voted against military action, mainly because the intelligence was that action against the Syrian Government would only benefit Islamic State and without Britain taking it's usual position by it's side in a war, America decided they couldn't justify it either so it went back to the Western backed, heavily armed 'rebels' fighting the Russian backed, heavily armed Government.
Then, a chemical attack in the past fortnight and America decided that the Government forces killing thousands with conventional weapons is one thing but using chemical weapons is beyond the pale and fired 59 missiles at the Syrian airport where the Americans believe the attack originated from.
That then brings us up to date in the Syrian civil war where Russia and Syria face off against the West and their rag tag band of rebels fighting for democracy and freedom/terrorists bringing death and mayhem depending on if they are doing their thing with the weapons the West handed them in Iraq or Syria.
I'm sure it will all work out fine in the end though like it hasn't in Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya...fifth times the charm.
Friday, 7 April 2017
The Wrong Action By Trump In Syria
Well we all said something had to be done but was lobbing 59 cruise missiles at yet another Middle Eastern country really the sensible thing to do?
Trump made much of the dead Syrian babies angle so if he cares that much about dead infants, will he now be stepping up to stop the bombing of Gaza, Mosul, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Afghanistan?
How much was he beating himself up about the 200 dead civilians at the hands of the Americans bombers in Mosul just a week ago? I'm sure there were some babies in that gruesome roll call.
He has such care for Muslim children all of a sudden, but only if the deaths are by Chemicals dropped from on high, killing children by conventional weapons he doesn't seem to have so much of a care about, just don't use gas is the message.
The most suspect aspect is that by attacking the Syrian Government, the largest benefactor is Islamic State and their motley crew of terror groups. Libya showed what happens when we act as their air-force.
After the debacle of Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq and a $20 trillion debt, i wonder how the American people feel about 59 cruise missiles costing $1.6 million each being thrown into Syria, especially the $100 million bill to help the groups they are currently fighting against in Iraq.
We are yet to hear of the effects and any civilian deaths especially as we have been told that not all of the 59 missiles accurately reached their target but Britain was predictably the first to stand by Trump and back his actions but we have long learnt that this Government has little or no morals.
Trump is calling for nations to join him in his Syrian crusade but as he has shown, he is the last person anyone should be trusting to bring peace to anywhere.
All i can see from the actions are Islamic State strengthened, a very annoyed Russia and America being made to continue to look like the warmongering nation it is suspected of being run by a simple man who has little or no idea of the effects of his actions in an already volatile region.
Trump made much of the dead Syrian babies angle so if he cares that much about dead infants, will he now be stepping up to stop the bombing of Gaza, Mosul, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Afghanistan?
How much was he beating himself up about the 200 dead civilians at the hands of the Americans bombers in Mosul just a week ago? I'm sure there were some babies in that gruesome roll call.
He has such care for Muslim children all of a sudden, but only if the deaths are by Chemicals dropped from on high, killing children by conventional weapons he doesn't seem to have so much of a care about, just don't use gas is the message.
The most suspect aspect is that by attacking the Syrian Government, the largest benefactor is Islamic State and their motley crew of terror groups. Libya showed what happens when we act as their air-force.
After the debacle of Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq and a $20 trillion debt, i wonder how the American people feel about 59 cruise missiles costing $1.6 million each being thrown into Syria, especially the $100 million bill to help the groups they are currently fighting against in Iraq.
We are yet to hear of the effects and any civilian deaths especially as we have been told that not all of the 59 missiles accurately reached their target but Britain was predictably the first to stand by Trump and back his actions but we have long learnt that this Government has little or no morals.
Trump is calling for nations to join him in his Syrian crusade but as he has shown, he is the last person anyone should be trusting to bring peace to anywhere.
All i can see from the actions are Islamic State strengthened, a very annoyed Russia and America being made to continue to look like the warmongering nation it is suspected of being run by a simple man who has little or no idea of the effects of his actions in an already volatile region.
Thursday, 6 April 2017
Stalemate In Syria
It is heartbreaking to see what is going on in Syria and the scenes of the victims of the gas attack rightly caused outrage around the World and quite rightly something has to be done, the question is what can anyone do?
Donald Trump made a speech about crossing a red line and Russia defended the Syrian President Bashar al Assad while 80 people lay dead in a morgue, but Syia is such a basket case with so many countries fighting on either side that it is hard to see how anyone can do anything without sparking off a war amongst nations.
America have been trying to oust the President from the first day but Russia have been backing him so America can't attack the Syrian Army as they are under the protection of Russia.
The Syrian Army are fighting the rebels and Islamic State so any attack on the Army would benefit IS as well which nobody wants.
The Kurds are fighting on the side of the rebels but Turkey are attacking the Kurds as they deem them terrorists and Israel are becoming more involved against the Syrian Army but they are allied to America so Russia won't be attacking them.
Stalemate all around but why the big boys argue over who is to blame and spit out pointless rhetoric, the poor Syrians stuck in the middle continue to bury their dead.
