Tag: Syria

The Other Whistleblower

There has been a wealth of press given about those whistleblowers that keep coming forward in the impeachment saga..

All that makes for good copy for the MSM…I mean it helps drive the story they want to tell and any thing else will be put into the round file (file 13)……

Like the drama that the media wants to tell about the Assad government using CWs on their own people….and the horror and the desire for retaliation for justice for the Syrian people.

I have written and reported in the past on the different reports that contradict the “official” BS claim by the media and the US government…..and a new whistleblower has come forward that disputes the fantasy of the official line from DC…..

During a recent BBC radio interview, award-winning journalist Jonathan Steele said that he attended a briefing by a new whistleblower from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) investigation into an alleged 2018 chemical attack in Douma, Syria, who claimed that the OPCW suppressed his findings which contradicted the organization’s official conclusion that a chlorine gas attack had taken place. This, according to Steele, is a second whistleblower coming forward on the OPCW’s Douma investigation, the first being the leaker of an Engineering Assessment document which surfaced in May contradicting the OPCW’s official ballistics report which the organization hid from the public.

I have archived an audio recording of Steele’s statement here for posterity, since the BBC removes its content after a month. I have also compiled a timeline of relevant events here so that people can properly appreciate the significance of these new revelations.

Steele made these comments unbidden by the show’s host Paul Henley. They read as follows (thanks to Tim Hayward of the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media for the transcript):

Second Whistleblower Emerges from Investigation into Douma Chemical Attack

Typical US strategy…..use the MSM to sell chicken shit as sirloin to the masses….

I wrote about the possibility that past attacks were staged and not the result of an attack by Syrian military…..https://lobotero.com/2019/05/29/those-chemical-attacks/

AS usual the MSM is the tool of choice for the government to condition the American people to accept the ‘official’ story line.

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Whose Oil Is It?

As the US is leaving Northern Syria they have been detoured to the oil fields of Eastern Syrian….after I read this I wrote a post asking “Syrian? Whose Oil Is It?”……..https://lobotero.com/2019/10/21/syria-whose-oil-is-it/

The US controls the oil? Really? What does that mean?

A article that I read says that Trump wants Exxon to take on these oilfields…..

Having sent growing numbers of troops into eastern Syria explicitly to control the oil, President Trump now says he is seeking a deal with Exxon Mobil or “one of our great companies” to go into occupied Syria and take the oil.

Trump has long suggested that in his view, the US should be able to just take oil from countries it is involved in militarily, as a way to recover some of the costs of his various wars. Trump said on Sunday that the oil is valuable and “we should be able to take some also.”

That Trump is sold on this idea is one thing, but convincing a US Oil and Gas Major to go along with the operation is another thing. The legal basis, particularly internationally, of taking Syrian oil without Syrian permission, and keeping US military forces there to keep Syria from stopping them, is going to be complicated, to say the least.

Trump’s conviction that legally it’s probably fine, after all, doesn’t mean the US company, whichever it turns out to be, wouldn’t get sued in the US or internationally for looting Syria’s oil.

These huge multinational companies are notoriously risk-averse about conflict, and would likely be so about joining the president in an oil-taking scheme of this sort. That means while Trump continues to war to keep the oil, he’s going to face a big job selling the idea to any company.

Now as far as I know Syria is a sovereign nation….then any attempt to take this oil is an illegal act……since Assad is the leader of Syria, like him or not, this is a simple case of attempted theft by the US. 

Does the arrogance of this man know any boundaries?

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Baghdadi–Death Of The Salesman

After 5 years of trying to rid the world of the leader of the ISIS Caliphate the US has overseen his destruction…..

