BREAKING EXCLUSIVE BY THE NEW @OrientNewsEn
#MADAYA IS STARVING TO DEATH!!
#SYRIA
https://youtu.be/vEgNCrftbMA
Destruction aftermath #Russia airstrikes on #Nawa village
#Daraa #Syria JAN 6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TR0Kg_D0oI …
BREAKING
Rebels declared full control of #BRIGADE_82 in #Sheikh_Meskin
#Daraa #Syria JAN 6
DEATH TOLL MORE HAN 50 CIVILIANS KILLED TODAY SO FAR IN #SYRIA BY #AIRSTRIKES & SHELLING...
JAN 6
Daraa Rebels advance into military housing area of Sheik Miskin town
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=32...67454&z=17&m=b …
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 01-06-2016 at 06:28 PM.
BREAKING EXCLUSIVE BY THE NEW @OrientNewsEn
#MADAYA IS STARVING TO DEATH!!
#SYRIA
https://youtu.be/vEgNCrftbMA
Reuters TV ✔ @ReutersTV
Amnesty International: Russia covering up Syria deaths. Watch now:
https://cards.twitter.com/cards/18ce5407ljj/1b9r2 …
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 01-06-2016 at 06:22 PM.
Recommend highly this site as I use a number of similar OSINT tools......
Automatically Discover Website Connections Through Tracking Codes | Automating OSINT Blog
http://bit.ly/1SzlT5f
Hassan Hassan @hxhassan
The kind of revelation that actually tells you something new about the Islamic State -- kudos to Sky News
http://news.sky.com/story/1617197/ex...or-weapons-lab …
Actually an interesting read from another direction other than my rants....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs.../04/obamas-ira...
Obama’s Iran blunder
By Jennifer Rubin January 4
LATEST--Qatar has now recalled their Iranian AmbassadorPresident Obama came into office imagining he could turn our Middle East policy on its head. Withdraw rather than assert our interests; put the screws on Israel while reaching detente with Iran; leave longtime Sunni allies to fend for themselves. It was a monumental error, based on the false notions that the United States had been the real problem (while Iran was a victim desiring return to “the international community”); that Israel was the impediment to peace with the Palestinians; that a smaller U.S. footprint would reduce tension; and that George W. Bush’s administration had exaggerated the threat of Islamic terrorism. Each of these goals was illusory, and each assumption just plain wrong.
The latest incident bears this out. The Post reports:
Saudi Arabia severed relations with Iran on Sunday amid the furor that erupted over the execution by the Saudi authorities of a prominent Shiite cleric.
Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubair told reporters in Riyadh that the Iranian ambassador to Saudi Arabia had been given 48 hours to leave the country, citing concerns that Tehran’s Shiite government was undermining the security of the Sunni kingdom.
Saudi Arabian diplomats had already departed Iran after angry mobs trashed and burned the Saudi embassy in Tehran overnight Saturday, in response to the execution of Sheikh Nimr Baqr al-Nimr earlier in the day. . . . The Saudi consulate in the Iranian city of Mashad was also set on fire during the protests that erupted after Nimr’s execution was announced.
Bahrain and the United Arab Emeraties have now joined Saudi Arabia in severing ties with Iran.
Unlike the Obama administration, the Saudi government recognizes that one cannot deal with a country that refuses to abide by international norms, including respect for the sanctity and protection of diplomatic facilities. This is hardly the first time Iranians have demonstrated their willingness to use violence against diplomats. Whether it was attacking the U.S. Embassy in 1979 and taking American hostages or the 2011 attempt to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Iran has treated diplomats as legitimate targets.
As former deputy national security adviser Elliott Abrams writes:
What these events have in common is the repeated failure and refusal of the security forces to protect embassies, despite whatever apologies come later. Iran is a police state, with plenty of manpower available to stop “protesters” or “students” from entering embassy grounds that the Islamic Republic government –like all governments– is pledged to protect. Iran’s top police official later said police were working to defuse the situation and remove “protesters” from the building. But it was obvious the moment the Saudi Shia leader Nimr al-Nimr was executed on Saturday that the Saudi embassy would need protection, so the decision not to provide it until it was too late was just that–a political decision.
Indeed, we will never know what proportion of the crowd of “protesters” were actually from the basij, the paramilitary “volunteer” mobs organized by the Revolutionary Guards. . . . So it is another piece of evidence that Iran refuses to live by the rules of civilized diplomatic practice, and that its behavior has gotten worse not better since the signing of the nuclear deal–whose “outreach” was supposed to change Iran’s conduct.
Not without cause, Iran has come to believe there are no consequences for its aggression and illegal conduct. Iran conducts impermissible ballistic missile tests; the U.S. president decides to delay sanctions. Iranian forces move into Syria to prop up Bashar al-Assad; the administration invites Iran to talks on Syria’s future. The Obama negotiators conclude a nuclear deal without insisting on the release of Americans held in Iran; Iran takes this as a green light to grab another American.
