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Putin Just Warned Global War Is Increasingly More Likely: Here’s Why
Putin Just Warned Global War Is Increasingly More Likely: Here’s Why
Vladimir Putin is basking in Russia’s triumphant return to the world stage.
What began with a land grab in Crimea and escalated with support for the separatists at Donetsk, culminated in Moscow’s dramatic entry into Syria’s protracted civil war.
To be sure, the deplorable (not to mention comically absurd) strategy adopted by the US and its regional allies in Syria set Putin up for success. The situation was highly exploitable by anyone that’s strategically minded and thanks to the convoluted set of alliances Washington has built with groups that later turned out to be extremists, Moscow gets to achieve its regional ambitions while simultaneously fighting terrorism. Meanwhile, Washington, Riyadh, Ankara, and Doha are left to look on helplessly as their Sunni extremist proxy armies are devastated by the Russian air force. The Kremlin knows there’s little chance that the West and its allies will step in to directly support the rebels – the optics around that would quickly turn into a PR nightmare.
All of this has provided the perfect backdrop for Putin to begin what’s amounted to a lecture tour on how to conduct foreign policy.
Soundbites have ranged from very serious commentary on why the West should not employ extremists to bring about regime change to comical jabs at the US and its allies who the Russian President last week accused of having “oatmeal brains” when it comes to Mid-East policy.
Speaking today at the International Valdai Discussion Club’s 12th annual meeting in Sochi, Putin delivered a sweeping critique of military strategy and foreign policy touching on everything from the erroneous labeling of some extremists as “moderates” to the futility of nuclear war.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
“Proxy” War No More: Qatar Threatens Military Intervention In Syria Alongside “Saudi, Turkish Brothers”
“Proxy” War No More: Qatar Threatens Military Intervention In Syria Alongside “Saudi, Turkish Brothers”
Earlier this week, Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir had the following message for Tehran:
“We wish that Iran would change its policies and stop meddling in the affairs of other countries in the region, in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. We will make sure that we confront Iran’s actions and shall use all our political, economic and military powers to defend our territory and people.”
In short, Riyadh and its allies in Doha and the UAE are uneasy about the fact that the P5+1 nuclear deal is set to effectively remove Iran from the pariah state list just as Tehran is expanding its regional influence via its Shiite militias in Iraq, the ground operation in Syria, and through the Houthis in Yemen.
Thanks to the fact that Tehran has more of an arm’s length relationship with the Houthis than it does with Hezbollah and its proxy armies in Iraq, the Saudis have been able to effectively counter anti-Hadi forces in Yemen without risking a direct conflict with Iran, but make no mistake, Sana’a is not the prize here. Yemen is a side show. The real fight is for the political future of Syria and for control of Iraq once the US finally packs up and leaves for good. Iran is winning on both of those fronts.
Over the last several weeks, we and others have suggested that one should not simply expect Washington, Riyadh, Ankara, and Doha to go gently into that good night in Syria after years of providing support for the various Sunni extremist groups fighting to destabilize the regime. There’s just too much at stake.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
NATO Member Turkey Shoots Down Drone Of Unknown Origin On Border With Syria
NATO Member Turkey Shoots Down Drone Of Unknown Origin On Border With Syria
Over the course of Russia’s involvement in Syria, the tension between Moscow and Ankara has grown steadily.
In short, NATO-member Turkey has accused Russian fighter jets of violating its airspace as they buzz the border on the way to hitting anti-regime targets. The escalation of hostilities between the two countries now threatens to derail billions in trade and energy deals as Erdogan recently warned Putin that Ankara may go elsewhere for its natural gas needs.
Ultimately, it isn’t about Turkey’s airspace. It’s about Ankara wanting Assad gone and Moscow wanting Assad to remain in power and indeed, the US is already using a Turkish air base as a kind of forward operating center for bombing runs, meaning NATO may well use Turkey to float conflict trial balloons to see just what the West can get away with in terms of challenging the Russians in Syria (incidentally, Erdogan has an election coming up in two weeks and a key part of the push to restore AKP’s absolute majority in parliament is scaring the public into believing that Turkey is under attack and only a strong government can save it).