President Trump grabbed the world’s attention Sunday with major news: Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi was dead. Now details are emerging about the US military raid against the Islamic State leader. Turns out one of Baghdadi’s wives and a courier were arrested this summer and revealed his location in a part of Syria where rival al-Qaeda groups hold sway, US officials tell the New York Times. An elite Army unit devised and rehearsed the raid, which involved eight American helicopters flying from Iraq to an area north of Idlib city in western Syria, drawing gunfire on the 70-minute trip. Commandos then blew out a wall of Baghdadi’s compound and killed several people in a gun battle. For more:

  • ‘Whimpering and crying’: Trump said Baghdadi killed himself and three children using a suicide vest, “whimpering and crying and screaming all the way.” All true? “Well I don’t—I don’t have those details,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on This Week, per ABC News. “The president probably had the opportunity to talk to the commanders on the ground but, clearly, the guy was a coward and a murderer.”
  • Russia first: Nancy Pelosi praised military and officials behind the raid, per USA Today, but said “the House must be briefed on this raid, which the Russians but not top congressional leadership were notified of in advance.” Trump said he didn’t tell Pelosi because “I wanted to make sure this kept secret.”
  • The Kurds: The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces called the raid a “joint operation” between Americans and Kurds, per the Washington Post. Kurds provided more intel than anyone, a US official tells the Times, even after Trump ordered US troops to leave Syria and let the Kurds battle Turkish forces alone.
  • Witnesses: A family in Syria apparently witnessed the night raid. “They said foreign soldiers with machine guns stormed in and took [people] away,” a Syrian journalist tells the Independent. “People they had never seen before. … When they left, after taking prisoners and killing the rest, a plane came and struck the house to completely destroy it.”
  • Trump’s team: The White House has released images of Trump and his national-security team stoically watching the raid, per USA Today. One Twitter user contrasted it with President Obama’s staff observing the Osama bin Laden raid.
  • Who was Baghdadi? A jihadist whose Islamic State captured Iraqi and Syrian territory, establishing a “caliphate” that was lost in 2019 fighting against US-led forces. Baghdadi also inspired terror attacks worldwide, per the Wall Street Journal.
  • Not over: More attacks on terrorists in Syria may follow, a US defense official tells CNN. Indeed, Newsweek reports that US strikes killed Islamic State spokesperson Abu al-Hassan al-Muhajir in Aleppo province on Sunday.

The announcement of the death by Trump turned into a 40 minute of him, Trump,  being victimized and getting no credit for his amazing (in his mind) presidency and his person.

With the death of Baghdadi the barbaric group known as ISIS will soldier on…they will not disappear because their leader popped the cork on his suicide vest……

While US officials are taking the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as a major victory, analysts are saying it is unlikely that this will spell anything like the end to the ISIS organization, or its insurgency.

It is not immediately apparent who Baghdadi’s successor would be, as little is known publicly about the inner workings of ISIS. His death clearly means a leadership reshuffle, however, and for such groups in the past, that has often meant worsening insurgencies as new leaders try to put their stamp on the organization.

Indeed, with ISIS barely existing in Iraq or Syria anymore,  it is possible that ISIS leadership might come from a different region. ISIS has active affiliates across Asia and Africa and becoming the new hub for the group might give those groups a major shot in the arm.

Ultimately, some are seeing ISIS as potentially reinvigorated by Baghdadi’s death, and even if that doesn’t happen, the individual affiliates are likely to keep plugging away no matter who is in charge.

(antiwar.com)

My question now is….who will get the $25 million reward for the location and death of Baghdadi?

I believe that is enough said about the SOB….He is dead and the world is a better place.

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Hard Realities Of Syria

The US has pulled its troops out of Syria…some say it was a “cut and run” move……some say he gave Russia an opening for more presence in Syria……….some say the Trump gave his buddy Erdogan everything he had wanted for Syria…..

There some hard realities that must be considered……like what was the end game for our Syria invention? To destroy ISIS? What?

U.S. troops are leaving Syria, and yet what happens there will continue to affect U.S. interests, both regionally and globally. 

Tens of thousands of Islamic State terrorists imprisoned in northeastern Syria could escape, unleashing foreign fighters to sow havoc in their homes in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The Turkish offensive could displace as many as 300,000 Syrians, exacerbating the already monumental challenge of addressing the basic humanitarian needs of the 6 million Syrians who have taken refuge elsewhere in their country, and the nearly 7 million who have fled altogether. Russian President Putin is pointing to the U.S. withdrawal as a reason to turn to Moscow for security guarantees.

