Page 101 of 106 FirstFirst ... 519199100101102103 ... LastLast
Results 2,001 to 2,020 of 2113

Thread: Syria in 2017 (January-April)

  1. #2001
    Council Member CrowBat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Haxbach, Schnurliland
    Posts
    1,563

    Default

    Just a note regarding CNN's report about Assadists moving their aircraft to the Russian Air Base: this is complete nonsense, but then so typical for the Pentagon when it comes to Syria.

    Pay attention (excerpt from that and other of similar CNN's reports):

    The movement of the aircraft to the air base at Bassel Al-Assad International Airport began shortly after the US's April 6 Tomahawk cruise missile strike on Sharat air base, which destroyed some 24 Syrian warplanes in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack that the US says Syria launched from that airfield.

    The move places the Syrian aircraft in close proximity to Russia's Khmeimim Air Base -- where the majority of Russian air forces helping ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime are based -- in Latakia Governorate, Syria.
    ...
    Basel al-Assad International is the SAME like Hmemmem AB. One is the civilian-, the other is the military designation for the SAME air base. They are not 'in close proximity', but the same.

    Therefore, anybody babbling in this style, has not even taken a look at the map of Syria.

    But then, that's typical 'Pentagon-created' BS. People generally think that all the US intel agencies think the same way. They do not. There are different people, with their own, different mindsets and interests at the top of each intelligence service. Plus, each of intelligence service is actually responsible to a different set of political masters. Each of mindsets in question is producing reporting coloured by its own interests.

    In the case of Syria, there are two primary sets of thinking in the USA - and thus two primary sets of politics:

    a) DIA (Defence Intelligence Agency) + Pentagon; this way of thinking is dominating the US politics regarding Syria since 2012. Propagators of this this way of thinking cannot stop providing clear evidence that they are piss-poor informed about Syria - regardless if it's about the Syrian military or whatever else (though excelling at cooperating with Marxist terrorist groups, like the PKK). These are the same people that have intentionally published such idiotic reports like those that the al-Qaida is at least co-responsible for protesting of 2011, i.e. that the revolution is de-facto an uprising of extremist islamists.

    b) CIA + State Department (the latter is the foreign ministry of the USA); this one knows what is really going on in Syria, but next to nobody is listening to it.

    Add to this the fact that Hmemmem is since August 2015 - and for all legal and practical purposes - a Russian, and not a Syrian air base. And that it lacks the space to receive something like, say, 10-15 SyAAF aircraft...

    So, when I now hear the CNN babbling things like, 'sources in the Pentagon said...' - sorry, I want to see evidence first. Even more so because I know very well how many of 'sources in the Pentagon' are regularly using social media to 'obtain information' (rather sad for people in their position). They never had really good insights in Syria, they never had any kind of useful HUMINT, and this is now showing in CNN's reporting too.

    Ah yes... and for those that might have their 'doubts' about quality of information upon which this 'opinion' of mine is based, here links to my summaries on registered flying activity by the Russians and Assadists over Syria in the last month:

    Air Strikes by VKS & SyAAF, 20 April

    ...

    Air Strikes by VKS & SyAAF, 17 April

    Air Strikes by VKS & SyAAF, 16 April

    Air Strikes by VKS & SyAAF, 15 April

    Air Strikes by VKS (few by SyAAF), 14 April

    Air Strikes by VKS (few by SyAAF), 13 April

    ...

    Air Strikes by SyAAF and VKS, 7 April, UPDATE

    ...

    Collection of Links on Air Warfare by Syrian Arab Air Force and Russian AirSpace Force in#Syria

    etc., etc., etc....

    Whoever thinks the Pentagon (and the CNN) is right, please feel free to correct me - preferably with help of evidence for any of SyAAF aircraft being 'moved to proxmity of the Russian air base at Basel al-Assad Airport'...

  2. #2002
    Council Member CrowBat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Haxbach, Schnurliland
    Posts
    1,563

    Default

    The latest update for Truppendienst's coverage of the developments in Syria is now available as Der Syrische Brgerkrieg - Update 19 04 2017. It is summarizing the developments since mid-February this year.

    Also available is the new 'order of battle' for all insurgent groups in Syria, plus the HTS (<== PDF file). This is of particular importance considering the spate of rifts, defections, and establishments of new alliances in Idlib and western Aleppo governorates of the last two months.

  3. #2003
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    35,749

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by CrowBat View Post
    Just a note regarding CNN's report about Assadists moving their aircraft to the Russian Air Base: this is complete nonsense, but then so typical for the Pentagon when it comes to Syria.

    Pay attention (excerpt from that and other of similar CNN's reports):



    Basel al-Assad International is the SAME like Hmemmem AB. One is the civilian-, the other is the military designation for the SAME air base. They are not 'in close proximity', but the same.

    Therefore, anybody babbling in this style, has not even taken a look at the map of Syria.

    But then, that's typical 'Pentagon-created' BS. People generally think that all the US intel agencies think the same way. They do not. There are different people, with their own, different mindsets and interests at the top of each intelligence service. Plus, each of intelligence service is actually responsible to a different set of political masters. Each of mindsets in question is producing reporting coloured by its own interests.

