Syria

NATO allies Turkey, U.S. to train 15,000 fighters for war in Syria

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Xinhua News Agency
February 27, 2015

Turkey, U.S. to start training Syrian rebels on March 1

ANKARA: Turkey and the United States will launch a program for training and equipping Syrian rebels on March 1, spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry Tanju Bilgic said on Friday.

On Feb. 19, Turkey and the U. S. signed an agreement for providing training and equipment for the Syrian opposition forces.

The program aims to train a total of 15,000 Syrian opposition fighters in a three-year period, 5,000 of them will be trained at a military base in the central Turkish city of Kirsehir.

The Syrian rebels will be trained and equiped to fight both the Islamic State (IS) militants and Syrian government forces, Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu said.

https://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2015/02/28/nato-allies-turkey-u-s-to-train-15000-fighters-for-war-in-syria/

Stratfor: Ukraine coup plotted by U.S. due to Russian stance on Syria

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From Sputnik News, December 19, 2014

MOSCOW, December 19 (Sputnik) – The United States is behind the February coup in Kiev, which came in response to Russia’s stance on Syria, said George Friedman, the founder and CEO of Stratfor, a global intelligence company.

Russia has repeatedly said that the coup in Kiev was organized by the US, Friedman told Kommersant newspaper. Indeed, it was the most overt coup in history, the political analyst stressed.

The United States decided to act following Russia’s successes in the Middle East, a key region for the US. Americans saw that Russians could influence what was happening in the Middle East, Friedman said. Russians are one of the many challenges in the region that the US faces, he stated. The US thought Russia’s activities were an attempt to harm Washington, the political analyst told the newspaper, adding that events in Ukraine should be viewed in this context.

Russians seem to have underestimated how seriously the US would react to Moscow’s activities in the region and that they would easily respond, Friedman said. The US understood that the thing Russia wants the least is instability in Ukraine, he added.

Related article: Lavrov: Ukraine Freedom Act to Undermine US-Russia Relations for Long Time

The head of Stratfor, also known as “The Shadow CIA,” insisted that Russia’s involvement in Syria was not the only reason for the Ukrainian crisis. However, many in Washington started to perceive Russia as a problem, the expert told the newspaper, adding that at that time the US decided to divert Russia’s attention away from the Middle East.

Syria has been in a civil war since March 2011. Over 100,000 people have died as a result of the armed conflict. Russia repeatedly stated that the election of Syria’s president Bashar Assad was legitimate, and that the people of Syria should control their future. From the beginning of the war the US supported the opposition and stated that the conflict would not be over with Assad in power.

 

http://sputniknews.com/politics/20141219/1016024377.html

American intelligence expert in keynote address at conference on terrorism — identifies terrorism as international crime syndicate, Senator John McCain as “father of ISIS”

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From Veterans Today, December 13, 2014
Historic Speech in Damascus sends Shockwaves around the World
By Preston James, Ph.D

From the Left: VT Financial Editor Mike Harris, VT Managing Editor Jim Dean, VT Senior Editor Gordon Duff and VT Director Colonel James Hanke.

From the Left: VT Financial Editor Mike Harris, VT Managing Editor Jim Dean, VT Senior Editor Gordon Duff and VT Director Colonel James Hanke.

Last week Gordon Duff, Senior Editor of Veterans Today delivered an Historic Keynote Speech at the International Conference on Combating Terrorism and Religious Extremism held in Damascus, Syria. This speech is sending shock-waves around the World.

Here is transcript of this Historic Keynote Address by Gordon Duff at the International Conference on Combating Terrorism and Religious Extremist Conference held in Damascus, Syria first week of December, 2014. Gaps are where his speech was translated to listeners.

Gordon Duff: Too many people have died for people to continue speaking in terms that are unclear and just not speaking the truth.

It’s time we simply said what we know, whether it’s classified information or not. All of you have seen the results of what we’re saying.

What we’re saying will fit what has happened here and what facts you’ve been able to bring out…

Our hypothesis is based on solid information, solid research on the ground, using human signals intelligence from our extensive capabilities.

We don’t guess.

We know what we’re talking about here.

Their motivation is largely economic.

They’re a criminal organization but they are part of a worldwide criminal organization.

And they’re here in your territory, taking your things – your factories, your lives, your people – for the enrichment of a specific group of people who need to be held to account.

It’s almost as though it’s a police problem.

This is crime.

This terrorism you’re suffering is worldwide crime on a scale we have never seen before. There has never been anything like this.