U.S. policymakers tasked with finding a way forward need a clear-eyed understanding both of American goals and objectives in the region and of the constraints placed on the United States by political, economic, and military realities. Acquiring this understanding requires an unflinching look at various hard truths. Among them:

https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2019/10/10-hard-realities-americas-next-syria-policy/160699/

According to The American Conservative the failure of our Syrian policy is the 4 “A”s……

The ceasefire agreement brokered by Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday accomplishes very little outside of putting window dressing on a foregone conclusion. Simply put, the Turks will be able to achieve their objectives of clearing a safe zone of Kurdish forces south of the Turkish border, albeit under a U.S. sanctioned agreement. In return, the U.S. agrees not to impose economic sanctions on Turkey. 

So basically it doesn’t change anything that’s already been set into motion by the Turkish invasion of northern Syria. But it does signal the end of the American experiment in Syrian regime change, with the United States supplanted by Russia as the shot caller in Middle Eastern affairs.

The Four A’s of American Policy Failure in Syria

Apparently all the GOP criticism has gotten to our Dear Leader….he has ordered armor back into Syria…..

America will never desert Syria’s oil, President Trump promised Thursday—and he suggested that if the Kurds want protection, they should move closer to the oil. Syria’s oil fields “were held by ISIS until the United States took them over with the help of the Kurds,” Trump tweeted. “We will NEVER let a reconstituted ISIS have those fields!” He added that he had enjoyed a conversation with Syrian Kurdish commander Mazloum Abdi, and “perhaps it is time for the Kurds to start heading to the Oil Region.” A Pentagon source tells USA Today that the US plans to send troops, tanks, and armored vehicles to protest oil fields in eastern Syria, just weeks after most American troops withdrew from the country.

Sources tell the Wall Street Journal that the White House is considering having around 500 troops and dozens of tanks in northeast Syria, though the Journal‘s sources say no final decision has been made yet. Under pressure from GOP lawmakers including Sen. Lindsey Graham, Trump left around 200 troops in the area after earlier ordering the pullout of all US troops. A defense official tells NBC that the number of American troops—who would again be operating alongside the Syrian Democratic Forces, the mostly Kurdish force that Abdi leads —has not been settled on yet, but “we’re not talking thousands.” Analysts say that although Trump spoke of protecting the oil from ISIS, the deployment may really an effort to prevent it being seized by Russia or the Assad regime.

Illustrates just how powerful FOX has become…..they help the president with his foreign policy decisions…..

One last thing from a Neocon perspective…..Is Anything Salvageable in Syria?

For the past eight-plus years this writer has done his best to try to convince American officials that what happens in Syria does not stay in Syria; that Syria matters enough to the security of the United States and the safety of its citizens to merit a comprehensible objective and a consistent (if flexible) strategy.

That effort—in and out of government—has failed.  Two successive American presidents, absolutely sure they knew it all and needed no advice, have unintentionally but decisively advanced the work of America’s adversaries.  After eight-plus years of responding to gratuitous setbacks with specific proposals on national security objectives and an accompanying, fully resourced strategy, recent events pose a relevant question: Is anything at all salvageable from the latest mega-blunder?

Syria: Is anything salvageable?

All this is just sad…..

BUt not to worry when this impotent foreign policy goes to crap….Trump and the Slugs will just blame Obama and/or the Democrats…..they, Trump and Slugs, refuse to see the error of their moronic decisions.

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Breaking News–Syria

I try to keep the news out of my weekend posts but some times it just too important to wait for a week day…..today is one of those reports….

The news has just been put out on the air waves….ISIS leader, al-Baghdadi, has been killed by US military action….

US officials are reporting that a Saturday special operations raid against northwestern Syria killed a “high-value” target, and that the Pentagon has “high confidence” that they had killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Baghdadi has been reported killed or gravely wounded several times in the past, only to reemerge unharmed. The Pentagon suggested that further verification is pending, but that the man believed to be Baghdadi killed himself with a suicide vest after a brief firefight.

