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Author Topic: Iraq PM: We Lost 2,300 American Humvees to ISIS in Mosul Alone  (Read 13327 times)
galdur (OP)
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December 04, 2015, 09:49:55 AM
 #141

We´ve always been at war with Oceania.

Obama: ‘No Boots on the Ground’ Just Meant No Battalions
Insists New Troops Will 'Squeeze and Ultimately Destroy' ISIS


by Jason Ditz, December 03, 2015

Throughout a year and a half of war against ISIS, President Obama’s “no boots on the ground” pledge has been repeatedly revised by officials, initially insisting it meant no troops, then no combat troops, and now, according to President Obama, it simply meant no battlion-level deployments.

Obama now insists he never had any intention not to send combat troops to Iraq and Syria, and that the American people always understood he simply meant deployments would be small and limited to company-sized deployments or smaller.

Obama insists that the latest deployment of troops into Iraq, which the Pentagon has suggested will be in the 100 soldier level, will “squeeze and ultimately destroy” ISIS. During his comments, he continued to play up the idea that the war is going well, insisting ISIS is totally incapable of launching Paris-style attacks within the US.



With US deployments by and large limited to numbers in the dozens or low hundreds, the administration seems to be gambling it can avoid serious debate about its repeated escalations. At the same time, the promise of “no battalions” is all but meaningless, since the deployments are happening with such regularity that they are building up into the thousands in short order.

http://news.antiwar.com/2015/12/03/obama-no-boots-on-the-ground-just-meant-no-battalions/

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December 04, 2015, 01:45:47 PM
 #142

Islamic State in Details

Infographics

http://sputniknews.com/infographics/20151010/1028307681/isis-infographics.html

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December 05, 2015, 08:46:40 AM
 #143

“This time… Bandar and other Saudis have assured the White House that ‘they will keep a very close eye on the religious fundamentalists. Their message to us was ‘We’ve created this movement, and we can control it.’ It’s not that we don’t want the Salafis to throw bombs; it’s who they throw them at…”

“Thanks for paying for our jihad in the 80s. And sorry about your towers. But this time around it’ll be totally different, trust us. Sincerely, the Wahhabis”



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December 05, 2015, 09:21:05 AM
 #144

Former U.S. official who bungled Iraq occupation wants to send troops back there again

Paul Bremer, the former American diplomat who presided over the initial stages of the U.S. occupation of Iraq, wants the Obama administration to redeploy 10,000 U.S. troops to the country to aid the fight against the Islamic State.

For 13 months between 2003 and 2004, Bremer headed the provisional authority that governed Iraq in the wake of the invasion. It was under the Bush appointee's watch that Iraq's standing army was disbanded and members of the ruling Baath Party purged from the ranks of the government bureaucracy -- two key factors that contributed to the vicious sectarian insurgency that would follow in the years to come.

Bremer was speaking to Al Jazeera English's Mehdi Hasan in an interview that's scheduled for broadcast on Friday. Here's a bit from a summary published in advance by the TV network:

In a forthcoming interview with Al Jazeera’s Head to Head show, Paul Bremer called on Obama to order a "much more vigorous air campaign" against [the Islamic State], adding that US troops should stay "as long as American interests are served by being in Iraq".

Asked how many US troops are required, he answered, "probably 10,000".

He also stuck to his guns, defending his record during a brief tenure in charge:

Bremer, however, denied disbanding the military, saying that when he arrived in Iraq following the appointment by then-President George W. Bush, "not a single unit" of the Iraqi army was standing.

"The question wasn’t to disband. That was a mistake. We should never have used that verb. The question was should we recall the army," he told Head to Head host Mehdi Hassan.

Bremer also defended his order to ban members of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party from government, saying it affected "only one percent" of its membership representing 20,000 people.

"The mistake I made was turning it over to Iraqi politicians" to decide who should be affected, he said.

This is a familiar refrain now from Washington's neo-conservatives. Aghast at the rise and shocking success of the jihadist Islamic State, they have pinned the fault on the misguided, divisive rule of the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad, while glossing over the American intervention that brought it into being.

"Certainly [it] was not ideal" Bremer tells Hasan in the Al Jazeera interview, referring to Shiite-majority rule, but that it was “the least bad solution."

Bremer remains convinced of the necessity of American power to stabilize the region.

"Only the Americans can help the Iraqis broker across these sectarian and ethnic lines," Bremer told MSNBC last year. "There is nobody else who can do it."

Robert Kagan, one of the ideological architects of the Iraq war, recently argued along similar lines in the Wall Street Journal, urging U.S. policymakers to get over the "trauma" of Iraq:

Quote
In recent years, the mere mention of U.S. ground troops has been enough to stop any conversation. Americans, or at least the intelligentsia and political class, remain traumatized by Iraq, and all calculations about what to do in Syria have been driven by that trauma.

Iraqis, who have perished in the tens of thousands since the U.S. invasion, are traumatized, too. And there's little indication that a return to the muscular hubris of the past will somehow have altogether different effects.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/12/04/former-u-s-official-who-bungled-iraq-occupation-wants-to-send-troops-back-there-again/

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December 05, 2015, 01:42:07 PM
 #145

The US is demanding that Turkey close a 60-mile stretch of its border with Syria which is the sole remaining crossing point for Isis militants, including some of those involved in the massacre in Paris and other terrorist plots.

