ISIS - their brutality
Many are aghast at the brutality of Isis tactics on prisoners, and the world has largely thought that they were just sadistic, but NOW another questions bears asking. Did they learn brutality during their incarcerations in US prison camps. That's right, the head of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi was a prisoner in Abu Ghraib, and also some other facilities, and NINE Isis state leaders were also under US incarceration.
Did they learn some of their tactics from the US, while they were being detained?
Are their tactics a mockery of the abuse they suffered while in custody, so that they show that they survived it, but those they have taken prisoner will not? Many have seen the videos of prisoners in the orange, Guantanamo Bay like jumpsuits that were beheaded. We have seen prisoners in cages executed. Is this what they learned while in captivity?
"In February 2004, U.S. troops brought a man named Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim al-Badry to Abu Ghraib in Iraq and assigned him serial number US9IZ-157911CI. The prison was about to become international news, but the prisoner would remain largely unknown for the next decade.
Today, detainee US9IZ-157911CI is better known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State. His presence at Abu Ghraib, a fact not previously made public, provides yet another possible key to the enigmatic leader’s biography and may shed new light on the role U.S. detention facilities played in the rise of the Islamic State.
Experts have long known that Baghdadi spent time in U.S. custody during the occupation of Iraq. Previous reports suggested he was at Camp Bucca, a sprawling detention facility in southern Iraq. But the U.S. Army confirmed to The Intercept that Baghdadi spent most of his time in U.S. custody at the notorious Abu Ghraib.
Baghdadi’s detainee records don’t mention Abu Ghraib by name. But the internment serial number that U.S. forces issued when they processed him came from the infamous prison, according to Army spokesperson Troy A. Rolan Sr.
“Former detainee al-Baghdadi’s internment serial number sequence number begins with ‘157,’” Rolan said, describing the first three digits of the second half of Baghdadi’s serial number. “This number range was assigned at the Abu Ghraib theater internment facility.”
In February 2015, the Army released Baghdadi’s detainee records to Business Insider, in response to a records request. They showed that coalition forces first captured Baghdadi on February 4, 2004, in Fallujah, Iraq, and held him at Camp Bucca. But a line on one of the documents also suggested that Baghdadi had been transferred to Bucca after being held elsewhere — a detail that was not widely reported.
It turns out that Baghdadi was held at Abu Ghraib, just a stone’s throw from where he was captured in Fallujah, for eight of the 10 months that he was in detention. He was only transferred to Camp Bucca, some 400 miles south of Baghdad, on October 13 — less than two months before his release on December 9.
In the occupation’s first few years, U.S. facilities like Abu Ghraib and Camp Bucca developed a reputation as “jihadi universities” where hard-line extremists indoctrinated and recruited less radical inmates. Analysts have long suspected that Baghdadi took full advantage of his time at Bucca to link up with the jihadis and former Iraqi military officials who would later fill out the Islamic State’s leadership.
In November 2014, the Soufan Group, a private intelligence firm, published a list of nine Islamic State leaders it said had been detained at Camp Bucca. The list included Baghdadi and Hajji Bakr, a former Iraqi military official who became head of the Islamic State’s military council and is widely reported to have spent time in Bucca.
There is also still some confusion about where and when Baghdadi was held. The timeline in Army records puts him at either Abu Ghraib or Camp Bucca for his entire 10-month detention. However, one document also mentions the Camp Adder Holding Facility — a possible reference to a former U.S. military base in southern Iraq. The Army denies that Baghdadi was ever held in that facility.
“There is no record of an external transfer to a Camp Adder,” Rolan, the Army spokesperson, wrote over email. “The Camp Adder reference likely refers to an internal movement within Abu Ghraib.”
In late April 2004, while Baghdadi was held at the facility, CBS News published photos that showed U.S. soldiers smiling next to piles of naked prisoners and a hooded detainee standing on a narrow box with electrical wires attached to his outstretched hands. An independent panel appointed by then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld called the abuse “acts of brutality and purposeless sadism.”
Officials blamed the photos on a few bad apples. But some U.S. interrogators in Iraq continued to use abusive techniques like stress positions after the photos were taken, according to Eric Fair, who has written a memoir about the time he spent as a civilian interrogator with the defense contractor CACI International at Abu Ghraib and in Fallujah in early 2004.
Remarks: It was reported and documented that CACI and Titan International provided interrogation training and training in techniques that most civillians regard as torture.
9.11 Anniversary - some new goings on
Yes once again, the anniversary of that day that changed America will come, and once again the usual festivities will occur, but this year those who have not been happy with the official story are gaining a little ground. The Architechts & Engineers who do not believe the official story is HOW and WHY the towers came down, lawyers, legislators are getting together. You can see the meeting as a live stream (a $10 donation requested) or come to the event (ticket prices as listed).
Early Bird - Single Day: $20
Early Bird - Full Weekend: $30
Standard Online - Single Day: $25
Standard Online - Full Weekend: $35
At-the-door - Single Day: $35
At-the-door - Full Weekend: $45
The Great Hall, Cooper Union
7 East 7th Street
New York, NY 10003-7102
Saturday, September 10, 2016 at 10:00 AM - Sunday, September 11, 2016 at 6:30 PM (EDT)
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/justice-in-focus-911-2016-a-weekend-symposium-in-nyc-tickets-26718651205
Hundreds of researchers and activists will come together in the historic Great Hall of Cooper Union in New York City on Saturday, September 10, and Sunday, September 11, 2016.Together, in this 800-seat auditorium, we will discuss the state of ongoing efforts to expose the truth and obtain justice for the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 innocent victims at the World Trade Center and that continue to serve as the pretext for the Global War on Terrorism.
The conference will feature keynote addresses from renowned legal figures, as well as panel discussions on the role of the Deep State and the significance of the recently declassified 28 Pages, presentations by movement leaders and researchers, and day-long evidentiary hearings on the forensics evidence and eyewitness testimony at World Trade Center’s destruction, which will be conducted by a panel of esteemed lawyers.
Saturday, September 10, 2016 at 10:00 AM - Sunday, September 11, 2016 at 6:30 PM (EDT)
REMARKS: Close to 3,000 people were murdered that day in a systemic, methodically carried out attack, by multinational states and evil big whigs, we all know it. Some people care enough to actually do something about it, and NOT accept the official bullsh*t story. The Bush administration via executive order gave themselves protection and IMMUNITY from prosecution for any "acts of war" going back to 9.11.01, which many found curious since we had not invaded Afghanistan till the end of the month, nor had we even went to Iraq yet, so what "act(s) of war" were they thinking about that could have occurred from 9.11.01 onward? Why did Stratesec (later known as Securacom) call of the bomb sniffing dogs three weeks before 9.11.01? Etc., Etc.
[Edited on 8/27/2016 by gina]
The G-20 Summit is happening in China. China wants more world recognition as a viable world trade partner, and some countries are hesitant to allow them to do that. With China's wealth, their renewed status of having an alternative usable currency, (among the world's reserve currencies in the basket of Special Drawing Rights) some countries may be concerned.
"A European official involved in trade issues with China also voiced frustration over China’s position on protectionism. “The Chinese would shut you down at once if you said you wanted to buy one of their grids. You wouldn’t get to the end of the sentence,” the official added."
http://english.aawsat.com/2016/08/article55357365/china-prepares-host-g20-summit
Britain has delayed Hinkley Point, a Chinese-funded $24 billion nuclear project while Australia has blocked the $7.7 billion sale of the country’s largest energy grid to Chinese buyers. The President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, Joerg Wuttke said European officials are becoming increasingly confident in voicing their dissatisfaction with China’s overcapacity issues and a lack of reciprocal market access for European companies.
