Syrian Crisis in One Picture (Warning: Very Sad)

[mcHAPPY]

Apparently ISIS is taking responsibility for downing Russian airliner.


Meanwhile, at least one elected US official publicly states truth:

With each passing week, more and more people are beginning to ask the kinds of questions the Pentagon and CIA most assuredly do not want to answer and now, US Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard is out calling Washington’s effort to oust Assad both “counterproductive” and “illegal.” In the following priceless video clip, Gabbard accuses the CIA of arming the very same terrorists who The White House insists are "our sworn enemy" and all but tells the American public that the government is lying to them and may end up inadvertently starting “World War III.”

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-1...king-terroists

The world is tinder and people want to play with matches.

Idiots.

[Bendit]

Apparently ISIS is taking responsibility for downing Russian airliner.


Meanwhile, at least one elected US official publicly states truth:




The world is tinder and people want to play with matches.

Idiots.

And Ms Gabbard is the vice chair of the Democratic National Committee. It is quite amazing she takes a public stand on this. She is completely against the policy of sending troops to Syria. I think Obama has been coopted by the military industrial complex....or whatever.

Not sure just yet about the crash though....but they will be able to tell fairly soon unless they hush it of course.

[Apollo]

Once again, reality has intruded on President Obama’s divisive, his anti-science talking points. Just hours after the president used the term “widows and orphans” to taunt the GOP over their opposition to flooding America with Syrian refugees ISIS has promised to seed with terrorists, a female suicide bomber in Paris blew herself up as police closed in.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...odes-in-paris/

[Apollo]

Putin's latest statement:

“To forgive the terrorists is up to god, to send them to him is up to me.”

http://nation.foxnews.com/2015/11/17...nd-them-him-me

He's like some character from a movie with the over the top stuff he says sometimes.

[Nilanka]

Putin's latest statement:


http://nation.foxnews.com/2015/11/17...nd-them-him-me

He's like some character from a movie with the over the top stuff he says sometimes.

[mcHAPPY]

I don't believe Putin to be a noble or so called 'good' person but I do believe he is the, for lack of a better word, 'best' leader in the world today.


He was stating for the last 4-5 years what would happen - and lo and behold here we are.


You can't support terrorists and terrorism in one country and not expect fall victim to the same fate in your own.


Not a popular view I'm sure but if one can't look at the situation in the Middle East and not lay a large portion of the blame at the Wests very own feet.


As Assad said, horrible heinous crime in Paris but his country has been dealing with these acts for the last 4-5 years.....and the terrorists in his country have been funded by the West. You reap what you sow.

[slaw]

I don't believe Putin to be a noble or so called 'good' person but I do believe he is the, for lack of a better word, 'best' leader in the world today.


He was stating for the last 4-5 years what would happen - and lo and behold here we are.


You can't support terrorists and terrorism in one country and not expect fall victim to the same fate in your own.


Not a popular view I'm sure but if one can't look at the situation in the Middle East and not lay a large portion of the blame at the Wests very own feet.


As Assad said, horrible heinous crime in Paris but his country has been dealing with these acts for the last 4-5 years.....and the terrorists in his country have been funded by the West. You reap what you sow.

I would highly recommend that any person who thinks Putin is a "good" "great" or "best" leader visit Russia and spend some time there. Observe the world around you. Report back on your observations on the state of society over there and whether you still think he is a great leader.

Also, it must be incredibly frustrating to be one of these ISIS dudes cause no matter what they do they can't explain themselves to the West. They keep explaining in precise detail exactly why they are doing what they are doing with religious justifications and we keep telling them "no, no, no. you are doing it cause they west has oppressed you and the Jews and climate change and stuff." Must be maddening...

[Nilanka]

I would highly recommend that any person who thinks Putin is a "good" "great" or "best" leader visit Russia and spend some time there. Observe the world around you. Report back on your observations on the state of society over there and whether you still think he is a great leader.

