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Military chiefs warned Cameron against using 70,000 ‘moderate’ rebels figure

Published time: 4 Dec, 2015 11:48

Ministry of Defence (MoD) bosses warned Prime Minister David Cameron against claiming there are 70,000 moderate Syrian rebels ready to fight Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), fearing the assertion would echo Tony Blair’s Iraq “dodgy dossier.”
The revelation comes after the House of Commons voted to extend airstrikes from Iraq into Syria, with the first bombs falling hours later.

According to the Times newspaper, military figures also feared Cameron’s claim of such a rebel force may lead MPs to wrongly believe there was a ready-made army on the ground in Syria, therefore influencing the vote.

This led to concerns in the upper echelons of the military establishment that such a claim would later become the Syria war’s “dodgy dossier,” echoing Tony Blair’s now debunked 2003 claims that Saddam Hussein’s regime could launch weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes.

“There were Ministry of Defence officials who maybe felt scarred after the previous dossier,” a senior Whitehall source told the Times.

“They looked at the latest text and said that [the 70,000 figure] could become the ‘45 minutes’ moment of this document.

“The concern was … [that the 70,000 figure] will become the one thing that everyone latches on to, like the 45 minutes claim.”

Some of the most vocal critics of Cameron’s claim were among his own party.

During the ten-hour debate on Wednesday, Julian Lewis, Tory chairman of the influential Defence Select Committee, told MPs: “Instead of having dodgy dossiers, we now have bogus battalions of moderate fighters.”

Speaking to Sky News on Thursday, Lewis said: “Where are these magical 70,000 people and if they are there fighting, how come they haven’t been able to roll back ISIL/Daesh?”

“Is it that they’re in the wrong place? Is it that they’re fighting each other? Or is it that in reality they’re not all that moderate and that there are a lot of jihadists among them?” he asked.

https://www.rt.com/uk/324733-cameron-syria-moderate-rebels/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

The General´s closest ally in the neverending war on terror, President Asswithears, addressed the nation. He symbolically spoke from the White House´s traditional sanctum sanctorum, The Oval Office. He seldom uses this famous setting to spread his tripe, most likely because he knows that most decent Americans reach for the barf bags when they see him there and are reminded of much more substantial personalities of integrity addressing them from there.

http://putin.trendolizer.com/assets_c/2015/12/2207693-thumb-300xauto-1922840.jpg

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In only his third address to the nation from the Oval Office, President Barack Obama reassured Americans that the United States is equipped to meet the dangerous and "evolving" threat of terrorism.

As U.S. and other Western responses have gained ground against organized, wide-scale terrorist attacks, ISIS and other groups are undertaking "growing efforts by terrorists to poison the minds" of home-grown attackers like the couple who killed 14 people last week in San Bernardino, California, the president said.

A senior administration official said that after the Paris terrorist attacks last month, followed by numerous thwarted ISIS plots and then the San Bernardino shootings, Obama decided he needed to address "the significant concerns and very real and legitimate fears in the United States and around the world."

The president has rarely used the Oval Office — the most symbolic representation of his authority — to speak to the nation. He announced the end of U.S. combat operations in Iraq from there in August 2010, and two months before that, he laid out his plans to secure American energy after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The choice of the Oval Office for Sunday night's address reflected "the seriousness with which we are taking the issue," the official said. At the same time, the address was meant to "step back and provide context for people," not to announce new policies or strategies, the official said.

Obama referred to history in reinforcing the message Sunday night:

"Let's not forget that freedom is more powerful than fear, that we have always met challenges — whether war or depression, natural disasters or terrorist attacks — by coming together around our common ideals as one nation, as one people," he said. "So long as we stay true to that tradition, I have no doubt America will prevail."

Blablahhhhbla.  

It sure is equipped to meet the dangerous and "evolving" threat of terrorism.

