Russia Begins Operations in Syria: End Game for the US Empire?

[Ant22]

(...) Poland has a “moral right” to seek compensation for the losses it sustained in the World War II as well as for the economic damage it suffered as a result of joining the EU, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) Party and former PM has said.

Poland has ‘moral right’ to demand compensation for WWII, accession to EU – former PM
https://www.rt.com/news/394946-poland-moral-right-compensation/

“It is important to remind … our critics in the West that Poland was the first country that had to stand up to the German Nazism and, 17 days later, was attacked by another genocidal totalitarianism, the Soviet Union,” Kaczynski said in his speech at the PiS congress on Saturday.

He went on to say that Poland never received any compensation for “that gigantic damage, from which it has not recovered even today,” adding that his country never relinquished its right for compensation and has a “moral right” for that while “those, who think otherwise, are wrong,” as reported by the Polish Forsal.pl business news media outlet.

However, the politician did not stop at that and said that the EU also owes Warsaw a sort of compensation as almost all the benefits that came from the Poland’s accession to the union were reaped by its partners in Western Europe.

Poland opened its market 12 years before joining the EU as a pre-accession measure, Kaczynski said, adding that “Polish cheap labor … also benefited those [western] economies.”

“As for the use of the European funds, they also benefit the [western] businesses and those countries are cashing in on them. The [western] enterprises located in Poland transfer tens of billions of zlotys every year without paying any taxes,” the politician said.

At the same time, the PiS leader said that “no one” can accuse his party of anti-European bias as it supported Poland’s accession to the EU ahead of the national referendum on the matter. He went on to say that his party also “appreciates the EU funding” as it “provides various types of investments” and contributes to the financing of the projects in the social sphere.

He also said that Poland’s foreign policy is based on two “pillars”: NATO and the EU.

Returning to the topic of Poland’s “moral rights,” Kaczynski also said that his country as a right to say “no” to the idea of accepting any refugees as it has nothing to do with the causes of the refugee crisis.

"We have not exploited the countries from which these refugees are coming to Europe these days, we have not used their labor force and finally we have not invited them to Europe. We have a full moral right to say 'no'," Kaczynski said, as cited by Reuters.

Taking in refugees that should be resettled to Poland under the EU relocation program could create a “big security-related problem,” which “is not just about terrorism but also about ordinary everyday security,” he said.

“There is no reason for us to radically lower our living standards and the quality of life in Poland,” the politician added, as he listed the problems that could arise from complying with the EU demands concerning the relocation of refugees.

At the same time, he said that Poland is ready and willing to help refugees directly in their countries of origin.
Poland was among the states that have been consistently opposing the EU plan to relocate over 100,000 migrants who have already reached the continent, throughout Europe. In total, nearly 21,000 asylum-seekers have been distributed throughout Europe since the launch of the relocation program, some 14,000 from Greece and the rest from Italy.

However, Poland has not yet accepted any refugees. In response to the European Commission’s latest move, Warsaw said it intended to carry on with its current migration policy and did not intend to accept its quota of refugees that amounts to some 6,100 people.
In mid-June, the European Commission launched legal action against Poland, Hungary, and Czech Republic, claiming that those countries had not “taken the necessary action” in dealing with migrants and refugees.
In response, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Konrad Szymanski told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that his country is ready to defend its right to not take in refugees in an EU court.

Well, with such level of entitlement, ungrounded self-importance and lack of engagement skills one must wonder if Poland isn't by any chance run by a bunch of millennials.

Even if there are aspects I agree with, the tone in which they are communicated would make me disengage from any further discussion - and it looks like this is in fact is what the EU is doing.

This is likely to come across as opinionated (well, it actually is) but multiple other countries suffered their own losses and to each of them their own tragedy is the greatest because it simply hit closer to home. Principle of scale I guess.
Yet while others try to build relationships, Poland is acting like a cleaner with Tourette's Syndrome who insists on attending Board level meetings with the CEO and Directors, because you know, it's them.

I'm way past embarrassed these days. But I still do shake my head in heartbroken disbelief quite a lot.

 

[bjorb]

Assad in my book is truly someone that fits the hero archetype. He is the man, (and his wife to) who seem to have been born for a particular moment, to carry Syria through the psychopathic onslaught, and help turn the battle, where the Imperial west will meet it's doom.

Good to see that the right kind of people for once are being put up front. They lead by examples after all.

It might just be a bill. But in a World where the masses worship people like Andraine Grande (Don't know or care how to spell her name correctly) People like Assad are a welcome addition for a change.

New Syrian banknotes featuring portrait of Assad printed in Russia
https://www.sott.net/article/355397-New-Syrian-banknotes-featuring-portrait-of-Assad-printed-in-Russia

On Sunday, Durgham announced the introduction of the 2,000-pound ($3.9) note featuring Assad, the first notes to depict the president since his inauguration 17 years ago.

"The 2,000-lira [another name for the Syrian pound] note was printed in Russia, just like other banknotes in several recent years, and has protective advantages limiting the possibility of currency counterfeiting," Durgham said.

The official added that the banknotes were issued in 2015, but their introduction had been suspended in order to wait until monetary policy and the exchange rate would allow for the transfer to be carried out into circulation.

According to the bank governor, the face of the president on the banknote does not convey any political message, but it is a statement of the Syrian authorities that the country's economy and currency were in good condition.

 

[Siberia]

Today's article by the Foreign Policy (neither a pro-Russian nor pro-Syrian source for sure, but still interesting):

_http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/07/03/tillerson-ready-to-let-russia-decide-assads-fate/

Tillerson Ready to Let Russia Decide Assad’s Fate

In talks with the U.N. chief, Tillerson indicates Russia should be in the driver’s seat when it comes to the future of Syria.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told the U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres during a private State Department meeting last week that the fate of Syrian leader Bashar Al-Assad now lies in the hands of Russia, and that the Trump administration’s priority is limited to defeating the Islamic State, according to three diplomatic sources familiar with the exchange.

The remarks offer the latest stop on a bumpy U.S. policy ride that has left international observers with a case of diplomatic whiplash as they try to figure out whether the Trump administration will insist that Assad step down from power. Nearly three months ago, Tillerson had insisted that Assad would have to leave office because of his alleged use of chemical weapons.

Tillerson’s assurances to Guterres signaled the Trump administration’s increasing willingness to let Russia take the driver’s seat in Syria, throwing geopolitics to the wayside to focus on defeating ISIS.

He also signaled that U.S. military action against Assad’s forces in recent months is intended to achieve only limited tactical goals–deterring future chemical weapons attacks and protecting U.S. backed-forces fighting the Islamic State in Syria–not weakening the Assad government or strengthening the opposition’s negotiating leverage.

Tillerson’s position reflects a recognition that Syria’s government, backed by Russia and Iran, is emerging as the likely political victor in the country’s six year long civil war. It also marks a further retreat from the 2012 U.N.-brokered Geneva Communique — signed by Russia, the United States, and other key powers — which called for the establishment of a transitional government with members of the regime and the opposition. The Geneva pact, according to the Obama administration and other Western allies, was to result in Assad’s departure from power. (Though the Obama administration softened its own demand that Assad step down during its final year in power).

A State Department official declined to comment on Tillerson’s private discussion with Guterres, but insisted that the U.S. remains “committed to the Geneva process” and supports a “credible political process that can resolve the question of Syria’s future. Ultimately, this process, in our view, will lead to a resolution of Assad’s status.”

“The Syrian people should determine their country’s political future through a political process,” the official added.

The decision to cede ground to Russia on the question of Assad’s future comes on the eve of President Donald Trump’s first face-to-face meeting next week with President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany. It also comes at a time when the Trump administration is seeking to repair relations with the Kremlin despite a series of scandals that have plagued the White House since Trump’s election.

Tillerson said earlier this month that Trump tasked him with repairing the broken U.S.-Russia relationship. The secretary of state has also cautioned Congress that new sanctions against Russia for its alleged role in interfering in the U.S. election could undercut efforts to cooperate with Moscow on Syria.

“The President asked me to begin a re-engagement process with Russia to see if we can first stabilize that relationship so it does not deteriorate further,” Tillerson said during a visit to New Zealand in early June. From there, he said, he would “begin to rebuild some level of trust” with Moscow.

Less than two months after he was sworn in, Tillerson made clear that he had little interest in using American muscle to force the Syrian leader from office. Assad’s future, he said in late March, “will be decided by the Syrian people.” His remarks were reinforced by Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, who told a group of wire service reporters “our priority is no longer to sit there and focus on getting Assad out.”

But then Tillerson reversed course in April, saying that “steps are underway” for an international effort to oust Assad after his regime carried out chemical weapons attack against civilians, killing dozens. Days later, at a G7 summit in Italy, Tillerson repeated the warning that Assad’s reign was “coming to an end.”

“The process by which Assad would leave is something that requires an international community effort both to first defeat ISIS within Syria, to stabilize the Syrian country to avoid further civil war and then to work collectively with our partners around the world through a political process that would lead to Assad leaving,” he said.

But Tillerson made clear to Guterres that the U.S. was once again shifting gears. “What happens to Assad is Russia’s issue, not the U.S. government’s,” one source said Tillerson told the U.N. chief in last week’s meeting. Tillerson’s message, the official added, was that “the U.S. government will respond to the terrorist threat,” but that it is largely agnostic about “whether Assad goes or stays.”

Tillerson’s retreat suggests the State Department is willing to skirt the ethical morass of what to do about the Assad regime as it navigates the dense thicket of conflicting alliances fighting in Syria.

“The reason the United States is involved in Syria is to take out ISIS,” State Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters Wednesday. “That’s why we care and that’s why we are there.”

Fred Hof, former State Department special advisor for transition in Syria, called the Trump administration’s stance on Russia in Syria “confusing.”

