If the USA attacks Syria, Syria will attack Jordan & Israel, Iran will attack Saudi Arabia and. ....

[blackcat]

I'm not so sure formal annexation is part of Israeli strategy. To annex something means you assume full responsibility for it. Israel is happy enough with the 'status quo' in the West Bank. Even though it evacuated the land area of Gaza it still maintains full control of the coastline and airspace, and is still considered an 'occupying power' in Gaza by the United Nations. Israel seems happy enough with this. As so the Golan and the Shebaa Farms area of Lebanon that Israel occupies.

What are Israel's responsibilities as 'occupying power' as opposed to 'state authority' in these areas?

syria.

 

[blackcat]

You answered yourself there mate.

yeah nah

about 3 years back Waleed Aly, or as I like to call him, Wally Aly, is on Qwanda, and talks Sellers Kubrik Iran Bomb Strangelove Ahmedinejad.

And i my supposition is, Aly was regurgitating thinkwank talking points from the beltway in US, without actually knowing this was a 30yo leitmotif falsehood.

I can handle popinjays in the meedja who know they are spouting TPs, and they are fiction. I cant handle players in the meedja, think, the comedian Charlie Pickering, just taking TPs and running with them thinking they are the truth. Tony Jones, I am not sure where to allocate him. I think it depends on the subject matter and how au fait he is. But yeah, he would know he is reciting DC dictum on most stuff. That interview with the Free Syrian Army out of the ABC London studio (he has done a few) was risible. Must be galling for a professional to be a party to propaganda

The arab intelligentsia dont think much of Fisk. As'ad AbuKhalil (angryarab) thinks he is full of s**t.

 

[blackcat]

but by opposition forces, to provoke intervention by their powerful foreign patrons, who would be siding with the fundamentalists.

Bandar Bush

We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal.

you've heard it all. Communist leader invoking christ

Vlad knows his market.

target
Chechnya
militants

 

[MaddAdam]

target
Chechnya
militants

He kills them while they are in the toilet taking dumps I believe.

Nah, Vlad knows the big game. The same game from 1979 on. Just wound up and down at various levels.

Use jihadis to pressure Russia's soft south and China's vulnerable west.

The "Chechens" have been a bit of a bogeyman for the West to deploy when raising the Bad Guy scare-o-metre and there were never more than about 50 odds and sods in Afgfhan and probably about a dozen in Iraq.

But by dint of pure geography (from Chechnya to Turkey is easy overland, once in Turkey, you're in Syria) I have no doubt - and that's just going off freely available press photos - that there's enough Chechens in Syria to make Vlad worried.

Nobody talks about the low level but hugely dirty North Caucusus War currently taking place only 700 miles from the Syrian border. Ironically, due to Ramzan "Instagram" Kadyrov Chechnya is probably the least affected of all the Muslim Russian republics in the region.

 

[blackcat]

He kills them while they are in the toilet taking dumps I believe.

twas facetious. hence strikthru and <correction> target

Nah, Vlad knows the big game. The same game from 1979 on. Just wound up and down at various levels.

Use jihadis to pressure Russia's soft south and China's vulnerable west.

The "Chechens" have been a bit of a bogeyman for the West to deploy when raising the Bad Guy scare-o-metre and there were never more than about 50 odds and sods in Afgfhan and probably about a dozen in Iraq.

But by dint of pure geography (from Chechnya to Turkey is easy overland, once in Turkey, you're in Syria) I have no doubt - and that's just going off freely available press photos - that there's enough Chechens in Syria to make Vlad worried.

Nobody talks about the low level but hugely dirty North Caucusus War currently taking place only 700 miles from the Syrian border. Ironically, due to Ramzan "Instagram" Kadyrov Chechnya is probably the least affected of all the Muslim Russian republics in the region.

I had a chat to a guy in a cafe in geelong of all places about 18 months, back, and he had been (just back) on business in Uzbekistan. I never got to pry or have an entry conversation to open a subject to pry. Shell employee? doubt it. Obviously resources. told me about people with cars would just give you a lift instead of other transport. curious.

think that the Chechen islamist miltancy and the leader, called for volunteers to hit up Syria. proxy war when he bug splats them in Grozny

 

[MaddAdam]

think that the Chechen islamist miltancy and the leader, called for volunteers to hit up Syria. proxy war when he bug splats them in Grozny

There is no real genuine Chechen resistance any more. They put up a damn good fight but eventually Putin beat them, largely by divide and rule - getting the Hypocrite Mufti Kadyrov and subsequently (subsequent to a giant bomb under him in about 02 IIRC) his son onside was massive - but also in some very bloody fighting.

Just small Islamist remnants who also probably call for volunteers for the jihad in Mali.

At the same time, plenty of Chechens are going. Suppose it beats sitting around being unemployed and waiting to be "disappeared".

 

[MaddAdam]

Our guys in Syria

http://lightbox.time.com/2013/09/12/witness-to-a-syrian-execution-i-saw-a-scene-of-utter-cruelty/#1

 

[stralia]

77% of Israelis do not want Israel involved in Syria militarily while 66% are in favour of American and European military involvement in Syria.

http://www.jpost.com/National-News/...ack-Syria-but-against-IDF-intervention-324787

 

[Geelong_Sicko]

At the same time, plenty of Chechens are going. Suppose it beats sitting around being unemployed and waiting to be "disappeared".

I really DON'T understand why Putin isn't just holding up a mirror to 2009 Nobel Peace-Laureate Obama, exploiting the actions of the United States and airstriking the f*ck out of FSA positions with stand-off missiles. The Chechens fighting among them could most definitely be painted as a clear and present danger by the Russians in light of Beslen and the Moscow Theatre attacks among others.