REMARKS: "lack of reciprocal market access for European companies", well it isn't China's fault that they are more wealthy, do not get involved in wars all over the globe and have a more stable economy and money to invest with. Maybe other countries should stop getting involved in wars, and learn how to become successful. Seems like some countries are worried over the affluence of China and the influence it may have in their own countries. Maybe they should look at Iran who recently did a big oil trade deal with them, they are not afraid they will come and take them over.
[Edited on 8/29/2016 by gina]
The Question Is Being Asked Once Again
Were nukes used on 9.11.01?
http://presstv.ir/Detail/2016/09/07/483664/US-New-York-911-nuke
"The high number of medical cases related to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in New York, 15 years after the incident, show that the Twin Towers collapsed because of a nuclear device, says an American academic.
James Fetzer, an emeritus at the University of Minnesota, made the remarks on Wednesday, after reports emerged that as many as 400,000 people were suffering from medical conditions linked to the 9/11 attacks.
According to a report published on Wednesday by Newsweek, as of June, a total of 5,441 of the 75,000 people enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program have developed at least one type of cancer related to the attacks.
Altogether, some 70 types of cancer have been linked to Ground Zero, the report added.
“This report is the tip of the iceberg in relation to the events of 9/11,” Fetzer told Press TV on Wednesday. “We have vast evidence of significant population—with some estimates running as high as 700,000—who have been affected by medical maladies associated with exposure to ionizing radiation.”
“Other indications of what was actually going on include that the buildings were blowing apart in every direction, that they were being converted into millions of cubic yards of very fine dust, another signature trait of a nuclear event,” he added.
To further back his theory, the analyst said that debris from high-rising towers would make big piles depending on how tall they are, but with WTC towers “they were actually destroyed to or even below ground level.”
REMARKS: No one has forgotten, nor have many accepted the official story, and they never will.
9.11.01 Congress/KSA- (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)
9.11.01 KSA and the Drama Continues Courtesy of Congress
In a bi partisan effort to pacify those still outraged at the slaughter and loss of lives on 9.11.01, Congress has unanimously approved families being able to sue the Saudi government. Obama "vows to reject the measure" but lawmakers can overturn his veto with enough votes. Doing this on the anniversary of the attacks is more than symbolic, it is Congress saying they will do something. Why don't attempt to hold those who were involved in it responsible? Oh because they can loose their big powerful/money jobs. They deny the architechts, engineers, first responders who KNOW things that went on that day. Ask yourself why were all the bodies vaporized to the extent they could not even identify them except by dna fragments/analysis? because they were blown to smithereens, that's why. It was not a few people, it was almost 3,000 people, that is a lot of people......
[BAD MOVE Congress]
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37310593
[Edited on 9/9/2016 by gina]
SYRIA/ US/ RUSSIA
John Kerry, as the representative from the US has reached a deal with Russia to stop the violence in Syria. Two days after Trump and Hillary's forum where he said he would work with Russia to deal with the Syrian situation. There will be an immediate cease fire on Monday which coincides with the Muslim holiday of Eid al Adha. Nice touch here.
http://www.dailysabah.com/syrian-crisis/2016/09/10/syria-truce-to-begin-on- monday-with-qurban-bayram-kerry
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/push-for-aleppo-ceasefire-ahead-of-muslim- holiday.aspx?pageID=238&nID=103765&NewsCatID=352
SYRIAN PEACE TALKS AND TURKEY'S POSITION:
The US and Russian top diplomats have been in negotiations on Syria in Geneva for many hours in a row. Any exits from talks spark a ruction in the press pack while German FM said the two sides have a real chance to agree on a ceasefire this time, according to RT. Geneva negotiations between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his US counterpart John Kerry are already lasting for more than eight hours with the two ministers having had several breaks. The two diplomats had at least 40 conversations ranging from phone calls to marathon talks this year alone. The longest negotiations they had in 2016 lasted 12 hours and took place in late August. Those talks allowed Russia and the US to reduce mutual levels of misunderstanding. At that time, the two countries also agreed to enhance their cooperation on Syria, particularly on the military level. The latest talks between Lavrov and Kerry continued for 11 hours.
STICKING POINTS IN THE DEAL BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE US
Russia has insisted that opposition groups must separate from Al-Qaeda-linked militants in cities such as Aleppo. Washington wants Assad’s air force grounded to stop its attacks on opposition forces and civilians. [How can that be possible when the US uses rebel groups as proxy forces to achieve the goals? We did it in Libya, we did it in Iraq, and we do it in Syria, if any local group is against Isis, the US will help fund them with weapons and money. All of Al Qaida's forces are NOT aligned with ISIS, the same way the Afghan Taliban will NEVER accept their ideology or join them].
The second U.S. official said any agreement with Russia would have to include an end to the siege by government forces and their militia allies around Aleppo and this would be a focal point of Friday’s talks.
TURKEY
They reaffirmed their commitment to Operation Euphrates Shield to Continue.
http://aa.com.tr/en/todays-headlines/operation-euphrates-shield-to-continue-turkish-pm-/643994
Operation Euphrates Shield will continue to create a safe area in northern Syria, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Friday. "Activities to establish a safe area in the north of Syria will continue," Yildirim told reporters before a Justice and Development (AK) Party central executive committee meeting in the capital Ankara. Yildirim added that the Operation Euphrates Shield will be conducted until the security is provided completely along Turkish borders and the threats against citizens are removed. Operation Euphrates Shield, which was launched on Aug. 24, aims at improving security, supporting coalition forces and eliminating the terror threat along Turkey’s border using Free Syrian Army fighters backed by Turkish armor, artillery, and jets.
[Edited on 9/9/2016 by gina]
SYRIAN AID GROUPS SUSPEND RELATIONS WITH UNITED NATIONS
That seems surprising, but they are doing it because aid and relief supplies are ending up with Assad's forces. In Aleppo, cessation of hostilities is not enough as there is no food for those living there. The rebels are now back to square one, under an even more ruthless siege,” Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the observatory, told AFP.
In the besieged city, desperate civilians described a hungry battle for survival.
“This siege is much harder than the first one. During the first one, there were at least some products still in the market – now there’s nothing at all,” said one shopper, Omar al-Beik. “No products, no vegetables, no sugar. Nothing. We came to buy a few things to cook and we couldn’t find a thing,” he told AFP. In the nearby al-Sakhur district, Abu Omar says he is bracing himself for more shortages. He and his three children are surviving on rice, bulghur wheat and lentils, and have not had bread in three days. “There’s a risk that we’ll be starving in two weeks,” he said. Ahead of the Geneva talks, the U.S. pressed Russia for a “true cessation of hostilities” against a backdrop of continued military turmoil but warned that its patience is running thin.
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/216113-syrian-aid-groups-suspend-ties-with-u-n
More than 70 Syrian aid groups are suspending cooperation with the United Nations, accusing U.N. humanitarian agencies and their partners of being manipulated by the regime, according to a letter released Thursday. In the letter to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the 73 signatories demanded an investigation of the U.N. agencies' work in Syria and called for a monitoring body to be set up to oversee the relief effort. "It has become clear to many organizations that the Syrian government in Damascus has a significant and substantial influence on the performance of U.N. agencies based in Damascus as well as their partners," including the Syrian Arab Red Cross, said the letter. Among the signatories were the Syrian American Medical Society and the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, who are active in opposition-held areas.