Also, it must be incredibly frustrating to be one of these ISIS dudes cause no matter what they do they can't explain themselves to the West. They keep explaining in precise detail exactly why they are doing what they are doing with religious justifications and we keep telling them "no, no, no. you are doing it cause they west has oppressed you and the Jews and climate change and stuff." Must be maddening...

I'm sure you've seen this, but it's still awesome. Liberal, politically-correct madness.

It's like a bad Monty Python sketch:

"We did this because our holy texts exhort us to to do it."

"No you didn't."

"Wait, what? Yes we did..."

"No, this has nothing to do with religion. You guys are just using religion as a front for social and geopolitical reasons."

"WHAT!? Did you even read our official statement? We give explicit Quranic justification. This is jihad, a holy crusade against pagans, blasphemers, and disbelievers."

"No, this is definitely not a Muslim thing. You guys are not true Muslims, and you defame a great religion by saying so."

"Huh!? Who are you to tell us we're not true Muslims!? Islam is literally at the core of everything we do, and we have implemented the truest most literal and honest interpretation of its founding texts. It is our very reason for being."

"Nope. We created you. We installed a social and economic system that alienates and disenfranchises you, and that's why you did this. We're sorry."

"What? Why are you apologizing? We just slaughtered you mercilessly in the streets. We targeted unwitting civilians - disenfranchisement doesn't even enter into it!"

"Listen, it's our fault. We don't blame you for feeling unwelcome and lashing out."

"Seriously, stop taking credit for this! We worked really hard to pull this off, and we're not going to let you take it away from us."

"No, we nourished your extremism. We accept full blame."

"OMG, how many people do we have to kill around here to finally get our message across?"

[mcHAPPY]

I would highly recommend that any person who thinks Putin is a "good" "great" or "best" leader visit Russia and spend some time there. Observe the world around you. Report back on your observations on the state of society over there and whether you still think he is a great leader.

Also, it must be incredibly frustrating to be one of these ISIS dudes cause no matter what they do they can't explain themselves to the West. They keep explaining in precise detail exactly why they are doing what they are doing with religious justifications and we keep telling them "no, no, no. you are doing it cause they west has oppressed you and the Jews and climate change and stuff." Must be maddening...

Who is a better leader on the international stage today? Obama?

Russia did more damage to ISIS in 3 weeks than the US did in over a year.

Russia has always been a mess. Might be interesting to check his approval rating. You might not like or respect him but his people certainly do.



These guys using religion as justification is a joke. The fundamental principle of all religions - including Christian and Muslim faith - is though shall not kill. These people, ISIS, are crazy fanatics...period. The recruits are disillusioned or disenfranchised and these groups play on those feelings. ISIS doesn't represent even a small portion of the Muslim faith. Western media continues to ignore it but Muslim leaders have been speaking out against ISIS and terrorism for years.

I do love how you continue to make posts denying the west's responsibility in current situation. I believe a previous post essentially said, "they are nuts, have always been nuts, so who cares if we add to the instability to pursue our own objectives." That is so sad. It has been shown that the more involvement the west, in particular the US, has had in the Middle East the more recruits/jihadists join terror groups. You imagine thinking your family being blown up by a drone won't make you seek vengeance? Yeah right.

[Nilanka]

There are many geopolitical reasons why ISIS exists, but let's not pretend that religion is not one of them. Jihadism is a fundamental tenet of Islam.

Jihadi John doesn't yell, "Allahu Akbar" while sawing someone's head off because of Western foreign policy. He believes he's doing a noble good towards his faith.

[mcHAPPY]

I'm sure you've seen this, but it's still awesome. Liberal, politically-correct madness.

That's funny.

But, as an example, why do you see the 9/11 hijackers living the dream with call girls and in strip clubs just days before blowing themselves up?

You think a truly religious person is going to the promised land with glitter all over his face?

[mcHAPPY]

Every religion has fanatics or radicals, those who want to force their beliefs on majority. Islam is no different.

