[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The US Embassy in Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... has vowed support to Afghanistan in investigating and bringing the culprits of the deadly attack on the American University in Kabul.
"The U.S. Embassy stands ready to assist Afghan authorities with their continuing investigation in bringing those responsible to justice," a statement by the Embassy said
Condemning the attack on the university compound, the US Embassy said "The targeting of Afghan students and university staff who are working to improve the future of Afghanistan is a cruel and cowardly act."
"Our thoughts and prayers are with those killed and injured, as well as with the victims’ families, colleagues, and friends," said U.S. Ambassador P. Michael McKinley. "We remain strongly committed to the people of Afghanistan who are dedicated to establishing lasting peace and security and building the brightest possible future for their children."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/27/2016 00:00 ||
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An unidentified armed group shot at and raided a European rescue boat off the coast of Libya, it has emerged, raising questions over the viability of refugee rescue operations in the southern Mediterranean.
On 17 August an unidentified speedboat fired at the Bourbon Argos, a rescue boat chartered by Médecins Sans Frontières, hitting the window of the bridge shortly after 9.30am. The MSF team managed to retreat to the ship’s safe room before the armed men boarded the Argos. Unable to reach the crew, the intruders then left after an estimated 50 minutes without taking anyone or anything, and without giving any concrete indication of why they had come.
Remember, these folks are grateful for all the help...
However, prior to their arrival, the attackers appeared to be shooting to kill, said Stefano Argenziano, operations coordinator for the MSF mission. “[We speculate that] They were not warning shots,” he said. “There were a number of bullets shot at us from a distance – with an intention, we believe, to harm and potentially kill.
That's generally what it means when people are shooting at you; particularly the 'kill' part, with no 'potential' about it...
We received at least 13 bullets, hitting different parts of the bridge. People who were on the bridge, the command-and-control part of the ship, could have been killed or seriously harmed.”
In a statement, MSF said: “MSF believes that the intruders aimed to physically harm the Bourbon Argos’s staff but thanks to the sound security procedures enacted, all team members were safe. Nothing was taken during the incident and the damage to the ship was only minimal.”
The group added: “MSF strongly condemns this shameful act towards a humanitarian organisation rescuing and delivering lifesaving medical care to those crossing the central Mediterranean Sea.”
MSF has rescued more than 25,000 refugees from the southern Mediterranean over the past two years, and currently has three different boats operating off the coast of Libya. MSF said it was still assessing who might have been behind the raid, and analysts agreed it was hard to pinpoint who was responsible, given the complexity of Libya’s civil war.
The attackers seemed surprisingly well trained and well equipped, suggesting they came from some of Libya’s better-organised factions. “These were professionals, they were not just random fishermen,” said Argenziano. “They were trained in military tactics and [in the] use of weapons.”
There are dozens of militias operating along the Libyan coast, as well as special forces from several European countries including the UK, making identification difficult. Some militias are actively involved in the smuggling business, while others have tried to stop it – most effectively in the smuggling hub of Zuwara, where a masked militia is said to have forced most migrant smugglers to either down tools or switch to fuel smuggling.
Anas El Gomati, the director of the Libyan thinktank the Sadeq Institute, said it was unlikely that Islamic State, which is losing a battle for territory in central Libya, was behind the attack. “You can never rule out Isis, but it doesn’t have the signature PR [follow-up] that Isis goes for when they do these kinds of operations,” said El Gomati. “It also seems beyond Isis’s current capacities, given they are wedged into a war in central Libya.”
Argenziano said MSF would now spend two weeks assessing the situation before deciding on what long-term steps to take, but stressed that MSF’s commitment to lifesaving operations remained unchanged. “It is important to stress that we are an organisation specialised in working in emergencies and highly insecure contexts,” he said.
But Argenziano ruled out working under the direct protection of the European navies operating in the area, citing MSF’s history of acting independently of state actors. He also questioned the role of the naval operations, which are first and foremost meant to be anti-smuggling missions aimed at deterring future migration across the Mediterranean. “Is the deterrent bringing any of the intended results?” said Argenziano. “People keep on dying in large numbers, while the [arrival] numbers are not going down.”