Something has to be done but it is such a mess that it is hard to see exactly what anyone can do but for certain more military intervention will not make things any better.
Donald Trump made a speech about crossing a red line and Russia defended the Syrian President Bashar al Assad while 80 people lay dead in a morgue, but Syia is such a basket case with so many countries fighting on either side that it is hard to see how anyone can do anything without sparking off a war amongst nations.
America have been trying to oust the President from the first day but Russia have been backing him so America can't attack the Syrian Army as they are under the protection of Russia.
The Syrian Army are fighting the rebels and Islamic State so any attack on the Army would benefit IS as well which nobody wants.
The Kurds are fighting on the side of the rebels but Turkey are attacking the Kurds as they deem them terrorists and Israel are becoming more involved against the Syrian Army but they are allied to America so Russia won't be attacking them.
Stalemate all around but why the big boys argue over who is to blame and spit out pointless rhetoric, the poor Syrians stuck in the middle continue to bury their dead.
Something has to be done but it is such a mess that it is hard to see exactly what anyone can do but for certain more military intervention will not make things any better.
Sunday, 17 April 2016
Setting A Precedent
In 1967, Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria and have occupied it ever since.
Now Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will never withdraw and 'the time has come after 40 years for the international community to finally recognise that the Golan Heights will remain under Israeli sovereignty forever'.
There you go Russia, all you need to do is keep hold of Crimea for another 38 years and it's yours, unless of course there is one rule for an illegal Israeli land grab and another for everyone else.
Now Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will never withdraw and 'the time has come after 40 years for the international community to finally recognise that the Golan Heights will remain under Israeli sovereignty forever'.
There you go Russia, all you need to do is keep hold of Crimea for another 38 years and it's yours, unless of course there is one rule for an illegal Israeli land grab and another for everyone else.
Wednesday, 2 December 2015
Off To War We Go Again
Government wins vote on airstrikes in Syria by majority of 174. Some 397 MPs were in favour, and 223 against.
Here we go again then and stand by for the shallow mantra that we have to support our lads over there 'getting the job done' as was much used in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya to try and browbeat those of us against these wars.
To use an often muttered quote 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it' and sadly the people who make the decisions never seem to remember our other folly's over the past decade in that region so it's many more years of terror to continue in the Middle East and in the Worlds capitals.
Sad day indeed for Britain and an even worse one for those innocents caught beneath British bombs.
Here we go again then and stand by for the shallow mantra that we have to support our lads over there 'getting the job done' as was much used in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya to try and browbeat those of us against these wars.
To use an often muttered quote 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it' and sadly the people who make the decisions never seem to remember our other folly's over the past decade in that region so it's many more years of terror to continue in the Middle East and in the Worlds capitals.
Sad day indeed for Britain and an even worse one for those innocents caught beneath British bombs.
Sunday, 29 November 2015
No To Syria Bombing
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SSOHR), U.S.-led Coalition airstrikes have killed 250 civilians while Russian-led airstrikes have 403 civilians including at least 18 people killed when a Russian jet mistakenly bombed a market today.
In the anti-war demo this weekend there was a great poster taken from the Vietnam protests in the US that said 'Bombing for peace is like screwing for virginity' but it seems that is exactly what our Government wants to do, drop bombs on high onto yet another Middle Eastern country in a forlorn hope it will bring peace.
Not enough that already the two most powerful militaries in the World, USA and Russia, are doing exactly that accompanied by ten other nations airforces with little effect.
I can't speak for everyone who is against sending in the British military once again but we all seem to agree that we have to do something about Islamic State, but sending down more bombs with a Union Flag stamped on them isn't it.
There are other non-military options we could be doing as fuelling the fire by killing civilians on foreign soil, and they are already being killed, will only encourage more people to join the fight against us and a repeat of the horrific scenes we saw in Paris in other cities.
It didn't work the other three times we tried it so why are we being told it is the way to fix things this time?
As one Syrian refugee explained: 'For us, it doesn’t matter which bombs are killing us, we are still dead'.
In the anti-war demo this weekend there was a great poster taken from the Vietnam protests in the US that said 'Bombing for peace is like screwing for virginity' but it seems that is exactly what our Government wants to do, drop bombs on high onto yet another Middle Eastern country in a forlorn hope it will bring peace.
Not enough that already the two most powerful militaries in the World, USA and Russia, are doing exactly that accompanied by ten other nations airforces with little effect.
I can't speak for everyone who is against sending in the British military once again but we all seem to agree that we have to do something about Islamic State, but sending down more bombs with a Union Flag stamped on them isn't it.
There are other non-military options we could be doing as fuelling the fire by killing civilians on foreign soil, and they are already being killed, will only encourage more people to join the fight against us and a repeat of the horrific scenes we saw in Paris in other cities.
It didn't work the other three times we tried it so why are we being told it is the way to fix things this time?
As one Syrian refugee explained: 'For us, it doesn’t matter which bombs are killing us, we are still dead'.