    In the case of Syria, there are two primary sets of thinking in the USA - and thus two primary sets of politics:

    a) DIA (Defence Intelligence Agency) + Pentagon; this way of thinking is dominating the US politics regarding Syria since 2012. Propagators of this this way of thinking cannot stop providing clear evidence that they are piss-poor informed about Syria - regardless if it's about the Syrian military or whatever else (though excelling at cooperating with Marxist terrorist groups, like the PKK). These are the same people that have intentionally published such idiotic reports like those that the al-Qaida is at least co-responsible for protesting of 2011, i.e. that the revolution is de-facto an uprising of extremist islamists.

    b) CIA + State Department (the latter is the foreign ministry of the USA); this one knows what is really going on in Syria, but next to nobody is listening to it.

    Add to this the fact that Hmemmem is since August 2015 - and for all legal and practical purposes - a Russian, and not a Syrian air base. And that it lacks the space to receive something like, say, 10-15 SyAAF aircraft...

    So, when I now hear the CNN babbling things like, 'sources in the Pentagon said...' - sorry, I want to see evidence first. Even more so because I know very well how many of 'sources in the Pentagon' are regularly using social media to 'obtain information' (rather sad for people in their position). They never had really good insights in Syria, they never had any kind of useful HUMINT, and this is now showing in CNN's reporting too.

    Ah yes... and for those that might have their 'doubts' about quality of information upon which this 'opinion' of mine is based, here links to my summaries on registered flying activity by the Russians and Assadists over Syria in the last month:

    Air Strikes by VKS & SyAAF, 20 April

    ...

    Air Strikes by VKS & SyAAF, 17 April

    Air Strikes by VKS & SyAAF, 16 April

    Air Strikes by VKS & SyAAF, 15 April

    Air Strikes by VKS (few by SyAAF), 14 April

    Air Strikes by VKS (few by SyAAF), 13 April

    ...

    Air Strikes by SyAAF and VKS, 7 April, UPDATE

    ...

    Collection of Links on Air Warfare by Syrian Arab Air Force and Russian AirSpace Force in#Syria

    etc., etc., etc....

    Whoever thinks the Pentagon (and the CNN) is right, please feel free to correct me - preferably with help of evidence for any of SyAAF aircraft being 'moved to proxmity of the Russian air base at Basel al-Assad Airport'...
    Mattis confirms Syrian aircraft "dispersed" in recent days - reports that many relocated to Hmeimim base in Latakia:
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world....be27238935bd#

  4. #2004
    Council Member CrowBat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Haxbach, Schnurliland
    Posts
    1,563

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by OUTLAW 09 View Post
    Mattis confirms Syrian aircraft "dispersed" in recent days - reports that many relocated to Hmeimim base in Latakia:
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world....be27238935bd#
    Simply no clue what is he talking about: there's no trace of evidence for such statements.

    Even if, say, everybody there reporting all the flying activity is blind and can't recognize an Su-22 from an Il-76 even by their noise... the activity from Hmemmem AB didn't increase by such a margin as that one could say, 'yes, the Syrians moved their aircraft to Hmemmem AB'.

    And versa-vice: the activity at all other Assadist air bases didn't decrease - at least not without a good reason (like the US strike on Shayrat, or the insurgent rocketing of Hama, on 17 April) as that one could say, 'hey, plenty of aircraft are missing in this place'.

    So, 'photos, Mr. Mattis - or explain why are you making such statements'.

    EDIT: haven't got a link, but even the MOD in Damascus meanwhile denied such reports.
    Last edited by CrowBat; 04-21-2017 at 12:44 PM.

  5. #2005
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    35,749

    Default

    WOW...who would have thought the Russians being in Syria would not fight IS.....

    That is really one whale of a tale......BUT WAIT....Russian and Syrians tend to spell IS....FSA....

    Syria's Assad says that Russian troops will not be fighting ISIS
    http://read.bi/2pMkRvF/urln
    Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 04-21-2017 at 03:15 PM.

  6. #2006
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    35,749

    Default

    To all readers of this thread….


    I have been reading SWJ since 2004 when I first became aware of it…and I have since then contributed a few articles to it as well as FP…

    But since the Russian military annexation of Crimea…their unleashing of non linear warfare with cyber and information warfare as it’s core and then their military invasion of Ukraine and their adventure into Syria in the name to defeat IS which we all know is a farce……

    During the last two years I have posted roughly 30,000 posts on these two areas and then starting posting more and more information on Russian infor and cyber warfare.

    Alone on the Ukrainian thread Views have in the last two years climbed to over 980,000 …the Syrian thread climbed in the same time to over 360,000. I also noted that in the last two months the Russian disinformation and hacking has climbed over 8,000 Views.

    While it is hard to see if readers were looking/researching or just skimming through I am happy that they “viewed” anything as I have seen that basically a lot of what I posted never did make it into US MSM or if it did…then days later.

    During this process I have learned the value of social media OSINT and the ability of conducting excellent information warfare using social media….and took pains to show how Russian info warfare was being conducted both in Ukraine and Syria….and developed along the way a working relationship with @bellingcat one of the best social media OSINT types going these days..actually produces better quality open reporting than anything I have previously seen in the IC which also uses OSINT...

    Along the way I have bashed the Obama WH for basically changing the entire ME in the desire to tilt fully to Iran and for their apparent lack of a solid strategic strategy on virtually anything…and they walked away from engaging in the Ukraine…..the Obama WH was great smoke and mirrors machine and the US MSM never really challenged that…

    We then transitioned to the Trump WH….and suddenly and truly we are seeing for the first time the somehat serious political theory of “Wag the Dog” in it’s full glory being applied to cover up for a total lack of any strategy on anything other than “tweets” being used as a FP……using "on a whim and a prayer" as FP....

