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

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A United Nations arbitrator suspended international negotiations over the war in Syria on Wednesday. New talks have been scheduled to begin in three weeks.

Syrian war negotiations collapse after two days
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/02/04/syri-f04.html

According to UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura, the cancellation of the talks was immediately prompted by the advance of Russian-backed Syrian government forces into key areas surrounding the city of Aleppo, breaking a three-year-old “rebel” siege of two Shia villages and cutting a supply line for the US-backed Islamist militias from Turkey.

Mistura said that the continuing fighting on the ground and the lack of progress after two days of talks had convinced him of the need for “preparatory work” by the “stakeholders.”

“I’m not prepared to have talks for the sake of talks,” de Mistura said.

The official purpose of the now-suspended talks was to reach terms for an end to the war and for a political transition process that would install a new and US-approved leadership in power.

The prospect of any settlement appears increasingly distant as fighting continues to escalate on the ground. Russia’s deployment of advanced fighter planes has, in fact, enabled the government to win a series of successes against the US-backed “rebel” militias, including the seizure of strategic areas in central and northern provinces.

[...] The cancellation of the talks has produced a redoubled chorus of demands for Assad’s removal and bitter denunciations against Russian involvement.

“How can you ... enter negotiations when you have unprecedented military pressure?” an unnamed “senior Western diplomat” told Reuters. “The Russians and regime want to push the opposition out of Geneva,” he said.

According to the narrative advanced by the corporate media, Russia’s military campaign is the main obstacle to a political deal that could end the war. , it is the unswerving determination of the US and European ruling elites to remove Assad, a close ally of Russia, that is fueling a dynamic that leads squarely toward further escalation in Syria and direct confrontation between the major powers.

Throughout the “peace process,” the US and NATO have continued to escalate their military and covert operations in Syria, deploying Special Operations troops, building up conventional forces and war planes in neighboring Turkey and Jordan, and increasing their support for an array of Al Qaeda-linked and mercenary militias, including the same forces that are directly targeted by Russia’s air war.

Nonetheless, Moscow has already signaled its readiness to press forward with its operations, responding to the false start in Geneva by insisting that it will continue its offensive.



Kerry says Russians must stop airstrikes in Syria
http://www.albawaba.com/news/kerry-says-russians-must-stop-airstrikes-syria-801918

Speaking to reporters before attending a Syria humanitarian effort conference on Thursday, US Secretary of State John Kerry blamed Russia for the collapse of the UN-sponsored peace talks and said they must end their bombing campaign in the embattled country, according to AFP.

Kerry continued by saying that all parties involved in the conflict must allow humanitarian aid into the besieged areas of the conflict.

"Foreign Minister Lavrov and I will talk again today or tomorrow as we further this process and find the way forward to be able to implement this resolution fully."

Russia responded by saying that the two diplomats both agreed to bring humanitarian aid to the affected areas by air.

Both Russia and the US are part of the contact group the Syrian International support group and worked together to get all involved in the conflict to the negotiating table in Geneva.



US-Led Coalition Continues Bombing Syria, Telling Russia to Stop
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160204/1034234023/us-russia-syria-bombing.html

The US-led international coalition continued bombing targets across Syria, Russia's military said, while demanding that Russia stops its own campaign as part of a ceasefire deal.

Defense Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov noted that Russia has been accused of targeting areas which "never had terrorist groups" amid a tentative preparation for talks, an allegation he called absurd. Konashenkov countered allegations previously voiced by US Secretary of State John Kerry, noting that the US-led coalition has continued its strikes while condemning Russia's.

Defense Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov noted that Russia has been accused of targeting areas which "never had terrorist groups" amid a tentative preparation for talks, an allegation he called absurd. Konashenkov countered allegations previously voiced by US Secretary of State John Kerry, noting that the US-led coalition has continued its strikes while condemning Russia's.



Closing In: Russia, Iran, Assad "Encircle" Syria's Largest City As Peace Talks Collapse In Geneva (Photos)
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-02-04/closing-russia-iran-assad-encircle-syrias-largest-city-peace-talks-collapse-geneva

Back in October, we previewed the “promised” battle for Aleppo, Syria’s largest city prior to the war.

By the time Russia began constructing an air base at Latakia, the city - which is immensely important both from a strategic and psychological perspective - was controlled by a hodgepodge of rebels and militants including al-Qaeda, the Free Syrian Army, and ISIS.

As we noted four months ago, if Russia and Hezbollah manage to recapture the city, it would effectively restore the Assad government in Syria even if the east of the country is still controlled by Islamic State.

In many ways, the city is emblematic of the wider conflict. Here are a few visuals which underscore the extent of the desolation and utter sorrow that plague this once thriving urban center.

Fast forward four months and it appears that after a protracted fight, Russia and Hezbollah are indeed poised to recapture the city where militants are now surrounded. Critically, Russia and Iran have now cut off supply lines from Turkey.

[...] And trust us, Erdogan knows something about what makes "things easier for a tyrant."

In any event, the urgency expressed by the US, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey shouldn't be mistaken for some kind of benevolent regard for the lives are lost each and every day the war drags on. Rather, Washington, Riyadh, and Ankara know that if Aleppo falls, that's it for the "moderate" opposition.



‘You created ISIS!’ Press conference scandal mars Kerry’s visit to Italy (Video)
https://www.rt.com/news/331209-italian-woman-kerry-isis/?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=aplication_chrome&utm_campaign=chrome

US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Italy was disrupted by a cry of protest at his joint press conference with Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni, when a woman in the audience shouted, “it’s you who created Daesh!”

The press conference was coming to an end, when the woman stood up from the public, her head covered up by a black veil.

“It’s you who created Daesh!” she shouted at the two ministers, using another name for the terror group Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), reported the Italian state-owned television channel RAI.

The woman was dragged away from the conference by the Carabinieri.

 

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Workers threw out U.S. nuclear secrets with common rubbish for 20 years
http://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/02/02/19243/workers-threw-out-us-nuclear-secrets-common-rubbish-20-years

US nuclear secrets dumped in trash can for years
http://217.218.67.231/Detail/2016/02/04/448705/US-Nuclear-Secrets-NNSA-Y12

The US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has slammed a contractor for compromising the country’s nuclear secrets by dumping loads of classified documents into unprotected trash cans.

Further investigation by the NNSA revealed that nuclear secrets had been thrown away with lax security at the plant for more than 20 years.



