Just to be awkward, Russia is bombing Syria

This is about the least-distressing image I could find to describe the situation in Syria.

This is about the least-distressing image I could find to describe the situation in Syria [Image: BBC].

Russia is bombing parts of Syria in raids that appear to have been planned, not to relieve the suffering of innocent people there, but to cause logistical and diplomatic problems for the USA and its allies.

According to the BBC, Russia has claimed it is targeting Islamic State, but a US official has said none of the targets appear to be in IS-held territory. War planes have attacked what appears to be territory held by rebels against Syrian President Assad in the Homs and Hama provinces.

This has created serious complications in what are already seriously-complicated hostilities.

Russia gave the US an hour’s notice that it would be launching air strikes, along with a demand that America and its allies, in effect, get out of the way – but we don’t know who the targets are.

America is, in its usual bullish manner, saying it won’t halt any of the operations it has already planned with its own allies.

This makes it possible that US and Russian forces will end up shooting each other – even if they say they don’t mean to. Americans have an extremely poor record in this regards – as their British allies in the Second Gulf War learned to their cost.

In the midst of all this, the UK’s damned-fool Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, has asserted that this country will continue bombing IS, in Syria, for “as long as it takes” – even though the Conservative Government has no Parliamentary mandate to do anything of the kind.

MPs rejected military action in Syria, almost exactly two years ago. They have since approved strikes against IS in Iraq, but the ban on raids in Syria is technically still in force. Our personnel should not be there.

In the light of the new development, there is even more reason for the UK to pull out of Syria – but of course our Defence Secretary is a damned fool.

This is a situation that could escalate into a shooting war between America and Russia, if damned fools like him are allowed to continue running around like bulls in front of red rags. That should be the last thing anybody wants – but do you see anybody trying to stop it?

And what about the innocent parties in all this – the Syrian citizens who just want to be left in peace? Nobody seems to care about them, even though the addition of Russia into this apocalyptic mess means even more refugees streaming into Europe.

If anybody has any ideas about how to restore sanity, could they please make those ideas known – before we’re all blown to smithereens?

It all makes the fuss over Jeremy Corbyn saying he would not launch a nuclear missile look a bit silly, doesn’t it?

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14 Comments

  1. John. September 30, 2015 at 5:24 pm - Reply

    We are entering the Neocon rapture, eternal war.

  2. Suusi M-B September 30, 2015 at 5:26 pm - Reply

    The cancer is wahhabism, the source is Saudi Arabia. Our masters and the Yankees have been rimming the Saudis, and for that matter anyone else with a wad of cash.

    There is NO functional difference between Saudi Arabia and Daesh they are one and the same.

    The UK and US war on Daesh is all smoke and mirrors. The appearance of doing something, but the reality is that the UK and USA are helping Daesh.

    Daesh is financed by Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait. They buy weapons from both us and the USA then and ship them straight to Daesh. This is in direct violation of the End User Certificates. End User Certificates are required for all arms sales.

    This alone should be enough bring the UK government down.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End-user_certificate

  3. Moussaoui Ahmed September 30, 2015 at 5:50 pm - Reply

    la gères va changés son régime .est russia rentrés dans son pièges .est il ne va reste pas capables en face de les mission des moudjahidin .est il on va ouvre le Runge de chichaniya pour pressé .russia dans toute les cotés .est aussi a cause de cette intervention .la gère ouverte en iran .est aussi Israël .la zone va poussé a une gère mondiale 3

    • Mike Sivier September 30, 2015 at 6:45 pm - Reply

      Can anybody translate this, please?

      • Martin Odoni September 30, 2015 at 7:14 pm - Reply

        It’s bad French, or maybe a remote dialect of it. The poster seems to have put the same passage up on another blog too.

        As close I can manage, he appears to be saying, “The wars will end Russia and put its regime back in its box. It will not be able to stand in the way of the Mujahideen cause. We will then free Chechnya all the sooner. Russia now has enemies all around it because of this intervention in Iran. Israel has pushed IS into fighting a World War.”

        As I say, this may not be a very good translation, but the French seems very very broken.

      • Suusi M-B September 30, 2015 at 7:18 pm - Reply

        very bad french as far as I can translate. Maybe arabic french Syria was in the French mandate but here goes.

        war to change the regime. Russia is in a trap. The next but is extrapolated and it is reminding us about Afghanistan and Chechnya. Russia is surrounded on all sides. Which is the cause of this intervention. the overt war on Iran, and also Israel. not too sure on the last bit but looks. The zone // aria pushes war WW 3?

        Google translate turns it into gibberish.

      • wildswimmerpete September 30, 2015 at 7:31 pm - Reply

        I’ve used a couple of translators, the results are the same:
        “the change will eign russia .is his regime back in his traps .is it still will not be able in front of the mission of the Mujahideen .is it we will open the Runge chichaniya to hurry .russia all sides has also .is because of this intervention in Iran runs open .the .is .the area is also pushed Israel has a world manages 3”

        Seems to me a threat about World War III

  4. Martin Odoni September 30, 2015 at 6:49 pm - Reply

    http://fair.org/home/no-isis-where-russia-is-bombing-except-last-week-when-isis-was-killing-gay-men-there/

    As usual with US intelligence reports, we need to be cautious about taking them at face value.