The groups announced they were pulling out of a U.N. information-sharing program for aid deliveries and would propose a new mechanism "where there is no political influence in any aspect of it." The letter was received by OCHA's office in Turkey, said U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric, who defended the world body's struggling aid effort in Syria. "Our goal is to deliver as much aid as possible," said Dujarric, who rejected suggestions that U.N. aid workers were influenced by the government in Damascus. "We have never been shy in raising our voices when the government systematically removed surgical equipment from convoys," he said. "We will continue to raise our voices when necessary."
The Syrian aid groups took aim at the failure of the United Nations to provide necessary aid to nearly 600,000 people living in besieged areas, most of which are surrounded by President Bashar Assad's forces.
- Contracts with Assad regime -
British newspaper The Guardian last month reported that U.N. aid contracts worth tens of millions of dollars have gone to people closely associated with Assad despite U.S. and European Union sanctions. The newspaper's analysis of hundreds of U.N. contracts granted since the Syrian conflict began in 2011 showed many awarded to companies run by or linked to regime players who are under U.S. and EU sanctions. The Guardian found that two U.N. agencies had partnered with the Syria Trust charity, an organization started and chaired by Assad's wife Asma, spending a total of $8.5 million. It also said the UN had given money to the state-owned fuel supplier, which is under EU sanctions, and to Syria's national blood bank, which is controlled by Assad's defense ministry.
Money also went to the al-Bustan Association, owned and run by Assad's billionaire cousin Rami Makhlouf, who is Syria's most notorious and powerful tycoon. The U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization had given $13.3 million to the Syrian agriculture ministry, which is on the EU sanctions list, the Guardian said. More than 290,000 people have been killed in the war, now in its sixth year, and international efforts to end the conflict have faltered.
REMARKS: Maybe somebody needs to look into why the UN has not been able to effectively get aid to the people who need it. Assad has been meeting with other world leaders, he is not in a bunker somewhere. Russia could do something to convince him to let civilian aid thru. Trump said he would work with Russia, John Kerry is trying to negotiate with them. Let him add this to the table of discussions.
[Edited on 9/9/2016 by gina]
SYRIA - expanded coverage (because there is so much going on over there)
Jabhat al Nusra who has now rebranded themselves as Fateh al-Sham Front has acknowledged the martyrdom death of Commander Abu Omar Saraqeb in an air strike. The jihadist Fateh al-Sham is a leading member of the Army of Conquest alliance, which groups its fighters with those of Islamist factions like Ahrar al-Sham. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said unidentified aircraft hit the Army of Conquest meeting on Thursday night, killing Saraqeb and another rebel commander named as Abu Muslim al-Shami. According to the Observatory, Saraqeb was a leading member of Al-Qaeda in Iraq in its fight against the US-led occupation after 2003.
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/216128-air-strike-kills-top-jihadist-rebel-commander-in-syria
ISLAMIC STATE HAD PLANS TO ATTACK LEBANON
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/216120-report-is-planned-to-rock-dahiyeh-and-hizbullah-s-morale
by Naharnet Newsdesk 17 hours ago
Investigations being run with detained Islamic State group militants have shown that the IS had plans to carry out three massive attacks in Lebanon during the holy month of Ramadan and that one of the schemes was to target the southern suburbs of Beirut with 3 tons of explosives in a suicide attack that would "shake the esteem of Hizbullah's leadership", al-Joumhouria daily reported on Friday. The IS planned to carry out “centralized and quality” operations in each of the attacks with the aim of striking a blow to the economic sector and social environment, added the daily. The daily pointed to another terror scheme that was to launch a major suicide attack against the Casino Du Liban to disable an important sector within the wealth and economic sources of the tourist country.
REMARKS: Three tons of explosives for Beirut?
9.11 Anniversary - some new goings on
Yes once again, the anniversary of that day that changed America will come, and once again the usual festivities will occur, but this year those who have not been happy with the official story are gaining a little ground. The Architechts & Engineers who do not believe the official story is HOW and WHY the towers came down, lawyers, legislators are getting together. You can see the meeting as a live stream (a $10 donation requested) or come to the event (ticket prices as listed).
Early Bird - Single Day: $20
Early Bird - Full Weekend: $30
Standard Online - Single Day: $25
Standard Online - Full Weekend: $35
At-the-door - Single Day: $35
At-the-door - Full Weekend: $45
The Great Hall, Cooper Union
7 East 7th Street
New York, NY 10003-7102Saturday, September 10, 2016 at 10:00 AM - Sunday, September 11, 2016 at 6:30 PM (EDT)
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/justice-in-focus-911-2016-a-weekend-symposium-in-nyc-tickets-26718651205
Hundreds of researchers and activists will come together in the historic Great Hall of Cooper Union in New York City on Saturday, September 10, and Sunday, September 11, 2016.Together, in this 800-seat auditorium, we will discuss the state of ongoing efforts to expose the truth and obtain justice for the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 innocent victims at the World Trade Center and that continue to serve as the pretext for the Global War on Terrorism.
The conference will feature keynote addresses from renowned legal figures, as well as panel discussions on the role of the Deep State and the significance of the recently declassified 28 Pages, presentations by movement leaders and researchers, and day-long evidentiary hearings on the forensics evidence and eyewitness testimony at World Trade Center’s destruction, which will be conducted by a panel of esteemed lawyers.
Saturday, September 10, 2016 at 10:00 AM - Sunday, September 11, 2016 at 6:30 PM (EDT)
REMARKS: Close to 3,000 people were murdered that day in a systemic, methodically carried out attack, by multinational states and evil big whigs, we all know it. Some people care enough to actually do something about it, and NOT accept the official bullsh*t story. The Bush administration via executive order gave themselves protection and IMMUNITY from prosecution for any "acts of war" going back to 9.11.01, which many found curious since we had not invaded Afghanistan till the end of the month, nor had we even went to Iraq yet, so what "act(s) of war" were they thinking about that could have occurred from 9.11.01 onward? Why did Stratesec (later known as Securacom) call of the bomb sniffing dogs three weeks before 9.11.01? Etc., Etc.
[Edited on 8/27/2016 by gina]
BUMPING THIS TO THE TOP BECAUSE IT NEEDS TO BE THERE. AS THIS IS THE ANNIVERSARY THE 9.11.01 ATACKS, HERE'S SOMETHING YOU MAY NOT HAVE HEARD. THE AFGHANISTAN CONNECTION.
It is the anniversary of the 9.11 attacks, it is also the anniversary of the assassination of Ahmed Shah Masud, who was the leader of the Northern Alliance AND he warned the US in APRIL 2001, yes in APRIL 2001, that there would be attacks on US soil by Al Qaida.
"If President Bush doesn't help us, these terrorists will damage the U.S. and Europe very soon."
Masud gave this warning in an address at the European Parliament in Brussels in April, 2001. He also told EU leaders that he had gathered evidence about an imminent terrorist attack by Al-Qaeda on the U.S. homeland." Masud was killed in Khwaja Bahauddin, a far-flung area in northeast Afghanistan near the Tajikistan border that served as his base of operations. His assassins were identified as Abdessater Dahmane and Bouraoui el-Ouaer -- two men of Tunisian descent who posed as journalists and traveled on Belgian passports. They killed Masud by setting off a camera bomb as they interviewed Masud in his office. The Al-Qaeda militants who killed him were believed to have transited through the Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek, which has since become notorious for being home to several suspects linked to recent terrorist attacks in Brussels and Paris.
Panjshir was a bastion of resistance to the 1979-89 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the last stronghold of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance. Masud's Jamiat-e-Islami political party and military wing was the most successful Mujahedin group fighting against the invading Red Army. From his base in the Panjshir Valley, Masud's men led a successful guerrilla fight against the Soviet forces, which launched several failed operations to claim control of the valley.
http://www.rferl.org/content/things-to-know-about-ahmad-shah-masud/27977756.html
REMARKS: He told the European Parliament in April 2001, that Al Qaida was going to do attacks on the US and Europe. Cheney never scrambled the fighter jets knowing 4 planes had been hijacked.
