The Syrian War

[Lebbo73]

I reckon Saudi Arabia is running low on oil...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/29/w...bia-cuts-spending-to-shrink-deficit.html?_r=0

Maybe, but selling it deliberately at too low of a price to hurt the US shale oil industry and especially Russia, will eventually cripple them as well.

 

[MaddAdam]

I reckon Saudi Arabia is running low on oil...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/29/w...bia-cuts-spending-to-shrink-deficit.html?_r=0

They aren't running low but they don't have as much as they'd like everyone to think.

medusala would know about this - but the Saudi estimates of proven reserves are widely regarded with scepticism.

 

[jumpinjimmy]

Hammer....meet nail....:

https://www.rt.com/news/327488-iran-ayatollah-khamenei-address/

 

[nut]

Hammer....meet nail....:

https://www.rt.com/news/327488-iran-ayatollah-khamenei-address/

So the next question is Why? why are the US so obsessed with destabilizing the region? OK Oil and its wealth is the main reason.... but I think its something deeper.. Corporatism v countries that are using socialism to better the population... and in countries like Libya it was working. Self sufficient countries that dont want to be apart of the corrupt financial system that the west has created. Countries that want to distances them selves from the US dollar and be able to trade in other currencies.
This is the threat that the US is fighting.... a country that is so in debt that it needs to suck the life out of every country in order to continue its unsustainable capital system.
Meanwhile in the US 30,000 people are being killed every year in a war with in itself. The US empire is on its knees IMO.... self destructing on the inside and desperately trying to hold onto its leadership abroad.
All for what?... for corporations that are more powerful than countries.
Meanwhile we are sucked into giving up our freedoms and liberties and our ability to revolt and when the sheep finally realize... its too late.

 

[jumpinjimmy]

So the next question is Why? why are the US so obsessed with destabilizing the region? OK Oil and its wealth is the main reason.... but I think its something deeper.. Corporatism v countries that are using socialism to better the population... and in countries like Libya it was working. Self sufficient countries that dont want to be apart of the corrupt financial system that the west has created. Countries that want to distances them selves from the US dollar and be able to trade in other currencies.
This is the threat that the US is fighting.... a country that is so in debt that it needs to suck the life out of every country in order to continue its unsustainable capital system.
Meanwhile in the US 30,000 people are being killed every year in a war with in itself. The US empire is on its knees IMO.... self destructing on the inside and desperately trying to hold onto its leadership abroad.
All for what?... for corporations that are more powerful than countries.
Meanwhile we are sucked into giving up our freedoms and liberties and our ability to revolt and when the sheep finally realize... its too late.

Empire is just another 'bubble'...so long as we have some sort of countering mechanism (revolution/insurgency) and competing driver (isms etc), and we always will, Empires will collapse. The real issue is the damage they do on the way up and on the way out. At this point in time I support Russia but if the shoe was on the other foot it would be the USA. When I was younger I had my first boy and despaired when the US increased in power as Russia retreated. It was about that time I read a biography of Ghandi and one quote resonated with me: "The greatest contribution you can make to world peace is to raise a peaceful child". This approach can be extrapolated to form an approach whereby we stop believing their bullshit, playing their games and succumbing to their control structures...in effect create the world we want to be, therefore making them irrelevant. You are a good man Nut....be part of this world, but not of it....and remember, we always win.

 

[nut]

The damage will be done because we aren't self sustaining any more. There isn't the option for the population to be self sufficient ... We have imprisoned our selves in the way we live, reliant on the system. A debt based society that controls the population by wage slavery,corporate power and promoting self interest.

 

[jumpinjimmy]

The damage will be done because we aren't self sustaining any more. There isn't the option for the population to be self sufficient ... We have imprisoned our selves in the way we live, reliant on the system. A debt based society that controls the population by wage slavery,corporate power and promoting self interest.

Keep your chin up:

http://blogs.reuters.com/anatole-ka...itative-easing-for-the-people-seems-possible/
http://jubileedebt.org.uk/events/life-before-debt-2015-programme

 

[nut]

Keep your chin up:

http://blogs.reuters.com/anatole-ka...itative-easing-for-the-people-seems-possible/
http://jubileedebt.org.uk/events/life-before-debt-2015-programme

It's my opinion that the creation of money via the banks creating debt is the heart of the worlds problems. Governments should be able to pick up the unemployment slack left by corporate greed by giving people real jobs and create another money supply...

 

[jumpinjimmy]

As another Syrian 'moderate' leader bites the dust the real man (sic), as opposed to the US propaganda, is revealed:

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/12/31/syria-rebel-leaders-assassination-a-major-blow-to-us-agenda/

 

[MaddAdam]

As another Syrian 'moderate' leader bites the dust the real man (sic), as opposed to the US propaganda, is revealed:

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/12/31/syria-rebel-leaders-assassination-a-major-blow-to-us-agenda/

Alloush, who Assad released from prison as part of his eminently successful plan to turn the revolution jihadist.

 

[jumpinjimmy]

Alloush, who Assad released from prison as part of his eminently successful plan to turn the revolution jihadist.