Gordon Duff: I appreciate your statements and I recognize the truth and honesty of what you were saying but I do believe there are areas of misunderstanding how the United States works politically.

And this is a problem, a tremendous problem in the Middle East and one of the things that’s driven us here is it’s very difficult to understand what has happened as far as Israeli control of American politics and I will, as succinctly as possible, I will explain this to you.

Gordon Duff: In 2005, the Supreme Court of the United States had a decision on a case called Citizens United. The decision of the Supreme Court legalized unlimited corporate bribery.

This turned control of the Congress of the United States over to human traffickers, narcotics traffickers and in particular, the most powerful individual in the United States today is a gambling boss named Sheldon Adelson, an Israeli citizen who fled the US living in Macau.

He spent over one billion dollars in the last election and bought control of both Houses of Congress.

Now Senator John McCain, the father of al Nusra, the father of ISIS, will be running US legislative and military foreign policy.

Gordon Duff: American generals like General McInerny and General Paul Vallely, specialists in psychological warfare, helped organize Daish.

They have traveled in and out of your country here, Syria, over and over, as had Senator John McCain.

Meeting with al Qaeda – an organization created by the American, Saudi and Israeli Defense Forces and Intelligence Services.

Gordon Duff: Only a week ago, the US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, resigned.

Chuck Hagel was the individual that stopped the United States from bombing Syria over the false flag gas attacks near Aleppo.

Gordon Duff: It was our organization here that supplied the intelligence that stopped those attacks.

Gordon Duff: It’s our goal here, while we are here, to try to establish a method of communication that will allow Syria and other nations within the area to understand Israel’s control of the US, the control of the US by organized crime and how the US government is subservient to a worldwide criminal organization.

Gordon Duff was part of a Veterans Today Senior Staff Delegation that traveled to Damascus and was in consultation with the Veterans Today Board and other like minded individuals within the Military and Intelligence community.

This Delegation included Veterans Today Senior Editor *Gordon Duff, Veterans Today Managing Editor **Jim Dean, Veterans Today Director ***Colonel James Hanke, and Veterans Today Financial Editor ****Mike Harris.

Gordon Duff’s speech quickly changed the focus of the whole conference and is now sending shock-waves around the World in the various Diplomatic, Military and Intelligence corps around the World.

Why is his speech Historic? For a number of vitally important reasons. This speech is the first time in history an American Intelligence Team of “non-activists” gave a military briefing to an audience of this type, including key Military Leaders of diverse Tribal Forces throughout Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, along with a Russian delegation and many others from around the world. Before this historic speech by Duff, no one has ever dared to speak the simple truth about the true problem, that it is not Terrorism in the Mideast, but it is the effects of large scale international Organized Crime.

What American general made sure stockpiles of heavy weapons and ammo would be left in Iraq for the soon to emerge ISIS/ISIL/Daish?

ISIS, also known as ISIL, Daish, Al Qaeda version 2, or Al CIA Duh version 2. How could this group grow so fast and become instantly so well armed and unopposed?

ISIS, also known as ISIL, Daish, Al Qaeda version 2, or Al CIA Duh version 2. How could this group grow so fast and become instantly so well armed and unopposed?

But even more important, Duff, a noted international Intel and Security Consultant, identified the root cause of United States of America’s dysfunctional involvement in Iraq and Syria and the true cause of ISIS/Daish.

Duff’s speech immediately changed the whole tone of the Conference and turned it to a very practical focus on the true causes of ISIS/Daish.

His speech immediately shifted the focus of the Conference from theoretical discussions of Terrorism and Extremism, to what is actually going on at the ground level at a practical level, who is responsible and why they are doing it, that is stealing factories and torturing and killing civilians, folks that are their people.

Gordon Duff laid out the true cause of ISIS/Daish in simple terms for the very first time anyone has ever done so publicly and this disclosure from such a highly credentialed and credible Intel Professional is now sending shock-waves around the World.

Duff declared that there are far too many that have died to continue speaking in unclear terms and that it was time to share a key hypothesis based on signals intelligence. Then Duff proceeded to explain the True Causes of ISIS/Daish in simple understandable terms which provide the clarity needed to form a sustainable solution.

Duff explained that what is going on in Iraq and Syria with ISIS is not Terrorism, it is simply CRIME. That is, it is the works of an international Crime Cabal which has gotten control of the American Congress. Yes, this is a large Organized Crime problem that must be understood at its simple root cause.