Such is the nature of appeasement. It is not only morally abhorrent; it never works, because aggressive regimes and tyrants are never satisfied with their gains. Ultimately they must be confronted, but by then they have gained strength and confidence while Western democratic governments are shown to be foolish and weak. It will take a new president to arrest the pattern of serial concessions to the United States’ adversaries. We should brace ourselves for the havoc dictators will cause before Obama leaves office.
LATEST---Obama WH/DoS has admitted in an article today they view Assad remaining in power until March 2017---SO he is basically kicking the can to the next US President....
This is like Srebrenica, but orders of magnitude worse. Complete indifference from the world https://twitter.com/HadiAlabdallah/s...09643441438720 …Originally Posted by OUTLAW 09
Hezbollah entered #Syria 3 years ago to kill w/int'l community's blessing. Now they're slowly starving 40K people to death w/#Madaya siege.
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 01-06-2016 at 07:30 PM.
Yup, that's correct. About 100 went AWOL already in mid-December, immediately after SDF's defeat on the western side of the Azaz corridor (you've posted some of related Twitter reports too). Another 200 joined the Mare'a OR: they just wanted to fight Daesh, so were transferred from one side of the corridor to the other.
I'm just waiting for WP, WSJ, FT or Guardian to catch with the story and declare a 'stab in the back' of the US 'vetting' efforts...
Footage
Terrorism: Russian air strike on civilians in the town of #Zamalka today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fg4YOhOWJzA
pic.twitter.com/xvJyXpkgKl
Probably same attack from further away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THuPUPsqvco
#Damascus #Zamalka
pic.twitter.com/JCsvoKnc7x
SCD caring little girl w/ shrapnel on her head
#Russia airstrikes on #Tel_Hardatnin village
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 6
pic.twitter.com/LXwdaUFoEw
JAI, Syrian group who's leader was assassinated by Russia 2 weeks ago, is still resisting ISIS. https://twitter.com/malcolmite/statu...14431155548161
Analysis #Map
Syrian rebels fight their way back 2 the central roundabout in #SheikhMaskin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQdXYB9pZzY
FSA fighter in #SheikhMaskin closely missed by pro-#Assad projectile.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uQJv5u5u6g
Russian soldiers checking Russian soldiers inside the #Latakia air base.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1q_E5VOwmU
Another #MustWatch from #Marea, where the #FSA fights #ISIS and gets bombed by #Russia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxOoMXJr1-I
Daraya today. #Assad's killers keep bombing. The intl. community (@UN) remains silent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMqPWEMp1lA
Even in this low altitude, Syrian rebels have no chance vs. aircraft, attacking civilians.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ6Zh6Z4sqw
Russian cluster-munition rocket ended inside a house in Douma #Damascus.
Battle to take Manbij from #ISIS in north rural #Aleppo has started says Jaish al-Thuwar
12 civilians dead & 10s wounded in Russian airstrikes on Zamalka & Haza yesterday #Damascus
http://youtu.be/fg4YOhOWJzA
http://youtu.be/qXENT0YAk2Q
Hezbollah has avenged Kuntars death by tearing a wheel on an Israeli hummer 😂
Daraya: 32 barrel bombs dropped by Assad regime in last 24 hours
over 700 plus for the entire month of December 2015
CrowBat --have you picked up anything on this comment--first time I have seen/heard about it......
At least 20 #Syrian rebel commanders died in #Syria since early Dec, may be part of assassination campaign
http://buff.ly/1VIFFea
If true-- next question would be how many of them made the recent KSA conference????
Jaish Thuwar: we're not trying to seize Aazaz or the border, but we're going for the road
http://welati.info/nuce.php?id=26920...kar=638&cure=5 … Ar. by Zara Mistou
Apparently Syrian business men living in Dubai have donated huge quantities of food to the starving in Madaya however they are seeking international pressure on Assad to force him to allow this much needed aid to reach civilians
pic.twitter.com/dsWuaqH4kg
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 01-07-2016 at 02:20 PM.
Iranian FM makes a super big deal with their claim that the KSA bombed their
Yemen embassy....BUT WAIT......
The Associated Press @AP
AP reporter in Yemen's capital says he sees no damage at the Iranian Embassy after airstrike:
http://apne.ws/1mI3fvk
Witnesses in Sana saying Iranian embassy not hit by airstrike, but rather house across the street, with shrapnel possibly injuring guards.
The Russians are the worlds' best lairs but Iran seems to come in as a great second.....AND Obama and Kerry appear to not see that....
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 01-07-2016 at 02:23 PM.
This does not surprise me as the ROC had called early on for a "Holy War" in Syria........