But ISIS does not represent Muslims as a whole:

A very common, oft-repeated mantra among pundits and “experts” is that Muslims haven’t roundly condemned the extremism committed in Islam’s name. So many times, we hear people saying, “Where are the Muslim voices in condemnation?” “Why aren’t Muslims speaking up against extremists like ISIS?”

Well, the fact is, Muslims have been speaking out against ISIS and other extremist groups. The problem is, some times, people either don’t know or choose not to know this fact. Enter in this excellent post by Media Matters For America, which documents the round condemnation of ISIS by Muslim groups all across the world:

The Organization Of Islamic Cooperation: The Islamic State Has “Nothing To Do With Islam,” Has Committed Crimes “That Cannot Be Tolerated.” As the Vatican’s internal news source reported, the Secretary General for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which represents 1.4 billion Muslims in 57 countries around the world, condemned the Islamic State’s persecution of of Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq, saying the “forced deportation under the threat of execution” is a “crime that cannot be tolerated.” According to the Vatican:
The Secretary General also distanced Islam from the actions of the militant group known as ISIS, saying they ‘have nothing to do with Islam and its principles that call for justice, kindness, fairness, freedom of faith and coexistence.’ [Vatican Radio, 7/25/14]

Al-Azhar: Islamic State Is Corrupt And “A Danger To Islam.” Lebanese paper The Daily Star reported that Al-Azhar’s Grand Mufti Shawqi Allam, Egypt’s highest religious authority, denounced the Islamic State as a threat to Islam and said that the group both violates Sharia law and humanitarian law: “[They] give an opportunity for those who seek to harm us, to destroy us and interfere in our affairs with the [pretext of a] call to fight terrorism.” [The Daily Star, 8/13/14]

Arab League: “Strongly Denounced” The “Crimes Against Humanity” Carried Out By The Islamic State. On August 11, Nabil al-Arabi, the Arab League Chief, denounced acts committed by the Islamic State in Iraq as “crimes against humanity,” demanding that they be brought to justice. According to Al Arabiya News, he said in a statement that he “strongly denounced the crimes, killings, dispossession carried out by the terrorist (ISIS) against civilians and minorities in Iraq that have affected Christians in Mosul and Yazidis.” [Al Arabiya News, 8/11/14]

Turkey’s Top Cleric: Islamic State’s Threats Are “Hugely Damaging,” “Truly Awful.” Turkey’s highest ranking cleric, Mehmet Gormez, decried the Islamic State’s declaration of a “caliphate” and argued that the statements were damaging to the Muslim community, according to Reuters:
“Such declarations have no legitimacy whatsoever,” Mehmet Gormez, head of the Religious Affairs Directorate, the highest religious authority in Turkey, which, although a majority Muslim country, has been a secular state since the 1920s.
“Since the caliphate was abolished … there have been movements that think they can pull together the Muslim world by re-establishing a caliphate, but they have nothing to do with reality, whether from a political or legal perspective.”
Gormez said death threats against non-Muslims made by the group, formerly known as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), were hugely damaging.
“The statement made against Christians is truly awful. Islamic scholars need to focus on this (because) an inability to peacefully sustain other faiths and cultures heralds the collapse of a civilization,” he told Reuters in an interview. [Reuters, 7/22/14]

CAIR Repeatedly Condemned The Islamic State As “Un-Islamic And Morally Repugnant.” In a July 7 statement, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called the terrorist group “un-Islamic and morally repugnant,” noted that the Islamic State’s “human rights abuses on the ground are well-documented,” and called on other Muslim community leaders to speak out against the violence. CAIR reiterated the condemnation of the Islamic State as “both un-Islamic and morally repugnant” on August 11, and on August 21, CAIR once again condemned the group, calling the killing of American journalist James Foley “gruesome and barbaric”:
We strongly condemn this gruesome and barbaric killing as a violation of Islamic beliefs and of universally-accepted international norms mandating the protection of prisoners and journalists during conflicts.