Duff identified this Crime Cabal as Israeli and pointed out that this is Worldwide Crime on a scale never experienced before.

Duff explained how the illegal Supreme Court Decision of Citizens United made it possible for an Israeli-American Organized crime magnate now operating out of Macao, Sheldon Adelson to essentially buy control of both Houses of Congress in the last election and being able to bring Congress under control of this International Crime Syndicate which specializes in human trafficking and narcotics.

Duff also identified American Generals McInerney and Vallely as being involved in organizing Daisch along with Senator John McCain.

He also pointed out that Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel [who has just resigned] was the one that prevented the American bombing of Syria in response to the False-Flag gas attack at Aleppo, Syria.

This keynote address delivered by Gordon Duff was historic because for the very first time ever a Top Intel and Security Consultant publicly explained how the problem with ISIS/Daish is not terrorism but is Crime. He clarified that ISIS/Daish is a result of Criminal Behavior of an Israeli based International Crime Syndicate which essentially bought control over the US Congress during the last election.

Here is Gordon Duff’s keynote speech which was historical and is now sending shock-waves around the World.

YouTube – Veterans Today –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE2_qmlKFVU

 

It should now be clear to everyone that the creation of ISIS/Daish occurred not because of Terrorism, but because of the undue influence exercised on the American Political system by this Israeli based Crime Syndicate in which a faction inside the American Congress, Military and Intel has been manipulated into supporting the creation of ISIS/Daish.

It is easy to imagine why Duff’s frank disclosure in his keynote address that the real problem on the ground in Iraq and Syria is Crime and the handy-work of an international Israeli Crime Cabal immediately changed the tone of the conference, and is now sending shock-waves around the World.

This is the first time ever that these issues have been clarified for the Syrian Security Services and Military as well as to Intel, Military and Diplomatic representatives from all over the World.

In days and weeks to follow it is expected that such an Historic disclosure based on hard Intel will change the scope and tone of the discussion about what is really going on in Iraq and Syria on the ground and how a worldwide criminal enterprise is behind it.

There were several sophisticated attempts to sidetrack and derail the VT Delegation and keep Gordon Duff from delivering his Historic Speech. Despite all these attempted interceptions, one of which was directly thwarted by VT Financial Editor Mike Harris, Gordon Duff was able to deliver his keynote address and make history by putting the actual facts behind ISIS/Daish on the public record for the very first time. Colonel Jim Hanke spoke at the Conference also and his talk was very well received.

Jim Dean took numerous films which should prove to be quite important when some are published on VT.

Mike Harris gave numerous interviews to the Syrian Press and met with Syrian Security Officials and the Grand Mufti, the World’s top Islamic legal and theological scholar. These discussions were very productive and did a great deal to further an understanding of what is actually behind the ISIS/Daish crime problem in Iraq and Syria which is nothing more than sophisticated international Organized Crime and must be dealt with as such.

Conclusion:

Obviously Gordon Duff and his team displayed great courage in attending this Conference in Damascus and deserve the highest commendations possible for this fine work representing the true interests of peace for folks with no voice.

When the dust settles time will show this speech will be a major turning point in the Criminal Cabal’s blatant abuse of the American People from their buying and hijacking of the US Congress and some American Generals with deep Intel connections and their abuse of millions around the World in many different nations, especially the Mideast.

No criminal Cabal or conspiracy this large can exist without utmost secrecy, which no longer exists thanks to Duff’s keynote address and complete disclosure. Their crimes are now no longer secret and the “Jig is now up”.

Thanks to Duff the Jig is about up for this International Israeli linked Crime Cabal, some have identified as the International Zionist Crime Cabal (IZCS) which has formed an alliance with the Bush Crime Cabal (BCC) which is now being completely identified all over the Worldwide Internet. It is now realized by many that the BCC was formed when Bush1 ran the Assassination of JFK and rose to power, able to deeply embed his operatives in the CIA, the Military, Congress, the Department of Justice and the Judiciary.

Now if anyone doubts that ISIS/Daish was set up under the Money Power of the International Zionist Crime Cabal (IZCS) operating out of Israel which has now gained Control of the US Congress, consider this. All ISIS/Daish wounded are taken to Israel for medical treatment, all expenses paid and those that can be are returned to Iraq or Syria to attack, torture, murder and asset strip innocent civilians, pretending to be Islamic Terrorists. This is all done in order to create mass confusion and to empower those governments that exist off the spoils of pushing solutions to their synthetic terrorism which is really nothing more than a massive Organized crime operation to make money and accrue more power. How do we know that the Criminal cabal has truly gained control over the US Congress. We now have actual specific evidence which has uncovered the Crime Cabal’s control over Congress through the use of large bribes and threats of assassination.