US Navy fires commander of nuclear submarine
http://217.218.67.231/Detail/2016/02/04/448730/US-Navy-USS-Dallas-Byers

The US Navy has fired one of its submarine commanders, citing loss of confidence in his ability to lead as the reason.

Commander Edward Byers who was in charge of the nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Dallas since November 2014, was dismissed by the commander of Submarine Squadron 12 and reassigned to the staff of the Undersea Warfare Development Center in Groton, Connecticut, the Navy said Thursday.

Captain Jack Houdeshell, who commanded the Dallas before Byers, replaced the sacked commander.

Houdeshell was serving as deputy commander of Submarine Squadron 4, which also based in Groton.

USS Dallas, named after the city of Dallas in Texas, entered service in 1988 and was slated to be retired in 2014, but this was later on postponed to 2017 fiscal year.

Byers was the third Navy commander to be relieved of duty over the recent weeks.

His dismissal came a few days after Commander Michael Vannak Khem Misiewicz appeared in the US District Court in San Diego, pleading guilty to charges of accepting paid travel, prostitutes and Lady Gaga concert tickets from a Malaysian defense contractor in exchange for classified information.

He was born in Cambodia during the Vietnam War and gained media attention for his rise to captain of a US Navy destroyer, Reuters reported.

Earlier in January, Rear Admiral Rick Williams, the commander of the Navy's Carrier Strike Group 15, was relieved of his duties.

It was revealed during a routine inspection that Williams had violated Navy rules by looking at pornographic images on his government computer.

Williams’ firing was the first time since 2013 that a one-star commander was being relieved.



Female Marines may be allowed to bulk up as service opens infantry to women
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/02/03/female-marines-may-be-allowed-to-bulk-up-as-service-opens-infantry-to-women/

As the Pentagon grapples with how to integrate women into all jobs in combat, the Marine Corps is considering something new: Boosting how heavy it allows women to be so that they are able to bulk up in the gym to carry heavy loads more easily.

Commandant Gen. Robert B. Neller, the service’s top officer, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that female Marines have told him recently that they are lifting weights to boost their strength. Doing so, however, has pushed some of them outside the service’s limits for how much they are allowed to weigh, he said.

“Being big, strong, having a certain body mass, gives you an advantage,” Neller testified. “One of the things I’ve heard as I’ve gone around and talked to female Marines is, ‘Hey, I’m out working out. I’m lifting weights. I’m getting bigger. And now I’m outside the height-and-weight standards. Are you going to change the height-and-weight standards?'”

 

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Сводка новостей: Новороссия, Сирия, мир / 04.02.2016 / Roundup News Front ENG SUB
Published on Feb 4, 2016
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- Israel supports Russia's position on the situation in Syria
- For 3 days in Syria Russian VKS struck nearly 900 objects terrorists
- Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation militants retreating to northern Syria to the Turkish border
- In Istanbul, two people were injured in the blast
- The DNR began large-scale exercises of all departments and branches
#SaveDonbassPeople
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Ведем трансляцию в прямом эфире, чтобы опровергнуть лживые СМИ!

Все новости на сайте http://www.news-front.info/

 

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Russia expects international reaction to Turkey’s violation of Open Skies Treaty

http://tass.ru/en/politics/854677

The Russian Foreign Ministry recalled that under the Open Skies Treaty, Russian specialists were to have conducted on February 1-5 an observation flight above Turkish territory

MOSCOW, February 4. /TASS/. The Russian side plans to react to Turkey’s violation of Open Skies Treaty provisions and expects relevant reaction from other Treaty member states, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

The ministry recalled that under the Open Skies Treaty, Russian specialists were to have conducted on February 1-5 an observation flight above Turkish territory.

"The Turkish side agreed to receive the Russian observation mission within the mentioned timeframes. But upon the mission’s arrival at the entry point on Turkish territory, the Russian side-submitted plan of observation, which in particular suggested flyover of sections of territory adjacent to the border with Syria, was rejected," the statement said.

"No bans or restrictions for the use of airspace were published in official sources," it said.

The ministry said "this unprecedented step by Turkey contradicts one of the key goals of the Treaty - to contribute to a greater openness and transparency via confidence measures, whose importance, by the way, NATO likes to discuss."

"Besides, the Turkish side violated the key principle of the above-mentioned multilateral document - observation of any point on the territory of a state that is its member," the ministry said.

"We are convinced that Ankara had no right to deny us the holding of an observation mission over its territory and that the denial testifies to the desire of the Turkish side to hide some activity that probably is taking place in areas the Russian jet was to have flown above," the ministry said.

"The closure of the airspace occurred on a request from the Turkish Foreign Ministry, which suggests that the step has a political motivation," it said.

The ministry said that starting from 2013, Turkey "has repeatedly closed for Russian aircraft sections of its territory in the south of the country in the area of Patriot air defense systems positions, as well as in the area of NATO member countries’ aircraft deployment."

"In this way, as a result of systematic violations of the Treaty and unconstructive actions on the part of Turkey, a precedent is created when the observing side is not given the opportunity to control military activity of a member state," the statement said.

"Some colleagues in NATO do not avoid accusing Russia of ‘selective implementation’ of the Treaty. We recall in this connection that in 2014, during the acute phase of the conflict in southeast Ukraine, the Russian Federation gave unhindered access for groups on board observation aircraft of the member states to make sure that there is no ‘excessive concentration of Russian armed forces and military hardware’ in areas bordering Ukraine," the ministry said.

"NATO people were engaged in propaganda about that ‘excessiveness’," it said.

"The Russian side intends to react to violation by Turkey of Open Skies Treaty provisions. We hope for relevant reaction of other states members of the treaty," the ministry said.

The Open Skies Treaty was signed in 1992 and has 34 member states. It entered into force in 2002. Surveillance flights are conducted over Russia, the United States, Canada and European countries.

The key tasks of the treaty are to develop transparency, monitor the fulfillment of armament control agreements, and expand capabilities to prevent crises in the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and other international organizations.

Turkey Ignored Russian-US Flight Safety Memorandum Over Syria - Russian MoD

http://sputniknews.com/world/20160205/1034260113/turkey-ignored-russian-us-flight-safety-memorandum.html

Russian Deputy Defense Minister said that Turkey refused to conform with a flight safety memorandum on flights over Syria even before it downed a Russian bomber jet.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Turkey refused to conform with a flight safety memorandum on flights over Syria even before it downed a Russian bomber jet in November, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said Friday.

Last year, the militaries from Russia and the United States signed a document to curtail possible air incidents over Syrian skies. Turkey is a participant of the US-led coalition in Syria and Iraq.

