Putin also added something that came dangerously close to the truth: that the Islamic State itself did not appear out of nowhere and said that it was initially nurtured as a weapon against unwanted secular regimes. This was a more carefully crafted statement than his claim at the Sochi Olympics that the US had a role in directly creating ISIS. I think he softened his remarks knowing that the American public would reject a bolder and open pronouncement, coming from the distrusted Russian leader.
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World Affairs Brief, October 2, 2015 Commentary and Insights on a Troubled World.
Copyright Joel Skousen. Partial quotations with attribution permitted. Cite source as Joel Skousen’s World Affairs Brief (http://www.worldaffairsbrief.com).
This Week’s Analysis:
Russia Alters the Globalist Agenda in Syria
Refugee Flood and its Consequences just Beginning
John Boehner’s Sudden Departure
Obama Backs Away from Chinese Sanctions
Pentagon Protects Pedophiles in Afghanistan
Another Mass Shooting to Drive the Gun Control Agenda
[…]
RUSSIA ALTERS THE GLOBALIST AGENDA IN SYRIA
Russia initiated air strikes in Syria this week and although the effect on the ground is still unclear, the globalist agenda in Syria is reeling. The inadvertent offer by the US of a chemical weapons agreement and the immediate acceptance by Syria three years ago set back the timing of the US attack on Syria—until the US created ISIS as an excuse to get back into the battle. But Russia is using the same excuse for direct military intervention on behalf of Syria against ISIS (and other US-backed rebels) and this could halt to the whole US-led effort to remove Assad. If the Russians really start crushing ISIS it will also expose the US war on ISIS as an ineffective and half-hearted fraud. Defeating ISIS is not possible, even for the Russians, without ground troops, but it appears that Russia’s allies in Iran and Lebanon are going to provide the boots on the ground. Revolutionary Guards from Iran and Hezbollah guerrillas from Lebanon are formidable fighters and could provide the turning point against the US/UK-created ISIS.
The Russians have three fighter/attack squadrons at Latakia, Syria and The Times of Israel reported on the various Russian air force and Iranian ground force positions:
The newspaper quotes official sources as saying that each party will be responsible for particular areas of Syria, with Russia operating in Latakia, Hama and some parts of the Aleppo province, while Iran will be defending the capital Damascus and down to Quneitra on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights. The report also states that some 100 Iranian special forces trained in urban warfare have arrived in Damascus
All of this means that the Russians are organizing a direct blockade of the globalist agenda to take down Syria. As my readers know, I’m no fan of Russia, knowing of their ultimate intent to strike the West, but it is good to see the globalist agenda set back yet again, and watch the US and Britain scrambling to figure out a way around the Russian presence. I don’t think there is much that can be done except to bide their time and criticize each move Russia makes–and get other allies to do likewise.
Saudi Arabia, the globalist’s chief lackey in the region, urged Russia to end its military operations in Syria, but they were ignored. The Saudis have amply demonstrated by their flagging war against tiny Yemen that billions in high tech US military equipment doesn’t guarantee success.
The US is now making false claims against the Russians just like they did to Assad (attacking his own citizens with chemical weapons and barrel bombs). The big claim yesterday was that the Russians hit civilians in their latest airstrikes. The Russians have denied it, demonstrating that their targets were far way from civilian areas—purposely to avoid this charge.
As the pro-Russian Sputnik News eagerly proclaimed, the globalists are up to their old tricks in falsifying evidence about Russian civilian casualties. White Helmet organization (a foreign NGO funded by globalists like George Soros) claimed that 33 civilians were killed including 3 children.
However, the false claim was immediately exposed: Twitter users discovered that the photo of the wounded girl was actually taken on September 25, 2015, five days ago. In her recent interview with Sputnik, investigative journalist and peace activist Vanessa Beeley pointed out that the White Helmets (formerly called the Syria Civil Defense) was not created by Syrians and certainly does not operate in Syria’s interests. Funded by the UK, US and the Syrian Opposition Party, the controversial organization works mainly with the rebel group Jabat al-Nusra, the infamous al-Qaeda affiliate.
