Category Archives: #StopIran

Twisted: Arab Countries More Right than Kerry and Europe

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Remember when the United States led the world for a better world and was successful?

As the Kurds were once on the side of the United States in Iraq and as up to 400 veterans went back to the fight in Iraq to stand with the Kurds, matters just got exponentially  worse due to Barack Obama betraying the Kurds.

Syria Kurds ask Russia for arms, coordination

YPG chief Sipan Hemo told Sputnik Türkiye that his fighting force wants Russian assistance.

YPG chief Sipan Hemo told Sputnik Türkiye—which is owned by Moscow—that his fighting force requested arms from Russia as well as general military coordination, according to a translation of the interview prepared by Turkey’s Anadolu news agency.

 

“He also called on Moscow to bomb Al-Nusra Front’s positions,” Anadolu added a day after Russia began its airstrikes in Syria on behalf of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

 

In turn, the report added that a foreign relations official for the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party—which controls the YPG—said his party was “ready to cooperate with any actor fighting ISIS.”

 

“We are currently receiving support from the US and the [Iraqi Kurdish] Peshmerga,” Idris Naasan added.

 

Syrian Kurds have been rolling back ISIS across large swathes of territory in northern Syria with the assistance of US airstrikes, while also fighting Nusra in the Kurdish-populated Afrin region northwest of Aleppo.

 

The YPG commander’s comments come after a pro-Hezbollah Lebanese daily reported in late September that Russia had set up a coordination process with Kurdish forces and parties in northern Syria.

 

“A Russian military delegate paid a secret visit to a number of Kurdish military commanders in Hasakeh and inspected areas of confrontation between the YPG and the armed groups,” the Al-Akhbar article said.

 

Moscow announced Wednesday that it had begun its air strikes in Syria, insisting it hit “eight ISIS terror group targets,” while rebel groups, the US and France all said Russia had not bombed the extremist group.

 

On Wednesday morning, activists and rebels said that state-of-the-art Russian fighter jets had conducted bombing runs on Lataminah, a town northwest of Hama, as well as a region north of Homs, neither of which are ISIS strongholds.

 

Syrian state TV, for its part, reported that Russian jets hit ISIS targets near Homs’ Rastan and Talbisah—where ISIS does not have a presence—as well as areas near Hama’s Salamiyah, where the group does maintain frontlines with regime troops as well the Nusra Front.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Nine nations or five? In speeches at this year’s U.N. gathering of world leaders, major powers are increasing calls for multilateral negotiations to end the war in Syria. But Europe and the United States are split on who should be at the table.

The Europeans invoke the success of the Iran nuclear talks in arguing for a similar format — with key additions.

Iran negotiated with the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany to reach their July 14 agreement. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Wednesday called for a similar arrangement “enlarged with regional partners.”

The Americans, in contrast, want a tighter group, without the Europeans.

Fabius did not elaborate on his vision. But two diplomats told The Associated Press that this time, instead of making demands on Iran, as was the case at the nuclear talks, the Europeans want Tehran to work with them, the Americans, Russians and Chinese on finding a peace formula. Saudi Arabia and Turkey also would be included.

The diplomats — one European the other from the Middle East — said that Britain, France and Germany all spoke up in favor of that format on the sidelines of the U.N summit earlier this week during the first meeting of Iran and the six world powers since the nuclear deal was struck.

But the Americans want any negotiations restricted to themselves, the Russians, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Washington accepted being one of six nations at the nuclear negotiations because they came late. After initially refusing to sit at the same table with Tehran the United States joined in 2006, three years after Britain France and Germany reached out to the Islamic Republic.

A U.S. official familiar with the issue said that in the case of Syria, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry preferred to keep the focus on countries that are directly involved.

He and the diplomats demanded anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the dispute.

Russia, in turn, appears to favor others being kept in the loop, even if they aren’t sitting at the negotiating table.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the Security Council on Thursday that Moscow wants “standing channels of communication to ensure a maximally effective fight.” He listed Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, the U.S. and China as nations with a role in Syria talks.

Kerry met Lavrov for a third time on the sidelines of the U.N. summit on Wednesday. On Thursday, he huddled with the foreign ministers of Britain, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

The two told reporters that they swapped ideas about potential options for moving ahead with a political transition in the country and would be examining them in the coming days.

Still, Russia’s launch of airstrikes on Syria on Wednesday appeared to leave serious discussions on who should participate in limbo, with Washington and its allies expressing concern that Moscow might have targeted forces opposed to President Bashar Assad instead of Islamic extremists.

