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

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 22 Nov 2015 19:45

2nd rus base in syria

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W4Fq_0ivOk

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 22 Nov 2015 19:53

SAA unit having some time off in east aleppo. i wonder whats in those bottles ?

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 22 Nov 2015 19:56

turkish oil truck among many abandoned near al hasakah when isis withdrew to south ahead of advancing YPG+sunni tribes.

https://twitter.com/FuryBlazing/status/ ... 3751175168

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 22 Nov 2015 19:58

erdogans seem to be dining with a isis chap who built a pile of human heads

https://twitter.com/FuryBlazing/status/ ... 3751175168

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 22 Nov 2015 20:01

Col yunus abu adham who held out in kuweires for 3 years reaches his hometown
https://twitter.com/IvanSidorenko1/stat ... 1118790656

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 22 Nov 2015 20:08

turkey is now pushing in turkomen militias under the cover of protecting their brethen on syrian side from SAA attacks.
I believe russia has sent two cruise missiles that way, leading to a warning from turkey to lay off or else.

----
Head of Syria's Turkmen Assembly says if no safe-zone is implemented at northern Aleppo, "it'll be the end for Turkmens"

Allegedly another picture of Alperen members inside Syria. This one including the chairman of their Gaziantep branch

They have apparently went to support Syrian Turkmens, undoubtedly because of Assad and Russian attacks in Latakia

Latest batch of foreign fighters to Syria apparently. People from alperen ocakları, youth movement of BBP

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 23 Nov 2015 03:11

Singha wrote:turkey is now pushing in turkomen militias under the cover of protecting their brethen on syrian side from SAA attacks.
I believe russia has sent two cruise missiles that way, leading to a warning from turkey to lay off or else.

----
Head of Syria's Turkmen Assembly says if no safe-zone is implemented at northern Aleppo, "it'll be the end for Turkmens"

Allegedly another picture of Alperen members inside Syria. This one including the chairman of their Gaziantep branch

They have apparently went to support Syrian Turkmens, undoubtedly because of Assad and Russian attacks in Latakia

Latest batch of foreign fighters to Syria apparently. People from alperen ocakları, youth movement of BBP

Cruise missile strikes are on liveleak now. By mid next year the bulk of the fighting will be in Iraq. It's up to the gulf royals to decide whether they want to behave or perish.

I think nuke transfer from Pak is on the cards. If that happens, Iran will test.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 23 Nov 2015 03:37

From other dhaga: SA, Singhaji etc: Do u c a relation between Syria flare-up and Ukraine? As in, get Russia sucked into Syria big-time, then launch major blitzkrieg in Ukraine? See power plant attack that has knocked out all power to Crimea - ominous sign. I would think some months ago, the Balaclava-Grandmothers would have reacted to that with extreme violence, as in a few missiles hitting UkBapZi HQ. But not today, because Russia is getting pulled into Syria. NuLand is still there, AFAIK....

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 23 Nov 2015 03:52

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 23 Nov 2015 04:20

UlanBatori wrote:From other dhaga: SA, Singhaji etc: Do u c a relation between Syria flare-up and Ukraine? As in, get Russia sucked into Syria big-time, then launch major blitzkrieg in Ukraine? See power plant attack that has knocked out all power to Crimea - ominous sign. I would think some months ago, the Balaclava-Grandmothers would have reacted to that with extreme violence, as in a few missiles hitting UkBapZi HQ. But not today, because Russia is getting pulled into Syria. NuLand is still there, AFAIK....

There is direct relationship between Syria and Ukraine. I have been theorizing about that all the time. example1 and exmple 2.

After Minks deal guaranteed by EU, there is not a great chance of major flare up on Ukraine front. EU will not cooperate but that is exactly the CT that will tie three thread (this, paris, and Ukraine) not just two (this and Ukraine).

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Nov 2015 06:48

the could be factions in the Ukraine which see Russia getting busy in Syria (and the published removal of their SF units from the east) as a opportunity to nibble , harass and make life difficult without repercussions. hence the crimean blackout as a test case.

the political class in kiev will deplore this mischief and cluck their tongues because some airwalled extremist faction did it, maybe with moral support from the back.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Nov 2015 07:15

looks like a "day of rage" guards regiment heavy bomber attack is being lined up today and tomorrow.
perhaps the bomb racks have been reconfigured for masses of smaller bombs on the ALCM truck heavies.
some of the Tu160 seems to have flown over syria, into the med and then turned back to deliver ALCM strikes near turkey border, escorted by flankers, before returning home non-stop.

sputniknews

Two major airports in Iraqi Kurdistan will remain closed until Wednesday by request from Baghdad. A possible reason was given: the Russian aerial campaign against jihadists in Syria.

