The Levant crisis.(Israel,SYRIA,Lebanon,etc) - II

[Lalmohan]

What is the quality Iran army? Is it good to take on Barberia?

iranians will make mince meat pulao with dhansak on the side with the saudis and brush aside as extra coriander leaves any other gulf states. why do you think the gulfies are so terrified of iran and insist that unkil parks his major land, air and naval bases in their midst?

[Philip]

https://www.rt.com/op-edge/327963-saudi ... -conflict/

Saudi Arabia - a monster of the West's creation
John Wight
Published time: 5 Jan, 2016 11:19
The deepening crisis between Saudi Arabia and Iran, following the controversial execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr by the Saudis, shows no evidence of abating. Direct military confrontation is now a distinct possibility.

READ MORE: Uproar in Middle East after Saudi Arabia executes top Shiite cleric

For many experts, analysts, commentators, and people familiar with the Middle East, the prospect of military conflict between the Saudis and the Iranians will come as no surprise. For some years both countries have been engaged in a de facto Cold War as representatives of Sunni and Shia Islam each seek to establish their legitimacy. This dates back to the original schism of 632AD, after Prophet Muhammad’s death.

In its modern incarnation, the fissure within Islam between both branches and their respective legitimacy as representatives of the true faith has taken on political and geopolitical dimensions, given the wider strategic importance of the resource-rich Arab and Muslim world.

Relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran deteriorated rapidly in the wake of the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, which toppled the US puppet regime led by the Shah. The Saudis, worried about growing Shiite influence in the region as a consequence, and regarding themselves as the theological guardians of Sunni Islam, have worked to oppose any such influence at every turn in the decades since.

The oppression of its own Shiite minority, along with the repression of Shiite pro democracy movements in Bahrain and Yemen in recent years, is evidence of Riyadh’s increasingly aggressive stance in the region, proving a key factor in its destabilization in the wake of the so-called Arab Spring of 2011. This revolutionary surge swept through Tunisia and Egypt only to conclude in a counter revolutionary backlash, wherein it was hijacked by extremists who were fuelled by a literalist interpretation of Sunni Islam; one almost indistinguishable from the Wahhabi religious doctrine that underpins the Saudi state.

The role of the Saudis in supporting various groups fighting in Syria is by now well known, which in conjunction with the upsurge in beheadings and executions being carried out in the kingdom over the past two years, suggests a regime consumed with insecurity over the dominance of Sunni Islam as a political force. The announcement on Monday that Sudan had decided to cut diplomatic ties with Tehran, and with Bahrain also lining up alongside Riyadh, merely confirms this. Add to the mix the collapse of US leadership and influence in the region and the prospect of the crisis lapsing into open conflict is very real.

Sudan sever ties with Iran, UAE reduces number of diplomats
Saudi Arabia, despite its repeated and flagrant violations of human rights both within and outside its borders, and despite the destabilization it has helped wrought, enjoys the protection of its Western allies. Saudi Arabia has long been the biggest market for Western arms exports, and in the process of its long and favored relations with the West, it has perfected the art of saying one thing to the West and another to its own people and adherents across the Muslim world. However, there is no confusion when it comes to its actions, which have charted a course of ever increasing belligerency and extremism.

When it comes to Iran, we are talking about a country that has been much maligned in the West for decades. It is painted as a rogue state and a threat to security and stability. Nobody forgets its inclusion in former US President George W Bush’s ‘axis of evil’ along with North Korea and Iraq. A sworn enemy of Israel and Saudi Arabia, Iran existed under a strict sanctions regimen for many years, and only recently was brought in from the cold by the Obama administration in the wake of diplomatic talks to end the impasse over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Obama’s peace overtures to the Iranians met with consternation in Tel Aviv and Riyadh. The nuclear deal caused a rupture in relations between Washington and its longstanding allies. Add to this the reluctance of Obama to commit to toppling Assad in Syria with sufficient force and never has an administration been regarded so poorly in the region as the Obama administration by the Israelis and the Saudis.

In truth, Iran has long been a pillar of stability in the Middle East. It has no territorial ambitions and its non-sectarianism is evidenced in its unwavering support for the overwhelmingly Sunni and long suffering Palestinians.

The region is in the throes of an ever deepening and intensifying crisis, triggered in the first instance by the disastrous US-led war of aggression on Iraq in 2003 and continued by the West’s role in helping to topple the Gaddafi government in Libya. There was a failure to adequately appreciate the threat posed by terrorism and extremism, both of which have proliferated as a consequence of the West’s actions since 9/11. Destroying the village in order to save it has been the strategy of governments, which have allowed regional allies such as Saudi Arabia to spread and propagate the poison of sectarianism and barbarism unchecked.

We are talking about people who as Oscar Wilde once quipped, “understand the price of everything and the value of nothing.” They are pushing the region into the most dangerous period it has experienced since the end of the Cold War.

Albert Camus says: “A man without ethics is a wild beast let loose upon this world.” The same sentiment can be applied to states and governments.

Step forward Saudi Arabia.