President Trump declared ‘something very big has just happened” on Twitter,and White House officials say he is planning an official announcement of Baghdadi’s death for 9:00 AM on Sunday morning.

The leader of ISIS since 2010, Baghdadi has been considered one of the highest value targets on the US list ever since. This would have been a much bigger deal when ISIS was an active force in Iraq or Syria, but is still significant to the group’s operations. It has never been entirely clear who would replace Baghdadi, despite his regularly being reported taken out of action.

It’s also not clear what this will mean for the US war in Syria, though since the war has already been transitioning to being about controlling Syria’s oil, which probably won’t be changed by this killing.

(antiwar.com)

Good news if accurate….but keep in mind al-Baghdadi has been said to be dead on at least two occasions that I know of and injured in several others.

We await an official announcement from our Fearless Leader…..keep in mind he said Obama did not kill Osama it was the soldiers……which is correct of course…..I want to watch the spin.

I will post more as facts become known…..

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I return IST to its normal posting schedule…….

Russia And Turkey And Syria

More events and more news from the Middle East…..

US troops are leaving Syria in the 5 days ultimatum……and Trump gives Turkey new sanctions…..Trump has told Turkey that he would destroy their economy if he was not playing nice…..all that was Bullsh*t!

Russia and Turkey have come to an agreement….after a couple of hours of meetings…..(read that again……Russia and Turkey…not the US)

While President Trump was very determined to insist that anything good happening in Syria was “created by us, the United States, and nobody else,” the evidence is pointing to substantial improvements in the regional situation coming more or less directly out of the new Russia-Turkey ceasefire deal.

In the hours after the Russia deal was signed, Turkey announced that they will push no further into Syrian territory. There would indeed be no need to, since Russia and Syria are going to expel Kurdish SDF forces from the area for them.

The US had tried to claim that all the SDF were already out of the region before the US ceasefire ended. Turkey disputed this and Russia seems to agree, promising to get them out in the 150 hour deal they reached. Russian DM Sergey Shogiu moved on to talk with the SDF head almost immediately after the announcement.

Trump is eager to spin the Turkish ceasefire as his accomplishment, even though Russia seems to be the one dotting all the is and crossing all the ts on Turkey’s demands.

The big difference seems to be Russia’s willingness to engage with Turkey on an equal footing about what could be offered, including joint patrols, as opposed to just unilaterally threatening to destroy their economy if things don’t work out.

(antiwar.com)

In case anyone is interested in the deal that Russia made with Turkey….

Below is the memorandum of understanding reached by the two countries, provided to Al Jazeera by the Turkish foreign ministry.

“President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin agreed on the following points:

1. The two sides reiterate their commitment to the preservation of the political unity and territorial integrity of Syria and the protection of national security of Turkey.

2. They emphasise their determination to combat terrorism in all forms and manifestations and to disrupt separatist agendas in the Syrian territory.

3. In this framework, the established status quo in the current Operation Peace Spring area covering Tel Abyad and [Ras al-Ain] with a depth of 32km (20 miles) will be preserved.

4. Both sides reaffirm the importance of the Adana Agreement. The Russian Federation will facilitate the implementation of the Adana Agreement in the current circumstances.

5. Starting 12.00 noon of October 23, 2019, Russian military police and Syrian border guards will enter the Syrian side of the Turkish-Syrian border, outside the area of Operation Peace Spring, to facilitate the removal of YPG elements and their weapons to the depth of 30km (19 miles) from the Turkish-Syrian border, which should be finalized in 150 hours. At that moment, joint Russian-Turkish patrols will start in the west and the east of the area of Operation Peace Spring with a depth of 10km (six miles), except Qamishli city.

6. All YPG elements and their weapons will be removed from Manbij and Tal Rifat.

7. Both sides will take necessary measures to prevent infiltrations of terrorist elements.

8. Joint efforts will be launched to facilitate the return of refugees in a safe and voluntary manner.

9. A joint monitoring and verification mechanism will be established to oversee and coordinate the implementation of this memorandum.