The complete closure of the 550-mile-long border would be a serious blow to Isis, which has brought tens of thousands of Islamist volunteers across the frontier over the past three years.

The Americans can say whatever they want for media PR purposes. But the fact remains on the ground that Turkey is NEVER going to close their border with the ISIS. Now there are two options:

1. Give proper weapons to the Kurds, so that they will be able to conquer the remaining part of the North Syria, thereby closing the Turkish-ISIS border.

2. Help the regime forces, and they will advance to the North of Kuweires in East Aleppo to link up with the Kurds, there by cutting the ISIS-Turkish border.
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December 05, 2015, 03:52:23 PM
 #146






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December 05, 2015, 03:58:19 PM
 #147

I guess we´ll be seeing even more desperation and hectic moves in some quarters in the west now that the ISIS corridor between Turkey and Iraq is about to be cut.

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December 05, 2015, 06:58:41 PM
 #148

Here is the latest status map:



It can be clearly seen that only about 100 km of the Turkish-Syrian border is under the control of the ISIS. But it will take a lot of time and effort to close this, as the regime forces and the Kurds are not well equipped to capture the North-Central parts.

The best solution would be a combined assault by the regime forces as well as the Kurds. The regime forces can advance towards North-East, targeting Deir Hafir, and the Kurds can advance towards the West targeting Manbij.
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December 06, 2015, 07:44:26 PM
 #149

World of Sheeple

Nothing to fear but the fearful themselves:


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December 08, 2015, 06:22:23 AM
 #150


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December 08, 2015, 09:14:26 AM
 #151

He isn´t interested in U.S. or British "help", who can blame him, but...

Iraq asks Germany for help in fight against 'Islamic State'

Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi has asked German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier for further assistance in the fight against the "Islamic State," saying terrorism is "not only a threat to Iraq, but also to Europe."...

http://www.dw.com/en/iraq-asks-germany-for-help-in-fight-against-islamic-state/a-18899812


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December 08, 2015, 05:39:51 PM
 #152

He isn´t interested in U.S. or British "help", who can blame him, but...

The Iraqis wanted to invite Russia to conduct air strikes against the ISIS positions in central Iraq last month. But at the last moment they had to cancel their plans, after the Americans blackmailed them. So far, the American strikes have been ineffective. The Iraqis are getting more and more desperate and are looking out for other options.
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December 17, 2015, 12:30:55 PM
 #153

US refuses to bomb Islamic State’s ‘media centers’ over possible civilian casualties

Published time: 17 Dec, 2015 10:43
Edited time: 17 Dec, 2015 10:47

US intelligence services have mapped Islamic State’s media installations producing terrorist propaganda for the internet, yet none of them have been bombed out for fear of collateral damage and the need for intelligence to monitor the jihadists’ operations.
The terrorists’ media centers, which edit and compile video and written material for propaganda over the web are located in residential areas in Iraq, Libya and Syria. The whereabouts of such installations are well known and thoroughly mapped out after a months-long clandestine intelligence program, The Washington Times reports, citing anonymous sources.....

https://www.rt.com/news/326249-isis-us-media-centers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

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December 17, 2015, 03:38:32 PM
 #154

Chess in the Age of ISIS


December 17, 2015
by Tom Mysiewicz

“Iraq is breaking up before our eyes and it would appear that the creation of an independent Kurdish state is a foregone conclusion.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to John Kerry in Paris, 26 June 2014

“The goal is to proclaim a ‘Kurdistan’ straddling the border between Iraq and Syria, and then expel the Syrian populations who live there, followed by the transfer of 10 million Turkish Kurds to this new state.”[1]

Thierry Meyssan, 2015

Unfolding now is a multidimensional chess game comprising centuries-old animosities, petrodollars, pipelines, a neo-Ottoman sultanate, plans for balkanizing the Mid East into manageable ethnic states, Israeli energy plans and oligarchs, Neoconservatives, the U.S. military-industrial complex, Daesh-ISIS, NATO, the EU, Kurdistan, Ukraine and a gaggle of nation states. I first addressed this hard-to-fathom situation in my 2014 piece “War With ISIS: Multiplexing a New World Order.”[2]

In my earlier piece I saw the creation of “Kurdistan” from energy-rich areas of a partitioned Iraq and Syria as central to the plan. (This plan had existed in Neoconservative circles and within groups like the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) well prior to the 2003 Iraq invasion. And I wrote about it, often.)[3]

Understand that I’m sympathetic to the Kurds. If both Syria and Iraq adopted a Federal system giving autonomy to their Kurdish regions—and provisions were made to equitably divide the energy resources (or their revenue streams via a neutral body)–it would avoid national disintegration and millions of new refugees. And it would avoid the inevitable destabilization of surrounding countries. However, based on the Egyptian experience with supplying natural gas to Israeli companies—and getting it back at higher prices—it would be wise for all of the parties to avoid selling energy resources disproportionately or exclusively to Israel simply on a pragmatic level.