“The Americans were obliged within the framework of the memorandum to not only inform all of the coalition participants on the essence of the agreements, but also guarantee that all of its participants strictly followed the contents of the document. We have a written confirmation from the United States that Washington has fulfilled all of the formalities on cooperation with its partners,” Antonov told journalists.

He said, however, that Turkey refused to confirm its compliance with the memorandum.

“But the Turkish military that is formally part of the US coalition refused to confirm their compliance with the memorandum, stating that this given issue is the responsibility of the foreign ministry. Moreover, they unilaterally blocked the hotline and didn’t answer our immediate requests. In the end, the Turkish Air Force knowingly downed the Russian bomber jet on November 24, killing Russian servicemen,” Antonov said.

Relations between Moscow and Ankara deteriorated following the downing of a Russian Su-24 attack aircraft over Syria by a Turkish jet on November 24.

According to Ankara, the missile was shot in response to a violation of Turkish airspace. The Russian General Staff and the Syrian Air Defense Command have both said that the Su-24 never crossed into Turkish airspace.

 

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US military attacked for complicity in Afghan child soldiers after boy's murder (Photo)
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/04/afghanistan-child-soldier-taliban-us-military-afghan-local-police

Wasil Ahmad, who was killed by Taliban on Monday, fought in Afghan Local Police, a US-funded government militia that employs child soldiers illegally.

The Taliban’s murder of a 10-year old Afghan boy this week has cast a spotlight on the practice by US allies of turning children into fighters in the war-torn country.

Afghans have hailed the heroism of Wasil Ahmad, whom the Taliban killed in Uruzgan province on Monday for fighting alongside his uncle with a US-backed government militia called the Afghan Local Police.

Wasil had won acclaim for helping ALP forces break an insurgent siege after his uncle, the unit’s commander, was wounded. He was declare a national hero by the Afghan government, and paraded, paraded, wearing an oversized uniform and wielding an AK-47.

Overshadowed in the outpouring of grief is the grim practice of allowing children to take up arms, particularly alongside a quasi-official force created by the US military.

“There’s nothing heroic about putting a child in danger by arming him and having him fight in a war. The Taliban killed 10-year-old Wasil Ahmad, but those who encouraged him to fight bear responsibility as well,” said Patricia Gossman, the senior Afghanistan researcher for Human Rights Watch.

Afghan officials said that Wasil Ahmad was not formally part of the Afghan Local Police, but his uncle Samad, whose forces the young man fought alongside, was. Child soldiering is supposed to be illegal in Afghanistan, but a September report from Child Soldiers International said that recruitment of child soldiers by Afghan security forces, including the Afghan Local Police, is “ongoing”, though at a recently reduced rate.

Created in 2010, the Afghan Local Police, known as ALP, is largely an invention of the US military, and was initially overseen by elite US special operations forces. Critics have long pointed to persistent human-rights abuse allegations within an entity they fear provides cover for the empowerment of militias.

According to a US government audit in October, the US Defense Department has provided $469.7m to the ALP from inception through April 2015, and estimates that the force will cost approximately $121m annually to sustain.

The same audit chided the Pentagon for lacking plans to disband the ALP or transition its 30,000 fighters to the official security services after US sponsorship ends, a switch currently slated for September.

A June 2015 International Crisis Group report portrayed the ALP as “hastily raised forces with little training” which often inspired the violence it was meant to confront, through “extortion, kidnapping [and] extrajudicial killings”. It warned that the rising tide of violence in Afghanistan creates pressures on the country’s authorities to turn to the ALP as an expedient – despite questions over their effectiveness and human-rights record.

“A minority of villagers describe it as an indispensable source of protection, without which their districts would become battlegrounds or insurgent havens, but it is more common to hear complaints that ALP prey upon the people they are supposed to guard,” the International Crisis Group reported.

US military officials in Afghanistan, the Pentagon and US Central Command did not answer the Guardian’s questions about US funding going to Afghan militias that employ child soldiers.

“Recruiting child soldiers violates international law and Afghan law, but tragically it’s been a longstanding practice by some Afghan militias and ALP. Even though some of these forces get US support, there has been little effort to hold abusive commanders accountable for such crimes. It’s high time the Afghan government matched its words with action to end the practice of recruiting child soldiers,” said Human Rights Watch’s Gossman.

A spokesman for the provincial governor of Uruzgan, Dost Mohammad Nayab, said Wasil’s uncle was an ALP commander but Wasil himself was not officially a member of the ALP. He said Wasil took up arms to help avenge the deaths of 16 family members who had been killed by the Taliban; all had been members of the ALP.

Sediq Sediqqi, the interior ministry spokesman, also said Wasil was not a member of the ALP, as the recruitment of children is against the policies of the Afghan government. Child Soldiers International noted in September that the government has criminalized only the use of child soldiers at “military installations”, and does not “prohibit the recruitment and use of children by armed groups”.

The Taliban’s use of child soldiers dwarfs that of the ALP, according to a United Nations report last year. The report found the ALP to use one child soldier in 2014 compared with the Taliban’s 20, a drop in child soldier usage in 2014, though it cautioned that the figures were probably undercounted. It additionally found the ALP rejected 55 applicants for being too young to serve.

The Pentagon referred to a State Department statement on aid to foreign militaries: “Consistent with US law and policy, the Department of State vets its assistance to foreign security forces, as well as certain Department of Defense training programs, to ensure that recipients have not committed gross human rights abuses. When the vetting process uncovers credible information that an individual or unit has committed a gross violation of human rights, US assistance is withheld.”

Rest in Peace - Wasil Ahmad

 

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Wasil Ahmad: the 10-year-old 'hero' murdered by the Taliban
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/03/wasil-ahmad-the-10-year-old-hero-murdered-by-the-taliban

Wasil Ahmad was on his way to primary school when the Taliban gunned him down this week, taking revenge for the 10-year-old’s role fighting in a government militia in southern Afghanistan.

His brief career and brutal death have highlighted both the country’s widespread problems with child soldiers and the escalating cruelty of its civil war.

“One side made him famous and the other side killed him. Both sides ignored the law and acted illegally,” Rafiullah Baidar, a spokesman for the Afghan independent human rights commission, told the Associated Press.

“Possibly he took up arms to take revenge for his father’s death, but it was illegal for the police to declare him a hero and reveal his identity, especially to the insurgents.”

Human rights groups have been warning for years that child recruitment is rife in Afghanistan, particularly among police and militia forces, although signing up fighters still in primary school is unusual.