US national security
US has trained only 'four or five' Syrian fighters against Isis, top general testifies
Senators appear incredulous and call for a new plan after hearing news that US military’s $500m effort has resulted in training of only a handful of fighters

“We’re talking four or five,” General Lloyd Austin, commander of US Central Command, told a dissatisfied Senate armed services committee on Wednesday.

The training initiative is Barack Obama’s linchpin for retaking Syrian territory from Isis. The Pentagon anticipated in late 2014 that it would have trained 5,000 anti-Isis Syrian rebels by now.

Spencer Ackerman in New York
@attackerman
Wednesday 16 September 2015 16.54 BST

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/16/us-military-syrian-isis-fighters

Syria President Bashar Al-Assad says British air strikes will fail and mocks David Cameron ‘farce’

Mr Assad says RAF air strikes were illegal and detrimental to anti-terror operations being undertaken by his regime

Matt Payton 2 hours  ago

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has claimed British bombing raids against Isis targets in his country will fail – and ridiculed Cameron’s Middle East policy as a “classical farce”.

In an interview with the Sunday Times within his Damascus compound, Mr Assad said the RAF air strikes were illegal and detrimental to anti-terror operations being undertaken by his regime.

He said: “You cannot defeat them [Isis] through air strikes alone. You cannot defeat them without co-operation with forces on the ground.

“You cannot defeat them if you do not have buy-in from the general public and the government …They are going to fail again.”

It comes after MPs gave their backing to British air strikes in Syria, with the oil fields operated by militant group Isis targeted.

Britain is only dipping a toe in this war on Isis
Mr Assad went on to praise his Russian allies, who he said entered the Syrian conflict “the legal way”.

“The Russians can see this clearly, they want to protect Syria, Iraq, the region — and even Europe,” he said.

“I am not exaggerating by saying they are protecting Europe today.”

Mr Assad poured scorn on the British Prime Minister’s assertion that 70,000 moderate rebels could defeat Isis on the ground.

He said: “This is a new episode in a long series of David Cameron's classical farce ... where are they? Where are the 70,000 moderates he is talking about? There is no 70,000. There is no 7,000.”

Mr Assad blamed Europe for producing terrorists, stating: “How many extremist cells now exist in Europe?

“How many extremists did you export from Europe to Syria? This is where the danger lies. The danger is in the incubator.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-president-bashar-al-assad-says-british-air-strikes-will-fail-and-mocks-david-cameron-farce-a6762591.html

The only active "rebel" forces in Syria which are having a strength of 70,000 or more are the Al Nusra Front, and the ISIS. The American trained FSA groups number less than 10 individuals, as per the latest reports from Syria. It seems to me that he was referring to the Al Nusra Front, while talking about the rebels. Arming the Al Nusra, so that they could fight against the ISIS? Brilliant. It is like injecting HIV to someone's blood, hoping that it wil kill off a cancerous growth.

Yeah, when nutballs like Cameron, Obama, McCain and others refer to al-Nusra (al-Queda´s franchise in Syria) as moderate opposition, it´s the nth confirmation that they´re totally certifiable and certainly extremely dangerous. Mentally unstable people usually are, especially if they´re untreated and have access to heavy weaponry.

When the Russians have finished clearing Syrian territory this terror crap will be in, that´s right Turkey, and from there to Europe and probably the U.S. as well. They´ll want to be with those who talk so well of them and support them . And the public in the west will reap the benefits of having batshit crazy leadership.

The Saudis would love to label the Al Nusra as "moderates". After all, they are the major sponsors for this group (along with the Qataris). McCain and Hillary Clinton are on their payroll, so I would expect them to blabber whatever the Saudis teach them.

Anyway... I am not sure for how long the Saudis will be able to sponsor the Al Nusra. In the past 4 or 5 months time, they have burnt through almost $75 billion of their reserves in Yemen alone.

Well, when those characters talk about moderate opposition they of course mean moderate relative to ISIS. Which may seem true but personally I think that this moderation mostly applies to the different approach, methodology of these groups to their goal. Those al-Queda "moderates" are much  more subtle and insidious than ISIS, and are  therefore more difficult to contain or defeat. Precisely the ticket for western nutjobs that want endless wars.