Iran-Saudi rivalries further complicate matters, even if that issue is resolved. The diplomats said that Riyadh is reluctant to sit at any table on the same side as Tehran.

The Saudis want to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad, while the Iranians support him. Traditional rivalries have been compounded since last week, with Shiite Iran accusing Sunni Saudi Arabia of gross negligence in the mass deaths of pilgrims in a stampede near Mecca.

Russia Continues to Punk the United States

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Russia’s Foreign Minister:

Lavrov on targets in Syria: “If it looks like a terrorist, if it acts like a terrorist, it is a terrorist”

“We are not planning to expand our airstrikes in Iraq…We are polite people, we don’t come if not invited.”

Russia says first military contact with US over Syria airstrikes will take place “very, very soon.”

Russia, in response, says they are not planning air strikes in Iraq, according to Lavrov.

Assad allies, Iranian troops prepare ground attack in Syria
WashingtonTimes:  Iran has sent hundreds of troops to Syria over the last 10 days that will soon join government forces and Hezbollah allies in a major ground offensive accompanied by Russian airstrikes, two Lebanese sources familiar with the matter said.

“The (Russian) airstrikes will in the near future be accompanied by ground advances by the Syrian army and its allies,” one of the sources told Reuters.
The sources said it is possible the ground operations will be focused in the Idlib and Hama countryside regions and that operations would be aimed at recapturing territory lost by embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government to rebels.
If true, the operations point to an emerging military alliance between Russia and Mr. Assad’s other main allies — Iran and Hezbollah.

So far, Iranian military support for Mr. Assad’s regime has mostly come in the form of military advisers and the mobilization of Shi’ite militia fighters.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, has been fighting alongside the Syrian army since early in the conflict.

“The vanguard of Iranian ground forces began arriving in Syria: soldiers and officers specifically to participate in this battle. They are not advisors … we mean hundreds with equipment and weapons. They will be followed by more,” the second source told Reuters. Iraqis would also take part in the operation, the source said.

The Russian air force on Wednesday began airstrikes, targeting areas near the cities of Homs and Hamas in the western region of Syria. Moscow had claimed it would conduct strikes against the Islamic State militant group, but the terrorist organization does not operate in the bombed region, anti-Assad forces do.
The move drew harsh criticism from the U.S. and other western powers, with U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter likening Russia’s move to “pouring gasoline on the fire” in Syria.

State John Kerry calling for swift military talks to coordinate efforts.

Tensions rising, US and Russian military holding Syria talks

The Pentagon says it’s beginning talks with the Russian military on ways to avoid US and Russian forces firing on each other in Syria.

Thursday’s talks — being held by video teleconference — come a day after Russian fighter jets began bombing in western Syria and with US-Russian tensions growing.

Conducting the talks on the US side are Elissa Slotkin, the acting assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, and Vice Adm. Frank C. Pandolfe, the director of strategic plans and policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

It’s not immediately clear who will be speaking for the Russians.

Russian Ground forces in Syria, Air Strikes in Iraq?

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At risk, the United States has search and rescue personnel in Turkey that is deployed to locations in Syria and near regions in the case of pilot failure by coalition countries.

Vladimir Putin says Russia is the only legitimate military force in Syria due to a formal request by Bashir al Assad.

After Russia and Iran established intelligence cells in Iraq three weeks ago, coordination between Iraq and Russia is underway. The result is a new military relationship between Iraq and Russia. This has James Clapper, Director of the ODNI quite concerned over what intelligence and methods of the United States with Iraq has been compromised and shared with Russia.

Pentagon officials do not know what secrets the Iraqi government may be telling Moscow, after Iraqi leaders unexpectedly entered into an intelligence-sharing agreement with Russia this weekend.

Worse: Russia will consider Iraq air strikes if Baghdad asks

Russia will consider launching air strikes in Iraq if the government asks, a senior foreign ministry official has said, AFP reports.

“If we get such a request from the Iraqi government or a Security Council resolution that depends decisively on the will of the Iraq government,” Moscow would consider launching the strikes, Ilya Rogachev, told the RIA Novosti state news agency.

Assad allies, including Iranians, prepare ground attack in Syria: sources

Reuters: Hundreds of Iranian troops have arrived in Syria in the last 10 days and will soon join government forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies in a major ground offensive backed by Russian air strikes, two Lebanese sources told Reuters.

“The (Russian) air strikes will in the near future be accompanied by ground advances by the Syrian army and its allies,” said one of the sources familiar with political and military developments in the conflict.