  5. hilary772013 September 30, 2015 at 8:44 pm - Reply

    This is very frightening and the last thing we want or need is a conflict with Russia
    I remember hiring a video back in the seventies which was narrated by Orson Wells in which it showed an Arab in blue garb starting WW3
    Apparently it was an interpretation of a sector of Nostradamus a seer who was supposed to predict the future..this was before all the upheaval in the Middle East … I dismissed it at the time as fantasy but I am beginning to wonder nowl

  6. Daniel Margrain October 1, 2015 at 12:28 am - Reply

    So Russia has started attacking Syria in defense of Assad. We would like to attack Syria in defiance of Assad. What could possibly go wrong?

  7. mohandeer October 1, 2015 at 4:23 pm - Reply

    The reason Russia is attacking Homs is to clear out the remnants for the Syrian Army Forces to take control of huge swathes of Homs and set up command centres. Securing the greatest areas of success, then moving outwards from those areas is a good strategy and the US knows it. Unfortunately, many of their own “moderate” terrorists are in that area also. Tough luck!
    Homs: “The army units targeted the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) gatherings and dens to the east of Muthalath Tadmur, north east of al-Maqale’e and between the entrances of al-zakari and al-Mask valleys in the countryside of Palmyra, about 160 km east of Homs city. A military source told SANA Saturday that the army operations ended up with the killing of a number of terrorists and the destruction of an armoured vehicle and two pick-up cars equipped with machine guns, killing all terrorists onboard. The source added that another army unit, in cooperation with the popular defense groups killed and injured a number of (ISIS) terrorists in a special operation that targeted their movements in the village of Unq al-Hawa in the countryside of the central province of Homs. An army unit targeted the terrorist organizations’ movements in the village of Kafer Laha and on the road of al-Taybeh al-Gharbiyeh-Mariamin in al-Hula area.The army operations resulted in the killing scores of Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists and the destruction of their weapons and ammunition. Later, at least 4 vehicles were destroyed and two others were damaged in an army’s strike against a convoy for Jabhat al-Nusra on Deir Foul-Al Ameriyeh road. Seven terrorists were also killed in an army operation against a terrorist den in Deir Foul village, 13 km north of Homs city.”
    Hope this is helpful in explaining Russia’s tactics – it makes sense if you know what is happening on the ground. Have lots more reports of activities for anyone interested.

  8. mohandeer October 2, 2015 at 5:32 pm - Reply

    http://www.voltairenet.org/IMG/pdf/possible-implications-of-bad-intelligence.pdf

    This is the link to the Lloyd Postal Report that the US used to justify their insistence that the chemical attack had to have come from Assad’s regime. The report however, stipulates on pages 11 and again on 28 that the weapons

  9. mohandeer October 2, 2015 at 5:55 pm - Reply

    ….continued The report however, stipulates on pages 11 and again on page 28 that the weapons could not have been fired by Assad’s regime and were undoubtedly fired by factions hostile to the Assad Regime and that the President chose to misrepresent the findings.
    Hersh’s report added to Lehmann’s, a powerful confirmation by British intelligence, which found that the source of the chemical-weapons attack couldn’t possibly have been Assad’s forces.
    “The US Government’s Interpretation of the Technical Intelligence It Gathered Prior to and After the August 21 Attack CANNOT POSSIBLY BE CORRECT.”
    • A Proper Vetting of the Fact That the Munition Was of Such Short Range Would Have Led to a Completely Different Assessment of the Situation from the Gathered Data [namely, that the attack was perpetrated by opponents to Assad’s regime].
    “Obama in his 24 September 2015 UN speech misrepresented the UN investigators’ finding (which was that a sarin gas attack had, indeed, occurred — and not by ‘advanced rockets’ but by two rockets, each of which was an “unguided rocket”), and he lied about what the analyses of evidence, after the UN’s report was issued, actually did find — namely, that the U.S. President has been (and he still is) lying (and it called these rockets “Improvised Chemical Munitions,” and gave detailed descriptions of both of these rockets that the President called “advanced rockets”).”
    “The great investigative journalist Christof Lehmann headlined on 7 October 2013 at his nsnbc news site, “Top US and Saudi Officials responsible for Chemical Weapons in Syria”, and he opened:”
    Obama and Cameron have consitently lied about the UN findings with regard to the chemical attack which was wrongly atrtributed to Assad. The UN findings show definitively that the weapons deployed were not of Assad’s regime and therefore, the excuse to use this misinformation was nothing more than a tactic to engage the west militarily in a war which on the basis of false evidence was illegal.
    Where have we heard that before? Oh yes, Kofi Annan previous Sec. Gen to the UN spoke to the press and referred to the Iraq war as an “Illegal War”.

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