Hmmm, two FOX News commentators suspended for using profanities while criticizing Pres. Asswithears.

Ralph Peters, a Fox News "strategic analyst," called the president a "total pu---" who "doesn't want to hurt our enemies."
A couple of hours later Stacey Dash, a Fox contributor, said the president "didn't give a sh--" about Sunday night's terrorism speech.
"Earlier today, Fox contributors Lt. Col. Ralph Peters and Stacey Dash made comments on different programs that were completely inappropriate and unacceptable for our air," Fox senior executive vice president Bill Shine said.
"Fox Business Network and Fox News Channel do not condone the use of such language, and have suspended both Peters and Dash for two weeks," he said.

If air strikes have not succeeded in Iraq or elsewhere against ISIS, it stands to reason that it may not succeed in Syria against ISIS.

Both Obama, Cameroon and their ilk are not fools. They have their objectives. Those objectives do not seem to include defeating ISIS completely but may include making them not too strong. Think of it, if there is no ISIS, and there is peace in the Middle East, how much relevance would America have in the religion?

Yeah, you wanted to write region there. It´s about most of the world at this point actually. This ISIS vermin is spreading like cockroaches. And some places they´re pretty well entrenched already. Elsewhere they sow discord and polarization while they get more legs. It was madness to create the breeding ground for them in the first place and it´s total lunacy if people think that they can be somehow "contained". And of course there´s also al-Queda and its franchises here and there to contend with.

I haven´t said that the people in charge are fools. They aren´t fools, they´re freaking nuts, I think that should be clear to most people by now and if it isn´t well there´s nothing to do but watch them continue creating even more terror with their "war" against terror.

Giant like America failed in Syria without the cooperation of Syrian Government. UK will definitely fail.
Why Russia is winning? Because Russia is cooperating with Syrian Government. Russia does not have agenda of Regime change.
What we will think if some big power wants our regime change?

The ordinary citizens of Syria hate the Americans as well as the Saudis. When these sides are rooting for the regime change, normally the people would go for the "less evil" alternative, that is the current regime of Bashar al Assad. A recent opinion poll by one of the British agencies found that Assad retains the support of more than three-fourth of the population, who live under his control.

More hot air from Gen. Pigfinder:

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Donald Trump has vowed to continue his US presidential campaign amid widespread criticism of his latest remarks on Muslims. Trump, the leading candidate for the Republican Party's nomination, called for a blanket ban on Muslims entering the US in the wake of the deadly shootings in San Bernardino, California last week.

The comments drew global condemnation, with UK Prime Minister David Cameron describing them as "divisive, unhelpful and quite simply wrong". But Trump told the Washington Post he would never back out of the presidential race. The primaries to choose the Republican party's nominee open in six weeks.

"My whole life is about winning. I don't lose often. I almost never lose," he told the paper in an interview conducted on 3 December. "I will never leave the race."

Nuke bosses

Understandable. Terrorist activities have been perpetrated recently in the United Kingdom and France, by recent immigrants who happened to be Muslim. The intelligence agencies are unable to filter out the ISIS sympathizers from the harmless immigrants. In this situation, the only way to keep the Western countries safe is to keep out the Muslims.

Putin shows Pigfinder how it´s done

VLADIMIR Putin today showed David Cameron how Russia deals with homegrown terrorists as he launched a huge crack down on Islamic State (ISIS) recruiters.

The iron-fisted president has called in his feared secret service to round up thousands of jihadis just hours after it emerged that British police are wilfully letting our extremists flee to safe havens abroad.

Moscow has identified more than 2,900 of its citizens suspected of joining ISIS and other radical Islamist groups, and is actively hunting them down both at home and abroad. ...

express

Putin Mauls Pigfinder in Express Poll

-------------------

Putin for PM: 4 out of 5 say they would prefer Russian president than Cameron as UK leader

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has beaten David Cameron to be crowned the most popular choice for the next prime minster of the United Kingdom.

