#1681
Post rating: +
as part of saudi-qatar spat, saudi media publishing qatar-alqaeda links

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2017/06/01/These-are-the-most-prominent-Qataris-accused-of-financing-terrorism.html
#1682
Online
Post rating: +
lol
#1683
Post rating: +

xipe posted:

as part of saudi-qatar spat, saudi media publishing qatar-alqaeda links

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2017/06/01/These-are-the-most-prominent-Qataris-accused-of-financing-terrorism.html



UAE media suggesting regime-change in Qatar

http://m.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/qatar-should-stop-funding-terrorism-says-leading-opposition-figure

Meanwhile the UAE ambassador email hacked, revealing ties with Israel and bribes of US officials

https://theintercept.com/2017/06/03/hacked-emails-show-top-uae-diplomat-coordinating-with-pro-israel-neocon-think-tank-against-iran/

#1684
Post rating: +

xipe posted:

xipe posted:

as part of saudi-qatar spat, saudi media publishing qatar-alqaeda links

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2017/06/01/These-are-the-most-prominent-Qataris-accused-of-financing-terrorism.html

UAE media suggesting regime-change in Qatar

http://m.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/qatar-should-stop-funding-terrorism-says-leading-opposition-figure

Meanwhile the UAE ambassador email hacked, revealing ties with Israel and bribes of US officials

https://theintercept.com/2017/06/03/hacked-emails-show-top-uae-diplomat-coordinating-with-pro-israel-neocon-think-tank-against-iran/


#1685
Post rating: +
Nothing to see here, just the US casually dropping chemical weapons on civilian neighborhoods in Iraq

http://www.stalkerzone.org/scorched-earth-policy-us-bombs-residents-iraq-white-phosphorus/
#1686
Online
Post rating: +

xipe posted:

Nothing to see here, just the US casually dropping chemical weapons on civilian neighborhoods in Iraq

http://www.stalkerzone.org/scorched-earth-policy-us-bombs-residents-iraq-white-phosphorus/


#1687
Post rating: +
It's claimed the US hit a hospital with those phosphor shells too.

In Yemen last night saudi-us bombed a cholera treatment clinic amidst the exponentially growing epidemic there

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/amp/english/news/Saudi-Warplanes-Strike-Yemen-Hospital-amid-Cholera-Epidemic-20170604-0010.html
#1688
Post rating: ~
Saudi, Egypt, UAE and Bahrain have cut ties with Qatar
#1689
mt.real
Post rating: ~
it's not just diplomatic ties, all Qatari citizens have 14 days to get out of the UAE. seems like some serious shit going down. i don't even have time to follow all the power blocs and moves anymore, i don't know what the fuck is going on
#1690
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Funny how this happens the moment the emirs say Iran is quite alright: https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2017/05/24/Qatar-says-Iran-an-Islamic-power-its-ties-with-Israel-good-.html
#1691
chickeon
Post rating: ~
So uh, what's the deal with the SDF/Saudi alliance stuff? is that legit? seems extremely worrying
#1692
[account deactivated]
#1693
Online
Post rating: +++++

#1694
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just 4 months eh? edging ever closer to the prophesied 1-day turnaround between absurdist dril tweet and its sincere counterpart
#1695
Online
Post rating: +
fuck, terrorists shot down a syrian jet
#1696
Post rating: +


this seems bad
#1697
Online
Post rating: +
I think it's necessary. Russia clearly has more committed to Syria than the US has, yet the US has been running around like an unchained dog. Just in the past 3 weeks they've hit pro-Syrian forces three times and now they've shot down a Syrian jet. They need to be told in no uncertain terms that this is unacceptable. They're citing self-defense in shooting down Syrian planes in Syria, and they didn't even agree to the proposals for de-confliction zones either. Their behavior is completely outrageous and dangerous and they have no legal basis for it either.