[TSJones]

What is the quality Iran army? Is it good to take on Barberia?

iranians will make mince meat pulao with dhansak on the side with the saudis and brush aside as extra coriander leaves any other gulf states. why do you think the gulfies are so terrified of iran and insist that unkil parks his major land, air and naval bases in their midst?

no way, no how. ain't happening....guaranteed......they'ii get their country bombed to pieces....Larry Eagle will make sure of it. Hillary doesn't cry at news conferences.....she's got a mean streak...and Larry wants his new toys..... mo' jet fighters, mo' jet bombers, mo' new hyper Ohio class submarines(12 of 'em),,,chop, chop....crumble, crush....Madame will comply....the globalists are in control buddy.

[Lalmohan]

so tsj - as long as unkil bases remain active in the gulf, then nothing will happen to anybody and there will be no war
now if larry eagle were to look the other way and left to their own devices...

[Chinmayanand]

US has no stomach for fight. Wars cost money and when the POTUS goes begging the house for raising debt ceiling, the opposition will shout..

[TSJones]

US has no stomach for fight. Wars cost money and when the POTUS goes begging the house for raising debt ceiling, the opposition will shout..

another true believer in RU Today.......

you have no idea who has been funneling money to the Clintons and Bushes for decades do you? we're talking deep state funding.....globally....

nor do you understand how much congress detests Iran..........

but back to a reality check........

http://www.defense.gov/News-Article-Vie ... syria-iraq

more pounding around Mosul among other places and ISIL really, really, wants Ramadi back....

....but the Apaches and A-10's say they ain't getting it back....

pour a little more sugar on it please.......I hear that the jihadis burn better with it...

[Singha]

ISF & allies has faced a huge IS n*VBIED attack at haditha and managed to beat them off with some dozens of their own KIA. IS must have faced a use it or lose it situation or trying to shatter ISF morale with such suicidal charges to open up space for itself.

they seem to have absorbed the attack and beaten it off with help of two local tribes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZwAK0MQ_W8

[Singha]

a fake IS execution video was been outed by a group of russian hackers named cyber berkut.
maybe a practice run before they really killed him. they probably setup this studio where they kill people instead of going out in the desert.


one comment:
Cyber Berkut uses bluetooth syncing in Kievs airport and other areas where US officials travel when visiting Ukraine. That is how the manage to get so much hacked phone info. It doesn't surprise me at all that McCains staffers are stupid enough to film this and have their phones insecure when traveling. After all they have big egos and not much brains. Cyber Berkut also hacked Kolomosikys Facebook in Ukraine and have proof that it was his nazi battalions that shot down MH-17.
http://acloserlookonsyria.shoutwiki.com ... erkut_leak


one more
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqYuQOdL3dI

[Singha]

cyber berkut has also exposed arms deals between poland & ukraine and gulf arabs for russian bombs which could be used on the ground and blamed on ruAF or syAF for civilian deaths

http://cyber-berkut.org/en/

[TSJones]

....so they admit there has been civilian deaths from Russian bombs?

this is the first time they have ever dared to admit even the possibility......

[deejay]

....so they admit there has been civilian deaths from Russian bombs?

this is the first time they have ever dared to admit even the possibility......

Exactly, how did you draw this conclusion that they (russians ?) have admitted?

[TSJones]

....so they admit there has been civilian deaths from Russian bombs?

this is the first time they have ever dared to admit even the possibility......

Exactly, how did you draw this conclusion that they (russians ?) have admitted?

evidently their agit prop org says russian bombs could have been used for civilian deaths by agencies outside of russia.

they nor their stooges have ever admitted to the possibility that russian bombs could have caused civilian deaths. ever.........

[deejay]

In the same light here is evidence of US funding ISIS:

Terrormonitor.org ‏@Terror_Monitor now2 minutes ago
#SYRIA
#IslamicState/#ISIS Released Propaganda Photos Of #USD Distribution For Its Militants Family In #Raqqa.

[deejay]

US vs US for support to moderate terrorists in Syria :

https://www.rt.com/usa/328227-alabama-l ... -refugees/

Alabama sues US government for concealing info on new Syrian refugees

Following in Texas’ footsteps, Alabama has sued the US government for “blatantly excluding” the state from the refugee placing process. It has accused the Obama administration of not disclosing information about newly arriving asylum-seekers.
"We decided to file this lawsuit because of the frustration that we have suffered related to the fact that the federal government has not responded at all to us as a state dealing with the refugee resettlement,” Governor Robert Bentley said, according to local news website AL.com.

According to Bentley, the US government ignored Alabama’s request to share information on the refugees, including their medical history, before they move to the state.

“They have not done what we have asked them to do: give us pre-entry information on individuals as they come into the state, not only as far as numbers but as far as individuals and names of individuals so that we would know who we were dealing with if they were being resettled into Alabama," Bentley said.

By filing a lawsuit, which names the heads of multiple federal agencies, in a federal court in Birmingham, Alabama is hoping to make the administration comply with the Refugee Act of 1980 and "consult with the state regarding the placement of refugees before those refugees are placed within its borders," AL.com reports.