It's not like your group is having that big of an effect, and there are at least a few folks who don't appear to appreciate your effort. Is that going to stop you?
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/27/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
In a statement, MSF said: “MSF believes that the intruders aimed to physically harm the Bourbon Argos’s staff but thanks to the sound security procedures enacted, all team members were safe. Nothing was taken during the incident and the damage to the ship was only minimal.”
Horsefeathers! They were doing a fast in-and-out raid for hostages to hold for ransom.
[Libya Herald] The much-sacked Libyan ambassador to the UN, Ibrahim Dabbashi, appears to have finally been removed. The UN’s list of permanent representatives, which constitutes the definitive record of who is the envoy for which country, no longer includes him. Instead, it has Elmahdi S. Elmajerbi as the chargé d’affaires of the Libyan mission.
The foreign minister in the Presidency Council’s caretaker Government of National Accord (GNA), Mohammed Taha Siala, has also confirmed that Elmajerbi has taken over, saying that Dabbashi has done four years in the job and claiming that was the legal limit.
Dabbashi has been sacked three times as ambassador, twice by the Thinni administration in Beida and once by the Presidency Council. However, those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... he managed to stay on by ignoring the dismissals ‐ until now.
At the beginning of last month, when the Presidency Council announced it was removing him, it appointed former Prime Minister Abdulrahim Al-Kib as his replacement. He, however, has refused to take the post.
From Sabratha but firmly opposed to Islamists, Dabbashi developed a formidable reputation as a politician not afraid of telling uncomfortable truths. After the Banyan Marsous operation against IS in Sirte started, he questioned the loyalty to the Presidency Council of some of those involved, drawing the fury of a number of Misratan leaders who called for him to be sacked.
Having broken with the Thinni administration at the end of last year and backed the UN-supported Presidency Council instead, he recently started distancing himself from it. Privately, he is said to have concluded that it would fail.
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08/27/2016 00:00 ||
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[ALMASDARNEWS] Tunisia’s premier-designate called for "sacrifices" as parliament convened on Friday to vote on a cabinet line-up he has proposed to tackle pressing economic and security challenges.
It is likely that a majority of parliament’s 217 members will vote for the line-up, making Youssef Chahed, at 40, the country’s youngest prime minister since it won independence from La Belle France in 1956.
The prime minister-designate addressed the assembly on Friday morning ahead of the vote of confidence, which is not expected before 2000 GMT.
Parliament also took a midday break before resuming deliberations at 1400 GMT.
Chahed noted that members of his government will each also issue a declaration of interests within 15 days.
He stressed the "necessity" of his proposed unity government to address mounting economic challenges not resolved since the 2011 revolution.
"We have until now been unable to realize the objectives of the revolution. Our youth have lost hope, the trust of citizens in the state has decreased," he said.
"We are all responsible" and "will all have to make sacrifices".
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08/27/2016 00:00 ||
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U.S. and Japanese experts believe that North Korea is developing a new submarine even bigger than the 2,000-ton it now uses for the launch of ballistic missiles, the website 38 North said Thursday.
Military boffin Joseph Bermudez, whose information is usually sound, told a conference hosted by 38 North that the North seems to have started building a new bigger submarine. He also said the submarine-launched ballistic missile the North fired from the East Sea on Wednesday was launched directly from a submarine, not from a barge as some reports speculated.
How could he tell? I'm genuinely curious...
"Assuming the current rate of development, while North Korea still faces significant technological challenges including building a new class of submarine to carry the missile, it is on track to develop the capability to strike targets in the region -- including Japan -- by 2020," the website said.
Meanwhile, the Asahi Shimbun reported that the North could even deploy SLBMs warfare-ready this year. It said Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo believe the North will make haste to build a nuclear-powered submarine from which it can strike the U.S. mainland.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/27/2016 00:00 ||
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Orbital spectroscopy data may have revealed different fuel mix. 'Some' underwater launches involve an initial compressed air burst, the missile doesn't ignite until it breaches the sea/air barrier. In such cases there is a visual plume of sea water vapor preceding ignition.