Iraqi authorities asked two international airports in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, to halt all flights for 48 hours from Monday morning, according to the Kurdish media outlet Rudaw.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20151 ... z3sHLogfHL

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Nov 2015 07:16

This Saturday, hundreds of Islamic State militants reportedly fled the Syrian city of Raqqa as Russian fighters and long-range bombers have intensified their airstrikes on the strongholds and command centers of the ISIL militants in recent days.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20151 ... z3sHMCSiEK

the old tactic of burning tires to create thick black smoke is being readied. the decamped faithful have no doubt fled to deir azzor and Iraq. in iraq there are hardly any air attacks of note...so its cool there.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Nov 2015 07:20

https://twitter.com/IvanSidorenko1/stat ... 2329447424

pix of people welcome home from kuweires.....the siege started with 900 people there and when relieved there were 330 left after 3 years.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Nov 2015 07:28

SAA seems to have reached the ridgeline of the hills overlooking Palmyra town

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pOgatPmLRg

@ 1:03 the footage shows buildings and town few kms away.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Nov 2015 07:34

^^ got to be the hills north or south of the town

https://www.google.co.in/maps/@34.52460 ... a=!3m1!1e3

if you look SW on the map, a place called Mheen is marked. SAA has it surrounded from 3 sides and is poised to launch a assault anytime now. if they take Mheen, Al Quaratyn and Palmyra, will collapse the southern front of the ISIS and cut their road link into a desolate tri junction of jordan, iraq and KSA that probably functions as a easy rear support area.

to east of palmyra, there is 1 medium town and 2 small towns to deir azzor.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Nov 2015 07:36

from the extent of roman ruins there it could not be just a trading post on a old route. it was a big city and must have had a wetter climate and a lake when the romans were there. there is still remnant of a ancient lake south of the city.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Nov 2015 08:06

ISIL militants have been surrendering to advancing Peshmerga troops on the regular basis since supply routes connecting Iraq and Syria have been cut off heavy pounding by the US-led coalition airstrikes, a frontline commander of Kurdish forces in Gwer, Qadr Qadr, told Kurdish media outlet Bas News on Sunday.
He further explained that some jihadists retreated to their stronghold Mosul, while others continue surrendering to his units.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/military/2015112 ... z3sHYgwNEt

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Nov 2015 08:19

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c13_1448235954

iraqi army has prepared a bunch of big stuck GHN45 155mm for the coming cagefight

ISIS attempting to escape wearing a brides dress captured in iraq - have to wonder how 'her' honeymoon went

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=fbd_1448222600

iraq shia militia kills a isis emir in his house
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=2e9_1448221592

ISIS video. zombie crazed looking infantry attack kurdish lines after a VBIED staffed with a suicide bomber explodes
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c75_1448208741
the TSPians probably get off on such videos...imagining punching through weak yindu lines to fall upon our towns for loot and murder.

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 23 Nov 2015 09:15

Forces of Khan and his allies do not retreat. They simply redeploy.

http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/internati ... against-is

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Nov 2015 09:41

http://sputniknews.com/military/2015112 ... shortening

clashes erupted among sunni kurdish peshmerga and shia Hasd al nabi(PMU) turkoman,arab and shiite kurds.

so its a faultline between religious and ethnic divisions.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Nov 2015 09:43

Iraqi Kurdistan Zanyari intelligence chief Lahur Talabani claims that ISIL is preparing for a winter offensive in Iraq when bad weather will reduce US-led Coalition air support.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — ISIL is preparing for a winter offensive in Iraq when bad weather will reduce US-led Coalition air support, Iraqi Kurdistan Zanyari intelligence chief Lahur Talabani told a meeting at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy on Tuesday.

"We are digging in for the winter. … We are preparing for counter attacks from ISIS [ISIL] in the winter time because they use the weather to their advantage," he stated.

Talibani explained ISIL will try and punch a hole through the Kurdish Peshmerga forces’ lines as they suffer from a lack of winter equipment and other basic necessities, especially ammunition.

"We are not able to provide winter gear for our Peshmerga… We do need more help. … We don’t have enough ammunition, to be honest with you. … We have no way of obtaining ammunition," Talibani told the meeting.

The United States has funnelled as a matter of policy all supplies to the various forces fighting ISIL in Iraq through the central government in Baghdad.