Ahmad’s chubby face, without a wisp of adolescent hair, had made him a kind of grim celebrity in Afghanistan after he reportedly helped fighters in southern Uruzgan province break a Taliban siege last summer.

Social media pictures showed him with an oversized helmet dwarfing his head, his hands firmly clasped around an automatic rifle that also seemed too large against his small frame.

In another he posed in a baggy police uniform, as officials draped garish multi-coloured plastic garlands of celebration around his shoulders, and in a third he is weighed down by an adult-size ammunition belt.

Ahmad took up arms with his uncle Mullah Abdul Samad, a former insurgent who defected to the government, after the Taliban killed his father and then wounded Samad.

The veteran commander claimed that his nephew had led dozens of grown men for over a month while the older man recovered from his injuries. He had even fired rockets from a roof at the insurgents surrounding them in Khas Uruzgan district.

“He fought like a miracle,” Samad told the New York Times. When the siege was broken the group were airlifted to the provincial capital Tirin Kot, where Ahmad was paraded in front of the media.

That outing was meant to be the end of his military career, at least for a few years. He went back to school, and lived with relatives, although they still praised him for his initiative and he dreamed of going back into battle.

“A programme was held at the police headquarters, where his bravery and courage was talked about by officials,” Mohammad Karim Khadimzai, the provincial police chief told the paper.

“I was against this move and told the officials that instead of encouraging him to military activities that will ruin his future, let him go to school. He is too young to hand him a gun.”

He was on his way to school when the Taliban killed him with two bullets to the head, claiming the killing on their website, the Associated Press reported.

President Ashraf Ghani has given strict orders against using children in the military, but there has been “slow and tardy progress” on enforcing them, charity Child Soldiers International says.

“There is a lack of political will to address this issue … there is a specific commitment by the government to clean it up but sufficient measures are not being taken,” Charu Lata Hogg, the group’s policy and advocacy director, said.

Recruitment is driven by a mix of patriotism, poverty, honour and filial duty, a report presented to the UN security council last summer said. In some provinces in the south and east as many as one in 10 law enforcement officials are suspected to be underage, and in more lawless areas the number may be even higher.

The Taliban also use child fighters as spies and suicide bombers, including for an attack on a packed performance at the French Cultural Institute in Kabul just over a year ago that killed at least two people.

 

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Newest Su-35 Will Remain on Standby 24/7 at Hmeymim Airbase

http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160205/1034291987/russia-syria-su-35.html

Newest Russian Su-35 figter jets will be on constant standby at Hmeyimim airbase in Syria, representative of the Russian Air Forces in Syria told journalists.

“The planes will be kept in a state of constant readiness, with a pair of Su-35 ready to take off at a moment’s notice to provide assistance to other aircraft. A pair of Su-35 jets is capable of increasing other planes’ 360-degree detection radius up to 400 kilometers,” a representative of the Russian Aerospace Forces battlegroup in Syria told journalists.

According to the representative, the Su-35 is a multirole combat aircraft which will be used as an escort for the Russian aviation in Syria, as well as for attacks against ground and underground targets.

"At present, we have a task to use these jets as effectively as possible. These jets can carry all kind of bombs," the representative said.

Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry's spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that the advanced supermaneuverable Su-35S multirole fighters began combat missions in Syria.

Syria has been mired in a civil war since 2011, with the country’s government fighting against multiple opposition factions and extremist groups. The Russian Aerospace Forces have been conducting an aerial campaign against Islamist positions in Syria since September 30, following a request from President Bashar Assad.

 

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Kremlin Monitoring Possible Saudi Troops Deployment in Syria
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941116000825

Earlier in the day, the Guardian newspaper reported that Saudi Arabia could send thousands of ground forces to Syria, most likely in coordination with Turkey, in order to allegedly take part in the fight against ISIL, Sputnik reported.

"Naturally, we are carefully monitoring the situation,” Peskov said.

He added that the Kremlin currently does not have any facts confirming the validity of the reports on the Saudi plans.

Moscow has been conducting air strikes against ISIL and Nusra Front targets in Syria since September 30, at Damascus' request.

Riyadh has been a nominal member of the US-led coalition that has been launching airstrikes against Daesh in Syria since September 2014, without the permission of Damascus or the United Nations. In December 2015, Saudi Arabia started its own Muslim 34-nation coalition to allegedly fight Islamic extremism.

Daesh or ISIL/ISIS is a Wahhabi group mentored by Saudi Arabia and has been blacklisted as a terrorist group everywhere in the world, including the United States and Russia, but Saudi Arabia.



Moscow suspects Ankara of plotting military invasion of Syria
http://rbth.com/news/2016/02/04/moscow-suspects-ankara-of-plotting-military-invasion-of-syria_565077

What is happening on the Turkish-Syrian border attests to Turkey's intensive preparations for a military invasion of Syria, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov has said.

"We have serious reasons to suspect Turkey of intensive preparation for a military invasion of a sovereign state - the Syrian Arab Republic [...] We are seeing more and more signs of a hidden preparation by the Turkish armed forces for active operations in Syrian territory," he told reporters on Feb. 4.

Earlier the Defense Ministry presented video footage showing Turkish self-propelled artillery systems shelling Syrian populated areas in northern Latakia, he said.

"We are surprised that talkative representatives from the Pentagon, NATO and multiple so-called organizations for the protection of human rights in Syria, despite our appeal to react to these actions, are still keeping silent," Konashenkov added.



UN Special Envoy Refuses to Comment on Saudi Troop Deployment in Syria
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941116000810

A spokeswoman for UN Syria Envoy Staffan de Mistura said that she will not comment on Saudi Arabia's decision to send ground troops to Syria and she tries to concentrate on the intra-Syrian talks.

Anastasia Levchenko — A spokeswoman for UN Syria Envoy Staffan de Mistura talking to Sputnik on Friday refused to comment on Saudi Arabia's decision to send ground troops to Syria.

On Thursday, the Saudi Defense Ministry said it stood ready to deploy ground troops to Syria to allegedly aid the US-led anti-ISIL, also known as Daesh, coalition.

"We are not commenting on each and every political development and trying to concentrate on the intra-Syrian talks," Khawla Mattar said Friday.



US Welcomes Saudi Plans to Send Ground Troops to Syria
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941116000814

The United States welcomes Saudi Arabia’s willingness to send ground forces into Syria to join the Washington-led coalition against ISIL, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said.