This is not a religious issue. The nonagenarian Zionist pioneer Uri Avnery, recently noted that he and “King Bibi” (actually Benjamin Mileikowsky) are both atheists but that “Bibi” courts extremist religious elements for political reasons. A recent Avnery op-ed gives us a clue that the current energy struggle involving Turkey is of an entirely secular nature:

“All of Israel has been consumed for months with the debate about the “natural gas plan” – the way of dividing the profits from the natural gas reservoirs discovered in the sea near the shores of Israel. Netanyahu supports with all his might the “plan” that pours the riches into the pockets of a handful of tycoons connected somehow with Sheldon Adelson, his protector (and, some say, his owner).”[4]

First and foremost, massive amounts of money and, basically, political and military control of the world is at stake. In the process of attaining these goals, various entities (including the U.S., Zionist oligarchs, Saudi monarchs and neo-Ottoman Turks) are employing religious fanaticism—as asymmetric weapons in the struggle—of which ISIS-ISIL-Daesh are the most obvious manifestations.

In fact, it now appears ISIS was largely funded by illicit sales of stolen oil transported by Turkish entities. Which oil was, in turn, mostly sold to Israel at deep discounts from the price it would have otherwise paid for Russian oil, presumably reducing its demand for that product. According to Globes Online, Israel Business News of 30 November 2015:

In August, the “Financial Times” reported that Israel obtained 75% of its oil supplies from Iraqi Kurdistan. More than a third of such exports go through the port of Ceyhan, which the FT describe as a “potential gateway for ISIS-smuggled crude…“Israel has in one way or another become the main marketer of ISIS oil. Without them, most ISIS-produced oil would have remained going between Iraq, Syria and Turkey. Even the three countries would not receive the oil if they did not have a buyer in Israel,” an industry official told the newspaper “al-Araby al-Jadeed.”[5]

The above was hardly a surprise to me, but I didn’t anticipate in 2014 how the overall situation might be tied in directly to events in the Ukraine. Or that Erdogan would be capable of directly attacking Russia as well as mounting a “soft invasion” of Europe (with the connivance of NATO and EU leaders seeking, in part, alternative energy sources) in pursuit of a neo-Ottoman “caliphate.”

But, clearly, ISIS was and is the vehicle for the policy goals of the various players—some of whom really are indeed trying to form a “new world order.” And, it appears, the biggest beneficiary of this situation may be Israel, which has profited from the crisis all along and has given artillery support to Daesh on the Golan, bombed Damascus, and even cared for Daesh wounded in its hospitals. “King Bibi” can sit on the sidelines, taking virtually no risks, and professing neutrality while things fall into place as planned. (My guess is that Erdogan sees the “handwriting on the wall” and is already taking some of his marching orders from Tel Aviv and not from Washington.)

PORTENTS OF A “SEA CHANGE”

A sudden uptick in the pace of the Iraq-Syria-Kurdistan situation, not surprisingly, coincides with the elimination, by Russia, of the ISIS portion of Israel’s oil supply. The U.S. reaction to the destruction of this ISIS “pipeline on wheels,” predictably, relates to the likelihood that it is treaty bound to see that Israel continues to receive the previous amount of oil at the below-market ISIS price or replace it out of its own stocks. (And not simply because McCain and Neocon elements in the U.S. Government probably helped create ISIS.)

According to a Sept. 1st, 1975 MoU (memorandum of understanding) between the U.S. and Israel during the Sadat-Begin Camp David peace process (kept secret but later leaked to the New York Times and other media):

(b) If the oil Israel needs to meet all of its normal requirements for domestic consumption is unavailable for purchase in circumstances where quantitative restrictions through embargo or otherwise also prevent the United States from procuring oil to meet its normal requirements, the United States Government will promptly make oil available for purchase by Israel in accordance with the International Energy Agency conservation and allocation formula as applied by the United States Government, in order to meet Israel’s essential requirements. If Israel is unable to secure the necessary means to transport such oil to Israel, the United States Government will make every effort to help Israel secure the necessary means of transport[6]

As I anticipated the above situation in my 2014 article, I assumed there would be an attempt to rush the creation of Kurdistan and reopen the Mosul-Haifa pipeline. Another reason for this assumption: Netanyahu’s 2003 post-Iraq-invasion comment that soon “…you will see Iraqi oil flowing to Haifa. It is just a matter of time until the pipeline is reconstituted, and Iraqi oil will flow to the Mediterranean.”

(In actual fact, that pipeline must be wholly rebuilt but it reportedly can be done easily at a cost of $400,000 per kilometer. An Israeli feasibility study was done in 2004, reportedly at the request of the U.S. Pentagon.)

Another “tell” of a coming change with regard to partition of Iraq and Syria can be found in growing pro-Kurdistan screeds from various U.S. and Israeli mainstream media and the Neocon-centered NGOs.