Head of Russian Orthodox Church Defends Moscow's Bombing Campaign In Syria
http://www.rferl.mobi/a/27473825.html
VIDEO: Children are starving to death in #Madaya - EU must take action to lift siege & ensure humanitarian access
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S587...ature=youtu.be
Breaking: #UN says that #Assad regime refused #UN's request to send food aid to city of #Madaya #Syria
Reports of mercenaries recruitment to #Syria in DNR (Horlivka, Enaievo) through military offices. Salary up to $2500 https://twitter.com/Utilizator_/stat...26849486860289
BREAKING Syria government agrees to allow aid into besieged Madaya: UN
SAA shelling with #Russia cluster Bombs on #Douma, 6 at once
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWUp...ature=youtu.be
Better image of the warplane after it's airstrikes on #Erbeen
#SAA right?
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 7
BREAKING FOOTAGE
Moment #SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Erbeen
#Syria JAN 7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJPHmuqyWbM
MORE wounded and killed civilians.......
SCD @SyriaCivilDef recover Op.seconds after #SAA airstrikes on #Erbeen
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 7
SAA warplanes flying over E #Ghouta after several airstrikes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsrFrLcbWbM
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 7
MORE killed civilians by Russian air strikes.....
A massacre in #Zamalka, 10 martyrs so far, 4 children all victims of #Russia
airstrikes #Damascus CS #Syria JAN 7
Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Turkmen_Mount
#Latakia #Syria JAN 7
Ryssia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Kurds_Mount
#Latakia #Syria JAN. 7
SAA shelling with heavy artillery targeting #al_Tal
#Damascus CS #Syria JAN 7
SAA shelling missiles on #Douma
#Damascus CS #Syria JAN 7
Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Nawa village
#Daraa #Syria JAN 7
Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Raabia village
#Latakia CS #Syria JAN 7
Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Sheikh_Meskin
#Daraa #Syria JAN 7
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_a...ip_with.2.html
Jan. 6 2016 1:50 PM
“Iran Is the Arsonist and the Fire Brigade”
By Isaac Chotiner
Last week, the government of Saudi Arabia executed Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a Shiite cleric who had protested against the regime. Forty-six other people were also put to death on “terrorism-related” charges. The Sunni monarchy that runs Saudi Arabia has a long and poor record of dealing with the country’s Shiite minority, but the brazenness of this execution, amidst Sunni-Shiite conflicts in Syria, Bahrain, Iraq, and Yemen, was shocking to both the country’s allies and adversaries. Indeed, the country’s principle adversary, Iran, encouraged or allowed a number of its citizens to attack the Saudi embassy in Tehran. The Iranian government also does not have a great record on the death penalty or sectarianism: It not only backs Bashar al-Assad’s Sunni-massacring dictatorship in Syria but also executes more people than any country on Earth besides China.
In response to the embassy attack, Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic relations with Iran; a couple of Saudi allies have now done the same. For some insights into all of this, and the broader turmoil in the region, I called up Karim Sadjadpour, an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment who is an expert on Iran and the Middle East and who used to be based in Iran with the International Crisis Group. We discussed America’s relationship with Saudi Arabia, why ISIS has very few true enemies in the Middle East, and whether the Sunni-Shiite split is fixable. The conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Chotiner: Some analysts have suggested that Saudi Arabia and Iran are in a sense seeking out this crisis because it is helpful for hard-liners in both countries. Do you agree with that analysis?
“We are not talking about a Saudi government run by Wahhabi Kissingers or Brzezinskis. This government does not have a deep bench of strategic thinkers.”
Karim Sadjadpour
Sadjadpour: I sometimes think we ascribe too much strategic forethought to governments in the Middle East. I don’t share the view that Saudi Arabia had a sophisticated regional strategy in executing Sheikh Nimr. They were executing about four dozen Sunni radicals, which was going to alienate some segment of society. So they executed a few prominent Shia at the same time.
So there was no broader strategic thinking? It was a pretty big decision.
I think when you look at the arenas where Saudi Arabia and Iran are in conflict, whether Syria or Bahrain or Lebanon or Yemen or Iraq, Iran has an upper hand. When you look at it in a broader regional context, the increasing prevalence of sectarianism benefits Saudi Arabia because they have more numbers. Eighty-five percent of the region’s Muslims are Sunni. For the Saudis, if sectarian politics outweigh anti-imperialist politics, that is beneficial. But at the same time, we are not talking about a Saudi government run by Wahhabi Kissingers or Brzezinskis. This government does not have a deep bench of strategic thinkers. They are not playing a game of chess.
It’s interesting that you think Iran is doing better in these conflicts even though the region is overwhelmingly Sunni. Why? Is the Iranian regime smarter or more strategic?
