Russia's human rights preaching on PKK operations nothing but 'dark humor': Ankara
http://www.turkishweekly.net/2015/12...-humor-ankara/ …
Turkey: ‘Human rights lesson’ from Russia over Kurdish issue a ‘joke’
http://www.todayszaman.com/diplomacy...ke_408434.html … via @todayszamancom
Putin has bullied, invaded, imprisoned, tortured, and killed Ukrainians to try to stop it, but today real EU-Ukraine free trade starts.
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 01-01-2016 at 12:43 PM.
I have been criticizing this President for his sheer lack of a strategy which is amazing for a Harvard graduate....HE has actually been implementing a solid a la Wilson retrenchment program AND selling it or better in his own words...."messaging" that retrenchment to the US civil society ALL the while not putting into place a foreign policy foundation that other nation states can fully understand.
He completely failed in recognizing the Russian and Iranian non linear warfare coupled to Putin's political warfare three core geo political goals;
1. damage and discredit EU
2. damage and discredit NATO
3. completely disconnect the US from Europe and the entire ME
It is highly recommended to read this entire article and then sit back and think about it based on the daily reality that is directly opposite of what this President and his NSC is trying to "message".
http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/thr...ign-policy-wen...
Michael Singh is managing director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. From 2005 to 2008, he worked on Middle East issues at the National Security Council. He is on Twitter: @MichaelSinghDC.Garden in September. —Associated Press
My fellow Think Tank contributor (and sometime co-author) Brian Katulis says that for “the Obama administration, 2015 brought ups and downs in foreign policy.” This is far too rosy an assessment, though it is sober compared with the State Department’s review of its 2015 accomplishments, which included “Winning Fight Against Violent Extremists” and “Bringing Peace, Security to Syria.” The last year has been one of serious strategic setbacks, falling roughly into three categories:
1. Failure to respond to assertive great-power challengers. In 2015, China intensified its campaign to build and militarize artificial islands in the South China Sea, with the likely goal of strengthening its territorial claim within the “nine-dash line” and limiting other states’ freedom of action in the area. Russia deployed military forces to the Middle East–in direct opposition to U.S.-supported groups–and consolidated its annexation of Crimea while maintaining or deepening support for separatists in Ukraine in defiance of the Minsk cease-fire agreement.
The U.S. has not mustered an effective response in either case. After years of hand-wringing, the White House authorized a Freedom of Navigation Operation in the South China Sea that may have inadvertently strengthened the rights China claims in the area. As for Ukraine, although the U.S. and its allies maintain their sanctions regime against Russia, they could not eliminate dependencies on Moscow, which might prove debilitating in future conflicts. Meanwhile in Syria, the U.S. concedes that Moscow is meeting its goals so far while insisting it is doomed to fail.
2. Lapsed focus on outcomes. The Obama administration frequently cites the Iran nuclear deal as a marquee accomplishment. Achieving U.S. objectives through diplomacy would have been laudable, but the nuclear deal was possible precisely because the U.S. laid aside its objectives. Iran made concessions but also largely achieved its strategic aims: retaining its nuclear weapons capability and resisting demands for a broader “strategic shift” in its support for terrorism and regional policies. Iran also received sanctions relief that is broader in practice than on paper, all in exchange for temporary limits on its nuclear fuel-cycle activities.
Secretary of State John Kerry has said that “diplomacy is the art of the possible.” Yet administration officials fail to comprehend how U.S. action, or inaction, can shape what is possible. This was clear in Afghanistan, where President Barack Obama was forced to face the consequences of prematurely announcing a U.S. withdrawal. It is increasingly clear in Syria, where the White House, despite foreseeing the dangers posed by the conflict, is shifting objectives in response to others’ actions rather than taking the initiative.
3. Weakened alliances. President Obama frequently contrasts what his administration calls the 19th-century behavior of some states to the rules-based order he prefers. Yet, as President Obama has noted, rules and norms do not enforce themselves; international order is threatened not only by overt challenges but also by others’ failure to defend it. The challenges described above should have been opportunities to cement alliances in the face of common threats: to deepen ties with Japan and India in the face of Chinese expansionism; to unite with Mideast allies against threats from Iran and Syria; and to unite Europe in defiance of Russian actions in Ukraine.
Instead, these opportunities have largely been missed. U.S. allies in Asia have been alarmed by what they perceive as Washington’s failure to follow through on a promised “pivot” to the region and its failure to back up “red lines” elsewhere. In the Middle East, the Iran deal and U.S. confusion in Syria have strained already weakened ties with Israel and Arab states. A White House effort to assuage the concerns of Gulf Cooperation Council states was both belated and off the mark, focused on expanding U.S. assistance rather than accommodating allies’ concerns over U.S. policy. Weakened alliances mean that U.S. power is diluted and our allies tend to act independently of the United States and of each other in ways that complicate our efforts.