“It is possible that the coming land operations will be focused in the Idlib and Hama countryside,” the source added.

The two sources said the operation would be aimed at recapturing territory lost by President Bashar al-Assad’s government to rebels.

It points to an emerging military alliance between Russia and Assad’s other main allies – Iran and Hezbollah – focused on recapturing areas of northwestern Syria that were seized by insurgents in rapid advances earlier this year.

“The vanguard of Iranian ground forces began arriving in Syria: soldiers and officers specifically to participate in this battle. They are not advisors … we mean hundreds with equipment and weapons. They will be followed by more,” the second source said. Iraqis would also take part in the operation, the source said.

Thus far, direct Iranian military support for Assad has come mostly in the form of military advisors. Iran has also mobilized Shi’ite militia fighters, including Iraqis and some Afghans, to fight alongside Syrian government forces.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, has been fighting alongside the Syrian army since early in the conflict.

The Russian air force began air strikes in Syria on Wednesday, targeting areas near the cities of Homs and Hama in the west of the country, where Assad’s forces are fighting an array of insurgent groups, though not Islamic State, which is based mostly in the north and east.

An alliance of insurgent groups including the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and powerful Ahrar al-Sham made rapid gains in Idlib province earlier this year, completely expelling the government from the area bordering Turkey.

One more item:

7 Israeli Arabs in ‘ISIS cell’ planned attacks on IDF, police

In first known case of Islamic State plot in Israel, Shin Bet says suspects confessed to training in the north in preparation for attacks.

The Islamic State may have finally crossed Israel’s borders, according to an indictment presented to Nazareth’s District Court Thursday morning accusing seven Israeli Arabs of planning attacks in Israel on behalf of the organization, which is also known as ISIS. According to the Shin Bet, the accused “created an Islamic State cell with the intention of carrying out terror attacks.”

Some of the suspects were said to have been in contact with several Israelis who joined ISIS in Syria. The former residents of Yafa an-Naseriyye in the Lower Galilee region apparently recruited the seven into ISIS and helped them plot their attacks. A portion of the defendants allegedly trained in the woods near Yafa an-Naseriyye in preparation for the planned attacks.

Three of the accused, Ahmed Mahagna (20) from Yafa an-Naseriyye, Mohammad Sharif (22) from Nazereth and Mohammad Ghazali (23), were charged with contacting a foreign agent and an illegal organization while planning to attack Israeli military targets – specifically, to open fire at a police vehicle and an IDF base.

An illegal weapon found in their possession was bought in Fureidis, a town just south of Haifa.

Ibrahim Aljawabra (35) and his brother Ali (32) from Fureidis, were accused of selling weapons and committing additional criminal offenses. Baha Naaran (22) from Yafa an-Naseriyye was charged with possession of a weapon and involvement in criminal activity.

 

The seventh suspect, Ahmed Ahmed, who is already in jail for his involvement in the murder of taxi driver Yifim Weinstein in 2009, was accused by prosecutors of planning the attacks with the seven by telephone.

The Shin Bet claimed that the accused confessed during interrogation to trying to acquire weapons and training to use them, as well as collecting intelligence on an IDF base and police forces in order to carry out attacks in the name of the Islamic State.

Investigations revealed many files and photos on Sharif’s phone connected to the Islamic State. A video also surfaced in which Sharif explained how to deal with those who oppose the Islamic faith by cutting their throats.

Ghazali’s father also attended the indictment hearing Thursday and vehemently denied his son’s involvement with or connection to ISIS.

“It’s all lies,” he said. “We live here in this country and respect all its people – Jews and Arabs. No one in my family has ever harmed anyone else or the security of the state.”

Obama did not Invite FBI Director to Seminar

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Place this story and decision into the WTH file.

F.B.I. Chief Not Invited to Meeting on Countering Violent Extremism

NYT > WASHINGTON — The White House did not invite the most senior American official charged with preventing terrorist attacks — the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey — to the three-day conference this week on countering violent extremism in the United States and abroad because the administration did not want the event too focused on law enforcement issues, according to senior American officials.
But Mr. Comey’s Russian counterpart — Aleksandr V. Bortnikov, the director of the Russian Federal Security Service, the post-Soviet K.G.B. — was at the meeting, even though international human rights groups have repeatedly accused the Russian security service of unjustly detaining and spying on Russians and others.


The service also declined to provide American counterterrorism and intelligence officials with information before the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings that would probably have led to more scrutiny of one of the suspects.