And what about AFGHANISTAN NOW? Former Taliban Finance Mnister Agha Jan Motasim, (formal name: Sayed Abdul Wasi Motasim holds a rare interview. He can trace his lineage back to Mohammed, the Prophet of Islam, peace be upon him and all his descendants.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/10/world/asia/taliban-agha-jan-motasim.html?_r=0
[Edited on 9/10/2016 by gina]
9.11.01
Bob McIlvaine and his family are not alone in having suffered a devastating personal loss on September 11, 2001. The loved ones of the nearly 3,000 victims of the destruction at the World Trade Center know what he has endured for the past 15 years.
But McIlvaine is different from most of these families in important ways. In addition to his unwavering and often lonely fight to expose what he calls the complicity of the U.S. government in this false flag attack, he has strong forensic evidence proving that his 26-year-old son, Bobby, was killed by a powerful explosion as he was about to enter the lobby of the North Tower. That evidence is corroborated by the accounts of many FDNY members, police officers, and workers who reported that explosions went off in the lower parts of the towers before the buildings were leveled — some of them even before the first airplane struck.
In a recent interview, McIlvaine said that his son’s body was one of the first to be recovered and taken to the New York City morgue on that day. He explained that he has been able to reach more definitive conclusions about the details of his son’s death only since conferring, in either 2006 or 2007, with the doctor who had examined Bobby’s body at the morgue.
That meeting provided McIlvaine with evidence confirming that a huge explosion — and not the North Tower's eventual demise — was responsible for killing his son. According to McIlvaine, the wounds described by the doctor indicated that his son had been hit by flying glass from some kind of gigantic blast. Bobby’s face was damaged beyond recognition, he had lacerations all over his chest from glass shards, and he had post-mortem burn marks. In fact, the blast was strong enough to literally blow Bobby out of his laced shoes (they were not on the body when it was brought to the morgue).
“My final summation is that he was walking into the building, and before he got into the building there was a huge explosion, and of course the force of it just threw him back into the open area,” McIlvaine says. “That’s why he was picked up so quickly, because the EMTs came down there so quickly. Someone had gotten him out of there and to the morgue before the towers came down.”
“He wasn’t hit by a fireball, he was hit by a detonation,” McIlvaine contends. “In a detonation, the blast is first and then followed by the heat.”
He points out that the official account credits the supposed fireball with blowing out floors in different parts of the building — leaving many untouched floors in between the damaged ones.
“It blew out the 72nd floor, it blew out the 23rd floor, it blew out the lobby, it blew out all sorts of floors in the basement, and it even destroyed parts of the PATH [rail] station more than 200 feet away. For one fireball to do all that — well, that’s one powerful fireball.”
This becomes even more impossible, he argues, when you consider that the tower was divided into three vertical sections. Each elevator (except for the basement-to-penthouse maintenance elevator) serviced only one section. Thus, someone travelling from top to bottom would have had to take three different elevators. This configuration would have prevented fuel from pouring down the multiple elevator shafts and causing all that destruction.
In short, says McIlvaine, “It’s impossible for a fireball to come down that far and create that kind of damage.”
A Canadian who worked for Merrill Lynch in 2001 and who was at the World Trade Center that day contacted McIlvaine two years ago. The man explained that he was heading to the same conference on the 106th floor about the same time that Bobby would have been approaching the building. But he had stopped for a coffee on the way — a decision that, in retrospect, he thinks might have saved his life. While ordering his coffee, he heard a massive explosion in the North Tower lobby.
UPDATE TO THE SYRIAN CEASEFIRE
9.10.16
Russia and the US agreed to carry out joint airstrikes IF the ceasfire holds for a week. So what's the point?
But only hours after it was announced, Syria’s army attacked rebel-held areas in the northern city of Aleppo, both sides said, as the military pushed to maximize gains before the ceasefire deadline.
Insurgents said they were planning a counter-offensive. “The fighting is flaring on all the fronts of southern Aleppo but the clashes in Amiryah are the heaviest,” Captain Abdul Salam Abdul Razak, the military spokesman of the rebel Nour al-Din al Zinki Brigades said. “We will jointly agree on strikes against terrorists to be carried out by the Russian and American air forces. We have agreed on the zones in which these strikes will be carried out,” said Lavrov. The truce, agreed after a day of marathon talks in Geneva between Lavrov and his US counterpart John Kerry, will come into force on Monday, the first day of Eid al-Adha. It will be followed by coordinated strikes against Al Nusra jihadist rebels and ISIS – if it holds for a week, Lavrov said. “Only the Russian and American air forces will work in these zones,” Lavrov said.
If the truce holds from Monday, Russia and the United States will begin seven days of preparatory work to set up a “joint implementation center”, where they will share information to delineate territory controlled by Nusra and opposition groups. [sounds like reconnaissance]
Both warring sides would pull back from the strategic Castello Road in Aleppo to create a demilitarized zone, while opposition and government groups would both have to provide safe and unhindered access via Ramouseh in the south of the city. Syria’s moderate Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels said on Saturday they saw were skeptical the deal would be enforced as Damascus and Moscow had continued bombing their areas under earlier truces. Razak, from the rebel Nour al-Din al Zinki Brigades, said they were studying the deal but it appeared it would only give the Syrian army a chance to gather forces and pour more Iranian-backed militias into the main battles raging in Aleppo.
Russian Fighter Jets Bombed Idlib today. Killing at least 25 people.
Iraqi Shiite Militia has dispatched 1,000 fighters to the front lines in Syria to fight for Aleppo.
Hashim al-Moussawi, a spokesman for the Iraqi Shi'ite militia Harakat al-Nujab, said its fighters would reinforce areas captured from the rebels in southern Aleppo. The militia's Twitter account showed pictures of its fighters at the Syrian front with Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani, commander of foreign operations for the elite Revolutionary Guards, who has led operations by Tehran's allies in both Syria and Iraq.
Meanwhile, the plight of some 250,000 civilians trapped in rebel-held districts of Aleppo has spurred international efforts to agree a new humanitarian truce. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry have not reached agreement over the details of a ceasefire.
100,000 People Displaced from Hama, Central Syria over the last two weeks.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/981366/middle-east
REMARKS:
Where can the civilians go until the war is over?
How long will it be till the war is over?
Can't SAFE/ASYLUM zones be set up where these people can go and not be shot at/bombed by mistake?
Can't someone DO SOMETHING to get relief supplies to the 250,000 civilians stuck in Aleppo with no food?
[Edited on 9/10/2016 by gina]
FRANCE AND GERMANY COMBINE FORCES
http://presstv.ir/Detail/2016/09/10/484112/france-germany-eu-joint-military-head-quarters
France and Germany are reportedly planning to launch a joint military headquarters aimed at the eventual unification of all the European Union’s armies.
According to a report recently published by the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and his German counterpart, Ursula von der Leyen, have prepared a six-page document on the subject, which will probably be presented at an upcoming EU summit in Bratislava, RT reported on Saturday. The document proposes the establishment of a “joint and permanent EU military headquarters” tasked with the overseas deployment of EU troops. It also outlines the establishment of EU logistics and medical commands and setting up a common satellite surveillance system. The proposal also refers to the establishment of a “a tighter circle” within EU countries for certain military operations when achieving unanimous agreement from all members is not possible. In June, the EU released a strategy document that suggests the bloc can no more rely on NATO for the provision of security, stressing the need for a “more credible European defense.”