Tuesday, 6 October 2015
What A Mess In Syria
There cant be many more tougher jobs than the air traffic controller over Syria at the moment as Russian, American, Syrian, Turkish and British jets circle the country looking for someone to drop bombs on.
It makes it even tougher because they all seem to be bombing different people with the Turks chasing the Kurds, the Russians the Syrian rebels, the Brits ISIS the Syrians ISIS and Syrian rebels and Americans in that time honoured tradition just blowing up everyone and everything.
On the ground are Iranians shooting at ISIS, Syrians and Russians taking target at ISIS and US backed Syrian rebels and Turks making military jaunts against US backed Kurds.
On the whole it is a mighty mess and what it all means is that in the congestion it would be a shock if there isn't an incident, already the Russians have overshot and ended up in Turkey before being chased out by Turkish fighter jets.
Stuck in the middle of all the fighting are the Syrian people who have decided to hightail it out and are turning up at Europe's borders.
To say it is an unpredictable bloody mess sums it up nicely and all the while ISIS carry on blowing up historical landmarks and continuing collecting towns for their caliphate.
It makes it even tougher because they all seem to be bombing different people with the Turks chasing the Kurds, the Russians the Syrian rebels, the Brits ISIS the Syrians ISIS and Syrian rebels and Americans in that time honoured tradition just blowing up everyone and everything.
On the ground are Iranians shooting at ISIS, Syrians and Russians taking target at ISIS and US backed Syrian rebels and Turks making military jaunts against US backed Kurds.
On the whole it is a mighty mess and what it all means is that in the congestion it would be a shock if there isn't an incident, already the Russians have overshot and ended up in Turkey before being chased out by Turkish fighter jets.
Stuck in the middle of all the fighting are the Syrian people who have decided to hightail it out and are turning up at Europe's borders.
To say it is an unpredictable bloody mess sums it up nicely and all the while ISIS carry on blowing up historical landmarks and continuing collecting towns for their caliphate.
Sunday, 6 September 2015
Reminding The Government Over Syria
It seems that in the two years since the vote to invade Syria was rejected, the Government seem to have gone hazy on the details.
It would appear, according to the Government officials on TV today, that Labour messed up the chance to deal with Syria two years ago and that is why we have millions of displaced Syrians escaping to Europe today.
Allow me to remind them that two years ago the vote was to invade the country to remove the President, Bashar al Assad, thereby helping the rag-tag bunch who were taking up arms to remove him.
President al Assad said that the people he was fighting, and the people that the West were backing with arms and funding, were terrorists and released the videos of them eating the hearts of their enemies and using chemical weapons as evidence.
Britain's security and intelligence chiefs at MI6 concurred that: 'Al-Queada elements and jihadists in Syria currently represent the most worrying emerging terrorist threat to the UK and the west. There is a risk of extremist elements in Syria taking advantage of the permissive environment to develop external attack plans, including against western targets'.
The Labour Party refused to back the Governments invasion plans which gave the Americans the willies and they also slinked off and the imminent invasion never happened.
What did happen of course was the rag-tag groups were made up of Al-Queada who rebranded themselves Islamic State, took the weapons we gave them and invaded Iraq and slaughtered anyone who wasn't the right flavour of Muslim.
Spin forward a couple of years and Islamic State have large swathes of the Middle East and North Africa under their murderous control and Syrians, Libyans and Iraqi's are fleeing from the IS held areas towards Europe in huge numbers.
Which all means that if the vote had gone the way the Government had wanted it two years ago, we would have been on the same side as Islamic State and against al Assad's troops but now the Government is wanting to fight Islamic State and be allied to al Assad which is very much different to how it is being put today.
Fact is we have very much changed which side we are on and far from messing up the chance to help the Syrian's two years ago, we would have been handing them over to the very murderers we now want to go to war with.
Someone really should remind the Government before they accidentally bounce us into another war in the Middle East or at the very least make up their minds who the enemy is.
It would appear, according to the Government officials on TV today, that Labour messed up the chance to deal with Syria two years ago and that is why we have millions of displaced Syrians escaping to Europe today.
Allow me to remind them that two years ago the vote was to invade the country to remove the President, Bashar al Assad, thereby helping the rag-tag bunch who were taking up arms to remove him.
President al Assad said that the people he was fighting, and the people that the West were backing with arms and funding, were terrorists and released the videos of them eating the hearts of their enemies and using chemical weapons as evidence.
Britain's security and intelligence chiefs at MI6 concurred that: 'Al-Queada elements and jihadists in Syria currently represent the most worrying emerging terrorist threat to the UK and the west. There is a risk of extremist elements in Syria taking advantage of the permissive environment to develop external attack plans, including against western targets'.
The Labour Party refused to back the Governments invasion plans which gave the Americans the willies and they also slinked off and the imminent invasion never happened.
What did happen of course was the rag-tag groups were made up of Al-Queada who rebranded themselves Islamic State, took the weapons we gave them and invaded Iraq and slaughtered anyone who wasn't the right flavour of Muslim.