[Wash Times] France’s top administrative court has overturned a town burkini ban amid shock and anger worldwide after some Muslim women were ordered to remove body-concealing garments on French Riviera beaches.
The ruling by the Council of State Friday specifically concerns a ban in the Riviera town of Villeneuve-Loubet, but the binding decision is expected to set a legal precedent for all the 30 or so French resort municipalities that have issued similar decrees.
Lawyers for two human rights groups challenged the legality of the ban to the top court, saying the orders infringe basic freedoms and that mayors have overstepped their powers by telling women what to wear on beaches.
Mayors had cited concern about public order after deadly Islamic extremist attacks this summer, and many officials have argued that burkinis oppress women.
Lawyer Patrice Spinosi, representing the Human Rights League, told reporters that the decision should set a precedent, and that other mayors should conform to it. He also said women who have already received fines can protest them based on Friday’s decision.
#1
The court was between a rock and a hard place. Banning the "Burkini" would have required the banning of habits worn by Catholic Sisters, who also visit the beachs.
#3
Banning the "Burkini" would have required the banning of habits worn by Catholic Sisters
I do not understand that claim. The habits of the various orders of Catholic nuns are as much a uniform as that worn by soldiers or police, designed to identify the members to the general public and each other. The burkini is a recently developed fashion and sport item for a particular activity, as subject to regulation by the authorities as female topless sunbathing or nudity.
[Hurriyet] The political party of Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders,
...actually, he is a standard social democrat with this single kink...
which is leading polls ahead of parliamentary elections next year, has vowed to close mosques and "ban the Koran" in its manifesto.
"All mosques and Islamic schools closed, a ban on the Koran," said the document outlining the electoral program of the Freedom Party (PVV) ahead of March 2017 legislative elections, which was posted on Wilders’ Twitter feed on Aug. 25.
The PVV says it will reverse the "Islamization" of the country with a range of measures including closing the borders, shutting asylum seeker centers, banning migrants colonists from Islamic countries and stopping Moslem women from wearing the headscarf in public.
On the back of Europe’s migrant crisis, opinion polls have for months given Wilders’ PVV the edge over the current coalition parties of the Labor Party and the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy led by Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Late last year polls predicted soaring support for the PVV saying it could gain as many as 38 seats in the 150-seat parliament. But that has slipped back. In August, a poll from Ipsos gave it 28 seats -- still way up on the 12 it currently has.
The immigrant crisis has polarized the Netherlands, a nation of 17 million people, leading to heated debate and some attacks on refugee centers.
Wilders, who will go on trial for inciting racial hatred in October,
Again? Is this the third time, or the fourth? They never win, he enjoys the government-provided pulpit, and each time he persuades more that he is correct...
also said he would do all he could to hold a referendum on the Netherlands leaving the EU, despite an unsuccessful first attempt in June following Britannia’s shock Brexit vote.
His party has also pledged to cut all foreign aid while boosting funding for police and security.
[IsraelTimes] France’s highest administrative court on Friday suspended a controversial ban on the burkini by a French Riviera town after it was challenged by rights groups.
In a judgement expected to set a precedent, the State Council ruled that local authorities could only restrict individual liberties if wearing the Islamic swimsuit was a “proven risk” to public order. The judges said there was no such risk in the case before the court concerning Villeneuve-Loubet, one of around 30 towns to have introduced the bans. A court in Nice had upheld the Villeneuve-Loubet ban this week.
[AlAhram] Several mayors in southeast France on Friday said they would maintain their bans on the Islamic burkini swimsuit despite a ruling by France's highest administrative court to suspend the measures.
Town hall authorities in Nice said the mayor would continue to fine women wearing burkinis while the mayor of nearby Frejus, David Rachline, told AFP that "the Frejus order is still valid."
[Ynet] The new requirements from the French government come following a string of extremist attacks in the country, and in Europe at large. "It's not a question of succumbing to panic or into paranoia, but simply to face our responsibilities," said Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem.