The Geneva Conventions, the Quran – Islam’s revealed text – and the traditions (hadith) of the Prophet Muhammad all require that prisoners not be harmed in any way. There can be no excuse or justification for such criminal and bloodthirsty actions.
We also call on those holding Steven Sotloff and other prisoners to immediately release them unharmed so they may return to their loved ones. [Council on American-Islamic Relations, 7/7/14; Council on American-Islamic Relations, 8/11/14; Council on American-Islamic Relations, 8/20/14]

The Muslim Council Of Great Britain: “Violence Has No Place In Religion.” The Muslim Council of Great Britain condemned the Islamic State’s actions and expressed that they do not represent Sunni Muslims, according to The Independent. Shuja Shafi, a member of the council also said: “Violence has no place in religion, violence has no religion. It is prohibited for people to present themselves for destruction.” [The Independent, 7/11/14]

The Islamic Society of North America: The Islamic State’s Actions “Are To Be Denounced And Are In No Way Representative Of What Islam Actually Teaches. The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) released a statement denouncing the Islamic State “for its attacks on Iraq’s religious minorities and the destruction of their places of worship.” ISNA President Imam Mohamed Magid said, “ISIS actions against religious minorities in Iraq violate the Quranic teaching, ‘Let there be no compulsion in religion’ (Surat al-Baqara 2:256),” adding, “Their actions are to be denounced and are in no way representative of what Islam actually teaches.” [The Islamic Society of North America, 8/9/14]

100 Sunni And Shiite U.K. Imams: The Islamic State Is An “Illegitimate, Vicious Group.” As the Huffington Post reported, 100 Sunni and Shiite Imams from the U.K. came together to produce a video denouncing the Islamic State, releasing a statement that they wanted to “come together to emphasise the importance of unity in the UK and to decree ISIS as an illegitimate, vicious group who do not represent Islam in any way.” (Please see below)

Saudi Arabia’s Highest Religious Authority: Terrorists Like The Islamic State Is The “Number One Enemy Of Islam.” On August 19, Al Jazeera reported that Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti, Abdulaziz al-Sheikh, the country’s top religious authority, said that terrorism is anti-Islamic and said that groups like the Islamic State which practice violence are the “number one enemy of Islam”:
Extremist and militant ideas and terrorism which spread decay on Earth, destroying human civilisation, are not in any way part of Islam, but are enemy number one of Islam, and Muslims are their first victims. [Al Jazeera, 8/19/14]

Muslim Public Affairs Council: Condemned The Islamic State And Called For “Stand Against Extremism.” On August 20, the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) released a statement condemning “the barbaric execution of American Journalist James Foley by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).” MPAC urged “all people of conscience to take a stand against extremism” and offered condolences to Foley’s family. MPAC also noted the importance of countering ISIS and other extremist groups by working “to empower the mainstream and relegate extremists to the irrelevance they deserve.” [Muslim Public Affairs Council, 8/20/14]


Read more: http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/...#ixzz3rsgNGm49
Read more at http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/...mTVFEO2f2m0.99

[mcHAPPY]

Do not forget everything in Syria was/is about a pipeline.


It was known in 2012 that the creation of ISIS was a tool to isolate Assad:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-0...resident-assad


Before ISIS it was Al-Qaeda that was born from US intervention in the middle east.

America’s relationship with Al Qaeda has always been a love-hate affair. Depending on whether a particular Al Qaeda terrorist group in a given region furthers American interests or not, the U.S. State Department either funds or aggressively targets that terrorist group. Even as American foreign policy makers claim to oppose Muslim extremism, they knowingly foment it as a weapon of foreign policy.

You wanna stop terrorism? Get the hell out.