It is now beyond obvious that the only way to deal with a such a large Criminal Cabal is to indict them, arrest them, fully prosecute them, and if convicted with clearly convincing evidence beyond any shadow of a doubt, then sentence them appropriately. If they have committed Treason, Sedition or other Capital offenses well, then upon conviction in a suitable court of law, US or International, they must be executed like the convicted Nazis from the Nuremberg War trials or the convicted Japanese from the International Military Tribunal for the Far East also known as the “Tokyo Trials” and in other courts in many different places in Asia and the Pacific. About 1,000 Japanese War criminals were executed after conviction and twenty Nazi War criminals were executed after conviction.

However, it is known inside high level Intel circles and by those who worked closely with OSS agents and operatives, that numerous American Army secret assassination teams were deployed in Europe to bring many uncharged Nazis to instant justice. Some teams operating under Presidential Orders were also deployed to Hawaii and Asia to bring “instant, extra-judicial justice” to many Japanese war criminals that avoided exposure and arrest. This whole Nuremberg Trial and Tokyo Trial process needs to be repeated against the Criminal Cabal and all their kingpins, Top Policy-Makers, political and Judicial puppets as well as all their operative and mass-murderers deployed on the ground as mercenaries for fat paychecks. Those who attempt to flee prosecution can be hunted down to the ends of the Earth if necessary.

And the worst of all this is the ability of the Crime Cabal to use American Generals and a sitting US Senator to start up and run ISIS/ISIL/Daish. This is truly disgusting but there is actually even more to this story. Because the honest faction of the US Military is now targeting some ISIS positions, what we actually have now is a Secret American Civil War being fought in Iraq. And now China has offered military help to the Iraqi government. Unless John McCain is stopped in his rise to become Chairman of the Armed Service Committee, he may be able to exert serious pressure and be able to push America into another War in Iraq (maybe Syria, Iran and the Ukraine too) and his actions could trigger a nuclear WW3 with the Russian Federation and President Putin who has just about had enough.

Hat’s off and Highest Commendations to Gordon Duff and his team of American Heroes who have now set the record straight and had the great courage necessary to publicly disclose, for the very first time anywhere, the true causes of ISIS/ISIL/Daish and have shown it to be a crime problem created by a large international Organized Crime Cabal. Now most of the World Security and Intel Units know the truth that has been hidden from them for many years by excess compartmentalizing and billions of dollars spent by the Crime cabal to control and prevent their access to this information. These Units now know with incredible clarity for the first who deploys synthetic terror, torture, mass-murder and asset-stripping in the Mideast and why. They now know it is being done to further the Crime Cabal’s goals and power.

Gordon Duff is the Managing Director and Senior Editor of Veterans Today, a Marine combat veteran of the Vietnam War. He is a disabled veteran and has worked on veterans and POW issues for decades. He is an accredited diplomat and is generally accepted as one of the top global intelligence specialists. He manages the world’s largest private intelligence organization and regularly consults with governments challenged by security issues. Gordon Duff has traveled extensively, is published around the world and is a regular guest on TV and radio in numerous countries. Gordon Duff is a trained chef, wine enthusiast, avid motorcyclist and gunsmith specializing in historical weapons and restoration. His business experience and interests are in energy and defense technology. He is the Managing Director of Adamus Defense Group of Switzerland.

 Jim Dean is the Chairman of Veterans Today and wears many hats, ranging from day to day operations to the development, writing and editing of numerous articles. He also has an active schedule of international TV and radio interviews. He has numerous contacts on the ground in the Mideast and provides detailed reports in his articles and on Veterans Today News Reports Radio. Jim Dean is also a member of the Military Order of World Wars, Association for Intelligence Officers, and the Senior Vice President, Adamus Defense Group, Switzerland.

Colonel James Hanke is a Veterans Today Director and US Army Special Forces (Ret.) Colonel Hanke is Former G2 Third Army, NATO Nuclear Weapons Commander, Attache to Israel, A-Team Leader Vietnam, and a Director of Operations, Adamus Defense Group, Switzerland.