By TOM BATCHELOR
PUBLISHED: 00:00, Fri, Dec 18, 2015 | UPDATED: 17:42, Fri, Dec 18, 2015

http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/1/590x/putin-627989.jpg

The ex-KGB strongman attracted the support of four out of five Express.co.uk readers, compared with just one in five who opted for the current PM running the country.

Asked 'Who would you rather was Britain's prime minister?', 78 per cent chose the Russian president, while 22 per cent voted for Mr Cameron.

The poll of 1,000 people follows an Express.co.uk survey on Putin's airstrikes against ISIS in Syria, which found more than 70 per cent of readers supported the bombing raids.

Putin's popularity has soared in recent months, with a Russian poll carried out in October putting his approval rating at 87 per cent.

In the same month, Mr Cameron's approval rating continued to nosedive with 49 per cent judging him to be doing a bad job.

Putin's popularity in Russia has remained consistently high in the wake of the annexation of Crimea and airstrikes in Syria.

But despite the definitive Express polling, the Russian leader continues to divide opinions in Britain.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/627989/Vladimir-Putin-David-Cameron-poll-who-want-British-PM

Trolls said...

Yukka10 hours ago
Well it's really a choice between MAN OR A MOUSE I choose the man. Cameron is just a liar, Uturner, dithering idiot it doesn't surprise me at all that more people would choose Putin over Cameron. Putin stands up for his people and his country, our so called leader is a traitor to his people and is giving our country away.. He prefers foreigners to his own people, Putin is a real man and a good leader, and I'm glad the British people have chosen him over our traitor idiot.

TazDevil10 hours ago
The British people have not chosen Putin. Its only the trolls and Ukipers who have chosen him.

jimccc9 hours ago
Oh no, francobob the keyboard 9 stone weakling coward has changed his username to Tazdevil for a few minutes.

nuttynigel9 hours ago
Come on Jim! Have another meltdown! Your meltdowns are brilliant, like King Nigel's abs. VOTE UKIP!

Purple/Hued2 hours ago
jimccc,I see the three stooges with numerous names have been allowed out after their usual Friday ventures,

ElainaPhillips6 hours ago
Correct,

Spartan Man 55 hours ago
He's not correct. Authentic social conservatives choose Putin.


EddieR12 hours ago
Are we mad ? Putin is an autocrat - a secret policeman in political disguise - how very unBritish of those who want him
Britons have always fought for the under-dog against the bully - How low as our nation fallen to side with one !

Jonjo12 hours ago
What do you think Cameron is? No four-letter words please!

It was an internet poll on a right-wing daily, so I don't think that the results represent the general population. Most of the voters were White, educated and male. That said, the ordinary British don't share the amount of Russophobia, which is being shown by American puppet Cameron and the remaining members of his government.

Yes, I know, it´s an internet poll. But it´d be interesting to see polls of the general populations both sides of the Atlantic. But of course we won´t see that, it would be too embarrassing.

What I find especially encouraging in this growing popularity of Mr. Putin here in the west is that the garbage media isn´t feeding the masses so well anymore. People are using more reliable sources nowadays to form their opinions.

A large part of the population in Western nations such as the United Kingdom no longer trusts these mainstream media sources, such as the BBC News and the Telegraph. They are tired of all the pro-NATO crap and therefore they are depending on social media to get the accurate and up to date information. Only the pensioners and the less educated are depending on the mainstream media right now.

Tony Blair and crap of the same ilk around him is normally only to be used as counter-indicators, but in this I think they have some valid points. And they´re probably not less reliable than the current deviant junk in charge there in London.

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Think Tank: Most Syrian Rebel Groups Ideologically Similar to ISIS
Tony Blair-run Group Warns 15 Major Rebel Factions Could Replace ISIS

by Jason Ditz, December 20, 2015

A new report from the Centre on Religion and Geopolitics, a think tank that is part of the “Tony Blair Faith Foundation,” is warning that the military defeat of ISIS, while nominally desirable in and of itself, will do materially nothing to stop the Islamist takeover of the region.