We have to look at each situation in its own context. In Iraq, there is a Shia majority. But that certainly isn’t the case in Syria, where the Alawites only represent 15 percent or so of the population. But Iran has now almost 40 years of experience building militias in the Middle East, starting with Hezbollah. They have a committed ideology and worldview. They have a very clear goal in Syria, which is the continuation of the Assad regime. The Saudis don’t really have a clear alternative worldview, and they have often been compromised by the fact that they are aligned with the United States. It’s tough for them to win an ideological battle. It’s easier to win a sectarian one.
Do you think the Saudi regime is in an especially weak place now, with oil prices so low and with the Iranian nuclear deal?
I am not sure they are feeling existential angst at home. Four or five years ago, people had romantic thoughts about the Arab Spring. Now I don’t think many Arabs watching television think popular uprisings will be successful. So except for the Shia population in the East, there are no signs that they feel they have to quell a popular uprising. Oil prices are trouble, but they have billions more in reserves than Iran.
But in the region it has been a time of humiliation for them. In today’s Middle East, everyone feels like they are the oppressed victim. Shiites have long felt repressed. But now Sunnis feel that way.
Self-pity is always so helpful in situations like this. And you do have a non-Sunni president dropping barrel bombs on a largely Sunni population in Syria.
Absolutely. The Saudi population watches television every night, which shows Sunnis being massacred by an Iranian-supported president.
Were you surprised by the Iranian reaction?
Given how many embassies Iran has ransacked, I don’t think that was uncharacteristic either.
When you say “Iran has ransacked,” I assume you think this was done at the urging, or with the consent, of the regime.
If there were a group of 50 Iranians who got together to protest the government’s human rights or labor rights practices, they would be crushed in a matter of minutes. Nonsanctioned protests in Iran are now rare. Policemen in Iran were told not to interfere. Starting with the U.S. Embassy in Iran in the 1970s, and continuing with the Saudi and Kuwaiti embassies in the following decades, there is a precedent.
Someone joked that no government hates embassies more.
Yeah.
Do you think this was part of an internal power struggle between the president and hard-liners?
President [Hassan] Rouhani is not in charge of the Revolutionary Guards. He is a protιgι of former President Rafsanjani, who was long an advocate of better Iran-Saudi relations. So I have no doubt that he did not order or approve this. It is detrimental to the interests of his government, which is trying to open Iran up to business. The hard-liners benefit.
Are you optimistic about Iran normalizing relations with the West and America? And are the Saudis rightly worried about this?
The Saudis have long had an inferiority complex. The paradox of Iran and Saudi Arabia is that the Saudis have a superiority complex vis-ΰ-vis the Shia and an inferiority complex vis-ΰ-vis the Persians. The Saudis have long felt that America favors Iran and that Obama has less respect for Saudi Arabia. I think there will be normalization between Iran and Europe, but as long as the supreme leader remains in power, I don’t think Iran and American will normalize relations. But many gulf rulers think the rapprochement has already taken place, whether it was the U.S. removal of Saddam [Hussein], or the refusal to attack Assad. That is a mainstream conspiracy theory in the gulf.
Are you surprised by how quiet the Obama administration has been over the past week?
Countries often choose allies based on shared values, whether those values are tolerance or free-market economics. Saudi Arabia is an ally who doesn’t share our values.
Except about executing people: us, Iran, Saudi Arabia.
Yeah, Iran is No. 1 per capita.
What, if anything, do you think the United States could be doing to minimize tensions?
I just read a piece that said we should abandon Saudi Arabia and commence an alliance with Iran. And yet the Saudi government wants to ally with the United States, and Iran’s official slogan remains “Death to America.” I think Obama and [Secretary of State John] Kerry would love to normalize relations, but it takes two to have an alliance. As for what we can do now: The Obama administration doesn’t want to do anything to mess up the nuclear deal. We have long been a bulwark against Iran but have said that other regimes should do some of the work. But now that the Saudis have, in Yemen, it is doing more damage than good. It’s a dilemma with no good answers.
The United States, and especially John Kerry, has worked tirelessly to get Iran and Saudi Arabia in the room to discuss peace regarding Syria. How has the past week changed the odds of success?
Before this week, I would have given the odds of success 4 out of 10. Now I would say it’s 3 out of 10 or 2 out of 10. There is an old proverb that states when two elephants fight, the grass suffers. The people who are most going to be hurt are Syrians, Yemenis, Iraqis, Lebanese. They are living through the proxy war.
Where does this end? Is sectarian violence just going to get worse?
If you look over the past four decades, 40 years ago the most notorious terrorist group was considered to be the PLO. Then Hezbollah made the PLO look moderate, and then came al-Qaida, which made Hezbollah look moderate. And now we have ISIS. The trend lines haven’t been in positive directions.
Continued.........
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 01-07-2016 at 03:53 PM.
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