Homs sitrep
© SPUTNIK/ MIKHAIL VOSKRESENSKIY
Syrian Army Kills Over 25 ISIL Militants in Homs Province – Source
However, there have been many reports that either from hostility to groups like the Kurdish Peshmerga, or through graft and corruption and sheer incompetence, much of the lavish US military supplies have not been getting through to the intended combat forces.
"Everything has to go through the central government and we don’t have enough in storage," Talabani emphasized.

The Kurdish intelligence chief also pleaded with US military commanders and policymakers to step up military air activities on their behalf.

"It’s never enough, we always want more. … We are always needing more. It’s vital," Talibani insisted.

The Kurdistan government had also been unable to pay its combat forces for the past two to three months because the global slump in oil prices had slashed demand for their main source of revenue — oil exports.

"This financial crisis we’re going through — I don't see it being fixed in the next year or two. … We haven’t been able to pay our Peshmerga in the last 2-3 months because of the drop in oil prices. That’s affected the income of the Kurdish Regional Government," Talibani said.

The Peshmerga is the military force of Iraqi Kurdistan which is largely divided and controlled separately by the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (DPK) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), although both pledge allegiance to the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20151 ... z3sHxMtxWb

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 23 Nov 2015 09:43

ISIS cannot run nor can hide!! mijjiles are cumming!

Two Major Airports in Iraq Closed Due to Russian Air Raids in Syria - Nov 22, 2015

“We have been informed by Baghdad to halt the flights because of Russian jets attacking Daesh (ISIS) in Syria. This is for the safety of travelers,” Talar Faiyq, head of Erbil International Airport, told Rudaw late Sunday.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Nov 2015 09:52

^^ I had posted this before. not sure why its required other than some mass escalation of the usual milk run over western iran.
perhaps carpet bombing from the heavies ... lot of juicy targets with concentrated ISIS like mheen, palmyra, deir azzor.....

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Nov 2015 09:54

^^ or perhaps the turkish border tracts with fwd field hospitals will be looked at

habal · Post by **habal** » 23 Nov 2015 09:56

Letter to 'Dr' Ben Carson, (Presidential nominee, Republican Party)

After presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson called the Syrians refugees rabid dogs,
Father Theodoros Daoud, an Antiochian Orthodox Christian priest sends him this letter:
* * * * *

Dear rabid dog Dr. Ben Carson,

I hope this word will not offend you, doctor. If it does, I don’t care because you have offended each one of the 9 million Syrian refugees by calling them rabid dogs. You, along with every politician who caused Syria—the land of Saint Peter and Paul, the Apostles and the saints—to bleed to death, are evil rabid dogs. President Obama, who supports ISIS by supplying them with weapons and money, is an evil rabid dog. John McCain, who founded ISIS together with Hilary Clinton and their supporters and used our tax paying dollars to support terrorism, is an evil rabid dog. Every politician around the world that allowed Christians in the Middle East to be persecuted, beheaded, sold, have their churches destroyed and their bishops kidnapped, is an evil rabid dog. Every country and leader who shook hands with Saudi Arabia and its Wahabism, the mother of terrorism, is an evil rabid dog.
Dr. Carson, you call yourself a Christian and you are running towards the presidency with your Christian values? What do you know about the refugees? What do you know about the children dying without food or shelter or stranded at sea? Do you how many million among them are Christians? You are using a tragedy as a way to gain popularity and win your race. I thought I could believe in your Christian values, but you proved to be among the many ignorant and dirty politicians who discriminate the children of Christ. Because of you and those like-minded, the refugees, especially the Christians of the Middle East, continue to pay the price of your ignorance.
My people are not rabid dogs. My people are the flock of Christians who were kicked out of their own homes after they destroyed their churches, homes and all their belongings by those supported by the West. Yes, among the refugees you might find evil people who benefited from this crisis, but the majority are people of values, education, and love.
Without us, the Christians of the Middle East, neither you nor anyone in the West could have known or heard of Christ.
Dr. Carson, you may be a good doctor because of your medical education, but that degree does not make you an educated and wise leader. Maybe you read the Gospel, but I highly doubt that you really understood it. These refugees are human beings and most of them are Christ’s children. They will be the reason of your judgment and the judgment of all the politicians who are playing the dark game in the judgment day.
"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:33
Have you Dr. Carson, known the Truth? I doubt it.
Sincerely,
Father Theodoros Daoud
[photo of Father Daoud]
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 0606_o.jpg

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 23 Nov 2015 10:23

Singha wrote:SAA unit having some time off in east aleppo. i wonder whats in those bottles ?