We suddenly learn that the majority of Jews around the world are closely related to the Kurdish people — more closely than they are to the Semitic-speaking Arabs or any other population that was tested.[7]

Or, we are on the receiving end of this 2014 “gem” from Dr. Lawrence A. Franklin, Colonel in the USAF Reserve and Military Attaché to Israel:

“Most Kurds are Sunni Muslim and one can hear the five-times-a-day Muslim call to prayer, but it is muted and ignored by most…Zako, once the center of Kurdistan’s Jewish population, still invites back descendants of those who long ago left for Zion…

For all of the above reasons, Kurdistan reminds one of Israel. Like Israel, Kurdistan is not dominated by the Arab, nor by Islam. Like Israel, Kurdistan is more democratic than any of its neighbors. Like Israel, Kurdistan is surrounded by enemies that wish it did not exist. Like Israel, Kurdistan looks West. And like Israel, Kurdistan has maintained an internal equilibrium though all the world betrays it.”[8]

Other mainstream media take a more direct approach (in case the audience missed the point of the above “soft sell”):

Kerry discussed the Iraqi crisis with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in Paris on Thursday.

Iraq is breaking up before our eyes and it would appear that the creation of an independent Kurdish state is a foregone conclusion,” Lieberman’s spokesman quoted him as telling Kerry.

A day earlier, Israeli President Shimon Peres had a similar message for U.S. President Barack Obama…Peres said he had told Obama he did not see unifying Iraq as possible without “massive” foreign military intervention and that this underscored Kurdish separation from the Shi’ite Muslim majority and Sunni Arab minority…

He added that neighbouring Turkey appeared to accept the Kurds’ status as it was helping them pump out oil for sale…

Israel last Friday took its first delivery of the disputed crude from Iraqi Kurdistan’s new pipeline. The United States disapproves of such go-it-alone Kurdish exports.[9]

And, then we are told by the Israeli press that, like an only child who desperately wants a little brother or sister, Israel desperately wants and needs Kurdistan:

“Kurds are deeply sympathetic to Israel and an independent Kurdistan will be beneficial to Israel,” argued Kurdish journalist Ayub Nuri in July. “It will create a balance of power. Right now, Israel is one country against many. But with an independent Kurdish state, first of all Israel will have a genuine friend in the region for the first time, and second, Kurdistan will be like a buffer zone in the face of the Turkey, Iran and Iraq…With few friends in the region, the Kurds will likely look to Israel to help them gain security and closer relations with the United States. As Arab governments in the Middle East totter and fall, and Islamists look to exploit the chaos, the alliance is one that both countries may find beneficial to pursue.”[10]

What readers are not being told is that the recent Israeli energy squabble involving natural gas[11] may be just the tip of a looming energy “iceberg.” The submerged part of the energy “berg” may be the confiscation of the Syrian Golan, with its historically large oil discovery, Syrian and Gazan offshore gas fields, and the focus of this article, the creation of “Kurdistan” out of the oil- and gas-rich portions of the wreckage of Iraq and Syria. Ancillary to this would be the aforementioned reopening of the Mosul-Haifa pipeline closed in 1948 due to Arab sabotage. Because of this demonstrated vulnerability (despite the best efforts of British Col. Wingate and the Irgun) a reopening would require the cooperation of any future ISIS/ISIL “Sunnistan,” a future Kurdistan and a large military presence in Iraq by Turkey, the U.S., Gulf States and NATO in the vicinity of the pipeline, the first steps of which have been taken.

Also not considered is the fact that Russia has long been one of Israel’s oil suppliers but that need has been cut back by the large quantities of oil (illegally) sold to Israel by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and ISIS oil transited through Turkey—at fire-sale prices. That’s got to make Ivan do some thinking.

Then there’s the little-considered possibility that Erdogan sees his oil revenues evaporating if the Mosul line is built and Jordan gets all the oil-transit revenues, in which case his recent invasion may be an attempt to deal himself in by invading and threatening the plan. Such a pipeline would permanently eliminate the need for the “pipeline on wheels” to the Israelis—but it might be adapted to allow continued ISIS oil sales as a sort of kickback. It’s my belief that, if this is the case, Turkey’s role will quickly change to that of a defender.

Apparently mulling over the above complexities, Russia belatedly criticized on December 8th the latest move by Turkey as “a very serious factor of tensions.” Did Russia also consider another aspect of this potential development; namely, destabilization of Iran and Lebanon via massive numbers of Iraqi Shia refugees following a partition of Iraq and its subsequent disintegration? How would Iraq survive on 10% of its oil revenues? And Iran is Russia’s Caspian neighbor.

Iraq itself is becoming increasingly restive about the prospect of its imminent breakup at the hands of Turkey and its NATO cohorts (for the benefit of Israel)–and even some Sunnis must have second thoughts about allowing the neo-Ottoman Erdogan to serve as de facto sultan over a restored Kurdistan and a Sunnistan. In this regard, the Iraqi parliament’s Security and Defense Committee is re-assessing their nation’s security agreement with the United States, and again asked Turkish forces to depart. According to one of the Committee members “The [Iraqi] government and the parliament need to review its security agreement with the US, because Washington is not serious about its implementation. We will demand its cancellation.”[12]

ERDOGAN: METHOD TO HIS MADNESS?

I’ve long maintained that partition of Iraq (as an economic and political benefit to Israel) was the major reason for the invasion of Iraq in 2003.[13] Many were skeptical of my view as they imagined NATO member Turkey would be immovably opposed to such an outcome as would Iran.