Spin forward a couple of years and Islamic State have large swathes of the Middle East and North Africa under their murderous control and Syrians, Libyans and Iraqi's are fleeing from the IS held areas towards Europe in huge numbers.
Which all means that if the vote had gone the way the Government had wanted it two years ago, we would have been on the same side as Islamic State and against al Assad's troops but now the Government is wanting to fight Islamic State and be allied to al Assad which is very much different to how it is being put today.
Fact is we have very much changed which side we are on and far from messing up the chance to help the Syrian's two years ago, we would have been handing them over to the very murderers we now want to go to war with.
Someone really should remind the Government before they accidentally bounce us into another war in the Middle East or at the very least make up their minds who the enemy is.
Saturday, 25 July 2015
Complicated
Turkey have been fighting the Kurd's since the 80s and but things got a more bit complicated recently as the Kurds were being used by the Americans as their 'feet on the ground' in the battle against ISIS.
In one recent flash point in the Syrian city of Kobani on the border of Turkey, Kurds fleeing an ISIS attack on their city were forced back towards ISIS by the Turkish military.
Turkey are enemies of the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, so they did not want to fight ISIS as it will help the Syrian President but now they have joined the fighting with the proviso that as well as targeting ISIS they also attack the Kurds.
Complicated for the US and UK as the Kurds are on our side so we have the farcical situation where Turkey have joined our side but are attacking the people on the same side.
So to recap, the UK, USA, UAE and Saudi Arabia are battling against the people they armed and funded to remove the Syrian President who they are now helping by batting the elements trying to remove him.
Meanwhile, one section of the allies is attacking another while it is being defended by USA planes.
Got it? Good. Now explain to the rest of us who is fighting who and who we are supposed to be cheering for.
In one recent flash point in the Syrian city of Kobani on the border of Turkey, Kurds fleeing an ISIS attack on their city were forced back towards ISIS by the Turkish military.
Turkey are enemies of the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, so they did not want to fight ISIS as it will help the Syrian President but now they have joined the fighting with the proviso that as well as targeting ISIS they also attack the Kurds.
Complicated for the US and UK as the Kurds are on our side so we have the farcical situation where Turkey have joined our side but are attacking the people on the same side.
So to recap, the UK, USA, UAE and Saudi Arabia are battling against the people they armed and funded to remove the Syrian President who they are now helping by batting the elements trying to remove him.
Meanwhile, one section of the allies is attacking another while it is being defended by USA planes.
Got it? Good. Now explain to the rest of us who is fighting who and who we are supposed to be cheering for.
Sunday, 12 October 2014
So Who's On Our Side Again?
Another twist as the ISIS fight to take the Syrian City of Kobani.
Kobani is on the border of Turkey and is the home to 50,00 Kurds who are trying to escape into Turkey who have sent their own military to keep them over on their side of the border.
Turkey have long been fighting a 30 year conflict against the PKK, Kurds who are fighting to establish a homeland in the Southern portion of Turkey so the Turks won't allow more Kurds into it's territory for fear they will join up with the Kurds already there fighting the Turks.
The Turkish Government have already stated the case that the PKK as equally deplorable as the Islamic State group.
Kurds, angry at the Turkish Government for doing nothing to help the Kurds in Kobani and actively sending those who have escaped back towards ISIS, clashed with police leaving at least 31 dead and scores injured.
Turkey are also enemys of the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, so they do not want to fight ISIS as it will help the Syrian President.
And so another level is added to an already complicated conflict where the USA, UAE and Saudi Arabia are battling against the people they armed and funded to remove the Syrian President who they are now helping by batting the elements trying to remove him while also defending Iraq.
Throw in that Kobani is now being defended by the PKK aided by USA planes, but the PKK is considered a terrorist organisation by the West and you get a massive headache trying to work exactly out who is fighting who and who are we supposed to be cheering for.
Kobani is on the border of Turkey and is the home to 50,00 Kurds who are trying to escape into Turkey who have sent their own military to keep them over on their side of the border.
Turkey have long been fighting a 30 year conflict against the PKK, Kurds who are fighting to establish a homeland in the Southern portion of Turkey so the Turks won't allow more Kurds into it's territory for fear they will join up with the Kurds already there fighting the Turks.
The Turkish Government have already stated the case that the PKK as equally deplorable as the Islamic State group.
Kurds, angry at the Turkish Government for doing nothing to help the Kurds in Kobani and actively sending those who have escaped back towards ISIS, clashed with police leaving at least 31 dead and scores injured.
Turkey are also enemys of the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, so they do not want to fight ISIS as it will help the Syrian President.
And so another level is added to an already complicated conflict where the USA, UAE and Saudi Arabia are battling against the people they armed and funded to remove the Syrian President who they are now helping by batting the elements trying to remove him while also defending Iraq.
Throw in that Kobani is now being defended by the PKK aided by USA planes, but the PKK is considered a terrorist organisation by the West and you get a massive headache trying to work exactly out who is fighting who and who are we supposed to be cheering for.