The 60-page document, titled “Shared Vision, Common Action: A Stronger Europe,” was reportedly drafted by Federica Mogherini, the EU’s security and foreign policy chief, and seeks to lay out a new global strategy for the bloc at a time when the “purpose, even existence” of the EU “is being questioned.”
REMARKS: Global strategy. The beginning of a bloc, successor to NATO? Beginning of the ultimate one world army, one world govt., one world order. It doesn't happen overnight, it happens in steps and stages. This could be one of them.
UN Meeting(s) this week - SYRIAN CEASE FIRE/REFUGEE CRISES
[there are 65 million refugees displaced from their countries due to the wars going on].
Turkish President Erdogan to address UN Assembly 9.20.16
http://www.dailysabah.com/politics/2016/09/17/president-erdogan-to-address-un-general-assembly
"The United States, Russia and other key players involved in the Syria peace process are set to meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, a US spokesman says.
Twenty foreign ministers from the so-called International Syria Support Group are expected to meet after Syria announced the end of a recently implemented truce in the country, US State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said Monday." Russian officials said that monitors in Syria had registered 53 ceasefire violations across the country over the past 24 hours.
http://presstv.ir/Detail/2016/09/19/485487/US-Russia-Syria-peace-process
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/news/middle-east/391599/syria-army-declares-end-of-ceasefire
It's been said that the Syrian Army never agreed to any of the terms of the cease fire, and now cease fire is officially over.
REMARKS: There is a difference between cease fire, and a peace process. The ceasefire was only until the US and Russians could work out plans for joint strikes to resume on Syria after one week's time. A cease fire is different than a peace process.
THE UN Is Holding It's first ever Conference on the refugee problem.
The issue of what to do about the world’s 65.3 million displaced people takes center stage at the United Nations General Assembly on Monday when leaders from around the globe converge on New York for the first-ever summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants.
Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Nayef, said the kingdom ranked as the third country worldwide in terms of providing humanitarian relief and development assistance, having provided over the past four decades about $139bln in aid. He confirmed that Saudi welcomed more than two-and-a-half million since the Syrian crisis. He explained that the kingdom did not receive them as, or make their status as refugees. Nor, he said, had they been placed in asylum camps, so to preserve their dignity and integrity. He said that instead the kingdom had given them full freedom of movement allowing them to enter the labor market and receive free health care.
REMARK: In addition to those who are disgruntled and already living here, reporters and others can see the dangers even of having Syrian refugees here, but the power that be want to bring them here and I don't think the odds of peace are in our favor. Trump had the idea that if people are travelling to countries where we are at war fighting terror someone should look into where the people are going when they go back home, and they should not be allowed to stay there for more than 30 days at a time. It is another part of foreign policy that needs to be looked at. Muslim countries admitting Muslims face less risk of terror attacks than we do.
http://nation.foxnews.com/2016/09/19/1-5-syrian-refugees-settled-new-york-a rea-obama-wants-more
Even some Saudis had their visas cancelled.
http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-arabia/60-saudis-lose-us-student-visa/
The Saudi Cultural Attache in the United States Mohammad Al-Essa said the visas were canceled due to violations to the American Migration Law. “The violations include containing violent or unethical material on mobile phones, committing traffic violations and transferring to a different university without informing the previous university. Some of the students that had their visas canceled were in Saudi Arabia during the summer and others were notified when they arrived into US airports,” said Al-Essa.
REMARKS: The problem(s) are not just with admitting or not admitting refugees. The Visa Waiver program has it's own issues with SOME of the participants. Angus King from Maine understands this, why doesn't anyone else?
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/19/politics/angus-king-isis-visa-waiver-refugees/index.html
http://www.king.senate.gov/download/?id=18452E68-7E62-4BF5-8A2A-BED8E05464A4&inline=file
[Edited on 9/19/2016 by gina]
YEMEN
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/news/qatar/391280/emir-performs-funeral-prayers-for-three-martyrs
Wars create refugees and martyrs, is there no other way?
[Edited on 9/19/2016 by gina]
BELGIUM /
If you thought it was only the ISIS members who were angry in Belgium, think again. Thousands of protesters turned out in Brussels to protest the partnerships the US wants to enact.
More than 5,000 demonstrators have staged a mass protest outside the EU headquarters in Brussels against the controversial European Union deals with Washington and Canada. Police said on Tuesday that the protesters had gathered to express anger at the planned Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the United States, and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada.
The angry demonstrators chanted slogans against the deals holding placards reading, "TTIP, CETA, we don't want them."
http://presstv.ir/Detail/2016/09/20/485625/EU-US-Canada-Brussels-TTIP-CETA
MRS. CLOONEY HAS A CAUSE FOR THE UNITED NATIONS / SYRIA/ AFGHANISTAN
That's right Amal Clooney, George's wife has taken her cause to the United Nations to prosecute Isis for their treatement of the Yazidi women.
"The two women said not one Islamic State militant has been tried for atrocities. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson suggested that could change soon. Johnson, whose country helped organize a meeting of foreign ministers to address efforts to prosecute Islamic State militants, said he and Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari would urge the U.N. to take the lead on “the vital gathering and the preserving of evidence” of crimes committed by the group. Nadia Murad, who was captured by the militants in 2014, said she was repeatedly raped and prayed for death until she escaped. Named U.N. special ambassador last week, the 23-year-old appealed to the world to “stop the extermination of my people.”
http://yalibnan.com/2016/09/20/amal-clooney-and-yazidi-rape-victim-demand-prosecution-of-isis/
MEANWHILE, things were not as boring as usual at the UN this time. Ban Ki Moon left the stage in disgust with world leaders regarding the Syrian situation.
"UNITED NATIONS: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon railed Tuesday against leaders who keep “feeding the war machine” in Syria as he bowed out of the world stage, while President Barack Obama said there was no military solution to the 5-year-old conflict and described a globe in the throes of a contest between authoritarianism and democracy.
“Present in this hall today are representatives of governments that have ignored, facilitated, funded, participated in or even planned and carried out atrocities inflicted by all sides of the Syria conflict against Syrian civilians,” he said.
Footage of a drone striking a UN Aid convoy. The US claims a Russian drone struck Them. Russia has pointed out that an insurgent pick up truck was near the convoy and would have intercepted them.
http://presstv.ir/Detail/2016/09/20/485641/russia-footage-drone-un-aid-convoy
AFGHANISTAN - The US hit Afghan police with their drone strike(s).
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/20/world/asia/afghanistan-us-airstrike-oruzgan.html?ref=world&_r=0
[Edited on 9/20/2016 by gina]
LINK for UN info
https://www.un.org/sg/en/spokesperson
http://www.un.org/press/en/content/noon-briefings
NORTH KOREA/UN JAPAN/ OIL PRICE STABILIZATION
Just when you think things may be quiet for a little while, guess again. South Korea, not only WANTS to remove Kim Jung Un from power, but has a plan to do it. South Korea of course is a US ally.
"Defense Minister Han Min-koo also said Seoul needs to increase the number of full-time troops if it is to resist an armed North Korean invasion, South Korean news network YTN reported Wednesday. Han told lawmakers at South Korea's National Assembly there is "a plan" to assemble a unit that could target the North Korean leadership, referring to a plan known as the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation, or KMPR, local news service News 1 reported. "If it becomes clear the enemy intends to use nuclear-tipped missiles, in order to suppress its aims, the concept [of the special forces] is to retaliate against key areas that include the North Korean leadership," Han said Wednesday. ... "
REMARKS: This is reminiscent of the justification for going to IRAQ. We 'know he has WMD's. If South Korea believes or thinks North Korea is going to strike at them, will they act first? Possibly.