In 1997, a U.S. Department of Defense report stated, “the data show a strong correlation between U.S. involvement abroad and an increase in terrorist attacks against the U.S.” Truth is, the only way America can win the “War On Terror” is if it stops giving terrorists the motivation and the resources to attack America. Terrorism is the symptom; American imperialism in the Middle East is the cancer. Put simply, the War on Terror is terrorism; only, it is conducted on a much larger scale by people with jets and missiles.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/america...-group/5402881

You want to start fixing the situation, look at the past:

History takes no prisoners. It shows, with absolute lucidity, that the Islamic extremism ravaging the world today was borne out of the Western foreign policy of yesteryear.

Gore Vidal famously referred to the USA as the United States of Amnesia. The late Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai put it a little more delicately, quipping, “One of the delightful things about Americans is that they have absolutely no historical memory.”

In order to understand the rise of militant Salafi groups like ISIS and al-Qaida; in order to wrap our minds around their heinous, abominable attacks on civilians in the U.S., France, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Nigeria, Turkey, Yemen, Afghanistan and many, many more countries, we must rekindle this historical memory.

Where did violent Islamic extremism come from? In the wake of the horrific Paris attacks on Friday, November the 13, this is the question no one is asking — yet it is the most important one of all. If one doesn’t know why a problem emerged, if one cannot find its root, one will never be able to solve and uproot it.

Where did militant Salafi groups like ISIS and al-Qaida come from? The answer is not as complicated as many make it out to be — but, to understand, we must delve into the history of the Cold War, the historical period lied about in the West perhaps more than any other.

In a speech at the University of Colorado, Boulder in October 1998, Ahmad warned that the U.S. policy in Afghanistan would backfire:

“In Islamic history, jihad as an international violent phenomenon had disappeared in the last 400 years, for all practical purposes. It was revived suddenly with American help in the 1980s. When the Soviet Union intervened in Afghanistan, Zia ul-Haq, the [U.S.-backed] military dictator of Pakistan, which borders on Afghanistan, saw an opportunity and launched a jihad there against godless communism. The U.S. saw a God-sent opportunity to mobilize one billion Muslims against what Reagan called the ‘Evil Empire.’

“Money started pouring in. CIA agents starting going all over the Muslim world recruiting people to fight in the great jihad. Bin Laden was one of the early prize recruits. He was not only an Arab. He was also a Saudi. He was not only a Saudi. He was also a multimillionaire, willing to put his own money into the matter. Bin Laden went around recruiting people for the jihad against communism.

“I first met him in 1986. He was recommended to me by an American official of whom I do not know whether he was or was not an agent. I was talking to him and said, ‘Who are the Arabs here who would be very interesting?’ By here I meant in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He said, ‘You must meet Osama.’ I went to see Osama. There he was, rich, bringing in recruits from Algeria, from Sudan, from Egypt, just like Sheikh Abdul Rahman. This fellow was an ally. He remained an ally.

“He turns at a particular moment. In 1990, the U.S. goes into Saudi Arabia with forces. Saudi Arabia is the holy place of Muslims, Mecca, and Medina. There had never been foreign troops there. In 1990, during the Gulf War, they went in, in the name of helping Saudi Arabia defeat Saddam Hussein. Osama Bin Laden remained quiet.

“Saddam was defeated, but the American troops stayed on in the land of the Ka’aba [the most sacred site of Islam, in Mecca], foreign troops. He wrote letter after letter saying, ‘Why are you here? Get out! You came to help but you have stayed on.’ Finally he started a jihad against the other occupiers. His mission is to get American troops out of Saudi Arabia. His earlier mission was to get Russian troops out of Afghanistan.”

For bin Laden, Ahmad added, “America has broken its word. The loyal friend has betrayed. The one to whom you swore blood loyalty has betrayed you.”

“They’re going to go for you. They’re going to do a lot more,” Ahmad warned, three years before the 9/11 attacks. “These are the chickens of the Afghanistan war coming home to roost.”

We now know that Ahmad was right. But, like Cassandra, the powerful ignored his sagacious admonition, and suffered the horrific consequences.

