Kremlin says unfamiliar with report on alleged Russian "war crimes" in Syria
http://tass.ru/en/politics/846268 …
Kremlin shld familiarize itself with our report on their airstrikes in #Syria - here it is:
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ne...lian-killings/ …
The Russian FM disagrees with the US proposal to include JaI in the Syrian negotiations.......FM has named JaI and AAS as "terrorist"--WHY because they are fully supported by KSA........
... And we kill with what we disagree.
Happy new diplomatic year, @UN!
Your "peace plan" for #Syria was born dead.
THAT is exactly what Putin had in mind when he "allowed" the US to go to the UNSC.....exact same procedure for the Minsk 2---dead on arrival......
Jobar...
#Syria JAN 1
pic.twitter.com/oXAG8Yq1hn
One major proSyrian accounts that was deleted by Twitter after Russian and Syrian trolls complained to Twitter under they new policy.....
Iyad El-Baghdadi @iyad_elbaghdadi
Glad to see who was pleased and happy with my brief account suspension: pro-ISIS accounts and pro-Assad accounts. Well done @twitter.
MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russiaOriginally Posted by OUTLAW 09
#Syromolotov: We disagree with the US proposal to include Jaysh al-Islam in the negotiations on the political settlement in #Syria
MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
#Syromolotov: Criminal terrorist organisations Jaysh al-Islam & Ahrar ash-Sham should be eliminated
http://bit.ly/1JNMW5w
WHY because if KSA support and their are the best fighting anti Assad forces........
Iran is doing on the ground what #Russia does in the air: taking over #Syria's war. Sovereignty, #Assad?https://twitter.com/ivansidorenko1/s...70210990608384 …
Still can't figure out why #Russia shipped some early T-90s to #Syria. Lack of thermal sights is a major handicap.
pic.twitter.com/rHkiMO1GoN
Mark Galeotti @MarkGaleotti
On #Russia op in #Syria, interesting + detailed map in @kommersant
pic.twitter.com/iSPsuIlpIY
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.
There's no objective reason to exclude one of the strongest opposition factions in #Syria from negotiations. https://twitter.com/mfa_russia/statu...93267604750336 …
Detained IS suicide bombers in Turkeys #Istanbul Musa Canz (28) Adnan Yıldırım (40)
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/Def...&NewsCatID=509 pic.twitter.com/493EWHz2Jw
The explosives secured by Turkish authorities are sophisticated to maximize damage when detonated....!
pic.twitter.com/AZrPK9QZ5W
pic.twitter.com/493EWHz2Jwremember the three core geo political goals of
Russian non linear warfare at work --Putin is using the PKK and the IS as formal weapon systems against Turkey AND NATO.........remember the three core geo political goals of Putin----one is damaging and discrediting NATO........
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 01-01-2016 at 02:26 PM.
How’s that Syrian/Iranian/Russian/IS counter UW strategy working for Obama that he needs to “increase messaging” on……..????
https://www.yahoo.com/news/iran-more...140851452.html
Iran has more missiles than it can hide: General
AFP
Tehran (AFP) - Iran's Revolutionary Guards have so many missiles they don't know where to hide them, a senior commander said at Friday prayers, after the United States threatened to impose fresh sanctions.
"We lack enough space in our stockpiles to house our missiles," said General Hossein Salami, the Guards' deputy, as a row with the US over Iran's ballistic missile programme deepened.
"Hundreds of long tunnels are full of missiles ready to fly to protect your integrity, independence and freedom," he told worshippers in Tehran, promising to never "stop developing our defence deterrent".
Iranian state television aired in October unprecedented footage of such an underground missile base.
The general's comments came after reports that the US had planned -- but later shelved -- to unveil a fresh round of sanctions following two recent missile tests by the Islamic republic.
The mooted financial penalties on companies and individuals in Iran, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, for apparent links to Tehran's missile programme, highlighted worsening US-Iran relations.
They also put in jeopardy a landmark deal struck in July between Iran and six world powers including the US, which is due to be formally implemented within weeks.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani denounced the US moves Thursday as "hostile and illegal interventions" that must be met with a response.
He ordered the military to intensify its missile development and take whatever steps necessary to start new programmes if they would better serve Iran's defence.
After Rouhani's comments the White House put the sanctions on hold indefinitely, The Wall Street Journal reported, though officials said the measures remained on the table for use if necessary.
The spectre of new penalties against Iran -- the nuclear deal is due to lift existing sanctions that froze Iran out of the global financial system and crippled its oil exports -- brought worsening relations to a head.
A United Nations panel last month said the two missile tests breached previous resolutions aimed at stopping the Islamic republic from developing projectiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
Iran has always denied seeking an atomic weapon and argues that its missiles would never be designed to, nor ever carry, such a bomb.
The nuclear deal is due to come into effect on "Implementation Day", expected later this month, or soon after, when UN monitors sign off that Iran has applied major curbs to its atomic programme.
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