The report says a third of the rebel factions, representing roughly 60% of rebel fighters, are ideologically similar to ISIS, and that 15 different rebel factions would eagerly step in and fill the vacuum if ISIS was defeated militarily.

Exactly how broadly they define “ideologically similar” is unclear, but the report appears to focus on Salafist movements, which would include several major rebel factions, including al-Qaeda’s Jabhat al-Nusra and the Saudi-backed Ahrar al-Sham.

Ironically, at times a lot of these Salafist groups have been presented by Western officials as “moderates,” and as the allies who could be used to defeat ISIS. While that may be technically true, the think tank warns the defeat of ISIS doesn’t really end anything, but simply props up another, ideologically compatible faction in their place.

http://news.antiwar.com/2015/12/20/think-tank-most-syrian-rebel-groups-ideologically-similar-to-isis/

Pigfinder in mourning, this little piggy moderate terrorist got vaporized

Zahran Alloush: Top Syrian rebel leader killed in Damascus air strike

A top Syrian rebel leader and head of the most powerful insurgent group in the eastern suburbs of Damascus has been killed in an aerial raid that targeted the group's headquarters, rebel sources and the Syrian army say.

The death of Zahran Alloush, head of Jaysh al Islam (Army of Islam) is a big blow to rebel control of the rural eastern suburban area of Damascus known as al Ghouta, the rebels said.

Defence experts said the disarray among the rebel forces could also consolidate Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's control over the rest of the area.

Several rebel leaders have been killed since Russia began an aerial campaign on September 30 in support of its ally Mr Assad, although Moscow has insisted that it is concentrating its attacks on Islamic State.

The rebel sources said that in the raid Russian planes targeted a secret headquarters of the group, which is the largest rebel faction in the area and has about 15,000 to 20,000 fighters according to Western intelligence.

Jaysh al Islam has effectively been running the administration of the Eastern Ghouta area since 2013, when the group was formed from an amalgamation of scores of rebel brigades.

The rebels said Alloush was killed while holding a meeting with other rebel leaders in the Marj area in al-Ghouta that has been the target of a major Syrian assault in the last few weeks.

Jaysh al Islam was one of the main rebel groups that attended a recent Saudi-backed opposition meeting in Riyadh and will be negotiating with Mr Assad's government in Geneva. ...

Oh... I see, Zahran Alloush from the Army of Islam. This is the same group which threatened to exterminate all the Shiites, Jews, and Christians residing in Syria. According to Zahran Alloush, the Syrian Shiites are more "infidel" then the Jews and the Christians. Good riddance of deviant scum by the Syrian Air Force.

Yeah, he headed one of the biggest terrorist shitpiles that garbage media and political nutcases call "moderate opposition".

Je Ne Regrette ISIS: Cameron Stands By Failed Libya Intervention

by BREITBART LONDON26 Dec 2015

http://media.breitbart.com/media/2015/12/GettyImages-501837072-640x480.png

Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron has doubled down on his decision to use British military assets to intervene, alongside France, in Libya in 2011.

The intervention toppled the regime of Muammar Gaddafi, leading to the death of the one-time fair-weather friend of the United Kingdom and United States.

Arguably however, the intervention also gave way to the takeover of Libya by Islamic State terrorists, and prompted major, trans-Atlantic incidents such as the Benghazi scandal, and contributed to Europe’s migrant crisis.

But Mr. Cameron appears to have no regrets about his major role in sparking these crises. In an interview with the Spectator magazine’s Christmas edition, he claimed: “I would say that Libya is better off without Gaddafi. What we were doing was preventing a mass genocide.”

And despite taking to the streets of Benghazi to celebrate in September 2011, Mr. Cameron now claims: “It takes time. There just aren’t any easy answers with any of these things. Whether you are looking at Libya or Syria or Iraq or Nigeria or Somalia, you have to try and build governance and government.”

