Oct 10, 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- The terrorist groups called by Washington as "moderate" militants have received two cargos of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles in Northern Syria, a Saudi newspaper wrote on Monday.

"At least two cargos of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles have been sent to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) group, supported by the US, in Northern Syria; the cargos were in fact dispatched by the MOM (the US-funded operations room near the Turkish town of Reyhanli)," Asharq al-Awsat newspaper quoted Charles Lester, a US analyst on Syrian issues, as saying.

Noting that the militants have already been equipped with Grad missiles with a range of 20km to 40km, he said that the new anti-aircraft missiles are aimed at creating a buffer zone in certain regions of Northern Syria.

A terrorist commander had told Reuters late September that foreign states have given Syrian militants surface-to-surface Grad rockets of a type not previously supplied to them.

The Grad rockets with a range of 22 km and 40 km have been supplied in "excellent quantities" and will be used on battlefronts in Aleppo, Hama and the coastal region, Fares al-Bayoush said.

While Grad missiles have previously been supplied to terrorists, Bayoush said it was the first time this particular type had been delivered. Each salvo contains 40 rockets, he said, without giving further details.

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950719000458

https://www.rt.com/shows/news/362389-rtnews-october-11-17msk/

Oct 12, 2016

In Europe, when it gets serious, you have to lie... at least if you are an unelected bureaucrat like Jean-Claude Juncker. In Russia, however, when it gets serious, attention immediately turns to the children.

Which is why we read a report in Russian website Znak published Tuesday, according to which Russian state officials and government workers were told to bring back their children studying abroad immediately, even if means cutting their education short and not waiting until the end of the school year, and re-enroll them in Russian schools, with some concern. The article adds that if the parents of these same officials also live abroad "for some reason", and have not lost their Russian citizenship, should also be returned to the motherland. Znak cited five administration officials as the source of the report.

The "recommendation" applies to all: from the administration staff, to regional administratiors, to lawmakers of all levels. Employees of public corporations are also subject to the ordinance. One of the sources said that anyone who fails to act, will find such non-compliance to be a "complicating factor in the furtherance of their public sector career." He added that he was aware of several such cases in recent months.

It appears that the underlying reason behind the command is that the Russian government is concerned about the optics of having children of the Russian political elite being educated abroad, while their parents appear on television talking about patriotism and being "surrounded by enemies."

While we doubt the impacted children will be happy by this development, some of the more patriotic locals, if unimpacted, are delighted. Such as Vitaly Ivanov, a political scientist who believes that the measure to return children of officials from studying abroad, is "long overdue." According Ivanoc, the education of children of the Russian elite abroad is subject to constant ridicule and derision against the ruling regime. "People note the hypocrisy of having a centralized state and cultivating patriotism and anti-Western sentiment, while children of government workers study abroad. You can not serve two gods, one must choose."

On the other hand, political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky quoted by Znak, believes that such decisions should be approached with more pragmatism. Such a recommendation is more likely to lead to an outflow of officials from the state, rather than allow the return of the children studying at elite foreign universities. He also warned of attempts to recreate an echo chamber such as that experienced after the failed July coup attempt on Turkey's President Erdogan.

But what he said next was more disturbing: "On the one hand, this is all part of a package of measures to prepare the elites for some 'big war' even if it is rather conditional, on the other hand - this is another blow to the unity of President Putin with his own elite" Belkovsky said. He adds that the Western sanctions launcedh in March 2014, had sought to drive a wedge between Putin and elites. In response, the Kremlin began to act precisely according to the logic of these sanctions. "But while a ban for having assets in the West is one thing, and understanable, when it comes to a ban for offshore health and education services, the blowback will be far greater, as it represents a far more important element of the establishment's life strategy."

Ultimately the motivation behind Putin's decision is unclear: whether it is to show Russia's high-ranking oligarchs who is boss, to boost a sense of patriotism among the nation by sending a symbolic message that the west is no longer a welcome destination for Russia's rich kids, or just a preemptive move of repatriating of any individuals affiliated with Russian politics for other unknown reasons; however it underscores the severity of the ongoing diplomatic crisis and just how significant the upcoming isolation between Russia and the West is likely to become in the coming months - unless of course tensions deescalate dramatically in the very near future - resulting in even greater collapse in global commerce and a further slowdown to world economic growth, which may ultimately lead to an armed conflict, whether regional or global, as the only possible outcome.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-11/russian-government-officials-told-immed...

Published on Oct 14, 2016

A few weeks after the collapse of a ceasefire, & among American & French warnings to Russia of apparent war crimes, Russia, the US, & others involved in Syria are to sit down in Switzerland. Russia wants everyone to stick by UNSC Resolutions, which it claims will lay out in a step-by-step process. At the least, everyone wants another humanitarian pause. As Syria works to liberate all of Aleppo, a victory President Assad says will be a springboard for other liberations, can the political process move forward while the West insists on arming militants to change the balance of power on the ground? That & more in this debate.

All those rebel groups, ISIS, Al Qaeda and the splintered groups are all children of the US of A.

George Bush gave birth to terrorism, terrorist and the war on terror, after the fall of the USSR they still had to have another enemy to continue some war any war that expends armaments for ever and a day.

Such is the mentality of the wild west and billy the kid.

jmjcare wrote on Oct 12^th, 2016 at 9:41am:


I don't see any USA planes painted in Russian colours, youtube aint a credible source ya dopey dim wit.

13 Oct, 2016

The US and Saudi Arabia have agreed to grant free passage to thousands of Islamic State militants before the Iraqi city of Mosul is stormed. The jihadists will be redeployed to fight against the government in Syria, a military-diplomatic source told RIA Novosti.

"More than 9,000 Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS, ISIL) militants will be redeployed from Mosul to the eastern regions of Syria to carry out a major offensive operation, which involves capturing Deir ez-Zor and Palmyra,” the source said.

According to the anonymous diplomatic source, US President Barack Obama has already sanctioned an operation to liberate Mosul, due to take place in October.

During the storm of the city in northern Iraq the US-led coalition’s planes would only strike detached, vacated or uninhabited buildings, while keeping terrorists as targets, he said.

In September, US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter confirmed that Washington would send an additional 600 troops to Iraq to help liberate Mosul at the request of the local authorities.

The source suggested that redeployment of IS militants is necessary because “Washington must somehow counter Russia’s achievements in Syria, try to diminish their importance.”

"Apart from the purely political dividends, the other purpose of this operation, obviously, will be to discredit the success of Russian Airspace forces. And, of course, it’s an attempt to undermine Syrian President (Bashar) Assad,” he said.

The leadership of Saudi Arabia’s General Intelligence Directorate will be the mediators and guarantors of the agreement on safe passage for the jihadists from Mosul, he claimed.

The source added that a similar scheme had been used by the US and its allies during the liberation of the Iraqi city of Fallujah.

Damascus has accused Washington for coordinating with IS after an airstrike against the Syrian government troops near the city of Deir ez-Zor on September 17. Washington said that the bombing, in which 83 soldiers were killed and over 100 injured, was a mistake.

https://www.rt.com/news/362559-syria-iraq-mosul-isis/