With that in mind, consider that just moments ago, Turkey shot down an unmanned drone that Ankara says violated its airspace:
- TURKEY MILITARY SAYS SHOT DOWN AIRCRAFT AT SYRIA BORDER
- TURKEY’S NTV SAYS SHOT-DOWN AIRCRAFT WAS UNMANNED DRONE
And here’s the official statement (Google translated):
Today nationalities in our country’s airspace at the border with Syria has been detected an unknown aircraft, although be warned three times on continuing to move our aircraft performing patrols on the border by the rules of engagement it has been reduced by fire in the frame.Turkish Armed Forces is implementing with determination in the framework of the duties assigned to rules of engagement. “
Meanwhile, it was determined that lowering the unmanned vehicle.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Pipeline Politics: Russia, Turkey Clash Over Energy As Syria Rift Shifts Focus To German Line
Pipeline Politics: Russia, Turkey Clash Over Energy As Syria Rift Shifts Focus To German Line
In June, we noted that Russia had signed an MOU with Shell, E.On and OMV to double the capacity of the Nord Stream pipeline, the shortest route from Russian gas fields to Europe.
Here is a helpful visual:
What you’ll note from the above is that the Nord Stream allows Gazprom to dodge Ukraine, which is desirable for obvious reasons.
Of course that’s not good for the Eastern European countries (like Ukraine) who derive revenue from the flow of gas. Late last month, Slovak PM Robert Fico had the following to say about the Nord Stream project:
“They are making idiots of us. You can’t talk for months about how to stabilize the situation and then take a decision that puts Ukraine and Slovakia into an unenviable situation.”
To which we said the following:
When it comes to making grand public declarations about “stabilizing” unstable geopolitical situations and then turning around and doing something completely destabilizing, the West (and especially the US) are without equal, as evidenced by all manner of historical precedent including Washington’s efforts to help sack Viktor Yanukovych whose ouster precipitated the conflict in Ukraine in the first place. And make no mistake, to the extent there’s energy and money involved, that’s all the more true which is why it isn’t at all surprising that Western Europe would facilitate a deal that lets Gazprom bypass a war zone if it means getting natural gas to countries that “matter” in a more efficient way.
In an interesting, if predictable twist, Western Europe may need to step up its cooperation with Gazprom even further going forward because now, the conflict in Syria has strained the energy relationship between Moscow and Ankara.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Protests Erupt In Turkey As Government Accused Of False Flag In Weekend Suicide Blast
Protests Erupt In Turkey As Government Accused Of False Flag In Weekend Suicide Blast
For those who might still be unaware, Turkey is playing a large role in perpetuating violence across the Mid-East.
A few months back, when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan finally decided to allow US warplanes to fly sorties from Incirlik, it was fairly obvious what what was going on. Erdogan had just lost his absolute majority in parliament which is a bigger deal than it might sound. That majority was critical for Erdogan in his bid to alter the constitution and consolidate his power. Adding insult to injury, the AKP’s lost ground at the ballot box was partially the result of a strong showing by the pro-Kurdish HDP. Given the, how shall we say, “contentious” relationship between Ankara and the PKK, that was a bitter pill to swallow.
So, what Erdogan did, is effectively start a civil war by reigniting the conflict with the Kurds. This was done under the guise of a “war on terror” (and when you think about it, what isn’t done under the guise of a “war on terror” these days?) and NATO gave its blessing in exchange for access to Incirlik and a (largely fake) promise from Erdogan that part of his war would be focused on ISIS.
For Erdogan, the idea was to stir up fear amongst the populace in an effort to boost support for AKP. Once that plan was put into motion, he then moved to stymie the coalition building process. Once he had sabotaged that completely, the path was clear for him to call for new elections.