10. The two sides will continue to work to find a lasting political solution to the Syrian conflict within Astana Mechanism and will support the activity of the Constitutional Committee.”

Then Homeboy Trump takes credit for the deal…..

And then Turkey is rewarded for their deal with the Russians….sanctions lifted……

President Trump has announced that he is lifting all sanctions against Turkey for the time being, citing a “permanent” ceasefire between Turkey and the Kurds and the withdrawal of Kurds from the Turkish-occupied safe zone.

Trump credited the US for getting the Kurds out of the safe zone, and for everything else, conspicuously not mentioning the Russian deal with Turkey which was reached only the day before, and came after pointed US warnings to the Kurds not to talk with Russia.

Trump appeared to be quite conscious that this was a factor, declaring “this was an outcome created by us, the United States, and nobody else.” That’s his position, but it’s unlikely many will see it that way.

Trump said this validated his troop withdrawal from Syria, while also insisting that US troops are going to remain in Syria to protect oil reserves that were taken by the US during the war.

Trump also shrugged off his own declaration of a permanent ceasefire, saying “permanent” doesn’t mean much in that region. He also threatened new sanctions against Turkey if “something happens that we are not happy with.”

(antiwar.com)

Amusing that Russia’s name did not come up….go figure…..

Turkey got everything it ever wanted……sanctions lifted, Kurds moved out of their homes, the door left open for more killings, US gone from the region, I am sure I missed something…..

What a PUTZ!

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“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Let’s Talk Ceasefire

Our Fearless Leader has authorized a ceasefire in Northern Syria…..a good idea to prevent deaths but this does little to help all sides with a rational approach to a conflict…..this deal benefits no one but Turkey….

I will wait here and give Trump supporters time to catch up…..

Let’s start with the solution we call a “ceasefire”…..

Several core elements emerge from a comparative analysis of ceasefires. These elements include provisions for (1) a cessation of hostilities, (2) the separation of forces, and (3) the verification, supervision, and monitoring of the agreement. The cessation of hostilities prevents the parties from engaging in hostile acts, which can include both military acts, such as firing on another party, and non-military acts, such as propaganda. The separation of forces is the process by which the parties will withdraw from contact and position themselves to prevent a return to conflict. Verification, supervision, and monitoring are measures to create accountability and ensure the proper implementation of the agreement.

Parties to a ceasefire may wish to incorporate additional provisions to tailor the agreement to their specific conflict. Further, some ceasefire agreements aim to establish a framework for the peace process, whereas others simply limit the content of the agreement to the provisions necessary to end immediate hostilities. Effective ceasefire agreements do the following: (1) establish tactical, geographical, and political obstacles that deter the parties from returning to conflict  (2) clearly indicate the rights and obligations of the parties, and minimize uncertainty through communication and information sharing  (3) create a sense of formal legal obligation and (4) engage the international community to significantly increase legitimacy and the costs of violating the agreement.

“It was a great day for the Kurds” …..Really?  How so?

This is NOT a traditional ceasefire or should I say a recognizable one…….

5 days?

STOP calling this a ceasefire…….it is not a ceasefire…… it is a momentary pause.

A “Safe Zone”?

Who will monitor this “Zone” to try and prevent any deadly policies from being implemented?

This is a “gimme” to Turkey….and a disaster for the Kurds.

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Syria? Whose Oil Is It?

Riddle me this…….

The US is not at war with Syria, right?

We are there to defeat ISIS nothing more, right?

Then what gave Trump the right to “control” the oilfields in Syria?

Over the weekend I read some stuff that made me confused more so than normal about the events within Syria….

In puzzling comments earlier in the day, President Trump appeared to be declaring Syria a war about oil, and declaring victory, Tweeting “We have secured the Oil. Bringing soldiers home!”

The context wasn’t readily apparent, and it wasn’t true anyhow since comments from Defense Secretary Mark Esper made clear US troops are not coming home. Now, it turns out some US troops aren’t even leaving Eastern Syria, and the reason is the oil.