Turkey, after this time, deceptively dumped its toolbox of tricks down the proverbial steps– apparently secretly agreeing with Israel to accept a Kurdistan while attacking the PKK and giving ISIS logistical and other covert support (fighters and weapons seemingly passed largely unhindered across its borders) and spouting anti-ISIS rhetoric while, simultaneously, Turkish nationals were buying ISIS stolen oil. (The massive oil trade with ISIS can now be borne out by chemical oil-test data and information released by the Russian Federation.)

Confusing as it seems, Erdogan (like his Israeli partner Netanyahu) is not crazy and is pursuing asymmetric warfare with vigor, I believe. He and his family likely were profiting from ISIS oil trading while he was (in deference to his Israeli partners) allowing the Kurdish Peshmerga (PKK) to cross the border into Syria in 2014 to fight ISIS in Kobani while the U.S. simultaneously attacked its own partial creation, ISIS, and dropped large quantities of arms to the Kurds.[14]

What then accounts for the ambush of Russia’s plane over Syria and Erdogan’s subsequent bellicose behavior? As Erdogan plans to be a major player with the EU, NATO and Israel, it could be a way to wean the Turkish business sector away from its previously increasing trade with Russia—which supplies an estimated 40% of Turkish gas needs.  (By increasing business sanctions, Russia may well be playing Erdogan’s game. In any case, Russia’s energy leverage over both Turkey (and Ukraine) will be greatly diminished should Iraq be partitioned and Kurdistan commence Turkish gas deliveries in 2017):

Derbas Resul, the minister of reconstruction and development of the Kurdish Regional Government, announced a 50-year oil-and-gas agreement has been reached with Turkey…Iraq can supply Turkey with 20-30 billion cubic meters of natural gas, experts say. Iraqi gas is expected to be 50% cheaper than the Iranian gas…As for the Israeli natural gas…(construction of) a natural gas pipeline from Israel to Turkey…may start in the second half of 2015. It is believed that a 25-year gas agreement between Turkey and Israel will improve the relations between two countries.”

Ata Altun of the Eastern Mediterranean University said:”Israel has understood that it will be more economic to ship the natural gas it discovered in the eastern Mediterranean via pipelines over Turkey.” Altun said Israel wants to sell 6 billion cubic meters of the 16 billion cubic meters of natural gas it plans to produce from its Leviathan field to Palestine and Jordan, and the remaining 9 billion cubic meters to Turkey and Europe.

Recently there were reports of a major Turkish company negotiating in Tel Aviv to carry the Israeli gas to Turkey. (See: http://www.ntv.com.tr/dunya/israilin-dogalgazi-turkiyeye-geliyor,8948H3im3kew81yiSxB52w.)

In sum, Turkey’s bridge status in natural gas should firm up in the coming three to four years, when Iraqi and Azerbaijani natural gas will be flowing to Europe via Turkey.[15]

Turkey is currently heavily dependent on Russian natural gas transited through Ukraine. But perhaps not for long. Russian gas to Ukraine is certain to be cut off in the event Ukraine attacks Novorussia—a possibility as Ukraine is being primed to renege on its sovereign debt to Russia and is moving heavy arms back to the engagement lines. The apparent suspension of the “Turkstream” gas pipeline talks by Russia[16] may have been just the excuse Erdogan was seeking to break ties with Russia, in fact.

While Ankara is awaiting the large flow of Kurdistan natural gas and new Ukrainian and EU markets for that and Israeli gas (hence Merkel’s restart of Turkish EU membership) the Baghdad central government, with the help of Russia, could militarily put a stop to these probably-illegal sales by the KRG. From Erdogan’s standpoint, this is unacceptable in light of Turkish-Israeli plans—so his current military stance in Iraq is also “not nice” but is by no means crazy.

In addition to his energy ambitions, Erdogan is seemingly motivated by neo-Ottoman desires to restore the pre-Sykes-Picot Ottoman Sultanate and “multiplexing” a new world order through the vehicle of ISIS, a use my original article anticipated. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has echoed Erdogan’s call for Turkish regional hegemony and a “new order,” seeing a Turkish caliphate being a “litmus test for globalization”:

“When people can pass from a free Palestine through Istanbul to London. That’s our vision. Not building walls around Turkey, but opening up to share with our neighbors. In Cairo we are the Middle East, in Europe we are Europeans. We must shape history with all the nations around us”[17]

Davutoglu’s vision, in fact, begins with the very human wave invasion sweeping Europe and originating in Turkey. This “soft invasion” through its “multiculturalism” is intended to transform the EU. His view is an expansion of the argument of Turkish thinker Abdurrahman Dilipak that Turkey was the legitimate heir of the Ottoman Caliphate.[18]

Could Erdogan be hoping that Russian setbacks in Ukraine and Crimea, a disastrous outcome in the Mid East, and continuing isolation economically will leave a weakened Russia with Putin deposed? Available “plums” could then fall into Turkey’s lap: these could well include Crimea and areas with Turkic peoples in what is today the Russian Federation. But he needs to buy some time if this is his intention.