Officially, he was released as a 'good will' gesture in response to Rebel and HRW demands at the beginning of the conflict. I am not discounting a strategic reason, just not the one you've put forward. There was a jihadist component to the 'revolution' from the beginning.

At the time of his release he was a moderate Salafist (as much as they can be) but a sworn enemy of Al Qaeda and later on the IS. Assad was hoping to drive a wedge between the terrorist groups and as the Russian/SAA pressure increased he succeeded.

 

[awaremind]

Officially, he was released as a 'good will' gesture in response to Rebel and HRW demands at the beginning of the conflict. I am not discounting a strategic reason, just not the one you've put forward. There was a jihadist component to the 'revolution' from the beginning.

At the time of his release he was a moderate Salafist (as much as they can be) but a sworn enemy of Al Qaeda and later on the IS. Assad was hoping to drive a wedge between the terrorist groups and as the Russian/SAA pressure increased he succeeded.

The Human Rights groups are becoming little more than propaganda tools, if this wasn't always the case. Appointing Saudi Arabia the chair position on the UNHCR is ludicrous. International law has been destroyed in the aftermath of 9/11. Real Politik is all there is left as far as I can see.

 

[medusala]

They aren't running low but they don't have as much as they'd like everyone to think.

medusala would know about this - but the Saudi estimates of proven reserves are widely regarded with scepticism.

Yep, its believed by some they have massively less than reckoned on and that Ghawar is in decline with a higher water cut. See wheat production, almost gone as water has to be used to be injected back in to reservoirs to increase pressure.

 

[Geelong_Sicko]

Yep, its believed by some they have massively less than reckoned on and that Ghawar is in decline with a higher water cut. See wheat production, almost gone as water has to be used to be injected back in to reservoirs to increase pressure.

Saudi Arabia is in SERIOUS trouble, according to the National Geographic;

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com.au/environment/freshwater/saudi-arabia-water-use/

Forty years ago, when intensive modern farming started, there was a staggering 120 cubic miles (500 cubic kilometers) of water beneath the Saudi desert, enough to fill Lake Erie. But in recent years, up to 5 cubic miles (21 cubic kilometers) has been pumped to the surface annually for use on the farms.

Virtually none of it is replaced by the rains, because there effectively are no rains.

Based on extraction rates detailed in a 2004 paper from the University of London, the Saudis were on track to use up at least 96 cubic miles (400 cubic kilometers) of their aquifers by 2008. And so experts estimate that four-fifths of the Saudis' "fossil" water is now gone.

One of the planet's greatest and oldest freshwater resources, in one of its hottest and most parched places, has been all but emptied in little more than a generation.

 

[medusala]

Saudi Arabia is in SERIOUS trouble, according to the National Geographic;

I posted a pic from Zero Hedge which I cant find on a two sec google which showed centre pivot fields a few years ago and now. Basically all gone.

http://www.arabnews.com/news/448070

The Kingdom is likely to totally depend on wheat imports starting from 2016, says Waleed El-Khereiji, head of Grains

 

[MaddAdam]

I posted a pic from Zero Hedge which I cant find on a two sec google which showed centre pivot fields a few years ago and now. Basically all gone.

http://www.arabnews.com/news/448070

The Kingdom is likely to totally depend on wheat imports starting from 2016, says Waleed El-Khereiji, head of Grains

As one of the old school Israeli generals said, when the oil runs out, let them eat their sand.

 

[MaddAdam]

Interesting suggestion here that one of the guys killed by Da'esh as a spy had provided the info that got an "Australian jihadi" whacked.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/03/isis-video-who-are-the-purported-victims

 

[jumpinjimmy]

I've found this interactive Syrian conflict map to be a handy resource: http://syria.liveuamap.com/

The 'cleansing' of the Latakia region continues:

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941017000864

 

[nut]

Is anyone surprised?

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/6/syrian-rebels-used-sarin-nerve-gas-not-assads-regi/

 

[awaremind]

Here is a local of Madaya's thoughts on the opposition he is being held hostage by. Its a very different story than the manipulative crap we're being told by all local news sources.
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.liveleak.com/ll_embed?f=b6501e5bcf03" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[awaremind]

* me this Madaya situation has been used disgustingly to demonize the Assad government while being uncritical of the opposition keeping the people hostage. Look at this sickeningly unobjective article from The guardian.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/20...aya-celebrates-as-food-convoy-finally-arrives
"He said there was no organised armed presence in Madaya, which is about 40 miles north-west of the Syrian capital Damascus, and has been accused by the regime of harbouring “terrorists”, a catch-all word it uses for any of the armed groups opposing it."

 

[awaremind]

Then look at this article. It shows the desperation of the west to save their jihadists from annihilation by using a relatively minor crisis in the scheme of the five year war they instigated. The jihadists are BTW losing a lot of ground at the moment on several fronts so expect western countries to squirm with anti -Assad and anti Russian propaganda.
http://rudaw.net/english/world/120120161
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - France has called on Russia to halt its air campaign in Syria due to the humanitarian crisis in the town of Madaya, which has been under siege by the Syrian military and allied Hezbollah militia for several weeks.