He was asked: “Knowing what you know now, would you have gone ahead with the Libyan operation?” to which he replied, “Yes because Gaddafi was going to massacre his own people.”

The Spectator noted:

Libya has been in the news again over Christmas: the UN Security Council has endorsed a new government but as Peter Oborne found out when he visited Benghazi, the city that David Cameron addressed after his 2011 bombing campaign (video above), there isn’t much government to speak of. The World Food Programme says that 2.4m Libyans will need humanitarian assistance; the country’s population is 6.2m. Its economy shrank by 25pc last year alone and private enterprise is collapsing: the state now employs 80pc of Libyans. At the height of the 2011 uprising there were about 17,000 militiamen: today they number in the hundreds of thousands and they’re tearing Libya apart.

His comments haven’t been received well by readers of the magazine, traditionally a Conservative Party supporting audience.

One Facebook user responded: “Self- justification. Ask Blair and Bush whether it was right to invade Iraq and Afghanistan and you know what the answer is going to be”, while another added: “Cameron, Blair…both unprincipled, treacherous cowards.”

http://www.breitbart.com/london/2015/12/26/je-ne-regrette-isis-cameron-stands-by-failed-libya-intervention/

UK Government attempting to keep details of secret security pact with Saudi Arabia hidden from public

Exclusive: Theresa May agreed to ‘memorandum of understanding’ with Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef last year

The British Government signed a secret security pact with Saudi Arabia and is now attempting to prevent details of the deal from being made public.

The Home Secretary Theresa May agreed to the so-called ‘memorandum of understanding’ with her Saudi counter-part Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef during a visit to the Kingdom last year.

The Home Office released no details of her trip at the time or announced that the deal had been signed. The only public acknowledgement was a year later in a Foreign Office report which obliquely referenced an agreement to “modernise the Ministry of the Interior”.

But now following a Freedom of Information request from the Liberal Democrats, who were in Government at the time, it has emerged that the agreement is far wider than has been acknowledged.

In its grounds for refusing to publish details of the memorandum the Home Office has admitted it “contains information relating to the UK’s security co-operation with Saudi Arabia”.

Releasing the document it says “would damage the UK’s bilateral relationship” with the Kingdom and potentially damage Britain’s national security. ...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/uk-government-attempting-to-keep-details-of-secret-security-pact-with-saudi-arabia-hidden-from-a6783376.html

ISIS PR mocks Pigfinder.

-------------------------------

Video shows IS fighters killing 5 'spies' for Britain

Associated Press By BRIAN ROHAN
13 hours ago

BEIRUT (AP) — A video circulated online Sunday purported to show the Islamic State group killing five men accused of spying for Britain in Syria.

The high-quality footage bore the markings of the IS media wing, and shows five men "confessing" to filming and photographing sites in exchange for money within Raqqa, the capital of the Islamic State group's self-declared caliphate. It could not be independently verified.

The men, speaking Arabic, are introduced as "the enemy" and "apostates." Several said they were given hidden cameras with lenses disguised as shirt buttons to provide images and videos to a contact in Turkey. One said he later saw that his videos appearing in international media including Britain's BBC.

He goes on to say he was sent two photos of British Islamic State members and asked to locate them, and also to photograph a former Syrian government building now housing the Islamic State group's "Islamic Courts."

"Don't let them fool you like they fooled us," one of the condemned men said, referring to those seeking to collect information on IS and undermine it.

Another man appeals to people in similar situations to confess and turn themselves in, repeatedly saying "the door to repentance is open."

The video then cuts to the men kneeling, lined up in orange jumpsuits in the desert, where they are shot in the head by masked men.

Before the shooting, a masked man with a British accent mocks British Prime Minister David Cameron, calling him a "slave of the White House," and "mule of the Jews." He describes the men as "spies," and says IS will one day invade Britain and impose their extremist version of Islamic law.