On Thursday, the Saudi embassy in Washington said in a Twitter message that the Saudi Ministry of Defense stood ready to deploy ground troops to Syria to aid in the US-led international anti-Daesh coalition efforts, Sputnik reported.

“That kind of news is very welcome. I look forward to discussing that with the Saudi defense minister [Mohammad bin Salman] next week — that and other kinds of contributions that Saudi Arabia can make,” Carter said, as quoted in a press statement.

According to Carter, the coalition’s representatives are due to discuss the issue in Brussels next week.



Senior lawmaker: Sober-minded politicians welcome Russia’s return to Middle East
http://tass.ru/en/politics/854917

In Valentina Matviyenko's words, in recent years Russia had done much to reestablish its humanitarian presence in the Holy Land.

Sober-minded politicians and citizens in the Middle Eastern countries welcome Russia’s political and humanitarian return to this region, since they see in Russia a reliable partner that will not allow imbalances in politics, speaker of Russia’s Federation Council (upper house of parliament) Valentina Matviyenko told the Rossiya 24 news TV channel summing up the results of her official visit to Israel and working visit to Palestine.

"Most of our interlocutors emphasize that it is very important that Russia has returned to the Middle East, that Russia has regained its influence in the Middle East, that it behaves like a responsible state, a responsible member of the international community," the senator said.

"The absolute majority of politicians and sober-minded people perceive with gratitude and understanding the fact that Russia is returning not only to the Holy Land and is reestablishing its historical presence, that it has returned to the Middle East politically, this is very important," Matviyenko said.

She also noted that in recent years Russia had done much to reestablish its humanitarian presence in the Holy Land. A Russian school and a cultural center named after Russian President Vladimir Putin by the Palestinians have been opened in Bethlehem. Another center was opened in Jericho. "One should see the attitude of Bethlehem residents and people in Palestine in general, their words of gratitude to Russia for the fact that we confirm our friendship not just with words but also with such bright, interesting and necessary projects," Matviyenko added.

The delegation of the upper house of the Russian parliament led by Valentina Matviyenko paid an official visit to Israel and a working visit to Palestine on February 2-4. The senators held talks with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein. Russia’s Federation Council and Israel’s Knesset signed an agreement on cooperation. As part of the humanitarian program, Russian lawmakers visited the Russian school and cultural center in Palestine, the Russian Spiritual Mission and the Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem and took part in the wreath-laying ceremony at the monument to Red Army soldiers in the Israeli city of Netanya.

 

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Next-Gen S-500 Offers 'World-Beating' Features to Guard Russia's Skies

http://sputniknews.com/military/20160206/1034325331/s500-air-defense.html

Russia's newest S-500 Prometey system, which is expected to begin tests shortly, will be a major upgrade to the state-of-the-art S-400 complex and will, according to member of the advisory council of the Military-Industrial Commission Viktor Murakhovsky, be second to none.

"The S-500 has world-beating characteristics: it can engage air attack weapons, as well as ballistic missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles," he told Sputnik. "In addition, the system provides space defense since it can engage targets in near space, at an altitude of up to 200 kilometers (124 miles)."

The cutting-edge S-500, designed by Almaz Antey, is said to have a maximum range of 600 kilometers (more than 370 miles). The highly-mobile system could simultaneously intercept up to ten ballistic missiles traveling at a speed of 5 kilometers per second.

The system is so good, that "many US defense officials worry that even stealth warplanes like the F-22, F-35 and the B-2 might have problems overcoming" it, defense expert Dave Majumdar wrote for the National Interest earlier this month.

As a result, the S-500, also known as 55R6M Triumfator-M, will most likely form the basis of the country's multilayered air defense system as soon as it becomes operational in the coming years. First prototypes are expected to begin tests later this year.

The Russian Armed Forces reportedly plan to purchase ten S-500 battalions.

 

[angelburst29]

GOP senators: America will be attacked unless Obama changes course
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/268314-gop-senators-america-will-be-attacked-because-of-obama

A pair of hawkish Republican senators predicted Thursday that a terrorist attack against the United States is imminent unless the Obama administration changes its foreign policy

"I will make a prediction, and I hope I'm wrong. If they don't change their policies toward Syria ... an attack against this homeland is coming, and it's coming from Syria," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said. "It is being planned as I speak."

Graham and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who chairs the Armed Services Committee, say Obama has mishandled Syria's years-long civil war, which has helped provide a safe haven for terrorist groups including the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The two senators — who are vocal critics of the president on foreign policy —suggested that unless the Obama administration beefs up its military strategy to defeat the organization the United States will be at risk, including the possibility of a terrorist attack similar to those in Paris late last year.

McCain called further attacks "inevitable," adding that it "will happen, and the responsibility will lay at the doorstep of Barack Obama and his minions."

The two senators want the administration to include a ground troops component as part of its military strategy, something Obama has sought to avoid, in order to disrupt plots against the United States and defeat ISIS.

McCain also took a shot at Vice President Biden, who suggested that Iran taking U.S. sailors into custody after they traveled into Iranian territory was "standard nautical procedure."

"What planet has the vice president of the United States been on?" McCain said Thursday.



Saudi military intervention in Syria amounts to war: Russian deputy
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/02/05/448832/Syria-Russia-Saudi-Arabia

A Russian deputy has warned Saudi Arabia that any military ground operation in Syria without the Damascus government's consent amounts to a declaration of war.

"Syria has to give official consent, to invite, otherwise it will be a war. The same applies to international law," Pavel Krasheninnikov, the head of the State Duma committee, told Interfax on Friday.

Krasheninnikov said that by promising a ground operation in Syria Riyadh now "intends to send troops to the territory of a sovereign state essentially without declaring a war."

Saudi Arabia on Thursday voiced readiness to participate in any ground operations in Syria if the US-led coalition allegedly targeting terrorists decides to start such operations.

US State Department spokesman John Kirby also welcomed the Saudi decision.

Saudi Arabia is a member of the so-called US-led coalition that has been conducting air raids against what are claimed to be the Daesh terrorists inside Syria without any authorization from the Syrian government or a UN mandate since September 2014.

The US-led strikes have on many occasions targeted infrastructures and left many civilians dead.


Video Shows Tens Of Thousands Massing At Turkey Border As Russia, Iran Bear Down On Key Syrian City (Photos)
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-02-05/video-shows-tens-thousands-massing-turkey-border-russia-iran-bear-down-key-syrian-ci

On Thursday we brought you the latest from Syria, where Hezbollah and the IRGC have encircled Aleppo and cut off rebel supply lines to Turkey.