French schools will now hold three security drills a year — including one in which an alleged assailant enters their premises — as the French government ramps up security measures after a string of deadly extremist attacks.
Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve announced a series of measures Wednesday to improve how French schools and children handle terror threats.
Students will be taught how to hide or to escape, depending on the situation and where they are. All students aged 13-14 and class representatives will also get a basic training on life-saving measures. Vallaud-Belkacem said, as of now, only 30 percent of students are trained. In pre-school and kindergarten, for children aged 2 to 6, no mention of an attack or a danger should be made but children must be taught to hide and keep quiet through games, Vallaud-Belkacem said.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Turkish forces will remain in Syria for as long as it takes to cleanse the border of ISIS and other bully boys, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Friday, after a truck bombing by Kurdish militia killed at least 11 coppers.
The suicide kaboom at a police headquarters in a province bordering Syria and Iraq came two days after The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... launched its first major military incursion into Syria, an operation meant to drive ISIS out of the border area and stop Kurdish militias from seizing ground in their wake.
Turkey, a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... member and part of the US-led coalition against ISIS, has seen a series of deadly bombings this year blamed on the radical Islamists. But it also fears Kurdish militias in Syria will seize a swathe of border territory and embolden Kurdish holy warriors on its own soil.
President Tayyip Erdogan said the bombing in Sirnak province would increase Turkey’s determination as it fights terrorist groups at home and abroad. Yildirim said there was no doubt the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade insurgency for Kurdish autonomy, was responsible.
"From the beginning we have been defending Turkey’s territorial integrity. We are also defending Syria’s territorial integrity. The aim of these terrorist organizations is... to form a state in these countries... They will never succeed," Yildirim told a news conference in Istanbul.
"We will continue our operations (in Syria) until we fully guarantee security of life and property for our citizens and the security of our border. We will continue until ISIS (ISIS) and other terrorist elements are taken out."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/27/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
"We shall fight until there are no more Kurds"?
The necessary shrinkage of the outer party proceeds apace as the purge continues.
[Hurriyet] The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has expelled four of its district mayors over suspected links to the movement of U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, said to be behind last month’s failed coup attempt.
AKP spokesperson Yasin Aktay told reporters that Enver Başaran, the mayor of the Aşkale district of Erzurum; Savaş Akarçeşme, the mayor of the Çamoluk district of Giresun; Halil İbrahim Oral, the mayor of the Ilgın district of Konya,;and Ali Erdoğmuş, the mayor of Nar district of Nevşehir have all been expelled from the party. Aktay recalled that Başaran and Akarçeşme had already been arrested as part of ongoing investigation into the so-called Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ).
Following the thwarted coup attempt, the AKP formed a commission to identify potential Gülenists within different branches of the party.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/27/2016 00:00 ||
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[Hurriyet] Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Aug. 26 denounced as a "bare-faced lie" suggestions in Western media that Ankara’s military operation in Syria was singling out Kurdish groups rather than jihadists.
Yildirim has slammed German news magazine Der Spiegel over a report suggesting that Ankara was equally targeting the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in the military operation launched against the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) jihadist group in Syria’s Jarablus, calling it a "bare-faced lie."
"This magazine [Der Spiegel] is probably living on another planet. Either it is unaware of what is going on around or it made reporting bare-faced lies its own business," Yildirim said while speaking at a presser with Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borissov in Istanbul.
The premier also criticized the magazine’s claims of a long-term occupation of Syrian territory was in plan with the joint Euphrates Shield military operation by coalition forces.
The premier also criticized the magazine’s claims of a long-term occupation of Syrian territory was in plan with the joint Euphrates Shield military operation by coalition forces.
"On one hand, you will make false claims that The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... remains weak in the fight against ISIS and on the other hand you will report like that when it advances on ISIS and saves the lives of innocent people. I am not buying that. Those have no rhyme or reason. The duty of our soldiers is to provide security for our borders and guarantee life and property security for our citizens. The news apart from that is just a lie," he said.