Edited by ilmdge ()

#1698
Post rating: +
agreed but the US provocation and brinkmanship is terrifying. maybe they're just mad russia killed al-baghdadi
#1699
Post rating: +

thirdplace posted:

this seems bad


I'm seeing subsequent chatter that this should be taken very literally--that they're not threatening to shoot down US planes, but just to stay locked onto them with targeting systems

#1700
Poronto
Post rating: +
i wd suspect the last thing russia actually wants to do is shoot down any us jets tho
#1701
Post rating: +
oh i dont know. i mean who doesnt WANT to
#1702
Online
Post rating: +
#1703
Online
Post rating: +
#1704
chickeon
Post rating: +
that's pretty crazy i was almost certain he was going to push for escalation
#1705
Online
Post rating: +
cosmopolitan finance capitalism that DOESN'T want regime change all around the world?

"France was wrong to join the war in Libya. What were the outcomes of these invasions? Destroyed countries in which terrorist groups thrive. I do not want that to happen in Syria," Macron said in an interview for European media, a part of which was published by Il Corriere della Sera newspaper.
#1706
Post rating: ~
"Macron said that on Syria: “My profound conviction is that we need a political and diplomatic roadmap. We won’t solve the question only with military force. That is a collective error we have made. The real change I’ve made on this question, is that I haven’t said the deposing of Bashar al-Assad is a prerequisite for everything. Because no one has introduced me to his legitimate successor! My line is clear: one, a total fight against terrorist groups. They are our enemies .... We need the cooperation of everyone to eradicate them, particularly Russia. Two: stability in Syria, because I don’t want a failed state. With me, there will be an end to the kind neoconservatism imported into France over the last 10 years."

https://t.co/F7zHvBixsT

#1707
Post rating: +
This may very well turn out to be as fleeting as Trump's campaign rhetoric, particularly since he still insists on acting on certain "red lines." He rejects "neoconservativism" but still promises to intervene based on criteria (weapons of mass destruction, humanitarian assistance) that neocons have invoked in the past.

Edited by RedMaistre ()

#1708
Post rating: +
when trump said the same thing a few months back there was a chemical attack within days.

back then the 'international coalition' against syria seemed solid, now it has really fallen apart however.

its possible that russia shot down a big $200mil US communications drone over the med, which the US is covering up.

also turkey is massing its military + mercenaries to invade YPG areas.

in recent weeks the PYD/YPG have moved distinctively towards the US and Saudi arabia...

israel meanwhile seems to be hinting at a start towards aggression, moving tanks in occupied palestine and announcing a war with lebanon will involve a lot of bombing
#1709
chickeon
Post rating: ~
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/weapons-provided-to-ypg-militants-will-be-taken-back-after-isil-defeated-us-defense-secretary.aspx?pageID=238&nID=114640&NewsCatID=358
#1710
Online
Post rating: +
al qaedas air force is getting bold

#1711
Post rating: ~
if Israel succeeds at installing a Wahhabist government next door i bet it will be cool forever with their claim on the Golan Heights
#1712
Post rating: +

chickeon posted:

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/weapons-provided-to-ypg-militants-will-be-taken-back-after-isil-defeated-us-defense-secretary.aspx?pageID=238&nID=114640&NewsCatID=358


the department of defense has trained an elite unit of sorcerers, masters of space and time. they will patriotically deploy their eldritch secrets to raise the dead, unboil eggs, and take back weapons from active militias with absolutely no complications or unforeseen consequences.

#1713
Post rating: +++++
https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article165905578/Trump-s-Red-Line.html

Within hours of viewing the photos, the adviser said, Trump instructed the national defense apparatus to plan for retaliation against Syria. “He did this before he talked to anybody about it. The planners then asked the CIA and DIA if there was any evidence that Syria had sarin stored at a nearby airport or somewhere in the area. Their military had to have it somewhere in the area in order to bomb with it.” “The answer was, ‘We have no evidence that Syria had sarin or used it,’” the adviser said. “The CIA also told them that there was no residual delivery for sarin at Sheyrat and Assad had no motive to commit political suicide.” Everyone involved, except perhaps the president, also understood that a highly skilled United Nations team had spent more than a year in the aftermath of an alleged sarin attack in 2013 by Syria, removing what was said to be all chemical weapons from a dozen Syrian chemical weapons depots.