He pinned the blame on Trump’s lack of a coherent, overarching national security strategy. “There’s no hymnal that’s supposed to guide how everybody sings,” he said. “The fact that there are multiple voices and stances coming out on this doesn’t surprise me.”

On ceding Assad’s fate to Russia: “It is one thing to walk away from the problem and say let the Russians take care of it,” he said. “It’s another thing to assume you can actually get somewhere policy-wise by relying on the Russians to deliver good results.”

Former senior U.S. officials are vexed by how the Trump administration is ceding political ground on Syria to the Kremlin for almost nothing in return. “The things we’re hearing coming out of the administration have mainly to do with what the U.S. might offer Russia, and not the other way around,” said Evelyn Farkas, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia.

Moscow stands to benefit the most from a slew of contradictory Syria messages coming out of Washington, according to Farkas. Without a clear agenda going into the meeting next week with Putin at the G20, she said, “there’s a danger the president will get outfoxed.”

 

[angelburst29]

Poland has ‘moral right’ to demand compensation for WWII, accession to EU – former PM
https://www.rt.com/news/394946-poland-moral-right-compensation/

He also said that Poland’s foreign policy is based on two “pillars”: NATO and the EU.

Well, with such level of entitlement, ungrounded self-importance and lack of engagement skills one must wonder if Poland isn't by any chance run by a bunch of millennials.

Even if there are aspects I agree with, the tone in which they are communicated would make me disengage from any further discussion - and it looks like this is in fact is what the EU is doing.

This is likely to come across as opinionated (well, it actually is) but multiple other countries suffered their own losses and to each of them their own tragedy is the greatest because it simply hit closer to home. Principle of scale I guess.
Yet while others try to build relationships, Poland is acting like a cleaner with Tourette's Syndrome who insists on attending Board level meetings with the CEO and Directors, because you know, it's them.

I'm way past embarrassed these days. But I still do shake my head in heartbroken disbelief quite a lot.

I can understand your sentiment, to a certain degree. Kaczynski is only a NATO talking-head, in my estimation? Look what NATO did to Yugoslavia, where my Family once lived for generations. NATO, the EU and U.S. are destroying Poland in much the same way, by destroying their history to be their puppet? Can't have Soviet Monuments around if you're building a military base to aim missiles at Russia?

According to the Polish foreign minister, the construction of a US missile defense base in Poland will be completed in a few months.

Construction of US Missile Defense Base in Poland to Be Completed in Few Months
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201707031055180995-us-base-poland-construction/

The construction of a US missile defense base in the Polish village of Redzikowo will be completed in a few months, Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said Monday.

"Since the moment when in the beginning of this year NATO and US troops were deployed in Poland, in a few months a missile defense base near Redzikowo will be built, Poland can become a first-class state in NATO," the minister said on Radio Lodz.

On May 13, 2016 the ceremony to start the construction of the Aegis Ashore compound started in Redzikowo. The construction of the base was earlier expected to be completed in 2018.

Poland, as the border country of NATO and the European Union, hopes the United States would support the modernization of the Polish army through "interesting and cheaper" offers, Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said on Monday ahead of US President Donald Trump's visit to the country on July 5-6.

Poland Hopes for Cheaper US Arms Sales Offers, Support in Army Modernization
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201707031055191519-poland-us-arms/

The minister added that Poland would ask Trump to extend the presence of NATO and US troops on the Polish territory.

"This is, of course, an obligation to protect not only our own borders. Our eastern borders are also the borders of international organizations. So we have an extensive army modernization program and we hope that Americans will help us through interesting and cheaper offers," Waszczykowski told Lodz radio station.

At the July 2016 summit, NATO leaders agreed to deploy four multinational battalions to Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland, citing Russia's alleged meddling in the Ukrainian crisis in 2014. Russia has repeatedly claimed that NATO’s military build-up near the Russian borders is provocative and could lead to regional and global destabilization.

 

[Ant22]

(...) I can understand your sentiment, to a certain degree. Kaczynski is only a NATO talking-head, in my estimation? Look what NATO did to Yugoslavia, where my Family once lived for generations. NATO, the EU and U.S. are destroying Poland in much the same way, by destroying their history to be their puppet? Can't have Soviet Monuments around if you're building a military base to aim missiles at Russia?

Great point angelburst29 about Kaczynski being a NATO talking-head and I certainly agree about the bolded part. If I came across as a supporter of a tighter relationship between Poland and the EU I simply failed to express my thoughts properly. I'm sorry for the emotional outburst. I'll do my best to stick to facts!

You are right about EU, the US and NATO destroying Poland much the same way they destroyed many other countries. I learned a lot about their approach and tactics from threads about Ukraine on the forum. Especially this post: https://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,33810.msg470266.html#msg470266 as well as the coverstaion before and after it.

What worries me is that Polish foreign policy is mostly focused on jeopardising pretty much most relationships. I just don't see how this could be a beneficial approach for a small and rather weak country to take. Like I said, it's not that I disagree with every single thing the government does. I just don't find the manner of communication to be helpful or effective.

 

[angelburst29]

You are right about EU, the US and NATO destroying Poland much the same way they destroyed many other countries. I learned a lot about their approach and tactics from threads about Ukraine on the forum. Especially this post: https://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,33810.msg470266.html#msg470266 as well as the coversation before and after it.

What worries me is that Polish foreign policy is mostly focused on jeopardizing pretty much most relationships. I just don't see how this could be a beneficial approach for a small and rather weak country to take. Like I said, it's not that I disagree with every single thing the government does. I just don't find the manner of communication to be helpful or effective.

Avala has a good grasp and awareness of history and the political climate that surrounds these European Countries, including signs of outside interference and their repercussions to the general public and natural resources. The same NATO/U.S. and EU blueprint can be observed in what is going on in Macedonia that SToRmR1dR has been posting in that thread. Bottom line, NATO is being used to surrounding the outer flanks (Countries) to form a outside circle around Russia - militarily. Once the U.S. gets rooted in the Country (Military bases), they turn on the host Country to tap into their natural resources for their own profit.

Poland may look small and rather weak but it is rich in natural resources. Given the right circumstances and Leadership that puts Country and citizens, first, it could hold it's own in the International Market in trading and working out agreements. Although Poland is known for it's black and brown coal reserves, it also has an abundance of oil and natural gas. Poland is one of the world’s leading producers of copper. Add zinc, lead, sulphur, rock salt and construction minerals to the mix. Since early antiquity, the country has been famous for its amber. So, Poland has a lot in commodities that can help the Country stay stable, under the right leadership and utilizing sound principles in management. Unfortunately, Poland's first mistake was letting NATO in and being part of the EU, which adds insult to injury. It's just another "parasite" sitting at the table. Even the EU isn't stable, only 30 MEP's out of 751 showed up for a recent scheduled meeting?

https://sputniknews.com/europe/201707041055210106-juncker-rant-european-parliament/

Mining in Poland: History and Current Production (Poland’s Natural Resources)
http://www.republicofmining.com/2012/02/20/mining-in-poland-history-and-current-production-polands-natural-resources/

A number of Polish political forces, including Partia Razem (Together Party), Inicjatywa Polska (Polish Initiative), Partia Zieloni (The Greens) and Pracownicza Demokracja (Workers' Democracy), are planning to hold a protest against the upcoming visit of US President Donald Trump to the country, Razem Partia representative Marcelina Zawisza said.

Several Polish Groups Set to Stage Protest Against Trump's Visit
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201707041055216203-poland-trump-visit-protest/

"We will protest against Trump because he decided to quit the Paris agreement on climate, to limit sources allocated by the United States to the protection of the environment… We will show that not all Poles are happy that Trump arrives in Poland, contrary to what the Polish government says," Zawisza said at a press conference.

Ahead of US President Donald Trump's visit to Warsaw, Polish philosopher and journalist Jan Hartman told Sputnik that Poland would be better off hosting Russia’s President Vladimir Putin instead.

Why Putin's Visit Would Benefit Poland More Than Trump's
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201707041055204688-poland-trump-visit/

Jan Hartman said that even though every visit by a US president, no matter how short, is seen by the Polish government as another chance to underscore the country’s image as an important ally for the United States, Poland would benefit more by inviting Putin to come over.

The Polish government is at loggerheads with the EU, that’s why it is looking at America and trying to convince itself and everyone else that with Trump at the helm, the US is trusted friend and guarantor of the country’s security. However we all know well that Trump takes little interest in Eastern Europe,” Jan Hartman said in an interview with Sputnik Poland.

He added that he did not expect any tangible results from President Trump’s visit.

“Trump is not the man whose words really mean something. Even if he says something good about Poland and even pats us on the back, it won’t mean anything. Poland believes that by joining NATO it will feel safe protected by the US missile shield, but we also know that Trump is not a big fan of NATO and that the security of our country and that of the other Eastern European countries depends more on European integration and the buildup of European defense,” Hartman noted.

When asked why all this official fuss about President Trump’s visit, Jan Hartman said that he did not expect much from this visit, that there would be traditional assurances that the Poles will be granted visa-free travel to the US, but everything will remain as it is.

“Poland is not a big priority for the US and there is little we can do about it. Donald Trump is not an expert on Eastern Europe and he will certainly not be our friend.

Meeting with Russians would be way more important now that our relations are at low ebb and top-level contacts are in a deep freeze. It would also be beneficial from the standpoint of security, economic cooperation and mending fences with Russia, which is our neighbor,” he emphasized.

“A meeting with Putin would be more important that meeting Trump who, among other things, won’t be able to meet Jaroslav Kaczynski who has neither an official nor diplomatic status to meet with foreign leaders,” he added.