Ankara has said it will act in the operation against the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed-wing YPG, which Turkey regards as terror groups who represent neither the Kurdish nor the Syrian people. The YPG is an ally of the United States in the fight against ISIS but Ankara argues this is a dangerous error.
Yildirim’s remarks came a day after Turkish troops fired on YPG Death Eaters in northern Syria. A Turkish security source said the army shelled the YPG south of Jarablus. The state-run Anadolu Agency described the action as warning shots.
Some of the blasts were triggered as Turkish security forces cleared mines and booby traps left by retreating ISIS bad boys, according to Nuh Kocaaslan, the mayor of Karkamis, which sits just across the border from Jarablus. He said three Turkish-backed Syrian rebels were killed but no Turkish troops.
Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said the PYD wanted to unite Kurdish-controlled cantons east of Jarablus with those further west. "We cannot let this happen," he told NTV. "ISIS should be completely cleansed, this is an absolute must. But it’s not enough for us ... The PYD and the YPG should not replace ISIS there."
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08/27/2016 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Aws al-Khafaji, head of the Iraqi militia group Abu al-Fadhl al-abbas, which is currently part of the country’s anti-ISIS Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), said the Saudi ambassador to Iraq Thamer al-Sabhan is a "wanted person" and it is an "honor for everyone if he was assassinated."
"The animosity of the Iraqi people towards Sabhan is obvious," he added in an interview with Wesal TV on Monday.
On Sunday, sources told the London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat with full details that Iran has plans to assassinate the ambassador and has commissioned Shiite militia groups to do so.
The envoy, Sabhan, meanwhile, told Al Arabiya net that despite liquidation threats from "sectarian radical groups," the embassy’s operations will continue.
"We will not stop our support to the Iraqi people. The Iraqi people deserve all the sacrifice and love. We will not only continue all our normal measures and tasks, but more than before," he said.
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08/27/2016 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] Following Waheed Borsh's arrest for siphoning UN funds to Hamas terror infrastructure, UN request for immunity for its former employee is rejected; 'Israel rejects the claim that a person assisting a terror organization recognized by the international community such as Hamas could enjoy immunity.'
The Israeli government on Thursday rejected a UN request for diplomatic immunity for a Paleostinian engineer who worked for the UN in the Gazoo Strip, but is now in prison after being accused of assisting the territory's Islamic holy warriorHamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood, rulers.
Israel locked away ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... 38-year-old Waheed Borsh, who worked for the UN development agency (UNDP), on July 16 on suspicion of aiding Hamas. The government announced on Aug. 9 that he had been indicted on charges of assisting the holy warrior group.
Israel's Foreign Ministry front man Emmanuel Nachshon said, "Israel rejects the claim that a person assisting a terror organization recognized by the international community such as Hamas could enjoy immunity."
Israel's Shin Bet intelligence agency said that Borsh used UNDP resources last year to build a marina for Hamas' naval forces. In addition, the Shin Bet alleged that at Hamas' request, he persuaded his managers to prioritize the reconstruction of houses damaged in conflicts with Israel in areas where Hamas members lived.
UNDP said in a statement on Aug. 9 that it was "greatly concerned" by the allegations, that it was investigating them, and that it has "zero tolerance for wrongdoing" in its programs and projects.
Nachshon said the UN suddenly claimed in a letter Wednesday that Borsh is entitled to diplomatic immunity. The claim was examined by jurists who determined it is "unsubstantiated," he said.
"It is outrageous that a man assisting a terror organization could benefit from UN immunity," Nachshon said. "It is clear that immunity is not a license to commit acts of terror."
Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon said the UN legal office claimed that any UN employee should receive diplomatic immunity from local authorities and that until Borsh's release from prison, he should be granted visits by the organization.
Shortly before Borsh's arrest, Israel charged the Gazoo manager of the international charity World Vision for allegedly funneling millions of dollars to the group.
Danon said he has been in touch with international aid organizations operating in Gazoo and advised them that, "Any dollar spent, and any local hire by an international organization, must be monitored to ensure they fulfill the purpose of aiding the residents of Gazoo and not fund terror activities."