Next, the US complained that the Russians are using unguided bombs instead of smart bombs to make the claim of civilian collateral damage stick. But that level of inaccuracy is only important if you are trying to bomb right next to civilian areas, which the Russians were not. Ironically, it is the US that has a bad reputation of hitting civilians even when using smart bombs and drone strikes. The Russians may be using old technology to deny US intelligence any information on Russian advanced weaponry, which they have.
Russian surveillance drones are being used over parts of Syria where non-ISIS rebel groups are deployed, specifically those in Idlib Province that threaten Latakia where much of the Alawite minority elite live that run Syria. Assad is also Alawite.
That is in line with the US complaint that Russian airstrikes are taking place in areas not controlled by ISIS. That is true and this is the heart of the difference over US and Russian aims in Syria. The US wants to remove Assad, no matter what, and has funded numerous radical jihadists in order to create what they say is a “civil war” in Syria. After the US was thwarted by its own mistake in offering Assad a chemical weapons deal, it had to carve out half of its radical terrorists in Syria and turn them into ISIS. This way, the US can claim that the other “moderate” rebels are worthy of continued direct support, including air support if attacked.
All of this duplicity about good and bad rebels in Syria requires a high degree of deception in military planning about targets. The US has to use surrogates like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain to get supplies to ISIS and it has to make sure that targeting of ISIS is done by (probably) a single high level compromised targeting officer at Central Command who knows how to pick targets that make it appear the US is fighting ISIS while evading targets that would really damage ISIS. So, empty buildings, lone pickup trucks, and individuals may be fine, but not major weapon depots or conglomerations of heavy military equipment.
As a former military fighter/attack pilot I can tell you that this kind of manipulation requires a virtual wall of separation between target analysts (who read satellite data and make recommendations), and the head decider so they can’t argue and interact with the guy who makes the decisions—lest it become obvious he is working under a different set of rules than they are.
None of the pilots must know about this secret agenda and neither must the intermediate military target analysts who pass the targets up the line each day. All they know is that certain high value targets always get rejected, without explanation—or delayed so that when finally authorized, the pilots are already at “bingo fuel” (min. necessary to return to base). There’s a minor rebellion going on in military ranks as pilots and briefers are beginning to see a pattern of sabotage by our own government just like what happened to us in Vietnam.
This is why the US will never be able to take Putin up on his invitation to coordinate military strikes. The US keeps complaining about the potential dangers of conflict in the skies over Syria but they can’t afford to sit down at a table with the Russians and compare intelligence and targets. Why? Because the Russians would quickly see that the US is protecting ISIS, as the US would fail to provide intel on really good ISIS targets, and if the Russians did so, based on their own satellite reconnaissance, they would observe the US representatives trying to talk them out of hitting those targets.
Russia has said it is establishing an intelligence sharing operation in Baghdad so that Iran, Iraq and Syria can pool intelligence about ISIS, which controls wide stretches of territory in Iraq and Syria. The US responded immediately with pressure on Iraq not to share any US provided intel. Col. Steven Warren of the Pentagon said, “The Iraqi Ministry of Defense has given us [United States] assurances that our information will be appropriately protected.
One other thing that worries the US is that with Russian forces tracking not only their own strikes but US, French and British operations in Syria, they are in a position to know the US isn’t really hitting high value targets. In the first 24 hours since the Russian air war began, the US made only one sortie, instead of the normal average of 8 per day, denying Russia this compromising intel.
Here is my summary of the devastating effects of the Russian intervention in Syria is having on the globalist agenda:
1. Russia has grabbed the leadership spotlight. Obama’s message at the UN was filled with the same old lies and hollow claims about terror threats justifying US intervention, but his words fell noticeably flat. The world is tired of US leadership and the continual war on terror that the US can never seem to win. Many are suspicious that the US isn’t trying and there was a sense of expectation as the world watches for answers and gave Putin a chance, despite his predation in Ukraine.
Putin’s speech echoed the dissatisfaction of even the Western world over the US-directed war in Syria by uttering the telling words, “Do you realize what you’ve done?” He never called the US by name, but instead referred to that “post-Cold War sole center of dominance” which needs to own up to the consequences of its decisions.