"What we're asking in this suit is basically that they treat the state with respect. That we are the ones who secure the people of this state and protect the people of this state and we need to have the information on refugees as they come in to allow us to do that," said the governor.

The suit also seeks a court order for compulsory "certification by the (US) secretary of state or the relevant federal official with knowledge ... that those refugees pose no security risk."

Bentley has blasted “the process and manner” in which the federal government “is blatantly excluding the states” when it comes to the refugee resettlement program.

Alabama officials reportedly sent letters with requests to several major federal departments, including the White House and Department of State. However, they have not gotten a response from federal officials.

"We believe they are intentionally circumventing the states," said Bentley, adding that it was his duty as the governor to secure and protect the people of Alabama. “I am not able to do that if we don't know who is coming from foreign nations and we know nothing about them and we don't even know where they go when they leave the state."
...

[deejay]

The truth about Islamic State: it's in crisis
Isis is losing territory. Recruits are deserting. But the hardcore fanatics will never surrender. Read more on - UK fights back after new Jihadi John surfaces:

http://www.spectator.co.uk/2016/01/the- ... in-crisis/

[TSJones]

...probably ransom money for the hostages they hold. a number of American families have paid hostage money as well as japan and australia.

[deejay]

So you accept US is funding ISIS.

[Satya_anveshi]

How Zionism helped create the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - by Nu'man Abd al-Wahid - Jan 07, 2016
http://mondoweiss.net/2016/01/zionism-kingdom-arabia

The covert alliance between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Zionist entity of Israel should be no surprise to any student of British imperialism. The problem is the study of British imperialism has very few students. Indeed, one can peruse any undergraduate or post-graduate British university prospectus and rarely find a module in a Politics degree on the British Empire let alone a dedicated degree or Masters degree. Of course if the European led imperialist carnage in the four years between 1914 – 1918 tickles your cerebral cells then it’s not too difficult to find an appropriate institutionto teach this subject, but if you would like to delve into how and why the British Empire waged war on mankind for almost four hundred years you’re practically on your own in this endeavour. One must admit, that from the British establishment’s perspective, this is a formidable and remarkable achievement.

In late 2014, according to the American journal, “Foreign Affairs”, the Saudi petroleum Minister, Ali al-Naimi is reported to have said “His Majesty King Abdullah has always been a model for good relations between Saudi Arabia and other states and the Jewish state is no exception.” Recently, Abdullah’s successor, King Salman expressed similar concerns to those of Israel’s to the growing agreement between the United States and Iran over the latter’s nuclear programme. This led some to report that Israel and KSA presented a “united front” in their opposition to the nuclear deal. This was not the first time the Zionists and Saudis have found themselves in the same corner in dealing with a perceived common foe. In North Yemen in the 1960’s, the Saudis were financing a British imperialist led mercenary army campaign against revolutionary republicans who had assumed authority after overthrowing the authoritarian, Imam. Gamal Abdul-Nasser’s Egypt militarily backed the republicans, while the British induced the Saudis to finance and arm the remaining remnants of the Imam’s supporters. Furthermore, the British organised the Israelis to drop arms for the British proxies in North Yemen, 14 times. The British, in effect, militarily but covertly, brought the Zionists and Saudis together in 1960’s North Yemen against their common foe.

However, one must go back to the 1920’s to fully appreciate the origins of this informal and indirect alliance between Saudi Arabia and the Zionist entity. The defeat of the Ottoman Empire by British imperialism in World War One, left three distinct authorities in the Arabian peninsula: Sharif of Hijaz: Hussain bin Ali of Hijaz (in the west), Ibn Rashid of Ha’il (in the north) and Emir Ibn Saud of Najd (in the east) and his religiously fanatical followers, the Wahhabis.

Ibn Saud had entered the war early in January 1915 on the side of the British, but was quickly defeated and his British handler, William Shakespear was killed by the Ottoman Empire’s ally Ibn Rashid. This defeat greatly hampered Ibn Saud’s utility to the Empire and left him militarily hamstrung for a year.[1] The Sharif contributed the most to the Ottoman Empire’s defeat by switching allegiances and leading the so-called ‘Arab Revolt’ in June 1916 which removed the Turkish presence from Arabia. He was convinced to totally alter his position because the British had strongly led him to believe, via correspondence with Henry McMahon, the British High Commissioner in Egypt, that a unified Arab country from Gaza to the Persian Gulf will be established with the defeat of the Turks. The letters exchanged between Sharif Hussain and Henry McMahon are known as the McMahon-Hussain Correspondence.

Understandably, the Sharif as soon as the war ended wanted to hold the British to their war time promises, or what he perceived to be their war time promises, as expressed in the aforementioned correspondence. The British, on the other hand, wanted the Sharif to accept the Empire’s new reality which was a division of the Arab world between them and the French (Sykes-Picot agreement) and the implementation of the Balfour Declaration, which guaranteed ‘a national for the Jewish people’ in Palestine by colonisation with European Jews. This new reality was contained in the British written, Anglo-Hijaz Treaty, which the Sharif was profoundly averse to signing.[2] After all, the revolt of 1916 against the Turks was dubbed the ‘Arab Revolt’ not the ‘Hijazi Revolt’.