"Kill Chain - pre-emptive strike system", means they are enabled to strike first before N. Korea does. The Japanese Foreign Minister recently said that he believed N. Korea had missiles that could reach Denver, Colorado. This was during their missile launches at Japan. If war is waged upon North Korea, it will not just be between South Korea and them. The US will be involved. So what could possibly happen to disrupt the election here? War with North Korea is one of the possibilities.
The Japanese Prime Minister Abe calls for resolute UN action against DPR Korea’s nuclear threat
https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=55010#.V-MLoNiA2JA
OIL AND OPEC
OPEC members could decide to hold an extraordinary meeting to discuss oil prices immediately after an informal gathering in Algiers next week, Algerian Energy Minister Noureddine Bouterfa said on Tuesday. Bouterfa told local radio he was optimistic that participants would reach a consensus on how to stabilise the oil markets at the Algiers meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC producers on Sept. 26-28.
"Oil ministers may decide to hold an extraordinary meeting immediately," he said.
[Edited on 9/21/2016 by gina]
AFGHANISTAN
Kabul: Afghanistan was set Thursday to sign a draft peace agreement with notorious warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, paving the way for his political return despite a history of war crimes and after years in hiding. Hekmatyar, who heads the now largely dormant Hezb-i-Islami militant group, is the latest in a series of controversial figures that Kabul has sought to reintegrate in the post-Taliban era. The deal with Afghanistan's second-biggest militant group marks a symbolic victory for President Ashraf Ghani, who has struggled to revive peace talks with the more powerful Taliban.
The government said an "initial draft agreement" would be signed on Thursday by Hekmatyar's delegation and Afghanistan's High Peace Council (HPC), responsible for reconciliation efforts with militants. "Fortunately, after two years of negotiations between the Afghanistan's High Peace Council and the Hizb-e-Islami, the peace negotiations have been successfully completed, and a (draft) agreement between both sides has been finalised," the HPC said in a statement.
REMARKS: Quite often when Afghans and Pakistani Amirs, mujahideen have been ready or signed peace deals, they end up being assassinated. It started with Nek Mohammed, and it has not changed since that time. What seems like a victory for peace, may not work out that way for him, particularly since Isis has not stopped their incursions into Afghanistan. AND Not everyone is happy with the peace offering to Gilbuddin Hekmatyar.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/22/butcher-of-kabul-pardoned-in-afghan-peace-deal
[Edited on 9/23/2016 by gina]
KSA AND TERRORISM AND CONGRESS IS AT IT AGAIN
With the recent vote by Congress to allow US citizens to sue Saudi Arabia for the deaths that occurred on 9.11.01, and President Obama saying he will veto that, I think it is important for people to understand that Saudi actually dealt with terrorism before 9.11.01. Most people are not aware of these things.
http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-arabia/crown-prince-saudi-arabia-suffered-terrorism-way-911/
The Crown Prince said since 1992, Saudi Arabia had confronted 100 terrorism operations, including 18 terrorist attacks “implemented by elements linked to regional countries.” He added: “Saudi Arabia is now part of 12 international agreements to fight terrorism,” and it heads in “partnership” with the United States and Italy a group combating Daesh funding. Saudi Arabia “was one of the first countries that denounced September 11.”
“The security apparatus in Saudi Arabia has foiled 268 terrorist operations, including operations against friendly states such as United States,” he said.
He said Saudi Arabia was “puzzled”, alongside the international community, over the US Congress passing the so-called Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA).
The Crown Prince reiterated the Saudi stance that if the law is passed it will violate international law.
He said combating terrorism should be a “joint international responsibility… We call for cooperation as per the international law and principles on which the UN was built, which equates the sovereignty of all nations.”
The Crown Prince also stressed that the Middle East should be free of nuclear arms and Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs), and called for launching an international conference to make this objective a reality.
REMARKS: I do not believe that Saudi deliberately funded anyone knowing that the funds would be used for terrorist attacks. On that basis, they should not be sued.
CONGRESS WANTS PAKISTAN TO BE DECLARED A STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM
Yep, they are at it again. Voting to let US citizens sue Saudia Arabia was not enough.
The bill titled the Pakistan State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation Act was introduced by Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism Ted Poe and Congressman Dana Rohrabacher at a time when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is in the US to address the United Nations General Assembly. It is time we stop paying Pakistan for its betrayal and designate it for what it is: a state sponsor of terrorism," the lawmaker said. He added that US President Barack Obama must issue a report within 90 days of passage of the bill detailing whether or not Pakistan has provided support for 'international terrorism'. "Thirty days after that, the Secretary of State must issue a follow-up report containing either a determination that Pakistan is state sponsor of terrorism or a detailed justification as to why Pakistan does not meet the legal criteria for designation," he said.
REMARKS: These legislators really do not know what goes on in other countries. If Hillary does win, this could get real interesting, since she has been Secretary of State all this time, surely she should know what has gone on over there. Would they demand the same answers from her, or are they just harassing Obama? Trump? He would take his plane over there, sit down with officials and get to the bottom of whatever happens over there. 2017 will be an interesting time in US history.
[Edited on 9/23/2016 by gina]
SYRIA - Interview with Assad
Q: Do you believe there could ever be a joint US-Russian military partnership against the militants, as outlined in the deal?
A: Again, practically, yes, but in reality, no, because the United States doesn't have the will to work against al-Nusra or even ISIS, because they believe that this is a card they can use for their own agenda. If they attack al-Nusra or ISIS, they will lose a very important card regarding the situation in Syria. So, I don't believe the United States will be ready to join Russia in fighting terrorists in Syria.
Q: Your administration has denied the use of chemical weapons, of barrel bombs, despite testimony and video and the results of a UN investigation. We also are hearing similar denials about airstrikes on civilians and medical workers. Can this all be false allegations by your opponents?
A: First of all, the first incident of gas use in Syria was in Aleppo about more than three years ago, and we were the ones who invited the United Nations to send a delegation for investigations about the use of chemical weapons, and the United States objected and opposed that action for one reason; because if there's investigations, they're going to discover that the terrorists used gas, not the Syrian Army. In that regard, in that case, the United States won't be able to accuse Syria. That's why they were opposing that delegation. In every incident, we asked the United Nations to send a delegation, and we are still insisting on that position, that they have to send delegations to make investigation, but the United States is opposing. So, actually, if we've been using that, we wouldn't ask for investigation.
[so the mustard gas that is being used, Isis has that? Where did they get it from?]
Q: Have you been to Aleppo recently? Will you go to Aleppo?
A: Of course I will go.
Q: And how does it feel for you to see the devastation in parts of what was known as the jewel of Syria?
A: Devastation is painful, of course, but we can rebuild our country. We're going to do that. Someday the war will stop. The most painful is the devastation of the society, the killing, the blood-shedding, something we live with every hour and every day. But how would I think? I think when I see those pictures how would Western officials feel when they look at this devastation and these killing pictures and they know that their hands are stained with their blood, that they committed the crime directly in killing those people and destroying our civilization. That's what I think about.
Q: My last question: The US election is now just a few weeks away. How do you expect that a Clinton or Trump presidency would differ in terms of US policy towards Syria, and specifically towards you?