With this possibility in mind, it’s worth remembering that Turkey could soon reverse roles and replace Russia as Ukraine’s (and Europe’s) natural gas supplier. Advanced offensive weapons have reportedly been supplied to Ukraine by Turkey. And Erdogan and the Turkish leaders apparently “looked the other way” (as with ISIS) while Turkey’s illegal “Grey Wolves”–Bozkurtkar Turk ulkuculeri—left to participate with Ukrainian nationalists in the blockade of Crimea. (The “Wolves”: are supposed enemies of Erdogan and the ruling party, but in 2014 he made conciliatory gestures toward a related political group.) One Russian source comments:

“It is known that our pilot, catapulted from the downed su-24, was shot by the son of the leader of the “Party of the nationalist revival” and the Commander “the Grey wolves”, Alparslan çelik. As was stated in an interview to Aleksey Zhuravko, now, in the Kherson region, there are about 700 fighters of “Bozkurtkar”. There are documented cases of attacks on local residents. In Kherson region the wolves are going to create some kind of “Tatar Republic”…

Turkey is making great efforts, creating elites in Turkic regions of Russia. Ankara relies on a very powerful system, built by followers of Nursi — the so-called “nurdzhular”…So Turkey has someone to rely on in Russia. The power of Turkish intelligence is comparable to that of Israel. It is headed by a professional soldier and political activist who doesn’t speak about the methods of his work. The name of the head of intelligence is Hakan Fidan, who is close to Erdogan.[19]

As Erdogan has already “crossed the Rubicon” with Russia—Turkey’s pressing economic needs and commitment to the NATO attempt to wall off Russia will not likely be altered by mere soothing words, although many are now trying. I wish them luck. For instance, while Erdogan moved some troops out of the illegal outpost in Iraq he will not state they have returned to Turkey but that they have only moved “North” claiming they were invited into the country in 2014 by Iraq.[20]

Erdogan is clearly keeping options open for additional incursions should things not go the way he likes. As Anthony Shadid, writing in 2011 put it:

“Oil is still king in Iraq, and as much as anything else, underlines Turkey’s interests here. The pipeline from Kirkuk, Iraq, to Ceyhan, Turkey, already carries roughly 25 percent of Iraq’s oil exports…

The Turks have (also) signed on to the ambitious $11 billion Nabucco gas pipeline project, which may bypass Russia and bring Iraqi gas to Europe.”[21]

U.S. CONGRESS FOLLOWS ISRAELI LEAD

The recent change in the U.S. stance towards Kurdistan—especially as the U.S. Congress is concerned—is made evident by remembering the October 2007 U.S. reaction to Erdogan’s threats to invade Iraq:

“Turkey is moving fire power and troops closer to Iraq as a border war threatens to become an invasion the United States desperately does not want to happen…
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the leader of Iraq’s Kurdish region, Massoud Barzani, on Sunday to press the U.S. case for restraint from Turkey and Iraqi action against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

“We do not believe unilateral cross-border operations are the best way to address this issue,” he said, describing Rice’s call to Erdogan…”In our view, there are better ways to deal with this issue,” he said, stressing that United States regards the PKK as a terrorist organization.”[22]

An almost sure way to determine the actual position of Israel in any matter involving the Mid East is to study the sentiment of the U.S. Congress, most of whose members hold their seats by sufferance of wealthy Zionist supporters. And Congress did not disappoint! It will deal with these PKK former “terrorists” as it has dealt with ISIS. On Dec. 9th, 2015 the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a bipartisan bill by unanimous voice vote authorizing the U.S. to directly arm and train the Kurdish Peshmerga (PKK) in both Syria and Iraq and to treat them as a separate country with passage of the $600-billion Defense Authorization Bill. (The U.S. Senate, had already voted 54:45 in June to arm the Kurds directly as a “separate country.”) President Obama’s office has issued a claim that he will veto the legislation, arousing the fury of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ.)

To add insult to injury to President Obama’s foreign policy of maintaining Iraq’s integrity, according to AP, Turkey’s Erdogan is vague about withdrawing troops from Camp Bashiqua and has left at least a skeleton force behind that can quickly be reinforced by two armored brigades just across the Turkish border. Further, as of this writing, the U.S. has scheduled a trilateral meeting, gathering officials from Turkey, the United States and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq on Dec. 21st—without the Iraqi central government in attendance.[23]

#####

[Endnotes Follow]