Actually, the Sharif let it be known that he will never sell out Palestine to the Empire’s Balfour Declaration; he will never acquiescence to the establishment of Zionism in Palestine or accept the new random borders drawn across Arabia by British and French imperialists. For their part the British began referring to him as an ‘obstructionist’, a ‘nuisance’ and of having a ‘recalcitrant’ attitude.

The British let it be known to the Sharif that they were prepared to take drastic measures to bring about his approval of the new reality regardless of the service that he had rendered them during the War. After the Cairo Conference in March 1921, where the new Colonial Secretary Winston Churchill met with all the British operatives in the Middle East, T.E. Lawrence (i.e. of Arabia) was dispatched to meet the Sharif to bribe and bully him to accept Britain’s Zionist colonial project in Palestine. Initially, Lawrence and the Empire offered 80,000 rupees.[3] The Sharif rejected it outright. Lawrence then offered him an annual payment of £100,000.[4] The Sharif refused to compromise and sell Palestine to British Zionism.

When financial bribery failed to persuade the Sharif, Lawrence threatened him with an Ibn Saud takeover. Lawrence claimed that “politically and militarily, the survival of Hijaz as a viable independent Hashemite kingdom was wholly dependent on the political will of Britain, who had the means to protect and maintain his rule in the region.” [5] In between negotiating with the Sharif, Lawrence made the time to visit other leaders in the Arabian peninsula and informed them that they if they don’t tow the British line and avoid entering into an alliance with the Sharif, the Empire will unleash Ibn Saud and his Wahhabis who after all is at Britain’s ‘beck and call’.[6]

Simultaneously, after the Conference, Churchill travelled to Jerusalem and met with the Sharif’s son, Abdullah, who had been made the ruler, “Emir”, of a new territory called “Transjordan.” Churchill informed Abdullah that he should persuade “his father to accept the Palestine mandate and sign a treaty to such effect,” if not “the British would unleash Ibn Saud against Hijaz.”[7] In the meantime the British were planning to unleash Ibn Saud on the ruler of Ha’il, Ibn Rashid.

Ibn Rashid had rejected all overtures from the British Empire made to him via Ibn Saud, to be another of its puppets.[8] More so, Ibn Rashid expanded his territory north to the new mandated Palestinian border as well as to the borders of Iraq in the summer of 1920. The British became concerned that an alliance maybe brewing between Ibn Rashid who controlled the northern part of the peninsula and the Sharif who controlled the western part. More so, the Empire wanted the land routes between the Palestinian ports on the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf under the rule of a friendly party. At the Cairo Conference, Churchill agreed with an imperial officer, Sir Percy Cox that “Ibn Saud should be ‘given the opportunity to occupy Hail.’”[9] By the end of 1920, the British were showering Ibn Saud with “a monthly ‘grant’ of £10,000 in gold, on top of his monthly subsidy. He also received abundant arms supplies, totalling more than 10,000 rifles, in addition to the critical siege and four field guns” with British-Indian instructors.[10] Finally, in September 1921, the British unleashed Ibn Saud on Ha’il which officially surrendered in November 1921. It was after this victory the British bestowed a new title on Ibn Saud. He was no longer to be “Emir of Najd and Chief of its Tribes” but “Sultan of Najd and its Dependencies”. Ha’il had dissolved into a dependency of the Empire’s Sultan of Najd.

If the Empire thought that the Sharif, with Ibn Saud now on his border and armed to the teeth by the British, would finally become more amenable to the division of Arabia and the British Zionist colonial project in Palestine they were short lived. A new round of talks between Abdulla’s son, acting on behalf of his father in Transjordan and the Empire resulted in a draft treaty accepting Zionism. When it was delivered to the Sharif with an accompanying letter from his son requesting that he “accept reality”, he didn’t even bother to read the treaty and instead composed a draft treaty himself rejecting the new divisions of Arabia as well as the Balfour Declaration and sent it to London to be ratified![11]

Ever since 1919 the British had gradually decreased Hussain’s subsidy to the extent that by the early 1920’s they had suspended it, while at the same time continued subsidising Ibn Saud right through the early 1920’s.[12] After a further three rounds of negotiations in Amman and London, it dawned on the Empire that Hussain will never relinquish Palestine to Great Britain’s Zionist project or accept the new divisions in Arab lands.[13]In March 1923, the British informed Ibn Saud that it will cease his subsidy but not without awarding him an advance ‘grant’ of £50,000 upfront, which amounted to a year’s subsidy.[14]