In short, this was a gambit to subvert the democratic process by stoking violence which Ankara hopes will lead to stronger support for AKP at the ballot box in November. That, in turn, would pave the way for Erdogan’s power play. Thanks to the fact that Erdogan is a US “ally” in the war on terror, this whole thing gets the Good Housekeeping seal of Western approval.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Angry Mobs Torch Kurdish Offices, Shops As Turkey Descends Into Chaos
Angry Mobs Torch Kurdish Offices, Shops As Turkey Descends Into Chaos
History is replete with examples of US-backed world leaders oppressing their people with Washington’s implicit blessing and despite the fact that the eyes of the world are trained squarely on Syria and, by extension, on any neighboring country that has a role to play in determining the outcome of the Syrian civil war, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan has managed to orchestrate a political coup of epic proportions in plain sight by plunging his people into civil war as NATO looks the other way.
What Erdogan has done, in the space of just three months, is nullify a democratic election outcome by first obstructing efforts to form a coalition government on the way to calling for new elections, then launching a military campaign against the PKK, knowing full well that if enough people are killed between now and the time Turks return to the ballot box in November, the public’s negative perception of the PKK will likely translate to diminished support for the pro-Kurdish HDP, which was in part responsible for AKP losing its absolute parliamentary majority in June.
This is all possible because Erdogan was effectively allowed to trade access to Incirlik (which gives the US army a forward operating base for what will eventually be a ground incursion in Syria) for NATO’s acquiescence to the extermination of the Kurdish opposition in Turkey.
As of Tuesday, this deal had resulted in: 1) hundreds of people killed, 2) the arrest of journalists, 3) the collapse of the lira, 4) a Turkish invasion of Northern Iraq (the fifth in two decades), and 5) no perceptible progress in the “fight” against ISIS which was the pretext for the entire effort.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
The Fake War on ISIS: US and Turkey Escalate in Syria
The Fake War on ISIS: US and Turkey Escalate in Syria
The western public is told that “This is a significant shift…It’s a big deal,” as a US military official told the Wall Street Journal. What the corporate media fail to mention, however, is the fact that Turkey has been, and continues to be, a central actor in the war in Syria and, consequently, in the development and maintenance of ISIS. So, while Washington waxes poetic about stepping up the fight against the terror group, and lauds the participation of its allies in Ankara, the barely concealed fact is that Turkey is merely further entrenching itself in a war that it has fomented.
Of equal importance is the simple fact that a “war on ISIS” is merely a pretext for Turkey’s military engagement in Syria and throughout the region. Not only does Turkey’s neo-Ottoman revanchist President Erdogan want to flex his military muscles in order to further the regime change agenda in Syria, he also is using recent tragic events as political and diplomatic cover for waging a new aggressive war against the region’s Kurds, especially Turkey’s longtime foe the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK).
In this way, Turkey’s recent moves should be seen as merely a new phase of its engagement in the regional war that it has helped foment. Contrary to western corporate media talking points, Turkey has not just recently become actively engaged in the conflict; Ankara has merely shifted its strategy and its tactics, moving from covert engagement to overt participation.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Is There Something Behind the Power Outage in Washington DC?
Is There Something Behind the Power Outage in Washington DC?
The April 7th, 2015 power outage in Washington DC is curious to say the least. Virtually instantaneously, the government declare it was not a terrorist attack. After all, how could that possibly be when the NSA guards the country. If there was an attack on the power-grid, then the NSA would have to answer for their failure. So clearly, if it was an attack, they would never admit it.
Instead, this has been attributed to a piece of metal breaking loose from a power line 43 miles southeast of the District of Columbia, which knocked out electricity to the White House, State Department and wide area including parts of Maryland. Can a simple piece of metal break and shut down that much power of a strategic area as DC? That seems to be an excuse like some drunk driver knocked over a power pole.
Only six days before Obama had to switch to emergency power was on April 1st in Rome where the power supply was out for hours effecting the Lazio region. That included the major Roman airport of Fiumicino. The cause of that event somehow remains unknown.
Just the day before in Turkey there was another power failure. That was the worst blackout since the devastating Marmara earthquake of 1999. Chaos in the capital and much of the country drew more than 70 million Turks into chaos. Public transport was paralyzed, traffic lights were dark, conveyor belts continued. Elevators halted and mobile phones were silent. Even hospitals switched to emergency mode and the NSA style surveillance cameras in the capital Ankara went black.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