Wednesday, 10 September 2014
ISIS a Cover To Attack Syria?
President Obama is making a speech tonight to set out his plans for dealing with ISIS and even before he has uttered a word, we all know that he will be setting out his case for war in Iraq.
Hopefully Obama will explain how he will destroy Isis with air strikes when no amount of them has been able to destroy al-Qaida or the Taliban in 13 years of fighting.
Around this time last year, Obama and Cameron were foiled in an attempt to blow great lumps out of Syria in support of ISIS who were then one of the good guys.
While i agree that America broke Iraq, they should fix it even if that means troops going back to protect the Iraqis but this could be a chance to take out Assad in Syria under more mission creep like in Libya.
Obama and Cameron have both made noises about bombing Syria to under the guise of 'destroying and degrading' ISIS but at the same time they are arming and funding the Syrian Free Army and it could be a case of two birds with one stone as the ISIS targets and Assad forces are morphed into one enemy against the FSA and Obama and Cameron get to finally take out Assad and his forces under the guise of another humanitarian mission.
The West's war in Libya began as a humanitarian mission and ended up being the air cover for Al Queada and this is starting to look very much the same thing.
Obama was supposed to be the nice one bringing peace but he seems to have spent his administration droning and bombing his way around the globe and i feel the threat of ISIS is a cover and a way in to do what he was stopped from doing a year ago in Syria.
Hopefully Obama will explain how he will destroy Isis with air strikes when no amount of them has been able to destroy al-Qaida or the Taliban in 13 years of fighting.
Around this time last year, Obama and Cameron were foiled in an attempt to blow great lumps out of Syria in support of ISIS who were then one of the good guys.
While i agree that America broke Iraq, they should fix it even if that means troops going back to protect the Iraqis but this could be a chance to take out Assad in Syria under more mission creep like in Libya.
Obama and Cameron have both made noises about bombing Syria to under the guise of 'destroying and degrading' ISIS but at the same time they are arming and funding the Syrian Free Army and it could be a case of two birds with one stone as the ISIS targets and Assad forces are morphed into one enemy against the FSA and Obama and Cameron get to finally take out Assad and his forces under the guise of another humanitarian mission.
The West's war in Libya began as a humanitarian mission and ended up being the air cover for Al Queada and this is starting to look very much the same thing.
Obama was supposed to be the nice one bringing peace but he seems to have spent his administration droning and bombing his way around the globe and i feel the threat of ISIS is a cover and a way in to do what he was stopped from doing a year ago in Syria.
Friday, 27 June 2014
Obama's Syria Speech
As all of the Presidents scriptwriters have gone home to shoot bullets into the air to celebrate the 4th July, i have written a speech for Obama to read out regarding his latest plans for Syria.
Dear American People
I, Barack Obama, am proposing escalating US involvement in the Syrian civil war by making a request to Congress for $500m for the US military to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels.
Now i know what many of you are thinking, How can we be sure the Syrian rebels do not end up fighting for the ISIS in Iraq?
We have thought of that and we will make all rebels sign a form promising that any weapons that we provide will only be used against Syrians and not Iraqi's.
We have been very keen on this point and have even gone so far to make them do a pinky promise so there is no chance whatsoever that we will have another situation where the group of terrorists that we arm will turn around and try to kill us and our friends with our own weapons.
I am confident that the next group that we train and equip to fight against President Assad will stay on the Syrian side of the border this time.
People of America, i'm sure that you will agree with me that adding half a billion dollars to the $17 trillion debt is a price worth paying to arm rebels in a country ten thousand miles away which is no danger to the US.
We can only hope that with our money and with the help of Syrian President Assad who is presently attacking ISIS in Iraq and Iran who is supporting both the Iraqi President Maliki and Syrian leader while we try to overthrow both the Syrian and Iranian Governments, everything will work out just fine.
May God Bless America
Barack Obama
Dear American People
I, Barack Obama, am proposing escalating US involvement in the Syrian civil war by making a request to Congress for $500m for the US military to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels.
Now i know what many of you are thinking, How can we be sure the Syrian rebels do not end up fighting for the ISIS in Iraq?
We have thought of that and we will make all rebels sign a form promising that any weapons that we provide will only be used against Syrians and not Iraqi's.
We have been very keen on this point and have even gone so far to make them do a pinky promise so there is no chance whatsoever that we will have another situation where the group of terrorists that we arm will turn around and try to kill us and our friends with our own weapons.
I am confident that the next group that we train and equip to fight against President Assad will stay on the Syrian side of the border this time.
People of America, i'm sure that you will agree with me that adding half a billion dollars to the $17 trillion debt is a price worth paying to arm rebels in a country ten thousand miles away which is no danger to the US.
We can only hope that with our money and with the help of Syrian President Assad who is presently attacking ISIS in Iraq and Iran who is supporting both the Iraqi President Maliki and Syrian leader while we try to overthrow both the Syrian and Iranian Governments, everything will work out just fine.