Mike Harris is the Financial Editor of Veterans Today,  a radio host, a former GOP Campaign Finance Chairman, gubernatorial candidate for Arizona,  and a Senior Vice President of Adamus Defense Group, Switzerland. Mike is an expert in full-contact mixed martial arts. His long term expertise in such has gained him a lot of respect and the nickname “Iron Mike”.

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Preston James, Ph.D

Social Psychologist with Doctorate from Major Midwest Big Ten University. Retired after serving the community for over 36 years during which time there were numerous contacts with those associated with Intel and Law Enforcement.

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2014/12/13/historic-speech-in-damascus-sends-shockwaves-around-the-world/

Syria asked UN why its warnings on ISIL were ignored for 3 years

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Syrian Arab News Agency, August 16, 2014
http://www.sana.sy/en/?p=10262

New York, SANA – The Security Council on Friday evening adopted resolution no. 2170 on preventing the supporting, funding, and arming of the terrorists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Jabhat al-Nusra and preventing the flow of terrorists to Syria and Iraq.

The Council urged all UN member countries to take steps to prevent the flow of terrorists and bringing them to justice, in addition to address the issue of individuals who may be at risk of being recruited in order to prevent them from traveling to Syria and Iraq.

The resolution prohibits the direct or indirect sale of weapons and related items to ISIS, Jabhat al-Nusra, and individuals associated with them, listing six individuals affiliated with terrorist groups on the list of sanctions that affect Al Qaeda, asserting readiness to consider listing individuals, groups, establishments, and entities that support the two aforementioned organizations in the list, and this covers those who fund, arm, plan, recruit, and who are members in them through information technology.

The six individuals in question are Abdulrahman al-Zafer al-Dabidi al-Jahani, Hajjaj Bin Fahed al-Ajami, Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, Saeed Arif, Abdulmohsen Abdullah Ibrahim al-Sharekh, and Hamed Hamad Hamed al-Ali.

The Council voiced concern over the impact of the violent ideology and extremist acts of these two organizations on locals and on their role in causing sectarian tension, noting that ISIS members have been carrying out lethal attacks in Iraq and Syria during the past two weeks.

The Council denounced the terrorist acts of ISIS, describing it as a splinter group from Al Qaeda, in addition to voicing concern over the fact that the oil fields and associated infrastructure being controlled by ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra provide them with income, which supports their recruitment efforts and ability to carry out terrorist attacks.

The resolution stipulates that freezing assets, prohibiting travel, and weapons embargo apply to ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra members and all individuals, groups, establishments, and entities associated with Al Qaeda.

The Council instructed the team in charge of monitoring breaches in the sanctions on terrorist groups to report within 90 days on threats in areas where ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra are active and provide recommendations to deal with this threat.

In a statement during the Security Council session, Syria’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari, said that this resolution is important and hotly-anticipated, particularly by Syria, due to the growing threat represented by ISI, Jabhat al-Nusra, and Al Qaeda-affiliated terrorist organizations which adopt violent and extremist ideals.

Video:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=DaQMaT1QaJc

Al-Jaafari said that Syria had been fighting a grueling war against takfiri terrorist groups single-handedly on behalf of humanity, with the Syrian government making painstaking efforts to draw the UN members’ attention to the threat these organizations pose.

He pointed out that a number of influential countries in the Arab, regional, and international arenas exerted great efforts to cover up the truth of what is happening in Syria, and these countries continued to support, arm, harbor, fund, and provide media cover for terrorist groups, trying to pass them off either as moderate armed opposition or jihadist opposition.

Al-Jaafari noted that the Syrian government sent the Security Council and other UN bodies hundreds of letters, documents, pictures, videos, and names related to the crimes committed by terrorist groups like ISIS, Jabhat al-Nusra, the Islamic Front, and others, showing the horrifying acts of murder, torture, and terrorizing committed by these groups against innocent Syrian civilians, as well as the genocide-like attacks on certain parts of the Syrian and Iraqi societies, their methodical vandalism of infrastructure in Syria, and their theft and smuggling of petroleum which is sold abroad via Turkish and European brokers.

Syria’s Representative demanded to know who is buying Syrian petroleum from ISIS, and how this stolen petroleum is reaching Europe from Turkey, and how come Security Council members failed to address Syria’s constant complaints that were filed throughout the past three years on the exportation of weapons and terrorists from Libya to Syria via Turkey and Lebanon.

He said that all documents sent by Syria regarding this issue have been ignored deliberately, and that had they been considered and had the Security Council counterterrorism resolutions been applied, then the situation would not have reached the point it is at today.