Speaking about the impact Donald Trump’s meeting with Vladimir Putin at the upcoming G20 summit in Hamburg could have on the political climate in both the US and Russia, and also on the situation in the world in general, Jan Hartman said that he was looking forward to constructive security cooperation between Moscow and Washington.

“The situation is Syria is getting better and I hope that the main players will somehow agree to work together or at least avoid a conflict,” Hartman noted.

He described Trump’s vision of the world as a place the great powers divide into their respective spheres of interest as “anachronistic.”

“What really matters is for [the US and Russia] to keep talking to each other and coordinate their military actions. And again, there global economic problems we need to deal with and I think that here Russia and America are fairly pragmatic about this,” Jan Hartman concluded.

President Donald Trump’s brief visit to Poland on Thursday will be followed by a stop in Hamburg, Germany, for the Group of 20 summit.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is also scheduled to attend the summit.

 

[angelburst29]

A prominent Syrian analyst referred to Israel's provoking moves against the Arab country, and warned that Moscow, Tehran and Damascus are coordinating response to Tel Aviv's hostile acts.

Analyst: Iran, Russia, Syria to Give Coordinated Response to Israel's Aggression
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960412001283

"Israel's operations in the Syrian territories are conducted in coordination with Washington and in line with supporting terrorism and these moves will receive a response from the side of Syria through coordination with the Russian and Iranian allies," Hassan Hassan said on Monday.

Noting that Israel is concerned by ISIL's defeats in Syria and Iraq, he said, "Tel Aviv aims to boost the terrorists' morale, specially the ISIL and al-Nusra Front (also known as Fatah al-Sham Front or the Levant Liberation Board), weaken the Syrian soldiers morale and send this message to the Russians and Iranians that Israel is still able to disturb the situation."

"Repetition of Israel's attacks means that the enemy has not attained its goal yet; the Damascus response will be tough, and will be coordinated with our Russian and Iranian allies," Hassan stressed.

Israel launched another strike against the Syrian territories on Tuesday to support the terrorist groups stationed in the region.

Israel Launches Attack on Syria Again
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960413001594

According to Tasnim news agency, an Israeli drone launched missile strike against a Syrian army positions in the Northern parts of Quneitra province today. (Jul 04, 2017).

The missile was fired against the army bases at the so-called UN hill which is linked to the Golan Heights and witnessed fierce clashes in late 2015, but the terrorists have failed to capture.

The Arabic-language media sources reported on Sunday that the Israeli missile units opened fire at the Syrian army positions in Quneitra province after the latter inflicted a heavy defeat on al-Nusra Front (also known as Fatah al-Sham Front or the Levant Liberation Board) in the town of al-Ba'ath.

The al-Mayadeen reported that the Israeli missile units deployed in occupied Golan Heights in Tal (hill) Abu al-Nadi fired three missiles at army positions near Naba'a al-Fawar, damaging the army's equipment.

The Israeli attack was done after the army soldiers repelled an al-Nusra attack in al-Ba'ath and then in a rapid counter-attack recaptured lost lands.

Relevant reports said on Saturday that an Israeli military helicopter targeted two positions of the Syrian Army in areas near the town of Eastern al-Samadaniyeh and another position around the town of al-Ba'ath.

The Israeli Air Force struck the Syrian Army troops' strongholds in the Southern province of Quneitra for the fourth time in a row on Saturday.

A US-led coalition bombing positions in Syria reportedly hit an ancient wall in the city of Raqqa to enable a US-backed grouping of ground forces to make their way into the ISIL stronghold’s Old City.

US-Led Coalition Hits Ancient Wall in Raqqa
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960413000228

Raqqah is ISIL terrorist group’s last urban stronghold in Syria, and the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), have been closing in on the city to take on ISIL, presstv reported.

They first broke into Raqqa on June 6 and have been trying to advance toward the city’s center.

The US-led coalition claimed it had fired “on two small sections of the historic Rafiqah Wall,” Reuters reported.

ISIL seized Raqqah in 2014, the same year it started a campaign of terror in Syria. The group then named the city its so-called headquarters in Syria. The terrorist group has since suffered major blows by the Syrian military and may now be about to lose Raqqa as well.

The US-led coalition started hitting what it says are ISIL positions in Syria in September 2014. It has obtained no permission from the government in Damascus or the United Nations (UN) for the aerial bombings.

The Syrian military and allied fighters are also fighting ISIL across the country, including near Raqqa.

Meanwhile, Turkey, too, has deployed military forces to Syria to contain what it sees as the rise of Kurdish forces, who have for long been engaged in a conflict of their own with Ankara.

The Turkish military presence has also forgone the Syrian government’s approval, and the unsanctioned presence of so many foreign forces on Syrian soil risks sparking clashes between the Syrian military and those forces, particularly near Raqqa, where many various forces are concentrated.

One of the most notorious European commanders of ISIL terrorist group and the right hand man of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in a joint operation of the Syrian Special Forces and the Russian Air Force at the border with Iraq.

Top Aide of ISIL's Baghdadi Killed in Joint Operation of Russian, Syrian Forces
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960413000777

Lavdrim al-Mohajeri, the senior Albanian commander of ISIL nom de guerre Abu Abdullah Knosovo'yee, was killed along with six of his guards in an airstrike by the Russian warplanes in coordination with the Syrian Army's Tiger Forces.

The hunted Albanian commander of ISIL was responsible for the massacre and abduction of the people, and the main the mastermind of ISIL's terrorist operation abroad.

Iraqi media quoted Fadhel Abu Raqif, a security expert, as saying that al-Mohajeri was killed in an air raid at Syria's border with Iraq.

Al-Mohajeri that was on a 4-month-long trip to Albania and Kosovo came back to Syrian in May.

The source said that after ISIL lost a number of commanders in clashes with Iraqi and Syrian forces in the last several months, al-Mahajeri was considered as the right hand man of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Meantime, a local source in Nineveh province reported on Monday that hundreds of leaflets and flyers speaking of the death of ISIL's ring Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi were distributed by unknown people in the Central part of the town of Tal Afar in Northwestern Iraq.

"A number of these leaflets have been distributed along the roads. Some similar flyers have also been found on the walls in trade centers. The leaflets and flyers carry normal logo and emblem of the ISIL. The literature used in them is the same as the one always used by the ISIL, but the terrorist group has gone on alert and launched a search operation to find those that have released and distributed the papers," he said.

Kremlin Aide Yuri Ushakov said Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump will hold a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, which will be vital for bilateral relations and global affairs.

Kremlin: Upcoming Putin-Trump Meeting Equally Vital for Russia, US
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960413000763

"It has been agreed that the presidents will meet though their schedules are rather tight," the Russian presidential aide said adding that Putin had been scheduled to hold around 11 bilateral meetings during the summit, TASS reported.

"However, we will keep in touch with our US counterparts to find an interval for this most important meeting," Ushakov went on to say. "We will try to agree on the meeting, and I am sure that the two presidents will meet in Hamburg," the Kremlin aide noted.

According to Ushakov, this meeting is "crucial and everybody has been waiting for it."

The Russian presidential aide pointed out that Putin and Trump had held several telephone conversations but it was not enough because relations between Moscow and Washington were stuck on " level zero." "Besides, this meeting will be particularly important for ensuring global stability," Ushakov added.

"It is necessary to break the current impasse in bilateral relations. This is equally important for us and for the Americans," the Kremlin official said, commenting on the agenda of the upcoming meeting, which is expected to focus on bilateral ties, among other things.

He also said that Moscow had informed Washington about the timeline of Putin’s meetings that had already been scheduled to be held during the G20 summit. "The US administration sent us its message later, so now we are trying to find time for the meeting [with Trump], because it is a meeting that should be held by all means," the Kremlin aide stressed.

The Kremlin expects bilateral relations, the situation in Syria and Ukraine, the war on terror and other issues to top the agenda of a meeting between Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Hamburg, Ushakov said.

The Kremlin aide drew attention to media reports that the US side intended to raise the issues of Syria and Ukraine at the Putin-Trump meeting.

"It seems to me that it is quite logical to discuss these two topics," Ushakov said.

According to him, the Kremlin also believes it necessary, in the first place, to discuss the problem of international terrorism because cooperation between Russia and the United States is necessary in this sphere as well.

"There are many other themes, which we are ready to discuss," Ushakov said, specifying that the talk was about "all regional issues, arms control and bilateral relations.

There are a lot of problematic spheres in Russia-US relations, the presidential aide said. Responding to a question about whether there were possibilities for agreement between Moscow and Washington on solving these issues, Ushakov stressed that "specific accords have not yet been reached and that is why the forthcoming meeting, the [presidents’] first personal contact is so important."

 

[angelburst29]

“The US is setting up its military bases in the territories that were liberated from Daesh by our fighters during the fight against terrorism,” ~ Senior Representative of the US armed, proxy, SDF forces.

US Expands Military Footprint in Syria to EIGHT Bases, ‘Modifies’ Kobani Air Base (Videos)
http://21stcenturywire.com/2017/07/05/us-expands-military-footprint-in-syria-to-eight-bases-modifies-kobani-air-base/
https://vimeo.com/224329326 (0:21 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzFy8UXFazE (5:03 min.)

With very little fanfare from the western media, the US is quietly creating a hostile military footprint inside Syria.

By establishing a chain of airbases, military outposts and missile bases inside Syria, the US is illegally, stealth-occupying a sovereign nation. The number of US military installations in Syria has increased to eight bases according to recent reports, and possibly nine according to one other military analyst.

We should also not forget the malevolent presence of Israel in the criminally annexed southern Syrian territory of the Golan Heights. This could just as easily be included in the list of US military outposts inside Syria.

Two regional intelligence sources disclosed mid-June that the US military moved a new truck-mounted, long-range rocket launcher from Jordan to a US base in al-Tanf in Southeastern Homs, near the Iraqi and Jordanian borders, stepping up its presence in the area.