The list could continue; for example, neglect of the domestic component of foreign policy could shift the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement from a success into a failure thanks to opposition from the president’s own party.
The Obama record in 2015 suggests that our post-Cold War struggle to determine how best to shepherd and use U.S. power continues; for the overreach of the Iraq war, diffidence has been substituted. The primary challenge in 2016 and onward will be how to deploy the United States’ still-immense strength judiciously, proactively, and multilaterally to resolve conflicts to our advantage and to prevent new ones from emerging.
Feb 2007 - Australian Prime Minister John Howard warns of the consequences for Iraq & Middle East of an Obama win
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/...128798037.html …
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 01-01-2016 at 02:07 PM.
By best will, I cannot 'criticise this president' any more: he's simply a stupid babbler.Originally Posted by OUTLAW 09
Here the best illustration for that: the SDF (YPG + Jaysh at-Thuwar FSyA) are assaulting western side of Azaz Corridor again - and they are brazen enough to call all the other insurgents there - no matter if FSyA, AAS or JAN - for 'Islamists'....
One is left to wonder: if the stated US objective in Syria is to support those that 'fight Daesh', then why isn't this gang deployed to go fighting Daesh?A U.S.-backed alliance of Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters advanced against Islamist insurgents in the north of the country on Friday, capturing at least one village in Aleppo province, a spokesman and a monitoring group said.
...
FURTHER Russian evidence to their current actions against NATO...THAT Obama is so intent on ignoring......
“It is time to correct the mistake by Gorbachev“ #Russia #Baltics #Turkey #Nato
http://news.rambler.ru/head/32327873
Putin labels #NATO a security threat.
http://cnn.it/22ClLWX
pic.twitter.com/AQeHPLvm8H
The Iraqi's and the US just keep on forgetting IS can indeed fight........ask the anti Assad forces.....but no one does......
Setback for Iraqi forces in #Ramadi. #ISIS & ISF sources: "Iraqi forces ambushed & retreated after suffering loses".
pic.twitter.com/5AhCVc14P8
ISIS media units are reporting "violent clashes in downtown #Ramadi near the govt complex" and "heavy shelling" of #Iraq Army positions.
Anyone believing anything Obama and Kerry say about Iran, Putin and or Assad....???
Were you among those who believed John Kerry when he promised to "push back" aggressively against Iran? https://twitter.com/pandagulu/status/682667330669776900 …
Assad-forces now only ~12km south of #IS hold al-Bab city in eastern #Aleppo countryside
Daraa Rebels claim killed 14 #SAA & 2 #Iran'ian officers & dozens #Iraq'i Shiite forces in Shayk Maskin
pic.twitter.com/CnJym0WM1F
Daraa From battle in Shayk Maskin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98SXa6-CFWQ …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUF33iAL_go …
Map
Rebels recaptured Samadaniyah al-Gharbi in #Quneitra prov after several hours.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GGf6i0eK-I …
Daraa: Heavy fighting in Sheikh Miskeen. Good ol' Volcano photographed by @MuradoRT who is embedded wi #SAA.
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 01-01-2016 at 05:25 PM.
Arsal Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon covered with snow need urgent fuel & food supplies.
https://youtu.be/LCSZb4Fj_I0
To those in the #SouthernFront:
#MOC denies you offensives to cut Daraa corridor, denies you #ATGM since half a year.
Why obey to them???
Note: Daraa & #SouthernFront keep getting banned from recieving substantial #TOW- 1 #ATGM. Same since 6 months.
53 ATGM launches in December 2015:
http://justpaste.it/DecemberATGM
1250 total ATGM launches in Syria so far by anti-gov groups
~790 TOW
450+ other ATGM
Note that #YPG use their sunni mercenary unit #JaTh to hide their landgrab Intentions.
Shekh Miskin: a strangely behaving allegedly assadist target is hit.
https://youtu.be/QSq_Bd4-6wo
ISW @TheStudyofWar · 31 Dec 2015
How the battle against the Islamic State is redrawing the map of the Middle East. @LizSly
http://wpo.st/GnA01
Leader of (Kurdish) PYD-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces admits coordinating with the Assad regime.
http://bit.ly/1OzjPu2 #Syria
It is amazing that the US has for years not paid much attention to videos being released by the various Salafist groups---
Strangely neglected, this video released on January 23 2007 is the family photo of the newborn Islamic State of Iraq
You can see the brigades celebrating the establishment of the Islamic State – here a commander in Baghdad (Jan 2007)
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