Ever since the US engineered the attack on its own World Trade Center, it has had nearly free reign to intervene at will around the world in the name of protecting us from terror—never mind that neither Iraq nor Afghanistan had anything to do with the WTC demolition.
Putin also made the point that US fomenting of the various Arab Spring uprisings have left those countries nearly stateless and almost without law and order (Libya, Egypt and Syria) as well as spawning millions of refugees—a problem that will not be solved by taking down Assad and allowing a jihadist rabble to run roughshod over Syria.
Putin said, “It is already evident that the vacuum of power, which arose in a number of Middle East and North African countries led to the creation of zones of anarchy, which have immediately been filled by extremists“
Putin too can play the refugee card, even though he knows the refugee flood will weaken the West (serving Russia’s long-term goals) “The refugees need compassion and support, but this issue can only be solved radically by reestablishing statehood where it has been destroyed.”
The pro-Russian Sputnik news cataloged some of the media reaction to Putin’s leadership coup:
“Vladimir Putin is back — and stealing Barack Obama’s thunder on the world’s stage”… “Putin’s message at the UN podium Monday was a simple one: US interventions and unilateralism have backfired in the Middle East, and it is time to try something new,” –CNN
The New York Post praised Putin and called him “the world’s most powerful leader” though they lamented that our own president had put him in that position. “The baton was officially transferred Monday to the world’s new sole superpower — and Vladimir Putin willingly picked it up.”
“Putin’s speech shows who is in charge”… The “Obama administration’s impotence and failure to bring any sort of resolution to [the] Syrian civil war or to curb ISIS significantly has allowed Putin to take the initiative.”… “The last time Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke at the United Nations General Assembly, exactly 10 years ago, he made do with a five-minute speech extolling the UN’s virtues. On Monday, it was a different, much more aggressive Putin. He spoke for 20 minutes and presented a clear and forceful foreign policy for his country” –Haaretz
Putin also added something that came dangerously close to the truth: that the Islamic State itself did not appear out of nowhere and said that it was initially nurtured as a weapon against unwanted secular regimes. This was a more carefully crafted statement than his claim at the Sochi Olympics that the US had a role in directly creating ISIS. I think he softened his remarks knowing that the American public would reject a bolder and open pronouncement, coming from the distrusted Russian leader.
The pro-Russian news media never misses a story that tends to confirm US backing of terror. Here’s Sputnik News again:
Syrian rebel fighters trained by the United States provided ammunition and equipment to an al-Qaeda-linked group this week, a spokesman for the Pentagon has confirmed. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Wednesday around 70 participants of the US train-and-equip program returned to Syria from a training camp in Turkey over the weekend. The group that operates as the New Syrian Force (NSF) was later thought to have defected to the Nusra Front.
“Today the NSF unit contacted Coalition representatives and informed us that on Sept. 21-22 they gave six pick-up trucks and a portion of their ammunition to a suspected Nusra Front intermediary,” Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said as quoted by The Blaze.
First reports of so-called moderate Syrian fighters, which were trained to fight militant groups like the Nusra Front and the notorious ISIL jihadist group, claimed the NSF had given up arms in exchange for safe passage.
Earlier this month, the Pentagon admitted that only five out of the over 5,000 fighters trained in the $500-million US program were actually fighting on the ground. The figure was later revised to nine.
2. The US is forced to change policy on Assad. As Sputnik News eagerly noted,
The US has changed its policy on Syria: instead of calling for the immediate ousting of Syrian President Assad, it now says it should be an “orderly, managed transition” unlike the one the US pursued in Iraq, US Secretary of State John Kerry said in his interview with CNN.
“For a period of time, all of the coalition was saying he [Bashar Assad] had to leave immediately, that was the original statement way back,” said the US secretary of state.
“We’ve changed that. Over a period of time we said no, that is not going to work. We need to have an orderly transition, managed transition so that you don’t have fearful retribution, loss of life, you don’t have a vacuum, you don’t have an implosion. All of these things are legitimate concerns.”