The sources said the (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems – HIMARS) had moved into the desert garrison, which saw a buildup in recent weeks as tensions escalate after the US-led coalition struck positions of the Syrian forces to prevent them advancing toward the al-Tanf base.

“They have arrived now in al-Tanf and they are a significant boost to the US military presence there,” one senior intelligence source said, without elaborating. “The HIMARS had already been deployed in Northern Syria with US-backed forces battling ISIL militants”, he added.

The missile system’s deployment at al-Tanf would give US forces the ability to strike targets within its 300-kilometer range. ~ FarsNews

A report in FarsNews today goes so far as to suggest that the US has now established a total of six military air-base facilities. This might represent wishful thinking on behalf of the geopolitically ambitious Kurds/SDF:

“The US has set up two airports in Hasaka, one airport in Qamishli, two airports in al-Malekiyeh (Dirik), and one more airport in Tal Abyadh at border with Turkey in addition to a military squad center in the town of Manbij in Northeastern Aleppo,” Hamou said.

In March 2016, a Reuters report also discussed the US establishment of military air-bases in North East Syria, in Hasaka and in Northern Syria, in Kobani. Both areas that are controlled by Kurdish forces, maintained by the US, and championed by Israel in their bid for statehood and independence from Syria which would inevitably entail the annexing of Syrian territory.

“The Erbil-based news website BasNews, quoting a military source in the Kurdish-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), said most of the work on a runway in the oil town of Rmeilan in Hasaka was complete while a new air base southeast of Kobani, straddling the Turkish border, was being constructed.” ~ Reuters

US CENTCOM were quick to deny such a blatant violation of International law with familiar doublespeak that left room for the interpretation that the US was indeed preparing to empower its Kurdish proxies in their bid for “independence”, as well as Washington’s continued policy of arming and training various Sunni “rebel” fighters, many of whom are linked to Takfiri groups and terrorist groups including Al Nusra (al Qaeda in Syria).

“Our location and troop strength remains small and in keeping with what has been previously briefed by defense officials,” he said in a statement. “That being said, U.S. forces in Syria are consistently looking for ways to increase efficiency for logistics and personnel recovery support.” (Emphasis added)

In April 2017, CENTCOM announced that they were “expanding” the airbase in Kobani:

“The Air Force has expanded an air base in northern Syria to assist in the fight to retake the city of Raqqa from the Islamic State, U.S. Central Command said. The base is near Kobani, which is about 90 miles north of Raqqa, the last urban stronghold for ISIS in Syria. It gives the United States an additional location to launch aircraft to support U.S. and other anti-ISIS forces in the campaign to recapture the city, said Col. John Thomas, a spokesman for Central Command.”

The following video was taken from Operation Inherent Resolve Facebook page. A United States Air Force MC-130 crew prepares for a resupply airdrop over an undisclosed location in Syria.

Airmen from the 621st Contingency Response Group have been deployed to modify and “expand” the Kobani airbase, with the stated intention of supporting anti-ISIS coalitions on the ground in Syria.

The fundamental flaw with US Coalitions is that they do not include the Syrian Arab Army, Russia and their allies who have been systematically fighting ISIS & NATO state extremists, since the start of the externally waged war against Syria.

On the 18th June, the US downed a Syrian fighter jet, on an anti-ISIS mission. The Syrian jet was brought down in Rasafah, in the southern Raqqa countryside.

The “flagrant attack was an attempt to undermine the efforts of the army as the only effective force capable with its allies … in fighting terrorism across its territory”, the statement said. “This comes at a time when the Syrian army and its allies were making clear advances in fighting the [Islamic State] terrorist group.“ ~ Syrian Arab Army statement

With this increase in US military activity inside Syria, the number of civilian deaths under US coalition airstrikes has also been dramatically increasing. CENTCOM has admitted responsibility for the deaths of 484 civilians in their alleged anti-ISIS operations in Iraq and Syria but it is extremely likely that this figure is being artificially lowered from its realistic level:

29th June: Eight civilians were killed and others were injured in a new massacre committed by the aircrafts of the US-led international coalition on al-Sour town in northern Deir Ezzor.

Local and media sources confirmed that warplanes of the US-led coalition launched raids on civilians’ homes in al-Sour in the northern countryside of Deir Ezzor province, claiming the lives of eight people and injuring many others. ~ SANA

US Military Footprint is Strategically Placed - The US military footprint has been strategically place inside Syria. The US has been waging a war against the sovereign nation of Syria for over six years in an attempt to secure “regime change” and the creation of a suitable puppet regime, compliant to US hegemony in the region. It has failed. Its multiple proxies have been consummately driven out and forced to retreat by the Syrian Arab Army and its allies. A recent article in the Duran demonstrates the Russia effect on the battles to liberate Syria from the clutches of NATO and Gulf state terrorists. The following two maps were taken from the article: (Pictured.)

September 2015, just before Russia launched their legal intervention against terrorism in Syria at the invitation of the internationally recognised Syrian government.

Based on information regarding the US military bases in Syria, even with some variation ref numbers of bases versus outposts, we can pinpoint the main areas of concern for Washington:

The US bases are concentrated in the areas controlled by their currently, preferred proxies, the SDF in the north of Syria and the Maghawir al Thawra & Southern Front militant forces, close to Al Tanf on the Syrian border with Iraq:

In a recent article for the American Conservative, political analyst, Sharmine Narwani laid out the US agenda, in establishing a military camp at Al Tanf and the abject failure of this military strategy:

“Re-establishing Syrian control over the highway running from Deir ez-Zor to Albu Kamal and al-Qaim is also a priority for Syria’s allies in Iran. Dr. Masoud Asadollahi, a Damascus-based expert in Middle East affairs explains: “The road through Albu Kamal is Iran’s favored option – it is a shorter path to Baghdad, safer, and runs through green, habitable areas. The M1 highway (Damascus-Baghdad) is more dangerous for Iran because it runs through Iraq’s Anbar province and areas that are mostly desert.”

If the U.S. objective in al-Tanaf was to block the southern highway between Syria and Iraq, thereby cutting off Iran’s land access to the borders of Palestine, they have been badly outmaneuvered. Syrian, Iraqi, and allied troops have now essentially trapped the U.S.-led forces in a fairly useless triangle down south, and created a new triangle (between Palmyra, Deir ez-Zor, and Albu Kamal) for their “final battle” against ISIS.”

In the North, we can speculate that the US is trying to create optimum conditions for an autonomous Kurdish region and the eventual partitioning of Syria, following the already skewed US road map. According to Gevorg Mirzayan, Associate Professor of Political Science at Russia’s Finance University, Kurds control 20% of Syrian territory, when ISIS is defeated the likelihood is that they will want to declare a “sovereign” state. This would play into, not only US, but primarily Israel’s hands.

The US/Israeli agenda has clearly been to form a buffer zone inside all Syrian borders from North to East to South preventing Syrian access to neighbouring country borders & territory and reducing Syria to a geopolitically isolated, internalized peninsular. This plan was discussed by Syriana Analysis:

The US is relentlessly flaunting international law, as it has throughout this protracted conflict – it has established, inside Syria, almost as many bases as it has set up in its regional, rogue state allies, Saudi Arabia and Israel. Syria, a country that the US has been punishing for over six years, via economic, media and militant terrorism. The lawlessness of the US hegemon has now reached epic proportions and threatens to engulf Syria and the region in sectarian conflict for a while yet thanks to its Machiavellian meddling in a sovereign nation’s affairs on almost every front.

The US has consistently underestimated its foe and apparently failed to factor in the Russian military capability. On Wednesday, Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers struck ISIS targets in Syria with X-101 cruise missiles, as reported by South Front. “The strike was made from the range of about 1,000 kilometers. The Tu-95MS bombers took off from an airfield in Russia.”

From a practical military perspective, the US is out of its depth in Syria and no amount of proxies are going to change that fact, it remains to be seen to what extent the US will further bury itself in a swamp of its own making before it concedes defeat to the steadfastness of the Syrian people, the Syrian Arab Army and the Syrian state.

As Paul Craig Roberts has said recently: “What Planet Earth, and the creatures thereon, need more than anything is leaders in the West who are intelligent, who have a moral conscience, who respect truth, and who are capable of understanding the limits to their power.

But the Western World has no such people.”

 

[angelburst29]

Anti-aircraft units of the Syrian Army shot down an Israeli spy drone over the pro-government forces' positions in the Southern province of Quneitra, media sources reported on Wednesday.

Syrian Army Targets Israeli Spying Drone in Quneitra
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960414000323

The Arabic-language Elam al-Harbi wrote on its facebook account that the Syrian army shot down an Israeli drone as it was carrying out spying flight over the pro-government forces' positions in Northern Quneitra.

In the meantime, sources affiliated to the terrorists said they heard the sound of an explosion in Northern Quneitra, claiming that an Israeli plane targeted positions of the Syrian Army in Quneitra province.

Relevant reports said on Sunday that the army troops managed to fend off another Israeli-backed attack of Al-Nusra Front (also known as Fatah al-Sham Front or the Levant Liberation Board) and restored full security to the town of al-Ba'ath in the Southern province of Quneitra.

The army men engaged in fierce clashes with Al-Nusra terrorists and warded off their attack.

The army soldiers further carried out a rapid counter-attack and managed to push terrorists back from two lost positions West of al-Ba'ath, restoring full security to the town.

The Al-Nusra, backed up by Israel, has carried out several rounds of attacks on pro-government forces' positions.

Russia’s chief negotiator at the Astana talks and Russian president’s envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev said on Tuesday that Russia’s military police may be deployed in buffer security zones in Syria.