"Only an imbecile would dare to wage war against a land where the law of Allah reigns supreme," he says, referring to Cameron. "The Islamic State, our country, is here to stay. And we will continue to wage jihad, break borders, and one day invade your land, where we will rule by the Shariah."

The Islamic State group has come under pressure in Iraq and Syria. Iraqi government troops last month retook part of the city of Ramadi, the provincial capital of the sprawling Anbar province, Iraq's Sunni heartland, which IS had held since May. And in November, IS lost the town of Sinjar in Iraq, and areas across the border in Syria at the same time.

https://news.yahoo.com/video-shows-fighters-executing-5-spies-britain-171816208.html

Cameron Admits Claims of 70,000 Moderate Rebels False, Insists It Was ‘Best Estimate’
Refuses to Name Source of Figure

by Jason Ditz, January 12, 2016

Though the figure was immediately questioned, British Prime Minister David Cameron used the claim of 70,000 “moderate” Syrian rebels ready to ally with Britain as the centerpiece of his argument to expand the war against ISIS into Syria.

Today, Cameron finally admitted the figure was false, admitting that many of those rebels are “relatively hardline Islamists” and that there “aren’t enough” moderate rebels to actually defeat ISIS in the way Britain planned.

Most of Cameron’s comments appeared centered on shifting blame, however, saying it “wasn’t a figure I invented” but came from intelligence agencies as a “best estimate.” He did, however, refuse to name the agencies that the figure came from.

Cameron insisted it was necessary to keep the bulk of the details about these “moderates” secret, however, on the grounds that the Assad government might use the details to target them, and that Britain could potentially work with even the “relative hardliners” in some cases.

http://news.antiwar.com/2016/01/12/cameron-admits-claims-of-70000-moderate-rebels-false-insists-it-was-best-estimate/

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/syria-air-strikes-david-cameron-admits-there-aren-t-enough-moderate-fighters-on-the-ground-and-some-a6808021.html

Well, maybe I should demote him from Generalissimo to Sargeant there in the header. The guy has been a total disappointment. There was great fanfare the first two days of this great campaign of as many as four planes, maybe sometimes six but since then not much and now the yokel is retreating from one fort to the next with his lies.

Russia is getting it RIGHT in Syria, it's the UK getting it WRONG, blasts ex-army chief

BRITAIN is failing spectacularly in Syria by backing the "losing side" and should follow Russia's lead by launching airstrikes in support of the Assad regime, the former head of the army has said.

By TOM BATCHELOR
PUBLISHED: 06:00, Tue, Feb 16, 2016 | UPDATED: 07:37, Tue, Feb 16, 2016
  

General Lord Dannatt, ex-chief of general staff, said defeating Islamic State (ISIS) would only be achieved through military force.

He added airstrikes alone would not yield an end to the five-year long civil war - or finish off the depraved terror group.


The senior official, who led the British army between 2006-2009, said: "It is only going to be one with military defeat. From the air can help, but on the ground is where the decision is going to come.

"Conflicts are only resolved on the ground...it has got to be soldiers acting on the ground that bring a resolution, but within a diplomatic and political framework. That is what is missing in Syria."

Conflict in Syria
Mon, February 15, 2016
As world powers agree on a ceasefire in Syria we take a look at how the people there are coping with life after air strikes in the war against Daesh militants.

 
Lord Dannatt said the Russian's had aptly demonstrated how to counter the extremist threat in Syria by backing the side most likely to win, despite reservations about the reported barrel-bombing of civilian areas by government forces.

He told the BBC: "The Russians are coordinating with the Assad regime and are being very successful. From the air and on the ground, they are working in a coordinating fashion.

"Our problem is that we are working with the losers. Let's work with that regime.

"There may be an element of my enemy's enemy is my friend, and choosing the least worst of several very unattractive options."


Peter Ford, a former British ambassador to Syria, also blasted the UK for backing extremists disguised as moderate rebel fighters.