May God Bless America
Barack Obama
Thursday, 12 September 2013
US Move Goalposts To Attack Syria
Initially, America wanted to resort to military action as a punishment for a chemical attack by Syria, an attack they have presented precious little proof was conducted by Assad forces.
Foiled by a lack of appetite from the major International players for another Middle East conflict and a UN veto by China and Russia, the Americans struggled to get the backing for their military action but now the reasons for wanting to fire missiles at Syria have changed and it has become about Syria's Chemical weapons and Assad handing over information regarding his Chemical weapon stash.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has rejected Syria's pledge to hand over information on its chemical weapons in 30 days, saying 'the words of the Syrian regime in our judgement are simply not enough' and warning that the US could still launch a military strike if Syria's President Bashar al Assad reneged on his promises.
Syria has sent a letter to the UN signing up to the Chemical Weapons Convention which fulfils the first part of the Russian four point plan with the second stage is for Syria to declare what chemical weapons it has which the Americans want to happen in less than the usual 30 day time frame.
This does smell of America picking any pretext for intervention, war and regime change and hoping that they can make the conditions for an invasion more likely, UN agreement or no agreement.
The bottom line is Obama wants his war and if he can't get it one way, he will get it another way and this will be accomplished by an ever changing list of demands, potential catch 22 situations and ever smaller hoops to jump through and the first time a time line slips, the America military will do what they have been sent there to do, regime change.
Of course it is a good thing that chemical weapons are being destroyed but this is moving the goalposts to justify aggression and they will keep moving them until they get it.
This is about the Us shifting the entry point for war from blaming Assad for a chemical weapons attack to saying he's holding chemical weapons back and we have to attack before he uses them again. Exactly like Saddam Hussein and his huge pile of WMD's and we know how that turned out.
Foiled by a lack of appetite from the major International players for another Middle East conflict and a UN veto by China and Russia, the Americans struggled to get the backing for their military action but now the reasons for wanting to fire missiles at Syria have changed and it has become about Syria's Chemical weapons and Assad handing over information regarding his Chemical weapon stash.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has rejected Syria's pledge to hand over information on its chemical weapons in 30 days, saying 'the words of the Syrian regime in our judgement are simply not enough' and warning that the US could still launch a military strike if Syria's President Bashar al Assad reneged on his promises.
Syria has sent a letter to the UN signing up to the Chemical Weapons Convention which fulfils the first part of the Russian four point plan with the second stage is for Syria to declare what chemical weapons it has which the Americans want to happen in less than the usual 30 day time frame.
This does smell of America picking any pretext for intervention, war and regime change and hoping that they can make the conditions for an invasion more likely, UN agreement or no agreement.
The bottom line is Obama wants his war and if he can't get it one way, he will get it another way and this will be accomplished by an ever changing list of demands, potential catch 22 situations and ever smaller hoops to jump through and the first time a time line slips, the America military will do what they have been sent there to do, regime change.
Of course it is a good thing that chemical weapons are being destroyed but this is moving the goalposts to justify aggression and they will keep moving them until they get it.
This is about the Us shifting the entry point for war from blaming Assad for a chemical weapons attack to saying he's holding chemical weapons back and we have to attack before he uses them again. Exactly like Saddam Hussein and his huge pile of WMD's and we know how that turned out.
Tuesday, 10 September 2013
Kerry Slip May Bring Peace
John Kerry is in the doghouse tonight as his reply to a question about what Syrian President Assad could do to avoid a military strike was to hand over his entire stockpile of chemical weapons within the next week could have scuppered his bosses plan for launching missiles as Damascus.
With the words barely out of the Secretary of State's mouth, Russia was asking Syria to put its chemical weapons stockpiles under international control and then have them destroyed, a plan which the Syrians said they welcomed and which the United Nations agreed to, asking the Security Council to approve a safe zone in Syria where the weapons could then be destroyed.
While all this was going on between Russia, the UN and Syria, the Americans were floundering that it wasn't
actually a serious offer, just 'rhetorical' before bowing to pressure and giving cautious approval to the proposal.
After all his efforts to drum up support for his plans, with war the only option they would consider, Obama must be mad as hell that John Kerry has inadvertently taken the wind out of that particular sail with his slip that leaves a chink of light for Syria to avoid being bombed back to the Stone Age.
As much as Obama has come out of this looking more of a GWB style warmonger, the Russians have played a great game, seeming to be a step ahead of the blundering Obama camp at every turn and unless the Americans use this as a pretext to use the Iraq style 'disposal of WMD' and turn it into Syria removing all their chemical weapons instead of a punishment for using chemical weapons as it has been until now, sanity may have prevailed even if by a blunder by the Secretary of State.
Maybe Putin could be looking at a Nobel Peace Prize in the near future.
With the words barely out of the Secretary of State's mouth, Russia was asking Syria to put its chemical weapons stockpiles under international control and then have them destroyed, a plan which the Syrians said they welcomed and which the United Nations agreed to, asking the Security Council to approve a safe zone in Syria where the weapons could then be destroyed.