Diplomat: Russian Military Police May Be Deployed in Syria’s Buffer Zones
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960414000556

So far, it is difficult to speak about the presence of Russian monitors and defense ministry representatives, but, in general, it is supposed that Russian military police could be deployed in buffer security zones," he said, TASS reported.

"This issue has not yet been finally agreed. It will imply the status of de-escalation control forces," he added.

According to Lavrentyev, establishment of de-escalation zones in Syria will begin within two or three weeks after signing relevant documents.

"Depending on the readiness of documents on security zones, I think concrete actions on deployment of forces could be taken within two or three weeks," he said, adding that another issue discussed at the talks was the establishment of a joint coordination center.

"A very important aspect is that all the guarantor countries want to set up a joint coordination center to monitor security in the de-escalation zones. I think we can pass this document in principle," Lavrentyev said.

Lavrentyev noted that contact lines in two out of the four de-escalation zones in Syria had been practically agreed.

Over 17 terrorists, including several military and religious leaders, have been killed or wounded in the explosion of an explosive laden vehicle in a Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at (the Levant Liberation Board) position North-West of Idlib city, local sources confirmed on Wednesday.

Several Military, Religious Leaders of Terrorists Killed in Bomb Attack in Northwestern Syria
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960414000481

The sources said that six Mufties (religious leaders) and a field commander of Tahrir al-Sham were killed after a bomb-laden suicide vehicle blew up in the terrorist group's positon near the village of Hafsarjeh. 10 more militants were injured in the suicide attack, the sources added.

Local sources reported in late June that a series of blasts at the positions of Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at and Ahrar al-Sham in Idlib's countryside, adding that the explosions escalated tensions and insecurity across the region.

The sources said that 15 people were killed and several more were wounded in an explosion caused by a bomb-laden car in the Central part of the town of al-Dana.

In the meantime, a bomb-laden vehicle was detonated near al-Dana chechpoint, killing and wounding several people. Also, another bomb went off at a bazaar in al-Dana.

The sources went on to say that another bomb blast rocked the al-Zabit neighborhood West of Idlib city, while a fifth explosion caused by an explosive-laden motorbike hit the Northern countryside of Idlib.

Commander of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) announced that the US Army has established seven military bases in regions controlled by the Kurds in Eastern Syria.

US Sets up Seven Military Bases in Regions Controlled by Syrian Kurds
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960414000940

Siban Hamou was quoted as saying by al-Sharq al-Awsat that the US army has established six military airports and a base on the Eastern bank of the Euphrates River, adding that a modern large airport in Kobani (Ein al-Arab) is the most important one of them.

"The US has set up two airports in Hasaka, one airport in Qamishli, two airports in al-Malekiyeh (Dirik), and one more airport in Tal Abyadh at border with Turkey in addition to a military squad center in the town of Manbij in Northeastern Aleppo," Hamou said.

Hamou went on to say that 1,300 forces of the US-led coalition are deployed in the airports and center.

a military base for militants in Southwestern Hasaka near the provincial border with Deir Ezzur.

Abu Yaqoub said that the coalition led by the US decided to establish a military base for the militants of al-Maqawir al-Thorah in al-Shadadi region, adding that the coalition's move to relocate al-Maqawir to the new base was aimed at taking control over Deir Ezzur city.

He further said that al-Shadadi was near the oil wells in Deir Ezzur province.

Yaqoub went on to say that the US declared its readiness to transfer 100 al-Maqawi al-Thorah fighters to the new base along with their equipment.

In the meantime, the new base that would be the third, after the two bases of al-Tanf and al-Zakaf 70km away from each other, where al-Maqawir al-Thorah and coalition forces were present.

Authorities in Sweida province uncovered a workshop used by terrorists for manufacturing IEDs in Ateel town in the Northern countryside of the province

Syrian Authorities Uncover Workshop for Manufacturing IEDs in Sweida
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960414001550

The authorities raided a furniture workshop which had been used to manufacture IEDs in Ateel town, where a terrorist was making the IEDs and concealing them inside furniture sets, SANA reported.

Initial information indicated that the terrorist acquired the materials involved in manufacturing explosives from his brother, a terrorists who is residing in Seida town in the Eastern countryside of Dara'a, adding that the workers in the furniture workshop are being questioned to find out which terrorist groups they deal with.

Local sources in Northwestern Syria reported that Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at (the Levant Liberation Board) is preparing to launch a fresh wave of attacks on rival terrorists of Ahrar al-Sham in Idlib.

Tensions Intensify in Idlib after Reported Clashes among Rival Terrorists
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960414001044

The sources reported that Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at has gathered it forces in the town of Harem in Northern Idlib and the town of Abu al-Dhohour in Eastern Idlib to kick off fresh attacks on Ahrar al-Sham's positions.

News websites affiliated to the terrorist groups reported that unknown militants kidnapped Ibrahim Yaseen, one of the commanders of Ahrar al-Sham, and transferred him to the town of Sarmada in Northern Idlib.

The sources also said that unknown raiders also abducted Abu Yusef Choubak, another commander of Ahrar al-Sham, in Idlib.

The websites said Tahrir al-Sham's decision to attack Ahrar al-Sham was made after the abduction of Ahrar commanders and several explosions in Idlib.

Local sources reported in late June that a series of blasts at the positions of Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at and Ahrar al-Sham in Idlib's countryside, adding that the explosions escalated tensions and insecurity across the region.

The sources said that 15 people were killed and several more were wounded in an explosion caused by a bomb-laden car in the Central part of the town of al-Dana.

In the meantime, a bomb-laden vehicle was detonated near al-Dana chechpoint, killing and wounding several people.

A number of militants operating under the Turkish Army command were killed in the explosion of an ammunition depot in Northern Aleppo on Wednesday.

More Turkey-Backed Militants Killed in Northern Syria
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960414001397

An arms and ammunition depot of the militants affiliated to the Turkish army blew up in the town of Mare'a this afternoon, leaving 14 militants dead and several more wounded.

In relevant developments in the province on Tuesday, the Turkey-backed militants' mortar and artillery units shelled heavily the villages and towns of al-Shahba, Tal Rifat and Sheikh Issa, causing the Kurdish forces to launch retaliatory attacks on militants' positions in the town of Mare'a.

The Kurdish fighters also targeted a vehicle of the militants carrying Jeish al-Thowar militants along the road connecting Azaz to Mare'a, killing 13 militants.

In the meantime, artillery and mortar units of the Turkey-backed militant groups started to shell the villages of Tal Madhiq, Um Hawsh and Harbel from their positions in the village of Kaljabrin and the center of Azaz.

A commander of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) affiliated to the Turkish army said that the FSA and the Turkish Armed Forces might soon launch a joint operation against the Kurdish military units in the Syrian city of Afrin soon.

The commander of the Syrian opposition said that the operation will have several stages.

 

[Ca.]

US warship visit marks ‘deepening cooperation’ on regional threats, top officer says
July 6, 2017, 7:54 am
_http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-warship-visit-marks-deepening-cooperation-on-regional-threats-top-officer-says/
The world’s largest aircraft carrier’s sojourn off the coast of Haifa is ‘proof and testimony’ of a unique military relationship, says the man in charge of maintaining it

Image:
_http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-warship-visit-marks-deepening-cooperation-on-regional-threats-top-officer-says/
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara visit the American aircraft carrier, 'George HW Bush," which is anchored near the Haifa coastline in Israel, July 3, 2017. (Haim Zach/GPO)

The docking of a US Navy supercarrier on the Haifa coast this week signifies deepening ties between Israel and the United States in confronting threats posed by “the global jihad axis,” according to a top IDF officer responsible for cooperation between the two militaries.

The USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier, which has been a leading part of the US bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria, arrived in Israeli waters on Saturday for a four-day sojourn before returning Wednesday to its regular positioning in the Persian Gulf. While it docked, crew members toured Israeli cities and celebrated American Independence Day in the Jewish state on Tuesday.

Commissioned in 2009, the 333-meter-long nuclear-powered ship can carry a crew of over 5,000, as well as around 90 fighter jets and helicopters. It is considered the world’s largest aircraft carrier and largest warship overall.

Too large to enter the Haifa port, the warship dropped anchor around four kilometers from the coastline. A near-constant flotilla of boats shuttled top Israeli military brass and politicians, in addition to US naval officers, to and from the vessel.

The visit to Israel, the first by a US aircraft carrier in 17 years, is “proof and testimony of the intimate, growing and deepening cooperation between the US military and the IDF,” said Lt. Col. Yaniv Kapach, head of the North American Branch in the IDF’s Planning Directorate.

“We are always thinking together about different channels where we can collaborate and develop further cooperation,” Kapach told The Times of Israel Wednesday.

“This visit is a particularly large example of that cooperation, which takes place in a range of fields and is continuing to expand.”

The Planning Directorate is the central body in the IDF’s General Staff and deals with strategic planning, the building of military forces, and military organization. According to Kapach, the North American Branch oversees all cooperation with the US military from both a strategic and an operational standpoint. “We are responsible for the whole picture of the relationship between our militaries,” he said.

Israel and the US have long had close strategic ties, with Washington providing Israel more than $3 billion per year in defense aid. Last December, a $38 billion 10-year defense package to Israel, signed by then-president Barack Obama, became the largest-ever aid agreement between the US and any single country.

The US has either jointly developed or financed all three tiers in Israel’s missile defense program — the Iron Dome short-range missile interceptor, the medium-range David’s Sling, and the long-range Arrow.

But the military ties go far beyond funding from the US, according to Kapach. The two militaries have increased their joint exercises in recent years and are

“developing more and more exercises that we can do together in different ways,”

he said.