It was months in the making, but it now appears that the city - Syria’s second largest - will soon be retaken by forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad. As we’ve explained in the past, that would effectively restore the President’s grip on power as he would effectively control most of the country’s urban centers - even if that “control” is tenuous.

Eastern Syria is of course a different story entirely, as ISIS is dug in at Raqqa, the group’s self-styled capital. If the rebels lose Aleppo, it will represent a huge blow to the effort to topple Assad’s government. Saudi Arabia and Turkey know this, which is presumably why Erdogan was busy criticizing the Russian airstrikes that have facilitated the Hezbollah advance yesterday and why Riyadh now says it’s prepared to send in ground troops (to “fight ISIS”).

Now, as the Russian air campaign continues unabated and Shiite fighters advance on the city, civilians are fleeing what they anticipate will be a bloody battle.

"The Russian (air) cover continues night and day, there were more than 250 air strikes on this area in one day," Hassan Haj Ali, head of Liwa Suqour al-Jabal, a group that fights under the umbrella of the Free Syrian Army, said.

“Tens of thousands of Syrians fled an intensifying Russian assault around Aleppo on Friday, and aid workers said they feared the city which once held two million people could soon fall under a full government siege,” Reuters writes. “The last 24 hours saw government troops and their Lebanese and Iranian allies fully encircle the countryside north of Aleppo and cut off the main supply route linking the city - Syria's largest before the war - to Turkey [who says] the aim is to starve the population into submission.”

Now obviously that’s ridiculous. The “aim” is to keep the rebels (some of whom are ISIS fighters) from obtaining guns and TOWs from Turkey where the government in Ankara is desperate to salvage whatever’s left of the effort to oust Assad.

In any event, the fighting looks set to create a new wave of refugees bound first for Turkey and ultimately for a beleaguered Western Europe.

“Video footage showed thousands of people, mostly women, children and the elderly, massing at the Bab al-Salam border crossing,” Reuters continues. “Men carried luggage on top of their heads, and the elderly and those unable to walk were brought in wheelchairs.”

Here are the visuals:

 

[angelburst29]

Pentagon budget directed toward war with Russia and China
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/02/03/pent-f03.html

Presenting a preview of the Pentagon’s $583 billion budget, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter stressed that the US military is shifting its focus toward war against both Russia and China even as it escalates ongoing interventions in the Middle East.

Speaking before the Economic Club of Washington Tuesday morning, Carter said the gargantuan budget for fiscal year 2017, which is to be presented next week, had been prepared to confront what he called “a new strategic era.” The thrust of Carter’s speech, delivered in the dry cadence of a longtime technocrat in the field of mass destruction, was that US imperialism is preparing for a new world war.

The biggest single change in the budget is the quadrupling of funding for the so-called European Reassurance Initiative, which is being increased from $789 million to $3.4 billion. This initiative was introduced by the Obama administration in the wake of the crisis provoked in Ukraine two years ago, when the US and Germany orchestrated a coup spearheaded by neo-fascist forces that overthrew the Moscow-aligned government of President Viktor Yanukovych.

In September 2014, Obama, speaking in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, committed the US to the military defense of the three former Soviet Baltic republics, vowing that this pledge was “unwavering” and “eternal” and would include “American boots on the ground.”

According to a report published Tuesday in the New York Times, the increased funding will be used to ensure that the US and NATO maintain a full armored combat brigade at all times on Russia’s western border, along with the forward deployment of weapons and military hardware in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as in other eastern European countries such as Hungary and Romania.

The Times quoted a Pentagon official as saying that what was being prepared was a “heel to toe” rotational troop presence in the region, meaning that combat units would be continuously deployed. This provocative and reckless tactic is designed to evade a 1997 agreement with Moscow known as the NATO-Russia Founding Act, in which both sides pledged not to station large numbers of troops on each other’s borders.

The US, Carter insisted, must have the capacity to counter Russia “theater-wide,” meaning it must maintain forces capable of attacking Russia wherever it sees fit.

The money for this anti-Russian escalation is to be taken from the Overseas Contingency Operations account, the war-fighting fund that has paid for US wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. While from an accounting standpoint this is meant to circumvent spending caps on the Pentagon’s regular budget, it also signals that what is involved is the active preparation for a military confrontation between the world’s two largest nuclear powers.

Included in the budget proposal are plans for a substantial buildup of US imperialism’s nuclear war arsenal. It calls for the allocation of $13 billion over the next five years to develop and produce a fleet of new submarines armed with nuclear ballistic missiles. Pentagon sources said it also provides for a new Air Force bomber as well as new generation of land-based nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The Pentagon’s proposed budget emphasizes the development of naval firepower, with the aim of escalating the Obama administration’s “pivot to Asia,” which has seen increasingly provocative US military operations in the South China Sea. “We’re making all these investments that you see in our defense budget that are specifically oriented towards checking the development of the Chinese military,” Carter said.

The pretense that funding for the vast US military apparatus is driven by the need to keep up with the growth of the Chinese or Russian military is absurd on its face. American military spending last year was greater than that of the next seven largest powers combined. It spent nearly three times as much as China and roughly seven times as much as Russia.

Carter listed five “challenges” that he said the Pentagon budget must seek to counter. At the top of the list were Russia and China, followed by North Korea and Iran. Dead last were the ongoing US interventions against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which was lumped together with the so-called war on terror generally, which for nearly 15 years has been presented to the American people as the justification for the uninterrupted growth of American militarism.

Nonetheless, the Pentagon budget provides a substantial increase in funding in this area as well. Totaling $7.5 billion, it includes $1.8 billion to pay for 45,000 bombs and rockets needed to replenish the stockpile that has been depleted by continuous air strikes in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.

The US defense secretary emphasized that the shift in strategy was based on a “return to great power competition.” This required the US military to prepare to confront “a high-end enemy” with the “full spectrum” of armed power. This situation, he added, was “drastically different than the last 25 years,” referring to the period since the Moscow Stalinist bureaucracy’s dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Carter insisted that “America is still today the world’s leader” and the “underwriter of stability and security in every region across the globe, as we have been since World War II.”

The US military, he said, had to prepare for confrontation with those “who see America’s dominance and want to take that away from us… in the future so we can’t operate effectively around the globe.”

The mission spelled out by the US defense secretary is essentially a military struggle to impose US control over every corner of the planet. America’s residual military superiority is to be employed to counter the effects of the protracted decline of American capitalism and its domination of the global economy. To this end, US imperialism must confront every real or potential rival for both global and regional hegemony. The path outlined in Carter’s speech leads inexorably toward World War III.