Al-Jaafari hoped that the new resolution will be implemented optimally without discrimination or selectiveness, and that it will not infringe upon the relevant countries’ sovereignty, territorial integrity, or independence.

He asserted that counterterrorism is a priority for the Syrian government, which had often demanded that the Security Council take its concerns regarding this issue into considerations, urging the Council to hold dialogue among relevant and concerned countries before adopting such resolutions in the future.

Syria’s representatives said the Security Council must call on the countries that adopt and support extremist ideologies to issue official statements denouncing takfiri mentality, adding that the resolution should have referenced the destructive role played by channels broadcasting from Arab Gulf and Western countries and by takfiri websites, and that these channels and sites should be dealt with.

In a press conference following the session, al-Jaafari pointed out that the West’s considerations have shifted because its own security is at risk, as opposed to when terrorists were only killing Syrians, at which point the Western capitals were promoting them as proponents of freedom and democracy or as moderate opposition.

“When those terrorists began returning to their capitals, and when social media began revealing their reprehensible crimes, the West awoke to this tragedy,” he said, noting that Syria requested that the Islamic Front be listed among terrorism-sponsoring entities, but Western countries continue to refuse that, despite that this organizations commits heinous crimes like ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra.

Al-Jaafari said the new resolution is positive, even if it came too late, and that it also overlooks Israel’s role in smuggling terrorists from Jordan to the disengagement zone in the occupied Syrian Golan, from which they enter Syria to commit their crimes, adding that the resolution also overlooks the role of Saudi Arabia and Turkey in supporting, arming, funding, and sending terrorists to Syria.

He said that the resolution mainly seeks to justify the West’s behavior and policies in the region, with them claiming to fight terrorism when they actually don’t want a resolution that really combats terrorism; rather they want absolution from terrorism and to be seen as being against ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra.

Al-Jaafari also criticized the British representative who was chairing the meeting and who interrupted him and Iraq’s representative during their statements because “he sensed that we were going to say things that he doesn’t want the Western and Arab public opinion to hear.”

Hazem Sabbagh

Inside the “Ukraine Freedom Support Act”

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From Sputnik, December 16, 2014
By Andrew Korybko

The latest anti-Russian bill to come out of Washington does a lot more than simply arm Ukraine, although that’s destabilizing enough as it is. Contained within the Act are powerful provisions that expand NATO’s influence in Russia’s backyard and continue the War on Syria.

The Ukrainian Freedom Support Act (UFSA) is essentially the actionable successor to the recently passed House Resolution 758, which itself has been referred to as the declaration of the New Cold War. It’s exceptionally noteworthy for fulfilling John McCain’s threat to arm Ukraine, but it’s the other decrees within it that have gone unnoticed by the mainstream media, although they’re just as troubling, if not more so. And unsurprisingly, Congress somehow found a way to group its War on Syria into the UFSA, showing that it truly exploits any opportunity to push through its agenda of regime change there even if it has absolutely nothing to do with the bill at hand.

The Three Amigos
The UFSA is just as much about Moldova and Georgia as it is about Ukraine, as all three countries are collectively grouped together except for when it comes to assisting with internally displaced persons. For example, when it comes to ‘the three amigos’, UFSA says that sanctions will be imposed if:

  • Russia (or any actor affiliated with it) sends “defense articles” to those countries without the consent of its government’
  • And Russia “withholds significant natural gas supplies from countries such as Ukraine, Georgia, or Moldova” and NATO members.

And that the three are to be ‘rewarded’ with:

  • Major non-NATO ally status (which allows them to purchase weapons only reserved for NATO allies);
  • And a prioritized information campaign run by Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, where these countries are given a greater focus than the other former Soviet states.

Putting it all together, it is clear that the US has strategically incorporated Moldova and Georgia into its legislation about Ukraine, providing proof that it is Washington and not Moscow which is ‘widening the battlefield’ of the New Cold War. This isn’t the first time either, as all the amigos were first lumped together in May when the so-called Russian Aggression Prevention Act of 2014 was unveiled, which served as the predecessor of House Resolution 758.

The reasoning for this is rather simple, actually. The US wants to coordinate its push against the former Soviet periphery and is pulling out all the stops along the way. The primary objective is NATO expansion all the way to the Russian border, as well as the destabilization of Russian interests in or near these countries. Russia has a military base in the de-facto independent Transnistrian region of Moldova, while the historic reunification of Crimea and Russia’s recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia’s independence from Georgia are well known. It is these precise interests and territories that the US wants to threaten with the Act.