    I learned a long time ago after VN if one does not ever speak truth to power things get worse….and in my work career that was a principle I held to which cost me sometimes, but I always learned even then you in fact move forward…because some along the way respected that.

    The posting has led me to fully “see” and “understand” the intertwining of a lack of US FP built on well thought through strategies and allowed me to see at the same the interesting development of the Russian non linear warfare which is pushing their political war with the US….and they do view it as an actual war…somehow we do not…

    BTW I have posted many comments on this concept of “seeing” and “understanding” something that drives me in all these years as I learned long ago ground reality “does talk to you..if you are willing to listen”….

    After being recently chastised and sidelined for three days “for being on a soap box” that not many were willing to actually share…..even though reading and then responding by cut and pasting comments….I have decided it is now a good time to withdraw from SWC…it has been a great ride , the knowledge I gained in the postings has flowed into my company in a far different way than I even imagined and is openly up a startling new realm in integrating hacking defense with customers demanding now how to counter the everyday info war they are in….

    It has been one heck of a long ride and I really enjoyed it…will comment on occasions if an article interests me…….

    The killing in eastern Ukraine and Syria will just continue until someone stands up in the US and truly leads….and leads not by tweets….but by the realization of what Putin’s geo political goals really are guided by a strategic strategy...finally.....

    Based on evidence I have had the opportunity to be shown/review the person tweeting might not be in office much longer IF treason counts for anything these days in the US…

    Hopefully CrowBat will continue his postings...
    Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 04-22-2017 at 05:26 AM.

  7. #2007
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    35,749

    Default

    Final posting...always remember if it is the last thing learned from this thread....Assad...IS...Iran and Putin are all linked together and since 2006.......and Obama and Trump have gotten it totally wrong when both state Syria is not important in the grand scheme of American FP....it was always central to the ME....

    Kyle Orton‏
    Verified account
    @KyleWOrton
    Follow
    From DEC:
    https://goo.gl/bVJSuJ#

    Among reasons IS is entrenched in Deir Ezzor: based there when Assad used IS against us in Iraq.

    This particular writer has pointed this out repeatedly as have three other writers in countless articles on this topic that somehow never made it into both the Obama WH AND now the Trump WH...meaning his twitter account...

  8. #2008
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Posts
    849

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by OUTLAW 09 View Post
    To all readers of this thread….


    I have been reading SWJ since 2004 when I first became aware of it…and I have since then contributed a few articles to it as well as FP…

    But since the Russian military annexation of Crimea…their unleashing of non linear warfare with cyber and information warfare as it’s core and then their military invasion of Ukraine and their adventure into Syria in the name to defeat IS which we all know is a farce……

    During the last two years I have posted roughly 30,000 posts on these two areas and then starting posting more and more information on Russian infor and cyber warfare.

    Alone on the Ukrainian thread Views have in the last two years climbed to over 980,000 …the Syrian thread climbed in the same time to over 360,000. I also noted that in the last two months the Russian disinformation and hacking has climbed over 8,000 Views.

    While it is hard to see if readers were looking/researching or just skimming through I am happy that they “viewed” anything as I have seen that basically a lot of what I posted never did make it into US MSM or if it did…then days later.

    During this process I have learned the value of social media OSINT and the ability of conducting excellent information warfare using social media….and took pains to show how Russian info warfare was being conducted both in Ukraine and Syria….and developed along the way a working relationship with @bellingcat one of the best social media OSINT types going these days..actually produces better quality open reporting than anything I have previously seen in the IC which also uses OSINT...

    Along the way I have bashed the Obama WH for basically changing the entire ME in the desire to tilt fully to Iran and for their apparent lack of a solid strategic strategy on virtually anything…and they walked away from engaging in the Ukraine…..the Obama WH was great smoke and mirrors machine and the US MSM never really challenged that…

    We then transitioned to the Trump WH….and suddenly and truly we are seeing for the first time the somehat serious political theory of “Wag the Dog” in it’s full glory being applied to cover up for a total lack of any strategy on anything other than “tweets” being used as a FP……using "on a whim and a prayer" as FP....

    I learned a long time ago after VN if one does not ever speak truth to power things get worse….and in my work career that was a principle I held to which cost me sometimes, but I always learned even then you in fact move forward…because some along the way respected that.

    The posting has led me to fully “see” and “understand” the intertwining of a lack of US FP built on well thought through strategies and allowed me to see at the same the interesting development of the Russian non linear warfare which is pushing their political war with the US….and they do view it as an actual war…somehow we do not…

    BTW I have posted many comments on this concept of “seeing” and “understanding” something that drives me in all these years as I learned long ago ground reality “does talk to you..if you are willing to listen”….

    After being recently chastised and sidelined for three days “for being on a soap box” that not many were willing to actually share…..even though reading and then responding by cut and pasting comments….I have decided it is now a good time to withdraw from SWC…it has been a great ride , the knowledge I gained in the postings has flowed into my company in a far different way than I even imagined and is openly up a startling new realm in integrating hacking defense with customers demanding now how to counter the everyday info war they are in….

    It has been one heck of a long ride and I really enjoyed it…will comment on occasions if an article interests me…….

    The killing in eastern Ukraine and Syria will just continue until someone stands up in the US and truly leads….and leads not by tweets….but by the realization of what Putin’s geo political goals really are guided by a strategic strategy...finally.....