Sunday night’s report say Trump is now leaning toward a scheme to keep around 200 ground troops in eastern Syria, based on a plan the generals have sold him on. The 200 troops would have a”dual purpose” mission to fight ISIS and to keep Syria’s government from controlling Syria’s oil production facilities.

It makes more sense that this is a US goal, however, or at least a talking point, given Trump’s bragging about having “secured the oil” in Syria. Whether they can actually do this is another matter.

Where the US troops will be positioned is unclear, as the Pentagon is refusing to comment. at all on the matter. But for those who viewed going from Syria to Iraq as a big disappointment when with Trump talking about “bringing soldiers home,” having hundreds not even leaving Syria at all is an even bigger letdown.

If this turns out to be the case, this will be the second time in the past year that Trump has announced a military withdrawal from Syria, defended that plan in the face of criticism, and then ultimately bailed on it to keep troops in place with more military goals added all the time.

And if all the troops are coming home, according to Trump, then whom will be “controlling” these oilfields?  (BTW troops from Syria are going to Northwestern Iraq not home)

A few more thoughts……

1–Syria is a sovereign nation

2–The US was never asked by Syria for our help

3–The US is not at war with Syria

4–The oil in Syria is a Syrian natural resource

5–US control is tantamount to theft.

Nothing about this Syrian situation is coherent…..but then most of Trump’s foreign policy seldom is…..not coherent that is……

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The Syria Saga (So Far)

So many are calling the withdrawal of American troops from Northern Syria as a betrayal….especially the corporate media….

Confusion reigns in certain left-leaning and anarchist circles. Pat Robertson tells Trump he will lose his mandate of heaven if he really does pull the US troops occupying northern Syria from their positions. Democrats, Republicans, neocons and neoliberals join the Pentagon and the mainstream US media to decry this possible troop redeployment. Turkey assembles its military forces and moves into northern Syria. Some of its politicians tell their supporters that they will bury the Kurds in ditches along the roadside. US anarchist Noam Chomsky supports the US troops remaining in the area. What the hell is going on?

Betrayal in the Levant

Personally, it is time for the media to stop all the cheer leading and propaganda, corporate propaganda……time for the truth about our wars of endless duration…..

Syria has been turned into the most wretched of neighborhoods on the planet by Washington’s neocons and liberal interventionists. From its pre-2011 population of 23 million, more than 6.7 million have fled to countries such as Lebanon (1 million), Jordan (700,000), Turkey (3.6 million), Europe and elsewhere.

At the same time, more than 6.5 million Syrians are internal refugees, driven from their homes and towns by a so-called “civil” war that wouldn’t have lasted more than a few months save for the billions of arms, training and walking around money that Washington and its Persian Gulf allies have supplied to the violent opposition.

Owing to these billions of aid to armed insurrection, however, the Syrian economy has been turned to shambles and its ancient cities and towns have been reduced to steaming piles of rubble. Disease, malnutrition, lack of safe drinking water and medical supplies and treatments stalk the land.

Wake-Up Call On The Syrian Border: Time To End Washington’s Feckless Regime Change Policy and NATO, Too

The dialog now by some is that Trump is keeping his campaign promise of ending all our endless wars……sorry but I do not believe these “good feelings”…….while this was being discussed the Congress made it official that the Congress is pro-war, pro endless wars……

October 7th, the U.S. withdrew 50 to 100 troops from positions near Syria’s border with Turkey, and two days later Turkey invaded Rojava, the de facto autonomous Kurdish region of northeast Syria. Trump is now taking credit for a temporary, tenuous ceasefire. In a blizzard of tweets and statements, Donald Trump has portrayed his chaotic tactical relocation of U.S. troops in Syria as a down-payment on his endless promises to withdraw U.S. forces from endless wars in the greater Middle East.

On October 16, the U.S. Congress snatched the low-hanging political fruit of Trump’s muddled policy with a rare bipartisan vote of 354-60 to condemn the U.S. redeployment as a betrayal of the Kurds, a weakening of America’s credibility, a lifeline to ISIS, and a political gift to Russia, China and Iran.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/10/18/trumps-fake-withdrawal-endless-war

So Trump is the anti-war president?