The U.S currently uses drones to kill in Yemen and Somalia in addition to Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Global War on Terror has no end phase and no boundaries. Wherever al Qaeda pop up, there is a GWOT battlefield.

It would behoove Russia to put the boot down and exploit U.S actions with regards to it's own military response in Syria.

 

[MaddAdam]

77% of Israelis do not want Israel involved in Syria militarily while 66% are in favour of American and European military involvement in Syria.

http://www.jpost.com/National-News/...ack-Syria-but-against-IDF-intervention-324787

Blow me down with a feather.

 

[MaddAdam]

I really DON'T understand why Putin isn't just holding up a mirror to 2009 Nobel Peace-Laureate Obama, exploiting the actions of the United States and airstriking the f*ck out of FSA positions with stand-off missiles. The Chechens fighting among them could most definitely be painted as a clear and present danger by the Russians in light of Beslen and the Moscow Theatre attacks among others.

The U.S currently uses drones to kill in Yemen and Somalia in addition to Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Global War on Terror has no end phase and no boundaries. Wherever al Qaeda pop up, there is a GWOT battlefield.

It would behoove Russia to put the boot down and exploit U.S actions with regards to it's own military response in Syria.

I think the Russians are playing a spectacular game as it in Syria, that level of involvement would compromise their ability to keep getting long term wins.

Putin rolling Obama like that amazing.

 

[Geelong_Sicko]

I think the Russians are playing a spectacular game as it in Syria, that level of involvement would compromise their ability to keep getting long term wins.

Putin rolling Obama like that amazing.

True. It's a good game of diplomacy Putin is putting up. The Cold War warriors of both sides will be sporting some chubbies.

 

[blackcat]

Blow me down with a feather.

no no, less a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_feather

more an american eagle, or hawk.

 

[blackcat]

True. It's a good game of diplomacy Putin is putting up. The Cold War warriors of both sides will be sporting some chubbies.

pipelines and ports. this is self-interest. ok, some might call it diplomacy, i call the public rationale BS.

 

[blackcat]

I think the Russians are playing a spectacular game as it in Syria, that level of involvement would compromise their ability to keep getting long term wins.

Putin rolling Obama like that amazing.

in counter-response they can get Putin with a 1980Moscow Olympics cum Sochi Winter 2014 boycott. As if Vlad gives a * about that. He will likely just ramp up the National Front<equivalent> attacks on homosexuals to achieve just this end.

 

[medusala]

Whose future? What does 'America' see, Ms Albright?

Dopey woman. The sans culottes all rage against Bush. It was same before him, same now.

They just gave up on exploding cigars at some stage.

 

[CLUBMEDhurst]

True. It's a good game of diplomacy Putin is putting up. The Cold War warriors of both sides will be sporting some chubbies.

Hehe. Former KGB goon plays the diplomatic peacemaker, whilst the Nobel peace prize winner plays warmonger. Delicious

 

[blackcat]

Hehe. Former KGB goon seemingly plays the diplomatic peacemaker, whilst the Nobel peace prize winner plays warmonger. Delicious

edit

but nothing as it seems innit

 

[MaddAdam]

pipelines and ports. this is self-interest. ok, some might call it diplomacy, i call the public rationale BS.

Energy to power countries like Russia and more importantly China, which can threaten US hegemony.

Iran has the hydrocarbons to fuel the next stage of the Chinese rise. The US must halt this an ensure China remains at the "workshop of the world" level, pumping out crap for the American masses to consume at a very cheap price ... maintain dependency.

The best way to do this is by making Iran "friendly" or at the very least "compliant". Given the Americans know a full scale military assault is not possible, the strategy is to bleed and weaken Iran economically in the hope a CIA fomented "revolution" can be successful.

Ensnaring Iran in an open ended Syrian quagmire is an excellent way to help achieve this goal.

 

[CLUBMEDhurst]

edit

but nothing as it seems innit

The term I used was "plays" bc

 

[MaddAdam]

in counter-response they can get Putin with a 1980Moscow Olympics cum Sochi Winter 2014 boycott. As if Vlad gives a * about that. He will likely just ramp up the National Front<equivalent> attacks on homosexuals to achieve just this end.

Agreed a boycott is a possible tactic and one Putin would love - those Olympics are purely for domestic consumption anyway and I doubt you'd ever see a full boycott. The US, Canada and maybe some countries like France and the UK.

EDITED TO ADD - and also, obviously in that boycott, the emerging Winter Olympics powerhouse Australia.

 

[Geelong_Sicko]

Dopey woman. The sans culottes all rage against Bush. It was same before him, same now.

They just gave up on exploding cigars at some stage.

It's true. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

 

[blackcat]

Is the Obama administration only pretending to look for a diplomatic solution in Syria? Kucinich
.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...cf2ed8-1b0c-11e3-a628-7e6dde8f889d_story.html
"The CIA has begun delivering weapons to rebels in Syria, ending months of delay in lethal aid that had been promised by the Obama administration, according to U.S. officials and Syrian figures. The shipments began streaming into the country over the past two weeks, along with separate deliveries by the State Department of vehicles and other gear — a flow of material that marks a major escalation of the U.S. role in Syria’s civil war."

 

[MaddAdam]

A fairly excellent illustration of why the rebels want the US to run them a no fly zone

 

[Geelong_Sicko]

^^ Radar-directed artillery? Seems a little too accurate for blind-fire shelling.