    Based on evidence I have had the opportunity to be shown/review the person tweeting might not be in office much longer IF treason counts for anything these days in the US…

    Hopefully CrowBat will continue his postings...
    Outlaw,
    #
    I am sorry that you feel this way.# You have certainly helped keep everyone at SWC up to date on the daily goings on in Ukraine and Syria, even when mainstream Western media and audiences grew disinterested.# Your prolific posting is noted and appreciated, even if SWC can appear to be a one-man forum at times. #Certainly, your use of social media OSINT has been effective during periods of intensity, when the MSM is unsure of what is actually occurring on the ground. #
    #
    Yet not all contact is a skirmish and not all skirmishes are battles and not all battles are strategic or decisive.# Ukrainian soldiers will step on mines and be hit with sniper fire without impacting the broader conflict.# Some TOWs will take out a squad of Hezbollah sheltering behind an earthwork, and others will merely injure a couple of Assad's conscripts. #

    You certainly have a passion for countering Russian propaganda and encouraging the U.S. to engage more in Ukraine and Syria. #

    Yet Russia is not the only beast in the woods, there are charnel houses just as bad if not worse than Syria in the D.R. Congo and Burundi, and the Russo-Ukrainian War is a mere blip compared to most ongoing wars as well as the Balkans, Europe's last war. #

    Nor is perspective indifference. With that in mind, I would say that none of the active members of SWC could do much to impact Obama's foreign policy and the same is true for Trump. #



    While you served in Vietnam, political decisions were being made that would sabotage any chance of an independent South Vietnamese state. At the same time, genocide was underway in Bangladesh, China and Indonesia, and would be exported to Cambodia. In Iraq, the U.S. alienated the Sunni Arabs, then co-opted them and then alienated them again, leading to civil war, the rise of Daesh and Iranian hegemony. #‎

    Suffice it to say, there are things you can control and things you can't. Despite his antipathy for Trump, CrowBat took what he could get when the TLAMs struck Shayrat. To date, the FSA is still in the field and still using TOWs, and Russian tanks have not had a go at Kharkiv or Mariupol. #

    If there is any issue, it is that SWC shouldn't be one of millions of forums for U.S. domestic politics or how Farage, Le Pen and Trump are all GRU agents sent to bring down NATO and the EU. #‎The election campaign has not stopped with the inauguration and it is tranquil to have a place where SMEs discuss wars.



    I'm sorry you don't appreciate my cutting and pasting of your quotes: I do it for brevity and to respond to specific points only. #



    We will miss your up-to-the-minute updates from the various fronts if perhaps less your anti-Trump and humanitarian interventionist op-eds. # For what it's worth, I preferred hearing about the major battles from you rather than the MSM. Just because the MSM appears to agree with you now does not mean that it won't move on in a few months; after all, it cares little for conflicts that are not part of domestic politics...

    Regards,

    Azor‎

  9. #2009
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    35,749

    Default

    Azor...actually you response deserves this one last response......

    If you really are able to "see and understand" using my form of looking at the world from a ground reality....what we see today with the US political side and the sad performance of US MSM media even today actually which since the second election campaign of Bush and the Viacom takeover of say CBS...we are seeing the ultimate form of "corporate news"....and the dying of "true journalism as a profession"....

    Go back and review the airing of the CBS 60 Minutes by Dan Reuther on the Air National Guard days of Bush which cost Reuther his job and the firing of the team on that segment....even though now we know the facts were accurate and correct.

    Then look at the "Swift Boat" affair thrown at Kerry....which in reality was the really first "fakes news hit job" made in full public view and MSM did not even see it coming did it? instead they all piled on....

    What I miss from a lot of commenters is in the inherent understanding of the intertwining of external FP....internal politics..... and ground reality....

    Disinformation..propaganda...and fakes news though has undergone a major shift and has become a very hard "soft power" used by the Russians very effectively and still is against the US...and anyone that does not see that seriously heads their heads examined...

    Example...MSM has been bashing Trump then he fires a "Wag the Dog" set of TLAMS and suddenly the same MSM that was bashing him praise him....."suddenly forgetting he is under suspicion of "collusion" to put it in FBI speak"...and just maybe the attack is a deflection...WHICH some are now starting to in fact say....

    ALTHOUGH I have been posting the brutality of the Syrian war in full color for over two years...and where was MSM...nowhere to be seen....

    If Americans do not fully understand the interconnectedness of this very small planet made possible by the internet and technology....they are in serous trouble as the world is getting far more complex...hourly not the previous weeks it might take under the older forms of communications.

    How long did the debate on say even SWC go as it "is Syria even a strategic interest for the US when the answer was smack in your face and that daily as we see.....because now to resolve the entire ME set of issues the US must truly now resolve Syria..and that is strategic.....

    Until Americans wake up and realize that there has truly never been a sitting President in the first 100 days come under FBI/CIA/NSA and seven European intel service investigations for "collusion"....the first word used in a treason case by the FBI..go back and check the terms used during the 50s treason cases..

    You cannot now separate that from the ongoing total failure of any and I am serious anything that remotely looks like US FP.......

    You can see that in the German reporting now coming out about the Us Merkel visit....

    Trump asked her 11 times can the US do a trade deal with Germany...her response to him 11 times..."you cannot do it with us you must deal with the EU trade commission as it represents all EU members as a block...Trump then we will do it with the EU"..which he has constantly bashed....