Several other foreign law enforcement officials attended the conference, which was held in Washington. The meeting has been criticized as ineffectual and irrelevant, and not focused on immediate and tangible solutions to stop terrorists. And some Republicans said that President Obama’s speech to the assembled leaders on Wednesday did not lay out a strategy for defeating groups like the Islamic State.
The omission of Mr. Comey adds further uncertainty over who in the government is in charge of the anti-extremist effort. Just a few months ago, the F.B.I. put out a lengthy bulletin on its website about how it was leading “a new approach to countering violent extremism.” Many of the strategies listed by the F.B.I. appear similar to ones mentioned at the meeting.


An Obama administration official defended the decision not to invite Mr. Comey, saying that “while the F.B.I. works tirelessly to keep the country safe, this conference was not centered on federal law enforcement.”
The official said that the administration’s efforts to counter violent extremists “are premised on the notion that local officials and communities can be an effective bulwark against violent extremism, and most of the participants — spanning community leaders, local, law enforcement, private sector innovators, and others — reflected this bottom-up approach.” A spokesman for the F.B.I. declined to comment.
Mr. Comey’s boss, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., attended the conference, and several F.B.I. officials participated in its panels, the official said.
The administration did not specifically invite Mr. Bortnikov, the official said. Instead, it had sent a general invitation to the Russian government, which chose Mr. Bortnikov, along with others, to come to Washington.
The administration did not try to prevent Mr. Bortnikov, who rarely visits the United States, from attending, said the official, who did not want to be identified discussing internal White House deliberations. Mr. Bortnikov is on the European Union sanctions list in response to the crisis in Ukraine, but he is not subject to American sanctions.
The programs intended to prevent Americans from becoming extremists are led by the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security.
The Obama administration said in a news release on Wednesday that the effort to counter violent extremism “encompasses the preventive aspects of counterterrorism as well as interventions to undermine the attraction of extremist movements and ideologies that seek to promote violence.”
Stopping terrorist attacks has been the F.B.I.’s highest priority since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The bureau oversees joint terrorism task forces in every major American city that bring together federal, state and local authorities to investigate terrorism.

***

This is not the first little confab concocted by Barack Obama. Back in February of 2015, Obama had the same session calling on 60 nations. Progress? Not so much.

WASHINGTON — President Obama called on Americans and more than 60 nations on Wednesday to join the fight against violent extremism, saying they had to counter the ideology of the Islamic State and other groups making increasingly sophisticated appeals to young people around the world.
On the second day of a three-day meeting that comes after a wave of terrorist attacks in Paris, Sydney, Copenhagen and Ottawa, Mr. Obama said undercutting the Sunni militant group’s message and blunting its dark appeal was a “generational challenge” that would require cooperation from mainstream Muslims as well as governments, communities, religious leaders and educators. “We have to confront squarely and honestly the twisted ideologies that these terrorist groups use to incite people to violence,” Mr. Obama told an auditorium full of community activists, religious leaders and law enforcement officials — some of them skeptical about his message — gathered at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next door to the White House. “We need to find new ways to amplify the voices of peace and tolerance and inclusion, and we especially need to do it online.”

U.S. Backed Targets Struck by Russia in Syria

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The United States was in theater first, and while most world leaders are in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, Vladimir Putin chose not to advise the United States. In fact, a 3-star Russian general based in the new Iraq intelligence cells walked into the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and told the U.S. to get out of Syrian airspace and Russian bombing was commencing in a hour. Putin is fully backing Bashir al Assad against all Western requirements that he leave power as was agreed in 2012.

Be it known, there are more than 100,000 anti-Assad fighters in Syria…Russia could be busy while the Pentagon has no positive choices at this point due to air power confliction in Syria.

This was estimated by the United States but zero courtesy or war rules were followed by Russia. The next question is what will the Saudis do from this point forward?

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The Interpreter: Which rebel groups control the areas which were hit today in Homs?

ISW: The groups that control the Talbisa-Rastan rebel pocket north of Homs are: al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, Ahrar al-Sham (HASI), and other FSA-affiliated rebel brigades. Unfortunately, we don’t have fidelity on what groups exactly were impacted by the airstrikes today.

Interpreter: Does ISIS have a presence in Homs? Your latest map says no, but some people are pushing back on that because a Daily Mail article published in August showed ISIS reportedly throwing a gay man off a roof in Homs.

ISW:  There is ISIS in Homs Province, not in Homs City which is regime-held (with the exception of one neighborhood). The ISIS presence in Homs is primarily in the eastern countryside. For instance, Palmyra (Tadmur) is in Homs Province.

