Libya is one place the “Islamic State’s” sponsors believe Russia can’t get them… In 2011, a NATO coalition led by the United States used its own engineered regional campaign of political destabilization, the “Arab Spring,” as a pretext to militarily intervene in first Libya directly, and in a more indirect way, Syria. US and European forces also “quietly” intervened in several …
Jeffrey D. Sachs – Hillary Clinton and the Syrian Bloodbath
In the Milwaukee debate, Hillary Clinton took pride in her role in a recent UN Security Council resolution on a Syrian ceasefire: But I would add this. You know, the Security Council finally got around to adopting a resolution. At the core of that resolution is an agreement I negotiated in June of 2012 in Geneva, which set forth a cease-fire …
Pepe Escobar – Why the ‘Sultan of Chaos’ is freaking out
Picture sleepless nights at ‘Sultan’ Erdogan’s palace in Ankara. Imagine him livid when he learns the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), backed by Russian air power, started a preemptive Battle of Aleppo – through the Bayirbucak region – cutting off Ankara’s top weaponizing corridor and Jihadi highway. Who controls this corridor will control the final outcome of the war in Syria. …
Daniel Larison – Yemen and Crimes Against Humanity
The U.N. has been investigating war crimes in the war on Yemen, and their monitors have confirmed what critics of the bombing campaign feared: A Saudi-led coalition fighting in neighboring Yemen has targeted civilians with air strikes and some of the attacks could be crimes against humanity [bold mine-DL], United Nations sanctions monitors said in an annual report to the …
Patrick Cockburn – Syrian civil war: Why the endless conflict is at a decisive point
The Syrian peace talks between government and opposition will begin in the next few days in Geneva in an atmosphere of almost undiluted gloom about the prospects for success. The two sides hate each other and have spent five years trying to kill each other, making it unlikely that they will agree to share power in any way except geographically, …
Tobin Harshaw – Saudi Arabia Has Bigger Problems Than Iran
http://Shia IslamSunni IslamBashar al-AssadSaudi ArabiaSyriaBarack ObamaCentral Intelligence Agency John KerryMiddle EastSyrian oppositionSaudi Arabia’s feud with Iran over the beheading of a prominent Shiite cleric led to a lot of overwrought speculation about Sunni-Shiite tensions rising to tear up the Middle East. Those more steeped in regional affairs point to the other 46 men beheaded, almost all of whom were Sunnis …
Sharmine Narwani – The Syrian opposition circus comes to town
In January, the Syrian government will – ostensibly – sit across the negotiating table from ‘the Syrian opposition’ to decide on the structure and make-up of a transitional government that promises to end the 5-year Syrian conflict. The ‘Syrian opposition,’ we are told by US Secretary of State John Kerry, will be selected by ‘Syrians’ and will therefore be ‘representative.’ …
Gareth Porter – Why the US pushes an illusory Syrian peace process
The notion that a political settlement will take place lacks credibility – the realities on the ground in Syria won’t allow it The anti-Assad coalition led by the United States continues to stagger toward the supposed objective of beginning peace negotiations between the Syrian government and what has now been blessed as the politically acceptable “opposition”. The first such meeting …
Robert Parry – Blocking Democracy as Syria’s Solution
The solution to the crisis in Syria could be democracy – letting the people of Syria decide who they want as their leaders – but it is the Obama administration and its regional Sunni “allies,” including U.S.-armed militants and jihadists, that don’t want to risk a democratic solution because it might not achieve the long-held goal of “regime change.” Some …
Michael Snyder – Obama’s ISIS Oil Scandal Deepens As Russia Produces Stunning Photographic Evidence
How is Barack Obama going to get out of this one? On Tuesday, the Russian military produced an impressive array of evidence that clearly shows that ISIS oil is being smuggled into Turkey on an industrial scale. The evidence included photographs taken by satellite and during aerial reconnaissance missions. What the Russians have shown the world is extremely compelling, and …