In March 1924, a year after the British awarded the ‘grant’ to Ibn Saud, the Empire announced that it had terminated all discussions with Sharif Hussain to reach an agreement.[15] Within weeks the forces of Ibn Saud and his Wahhabi followers began to administer what the British foreign secretary, Lord Curzon called the “final kick” to Sharif Hussain and attacked Hijazi territory.[16] By September 1924, Ibn Saud had overrun the summer capital of Sharif Hussain, Ta’if. The Empire then wrote to Sharif’s sons, who had been awarded kingdoms in Iraq and Transjordan not to provide any assistance to their besieged father or in diplomatic terms they were informed “to give no countenance to interference in the Hedjaz”.[17] In Ta’if, Ibn Saud’s Wahhabis committed their customary massacres, slaughtering women and children as well as going into mosques and killing traditional Islamic scholars.[18] They captured the holiest place in Islam, Mecca, in mid-October 1924. Sharif Hussain was forced to abdicate and went to exile to the Hijazi port of Akaba. He was replaced as monarch by his son Ali who made Jeddah his governmental base. As Ibn Saud moved to lay siege to the rest of Hijaz, the British found the time to begin incorporating the northern Hijazi port of Akaba into Transjordan. Fearing that Sharif Hussain may use Akaba as a base to rally Arabs against the Empire’s Ibn Saud, the Empire let it be known that in no uncertain terms that he must leave Akaba or Ibn Saud will attack the port. For his part, Sharif Hussain responded that he had,

“never acknowledged the mandates on Arab countries and still protest against the British Government which has made Palestine a national home for the Jews.”[19]

Sharif Hussain was forced out of Akaba, a port he had liberated from the Ottoman Empire during the ‘Arab Revolt’, on the 18th June 1925 on HMS Cornflower.

Ibn Saud had begun his siege of Jeddah in January 1925 and the city finally surrendered in December 1925 bringing to an end over 1000 years of rule by the Prophet Muhammad’s descendants. The British officially recognised Ibn Saud as the new King of Hijaz in February 1926 with other European powers following suit within weeks. The new unified Wahhabi state was rebranded by the Empire in 1932 as the “Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” (KSA). A certain George Rendel, an officer working at the Middle East desk at the Foreign Office in London, claimed credit for the new name.

On the propaganda level, the British served the Wahhabi takeover of Hijaz on three fronts. Firstly, they portrayed and argued that Ibn Saud’s invasion of Hijaz was motivated by religious fanaticism rather than by British imperialism’s geo-political considerations.[20] This deception is propounded to this day, most recently in Adam Curtis’s acclaimed BBC “Bitter Lake” documentary, whereby he states that the “fierce intolerant vision of wahhabism” drove the “beduins” to create Saudi Arabia.[21] Secondly, the British portrayed Ibn Saud’s Wahhabi fanatics as a benign and misunderstood force who only wanted to bring Islam back to its purest form.[22] To this day, these Islamist jihadis are portrayed in the most benign manner when their armed insurrections is supported by Britain and the West such as 1980’s Afghanistan or in today’s Syria, where they are referred to in the western media as “moderate rebels.” Thirdly, British historians portray Ibn Saud as an independent force and not as a British instrument used to horn away anyone perceived to be surplus to imperial requirements. For example, Professor Eugene Rogan’s recent study on the history on Arabs claims that “Ibn Saud had no interest in fighting” the Ottoman Empire. This is far from accurate as Ibn Saud joined the war in 1915. He further disingenuously claims that Ibn Saud was only interested in advancing “his own objectives” which fortuitously always dovetailed with those of the British Empire.[23]

In conclusion, one of the most overlooked aspects of the Balfour Declaration is the British Empire’s commitment to “use their best endeavours to facilitate” the creation of “a national home for the Jewish people”. Obviously, many nations in the world today were created by the Empire but what makes Saudi Arabia’s borders distinctive is that its northern and north-eastern borders are the product of the Empire facilitating the creation of Israel. At the very least the dissolution of the two Arab sheikhdoms of Ha’il and Hijaz by Ibn Saud’s Wahhabis is based in their leaders’ rejection to facilitate the British Empire’s Zionist project in Palestine.

Therefore, it is very clear that the British Empire’s drive to impose Zionism in Palestine is embedded in the geographical DNA of contemporary Saudi Arabia. There is further irony in the fact that the two holiest sites in Islam are today governed by the Saudi clan and Wahhabi teachings because the Empire was laying the foundations for Zionism in Palestine in the 1920s. Contemporaneously, it is no surprise that both Israel and Saudi Arabia are keen in militarily intervening on the side of “moderate rebels” i.e. jihadis, in the current war on Syria, a country which covertly and overtly rejects the Zionist colonisation of Palestine.

As the United States, the ‘successor’ to the British Empire in defending western interests in the Middle East, is perceived to be growing more hesitant in engaging militarily in the Middle East, there is an inevitability that the two nations rooted in the Empire’s Balfour Declaration, Israel and Saudi Arabia, would develop a more overt alliance to defend their common interests.

[Satya_anveshi]

It is a sad story of Syrians not of European bigots, who went to war with Iraq, Libya, Syria seeking to win war booty. They are taking in the refugees to shore up their economy.

It is the Syrians who were well settled, in concrete homes, with air conditions (take any syrian town that was plundered, 10s of them on youtube, you will see buildings with air conditioned fixtures in the ruins)....they all have been lifted and shifted to europe.

Do you think Syrians will settle in refugee camps/ghettos perpetually...they will obviously seek to establish themselves with first class amenities ....that will grow the economy in the medium term. In the short term they launched QE anyway.That is what Europeans are expecting (it is a different matter that it will not pan out this way).