The Daily Mail article is likely referring to an event that happened in one of the ISIS-held villages in the eastern countryside of the province. There are, however, ISIS ‘sympathetic’ elements (i.e. similar in ideology but not officially ISIS) in rebel-held in the areas of Homs and Hama provinces that were hit today with airstrikes. These groups are minimal and are usually rooted out by other rebel brigades in the area.

Interpreter:  Any idea which rebel unit was hit today in Al Lataminah, Hama province? The “FSA” commander told Reuters that his unit was hit, and he had recently received anti-tank missiles from a “foreign power.” Any idea what, specifically, they are referencing?

ISW: Tajama’a al-Izza was hit in Al Lataminah. They are an FSA-affiliated TOW anti-tank missile recipient that is active in the provinces of Hama, Idlib, and Aleppo. The TOW missile recipients active in northern Syria are believed to receive these anti-tank missiles from the Turkish Military Operations Command (MOC).

Interpreter:  It looks like a member of Tahrir Homs was killed today. Do you know anything about this man or the unit? Do you know the group’s ideological leanings?

ISW: Yes, the airstrikes killed Lyad al-Deek of Tahrir Homs today. Harakat Tahrir Homs is technically a Free Syrian Army affiliate, however in 2015 the once “moderate” Free Syrian Army is largely nominal and is not a good indicator of a rebel group’s ideological leanings. Tahrir Homs, like a lot of the battle hardened opposition remaining in Homs, is an Islamist brigade that is a military ally of Syrian al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra. The relationship between Nusra and Tahrir Homs with regards to governance was thought of as “uneasy” when Nusra first started to assert itself (and it’s strict version of Shari’a) in Homs, however they have likely grown closer as time has gone on and probably are currently participating in joint rebel governance structures together.

Russian airstrikes on the Rebel-held Rastan & Talbisah, the largest populated cities in Northern #Homs

North Homs

Russian Actions Intensify Syrian Civil War, Carter Says

By Jim Garamone DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON September 30, 2015 — Russian actions are intensifying the instability in Syria and making the civil war there more vicious, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said here today.

During a Pentagon news conference, Carter said the Russian position of supporting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and its desire to take on extremist groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant represent a contradiction.

“Fighting ISIL without pursuing a parallel political transition only risks escalating the civil war in Syria – and with it, the very extremism and instability that Moscow claims to be concerned about and aspire to fighting,” he said. “So that approach is tantamount … to pouring gasoline on the fire.”

The secretary restated the American position, saying that a lasting defeat of ISIL and its terrorist allies can be achieved only in parallel with a political transition in Syria. “We will continue to insist on the importance of simultaneously pursuing these two objectives,” he said. “And I would hope Russia would join us in pursuing these objectives.”

Conversation With Russian Defense Minister

Carter spoke with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu last week, when Russia’s intent to launch strikes in Syria became apparent. “During my phone call with Minister Shoigu, I also told him I was prepared to send a DoD team to meet with Russian defense counterparts, at a location that we agreed upon, to ensure that we avoid any inadvertent incidents over Syrian air space,” he said.

But Russian aircraft struck targets around Homs, Syria, this morning. A Russian officer notified personnel in the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad of the strikes an hour before they launched. No coalition aircraft were in the region at the time, and Carter said he doubts any ISIL terrorists were in the area struck.

Russian and coalition officers will meet in the next few days to “deconflict” air operations. The meeting will allow a flow of information between coalition forces and Russian elements to maintain the safety of U.S. personnel in the region, Carter said.

The meeting also will be an opportunity to ensure that any additional Russian actions do not interfere with the coalition’s efforts to degrade and defeat ISIL, he added.

Mission Against ISIL Will Continue

The secretary stressed that the more-than-60-nation coalition is battling ISIL “across the physical, virtual and ideological battle space,” conducting more than 7,100 air strikes at ISIL’s operational core and logistics arm. “The coalition will continue to fly missions over Iraq and Syria as planned, as we did today, in support of our international mission to degrade and destroy ISIL,” he said.

Carter said the U.S. talks with the Russians over Syria do not indicate a lessening of America’s strong condemnation of Russian aggression in Ukraine, nor do they change U.S. sanctions and security support in response to those destabilizing actions.

“On that subject, the facts remain: If Russia wants to end its international isolation and be considered a global power, it must stop its aggression in eastern Ukraine and its occupation and attempted annexation of Crimea, and live up to its commitments under the Minsk agreement,” he said.