    Trump evidently finally realized that his stand on free trade is getting both him and US nothing as his own team has discovered EU will not do separate bilateral trade deals...and Merkel showed Trump that he had missed out on a free trade deal that had no tariffs and also 400M customers of potential US products...suddenly he showing interest in TTIP just as his team finally is fully understanding the failures in their backing out of TTP.

    But again digression....all is interconnected politics national and international.....and Russia.....and that does include Trump.

    Right now the only serious problem the US faces is a resurgent in your face Russia which is though in some aspects a "near peer competitor"....the next near peer competitor is China but that can in some aspects be handled with very good diplomacy as the Chinese definitely do not want a war they just want to be on the world's political stage as an equal co speaker due to their size..economy and power which is fine....

    NK..deal directly and openly with it and it might surprise one...we have bashed them and bashed them into thinking we want their destruction...remember the "axis of evil speeches"...BTW I would think the same thing they do as well...

    But Putin is a total different political animal...he does want the "destruction of the US" and right now cyber and information warfare are his tools....

    So now I can pull back from posting.

    In some aspects it is sad I cannot post a lot of our work on Russian botnets...it would shock the most devoted Trump voters in deep Iowa as well as yourself.

    But in some aspects maybe not if one goes back to the Kerry's "Swiftboating incident".....and the actions of Karl Rove and his merry band....who really showed this generation of Trump white nationalists how to run a propaganda election based on fake news and disinformation...

    BTW...take all the postings on Syria and Ukraine even those insignificant postings that you mention and you can build one great powerpoint briefing complete with battles...order of battle and air force capabilities and tie it straight into missed decisions made by the US WHs....historical research in near real time...never really seen before.

    It then becomes a great analysis tool...I deliberately parked a number of posted comments strictly for historical reasons as I know some will come back to them in the future...

    BTW...the perfect example of what I am pointing out on Trump...Trump's big thing is "currency manipulations" by China...EU and say Japan.....AND this threats to do something about it......

    Japan's Aso pushes back on U.S. call for scrutiny of currency moves
    http://reut.rs/2p8gcUg

    BUT WOW..if one really takes a look at the US currency and how the Treasury Dept and the price of oil impacts the USD then Trump might in fact discover the US is the greatest currency manipulator going....

    In theory the Euro should in fact be under the value of the USD...and sit around 80-90 cents to the US dollar...but due to US oil pricing it remains higher than that at a steady 1.06 to a real high of 1.35 per Euro.......

    BUT behold..suddenly the Treasury is attempting to "talk down the USD" and it is settling now in the 1.04 to 1.06 ranges...

    So the US accuses others of "currency manipulations" BUT "talking down" does not count????.....Trump's constant tax break comments is the ongoing "talking down effort".....but wait that does not count as currency manipulation...?
    Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 04-23-2017 at 06:11 AM.

  10. #2010
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    35,749

    Default

    Azor....this is exactly why you cannot split right now Trump from anything and why it is important to understand his exact level of collusion with the Russians.......

    French Twitter suffers barrage of incoming memes from Trump supporting accounts in US

    We have been monitoring this intently since 6 this morning French time...BTW 26 of those so called proTrump accounts are being driven by Russian botnet control severs which we have clearly and concisely identified right now with their messaging first coming out of Russia to the US and then back into France...

    Twitter bots & trolls that once supported Trump are now backing Marine Le Pen. What a coincidence.
    http://www.politico.eu/article/marin...social-media/#

    This is exactly why I am doing the work I now do....BUT this ongoing cyber/information trench warfare has to be normally done by governments...but the entire US government is currently MIA and it now falls on individuals and those organizations that truly care about democracy to engage and engage we have...

    We are now in the process of shutting down those bot servers that have been identified this morning....and they sit deep in Russia....

    This tells me that now there is no difference in Russian influence ops being carried out against the US and those who drive US right wing influence ops against European countries in support of Russian geo political goals...and that the entire US alt right social media is under Russia influence control.

    NOW ALL one and the same (US alt right and Russian geo political end goals)....and that is totally new for US politics...

    REMEMBER this Trump tweet from this week....when you see the US twitter info war which surged late yesterday and this early morning on French voters...

    Donald J. Trump‏
    @realDonaldTrump
    Another terrorist attack in Paris. The people of France will not take much more of this. Will have a big effect on presidential election!

    So did the US twitter barrage on French voters take their guidance directly from Trump's "tweet"?

    There is now no difference between Russian info war actions and proTrump info war supporters.

    BUT WAIT...he is one of the worst US alt right info warriors as he drives Infowars..deeply tied to Russian info war messaging and who is in the middle of a bad divorce fight.....being carried on social media

    Under the rubric of "oh really now he gets it"....

    “I urge the press to be respectful and responsible.” – Alex Jones, Literally Yesterday

    Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 04-23-2017 at 11:57 AM.

  11. #2011
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    35,749

    Default

    Azor...probably the biggest difference between you and myself is the simple fact...I use the concept of "indicators" and ground based personal experience to link items together...

    When I tie Trump's tweets to the Russian 6Ds Propaganda Principles I use his tweets..."indicators" against the ground reality of Russian info warfare principle's...then I link the two...do they match...are they similar and WHY are they being used.....what is the intended goal....etc....

    If say we see major heavy Russian infowar botnet propaganda activity before and after Brexit and we see the UK neo right wing party UKIP driving that propaganda and being supported by Russian infowar botnets AND then see their leader try to get into to see WikiLeaks Assage without being seen then one sees another "indicator"...which triggers the question WHY?