Judging by liquid colour (semen white) in the glasses I can assure you it's arak, a highly alcoholic (up to 40 proof) and wonderful sweet drink that goes amazingly well with Levantine cuisine. That's what happens to arak (normally clear like vodka) when you mix it with a bit of water.

Those boys are just keeping warm inside and out - must be getting cold there. I'm told it's getting real chilly around there about now. Of course the Ruskis will be swimming in this weather when most of us will leave our nuts in the sea if we tried that.

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 23 Nov 2015 10:41

Khan chamchas had blow up power towers supplying power to Crimea. It is now under emergency. So attacking Russia from another front in their own backyard.

Where is Eastern Europe etc thread. I am unable to find it.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 23 Nov 2015 10:50

Singha wrote:SAA unit having some time off in east aleppo. i wonder whats in those bottles ?

zam zam water onlee, the staple drink of a good jehadi.

whatever could you be thinking of??

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 23 Nov 2015 10:59

We all saw how US was stealing Russian initiative of Vienna talks and that jokerry taking center stage in the talk that he never wanted to be held in the first place. Russia (Lavrov) reacted and said the same thing so in the 2nd meeting the UN guy was sitting in the center and Lavrov and joKerry were sitting on the sides.

In essense, trying to steal other's initiative

and now trying to steal what they themselves call "russian propaganda":

US Media Shows Footage of Russian Airstrikes Passed Off as American - Nov 21, 2015

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 23 Nov 2015 12:22

Tx Habal for that rejoinder to "rabid dog" Ben Carson. The stark truth is that the US and its political establishment-forget about the ordinary white trash who can't even find the US on a map,are completely ignorant about the rest of the world. It is as if the US is the planet of the gods,and the rest of the world is inhabited by evil pagan aliens!

What is also surprising is the time taken by the West,US and NATO to attack ISIS sites,etc. in Syria.The Russians took so little time to put their act together that puts the much-touted Western mil machine to shame.This included mass bombing by the entire fleet of their strat. bombers.Just look at this statement from the French.They will attack only after Monday despite having naval bases in the Meditt Talk about telegraphing your intention! They don't possess the long range cruise missile power that Russia has,with its dramatic Caspian Sea missile attacks. This is also a splendid opportunity for the French to test their LR strat. missiles with a conventional warhead.

This is a signal lesson to India.We need to develop our strike capability as Russia has done. We do not possess the large number of 20+ CBG task forces and large amphibs that the US has,but look at how Russia with just one carrier not participating in the event,has struck in Syria,thousands of KMs from home with surface combatants of all sizes,nuclear and conventional subs and an assortment of strat. and tactical strike aircraft. One could describe it as giving ISIS "the full Zhukov"! As far as missile power goes,we will have Nirbhay for LR strike,K-5,Prithvi/Dhanush for the 1000/750-500km range and 300km range BMos. The IN must maximise the striking power of every platform it possesses so that in a similar case,massed synchronised strikes will be overwhelming and impossible to counter.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... drian-says

French Naval Force Able to Act in Syria Monday, Le Drian Says
Mark Deen
November 22, 2015

ovember 22, 2015

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said planes from the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier will be ready to start carrying out strikes in Syria starting Monday.

Speaking on Europe 1 radio, Le Drian also said that the defense ministry’s current spending plans fit within France’s 2016 budget though more money than previously expected will be required in 2017 and 2018 to provide military equipment.

Le Drian, who previuosly indicated he would resign as defense minister if he became head of a regional government in Brittany, said tht exceptional circumstances mean he will stay on as minister “as long as president deems it necessary.”

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Nov 2015 12:26

two of the iranis have styled the beards in the mould of old winged lion statues of gods in persepolis and other sites.

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/imag ... EAtEBt_h2w

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 23 Nov 2015 13:21

Scale of Russian combined forces attacks.

Russian cruise missiles hit ISIS from Mediterranean & Caspian; 600 killed in one strike
Published time: 20 Nov, 2015
© Vasily Botanov

The Russian military has launched cruise missiles against Islamic State positions in Syria from both the Mediterranean and Caspian seas, one of which killed over 600 terrorists in the Deir Ex-Zor Province, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has said.
Trends
Russian anti-terror op in Syria

“On November 20, the warships of the Caspian Fleet launched 18 cruise missiles at seven targets in the provinces of Raqqa, Idlib and Aleppo. All targets were hit successfully,” he reported to President Vladimir Putin.