Personally I think that it is a bunch of crap to even pretend that he is such……

It is a great propaganda victory for Donald Trump that he has managed to sell himself as “anti-war.” Broadly speaking, Trump has no anti-war bona fides to draw upon. He’s torn up the Iran agreement, while threatening war in its place. He’s threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea. Trump has presided over consistent increases in spending for the American warfare state. And he’s engaged in more drone strikes than Obama up to this point in both presidencies. Trump has put forward no timetable for the final withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. He’s continued for more than two years the U.S. military presence in Syria, in the name of defeating ISIS. And he’s now greenlighted ethnic cleansing against the Kurds in Northern Syria by removing U.S. troops from the region and enabling Turkey’s invasion.

Trump as the “Anti-War” President: on Misinformation in American Political Discourse

If Trump is the anti-war president and is in the process of ending our endless wars then why did he not bring the troops home instead of just moving them around?

Trump’s not bringing the troops home. He’s been haphazardly deploying more troops, drones, and dollars abroad, while waging a shadow foreign policy for his own benefit.

Donald Trump loves to talk about ending the endless U.S. wars that he inherited as president. He tweets about it. He endlessly criticizes his predecessors for their martial mistakes.

But like the old saw about the weather, Trump talks a whole lot about endless wars but doesn’t do anything about them.

Just this month, he went against the advice of pretty much everyone to pull 1,000 U.S. troops out of northern Syria where they were protecting a largely autonomous Kurdish region. The result has been an immediate flare-up in the Syrian conflict as Turkey sent troops over the border to take advantage of the U.S. withdrawal. 

Then Trump turned around and sent an additional 2,000 troops to Saudi Arabia to help them defend against Iran or the Houthis or perhaps just internal critics of the regime. 

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/10/17/trumps-endless-wars

As I have said many times….I applaud his efforts but he has not gone fart enough….and his “ceasefire” was nothing but a gimme to the Turks to do what they see fit to Northern Syria and the Kurds.  None of which is making anyone in the region safer.

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That Syrian News

Whiz Bang……..We have some Breaking News…….Stop The Presses…..”Give me re-write”……..

But first a trip in the “Way Back Machine”……the year is 1938, the location is Munich, Germany…..

81 years ago one of history’s greatest con jobs was foisted on the world…..Neville Chamberlain, the PM of the United Kingdom, told the world that he had secured “peace in our time”……. Seeking to avoid war in Europe, leaders from Britain, France and Italy signed the Munich Pact on September 29, 1938, agreeing to Hitler’s demands and ceding Czechoslovakia to Germany. Upon his return to England the following day, the architect of the appeasement policy, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, declares “peace in our time.”

For those youngsters that do not appreciate history…..here is the speech Chamberlain gave with his return from Munich……https://wwnorton.com/college/history/ralph/workbook/ralprs36.htm

For a deeper look into this agreement and the history around it…..https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/on-this-day-1938-peace-for-our-time-was-a-hollow-boast-by-neign nation, in this case Syria.eville-chamberlain/

This situation was the precursor to World War 2….and it all began with a con job….will history repeat?

All this background is leading to the “ceasefire” that the VP and his entourage came to Ankara to solve the problem they created by letting Turkey invade another sovereign nation, in this case Syria.

The Breaking News is….we have a 120 hour “ceasefire” in Northern Syria……(BTW Turkey says it is a “pause” not a “ceasefire”)

Turkey’s invasion of Syria may be short-lived, ABC News reports. The country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, agreed Thursday to halt the invasion for five days while Kurdish fighters leave a safe zone in northern Syria: “It will be a pause in military operation for 120 hours, while the United States facilitates the withdrawal of YPG (a mostly Kurdish militia) from the affected areas in the safe zone,” said Vice President Mike Pence, who had been sent to Ankara with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to negotiate a deal. “And once that is completed, Turkey has agreed to a permanent ceasefire and the United States of America will work with Turkey—will work with nations around the world—to make sure peace and stability are the order of the day in this safe zone.”

