September 30, 2015
Reuters

Western-Backed Syrian Rebel Group Says Hit by Russian Air Strikes

by Dasha Afanasieva

Russian air strikes in northwest Syria which Moscow said targeted Islamic State fighters hit a rebel group supported by Western opponents of President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday, wounding eight, the group's commander said. . . .

Russia's defence ministry said it launched air strikes against Islamic State in Syria after President Vladimir Putin secured his parliament's unanimous backing to intervene to prop up Kremlin's closest Middle East ally. . . .

The Homs area is crucial to President Bashar al-Assad's control of western Syria. Insurgent control of that area would bisect the Assad-held west, separating Damascus from the coastal cities of Latakia and Tartous, where Russia operates a naval facility. . . .

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["This is a memo that describes how we're going to take out seven countries in five years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran."--Wesley Clark, "Seven Countries in Five Years," Democracy Now, March 2, 2007]

[Syria is known as the safest country in the Middle East--Joan Juliet Buck, "A Rose in the Desert: Asma Al-Assad, Lady Diana of the Middle East," Vogue, February 25, 2011]

[Iraqi Kurdistan under Barzani is a very valuable tool for the US to keep a military footprint in Iraq. The Pentagon will never admit it on the record - but advanced plans already exist for a new US base in Iraqi Kurdistan, or for the transfer to Iraqi Kurdistan of NATO's base in Incirlik. . . .

Many an executive from Chevron and BP may be now salivating over the open possibilities of Iraq-Syria-Turkey Pipelineistan triangulations. Meanwhile, many a Kurd may be now salivating over Pipelineistan opening the doors to a Greater Kurdistan.--Pepe Escobar, "Syria 's Pipelineistan war," aljazeera.com, August 6, 2012

"Obama's Syria Moment: Another Western War Crime In The Making," The Wisdom Fund, August 27, 2013

Patricia Zengerle and David Lawder, "U.S. Congress approves arming Syrian rebels, funding government," Reuters, September 18, 2014

"ISIS Created by U.S. Friends and Allies," The Wisdom Fund, September 24, 2014

"Pipeline Politics in the Syrian Civil War," unicornriot.ninja, September 20, 2015

[the true reason ISIS was created so that the Arabian sheikdoms could establish pipelines through Iraq and Syria to permanently shift Europe's dependency on Russian oil and natural gas over to their own private market where they can re-assert control over the world market price.--John Galt, "How Russia and Iran Plan to Push Oil Prices Back above $100," johngaltfla.com, September 27, 2015]

[Putin . . . knew he had to either act fast and turn the tide or accept the fact that the US and Turkey were going to topple Assad sometime after Turkey's snap elections on November 1.--Mike Whitney, "Putin's Blitz Leaves Washington Rankled and Confused," counterpunch.org, October 1, 2015

Laila Bassam, "Assad allies, including Iranians, prepare ground attack in Syria: sources," reuters.com, October 1, 2015

[Perhaps it is time to climb down off our ideological high horse and start respecting the vital interests of other sovereign nations, even as we protect and defend our own.--Patrick J. Buchanan, "The Mind of Mr. Putin," antiwar.com, October 2, 2015]

[The sheer quantity of self-deception that is required to support this fantasy ought to be obvious--David Bromwich, "Syria, the Times and the Mystery of the 'Moderate Rebels'," reuters.com, October 2, 2015]

"Putin Exposes Obama's Paid ISIS Mercenaries," themarshallreport.wordpress.com, October 3, 2015

[Russia's direct intervention in Syria could result in all sides involved in the global oil price war digging in deeper and persisting with their current policies of driving the cost of a barrel even lower. The outcome of such a battle of attrition lasting for another 12 months could be the collapse of the governments in Riyadh and Moscow.--Andrew Critchlow, "Russia bombing in Syria escalates oil price war with Saudi Arabia," telegraph.co.uk, October 4, 2015]

[Syria is no worse than such brutal US allies as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco or Uzbekistan. . . .

Israel and Turkey, hoping to profit from a possible break-up of Syria, are also discreetly aiding the anti-Assad forces that include al-Qaida and everyone's favorite bogeyman, Islamic State.--Eric Margolis, "The Russian Bear Growls," ericmargolis.com, October 4, 2015]

Robert Fisk, "Syria's 'Moderates' Have Disappeared," independent.co.uk, October 5, 2015

["How are American interests protected and advanced by taking sides in Syria's civil war?"--Daniel Larison, "An Even Better Question for Syria Hawks," theamericanconservative.com, October 12, 2015]

[it has proved to possess a system of signal jamming capable of rendering the Atlantic Alliance deaf and blind.--Thierry Meyssan, "The Russian army asserts its superiority in conventional warfare," voltairenet.org, October 19, 2015]

Jimmy Carter, "A Five-Nation Plan to End the Syrian Crisis," nytimes.com, October 23, 2015

The Saker, "Week Three of the Russian Intervention in Syria: The return of diplomacy," unz.com, October 25, 2015

U.S. Congresswoman: CIA Must Stop Illegal, Counterproductive War to Overthrow Assad, October 27, 2015

Documentary: Assad's Syria 2015, October 28, 2015

[Russia has been methodically wiping out Washington's mercenaries on the ground while recapturing large swathes of land that had been lost to the terrorists.--Mike Whitney, "Putin Makes Obama an Offer He Can't Refuse," counterpunch.org, October 29, 2015]

Jonathon Cook, "Israel stakes claim to Golan after oil find," middleeasteye.net, October 31, 2015