Overall, there are 10 warships taking part in the operation, six of which are in the Mediterranean.

Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) have been suffering huge losses as a result of the Russian offensive, Shoigu said, adding that data on the ground shows that the flow of terrorists arriving in Syria has decreased, while more and more militants are fleeing the warzone to head north and south-west.

Over the past four days, Russian air forces have conducted 522 sorties, deploying more than 100 cruise missiles and 1,400 tons of bombs of various types, the minister stated.

He added that a strike on a target in Deir ez-Zor utilizing multiple cruise missiles had killed more than 600 militants.

Shoigu stressed that the number of aircraft taking part in the operation has been doubled, and now consists of 69 jets conducting 143 sorties on a daily basis.

The minister pointed out that Russia is focused on destroying the terrorists’ economic base, having targeted 15 oil storage and refinery facilities as well as 525 oil trucks.

“We stopped supplies of 60,000 tons of oil per day to the black market and terrorists are losing $1.5 million daily,” Shoigu said.

Russia has also destroyed 23 jihadists training camps, 19 plants producing explosives, 47 ammunition depots, as well as many other targets, according to the minister.

In addition, Russia’s air campaign has provided significant support for Syrian government troops near Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia and Palmyra, he noted.

He also added that the Russian military has begun cooperating with its French counterparts, as ordered by President Putin.

The Defense Ministry has published a video showing Russian servicemen at the Khmeimim airbase in Syria writing ‘For our people’ and ‘For Paris’ on bombs that were later dropped on the terrorists.

“We have a lot of evidence that Russian airstrikes are effective,” Syrian Brigadier General Ali Maihub told Interfax.

“Russian mass airstrikes did irreparable damage to international terrorist organizations in Syria, disrupted their administration and financing systems and destroyed their bases and depots,” he added.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov still maintains that Russia will not engage in a ground operation against the IS in Syria.

“There has been no discussion about a ground operation and there is still no discussion,” Peskov told reporters.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry have discussed in a phone conversation the need for a joint effort to combat Islamic State in Syria, as well as the necessity of launching talks between Damascus and the Syrian opposition, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

A US official said on Friday that Russia has given the US advance notice before airstrikes at least three times since the attacks in Paris, Reuters reports.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Nov 2015 13:25

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Nov 2015 13:46

https://elijahjm.wordpress.com/2015/11/ ... -in-syria/

people are claiming a Rus infantry battalion took part in a deliberate ground attack near Idlib today as a test run.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Nov 2015 13:50

In an eerie reminder of a possible nuclear catastrophe, a senior Ukrainian energy official revealed that the attack on transmission towers that cut off the delivery of electricity from Ukraine to Crimea also created an emergency situation at nuclear power plants.

The apparent act of sabotage in Ukraine’s Kherson region forced an emergency power unloading at several Ukrainian nuclear power plants, which can be extremely dangerous, according to the first deputy director of Ukraine’s energy company Ukrenergo, Yuriy Katich.

Russia’s Crimea was forced to switch to autonomous reserve power after transmission towers in the adjacent Ukrainian region were blown up, causing a blackout. Meanwhile, the repairs were delayed by Right Sector and Crimean Tatar “activists” attempting to block crews from getting to the scene. None of the groups have accepted responsibility.

“All of these events have led to an additional emergency shutdown of the electrical network of two units at thermal power plants – the Dnieper and Uglegorskaya – and the emergency unloading by 500 MW of nuclear power plants in Ukraine. This includes Zaporozhskaya NPP and the South Ukrainian NPP. I want to stress that such emergency unloading of a nuclear plant – it is very dangerous,” 112. Ukraine online portal quoted Katich as saying.

Read more
© Igor MikhalevState of emergency, blackout in Russia’s Crimea after transmission towers in Ukraine blown up
Earlier Katich said that due to the damage to the electricity towers, there is a risk that 50 percent of Kherson and Nikolaev regions could also be left without power.

He added that repairs are likely take up to three or four days, under the condition that the crew gets access to the site.

So far, local media has reported that the so-called “activists,” including Right Sector militants, said they would let the repairs to be done only if they won’t be reconnecting “occupied” Crimea to the Ukrainian grid.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 23 Nov 2015 13:55

Throughout history,civilisations,kingdoms and species have vanished because of drastic climate change.They sparked off a race for the resources on the planet. Drought has been one cardinal factor found on every continent responsible for the abandonment of great cities and settlements like Mohenjo Daro in the Indian sub-continent,S.America and SAsia, with the cutting down of rain forests,etc. Cosmic cataclysmic effects like comet and asteroid strikes, responsible for finishing off the dinosaurs and other species,but man's influence has also been a recent factor since industrialisation and the exploitation of natural resources without thinking about the global consequences.