He argued defence chiefs were intent on removing President Bashar al-Assad despite wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya proving the difficulties in simply toppling a dictator without a comprehensive plan for what could replace them.


He described Britain's actions in the Middle East like "a dog returning to vomit".

The former diplomat said it was time to "get real" and accept that Assad had to remain in power, telling BBC2's The Big Questions: "The West has to stop propping up the moderate opposition, which is not moderate at all.

"It has to allow the Syrian army backed by the Russians to deal with ISIS. It is a local problem that should be dealt with by the local governments."

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/644269/Syria-airstrikes-General-Lord-Dannatt-Britain-copy-Russia-support-Assad

If Western leaders still want to maintain the sham of NATO's positive role in the world, they must kick out Turkey, or at least develop enough integrity to condemn Turkey's illegal invasion of Syria and Iraq.

It´s a sham and they´ve relied on the media and obedient politicians to push it as some sort of defense treaty and world saver. But it´s becoming impossible. Social media is too strong, Facebook twitter and more. As for Turkey,
it´s a sore for them but they can´t let it go it´s too strategically important on Russia´s flank. If it goes the Russians will quickly forgive the shooting down of the plane and they´ll become good buddies again. No more Black Sea Troubles to speak of. And a secure flank.

British Brimstone missiles in Syria are yet to kill any terrorists, MoD reveals

Published time: 19 Feb, 2016 10:12

Britain’s sophisticated air-to-surface Brimstone missiles have not killed any terrorists in Syria so far, although at least nine missiles have been fired. A single missile using radar homing and laser guidance technology costs £100,000.
The Huffington Post UK made a freedom of information (FOI) request to the British Defense Ministry and discovered the much-touted Brimstone missiles with promised standalone precision have not claimed any terrorist scalps yet.

After British MPs voted in favor of the Royal Air Force joining the Syria campaign in December, the expensive missiles were held back for at least the first month of operations.

Brimstone’s first recorded deployment took place on January 10, the Independent reports. It was aimed against terrorist supply trucks in Raqqa. By the end of January, Brimstone missiles had been used in nine raids....

https://www.rt.com/news/332970-brimstone-missiles-syria-jihadists/

You are being too optimistic. Putin is renowned for having a strong memory. The relations between Russia and Turkey have been irreversibly damaged, and it will take some sort of a miracle to at least partially restore it. And I am sure that it is not going to happen when Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Ahmet Davutoğlu is in power.

Those wankers won´t be in power forever. And now NATO is saying that they won´t support them in a war with Russia. Most likely because they´re not interested in World War Three.

The Russians have long memories, sure that´s my point. But they´re also pragmatists. It´s easy to forget when you have reasonable people to deal with.

Check the results from the last parliamentary election. The Islamist AK party of Erdoğan and Davutoğlu is having more than 40% support now. Also, another Islamist party, the MHP got around 15% of the vote. Their support seems to be increasing. There are no second string leaders in the AKP. Erdoğan and Davutoğlu dictate the affairs within AKP.

That´s just amazing. Clearly Erdogan´s nationalistic megalomania has support. The Muslim Brotherhood in charge. I doubt that anything good will come of it for Turkey.

Here is the mouthpiece of the CFR:

Erdogan’s Foreign Policy Is in Ruins

Just a few short years ago, Turkey was heralded as one of the region's rising powers. What happened?

https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/02/04/erdogans-foreign-policy-is-in-ruins/

Not only that, but his support levels have been increasing over the years. The secular CHP now struggles to cross the 25% mark, and is mostly confined to the major cities along the west coast, such as Constantinople and Smyrna. The pro-Kurdish party gets around 10% to 12% of the vote, but it is only a matter of time before they get banned again.

I remember years ago during the Soviet era, asking a Russian what those crescents underneath the crosses at the Kremlin were about. And he said, oh that´s just to remind Russians of an old promise to recapture the seat of the eastern church.  ;D

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4976/1118/1600/Cimg06591.jpg