A: The problem with every American candidate regarding the presidency, I am not talking only about this campaign or elections, but generally, that they say something during the campaign and they do the opposite after the campaign. As we see now the American officials, they say something in the morning and they do the opposite in the evening. So, you cannot judge those people according to what they say. You cannot take them at their words, to be frank. We don't listen to their statements, we don't care about it, we don't believe it. We have to wait till they become presidents, we have to watch their policy and their actions and their behaviors. We do not have a lot of expectations, we never had. We have hopes that we can see rational American presidents; fair, obey the international law, deal with other countries according to mutual respect, parity, etc., but we all know that this is only wishful thinking and fantasy.
REMARKS: Syria still has hope of the US obeying international law, dealing with countries according to mutual respect, but they know it will not happen. Isn't that sad? They know what could happen, what they want to happen, and it would mean peace in the world. People still dare to hope for peace, even living in war torn countries. Maybe we need to Make The World Great Again, but we'll have to start by making America Great Again.
Britain is getting more spies. Can spies help make peace?
[Edited on 9/22/2016 by gina]
IRAQ
The US is reportedly using liquid phosphorus in Iraq.
"Pictures and videos posted online by the Pentagon shows US forces in Iraq have used white phosphorus munitions, a chemical weapon that can cause severe burn wounds to civilians. Based on images posted on Pentagon-managed public affairs website, DVIDS, The Washington Post reported on Friday that a US Army artillery unit was using the controversial chemical weapon in Iraq. The weapon, which was identified by the Post as M825A1 155mm rounds, are generally used to make smoke screens or signals for advancing troops. But when used in civilian-populated areas, the munitions can cause horrific injuries that can even be dangerous for medics treating the wounds, according to the report."
The US had formerly used the chemical munitions in Iraq and Afghanistan. In a specific incident which occurred in 2009 in Afghanistan, an 8-year-old girl burned to death with the munitions in Kapisa province.
SYRIA - Aleppo
Two million people are without water, relentless airstrikes continue.
SYRIA - Why There Is a War There
By Mike Whitney
“Secret cables and reports by the U.S., Saudi and Israeli intelligence agencies indicate that the moment Assad rejected the Qatari pipeline, military and intelligence planners quickly arrived at the consensus that fomenting a Sunni uprising in Syria to overthrow the uncooperative Bashar Assad was a feasible path to achieving the shared objective of completing the Qatar/Turkey gas link. In 2009, according to WikiLeaks, soon after Bashar Assad rejected the Qatar pipeline, the CIA began funding opposition groups in Syria.”
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Why the Arabs don’t want us in Syria, Politico
The conflict in Syria is not a war in the conventional sense of the word. It is a regime change operation, just like Libya and Iraq were regime change operations.
The main driver of the conflict is the country that’s toppled more than 50 sovereign governments since the end of World War 2. (See: Bill Blum here.) We’re talking about the United States of course.
Washington is the hands-down regime change champion, no one else even comes close. That being the case, one might assume that the American people would notice the pattern of intervention, see through the propaganda and assign blame accordingly. But that never seems to happen and it probably won’t happen here either. No matter how compelling the evidence may be, the brainwashed American people always believe their government is doing the right thing.
But the United States is not doing the right thing in Syria. Arming, training and funding Islamic extremists — that have killed half a million people, displaced 7 million more and turned the country into an uninhabitable wastelands –is not the right thing. It is the wrong thing, the immoral thing. And the US is involved in this conflict for all the wrong reasons, the foremost of which is gas. The US wants to install a puppet regime in Damascus so it can secure pipeline corridors in the East, oversee the transport of vital energy reserves from Qatar to the EU, and make sure that those reserves continue to be denominated in US Dollars that are recycled into US Treasuries and US financial assets. This is the basic recipe for maintaining US dominance in the Middle East and for extending America’s imperial grip on global power into the future.
The war in Syria did not begin when the government of Bashar al Assad cracked down on protestors in the spring of 2011. That version of events is obfuscating hogwash. The war began in 2009, when Assad rejected a Qatari plan to transport gas from Qatar to the EU via Syria. As Robert F Kennedy Jr. explains in his excellent article “Syria: Another pipeline War”:
“The $10 billion, 1,500km pipeline through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and Turkey….would have linked Qatar directly to European energy markets via distribution terminals in Turkey… The Qatar/Turkey pipeline would have given the Sunni Kingdoms of the Persian Gulf decisive domination of world natural gas markets and strengthen Qatar, America’s closest ally in the Arab world. ….
In 2009, Assad announced that he would refuse to sign the agreement to allow the pipeline to run through Syria “to protect the interests of our Russian ally….
Assad further enraged the Gulf’s Sunni monarchs by endorsing a Russian approved “Islamic pipeline” running from Iran’s side of the gas field through Syria and to the ports of Lebanon. The Islamic pipeline would make Shia Iran instead of Sunni Qatar, the principal supplier to the European energy market and dramatically increase Tehran’s influence in the Mid-East and the world…”
Naturally, the Saudis, Qataris, Turks and Americans were furious at Assad, but what could they do? How could they prevent him from choosing his own business partners and using his own sovereign territory to transport gas to market?
What they could do is what any good Mafia Don would do; break a few legs and steal whatever he wanted. In this particular situation, Washington and its scheming allies decided to launch a clandestine proxy-war against Damascus, kill or depose Assad, and make damn sure the western oil giants nabbed the future pipeline contracts and controlled the flow of energy to Europe. That was the plan at least. Here’s more from Kennedy:
“Secret cables and reports by the U.S., Saudi and Israeli intelligence agencies indicate that the moment Assad rejected the Qatari pipeline, military and intelligence planners quickly arrived at the consensus that fomenting a Sunni uprising in Syria to overthrow the uncooperative Bashar Assad was a feasible path to achieving the shared objective of completing the Qatar/Turkey gas link. In 2009, according to WikiLeaks, soon after Bashar Assad rejected the Qatar pipeline, the CIA began funding opposition groups in Syria.
Repeat: “the moment Assad rejected the Qatari pipeline”, he signed his own death warrant. That single act was the catalyst for the US aggression that transformed a bustling, five thousand-year old civilization into a desolate Falluja-like moonscape overflowing with homicidal fanatics that were recruited, groomed and deployed by the various allied intelligence agencies.
But what’s particularly interesting about this story is that the US attempted a nearly-identical plan 60 years earlier during the Eisenhower administration. Here’s another clip from the Kennedy piece:
“During the 1950′s, President Eisenhower and the Dulles brothers … mounted a clandestine war against Arab Nationalism — which CIA Director Allan Dulles equated with communism — particularly when Arab self-rule threatened oil concessions. They pumped secret American military aid to tyrants in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon favoring puppets with conservative Jihadist ideologies which they regarded as a reliable antidote to Soviet Marxism….
The CIA began its active meddling in Syria in 1949 — barely a year after the agency’s creation…. Syria’s democratically elected president, Shukri-al-Kuwaiti, hesitated to approve the Trans Arabian Pipeline, an American project intended to connect the oil fields of Saudi Arabia to the ports of Lebanon via Syria. (so)… the CIA engineered a coup, replacing al-Kuwaiti with the CIA’s handpicked dictator, a convicted swindler named Husni al-Za’im. Al-Za’im barely had time to dissolve parliament and approve the American pipeline before his countrymen deposed him, 14 weeks into his regime…..
(CIA agent Rocky) Stone arrived in Damascus in April 1956 with $3 million in Syrian pounds to arm and incite Islamic militants and to bribe Syrian military officers and politicians to overthrow al-Kuwaiti’s democratically elected secularist regime….