Note - Has US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter forgotten History and Custer's last stand?

 

[sToRmR1dR]

Syrian official: Saudi, other foreign troops entering Syria would return 'in coffins'

_http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2016/02/06/syria-saudi-troops/79922560/

DAMASCUS, Syria — Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem warned Saturday that Saudi or other foreign ground troops entering Syria would "return home in wooden coffins," and called on rebel groups fighting a massive government offensive in the north to "come to their senses" and lay down their weapons.

His comments came after Saudi Arabia said earlier this week it would be willing to send troops as part of a U.S.-led military campaign against Islamic State extremists. The group controls large parts of Syria and Iraq.

Al-Moallem said conventional wisdom and logic would suggest the entry of Saudi troops is unlikely, but that "with the crazy Saudi leadership nothing is far-fetched."

"Any ground intervention in Syria, without the consent of the Syrian government, will be considered an aggression that should be resisted by every Syrian citizen," he told a news conference in Damascus. "I regret to say that they will return home in wooden coffins."

He repeated the line three times during the one-hour press conference, saying it applies to anyone who attacks Syria with ground troops. Russia's Defense Ministry on Thursday said it had "reasonable grounds" to suspect Turkey is making intensive preparations for a military invasion of Syria.

Al-Moallem's comments capped a week that saw the collapse of U.N.-led efforts to launch indirect peace talks between the Syrian government and an opposition delegation in Geneva.

The talks broke down in large part because of Syrian government offensives, including on the outskirts of Aleppo, the country's largest city and one-time commercial center. The offensive, aimed at encircling rebel strongholds in Aleppo, was backed by intense Russian airstrikes and sent tens of thousands of area residents fleeing toward a closed Turkish border.

Al-Moallem said the government advances signaled that the five-year-old Syria war is nearing its end, although he said there's no telling how long "those who conspire" against Syria will continue to do so.

"I can say, from the achievements for our armed forces ... that we are now on track to end the conflict," he said. "Like it or not, our battlefield achievements indicate that we are headed toward the end of the crisis."

Al-Moallem urged armed opposition groups fighting the government offensive in the area to lay down their weapons. "It is time to return to your senses and come back to the nation's fold, because even your supporters and sponsors have abandoned you," he said.

Opposition representatives have said they cannot be expected to negotiate in Geneva at a time when the Syrian government and its allies, including Russia, are escalating attacks on rebel strongholds.

Al-Moallem dismissed the representatives of the Saudi-backed opposition in Geneva, suggesting they followed orders from Saudi Arabia and were "not real Syrians."

He alleged the opposition never intended to negotiate seriously. "They did not come to have dialogue, they did not have such orders," he said.

Al-Moallem said the Syrian government was ready to have dialogue with Syrians, but without preconditions.

 

[Shared Joy]

Hi,

found this short video about the Russian electronics jamming system. It says they have a 600 km range of action - of course nobody has more data. I just mention it, as this website endeavors to provide alternative news:

_https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSALGLzxxwE

 

[angelburst29]

RF Defense Ministry: Growing tension in Syria is result of NATO's senseless activities
http://tass.ru/en/politics/855097

The growing tension in Syria comes from NATO's senseless activities, spokesman of the Russian Defense Ministry Major General Igor Konashenkov said on Sunday commenting on the statement made by NATO’s head Jens Stoltenberg claiming 'intense Russian air strikes mainly targeting opposition groups in Syria are undermining the efforts to find a political solution to the conflict."

"Until the Russian aviation grouping appeared in Syria, those were the NATO countries, who for almost three years pretended there they were eliminating the international terrorists," the spokesman said. "And for all that time, nobody in the West, or in Brussels, would not even consider any talks in Syria. They were only verifying the deadline for the final collapse of the country under the scenario used in Libya, where those were the NATO countries, which established without hindrance the "democracy" of Western sort."

He continued saying "thanks to the actions of the Russian Air Force within only a few months the Syrian believed it is possible to fight and eliminate the international terrorism in their country. And, as a consequence, they could begin considering Syria’s future."

The spokesman called silly the claims from NATO’s head about the growing tension in the region caused by the Russian presence in Syria.

"If there is at all anyone who experiences "tension" from actions of the Russian Air Force in Syria - those are terrorists. And we have been telling about it and showing it most openly to the world from the very beginning of the mission," he said. "And thus, the question - why like with terrorists the "tension" is experienced in NATO’s some countries - is to be addressed to Mr. Stoltenberg directly.".



Russia Is Preparing the Syrian Army to Repel Any Turkish Incursion
http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/02/russia-is-preparing-syrian-army-to.html

Abdullah Al-Muhaysini runs the judicial system in Aleppo, so how is it that Kerry is defending The Army of Conquest’s control on the city?

“We call upon the regime and its supporters to halt their bombardment of opposition-held areas, especially in Aleppo, and to lift their besiegement of civilians in accordance with UN Security Council Resolutions 2165, 2254 and 2258....” Secretary of State John Kerry’s statement after the failure of the Geneva conference, which the the Higher Negotiation Committee (HNC) withdrew from, following the SAA’s successful operations in ending the siege imposed upon the towns of Nubl and Al-Zahraa just North of Aleppo for the past three and a half years.

A source close to Syrian President Bashar Assad said to Al-Rai, “The Americans were caught napping by the quick advancements on the ground brought on by the Russian offensive, it turned the tide of the war and now the Americans are contradicting themselves, UN resolution 2254 reaffirms in point 8 the 2249 resolution (2015) that all member states should fight against ISIS and Al-Nusra and all other groups, individuals that support them, and that aforementioned ceasefire will not apply to these groups and individuals and that they ought to be eradicated”

The source continues, “The Army of Conquest controls Aleppo whose judicial body is administered by Abdullah Al-Muhaysini who is a Saudi national with links to Al-Qaeda, we believe, which is on the US terror list. Their army consists of Al-Nusra, Ahrar Al-Sham, Al-Aqsa brigade, The Army of Muhajirin & Ansar, they are located in, and around Aleppo with various other groups, Al-Nusra has a judicial court in Haritan and Idlib and it has control over granaries near the city of Al-Bab and cotton conclaves and the tractor factory and other sources of supply, and Kerry wants them to remain under Al-Qaeda control. As for The Army of Muhajirin & Ansar, the majority of their combatants are from Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, North Ossetia, and Uzbekistan. There is no doubt that the US is not worried about those who are a danger to Russia, and Kerry is defending them even if they were named on the US terror list in 2014. They are calling for the establishment of the Khilafa state, they are centered in Haritan, Kafr Hamza, Ma'arrat al-atiq, and in the North of Aleppo, also around Nubl and Al-Zahraa, and Jabhat hatharat, and Jamiyat Al-Zahraa district in Aleppo”.