While all this was going on between Russia, the UN and Syria, the Americans were floundering that it wasn't
actually a serious offer, just 'rhetorical' before bowing to pressure and giving cautious approval to the proposal.
After all his efforts to drum up support for his plans, with war the only option they would consider, Obama must be mad as hell that John Kerry has inadvertently taken the wind out of that particular sail with his slip that leaves a chink of light for Syria to avoid being bombed back to the Stone Age.
As much as Obama has come out of this looking more of a GWB style warmonger, the Russians have played a great game, seeming to be a step ahead of the blundering Obama camp at every turn and unless the Americans use this as a pretext to use the Iraq style 'disposal of WMD' and turn it into Syria removing all their chemical weapons instead of a punishment for using chemical weapons as it has been until now, sanity may have prevailed even if by a blunder by the Secretary of State.
Maybe Putin could be looking at a Nobel Peace Prize in the near future.
Tuesday, 3 September 2013
Pass The Salt Assad
During the visit in 2009, he said in a press conference: 'President Barack Obama's administration considers Syria a key player in Washington's efforts to revive the stalled Middle East peace process' and called Assad and Syria 'an essential player in bringing peace and stability to the region'.
Now Kerry wants to take his shaky at best evidence and throw a part of his countries military arsenal at his dinner partner claiming: 'History would judge us all extraordinarily harshly if we turned a blind eye to a dictator'.
Perhaps Kerry has evidence that he and Mrs Kerry were kidnapped and forced to pose for the picture, i'm sure that he can dredge up something from somewhere if he tries hard enough.
I suppose the case is that back in 2009 nobody guessed that the man would turn into a prospective murdering psychopath willing to kill thousands of Syrians to further his own interests but everything looks so cosy there, how was Assad ever supposed to know?
Thursday, 29 August 2013
Outbreak Of Sanity Defeats Cameron
It isn't often you get to applaud the British MP's but tonight they did us proud, 285 voted against the Government motion to secure authorisation for UK military intervention in Syria with 272 voting for.
David Cameron after losing the vote said: 'it is clear to me that the British parliament, reflecting the views of the British people, does not want to see British military action. I get that and the government will act accordingly.'.
Cameron has said he will not use the royal prerogative to start military intervention and respect the decision, and not order an attack.
Dave should be on the phone to Obama about now explaining how an outbreak of sanity in the British House Of Commons means that America's poodle won't be coming along on the latest adventure in the Middle East.
David Cameron after losing the vote said: 'it is clear to me that the British parliament, reflecting the views of the British people, does not want to see British military action. I get that and the government will act accordingly.'.
Cameron has said he will not use the royal prerogative to start military intervention and respect the decision, and not order an attack.
Dave should be on the phone to Obama about now explaining how an outbreak of sanity in the British House Of Commons means that America's poodle won't be coming along on the latest adventure in the Middle East.
Wednesday, 28 August 2013
Show Us The Evidence
Watching the news tonight and reading the morning papers i am left with the overwhelming feeling that war is coming, pencilled in possibly for this weekend and Cameron and Obama are not going to be challenged on providing a scrap of evidence to support it.
Why aren't we waiting for the UN inspectors to report back? Are they worried the answer may not be what they want to hear so they drown out the inspection with the beating of war drums and repeat the claim over and over that the Syrian Government gassed their own people so we get confused about what really happened.
It is the exact same scenario as the build up to the Iraq conflict where evidence was non-existent and fabricated and the search for the truth and real evidence by weapons inspectors was not welcome by those intent on war.
The previous UN inspection affirmed that the Sarin chemical attack came from the Syrian rebels but with no evidence the UK and US are pointing the finger at the Government forces and are certain enough to rain down missiles on another country.
After the Iraq debacle, why are journalists not asking more questions regarding the lack of evidence or UN backing or why we are aiding the people that a few months ago were described as the biggest threat to this country?
Our members of Parliament have been recalled to debate our actions on Thursday and nobody is expecting our representatives to refuse the Government to go to war with Syria but they had better demand evidence and not the Colin Powell kind of evidence, real, proper hard evidence that of Assads' guilt before they sign off on Cameron going to war in our name.
We are going to act as judge, jury and executioner on the word of Cameron and Hague, Obama and Kerry without waiting for the UN to fully investigate and apportion blame. Otherwise why is the US and UK so eager to launch and that draws heavy parallels with the UN weapons inspectors in Iraq.
It just shows if the super power wants to destroy a country, nothing will stop it. Shame on us and shame on the media for lacking the spine to question the leaders bouncing us into yet more death and destruction with no evidence.
We have obviously learnt nothing from the last decade of immoral Western wars.
Why aren't we waiting for the UN inspectors to report back? Are they worried the answer may not be what they want to hear so they drown out the inspection with the beating of war drums and repeat the claim over and over that the Syrian Government gassed their own people so we get confused about what really happened.
It is the exact same scenario as the build up to the Iraq conflict where evidence was non-existent and fabricated and the search for the truth and real evidence by weapons inspectors was not welcome by those intent on war.