Actually, the push for Assad to immediately resign wasn’t “way back” or done “over a period of time.” It was US policy right up to the Russian intervention this week. His attempt to back date the change was a blatant attempt to save face and downplay the effect of Russia’s latest move.
3. This puts the Iran attack on indefinite hold. The US was counting on ISIS to take down Assad (a demand of Israel before going through with the attack on Iran’s nuclear project) so the US and Israel could get on with the agenda of declaring Iran in violation of the newly inked nuclear treaty and take down Iran.
Now the US is stuck abiding by the Iran agreement which will give Iran more time to improve her arms if sanctions are removed.
4. How does this change things in the Middle East? The long-term agenda of the globalists in the Middle East is to neutralize or compromise all of the Arab and Muslim power centers and make Israel (under control of the globalists) the dominant military power.
The key target of this policy was Iran, being the only Muslim country intent on become independent of East and West for the full range of military and nuclear weapons.
Unlike Iraq (which Russia promised to support against the US) it does not appear that Russia is going to let Syria fall to Western mandated chaos—though direct conflict with the US will be avoided so as to NOT trigger a world war. The Russians aren’t ready for that, by a long shot.
That is why Russia is still playing the minimalist role with no combat troops. “We are going to use only the air force,” said Russian Federation Council member Ivanov “We are not speaking of achieving anybody’s ambitions, as our Western partners regularly accuse us,” Mr. Ivanov said. “We are speaking exclusively about the national interests of the Russian federation.”
Well, that’s not exactly true. I think Putin is enjoying sticking a wrench into the globalist agenda and the world is cheering. Putin also gets the benefit of putting Russia back in the game of world leadership and his success in Syria acts as a diversion from his stealth war in Ukraine, as noted by the NY Times.
Mr. Putin’s motives for interfering in Syria are seen as having both international and domestic angles. On the international front, he wants to restore Russian influence as a global power and to try to force an end to the diplomatic and financial isolation the West imposed after Moscow seized Crimea and supported separatists in southeast Ukraine. Domestically, he wants to draw attention away from the Ukraine conflict and to the troubles it has caused, as well as to burnish his image as an international actor who solves problems.
But the big question remains: How will the globalists react to their stymied agenda? I don’t think they have figured out yet how to overcome this development, but here’s my best guess:
Since they cannot now control the outcome of Syria (ISIS won’t be able to win against the Russian air force, backed up by Iranian and Hezbollah troops), they may use the Israelis to take down Assad. The Israelis have long used the excuse that Syria is supplying Hezbollah to invade Syrian airspace. Now that Hezbollah troops are in Syria, Israel may use that as an excuse to attack Assad. The Israelis have also long maintained that Iran is a mortal enemy so the presence of Iranian troops in Syria is a red line for them. Kurt Nimmo of Infowars.com has that story:
Israeli Likud Minister Yuval Steinitz will tell the United States, Russia and other world powers Israel will not tolerate Iranian forces near its border, the Jerusalem Times reported on Tuesday.
“In all of our discussions, first and foremost with the United States, but also with Russia and the rest of the world powers, we must make sure that the Iranian forces will stay in Iran,” Steinitz told Israel’s Army Radio. “Nobody wants to see Russian forces in the area of the Golan Heights, but we definitely don’t want to see Iranian forces near Israel,” he added.
In August it was reported that Israel is preparing for a possible ground invasion of Syria… The Israelis began large division-scale training in the occupied Golan Heights in mid-August under the pretext ISIS may invade and also citing the presence of Hezbollah fighters in Syria.
The announcement of invasion preparations coincide with the possibility Israel may move its borders east “to protect the Druze and other non-hostile populations that are today threatened by the Islamists,” the website reported.
On Tuesday Israel Today reported the country “fears unintentional exchanges of fire between its own forces and the Russian military in Syria. Such a flare-up between Israeli and Iranian forces could give Tehran the excuse it needs to launch a long-range missile assault on the Jewish state.” [Nonsense.]