In May, American and Israeli pilots flew together in a joint exercise over the Arava desert in southern Israel. Last year both US and Israeli soldiers took part in the Juniper Cobra exercise, a large-scale joint missile defense drill that takes place every two years. The exercise was meant to prepare the two militaries for the threat of a missile attack, as well as allowing the armies to learn how better to work together.

While docked in Israeli waters, the USS George H.W. Bush hosted a number of exercises including the landing of Israeli Blackhawk helicopters on the deck of the ship and other air force and navy drills.

While declining to comment on specific operational cooperation that the US and Israel are pursuing together, Kapach said that joint efforts were “far reaching,” and training together on the warship and in other arenas helped prepare both militaries for the shared threats they face.

“The threats are always evolving and developing so you have to be able to maintain the growing cooperation at the same pace to be able to counter these different and new challenges,”

Kapach said. “I think that both armies take advantage of the knowledge that we each have. Our understanding in the region is very deep and to some extent unique because we are here and we are part of the neighborhood. [The Americans] have a lot to gain from our knowledge and from conducting exercises with us.”

Kapach said that Israel had invited the ship to come to Haifa to coincide with a stint in the Mediterranean, where it has been “conducting a lot of attacks against the global jihad axis.” It left its home port of Norfolk, Virginia, on January 21 and has been in the region since February as a base for airstrikes against the Islamic State terror group.

Visiting the aircraft carrier on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the ship’s role in taking on the terror group.

“The war against ISIS should be seen for what it is: a clash between good and evil. And every sailor on this ship should be immensely proud that you are serving good,

” Netanyahu said, calling the warship a “floating island of America and a symbol to the world of freedom and victory.”

The ship carries between 70 and 90 aircraft at a time, including a fleet of F-18 fighter jets, which are used to strike IS targets in Mosul, Raqqa and elsewhere. The vast majority of the 1,600 sorties in the past five months have targeted IS in Iraq and Syria, but a small number have targeted allies of the Syrian government.

The US carried out its first direct military action against Syria’s regime in April, firing 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Shayrat military airport in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack.

While Israel has sought to stay out of the Syrian conflict, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman met last week with his American counterpart, James Mattis, to discuss “regional strategy” and the cooperation between the Israeli and US militaries amid spiraling tensions on Israel’s northern border.

The past two weeks have seen several incidents of errant shells fired from Syria that landed in Israel. The IDF has responded with force, targeting installations of the Syrian army, which Israel holds responsible for all incidents originating from Syrian soil.

In their meeting, Mattis and Liberman discussed “regional strategy and the ongoing cooperation between the Israeli and US defense agencies,” Liberman’s office said in a statement.

Kapach said he could not comment on any changes in Israel’s cooperation with the US since President Donald Trump took office in January, but said that the American branch’s “purpose and goal is always to enhance and deepen the cooperation all the time, regardless of the administration.”

Note:This Photo looks like a Photoshop:
_http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-warship-visit-marks-deepening-cooperation-on-regional-threats-top-officer-says/
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) and his wife Sara (C-R) speak with American soldiers during a visit on the US aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush, as it docks outside the Haifa port, on July 3, 2017. (AFP Photo/AFP Photo and Pool/Ronen Zvulun)
AFP contributed to this report.

USS George H. W. Bush arrived in Haifa, Israel July 1, to enhance US-Israel relations
_https://twitter.com/USNavyEurope/status/881431394349613056
ParasiteIsrael‏ @IsraeliParasite Jul 2
Replying to @USNavyEurope

While on liberty, ask Israeli soldiers why they bombed the USS Liberty. 50th Anniversary of Israel's unprovoked attack on America.

Excellent Actors (FAKE) With Russian News setting the record straight

Jihadi gang "Faylaq al-Rahman" accusing SAA in chemical attacks in Eastern Ghouta
Published on Jul 4, 2017

http://<div style="position:relativ...:100%;left:0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>

Terrorists in Syria to Stage Chemical Provocations to Justify US Strikes -Moscow
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201707061055276971-syria-us-terrorists-provocations/
SNIP: (updated 12:24 06.07.2017)

According to information in the possession of Russian Foreign Ministry, terrorists in Syria are planning to stage chemical provocations in order to justify US strikes on government forces, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during her weekly presser on Thursday.

Russia believes terrorists in Syria plan to stage chemical attacks in order to justify US airstrikes against the Syrian military, Zakharova said.

Russian Reconciliation Center Delivers 5 Tons of Food to West Syrian Village
10:55 06.07.2017
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201707061055277387-russia-syria-humanitarian-aid/

HOMS (Sputnik) – Members of the center have delivered over five tonnes of food, worth 800 food packages, including rice, canned meat and pasta to the village with over 2,000 residents, center's officer Alexander Vorontsov said.

"Hasur village is one of six settlements in Hadyah district of Homs province, the leaders of which have signed a ceasefire agreement," Vorontsov explained.

Yet another settlement had joined the deescalation zone in Syria, the officer stressed.

"This support is extremely important for the residents of Hasur, the village is located 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the line of confrontation of the Syrian troops and militants, therefore food delivery of products is extremely difficult," Hasur's rural administration official Naji Hamad noted.

Russia has been carrying out regular humanitarian aid deliveries to Syria, where people are suffering from the consequences of ongoing fighting between government forces and terrorists, including Islamic State and the Nusra Front terrorist group, both banned in Russia.

Jul 5, 2017
Russian strategic bombers hit ISIS targets with newest airborne cruise missile Kh-101 in Syria

http://<div style="position:relativ...:100%;left:0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>

 

[angelburst29]

No documents have been signed so far during the fifth round of talks on Syria in Astana, Russian delegation head at Astana talks told Sputnik on Wednesday.

No Documents on Syria Signed in Astana - Russian Delegation Head

https://sputniknews.com/asia/201707051055251909-syria-astana-talks-delegation/

No documents were signed during the fifth round of talks on Syria in Astana, the provision on a joint working group was adopted, Russian delegation head at Astana talks and Special Presidential Representative for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev told Sputnik on Wednesday.

"No documents were signed, but we adopted the provision on a joint working group," Lavrentyev said.

The next round of negotiations on Syria in Astana will take place in the last week of August.

Syrian armed opposition at Astana negotiations aims at reaching a lasting ceasefire, delegation head told Sputnik.

Syrian Opposition Intends to Reach Lasting Ceasefire - Delegation Head
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201707051055236186-syrian-opposition-astana-talks/

Syrian armed opposition at Astana negotiations on Syria aims at reaching a lasting ceasefire, delegation head, Free Syrian Army Chief of Staff Ahmed Berry, told Sputnik.

"We have arrived here to reach crucial aims. First of all, to establish a ceasefire — not a temporary, but a lasting one," Berry said.

Another principal objective, he added, is an agreement on detainees and prisoners release.

According to Sputnik's source, participants to the fifth international meeting on Syria in Astana, apart from an agreement on deescalation, will announce the final deal or prisoners release, which they have been developing at the previous rounds.

The fifth international meeting on Syria in Astana takes place on July 4-5, and brings together the delegations from the three guarantor states — Russia, Iran and Turkey — as well as the Syrian sides and the United Nations teams. Jordan and the United States act as observers.

The First Deputy Foreign Minister of the Syrian Arab Republic Faisal Mekdad said on July 4, that the United States had carried out a missile strike at the Shayrat airbase guided by one more White Helmets’ fake made specifically to compromise the Syrian authorities.

How the U.S. and the Terrorists Were Trying to Affect the Outcome of the Talks in Astana? (Photos - Video)
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2017/07/06/breaking-how-the-u-s-and-the-terrorists-were-trying-to-affect-the-outcome-of-the-talks-in-astana/

Deputy Minister stressed the government of Syria has a report photo and video materials of which confirm the guilt of the militants. Mekdad also noted that Washington should carefully study the possible actions of the official Damascus and its allies in response to any new aggression.

Against the backdrop of the fighting terrorists in Raqqa and Mosul, the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) offensive and the overall situation in Syria have been developing positively for Damascus. The parallel process of peaceful settlement in Astana and Geneva is also bearing fruit. Such tendencies in the military-political and the military-diplomatic spheres cause a very serious negative reaction among the enemies of the Syrian people. Therefore, the U.S. is trying to take the initiative away from the Government of Syria by the brute force and the military intervention.

The provocations that have been taking place since 2011 throughout almost the entire period of the military operations in Syria, unfortunately lead to a negative reaction and unreasonable aggressive actions on the part of the United States very often.

It is especially outrageous from the U.S. to declare a possible preparation for a new chemical attack by the SAA and subsequent White House’s response against the background of the use of white phosphorous munitions by the U.S.-led International Coalition in Raqqa which is prohibited by the international law. It is also worth noting the recent terrible airstrikes of the still the same coalition in the village of Kishik Zyyanat in the southern countryside of Hasaka province on July 4, which resulted in death of nine civilians.

At the same time, the militants of various terrorist groups helped the U.S. to increase tensions by carrying out terrorist attacks in Damascus. Such actions can only be described as an attempt to disrupt the peace process. It looks like ‘someone’ stubbornly does not want to sit at the negotiating table and to return to a peaceful life. It is obviously in the interest of terrorists, some representatives of the so-called moderate opposition and the United States to continue to torment Syria with the war in the hope that the official Damascus will surrender.

On the contrary, the Syrian Arab Army on Monday announced a ceasefire in the southern provinces of the country until July 6. In order to support the peace process, military operations in Daraa, Kuynetra and Suwayda were stopped. Such actions prove the fact that, Damascus seeks peace and negotiations no matter what, unlike the U.S. and rebels. In so doing, these acts of terrorism and information warfare generated in tandem are unlikely to frighten the will of the Syrian people for peace. It is because of these efforts that the talks in Astana were held quite successfully, no matter what.

Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov noticed that the participants had taken yet another important step towards peace and stability on the Syrian land. The guarantor countries, in turn, expressed their satisfaction with the process of determining the boundaries of the de-escalation areas and decided the joint working group would finalize all the operational and technical conditions of all the de-escalation areas. Thus the process of the political settlement continues.

Apparently, in order not to increase the already serious flows of disinformation aimed at disrupting the process of the peaceful settlement the reliability and validity of information received from all the sources including notorious international organizations and Governments must be carefully weighed and analyzed by the U.S. The White House should work out more peaceful strategy of their behavior in the Middle East and Syria in particular if they really want to highlight their commitment to peace as they usually declare.

The actions of the U.S. and their allies below therefore address this issue:

#1. Total BS: Fake Chemical Attack!

A lot of media raised the storm of a new chemical attack being prepared by the Syrian Government.

Who is the real film-maker? (Statement from the White House Press Secretary)

People started organizing public opinion polls as it is something like a reality show. (Pictured)

What the masterminds were planning to do next?

The Free Syrian Army (FSA) just faked news of one more Syrian Arab Army’s chemical attack in Ayn-Tarma (Ein Tarma, also spelled Ain Terma, is a suburb of Damascus in Syria, located 3 kilometers east of Old Damascus, just north of the Barada River, within an area called the Eastern Ghouta), exactly five days after the U.S. statement on the matter.

It is understandable as the film about chemical attack and chemical weapons (CW) has already been produced and the reporters are ready. “Coming this July on pro-opposition channels, a new reality show!”

The video to be analyzed by imaging experts is available here. https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ghouta?src=hash

You see, the movie was already made and somebody just paid to raise a storm about the allegedly tragedy.

The reaction of the Syrian High Command was not long in coming: (Copy of letter)

The SAA’s top command denies all accusations of preparing chemical attacks stressing that the Government Army has never used chemical weapons in the past, and would never use it in the future. The SAA does not have any chemical weapons, so the information campaign of the West is nothing but lies and deception.

Below are some comments from Twitter:

This might be a “justification” for another U.S. strike after a new Oscar for fake video (like White Helmets) is awarded.

Who may believe that Assad decided to start using chemical weapons after 6 years of war and now that the SAA is winning invaders?

Which country has killed more civilians in the Middle East, Syria or the U.S.?

It all means that the Rebels are in danger of losing the battle of Ayn-Tarma, and Jobar two. Only the brainless believe this ‘Chemical Weapons’-campaign.

#2. The International Coalition Takes Lives

According to Inside Syria Media Center’ military correspondents, the Air Force of the U.S.-led International Coalition attacked Kishik Zyyanat village in the southern countryside of Hasaka province on July 4. As a result of the new massacre committed nine civilians were killed.

In addition, not so long ago the aircraft of the Coalition carried out three other air strikes at the city of al-Mayadin (It is a city in eastern Syria. It is the capital of the Mayadin District, part of the Deir ez-Zorr Governorate. Mayadin is located about 44 kilometers southeast of Deir ez-Zor) and also at the village of At-Deblyan, on June 28, killing at least 90 civilians including women and children. Incidents resulted in considerable material damage.
Official Damascus has repeatedly accused the U.S. and its allies of striking at the civilian infrastructure and civilians in Syria under the pretext of fighting terrorism.

#3. The Terrorist Attack in Damascus

According to Reuters, there was a powerful explosion today at the Tahrir Square in the center of Damascus on July 2. As a result, eight people lost their lives and at least 12 sustained injuries of various levels of severity. For the lives of the latter’s are now fighting doctors. They have brought quality medical care.

The first reports say, there was a suicide bomber, who was in the car at the time of the explosion.

According to Inside Syria Media Center correspondents from Damascus, the police had followed three vehicles with terrorists, two of which were stopped. The third car was surrounded by policemen in the center of the city at the Tahrir Square. The suicide bomber did not surrender to the authorities. Instead, he detonated an explosive device.

To be recalled is that earlier the Syrian security forces prevented two attacks of the terrorists in the industrial zone in the suburb of the country’s capital. Both militants were eliminated. The more so, a double terrorist attack was committed in Damascus on March 15, 2017. More than 30 people have affected by the explosions.

 

[angelburst29]

Crucial Trump-Putin meeting, set for a half-hour, still going after more than 90 minutes (Photo - Videos)
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2017/07/07/trump-putin-briefly-shake-hands-exchange-words-ahead-of-g20-meeting.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPJ9qFK5z_Q (2:32 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rcfjxDbDo8 (0:36 min.)

HAMBURG—At long last face to face, U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin voiced confidence Friday that their historic first meeting would pave the way for a positive trajectory for their two countries. If thornier issues like election meddling came up, they discussed them only in private.

The meeting that was supposed to last a half-hour has stretched to more than 90 minutes.

Trump had originally been scheduled to depart the meeting site of the Group of 20 world leaders in Hamburg, Germany at 4:20 p.m. local time following his meeting with Putin.

But Svetlana Lukash, a Russian official accompanying Putin at the talks, said the meeting that began around 4 p.m. local time was still ongoing at 5:50 p.m.

The longer-than-scheduled meeting comes as US. officials say the United States and Russia have reached an agreement for a cease-fire in southwest Syria that is set to take effect on Sunday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has commented on the topics that he and his American counterpart Donald Trump covered in their long-awaited meeting in Hamburg on Friday.

Putin Reveals What He Discussed With Trump During Two-Hour-Long Meeting
https://sputniknews.com/politics/201707071055341947-putin-trump-talks-topics/

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he discussed at the first meeting with US President Donald Trump on Friday the situation in Ukraine and Syria, the fight against terrorism and cybersecurity.

"I had a very lengthy conversation with the President of the United States, there were a lot of issues such as Ukraine, Syria, other problems, some bilateral issues," Putin said at the beginning of his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

"We again returned to the issues of fighting terrorism and cybersecurity," Putin added.

On Friday, the G20 summit kicked off in the German city of Hamburg, bringing together the leaders of major world countries and developing economies.

Word of the ceasefire has emerged as U.S. President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany.

U.S. and Russia have agreed to Syria ceasefire, sources say
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2017/07/07/us-and-russia-have-agreed-to-syria-ceasefire-sources-say.html

The United States and Russia have reached agreement on a ceasefire in southwest Syria, three U.S. officials said Friday as President Donald Trump held his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The deal marks a new level of involvement for the U.S. in trying to resolve Syria’s civil war. Although details about the agreement and how it will be implemented weren’t immediately available, the ceasefire is set to take effect Sunday at noon Damascus time, said the officials, who weren’t authorized to discuss the ceasefire publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Jordan and Israel also are part of the agreement, one of the officials said. The two U.S. allies both share a border with the southern part of Syria and have been concerned about violence from Syria’s civil war spilling over the border.

The deal is separate from “de-escalation zones” that were to be created under a deal brokered by Russia, Turkey and Iran earlier this year. The U.S. was not a part of that deal. Followup talks this week in Kazakhstan to finalize a ceasefire in those zones failed to reach agreement.

The U.S. and Russia have been backing opposing sides in Syria’s war, with Moscow supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad and Washington supporting rebels who have been fighting Assad. Both the U.S. and Russia oppose the Daesh, also known as ISIS and ISIL, in Syria.

US, Russia and other countries active in the region have reached a ceasefire deal in southwestern Syria, Reuters reported citing a US official as saying after the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart Donald Trump on the sidelines of G20 Summit in Hamburg on Friday.

US, Russia Reach Ceasefire Deal in Southwest Syria - US Official
https://sputniknews.com/politics/201707071055341043-trump-putin-g20-talks/

The first ever meeting between the two presidents lasted two hours and twenty minutes.

Prior to the meeting, the presidents exchanged pleasantries, shook hands, and said they expected positive results from their talks.

Early on Friday, the G20 summit kicked off in the German city of Hamburg, bringing together the leaders of major world countries and developing economies.

 

[angelburst29]

Additional photos and video of the G20 meeting:

The handshake the world was waiting for: Trump and Putin finally meet at G20 after US president tweets they have 'much to discuss'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4674150/Trump-says-s-discuss-Vladimir-Putin.html

President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin sat down for their much-anticipated first meeting on Friday on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

The two exchanged brief pleasantries and a friendly handshake earlier at the start of the summit in Hamburg, Germany, but waited hours before they could speak privately.

 

[seek10]

Putin's live Q&A to press in hamburg at G20

https://sputniknews.com/europe/201707081055364193-putin-presser-g20-hamburg/

 

[angelburst29]

The backdrops to the Putin/Trump meeting are the aspirations of Israel and the neoconservatives. It is these aspirations that drive US foreign policy.

Putin’s Assessment of Trump at the G-20 Will Determine Our Future
http://www.globalresearch.ca/putins-assessment-of-trump-at-the-g-20-will-determine-our-future/5598070

What is Syria about? Why is Washington so focused on overthrowing the elected president of Syria? What explains the sudden 21st century appearance of “the Muslim threat”? How is Washington’s preoccupation with “the Muslim threat” consistent with Washington’s wars against Saddam Hussein, Gaddafi, and Assad, leaders who suppressed jihadism? What explains the sudden appearance of “the Russian threat” which has been hyped into dangerous Russophobia without any basis in fact?

The Muslim threat, the Russian threat, and the lies used to destroy Iraq, Libya, and parts of Syria are all orchestrations to serve Israeli and neoconservative aspirations.