At this point, the adviser said, the president’s national security planners were more than a little rattled: “No one knew the provenance of the photographs. We didn’t know who the children were or how they got hurt. Sarin actually is very easy to detect because it penetrates paint, and all one would have to do is get a paint sample. We knew there was a cloud and we knew it hurt people. But you cannot jump from there to certainty that Assad had hidden sarin from the UN because he wanted to use it in Khan Sheikhoun.” The intelligence made clear that a Syrian Air Force SU-24 fighter bomber had used a conventional weapon to hit its target: There had been no chemical warhead. And yet it was impossible for the experts to persuade the president of this once he had made up his mind. “The president saw the photographs of poisoned little girls and said it was an Assad atrocity,” the senior adviser said. “It’s typical of human nature. You jump to the conclusion you want. Intelligence analysts do not argue with a president. They’re not going to tell the president, ‘if you interpret the data this way, I quit.’”

The national security advisers understood their dilemma: Trump wanted to respond to the affront to humanity committed by Syria and he did not want to be dissuaded. They were dealing with a man they considered to be not unkind and not stupid, but his limitations when it came to national security decisions were severe. "Everyone close to him knows his proclivity for acting precipitously when he does not know the facts," the adviser said. "He doesn’t read anything and has no real historical knowledge. He wants verbal briefings and photographs. He’s a risk-taker. He can accept the consequences of a bad decision in the business world; he will just lose money. But in our world, lives will be lost and there will be long-term damage to our national security if he guesses wrong. He was told we did not have evidence of Syrian involvement and yet Trump says: 'Do it.”’

On April 6, Trump convened a meeting of national security officials at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. The meeting was not to decide what to do, but how best to do it – or, as some wanted, how to do the least and keep Trump happy. “The boss knew before the meeting that they didn’t have the intelligence, but that was not the issue,” the adviser said. “The meeting was about, ‘Here’s what I’m going to do,' and then he gets the options.”

The available intelligence was not relevant. The most experienced man at the table was Secretary of Defense James Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general who had the president’s respect and understood, perhaps, how quickly that could evaporate. Mike Pompeo, the CIA director whose agency had consistently reported that it had no evidence of a Syrian chemical bomb, was not present. Secretary of State Tillerson was admired on the inside for his willingness to work long hours and his avid reading of diplomatic cables and reports, but he knew little about waging war and the management of a bombing raid. Those present were in a bind, the adviser said. “The president was emotionally energized by the disaster and he wanted options.” He got four of them, in order of extremity. Option one was to do nothing. All involved, the adviser said, understood that was a non-starter. Option two was a slap on the wrist: to bomb an airfield in Syria, but only after alerting the Russians and, through them, the Syrians, to avoid too many casualties. A few of the planners called this the “gorilla option”: America would glower and beat its chest to provoke fear and demonstrate resolve, but cause little significant damage. The third option was to adopt the strike package that had been presented to Obama in 2013, and which he ultimately chose not to pursue. The plan called for the massive bombing of the main Syrian airfields and command and control centers using B1 and B52 aircraft launched from their bases in the U.S. Option four was “decapitation”: to remove Assad by bombing his palace in Damascus, as well as his command and control network and all of the underground bunkers he could possibly retreat to in a crisis.

“Trump ruled out option one off the bat,” the senior adviser said, and the assassination of Assad was never considered. “But he said, in essence: ‘You’re the military and I want military action.’” The president was also initially opposed to the idea of giving the Russians advance warning before the strike, but reluctantly accepted it. “We gave him the Goldilocks option – not too hot, not too cold, but just right.” The discussion had its bizarre moments. Tillerson wondered at the Mar-a-Lago meeting why the president could not simply call in the B52 bombers and pulverize the air base. He was told that B52s were very vulnerable to surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) in the area and using such planes would require suppression fire that could kill some Russian defenders. “What is that?” Tillerson asked. Well, sir, he was told, that means we would have to destroy the upgraded SAM sites along the B52 flight path, and those are manned by Russians, and we possibly would be confronted with a much more difficult situation. “The lesson here was: Thank God for the military men at the meeting,” the adviser said. "They did the best they could when confronted with a decision that had already been made."