The Big Tent
Another observation that’s lost on the mainstream media is that the Act creates a ‘big tent’ of American interests in Eurasia. When addressing the non-consented transfer of Russian defense articles to “specified countries”, other than the three amigos, it describes these as being “any other country of significant concern for purposes of this Act, such as Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and the Central Asia republics.” It’s obvious that the US would place its NATO allies under this designation, but to spread the umbrella over the Central Asian republics is a strategy that has more to it than originally meets the eye.

Russia in no way supports separatism in Central Asia, and aside from neutral Turkmenistan, it actually has constructive military and anti-terror relations with all of the regional states as a result of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). This group has explicitly stated its opposition to terrorism, separatism, and extremism, and all of its members are now watching the violent situation in Afghanistan with the trepidation that it may move northward next year.

Within this context, the US is sending smoke signals to those governments that it is open for cooperating with them, but with the implicit understanding that they have to abandon their alliance with Russia and accuse it of the fantasy-driven treachery of arming separatist groups. The purpose here is to expand the reach of NATO’s 12,000 or so troops that will stay behind in Afghanistan and use them to push Russian influence (no matter how beneficial to anti-terrorist operations and regional stability) out of Central Asia.

Slick Talking About Syria
Congress understood that the current anti-Russian climate meant that the UFSA was surely bound to pass, so it added a completely irrelevant clause relating to Syria in order to strengthen the war effort against it. Specifically, the Act mandates that sanctions be imposed against any Russian company or related individual that sells defense articles to Syria. This is the complete opposite standard that it is applying to the ‘big tent’ countries. Congress says that Russia can’t transfer such units to the ‘big tent’ without the consent of their governments, but such transfers are prohibited to Syria when its government consents to it.

So what’s going on here?
The US and its allies don’t recognize the legitimacy of the Syrian government, despite President Assad having been democratically re-elected with 88.7% of the vote back in June, and the fact that they support regime change within the country. They’d rather give weapons to the insurgents fighting to overthrow the government (even if such arms sometimes end up in the hands of terrorists) than approve of Russia’s continued support for the government’s anti-terrorist war. The Syrian Arab Army is once more on the upswing (backed by Russian support), so it’s not coincidental that such a provision was made at this time. Nonetheless, such bullying by the US will never result in Russia abandoning its support for Syria, especially at this critical time, and should be seen as nothing more than the naked intimidation tactic that it is.

Andrew Korybko is the political analyst and journalist for Sputnik who currently lives and studies in Moscow.

Posted at

http://us.sputniknews.com/opinion/20141215/1013320024.html

http://orientalreview.org/2014/12/16/the-devils-in-the-details-inside-the-ukrainian-freedom-support-act/

http://www.globalresearch.ca/more-legislation-in-support-of-war-with-russia-inside-the-ukrainian-freedom-support-act/5420287

Defending the dollar imperialism: gas-dollar link drives Ukraine war

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By Mike Whitney
Counterpunch, December 1, 2014

“The Fed’s ‘need’ to take on an even more active role as foreigners further slow the purchases of our paper is to put the pedal to the metal on the currency debasement race now being run in the developed world — a race which is speeding us all toward the end of the present currency regime.”
Stephanie Pomboy, MacroMavens

“No matter what our Western counterparts tell us, we can see what’s going on. NATO is blatantly building up its forces in Eastern Europe, including the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea areas. Its operational and combat training activities are gaining in scale.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin

If there was a way the United States could achieve its long-term strategic objectives and, at the same time, avoid a war with Russia, it would so. Unfortunately, that is not an option, which is why there’s going to be a clash between the two nuclear-armed adversaries sometime in the near future.

Let me explain: The Obama administration is trying to rebalance US policy in a way that shifts the focus of attention from the Middle East to Asia, which is expected to be the fastest growing region in the coming century. This policy-change is called the “pivot” to Asia. In order to benefit from Asia’s surge of growth, the US plans to beef up its presence on the continent, expand its military bases, strengthen bilateral alliances and trade agreements, and assume the role of regional security kingpin. The not-so-secret purpose of the policy is China “containment”, that is, Washington wants to preserve its position as the world’s only superpower by controlling China’s explosive growth. (The US wants a weak, divided China that will do what it’s told.)