Thierry Meyssan, “The unavowable project for a pseudo-Kurdistan,” Voltaire Network, 7 December 2015, link: http://www.voltairenet.org/article189562.html↑
 Tom Mysiewicz, “War With ISIS: Multiplexing a New World Order,” Vineyard Saker, 17 September 2014, link: http://www.vineyardsaker.co.nz/2014/09/17/war-with-isis-multiplexing-a-new-world-order-by-tom-mysiewicz/
 Tom Mysiewicz, “Iraq Partition—The Real Strategy Is About to Succeed,” Future-Fastforward, 16 June 2014, link: http://futurefastforward.com/feature-articles/9739-iraq-partition-the-real-strategy-is-about-to-succeed-by-tom-mysiewicz-16614.html
 Uri Avnery in privately circulated piece “King Bibi,” 12 December 2015 ↑
 “Israel Buys Most Oil Smuggled from ISIS Territory—Report,” Globes Online, Israel Business News, 30 November 2015, link: http://www.globes.co.il/en/article.aspx?did=1001084873
 http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/mou1975.html
 Kevin Alan Brook,”The Genetic Bonds Between Kurds and Jews”, Barzan (Kurdish News), 4 May 2006, link: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1626606/posts
 Dr. Lawrence A. Franklin, “Kurdistan: More Like Israel, Less Like Iraq”, Gatestone Institute, 25 December 2014, link: http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4975/kurdistan-israel
 Dan Williams, “Israel tells U.S. Kurdish independence is ‘foregone conclusion’,” Reuters, 26 January 2014, link: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-crisis-israel-kurds-idUSKBN0F11I520140626#KobzryUWBTuwTVOB.97
 Lazar Berman, “Is a free Kurdistan, and a new Israeli ally, upon us?” Times of Israel, 10 August 2013, link: http://www.timesofisrael.com/is-a-free-kurdistan-and-a-new-israeli-ally-upon-us/
 Op cit. Uri Avnery in privately circulated piece “King Bibi,” 12 December 2015 ↑
 Jonathan Krause, “The U.S. Is About to be Kicked out of Iraq and Replaced with Russia”, Daily Sheeple, 9 December 2015, link: http://www.thedailysheeple.com/u-s-military-is-about-to-be-kicked-out-of-iraq-and-replaced-with-russia_122015
 Tom Mysiewicz, “Mission Accomplished,” Bush’s claims that the “mission” had been accomplished in Iraq may be true, the author asserts. But that mission may, in fact, have been the future partition of that hapless country. MediaMonitors, 9 May 2004, link: http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/6646↑
 Ben Mathis-Lilley, “Turkey Will Reverse Course, Will Let Kurds Cross Border to Fight ISIS?”, Slate.com, 20 October 2014, link: http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2014/10/20/turkey_kurds_isis_new_policy_announced.html
 Mehmet Cetingulec, “In Natural Gas, All Pipelines Go through Turkey”, Al Monitor, 10 December 2014, link: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/12/turkey-russia-natural-gas-blue-stream-tanap.html
 http://www.worldbulletin.net/turkey/167001/erdogans-redirects-isil-oil-claims-to-russia
 Eric Walberg, “Islamic Resistance to Imperialism””, Clarity Press, Atlanta, GA, 2015, p. 261. ↑
 Ibid. ↑
 “Erdogan sends ‘Grey Wolves’ to Crimea—a History Lesson”, Anna News, 9 December 2015, link: http://fortruss.blogspot.com.br/2015/12/erdogan-sends-grey-wolves-to-crimea.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+FortRuss+(Fort+Russ and http://anna-news.info/node/48838
 http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkey-plans-pull-troops-stationed-iraq-35696141
 Anthony Shadid, “Resurgent Turkey Flexes its Muscles Around Iraq”, New York Times, 4 January 2011, link: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/world/middleeast/05turkey.html?_r=2&pagewanted=print
 “U.S. Urges Turkey Not to Invade Iraq”, CBS News, 22 October 2007, link: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-urges-turkey-not-to-invade-iraq/
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkey-plans-pull-troops-stationed-iraq-35696141


http://thesaker.is/chess-in-the-age-of-isis/

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December 17, 2015, 06:40:49 PM
 #155

ISIS BEHEADING PLOT - Jihadis send LETTERS to EU civilians ordering them to convert or die

CRAZED Islamic State (ISIS) jihadis have sent letters to European civilians ordering them to convert to Islam within three days or face being DECAPITATED in their own homes.

By NICK GUTTERIDGE
PUBLISHED: 10:06, Thu, Dec 17, 2015 | UPDATED: 12:49, Thu, Dec 17, 2015

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/626885/Islamic-State-ISIS-letters-Sweden-convert-Islam-decapitated-murder-jihadi-Syria

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December 18, 2015, 10:34:42 PM
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ISIS Axis Assemble! Turkey To Establish Military Base In Qatar

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/18/2015 17:00 -0500

As we never tire of reminding readers, it’s critical to understand that the conflict in Syria, as interesting and important as it is in isolation, is part of larger story. As we documented in “Mid-East Coup: As Russia Pounds Militant Targets, Iran Readies Ground Invasions While Saudis Panic,” an epochal shift is taking place in the region

Preserving the Assad government is absolutely critical for Iran. Syria serves as a key link between Tehran and Hezbollah in Lebanon and were Damascus to fall to a Western puppet government, Iran’s so-called “Shiite crescent” would wane. Riyadh, Doha, and Ankara know this of course and would like nothing more than to push the Iranians out of the Arab Peninsula, and ideally, undercut Tehran’s influence in Iraq as well.

The conflict in Yemen is the same story. Iran backs the Houthis and just about the last thing the Saudis, Qatar, and the UAE want to happen is for Iran to effectively establish a colony on Riyadh’s southern border with a cozy view of the  Bab-el-Mandeb. That explains why the Gulf monarchies have put so much effort into driving the Houthis back and why the they won’t likely stop until Sana’a is recaptured (even if a few MSF hospitals and a UNESCO world heritage site have to be destroyed along the way).

In short, this is an all-out regional Sunni vs. Shiite proxy war with the US backing the Sunnis and Russia backing the Shiites. If Iran and Russia win, Tehran will have cemented its foothold in Syria and Iraq just as international sanctions are lifted. If the Saudis win, the status quo will be preserved only with a “friendly” government in Damascus and a restored Hadi regime in Yemen.