Syrians show refugees’ economic potential in Turkey’s borderlands - Jan 07, 2016
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/syrian ... sCatID=344

Ankara has spent more than $8.5 billion on feeding and housing Syrian refugees since the start of the war, but has yet to introduce a policy to allow them to work legally.

Echoing concerns voiced in other countries about the flow of refugees, lower-income Turks fear that Syrians, including the estimated 250,000 now working illegally in Turkey, will undercut them and take their jobs. But data suggests Syrians may be a boost for the Turkish economy.

According to TOBB, an umbrella body for local chambers of commerce, more than 1,000 companies were established in Turkey with at least one Syrian partner in the first seven months of 2015, compared with 30 in 2010, before the start of the war.

Although there is no estimate yet of the increase in output from these firms, economists say they have boosted trade with Syria in parts of Turkey where instability and violence in border areas have dented trade with neighbors.

“There has been a big jump in the numbers of businesses founded by Syrians probably because they are finally realizing they are likely to remain in Turkey for many more years,” said Esra Özpınar, a researcher from economic think tank TEPAV.

In Gaziantep, new buildings have sprung up beside the city’s medieval fortress and old market thanks to modern investments and economic incentives offered by the government which have helped it become an economic hub and the most industrialized city in Turkey’s south.

Sitting in the bare office above his factory where thousands of baby rattles and plastic bottles are cranked out every hour, Saad Chouihna believes that if you can make it in Turkey, you can make it anywhere.

“The Turkish market is the hardest,” said the 28-year-old Syrian from the city of Aleppo, bemoaning the tangled bureaucracy, cut-throat competition and a business culture that depends on long-term relationships.

But armed with a knowledge of Turkish and the local culture, Chouihna is finding his way.

He has opened a branch of his family’s plastics business in the southeastern province of Gaziantep, where the many Syrian restaurants and Arabic signs in some districts bear witness to the proximity of the border and the growing Syrian population.

His firm is one of nearly 2,000 set up by Syrians in Turkey in the almost five years since their homeland descended into civil war. A quarter of a million people have been killed since then and millions more displaced, with Turkey now home to 2.2 million Syrians, the world’s largest refugee population.

Chouihna exports to Egypt, Lebanon, Romania, Tunisia and Yemen and does some trade in Turkey. He also sells his products in Syria, helping Turkey’s exports to its neighbor get back close to their pre-war levels.

Turkey’s exports to Syria on the rise

Turkish exports to Syria dipped in 2011 and 2012, but have recovered significantly. In the first 10 months of 2015, Turkey exported $1.3 billion in goods and services there, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), compared to less than half a billion in 2012.

TEPAV research suggests the rising number of Syrian firms in border provinces such as Kilis, Mardin and Hatay has helped the recovery in exports. But their composition has changed, reflecting the needs of a war economy, with food, generators and pick-up trucks eclipsing building materials and cars.

Economist Harun Öztürkler of the Centre For Middle Eastern Strategic Studies in Ankara said these businesses could, in the long term, be crucial to the Turkish economy.

“The most important contribution will be their network in the Arab world because the owners of these firms were merchants in Syria,” he said. “Finding new markets for Turkey is going to be the most important.”

But there is animosity in Gaziantep among some businessmen who see firms like Chouihna’s as a threat.

“We know there are many unregistered firms and they cause unfair competition,” said the chamber’s communications chief, Şenay Çopur.

“The advantage is they [Syrian firms] are serving generally their own citizens and create employment opportunities,” she said, adding that efforts were under way to bring such companies into the tax system.

Chouihna said the authorities turn a blind eye to his Syrian staff since he also employs some Turks, but he would rather they were officially documented.

Another Syrian living in Gaziantep, Abu Tareq, said he had found investors for his plan to start a company producing $1 million worth a year of refrigerators for restaurants, food stores and factories.

He plans to base his firm in the same industrial district as Chouihna’s and intends to hire 14 people, the majority of whom will be Syrian, he said.

After working in the same business in Syria, he saw an opportunity in the Turkish market.

“There are business options here for Syrians and I realized I will be here for a long time,” he said.

[TSJones]

So you accept US is funding ISIS.

of course not, no more than you accept russian bombing of syrian civilians.....

[Nick_S]

[TSJones]

well dang, we only nicked him....we'll get him next time........

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/07/middleeas ... index.html

(CNN)Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, an ISIS leader and its chief spokesman, has been injured in an airstrike, a statement from Iraq's Joint Operations Command said Thursday.

The airstrike took place in the Iraqi town of Barwanah, in Anbar province, the statement said.

Adnani was first moved to the city of Hit for treatment after "losing a large amount of blood." He was then transferred to Mosul under tight security, according to the statement.

When pressed for details on the reported Iraqi airstrike, a spokesman for Iraq's Joint Operations Command said authorities have been chasing Adnani and following his movements for more than a month.

He said the terror leader was given two bags of blood to help stabilize his medical condition.

Iraqi state television also reported that Adnani had been hurt.

crush, crumble, chomp, baby.......

our NGA guys are getting gooooooood. like saber tooth tiger cats buddy. big honkin' computers.......mondo....