Tony Cartalucci, "US Invasion of Syria Begins," journal-neo.org, October 31, 2015

Jim Sinclair, "Alarming Evidence Suggests ISIS is Now a US-Israel Proxy Army," chicagopost.net, November 6, 2015

"Russia's Lavrov: U.S. Is Not Seriously Fighting Against The Islamic State," moonofalabama.org, November 17, 2015

[The data supports Putin's assertion that the shoot-down was prepared in advance due to Russian bombing of Turkey-linked rebels in Syria--Gareth Porter, "The Real Reason for Turkey's Shoot-Down of the Russian Jet," middleeasteye.net, December 1, 2015]

Ray McGovern, "The US-Russia Proxy War in Syria," antiwar.com, December 2, 2015

[the de facto no-fly zone over Syria is now decided by Moscow - not Washington and much less Ankara.--Pepe Escobar, "Syria Shatters Pentagon Dream," counterpunch.org, December 17, 2015]

Kevin Rawlinson, "Future of Assad in doubt as UN unanimously supports Syria peace process," antiwar.com, December 19, 2015

Stephen Kinzer, "The media are misleading the public on Syria," bostonglobe.com, February 18, 2016

Mike Giglio, "America Is In A Proxy War With Itself In Syria," buzzfeed.com, February 20, 2016

John Hanrahan, "As in Libya, Avaaz Campaigns for Syria No-Fly Zone That Even Top Generals Oppose," antiwar.com, April 12, 2016

"Cheney, Murdoch, Rothschild Unlawfully Dig For Oil In Syria," RT.com, June 20, 2016

[The conflict is so difficult to end because it is half a dozen crises and confrontations combined into one: Sunni Arabs against ruling Alawites and the minorities; better-off against poor; secular against Islamists; city against country; Kurd against Arab; Kurd against Turk; Sunni against Shia; Iran against Saudi Arabia; Russia against - but sometimes cooperating with - the US.--Patrick Cockburn, "Every Syrian Fighter Is Waging an Existential Battle to Death," unz.com, August 19, 2016]

[soon after Bashar Assad rejected the Qatar pipeline, the CIA began funding opposition groups in Syria.--Mike Whitney, "Assad's Death Warrant," counterpunch.org, September 15, 2016]

[The massive, direct and immediate power interests of the US war state - not the determination to ensure that a pipeline would carry Qatar's natural gas to Europe - drove the US policy of participation in the war against the Syrian regime.--Gareth Porter, "The War Against the Assad Regime Is Not a 'Pipeline War'," counterpunch.org, September 15, 2016]

[Murphy tells the story of U.S. Special Forces under one Presidential authority, arming Syrian anti-ISIS forces, whilst the CIA, obsessed with overthrowing President Bashar al-Assad, and operating under a separate Presidential authority, conducts a separate and parallel program to arm anti-Assad insurgents.--Alastair Crooke, "How the US Armed-up Syrian Jihadists," counterpunch.org, September 29, 2016]

[The United States have solicited the 64 States and the 3 international institutions which have joined their so-called anti-Daesh Coalition in order to launch an attack against Damascus. In practise, only Canada, France, Holland and the United Kingdom are present. The idea is to fire cruise missiles on Damascus and Lattakia, and to bomb the Syrian Arab Army. This project was announced to members of NATO during the Atlantic Council of 27 September. It was supported by Senator John McCain in the Wall Street Journal.--Thierry Meyssan, "Can a World War still be avoided?," voltairenet.org, October 7, 2016]

Samuel Oakford, "The United States Used Depleted Uranium in Syria," foreignpolicy.com, February 14, 2017

[the combined proved crude reserves under the Caspian Sea alone are nearly twice those of the entire United States. From Kurdistan, where newly discovered oil reservoirs such as the Taq Taq field, whose production has risen from 2,000 to 250,000 barrels per day since 2007 - worth hundreds of millions of dollars per month - to the huge Karachaganak reserve on the border between Kazakhstan and Russia which contains an estimated 42 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, as well as liquefied gas and crude oil, the countries of this region are groaning under its natural resources.--Peter Frankopan, "The Silk Roads: A New History of the World," Vintage; Reprint edition (March 7, 2017) p.493]

[The Leviatan (and Tamar) gas fields in the Mediterranean along the Israeli coast are a huge energy and profit resource IF the gas from them can be exported to Europe. . . .

An Israeli company (or whoever is behind it) wants a gas pipeline to Turkey. It hires Flynn and Alptekin to arrange a positive climate for the Leviathan pipeline within the Turkish government.--Bernhard, "Gas From Israel And The Flynn Wiretapping - Behind The Deep-State Infighting Over The Trump Election," moonofalabama.org, March 26, 2017]

[While the US has reportedly ended its support for the Sunni militias that have torn the country apart and killed over 400,000 people, the US has increased its aid to the SDF that is making impressive territorial gains across the eastern corridor. The ultimate goal for the SDF fighters is an autonomous Kurdish homeland carved out of West Iraq and East Syria, while US objectives focus primarily on the breakup of the Syrian state, the removal of the elected government, the control over critical pipelines routes, and the redrawing of national borders to better serve the interests of the US and Israel.--Mike Whitney, "Ending Syria's Nightmare will Take Pressure From Below ," counterpunch.org, March 28, 2017]

Gareth Porter, "How America Armed Terrorists in Syria: Another Middle East debacle," theamericanconservative.com, June 22, 2017