"That the story of the Syrian conflict is clouded by a fog of misperception is today almost a commonplace. The recent visit of a strong Indian delegation to Syria headed by the Indian Foreign Minister shows one other way in which this is true.
The way the Syrian conflict is regularly represented in the West is of a Syrian government that has lost the support of the "international community" save for its allies Russia, Iran and China.
This has never been true. The structure of the UN Security Council means that the US can normally rely on a majority there, and within the Arab world the Gulf Arab states led by the two Wahhabi monarchies Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been been able to rally the Arab League against Syria. However in the world as a whole the conflict is perceived very differently, not as some sort of Manichean struggle between good and evil, but rather as a geopolitical conflict and as part of a broader struggle against Jihadi terrorism.
The Indian government has been as outspoken a supporter of the Syrian government as the Chinese and Russian governments have been. More so in some ways since like China but unlike Russia India is not involved in the diplomacy of the Syrian conflict and does not therefore have to take even a theoretical position that President Assad's future should be eventually decided by the Syrian people.
As the very cordial meeting between Indian Foreign Minister Mubashir Javed Akbar and Syrian President Assad which took place in Damascus on 20th August 2016 shows, the Indian government instead openly and straightforwardly supports the government of President Assad.
India has many reasons for supporting Syria and the government of President Assad. As Assad is reported to have said during his meeting with Mubashir Javed Akbar, relations between the countries are longstanding and they are accustomed to thinking of each other as friends.
More importantly, India is as hostile to the "regime change" doctrines that have been coming out of the West as Russia and China are, and as indeed most of the world is. Last but not least, India has its own problem of Jihadi terrorism and is naturally sympathetic to a country like Syria which finds itself waging a bitter war against the two most powerful Jihadi organisations in the world: Daesh and Al-Qaeda (in the form of its regional branch Jabhat Al-Nusra).
India's support for Syria obviously cannot compare with that of countries like Russia or Iran. India neither needs nor is able to intervene in Syria in the way that those two powers are. Instead it makes sense for India to sit back and let the Russians and the Iranians do the heavy lifting in Syria whilst quietly reaping the benefits and giving diplomatic support.
That is neither cynical nor improper but is merely good policy and - despite a recent ramping up of Chinese support for Syria - it is essentially what the Chinese have also been doing.
The point however is that the Western narrative of a Syrian government discredited by its war crimes that is isolated internationally is simply untrue. On the contrary all three of the great Eurasian powers - China, Russia and India ‐ in their different ways support it."
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov "have achieved clarity" on a path to restore a truce in Syria but details remain to be worked out, AP reported.
How much ransom did we pay this time?
After meeting off-and-on with Lavrov for nearly 10 hours in Geneva on Friday, Kerry said the "vast majority" of technical discussions on steps to reinstate the ceasefire and improve humanitarian access have been completed. Kerry says experts will remain in Geneva with an eye toward finalizing the unresolved steps in the coming days.
Friday's meeting came a month after the two men met in Moscow and agreed on a number of unspecified actions to get the all-but-ignored truce back in force. However, as in Moscow, neither Kerry nor Lavrov would describe them in detail.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/27/2016 00:00 ||
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Based on a secret transcript of the secret meeting that I have secretly obtained, the discussion went something like this:
Lavrov: Stay the f**k out of our way.
Kerry: ... OK.
[ALMASDARNEWS] Not long after the Salafist tough guys of Liwaa Shuhada Al-Islam surrendered Darayya to the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), the hard boyz in the nearby town of Mo’adhimiyah requested a similar deal from the Syrian government.
According to a military source in Damascus, the Salafist tough guys are requesting to be transported from the Mo’adhimiyah to an opposition area that is currently not under siege.
Mo’adhimiyah Al-Sham is currently under a ceasefire agreement that allows the Salafist tough guys to control the town in exchange for peace with the government forces.