[ramana]

Also need to read Wilfrid Scawen Blunt book Future of Islam for the British plan for Islam.
Its still being implemented in variation to adjust for changes.

[Chinmayanand]

The cartoon is disturbing. A peaceful man and moderate lover being harshly treated and devoid of his human rights by a lovely woman .How can Europa forget human rights and Jesus's message of LOVE ?

[Chinmayanand]

well dang, we only nicked him....we'll get him next time........

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/07/middleeas ... index.html

(CNN)Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, an ISIS leader and its chief spokesman, has been injured in an airstrike, a statement from Iraq's Joint Operations Command said Thursday.

The airstrike took place in the Iraqi town of Barwanah, in Anbar province, the statement said.

Adnani was first moved to the city of Hit for treatment after "losing a large amount of blood." He was then transferred to Mosul under tight security, according to the statement.

When pressed for details on the reported Iraqi airstrike, a spokesman for Iraq's Joint Operations Command said authorities have been chasing Adnani and following his movements for more than a month.

He said the terror leader was given two bags of blood to help stabilize his medical condition.

Iraqi state television also reported that Adnani had been hurt.

crush, crumble, chomp, baby.......

This shows America in poor light. First, you father lovely people like Bin Laden and Al Baghdadi. Then train them as warriors. Then groom them to take a little of white man's burden in promoting democracy and human rights and yell Soviet Union must go, Assad must go.

After they have done your work , you nick them.Fear God . Jesus won't forgive you for nicking his 'moderate rebel' children.

[Philip]

No better b*sturds than the British! They are exceptional in their chicanery and deceit.Delivered with aplomb and a "straight (curved) bat",cricket and all that ,what?

The British hoped to create two new states,one Jewish and the other Muslim who would hold the balance of power in the ME,and be eternally grateful and subservient to them. Later on,post WW2,when the Brits were run ragged after the war, the Yanquis established commercial partnerships with the Saudis in particular,the Bush family and Bin Laden family.The House of Saud and House of Bush cemented an unholy carnal and lascivious relationship that still has its effect on the region. Anyone standing in their way,Brits and Yanquis,will be exterminated as Saddam,Ghadaffi,Mubarak,Mossadegh and others have found out.Assad has been on the hit list for a long time,but a dark horse may be one Erdo-Gun, the Sultan of the neo-Ottomans,a little bird tells me. He has been disastrous with his independent attitude ,Islamic fundamentalism ,bum-chumming with ISIS,and his megalomania isn't in favour with the palefaces at this point of time.In fact,his cretinous actions have allowed the Russians to plant themselves inside Syria ,where they are putting down deep roots to protect their strategic interests.

[TSJones]

crush, crumble, chomp, baby.......

This shows America in poor light. First, you father lovely people like Bin Laden and Al Baghdadi. Then train them as warriors. Then groom them to take a little of white man's burden in promoting democracy and human rights and yell Soviet Union must go, Assad must go.

After they have done your work , you nick them.Fear God . Jesus won't forgive you for nicking his 'moderate rebel' children.[/quote]

speak from your own religion, not from other's......heresy doesn't become you.....worry about your own gods concerning hypocrisy....

[habal]

The truth about Islamic State: it's in crisis
Isis is losing territory. Recruits are deserting. But the hardcore fanatics will never surrender. Read more on - UK fights back after new Jihadi John surfaces:

http://www.spectator.co.uk/2016/01/the- ... in-crisis/

ISIS is now moonlighting as asylum seeker in germany, molesting fair game in cologne. ISIS is finished in Syria & Iraq.

[deejay]

So you accept US is funding ISIS.

of course not, no more than you accept russian bombing of syrian civilians.....

Me? Me! I accept Russian bombing the Syrian civilians totally. I mean why should I not accept. But does it matter - I am not Russian.

You see, no one could bomb terrorists hiding between themselves and calling themselves civilians and not kill the terrorists even if they were calling themselves civilians.

The US concern for civilian life should have forced them to rethink the promotion of civil war in Syria prior to 2011. This after Libya had failed.

We have a saying in India loosely translated "The cat goes on Hajj after eating 900 mice" ha.

All this fake civilian casualty concern in the US like those tears on the crocodile's cheek.

BTW: have you seen this:

https://www.rt.com/news/328190-yemen-sa ... ter-bombs/

Cluster munitions sold to Saudi Arabia by the US were used in attacks on residential neighborhoods in Yemen's capital of Sanaa, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said, calling for an international inquiry into the alleged war crime.
Saudi-led coalition forces seriously violated the laws of war by airdropping the "indiscriminate weapon" on populated areas in the Yemeni capital on January 6, HRW said in a report published on Thursday.

Read more
FILE PHOTO: A Houthi militant walks on the rubble of the Chamber of Trade and Industry headquarters after it was hit by a Saudi-led air strike in Yemen's capital Sanaa January 5, 2016 © Khaled AbdullahYemen center for blind hit by Saudi-led coalition airstrike – locals
"The coalition's repeated use of cluster bombs in the middle of a crowded city suggests an intent to harm civilians, which is a war crime," HRW arms director Steve Goose said, adding that these attacks are "outrageous."
...