With the stakes so high, it’s no wonder that all sides are sparing no expense. The Saudis are pouring resources into the Yemen fight even as Riyadh’s fiscal deficit has ballooned to some 20% of GDP in the face of slumping crude prices. Qatar and Turkey are funneling weapons and money to proxy armies in Syria and Ankara is apparently willing to risk its international reputation on the way to facilitating the ISIS oil trade. Meanwhile, Russia is all-in on the air campaign in Syria and Iran has committed Hezbollah, thousands of Iraqi Shiite militiamen, and its most important generals to Assad’s cause.

As Hezbollah advances on Aleppo under cover of Russian airstrikes, the anti-Iran/anti-Assad nexus is getting concerned. Recall that in October, Qatar hinted at direct military action in Syria when Foreign Minister Khalid al-Attiyah told CNN that "if a military intervention will protect the Syrian people from the brutality of the regime, we will do it [along with] our Saudi and Turkish brothers.”

Well don’t look now, but Turkey is set to establish a military base in Qatar in order to help the countries “confront common enemies.” As Reuters reports, “establishment of the base, part of an agreement signed in 2014 and ratified by Turkey's parliament in June, intensifies the partnership with Qatar at a time of rising instability and a perceived waning of U.S. interest in the region.”



“The two countries have provided support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, backed rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and raised the alarm about creeping Iranian influence in the region,” Reuters goes on to note, adding that “3,000 ground troops would be stationed at the base - Turkey's first overseas military installation in the Middle East - as well as air and naval units, military trainers and special operations forces.”

The deal also opens the door for Doha to establish its own base in Turkey in the future. "Turkey and Qatar face common problems and we are both very concerned about developments in the region and uncertain policies of other countries," Turkey's ambassador to Qatar Ahmet Demirok said. "We confront common enemies. At this critical time for the Middle East cooperation between us is vital."

Yes, "more cooperation" is "critical." Because the current level of cooperation apprently hasn't created enough instability and outright carnage.

Bear in mind that this comes just as speculation is running high regarding the possibility that the US, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey may soon look to send in tens of thousands of ground troops to Iraq (and possibly Syria). The takeaway is this: even as Germany (and next France) seem to be moving towards a more cooperative approach when it comes to coordinating with the Assad government in the war on terror, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey's resolve to see the Syrian government fall has only hardened. The question is whether the US will continue to back its allies in the region or follow Germany down a more conciliatory path when it comes to dealing with the Syrian "problem."

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-12-18/isis-axis-assemble-turkey-establish-military-base-qatar

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December 19, 2015, 07:05:09 AM
 #157

ISIS BEHEADING PLOT - Jihadis send LETTERS to EU civilians ordering them to convert or die

CRAZED Islamic State (ISIS) jihadis have sent letters to European civilians ordering them to convert to Islam within three days or face being DECAPITATED in their own homes.

By NICK GUTTERIDGE
PUBLISHED: 10:06, Thu, Dec 17, 2015 | UPDATED: 12:49, Thu, Dec 17, 2015

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/626885/Islamic-State-ISIS-letters-Sweden-convert-Islam-decapitated-murder-jihadi-Syria

This is very funny. Here is the letter:

Quote
In the name of Allah, the merciful, full of grace. You who are not believers will be decapitated in three days in your own house. We will bomb your rotten corpses afterwards.

"You must choose between these three choices: 1. Convert to Islam. 2. Pay the jizya [religious tax] for protection. 3. Or else, you will be decapitated.

"The police will not prevent or save you from you being murdered. (Death comes to all of you)."

Considering how weak the Swedish law enforcement is, the only option for these idiots will be to convert, or to request for asylum in countries such as Russia and Belarus.
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December 19, 2015, 07:23:49 AM
 #158

ISIS Axis Assemble! Turkey To Establish Military Base In Qatar
Qatar is a blatant supporter of terrorist groups. It's unbelievable the Western world even have diplomatic ties with this minuscule country that actually paid to have the world cup on it's land... what utter madness. It's all about money, who cares if hundreds of thousands die in the process.
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December 19, 2015, 10:45:39 AM
 #159

Qatar is a blatant supporter of terrorist groups. It's unbelievable the Western world even have diplomatic ties with this minuscule country that actually paid to have the world cup on it's land... what utter madness. It's all about money, who cares if hundreds of thousands die in the process.

Do you know that Qatar is the richest country in the world (in terms of per capita GDP)? And the Americans want to make them even richer, by obstructing the Russian natural gas sales to the European Union nations. Qatari LNG is much more expensive than the Russian gas, but the Europeans are forced to give a preference to the former.
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December 19, 2015, 02:51:49 PM
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This sounds promising. Maybe it´s just more hot air, maybe not. Time will tell...

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

On Friday, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution outlining a peace process for Syria following talks between 18 ministers of the International Syria Support Group.

"The UN Security Council resolution is important in principle not only for Syrian peace process. Without exaggeration, this is probably the first resolution in recent years, which could be truly significant for resolving other long-standing conflicts," Franz Klintsevich, the first deputy chair of the upper-house Committee on Security and Defense, told journalists.

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