The source goes on “Ahrar Al-Sham was founded by Sheikh Abu-Jabir who fought the Americans in Iraq, and was appointed as Amir of Aleppo after the death of Abu-Khalid the Syrian, whose is labeled as one of the most dangerous leaders in Al-Qaeda, he was also the special envoy to Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri. Ahrar Al-Sham are key allies of Al-Qaeda in Aleppo, even if they are separated from each other as organizations, its Al-Qaeda like behavior looms large over its nature”

According to the same source Kerry is also defending “Harakat Sham al-Islam” who were founded by an ex-prisoner in Guantanamo bay detention camp, Ibrahim bin Shakran, (Abu-Ahmad Al-Muhajir) whose a Moroccan national that was killed in April 2014, and was replaced by Mohammad Mizouz (Abu-Iz Al-Muhajir), who was captured by US military personnel on the Afghan-Pakistan border. He used to be in Guantanamo bay detention camp, and is now fighting alongside Al-Qaeda in Syria and was named in the US terror list back in September 2014, and there are other movements that are sponsored by Turkey such as the Syrian Turkmen Brigade, Sultan Murad Brigade, Sultan Muhammad Fatih battalion, Nur Al-Din Zinki movement along with others. All these groups are cooperating with Al-Qaeda even though UN resolution states that we are supposed to work together to eradicate them, and that the ceasefire agreements does not include them.

But more dangerous is Moscow’s statement that it has “strong grounds to believe that Turkey is preparing for a ground incursion into Syria”. The source comments, “Russia has red lines that it will allow no one to cross, Russia is preparing a strong Syrian military unit that will serve to repel any Turkish ground incursions, Damascus has the right to defend its borders, and will not stay silent anymore to any aerial violations of Syrian sovereignty, and is preparing for any ground offensive by the Turks with aerial bombardment and ground shelling. Russia considers any plane not operating within the US-Russia coordination agreement to be a threat and will be shot down, Russia has also taken further precaution by deploying the S-400 missile system, and has brought in Su-35 that is in service for the first time, and it has further upgraded the Syrians' MiG-29's in case they are needed to repel any Turkish advancements. The Kremlin wanted to send to Turkey a message that says any incursion by you will be met by force not diplomacy”.


Ryabkov: Washington Is Preparing A "Global Strike"
http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/02/ryabkov-washington-is-preparing-global.html

Washington continues to prepare a global strike, according to Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Ryabkov to RIA Novosti . He noted that a continuation of negotiations on further nuclear reductions are impossible for this reason.

The United States continues, according to Ryabkov, its destabilizing activities. This includes the "creation of a global missile defense system, the continuation of the development of tools capable of inflicting a disarming strike without using nuclear weapons, and a destructive force equal to the range of strategic assets."

Ryabkov noted that negotiations may resume when the concerns and priorities of Russia will be taken into account, "That is, when a situation is created, which ensures equal security for all and the strengthening of common security on the basis of sovereign equality of states".

Besides, Russia considers it necessary to involve all states possessing nuclear weapons in dialogue on nuclear disarmament. "Nations that possess such potential, understand what it is about. The Bilateral Russian-American course is set on "weapons-grade arithmetic," said Ryabkov.

The rapid "global attack" system of the USA provides the establishment of a hypersonic system, which will be able to apply high-precision non-nuclear strikes from American territory at targets on Earth within about an hour after launch. This system will cause a non-nuclear strike, disarming strategic nuclear forces.

On Friday, Washington urged Moscow to negotiate further reductions in nuclear arsenals.

 

[angelburst29]

My deepest Condolences to President Bashar al-Assad and his Family - on the death of his Mother - Anisa Ahmed Makhlouf.


Syrian president's mother Anissa Assad dies aged 86
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/02/syrian-president-mother-anissa-assad-dies-aged-86-160206210505879.html

06 Feb 2016 - Former first lady and widow of ex-president Hafez al-Assad died in hospital in Damascus, state news agency reports.

The former first lady and widow of ex-president Hafez al-Assad died in a hospital in the capital Damascus, the official SANA news agency reported (Arabic).

The agency did not give a cause of death, but according to sources who were close to Anissa she had been ill for many years and had often travelled to Germany for treatment prior to 2012.

That year, the European Union included her on a list of dozens of Syrian figures, including Assad and other family members, slapping her with an asset freeze and travel ban.

Throughout Syria's nearly five-year war and even when her husband Hafez ruled the country for 30 years, she had kept a low profile and was rarely mentioned in the media.



Mother of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, the former first lady, dead at 86
http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/060220162

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Anisa Ahmed Makhlouf, Syria’s former first lady and the mother of President Bashar al-Assad, has died at the age of 86, state-run Syrian television reported on Saturday.

The death was also confirmed in an official government statement.

Makhlouf was born in 1930 in the city of Latakia. She married the late President Hafez Al- Assad in 1960 and had six children.



Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's mother has died
http://www.businessinsider.com/syrian-president-bashar-al-assads-mother-has-died-2016-2

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's mother, Anisa Makhlouf, has died at the age of 86, Syrian state media said on Saturday.

Makhlouf, who married late Syrian president Hafez al-Assad in 1957, rarely appeared in public even after al-Assad became president in 1971.

Al-Assad ruled Syria from 1971 until his death in 2000, and shared five children with Makhlouf, Bushra, Basil, Bashar, Majed and Maher.

According to the Associated Press, "She was to prove a devoted wife and mother and Assad's closest and most trusted confidante, providing him with a domestic environment of unquestioned respectability," wrote Assad's late biographer Patrick Seale in his book "Asad: The Struggle for the Middle East."

Makhlouf is survived by her daughter Bushra and her two sons, Bashar and Maher Assad. Two other sons passed away, one of them, Basil, in a car accident in 1994, the Associated Press reports.



Syria's former first lady dies at 86
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/02/06/449003/Syria-assad-mother-Anisa-died

Anisa Ahmed Makhlouf, the mother of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has passed away at the age of 86.

Makhlouf, the wife of late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, died after years of illness at a hospital in the capital Damascus on Saturday.

She was born in the western Syrian city of Latakia and married the former president in 1957.

The country’s presidential office issued a statement confirming her death and thanking people for their condolences.