The deal is that President Trump won’t impose any more sanctions on Turkey and—when a permanent ceasefire is announced—will withdraw sanctions inflicted on the country last week, per the New York Times. (Sanctions had been placed on three ministers and two federal departments in Turkey, per CBS News.) This means the Kurdish militia has 120 hours to abandon a safe zone that extends roughly 20 miles below the Turkish-Syrian border. Pence said the White House was opposed to Turkey’s invasion, but US officials also sympathized with Turkey’s view that Kurdish fighters are a terrorist group. Trump responded happily: “Great news out of Turkey,” he tweeted. “…Thank you to @RTErdogan. Millions of lives will be saved!”

Sadly….Trump and the Boyz gave Erdogan everything he wanted…..a swath of Syria (a country the US cannot give away), dispossess thousands of Kurds from their homes, a free rein to commit a possible genocide after the 5 days, open the door wide for Russian influence in the Middle East, a loosening of sanctions and the promise of no new sanctions…..Turkey “got everything they wanted”……I smell the possibility for another Turkish genocide (I pray I am wrong)……

So what does the agreement actually say…..we know what the MSM wants it to say but what does the document actually state?

the full text of the joint US-Turkey statement: 

  1. The US and Turkey reaffirm their relationship as fellow members of NATO. The US understands Turkey’s legitimate security concerns on Turkey’s southern border.
  2. Turkey and the US agree that the conditions on the ground, northeast Syria in particular, necessitate closer coordination on the basis of common interests.
  3. Turkey and the US remain committed to protecting NATO territories and NATO populations against all threats with the solid understanding of “one for all and all for one”.
  4. The two countries reiterate their pledge to uphold human life, human rights, and the protection of religious and ethnic communities.
  5. Turkey and the US are committed to D-ISIS/DAESH activities in northeast Syria. This will include coordination on detention facilities and internally displaced persons from formerly ISIS/DAESH-controlled areas, as appropriate.
  6. Turkey and the US agree that counter-terrorism operations must target only terrorists and their hideouts, shelters, emplacements, weapons, vehicles and equipment.
  7. The Turkish side expressed its commitment to ensure safety and well-being of residents of all population centers in the safe zone controlled by the Turkish Forces (safe zone) and reiterated that maximum care will be exercised in order not to cause harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure.
  8. Both countries reiterate their commitment to the political unity and territorial integrity of Syria and UN-led political process, which aims at ending the Syrian conflict in accordance with UNSCR 2254.
  9. The two sides agreed on the continued importance and functionality of a safe zone in order to address the national security concerns of Turkey, to include the re-collection of YPG heavy weapons and the disablement of their fortifications and all other fighting positions.
  10. The safe zone will be primarily enforced by the Turkish Armed Forces and the two sides will increase their cooperation in all dimensions of its implementation.
  11. The Turkish side will pause Operation Peace Spring in order to allow the withdrawal of YPG from the safe zone within 120 hours. Operation Peace Spring will be halted upon completion of this withdrawal.
  12. Once Operation Peace Spring is paused, the US agrees not to pursue further imposition of sanctions under the Executive Order of October 14, 2019, Blocking Property and Suspending Entry of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Syria, and will work and consult with Congress, as appropriate, to underline the progress being undertaken to achieve peace and security in Syria, in accordance with UNSCR 2254. Once Operation Peace Spring is halted as per paragraph 11 the current sanctions under the aforementioned Executive Order shall be lifted.
  13. Both parties are committed to work together to implement all the goals outlined in this Statement.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/full-text-turkey-statement-northeast-syria-191017191203481.html

The one group most effected by this so-called “agreement”, the Kurds, were not part of the process….another Chamberlain-esque moment.

I read so you do not have to……

Chamberlain had…”peace in our time”…….Trump has “a great day for civilization” (from a Tweet)……neither would be accurate.

I love this stuff!  Syria is making people that make derogatory statements about the Middle East come to the defense of a president that makes shitty deals….and make no mistake this is a shitty deal the only person that benefits is Erdogan and Turkey and the Russians.  The US is still on the outside looking in.

Not to worry……I  am sure there will be more to this report……watch this blog.

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