The Israel Lobby in the United States, perhaps most strongly represented in Commentary, The Weekly Standard and The New York Times, used the Septemer 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon to urge US President George W. Bush to begin “a determined effort to remove Saddam Hussein from Power in Iraq.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_the_New_American_Century
See also: http://www.ihr.org/leaflets/iraqwar.shtml

Saddam Hussein was a secular leader whose job was to sit on the anomosities of the Sunni and Shia and maintain a non-violent political stability in Iraq. He, Assad, and Gaddafi suppressed the extremism that leads to jihadism. Saddam had nothing whatsoever to do with 9/11, and under his rule Iraq constituted a ZERO threat to the US. He had been a faithful vassal and attacked Iran for Washington, which had hopes of using Iraq to overthrow the Iranian government.

Removing secular leaders is what unleashes jihadism. Washington unleashed Muslim terrorism by regime change that murdered secular leaders and left countries in chaos.

Fomenting chaos in Iraq was the beginning for spreading chaos into Syria and then Iran. Syria and Iran support Hezbollah, the militia in southern Lebanon that has twice driven out the Israeli Army sent in to occupy southern Lebanon so that Israel could appropriate the water resources.

The neoconservatives’ wars against the Middle East serve to remove the governments that provide military and financial support to Hezbollah. By spreading jihadism closer to the Russian Federation, these wars coincide perfectly with the US neoconservative policy of US World Hegemony. As expressed by Paul Wolfowitz, US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy:

“Our first objective is to prevent the re-emergence of a new rival, either on the territory of the former Soviet Union or elsewhere, that poses a threat on the order of that posed formerly by the Soviet Union. This is a dominant consideration underlying the new regional defense strategy and requires that we endeavor to prevent any hostile power from dominating a region whose resources would, under consolidated control, be sufficient to generate global power.”

Israel wants Syria and Iran to join Iraq and Libya in American-induced chaos so that Israel can steal the water in southern Lebanon. If Syria and Iran are in chaos like Iraq and Libya, Hezbollah will not have the military and financial support to withstand the Israeli military.

The neoconservatives have broader aims than Israel’s. The neoconservatives want Syria and Iran in jihadist turmoil so that the neoconservatives can send jihadism into the Russian Federation and into China. China has a Muslim province that borders Kazakhstan. By causing internal problems for Russia and China, the neoconservatives can reduce Russia and China’s abilities to hinder US unilateralism.

That is what Syria is about. It is not about anything else.

The “Muslim threat” appeared suddenly with the 9/11 attack on the WTC and Pentagon. The attack was instantly blamed on Muslims. Although the US government maintained that it had no idea that such an attack was in the works, the US government knew instantly who did it. Quite clearly, it is impossible to know instantly who did an attack about which the government had no idea. In what has become the hallmark of every “terrorist attack,” IDs left at the scene conveniently identified the “terrorists.”

There are now 3,000 architects and engineers who put their reputation on the line by challenging the official story of the collapse of the WTC buildings. According to all known science, the official explanation of the destruction of the 3 highrise WTC buildings is strickly impossible. There is endless evidence online provided not by ignorant presstitutes, conspiracy theorists, and lying politicians, but by real experts. Just go to the Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth website, to the Firefighters and First responders for 9/11 Truth website, to the Pilots for 9/11 Truth website. Research what some foreign government officials have to say about the absurd story told by the US government. That any percentage of the US population believes the obvious false official 9/11 story is proof of the total failure of education in America. Much of the population is incapable of thought. People simply accept whatever the government tells them regardless of the absurdity of the explanation.

Where did the alleged “Muslim threat” come from? What produced it? 9/11 happened before Washington destroyed in whole or part seven Muslim countries, killing, maiming, orphaning, and displacing millions of Muslims who are now overrunning Washington’s vassal states in Europe. Such wars on innocents could produce terrorists, but 9/11 was prior to Washington’s wars against Muslims.

Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda were Washington’s allies against the Soviets in Afghanistan. Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda most certainly did not have the inside information and inside connections to outwit all 17 US intelligence agencies, the National Security Council, all intelligence agencies of Washington’s NATO vassals and Mossad, and airport security four times in the same hour on the same morning.

Moreover, in the last video attributed to bin Laden by independent experts, bin Laden said he had no motive for any such attack and had nothing to do with it. Generally speaking, real terrorists claim responsibility whether they did it or not in order to build the movement by showing its capability. It makes no sense that “the mastermind” allegedly determined to overthrow the West would disavow the greatest humiliation ever inflicted on a major power. The United States was completely humiliated by its impotence against a handful of Muslims with nothing but box cutters. This humiliation is a world record that will stand forever. It is impossible that the alleged terrorist, bin Laden, would repudiate such an accomplishment.

This fact alone proves that Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda had nothing whatsoever to do with 9/11.

Anyone who believes the official 9/11 story, like anyone who believes Oswald killed JFK, like anyone who still believes that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and Al-Qaeda connections, that Assad used chemical weapons, who believes the Gulf of Tonkin lie, who believes that Sirhan Sirhan killed RFK, that Russia invaded Ukraine, etc., is too far gone to ever be rescued from The Matrix in which they live.

I do not know if the insouciance and gullibility of peoples in the West extends into Latin American, Africa, and Asia. Some of the people in Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia, whose governments are slated for regime change by Washington, must be aware that they are not in control of their own fate. But how widely spread is awareness of Washington’s lust for world hegemony? The only signs of awareness are the initial and limited agreements between Russia and China.

To this day, not a single European government has made the connection between Washington’s wars, supported by Europe, and the millions of refugees from Washington’s wars that are overrunning Europe, intent on collecting welfare from European peoples while raping European women. We hear all sorts of complaints about the refugees, but never is a connection made between the refugees and Washington’s European supported wars.

Washington so successfully portrayed itself during the Cold War as peace, justice, and truth astriding the white horse that the world cannot see Satan sitting in the saddle.

Now that Washington’s 16 years of inhumane war against Muslim populations have destroyed the lives of millions of peoples, why aren’t there 9/11s every day? Instead are there only a few alleged terror attacks carried out by individuals, which appear to many to be orchestrated false flag events, such as individuals running over people with trucks in France and England, shooting up a French deli and magazine office. But nothing in the US, “the Great Satan.” Very suspicious.

The orchestrated event of 9/11 was the neoconservative’s “New Pearl Harbor” that provided the excuse for wars that advanced their purpose and Israel’s. It was the neoconservatives themselves who said that they needed a “new Pearl Harbor” in order to begin their wars in the Middle East.

Why don’t Americans and Europeans know this? The answer is because the US and Europe do not have independent medias. They have presstitutes.

Washington created “the Russian threat” when the Obama regime’s frameup of Assad on his alleged use of chemical weapons failed. The UK PM David Cameron pledged Great Britain’s cover for Washington’s invasion of Syria, but the UK Parliament voted no. No more UK coverups for Washington’s war crimes, said the Parliament. Russia stepped in and said, no need for more war. We have an agreement with Syria. We are going to collect all chemical weapons and turn them over to the US for destruction. The US is probably using these chemical weapons turned over by naive Russians for the false flag chemical attacks in Syria.

Stymied in their war aims against Syria, the neoconservatives turned with fury against Russia. How dare the insignificant Russians get in the way of the exceptional, indispensable people! We will teach Russians a lesson! Washington unleashed on the democratically elected government of Ukraine the US-financed NGOs in the amount of $5 billion according to Assistant Secretary of State neoconservative Victoria Nuland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2fYcHLouXY (8:46 min.)

Not realizing its vulnerability, Russia was focused on the Sochi Olympics and suddenly found that Ukraine had undergone a US coup and was committing violence against the Russian populations in Ukraine. Previously in history Soviet leaders had assigned Russia provinces to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic of the USSR. These Russians faced with violence by the neo-Nazi government installed in Kiev by Washington demanded to be reunited with Russia from whence they had come.

Russia agreed to take back Crimea because of the Russian Black Sea Naval Base, but refused the other Russian areas, Donetsk and Luhansk. Hoping against all rationality to convince Europe that Russia was non-aggresive, Russia refused the Russian breakaway republics and left them to the mercy of the Kiev neo-Nazis that continue to attack them in violation of the agreements.

The Russian government’s tolerance for provocations and insults makes the Russian government look like a weakling to the American neoconservatives, who continue to demonize Russia and its president and to press for more sanctions and more bases on Russia’s borders. Prior to his meeting with Putin, Trump, according to the BBC, called “on Russia to stop ‘destabilising’ Ukraine and other countries, and ‘join the community of responsible nations.’” How is that for standing truth on its head?

The Russian desire for Western acceptance could end up compromising Russia’s sovereignty. Washington is figuring out how much sovereignty Russia will give up in exchange for being granted acceptance by the West.

The Russians are also endangered by their belief that Muslim terrorism is a world threat. It is a delusion for the Russian government to think they can reach an agreement with Washington to fight terrorism jointly. The Russians simply cannot accept that terrorism is Washington’s weapon directed against them.

The only reason Muslim terrorism exists is that Washington created it. Washington first used jihadism against the Soviet army in Afghanistan. Then against Gaddafi in Libya. Then when Obama’s plan to invade Syria on the trumped-up chemical weapons charge was blocked by the UK Parliament and Russia, Obama sent ISIS to overthrow Assad. General Flynn, who was the director of the US Defense Intelligence Agency stated this matter-of-factly on Al Jazeera. Flynn said it was a “willful decision” of the Obama administration to send ISIS to overthrow Assad. This is why Russia’s hopes of a common front against ISIS never made any sense.

Jihadism is Washington’s best weapon with which to destabilize Russia. Why would Washington help Russia to defeat this weapon?

There is so much fake news and disinformation spread in the Western media that it even affects the Russians, perhaps even the Chinese.

Even Western analysts who reject the official Syria story still buy into the lie that Assad is a dictator.

When Putin meets with Trump, Putin will have to assess whether Trump is a real president or just another front man for the powerful interest groups that run Washington’s empire.

If Putin concludes that Trump is merely a front man, then Putin has no alternative but to prepare for war.