Prince Charles who is one of the most fervent campaigners for saving the planet through holistic planning has thrown in his two bits about one cause for the Syrian conflict,seen throughout the MEast in its history,drought.

Prince Charles: climate change may have helped cause Syrian civil war

The heir to the throne linked drought in the Middle East to the conflict that has created a refugee crisis and spawned Islamic State
Syrian opposition fighters clash with Isis fighters near Aleppo on Saturday. Prince Charles said the conflict was preceded by a six-year drought.
Syrian opposition fighters clash with Isis fighters near Aleppo on Saturday. Prince Charles said the conflict was preceded by a six-year drought. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Monday 23 November 2015 06.35 GMT

Prince Charles has said that climate change may have been one of the causes of the civil war in Syria.

The heir to the throne has long been a passionate campaigner on environmental issues and linked drought in the Middle Eastern nation with the conflict which has left hundreds of thousands dead, created millions of refugees and seen the rise of Islamic State.
Prince Charles: To limit climate change we will need to see profound changes

In the interview with Sky News, to be broadcast on Monday but filmed before last week’s deadly Islamist terrorist attack in Paris that left 130 people dead, Charles talks about his belief that there are links between climate change and terrorism.

He also urged governments to adopt green measures despite austerity, saying there was “a real possibility of nature’s bank going bust”.

Charles told the broadcaster: “We’re seeing a classic case of not dealing with the problem, because, I mean, it sounds awful to say, but some of us were saying 20 something years ago that if we didn’t tackle these issues you would see ever greater conflict over scarce resources and ever greater difficulties over drought, and the accumulating effect of climate change, which means that people have to move.

“And, in fact, there’s very good evidence indeed that one of the major reasons for this horror in Syria, was a drought that lasted for about five or six years, which meant that huge numbers of people in the end had to leave the land.”

Asked if there was a direct link between climate change, conflict and terrorism, he added: “It’s only in the last few years that the Pentagon have actually started to pay attention to this. I mean it has a huge impact on what is happening.

“The difficulty is sometimes to get this point across – that if we just leave it and say, well there are obviously ... endless problems arising all over the place therefore we deal with them in a short-term way, we never deal with the underlying root cause which regrettably is what we’re doing to our natural environment.”

The interview came ahead of Charles travelling to Paris to deliver a keynote speech at the 30 November opening ceremony for COP21, the United Nations conference on climate change which will attempt to reach a new international agreement to help limit global warming to no more than two degrees.

Charles has been a strong advocate of taking action to protect the environment for many years.

In 2007 he set up the Prince’s Rainforest Group to find a solution to save the world’s threatened forests. He addressed a UN international climate summit in Copenhagen in 2009 and the following year he gave a keynote speech to the Oslo Climate and Forest Conference.

Last month he used a speech in London to tell the British environment secretary Amber Rudd, her French counterpart Segolene Royal, and other guests that tackling deforestation would be central to combating global warming.

Charles was asked in the Sky interview whether Britain could afford to deal with climate change in a time of austerity.
Alan Kurdi was not a climate refugee

He said: “The trouble is if we don’t, this is the awful thing, if we don’t it’s going to get so much worse, then life will become very, very complicated indeed, and what we’re experiencing now will be as nothing to the problems.

“I mean the difficulties in 2008 with the financial crash - that was a banking crisis. But we’re now facing a real possibility of nature’s bank going bust. If you see it like that, we’ve been putting so much pressure on the natural systems and all those aspects of nature that we take for granted.”

He added: “Obviously I try to be as optimistic as possible, but sometimes you think that - do we really have to face catastrophes and chaos before we understand that real action needs to be taken? The difficulty with all that, is that by the time you try to take the action, it’s already too late.”

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Nov 2015 14:56

sputniknews:
“Over the last five days, Russian planes have destroyed more than 1,000 tanker trucks carrying crude oil to refineries under the control of the IS terrorist group,” the spokesman said.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20151 ... z3sJE1q5ET

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Nov 2015 15:01

stick of bombs from a backfire takes down a oil site
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYHbCuPodAw

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Nov 2015 15:17

it seems the two blackjacks that appeared over the Med had come all the way from Kola peninsula, over the artic and atlantic, into the Med, launched ALCMs , then back home via syria, iraq and iran ... a 13000km round trip. global pawa demo I guess.