    WHEN we suddenly see former UKIP leader Nigel at Trump Tower just after the election and we saw Nigel participating in Trump rallies and at the inaugural..these are indicators and the question of WHY must be immediately asked and answered....

    This is probably the reason ....which I actually agree with.....

    This Nigel and Julian meeting isn’t going to go away. US IC suspects him of being a human courier.
    https://www.theguardian.com/politics...ulian-assange#

    Especially important as Wikileaks was deeply involved in the Russian hacking and influence operations during the US election...

    BTW....what will the Trump WH and his merry band of proRussians say about this today...especially since an American OSCE observer was deliberately killed by a Russian landmine

    Will be interesting to see how/whether @StateDept and @WhiteHouse respond to death of American OSCE patrol member in Ukraine today.
    Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 04-23-2017 at 12:55 PM.

  12. #2012
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    35,749

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by OUTLAW 09 View Post
    Azor....this is exactly why you cannot split right now Trump from anything and why it is important to understand his exact level of collusion with the Russians.......

    French Twitter suffers barrage of incoming memes from Trump supporting accounts in US

    We have been monitoring this intently since 6 this morning French time...BTW 26 of those so called proTrump accounts are being driven by Russian botnet control severs which we have clearly and concisely identified right now with their messaging first coming out of Russia to the US and then back into France...

    Twitter bots & trolls that once supported Trump are now backing Marine Le Pen. What a coincidence.
    http://www.politico.eu/article/marin...social-media/#

    This is exactly why I am doing the work I now do....BUT this ongoing cyber/information trench warfare has to be normally done by governments...but the entire US government is currently MIA and it now falls on individuals and those organizations that truly care about democracy to engage and engage we have...

    We are now in the process of shutting down those bot servers that have been identified this morning....and they sit deep in Russia....

    This tells me that now there is no difference in Russian influence ops being carried out against the US and those who drive US right wing influence ops against European countries in support of Russian geo political goals...and that the entire US alt right social media is under Russia influence control.

    NOW ALL one and the same (US alt right and Russian geo political end goals)....and that is totally new for US politics...

    REMEMBER this Trump tweet from this week....when you see the US twitter info war which surged late yesterday and this early morning on French voters...

    Donald J. Trump‏
    @realDonaldTrump
    Another terrorist attack in Paris. The people of France will not take much more of this. Will have a big effect on presidential election!

    So did the US twitter barrage on French voters take their guidance directly from Trump's "tweet"?

    There is now no difference between Russian info war actions and proTrump info war supporters.

    BUT WAIT...he is one of the worst US alt right info warriors as he drives Infowars..deeply tied to Russian info war messaging and who is in the middle of a bad divorce fight.....being carried on social media

    Under the rubric of "oh really now he gets it"....

    “I urge the press to be respectful and responsible.” – Alex Jones, Literally Yesterday

    Quick survey sample from late yesterday....the most influential users within the Twitter networks tweeting about #JeVote Surprise, several are American pro-Trump accounts on this first pass.....
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 04-23-2017 at 01:42 PM.

  13. #2013
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    35,749

    Default

    JUST how many US Congresspeople are involved with Assad.....

    Not entirely sure what U.S. Senator Dick Black @SenRichardBlack is doing in a Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF) Su-24MK2 but he is in it just before the Syrians recently dropped sarin gas...
    Attached Images Attached Images

  14. #2014
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    13,366

    Default U.S. Senator Dick Black

    Quote Originally Posted by OUTLAW 09 View Post
    JUST how many US Congresspeople are involved with Assad.....Not entirely sure what U.S. Senator Dick Black @SenRichardBlack is doing in a Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF) Su-24MK2 but he is in it just before the Syrians recently dropped sarin gas...
    This man is not a US Senator, he is a Virginia State Senator; which is quite different and fulfills what appears to me a state government role. A local newspaper commented:
    State Sen. Richard H. Black, R-Loudoun, has traveled to Syria and promised support for the government of President Bashar Assad, who U.S. officials have repeatedly said has lost the legitimacy to rule the war-torn country.His trip to a Middle Eastern country in the midst of a civil war and his comments in the face of official U.S. foreign policy are highly unusual for a state lawmaker.
    Black is a part-time state senator who has no official role in foreign affairs.
    Link to story dated April 27th 2016:http://www.richmond.com/news/virgini...921aff11b.html

    I did note on his website he has tweeted his endorsement of Marine Le Pen. His personal website:http://www.senatorblack.com/Default.aspx

    Digging around I found this March 2017 radio interview, carried by the widely regarded British "fruitcake" David Icke website:https://www.davidicke.com/article/40...ear-war-russia

    He has even been interviewed recently about CW use by Press TV, an Iranian outlet. See:http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2017/04...-Richard-Black
    davidbfpo

  15. #2015
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Posts
    849

    Default To Outlaw 09

    Outlaw,

    I cannot think of a period when the American mainstream media didn’t “get it wrong”. Their audience are the laity who prefer to be entertained rather than informed, and whose interest is piqued by controversy and shock. Complex and interconnected events unbounded by time, geography or interpretation must be distilled into short, simple and moral stories. Moreover, the American media has often seemed to collude with the government when intervention is being justified and has ignored those crises where the government desires no involvement.

    As I have stated previously, I am not going to wade into the sewer of U.S. presidential politics. Your objections to the current president have been duly noted. I can go on at length about Kennedy, Johnson, Clinton and Obama, but this is the SWC thread on Syria. Would you rather tangle with me on Disqus?