But all that CIA money failed to corrupt the Syrian military officers. The soldiers reported the CIA’s bribery attempts to the Ba’athist regime. In response, the Syrian army invaded the American Embassy taking Stone prisoner. Following harsh interrogation, Stone made a televised confession to his roles in the Iranian coup and the CIA’s aborted attempt to overthrow Syria’s legitimate government….(Then) Syria purged all politicians sympathetic to the U.S. and executed them for treason.” (Politico)
See how history is repeating itself? It’s like the CIA was too lazy to even write a new script, they just dusted off the old one and hired new actors.
Fortunately, Assad –with the help of Iran, Hezbollah and the Russian Airforce– has fended off the effort to oust him and install a US-stooge. This should not be taken as a ringing endorsement of Assad as a leader, but of the principal that global security depends on basic protections of national sovereignty, and that the cornerstone of international law has to be a rejection of unprovoked aggression whether the hostilities are executed by one’s own military or by armed proxies that are used to achieve the same strategic objectives while invoking plausible deniability. The fact is, there is no difference between Bush’s invasion of Iraq and Obama’s invasion of Syria. The moral, ethical and legal issues are the same, the only difference is that Obama has been more successful in confusing the American people about what is really going on.
And what’s going on is regime change: “Assad must go”. That’s been the administration’s mantra from the get go. Obama and Co are trying to overthrow a democratically-elected secular regime that refuses to bow to Washington’s demands to provide access to pipeline corridors that will further strengthen US dominance in the region. That’s what’s really going on behind the ISIS distraction and the “Assad is a brutal dictator” distraction and the “war-weary civilians in Aleppo” distraction. Washington doesn’t care about any of those things. What Washington cares about is oil, power and money. How can anyone be confused about that by now? Kennedy summed it up like this:
“We must recognize the Syrian conflict is a war over control of resources indistinguishable from the myriad clandestine and undeclared oil wars we have been fighting in the Mid-East for 65 years. And only when we see this conflict as a proxy war over a pipeline do events become comprehensible.”
That says it all, don’t you think?
Join the debate on Facebook
MIKE WHITNEY lives in Washington state. He is a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion (AK Press). Hopeless is also available in a Kindle edition. He can be reached at fergiewhitney@msn.com.
TURKEY / SYRIAN WALL TO BE COMPLETED IN 5 MONTHS
Turkey is not fooling around. They are building a wall to keep Syrian refugees out, and it will eb completed in five months time. They started it in 2014.
http://presstv.ir/Detail/2016/09/28/486811/Turkey-wall-Syria-border
REMARKS: Want to stop illegal immigration? Build a wall like this. Problem solved. Okay, the border we have is longer, but so what, it can be done.
ISIS - Reports that Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi has been poisoned over the weekend but still alive.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950712000463
Iraq's Sumeriya News cited a local source in the Northwestern Nineveh Province as saying that “accurate information” showed Baghdadi’s food had been poisoned by unknown individuals and the food was given to him in the Be’aaj district, Northwest of the Iraqi province of Nineveh near the Syrian border. The report on poisoning al-Baghdadi surfaced after media revealed on Sunday that ISIL's top commanders, including al-Baghdadi, have started fleeing Mosul for Syria.
"The ISIL commanders, including al-Baghdadi, are escaping Mosul to Syria," Iraqi Kurdistan Democrat Party's media director Saeed Mamouziti said.
AFRICA
The US is building a $100 MILLION DOLLAR drone base in Africa.
Air Force documents submitted to Congress in 2015 note that the U.S. “negotiated an agreement with the government of Niger to allow for the construction of a new runway and all associated pavements, facilities, and infrastructure adjacent to the Niger Armed Force’s Base Aerienne 201 (Airbase 201) south of the city of Agadez.” When the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2016 was introduced last April, embedded in it was a $50 million request for the construction of an “airfield and base camp at Agadez, Niger … to support operations in western Africa.” When President Obama signed the defense bill, that sum was authorized.
The files obtained by The Intercept attest to the importance of Agadez for future missions by drones, also known as remotely piloted aircraft or RPAs. “The top MILCON [military construction] project for USAFRICOM is located in Agadez, Niger to construct a C-17 and MQ-9 capable airfield,” reads a 2015 planning document. “RPA presence in NW Africa supports operations against seven [Department of State]-designated foreign terrorist organizations. Moving operations to Agadez aligns persistent ISR to current and emerging threats over Niger and Chad, supports French regionalization and extends range to cover Libya and Nigeria.”
According to the documents, Niger was the “only country in NW Africa willing to allow basing of MQ-9s,” the larger, newer cousins of the Predator drone. The documents went on to note: “President expressed willingness to support armed RPAs.”
REMARKS: General Wesley Clark said (seven countries in five years) the US would be going into the Sudan to acquire their oil. Other things I have read indicate we will be fighting in Somalia and Ethiopia next year. What remains to be seen is if Al Qaida inspired rebels assist the US in taking down the govts. there. A caliphate in the Sudan would be nice homage to Osama, being that Assad and Russia are aligned there will not be peace in Syria anytime soon. But would they join the US proxy forces to do it?
Seven countries in five years. Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Iran. So how are we doing? Right on schedule?
[Edited on 10/4/2016 by gina]
10.14.16 SYRIA - US troops to be in harms way, Russia can nuke them
US Sending 300 troops to Raqaa.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950724001105
Russia Sending Warships to Mediterranean via Britain
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/10/15/489188/UK-Russia-conflict-Royal-Navy-aircraft-British-Channel-NATO
Britain will escort the warships past it's borders.
Russia plans to deploy its warship, Admiral Kuznetsov, along with several other military vessels, including a nuclear-powered cruiser, off the coast of Syria, where they are expected to take up position for almost half a year, The Telegraph reported. There it could use its jets and helicopters to carry out airstrikes against militants in Syria. General Richard Barrons, who was head of Britain's Joint Forces Command, warned the Defense Ministry in a ten-page private memorandum that the country would quickly be overwhelmed by a concerted Russian air campaign, according to the report.
Fighters in Mosul tried to defect from Isis, rebellion put down.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-iraq-mosul-exclusive-idUKKBN12E0ZU
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950724001284
The US is sending 500 more troops to Mosul. Isis will decimate them already embolden by being able to put down dissent within their own ranks.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950724001284
Major Operation to begin in Mosul. 65,000 Iraqi and allied troops. 800,000 more refugees will be created.
REMARKS: So the US sends ground troops, Russia is sending nuclear armed warships to the Mediterranean who can fire weapons into Syria. So the troops we send can get nuked if Russia sends their missiles after they arrive off the Mediterranean coast. In Mosul they will face mustard and chlorine gas which Iraqi intelligence already reported to news media Isis has and will use.
[Edited on 10/15/2016 by gina]
TURKEY
Turkey has said that if the US does not change it's policies with Russia in regard to the war in Syria, we will end up in a war with Russia. Most people know that if we do end up in a war with Russia, it will be a nuclear war. This is what the administrations we have had so far in this country have led us to. I am not going to single out Obama and blame him, because he inherited a pile of problems. Hillary has not provided foreign policy change as Secretary of State, so maybe we should consider Trump, whom Putin says he could work with and broker peace with.
Agence France Presse
ANKARA, Turkey: Turkey said on Wednesday it fears the world will be plunged into a global conflict with superpowers Russia and the US on opposing sides if the proxy war in Syria continues.
"If this proxy war continues, after this, let me be clear, America and Russia will come to a point of war," Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said in an interview with official Anadolu news agency. Kurtulmus warned that the Syrian conflict had put the world "on the brink of the beginning of a large regional or global war".
While Turkey and its Western allies call for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down, Moscow is a key backer of the regime in Damascus alongside Iran.
REMARKS: Do you want a global war with Russia? Then we need a change in leadership.
[Edited on 10/15/2016 by gina]