"We discussed the absolute necessity that Syria and Russia end their military operations against civilians and in particular the ordeal in Madaya and other cities besieged by the regime," said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, according to Reuters.

"It shows how much the (Syrian) Bashar Assad regime... for moral and efficiency purposes cannot be the future of Syria and also the same time that the Russians do not undertake inadmissible actions," he continued.

His remarks came during a meeting with a representative of the Syrian opposition, Riad Hijab.

The plight of Madaya's residents has led to an outcry against Assad, after images were released depicting many starving to death as a result of the siege. Aid trucks are en route to the town after the Syrian regime said it would allow humanitarian aid to reach the many civilians trapped there.

 

[awaremind]

Embedded media from this media site is no longer available

I'd be mighty surprised if this message gets any coverage in the west.

 

[FPPF]

Didn't we have a European refugee crisis thread? Or was it all posted in here?


Anyway, the EU is now discussing apparently closing Greece off from the Shengen agreement.
Basically having a go at Greece for not stopping the flow of refugees, saying Greece cant control it's borders.

Well when millions of people descend on your borders, tens of thousands every single day, and you are going through an economic depression of unprecedented levels, and those you are supposedly meant to be allied with not only do very little to help, but actually encourage the problem to grow bigger, what did the w***ers in Brussels expect was going to happen?

When Greece wanted to build a border fence along it's border with Turkey, the EU got angry and said no.

When the aircraft of the EU's border force, FRONTEX, were threatened with being shot down while in Greek and International air space, by the Turkish military, the EU did nothing about it.

When the magnitude of the refugee problem became apparent to the whole world, in other words when the rest of the planet woke the * up one day, what did the German government among others do and say?
They actively encouraged more refugees to cross into Europe illegally, with statements about how they would be welcomed in Germany and wherever, about how Germany would take 800,000 refugees in late last year.

But that old wicked Nazi witch Merkel didn't bother to consult with the rest of the European "Union" when making her bold statements, let alone her own people.

And all of a sudden following her statements when the flow of people intensified, we had riot police across several Balkan and Central European countries clashing with refugees who were trying to cross their borders.

They too quickly realized they couldn't cope with this many people coming in so quickly. So they sealed their borders.


One local mayor in Germany actually loaded a few dozen refugees onto a bus and sent them to Angela Merkels office in Berlin, saying here you deal with them.


What has the European Union's response been otherwise? To send billions of Euros to Turkey to deal with the problem.

Did the billions they sent before stem the flow of people? No.
So what was their solution recently? Lets give Turkey another 3 billion euros.

Meanwhile, one of their own member states that is struggling under an intense economic depression....they demand that that country do more, they wont send 3 billion euros in assistance, they just make angry statements and demands.

And still, despite the economic depression, many observers and people from around the world who've gone to the Greek islands to help the refugees, have said despite all that's going on domestically in Greece, the Greek people still remain hospitable and caring of the plight of the refugees washing up on their shores every single day in their tens of thousands. Of course there's people who are frustrated and what not and other douches who are racist.

But by and large, the response from the Greek nation, when it is at one of it's lowest points in it's modern history, has put the rest of Europe particularly the much wealthier Western European nations to absolute shame.

How these mother *ers in Brussels and elsewhere even have the nerve to speak anymore on the subject and be critical, is amazing. Pure evil these pieces of s**t. They helped create this refugee crisis, they helped magnify it several times over, and now they don't want to deal with the consequences of their actions.

It's not the Greek military that goes around bombing other countries over globalist corporate interests. It is the militaries of the UK, France, Germany, that go around doing that s**t. But the bastards don't want to deal with the consequences of their wars. * you. The Greek government should do what its defence minister threatened once, open the god damn flood gates and let the 1 million + refugees flood into Western Europe. These people don't want to be in Greece they want to go to Germany and the UK. Let them go there then.


And the real kicker...they are now talking about SOME debt relief, in exchange for the European Union setting up permanent closed off detention center camps in Greece. Camps for 400,000 people. Initially. The people wont stop coming because the wars wont stop. War is profit for these evil campaigners. 400,000 will quickly turn into a million.

These people wont be free. They will be prisoners. In concentration camps built by the European Union and operated by the European Union. * the nazi campaigners and their ideas. Build your own camps in your own god damn countries.

So basically, they've destroyed a nations economic viability for the next few decades, and now they want to turn that nation into a permanent holding facility for illegal immigrants and refugees that want to go to their countries as a result of the wars they started and misery they created.

 

[FPPF]

Haaaah, Sweden is going to deport 80,000 refugees. No EU outcry.
Denmark passes laws to confiscate the personal items of value(ie jewelry) and money from refugees. No EU outcry.

Meanwhile, Turkey has signed agreements with the EU on taking back refugees/illegal immigrants.
Turkey has been given billions of Euros by the EU to help them stem the flow of refugees.

Turkey has not honored it's agreements. No EU outcry.

Where has all the money gone?
Probably towards buying ISIS' oil.

But Greece, which is stuck in the middle of this grand mess that is not of it's making, is the one to blame?

How typical of a failed Europe, where instead of dealing with the cause of the problem, they attack the aftermath.