that the US knew there was no chemical attack on 4th april (because russia told them they would bomb the site beforehand, which they OK'd) was something Ray McGovern said within days of it happening

https://gosint.wordpress.com/2017/04/09/former-cia-analyst-ray-mcgovern-debunks-the-alleged-syria-chemical-attack/
https://soundcloud.com/user-918579032/escalation-of-tensions-in-syria-one-month-after-the-chemical-attack-in-khan-sheikhoun
#1714
Post rating: +
neither the trump nor obama regimes believed *internally* that the syrian gov perpetrated chemical attacks in aug 2013 or april 2017, tho despite this both maintain publicly that 'there can be no doubt' that it did.

they have convinced themselves, the media and people who listen to the media that the syrian gov is intrinsically evil ... so whenever an atrocity takes place we and its alqaeda's word vs gov, we should accept alqaeda's perspective.

this means the story of the brutal assad regime is based on some insane conspiracy theories.
typical example from 2012-13: alqaeda offensive, take over some towns before the gov recaptures them weeks later.
gov discovers in these towns all government workers, ethnic/religious minorities, and sunni families who support the government have been beheaded and mass-executed.
alqaeda says the gov did all this as a false flag to besmirch the revolution; Human Rights Watch investigates and agrees

this gets added to the story and when the next massacre happens it obviously must have been the syrian army

http://libyancivilwar.blogspot.ie/2015/05/syrias-al-bayda-baniyas-massacres-and.html
http://www.globalresearch.ca/media-disinformation-and-coverup-of-atrocities-committed-by-us-sponsored-syria-rebels/5350325

alqaeda knows that westerners "know" that the war in syria is done ~just for us~, and syria would do anything (including obliterate its domestic base of support, dismantle its essential infrastructure, create global terror networks) just to 'make the Revolution look bad' on CNN.
i'm sure other apocalyptic death cults are paying attention!


Edit to add: here's another look at a 2013 massacre of Syrians near Damascus that they investigated

https://sarahabed.com/2017/03/17/the-wests-anti-islamic-terrorists/

Edited by xipe ()

#1715
Post rating: +
brutal assad regime thugs describing their evil plots



peaceful syrian rebels talk about spreading freedom & democracy



ISISectionality


Edited by xipe ()

#1716
UNUSUALY COOL
Post rating: +

xipe posted:




almost got hooked by those myself... luckily they were all fake.

#1717
Post rating: ~
Don't kink shame.

Also it *is* weird that (afaik) every beheading etc of westerners by aqi/isis have been fake/off-camera, whereas every gruesome act they can think of are done and captured on video to others.

I haven't seen any explanations about this
#1718
Post rating: +
on the one hand, we have Seymour Hersh provides evidence that Assad did not, in fact, use chemical weapons against his own people:

https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article165905618/We-got-a-fuckin-problem.html

but on the other hand, we have Louis Proyect debunking Hersh's claims by citing Bellingcat:

Edited by shapes ()

#1719
Post rating: +

In his lengthy articles for the London Review of Books, “Whose sarin?” and “The Red Line and the Rat Line”, Hersh made the case that the August 21st 2013 Sarin attack in Damascus was in fact a false flag attack intended to draw the US into the conflict with Syria. This claim fell apart under real scrutiny,



"real scrutiny" has a lot more weaselly qualifiers and open speculation than i'd have guessed!

in a just world, higgins would be in Damascus right now, standing trial like julius streicher

#1720
Online
Post rating: +

RedMaistre posted:

"Macron said that on Syria: “My profound conviction is that we need a political and diplomatic roadmap. We won’t solve the question only with military force. That is a collective error we have made. The real change I’ve made on this question, is that I haven’t said the deposing of Bashar al-Assad is a prerequisite for everything. Because no one has introduced me to his legitimate successor!


xipe posted:

when trump said the same thing a few months back there was a chemical attack within days.

back then the 'international coalition' against syria seemed solid, now it has really fallen apart however.