The previous UN inspection affirmed that the Sarin chemical attack came from the Syrian rebels but with no evidence the UK and US are pointing the finger at the Government forces and are certain enough to rain down missiles on another country.
After the Iraq debacle, why are journalists not asking more questions regarding the lack of evidence or UN backing or why we are aiding the people that a few months ago were described as the biggest threat to this country?
Our members of Parliament have been recalled to debate our actions on Thursday and nobody is expecting our representatives to refuse the Government to go to war with Syria but they had better demand evidence and not the Colin Powell kind of evidence, real, proper hard evidence that of Assads' guilt before they sign off on Cameron going to war in our name.
We are going to act as judge, jury and executioner on the word of Cameron and Hague, Obama and Kerry without waiting for the UN to fully investigate and apportion blame. Otherwise why is the US and UK so eager to launch and that draws heavy parallels with the UN weapons inspectors in Iraq.
It just shows if the super power wants to destroy a country, nothing will stop it. Shame on us and shame on the media for lacking the spine to question the leaders bouncing us into yet more death and destruction with no evidence.
We have obviously learnt nothing from the last decade of immoral Western wars.
Sunday, 25 August 2013
Syrian War Set In Motion
Not having had a war for a couple of years, David Cameron and Barack Obama have had a 40 minute phone-call about starting another one in the Middle East.
David Cameron and Barack Obama have both agreed that last week's chemical weapon attacks merits a 'serious response' after concluding that Bashar al-Assad was almost certainly responsible for the assault that killed as many as 1,400 people in Damascus last week.
'The Prime Minister and President Obama are both gravely concerned by the attack that took place in Damascus on Wednesday' said the Prime Ministers spokesman, 'and the increasing signs that this was a significant chemical weapons attack carried out by the Syrian regime against its own people. The UN security council has called for immediate access for UN investigators on the ground in Damascus. The fact that President Assad has failed to co-operate with the UN suggests that the regime has something to hide'.
The justification for us killing lots of innocent Syrians will be that the Syrian regime will not cooperate with the UN Inspectors which has a very familiar ring to it, especially as we have no evidence the al-Assad regime were actually behind the attack except the UK and US suspecting it and we know how good that intelligence has been recently.
Ramping up the rhetoric on the Syria defying the UN angle, US secretary of state, John Kerry, has told the Damascus government that they should let UN inspectors have access to the site of the alleged gas attack and 'if the Syrian regime has nothing to hide, it should allow immediate and unimpeded access to the site rather than continuing to attack the affected area to block access and destroy evidence'.
So another war seems imminent with Americans and Brits bravely bombing from thousands of feet up in the air or sending missiles from the sea hundreds of miles away in the name of a humanitarian intervention.
The general consensus of people i have spoken to seems to be we shouldn't be involved as it is nothing to do with us but as the momentum builds and the march to war has been set in motion by the invaders agreeing on the Chemical weapons and defying the UN angle, we can expect anyone that doesn't swallow the UK and US Government line will be branded an Assad-loving, lefty, paranoid, conspiracy theorist and any evidence that contradicts it will be summarily ignored and we know this because this is the way all our horrific wars since 9/11 have been conducted.
David Cameron and Barack Obama have both agreed that last week's chemical weapon attacks merits a 'serious response' after concluding that Bashar al-Assad was almost certainly responsible for the assault that killed as many as 1,400 people in Damascus last week.
'The Prime Minister and President Obama are both gravely concerned by the attack that took place in Damascus on Wednesday' said the Prime Ministers spokesman, 'and the increasing signs that this was a significant chemical weapons attack carried out by the Syrian regime against its own people. The UN security council has called for immediate access for UN investigators on the ground in Damascus. The fact that President Assad has failed to co-operate with the UN suggests that the regime has something to hide'.
The justification for us killing lots of innocent Syrians will be that the Syrian regime will not cooperate with the UN Inspectors which has a very familiar ring to it, especially as we have no evidence the al-Assad regime were actually behind the attack except the UK and US suspecting it and we know how good that intelligence has been recently.
Ramping up the rhetoric on the Syria defying the UN angle, US secretary of state, John Kerry, has told the Damascus government that they should let UN inspectors have access to the site of the alleged gas attack and 'if the Syrian regime has nothing to hide, it should allow immediate and unimpeded access to the site rather than continuing to attack the affected area to block access and destroy evidence'.
So another war seems imminent with Americans and Brits bravely bombing from thousands of feet up in the air or sending missiles from the sea hundreds of miles away in the name of a humanitarian intervention.
The general consensus of people i have spoken to seems to be we shouldn't be involved as it is nothing to do with us but as the momentum builds and the march to war has been set in motion by the invaders agreeing on the Chemical weapons and defying the UN angle, we can expect anyone that doesn't swallow the UK and US Government line will be branded an Assad-loving, lefty, paranoid, conspiracy theorist and any evidence that contradicts it will be summarily ignored and we know this because this is the way all our horrific wars since 9/11 have been conducted.
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