In order to achieve its goals in Asia, the US needs to push NATO further eastward, tighten its encirclement of Russia, and control the flow of oil and gas from east to west. These are the necessary preconditions for establishing US hegemonic rule over the continent. And this is why the Obama administration is so invested in Kiev’s blundering junta-government; it’s because Washington needs Poroshenko’s neo Nazi shock troops to draw Russia into a conflagration in Ukraine that will drain its resources, discredit Putin in the eyes of his EU trading partners, and create the pretext for deploying NATO to Russia’s western border.

The idea that Obama’s proxy army in Ukraine is defending the country’s sovereignty is pure bunkum. What’s going on below the surface is the US is trying to stave off irreversible economic decline and an ever-shrinking share of global GDP through military force. What we’re seeing in Ukraine today, is a 21st century version of the Great Game implemented by political fantasists and Koolaid drinkers who think they can turn the clock back to the post WW2 heyday of the US Empire when the world was America’s oyster. Thankfully, that period is over.

Keep in mind, the glorious US military has spent the last 13 years fighting sheep herders in flip-flops in Afghanistan in a conflict that, at best, could be characterized as a stalemate. And now the White House wants to take on Russia?

Can you appreciate the insanity of the policy?

This is why Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel was sacked last week, because he wasn’t sufficiently eager to pursue this madcap policy of escalating the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Ukraine. Everyone knows it’s true, the administration hasn’t even tried to deny it. They’d rather stick with foam-at-the-mouth buffoons, like Susan Rice and Samantha Powers, then a decorated veteran who has more credibility and intelligence in his little finger than Obama’s whole National Security team put together.

So now Obama is completely surrounded by rabid warmongering imbeciles, all of whom ascribe to the same fairytale that the US is going to dust-off Russia, remove Assad, redraw the map of the Middle East, control the flow of gas and oil from the ME to markets in the EU, and establish myriad beachheads across Asia where they can keep a tight grip on China’s growth.

Tell me, dear reader, doesn’t that strike you as a bit improbable?

But, of course, the Obama claque think it’s all within their grasp, because, well, because that’s what they’ve been told to think, and because that’s what the US has to do if it wants to maintain its exalted position as the world’s lone superpower when its economic significance in the world is steadily declining. You see, here’s the thing: The exceptional nation is becoming more unexceptional all the time, and that’s what has the political class worried, because they see the handwriting on the wall, and the writing says, “Enjoy it while it lasts, buddy, cuz you ain’t gonna be numero uno much longer.” Continue reading →

American Conservative article: “The Hawks’ Solution to Everything–Throw More Weapons at the Problem”

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Posted at American Conservative
November 10, 2014
By Daniel Larson

The Republican foreign policy agenda in the new year promises to be lousy:

Authorizations to send heavy weapons to Ukrainian forces battling pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine and sophisticated arms to moderate opposition rebels in Syria have “languished on the Senate floor” over the past two years because Majority Leader Harry Reid “wouldn’t let them through,” said one senior adviser to a key Republican lawmaker.

Those initiatives “will now go for up-or-down votes,” once Sen. Mitch McConnell assumes the majority leadership post and key committee chairmanships are filled by GOP critics of the Obama administration’s foreign policy — such as Sen. John McCain helming the Senate Committee on Armed Services, the adviser said.

Increasing aid to Syria’s rebels is likely to be among the first priorities [bold mine-DL].

None of this is surprising, but it is still remarkable how the Republicans would choose to start off their new Senate majority by confirming so quickly why they can’t be trusted with power. Throwing more weapons at the conflict in Ukraine is worse than useless, since it will encourage the Ukrainian government to fight a war it can’t win and will make the conflict that much harder to resolve. The new Senate majority leader can bring this measure to a vote, but Obama would be a fool to sign anything they send him on this. Sending more arms to the Syrian opposition is more ridiculous than ever in light of Jabhat al-Nusra’s recent capture of weapons that had already provided to “moderate” rebel groups. If the U.S. sends more arms and supplies to the “moderate” opposition, it will likely just be a matter of time before that aid ends up in the wrong hands.

In addition to being wrong on the merits, the Senate GOP is closely identifying itself with deeply unpopular positions. A majority is against arming Syrian rebels now, just as a majority has been against this for the last several years. Americans have also been against sending arms to Ukraine since the early stages of the conflict. Besides being foolish and irresponsible, the hawks’ solution of throwing weapons at every problem that arises overseas has very little popular support.

Source:
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/the-hawks-solution-to-everything-throw-more-weapons-at-the-problem/