The other possibility is for the US to goad the Saudis into attacking Syria. They have a long-running and growing feud with Iran and Syria. It is no secret that the Saudis are also seeking long-range missiles and nuclear weapons in preparation for the eventual showdown with Iran. With US urging, they could always use the presence of Iranian troops in Syria to justify going after them—perhaps even in tandem with Israel.
In summary, the globalists will always look to the options that provide the most conflict, not peace, so you can be assured this will not turn out well for the Middle East or the Western world which will continue to bear the brunt of the refugees globalist wars create.
By the way, the claims about a Chinese aircraft carrier in Syria are bogus. There is only one training carrier in the Chinese fleet, and it is not combat ready, and not in Syria. J. E. Dyer of Liberty Unyielding is an expert in military intel and she offers this analysis:
China may deploy her navy to Syria in the coming days, but there are no reliable indications that any Chinese navy arrivals are imminent. Taking the reports one by one:
1. The web has exploded in the last few days with relays of a vague report from Al Masdar News that Chinese military personnel are expected to arrive in Syria in the next six weeks. That could happen. Now that it’s clear U.S. power will not be used in any decisive way in Syria, China may indeed see utility in putting down a serious political stake in the outcome there. More on that at another time.
The Al Masdar report also says that a Chinese naval ship entered the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal on Tuesday, 22 September, with its destination unconfirmed.
Although it’s possible a warship made that transit, it appears unlikely at the moment. For one thing, it’s very doubtful that a Chinese warship is traveling by itself.
For another, the Chinese naval ships known to be deployed in the region are on task elsewhere – and if there had been an additional deployment of a Chinese warship (or warships), outside of the known, announced task forces, it’s all but unthinkable that there wouldn’t have been any reporting of it from India.
[…]
She also mentions that there was an image of Russian ships that was being tweeted and embedded all over the web as “Chinese warships.” So be careful of these salacious stories. And, she gave links to the “previous spin-ups about Chinese warships in the Eastern Med. The first one (from September 2013) raged like wildfire around the web, but was simply not true. In the second case, the Chinese warship did make a port visit in Cyprus, but never actually went to Syria.”
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Related:
Joel Skousen’s brilliant analysis! Syria: West Using Terror to Provoke Defections — The Syrian overthrow is a “must accomplish” goal of the US and Israel prior to the coming attack on Iran … so that Israel doesn’t have to face Syrian missiles as part of the inevitable Iranian retaliation.
Skousen: US and Israeli Involvement with ISIS — The UN has now published a report that claims that Israeli Defense forces have regular contact with ISIS — The main motive behind the US funding of and creation of ISIS is to take down Assad. Israel is refusing to bomb Iran until Syria is eliminated as a retaliation threat
(video) Skousen: US covertly funding overthrow of Syria so Israel can attack Iran without Syrian opposition
(video) Skousen: Israeli Mossad Directs ISIS – with CIA to take down Assad, so Israel can bomb Iran
Skousen: ISIS as the New Flagship Terror Threat | Background on the Creation of Terror — “The phony war on terror is morphing into something even more unstable for the US, as years of occupation have increased the ranks of jihadists far in excess of the few hundred the US used to control directly in the lead up to 9/11″
U.S.-Backed ISIS Beheads American Journalist — U.S. government provided weapons and training to the same jihadists in Syria who later crossed into Iraq!
NSA Doc Reveals ISIS Leader is U.S., BRITISH and ISRAELI Intelligence Asset | Israel’s Hornet Nest Strategy
“(video) U.S. Intelligence: Rebels Used Sarin — And is there a moral imperative to bomb Syria even if there were 400 children killed? How about 500,000 killed by US foreign policy that Albright said was worth it?
[Why-they-hate-US video] Webster Tarpley: Syria & Iran, the Colorado Shooting — We are murdering Syrians, falsely blaming it on Assad in order to justify invasion so Syria can’t strike us when we/Israel strike Iran. The German people are being told while our presstitutes go along with the deception.
Joe Biden (2012 Hypocrisy): If Romney Wins, We’ll Go To War With Syria | CNN (2012): ROMNEY has accused Obama and his administration of being weak in dealing with President Bashar al-Assad, and has called for the United States and allies to ARM SYRIAN REBELS