Extremist “freedom fighters”

In the 1950s and ’60s, Afghanistan was a somewhat secular country in which women were granted relatively equal rights. What turned Afghanistan into the hotbed for extremism it is today? Decades of Western meddling.

Throughout the 1980s, the U.S. government supported and armed bin Laden and his mujahedin in Afghanistan, in their fight against the Soviet Union. President Ronald Reagan famously met with the mujahedin in the Oval Office in 1983. “To watch the courageous Afghan freedom fighters battle modern arsenals with simple hand-held weapons is an inspiration to those who love freedom,” Reagan declared.

http://www.salon.com/2015/11/17/we_c...en_in_the_80s/



And yet here we are today, in 2015, seeing some of the G20, Turkey in particular, aiding ISIS:

Antalya, Turkey – Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that he has shared intelligence with the other G20 member states, which reveals the 40 countries from which ISIS finances the majority of their terrorist activities. The list reportedly included a number of G20 countries.

“I provided examples based on our data on the financing of different Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) units by private individuals. This money, as we have established, comes from 40 countries and, there are some of the G20 members among them,” Putin told reporters.

In addition to discussing the need to stop the flow of donor money to ISIS, Putin also reiterated the need to stop the illegal oil trade by ISIS.

“I’ve shown our colleagues photos taken from space and from aircraft which clearly demonstrate the scale of the illegal trade in oil and petroleum products,” he said.

“The motorcade of refueling vehicles stretched for dozens of kilometers, so that from a height of 4,000 to 5,000 meters they stretch beyond the horizon,” Putin said.

And about that illegal oil.... why was it only this WEEK - AFTER PARIS - did the US finally start bombing their cash cow?

The NY Times reported:

Intensifying pressure on the Islamic State, United States warplanes for the first time attacked hundreds of trucks on Monday that the extremist group has been using to smuggle the crude oil it has been producing in Syria, American officials said.

According to an initial assessment, 116 trucks were destroyed in the attack, which took place near Deir al-Zour, an area in eastern Syria that is controlled by the Islamic State.

The airstrikes were carried out by four A-10 attack planes and two AC-130 gunships based in Turkey.

Ahhhh right... civilians. They didn't want to hurt civilians. Right. Yet here they have no problem bombing Doctors without Borders:
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2...-changes-again

During the press conference, Putin went on to stress that an international coalition is needed to more effectively counter the terrorist group, noting Russia’s readiness to support the fight against ISIS.

“Some armed opposition groups consider it possible to begin active operations against IS with Russia’s support. And we are ready to provide such support from the air. If it happens it could become a good basis for the subsequent work on a political settlement,” Putin said.

“We really need support from the US, European nations, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran,” the Russian president added.

In the wake of the claimed ISIS attacks in Paris, perhaps the NATO contingent involved in Syria will now realize that removing Assad is not the primary goal, and that fighting ISIS is the actual mission.

The Russian intelligence analysis of the 40 nations funding the ISIS terror machine were relayed to diplomats attending the G20 summit – but were not released to the media, nor the general public. We will keep you updated if/when the names of the ISIS supporting states are leaked.

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/put...-40-countries/


After years of doing everything to topple Assad all for a freaking pipeline, might be time to change course since the attempt to do that failed and has created a world wide terror epidemic.


But no.... its all religion.

[Bendit]

Some good stuff there. That Eqbal Ahmad fellow is a very interesting fellow indeed.

An additional comment is that mixed in with the issue of energy/oil grabs which hasbeen going on since the turn of the last century there is that other elephant ....the Israel-Palestinian fester which exacerbates the entire dynamic.

[Nilanka]

That's funny.

But, as an example, why do you see the 9/11 hijackers living the dream with call girls and in strip clubs just days before blowing themselves up?

You think a truly religious person is going to the promised land with glitter all over his face?

They're cherry-picking what they want to believe. Not unsual for religous folks.

But how do you get someone to fly himself into a building without convincing him that paradise awaits. That takes religion.