    The Syrian Civil War is not a key national interest of the U.S. in and of itself, except insofar as it overlaps with the ongoing containment and attrition of anti-Western Islamist terrorists. Note that the ongoing civil wars in D.R. Congo/Burundi, Sudan, South Sudan, Myanmar, Central African Republic and Turkey have received no significant U.S. attention; those in Nigeria, Libya, Somalia and Yemen have received very little. This lack of action and interest can be attributed to any previous presidential administration. In the case of Lebanon, Western involvement was intended to counter the Soviets, Iranians and Syrians; in the case of Yugoslavia, action was intended to preserve the Western alliance.

    Despite riding high on the commodity boom as Australia, Brazil, Canada and other countries did, Russia is still for all intents and purposes, “Upper Volta with rockets”. Aside from its nuclear deterrent, very limited power projection capabilities and handful of defense products, Russia is not even a near-peer competitor to the U.S. The primary American rival and potential future adversary is in fact China. If history does indeed rhyme, Russia will eventually become an ally of the West as part of a coalition to contain Chinese aggression.

    Your personal biases cause you to focus on Russia exclusively and to ignore China, when it comes to American grand strategy, even though Russia too desires: “to be on the world’s political stage as an equal co-speaker”.

    Note that since securing mainland China after World War II, the Chinese Communist Party has:

    • Murdered roughly 10% of the Chinese population to consolidate power
    • Invaded South Korea
    • Attacked the Soviet Union
    • Invaded Vietnam
    • Supported the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia that murdered 25% of its population
    • Supported the Kim dynasty in North Korea that murdered 10% of its population
    • Attacked and threatened Taiwan
    • Developed nuclear weapons
    • Improved and increased its nuclear arsenal specifically to target the U.S.
    • Developed offensive weaponry to specifically target the U.S. and its allies
    • Imprisoned, tortured and murdered dissidents, and continues to do so
    • Maintained the largest slave labor force of any country
    • Executed more people per year, legally and extra-judicially than any other country
    • Partnered with countries hostile to the U.S., including Russia, North Korea, Venezuela, Iran, Nicaragua and Pakistan


    These facts should place the PRC in the proper perspective, despite my digression from the topic of Syria. The PRC was never reconstructed in the way that the Soviet Union was partially in 1956, 1987 and 1991.

    In the end, the civil wars in Iraq and Syria revolve around Sunni-Shia relations, Arab-Kurdish relations and the Iranian bid for mastery in the Middle East. Certainly, Russia has played spoiler to American initiatives in Syria and has gained some much needed combat experience there. The Damascus-Teheran plan to reduce the Sunni Arab population, and thereby the pool of opponents to Assad, will continue whether Russia is deployed in Syria or not.

  16. #2016
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    35,749

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Azor View Post
    Outlaw,

    I cannot think of a period when the American mainstream media didn’t “get it wrong”. Their audience are the laity who prefer to be entertained rather than informed, and whose interest is piqued by controversy and shock. Complex and interconnected events unbounded by time, geography or interpretation must be distilled into short, simple and moral stories. Moreover, the American media has often seemed to collude with the government when intervention is being justified and has ignored those crises where the government desires no involvement.

    As I have stated previously, I am not going to wade into the sewer of U.S. presidential politics. Your objections to the current president have been duly noted. I can go on at length about Kennedy, Johnson, Clinton and Obama, but this is the SWC thread on Syria. Would you rather tangle with me on Disqus?

    The Syrian Civil War is not a key national interest of the U.S. in and of itself, except insofar as it overlaps with the ongoing containment and attrition of anti-Western Islamist terrorists. Note that the ongoing civil wars in D.R. Congo/Burundi, Sudan, South Sudan, Myanmar, Central African Republic and Turkey have received no significant U.S. attention; those in Nigeria, Libya, Somalia and Yemen have received very little. This lack of action and interest can be attributed to any previous presidential administration. In the case of Lebanon, Western involvement was intended to counter the Soviets, Iranians and Syrians; in the case of Yugoslavia, action was intended to preserve the Western alliance.

    Despite riding high on the commodity boom as Australia, Brazil, Canada and other countries did, Russia is still for all intents and purposes, “Upper Volta with rockets”. Aside from its nuclear deterrent, very limited power projection capabilities and handful of defense products, Russia is not even a near-peer competitor to the U.S. The primary American rival and potential future adversary is in fact China. If history does indeed rhyme, Russia will eventually become an ally of the West as part of a coalition to contain Chinese aggression.

    Your personal biases cause you to focus on Russia exclusively and to ignore China, when it comes to American grand strategy, even though Russia too desires: “to be on the world’s political stage as an equal co-speaker”.

    Note that since securing mainland China after World War II, the Chinese Communist Party has:

    • Murdered roughly 10% of the Chinese population to consolidate power
    • Invaded South Korea
    • Attacked the Soviet Union
    • Invaded Vietnam
    • Supported the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia that murdered 25% of its population
    • Supported the Kim dynasty in North Korea that murdered 10% of its population
    • Attacked and threatened Taiwan
    • Developed nuclear weapons
    • Improved and increased its nuclear arsenal specifically to target the U.S.
    • Developed offensive weaponry to specifically target the U.S. and its allies
    • Imprisoned, tortured and murdered dissidents, and continues to do so
    • Maintained the largest slave labor force of any country
    • Executed more people per year, legally and extra-judicially than any other country
    • Partnered with countries hostile to the U.S., including Russia, North Korea, Venezuela, Iran, Nicaragua and Pakistan


    These facts should place the PRC in the proper perspective, despite my digression from the topic of Syria. The PRC was never reconstructed in the way that the Soviet Union was partially in 1956, 1987 and 1991.