[Yagnasri]

When they can all the 72s and a welfare state in EU what is the need for them to wage jihad.

[Bhurishrava]

http://www.todayszaman.com/diplomacy_tu ... 09061.html

Turkey’s interests in Iraq could be threatened over troop dispute

According to former diplomats and academics, Turkey is aiming to expand its influence in the Sunni-populated province of Mosul as Iraq splinters along sectarian fault lines. Ankara also wants to counter Iranian influence in its southern neighbor.

But President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently said a complete withdrawal is out of the question.

In the meantime Turkeys southeast is in turmoil. Daily deaths and violence.

[abhik]

What is the quality Iran army? Is it good to take on Barberia?

iranians will make mince meat pulao with dhansak on the side with the saudis and brush aside as extra coriander leaves any other gulf states. why do you think the gulfies are so terrified of iran and insist that unkil parks his major land, air and naval bases in their midst?

The saudi military power is not its own armed forces but
1) Al Qaeda/Al Nusra/Islamic State type groups operating in either "terrorist" or "militia" mode.
2) "Cannon Fodder" armies like the Pakies etc
3) Bestern countries like the US and UK

[deejay]

How screwed up can be the US supported moderate terrorist factory be? Who is ISIS, who is not?

Hassan Ridha ‏@sayed_ridha now26 seconds ago
#Jaish_Fateh executed several #JundAqsa (current & former) members for working with #IS (assassinations) in #Idlib

There are pics along with the tweet. 04 dead JundAqsa rats.

[habal]

I read this in another forum. Food for thought

>>>By turkey releasing the fake jihadist with fake passports mixed in with the real ones, these jihadists then intentionally go into Europe and cause mayhem, these jihadist have been heard screaming "allah akbar" and "Merkal allowed us to come here" thereby infuriating the locals to say enough is enough and attack Syria, this in turn would demonise Russia by the west claiming that Russia will not allow them to bomb IS in Syrian parts and say that Russia is the one supporting jihadists.

seems reasonable enough explanation to me. It is as if the ISIS asylum wallahs have been asked to spread rabble and strife from Day 1 of deployment.

[habal]

civilians march in rebel held territory (mayada) in support of Syrian Govt.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=09f_1452092018

Gosh ! But isn't Assad a genocidal christmas-celebrating maniac who needs to be removed by March 2017.

[Chinmayanand]

Despite 5 years of war , military planning and sponsoring moderate rebels , taking out hospitals , water & electricity facilities CIA and Pentagon failed to topple a small leader like Assad even with help from Turkey , KSA ,Europe and muslims of all hue and colour.

The US taxpayer needs to be worried. Pentagon's military might and CIA's color revolutions are fading & failing without getting approriate bang for buck.

[habal]

[img]http://www.financetwitter.com/wp-conten ... -Putin.jpg

Image OT - please don't repeat - JE Menon

[Bhurishrava]

http://www.todayszaman.com/diplomacy_er ... 08929.html

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Wednesday executions in Saudi Arabia were a domestic issue after the Sunni-ruled country executed senior Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr at the weekend in a move stirring sectarian anger across the region.
In a speech to local officials, Erdoğan said those who remained silent about the deaths of people in Syria's civil war were now causing uproar over the execution of one person in Saudi Arabia.

At the same time he criticised the torching of Saudi embassy in Teheran.

So we know which camp Turkey is in. We should expect more noise from Baghdad over Erdogan troops in Mosul. Turkey is now in a very isolated and hostile neighbourhood. And also surrounded by Russian and Shiite forces.
Iranian press has related Shiite cleric Nimr`s execution with Erdogan`s visit too.

Shiite Sunni battle lines are being drawn in West Asia.

[Singha]

NYT

CAIRO — An Islamic State affiliate in Egypt has claimed responsibility for an attack on a hotel near the Giza Pyramids the previous day that authorities said had left no casualties, according to a statement circulated Friday by sympathizers of the militant group.

Egypt's Interior Ministry said no one was hurt in Thursday's incident at the Three Pyramids Hotel, but the attack damaged the hotel's facade and also a bus parked in front of the building. A group of about 15 attackers fired birdshot and flares at the hotel's security post. A suspect was arrested and police were still searching for the rest of the group, the ministry said.

Arab Israeli tourists staying at the hotel said the attackers used flares and live bullets. Israel's Foreign Ministry said no Israelis were hurt.

But a statement carried Friday by IS sympathizers on Twitter claimed there were dead and wounded among the tourists and security officers protecting the hotel.

[TSJones]

action continues around Ramadi as ISIL struggles to take Ramadi back but......it ain't happening because of some these guys......




http://www.defense.gov/News-Article-Vie ... syria-iraq

-- Near Ramadi, six strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed 16 ISIL fighting positions, 13 ISIL heavy machine guns, an ISIL obstacle, an ISIL bomb cluster, an ISIL house bomb, 11 ISIL vehicle bomb-making facilities, three ISIL staging areas, two ISIL sniper positions, two ISIL tunnel entrances and denied ISIL access to terrain.