However, denial ain't just a river in Egypt... with the recent surrender of Darayya, the remaining Salafist tough guys in Mo’adhimiyah will be completely isolated, leaving them with no choice but to give up the town.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/27/2016 00:00 ||
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[ALMASDARNEWS] The United States is increasingly concerned about supposed training by Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) for the Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... rebels in Yemen, where they continue to make territorial gains in Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... despite Arclight airstrikes its neighbor.
U.S. officials concluded without providing evidence that the IRGC are providing training and equipment to the Houthis.
The U.S. officials in question spoke in anonymity.
Saudi Arabia also expressed its view that not only Iran, but also Hezbollah, are providing training and arms to the Houthis.
"We see ... Iran playing a large role in supporting the Houthis," Saudi ambassador to Washington Adel al-Jubeir told news hounds on Thursday.
"There are Iranian advisers advising them and Hezbollah operatives advising them," Jubeir said.
Asked about Jubeir’s accusations on Friday, White House front man Josh Earnest told news hounds: "We’ve expressed our previous concerns about the destabilizing impact that Iran is having on this particular situation. We continue to have those concerns."
A Houthi official told Rooters on Thursday that the group was prepared to confront the Saudi-led Arclight airstrikes without calling on Iran’s help.
"The Yemeni people are prepared to face this aggression without any foreign interference," said Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a Houthi politburo official.
The Saudis "cannot accept the idea of an Iranian-backed regime in control of Yemen, which is why they felt compelled to intervene the way they have," British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said on Friday during a visit to Washington.
"It’s no secret," he said, that the Iranians "are providing assistance and support to the Houthis, both political as well as militarily, as well as economic."
"The first thing the Houthis did when they entered and occupied Sanaa was to free Iranian Revolutionary Guards operatives and Hezbollah operatives from the jails," he said.
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08/27/2016 00:00 ||
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[ALMASDARNEWS] Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... said they are "close" to a Syrian peace agreement after lengthy discussions at Geneva on Friday.
"I want to thank Foreign Minister Lavrov for joining me today...for what I would call a long but productive and constructive discussion," Kerry told news hounds.
"We literally stand on the brink of the Syrian regime and opposition parties going back to a state of all-out war, so needless to say the situation has dramatically deteriorated since the brief oasis of calm that followed the launch of the cessation of hostilities in February," he said.
"We are close, but as I have said...we’re not going to rush to an agreement until it meets fully the needs of the Syrian people," he continued
Lavrov emphasized that the opposition side in Syria to distance itself from terrorist groups.
"Without separating the sane forces in Syria from terrorists, I just do not see a solution for ending hostilities in this country," Lavrov said.
Kerry on the Kurdish issue however expressed that he does not support an independent Kurdish state. Lavrov however did add that Washington and Moscow agree that the Kurds will have an equal voice in the grinding of the peace processor.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/27/2016 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[AlAhram] China's military will provide training for Syrian armed forces, a front man for Beijing's defence ministry said Thursday, adding it would take place on Chinese soil.
Beijing is a longstanding backer of the Syrian government of Bashir al-Assad, which has engaged in a bloody war that has left more than 290,000 people dead and displaced millions since it began in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government demonstrations.
Last week senior Chinese military official Guan Youfei met with Syria's defence minister in Damascus and said he wanted closer military ties with the Syrian government, state media reported.
"The Chinese military will provide the Syrian side with medical and nursing professional training," defence ministry front man Wu Qian told news hounds at a monthly briefing.
The training would take place in China, he added, and was intended "to ease the humanitarian crisis in Syria".
The Chinese military has already provided Syrian authorities with medical equipment and medicines "to help reduce the humanitarian suffering of the Syrian people", Wu said.
"For a long period of time, China and Syria have helped each other. And China has been pushing for a political solution of the Syrian conflict and we have always supported the independence of Syria," he added.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/27/2016 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Hurriyet] Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Aug. 26 denounced as a "bare-faced lie" suggestions in Western media that Ankara’s military operation in Syria was singling out Kurdish groups rather than jihadists.
[ALMASDARNEWS] The United States is increasingly concerned about supposed training by Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) for the 