    In the end, the civil wars in Iraq and Syria revolve around Sunni-Shia relations, Arab-Kurdish relations and the Iranian bid for mastery in the Middle East. Certainly, Russia has played spoiler to American initiatives in Syria and has gained some much needed combat experience there. The Damascus-Teheran plan to reduce the Sunni Arab population, and thereby the pool of opponents to Assad, will continue whether Russia is deployed in Syria or not.
    Have we then if you are in fact correct...as an assumption...then we are just as complicit in genocide as is Assad and Putin because we could have stopped if that had been any interesting in stopping it which I have not seen since 2012....the argument has always been ...it is not of a strategic importance to the US...but in the end it has become in fact "strategic important" as this turmoil will go on for another decade of so....

    So yes based on the IHL and international treaties we are in fact complicit in genocide...

  17. #2017
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    35,749

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by davidbfpo View Post
    This man is not a US Senator, he is a Virginia State Senator; which is quite different and fulfills what appears to me a state government role. A local newspaper commented:
    Link to story dated April 27th 2016:http://www.richmond.com/news/virgini...921aff11b.html

    I did note on his website he has tweeted his endorsement of Marine Le Pen. His personal website:http://www.senatorblack.com/Default.aspx

    Digging around I found this March 2017 radio interview, carried by the widely regarded British "fruitcake" David Icke website:https://www.davidicke.com/article/40...ear-war-russia

    He has even been interviewed recently about CW use by Press TV, an Iranian outlet. See:http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2017/04...-Richard-Black
    So we have a "state senator" flying to a country the UNSC views as a user of CWs...which has been deemed to be committing genocide...starvation and ethnic cleansing and a state sponsor Russia is in direct violation of IHL and complicit in dropping sarin and this US state senator even gives interviews to Iranian media....

    And he is not interviewed by CBP when he returns from Syria as are Iranians who enter the US lately?

    Remember US politicians still must request approval from the US government for their trips into Syria and the HI Congresswoman is in deep trouble for her failure to do just that and he is not?

    So who paid for the trip and paid for his 4 star hotel stay in Damascus..he certainly did not?

  18. #2018
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Posts
    849

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by OUTLAW 09 View Post
    Have we then if you are in fact correct...as an assumption...then we are just as complicit in genocide as is Assad and Putin because we could have stopped if that had been any interesting in stopping it which I have not seen since 2012....the argument has always been ...it is not of a strategic importance to the US...but in the end it has become in fact "strategic important" as this turmoil will go on for another decade of so....

    So yes based on the IHL and international treaties we are in fact complicit in genocide...

    Unfortunately, international "law" isn't your strong suit. In terms of applying the "Responsibility to Protect" to the case of the Syrian Civil War:


    1. There must be "reasonable prospects" of success using military intervention. I doubt that this case can be made.

    2. The military action has to be authorized by the UN Security Council. Yeah, right.



    Do countries with no military power projection capabilities have a duty to establish militaries solely for the purposes of intervening in foreign countries to protect civilians? What of Iceland?


    So what of D.R. Congo and Burundi? Should the West not intervene there first as the area of greatest need?

  19. #2019
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    13,366

    Default

    Citing Azor in part:
    So what of D.R. Congo and Burundi? Should the West not intervene there first as the area of greatest need?
    There was a debate here on DR Congo and Rwanda, with separate threads. IIRC no-one advocated a Western R2P at time, although there was a debate afterwards and Canadian General Dalliare appeared.

    We then had several SME and "boots on the ground" members who added their experience and weight: Tom Odom & Stan Reber come to mind.

    There is a thread open now on Burundi, which is a simmering small war. No-one here IIRC has advocated a Western R2P. To be fair I somehow expect we are paying in part some of UN / African Union involvement there (as we are elsewhere in Africa).
    davidbfpo

  20. #2020
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Posts
    849

    Default Turkish Air Force Strikes YPG and Peshmerga

    From the BBC: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39708909

    The US has expressed "deep concern" at Turkish air strikes that killed about two dozen Kurdish fighters in Syria and Iraq.

    The US-backed Popular Protection Units (YPG), fighting against IS, said their positions were hit multiple times.

    Turkey regards the YPG as linked to outlawed Kurdish separatists. Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga, friendly to Turkey, also reportedly suffered fatalities.
    The Iraqi government condemned the strikes carried out on its territory.
    US state department spokesman Mark Toner said: "We are very concerned, deeply concerned that Turkey conducted air strikes earlier today in northern Syria as well as northern Iraq without proper co-ordination either with the United States or the broader global coalition to defeat IS."
    He added: "We have expressed those concerns to the government of Turkey directly."

    Iraqi government spokesman Saad al-Hadithi said: "The Iraqi government condemns and rejects the strikes carried out by Turkish aircraft on Iraqi territory."

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan defended the air strikes, telling Reuters: "We are obliged to take measures. We must take steps.
    "We shared this with the US and Russia and we are sharing it with Iraq as well. It is an operation that (Iraqi Kurdistan President Massoud) Barzani has been informed about."

    The number killed has not been confirmed but reports suggest about 18 YPG and five Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga members died.

    The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring organisation, said a dawn strike on Tuesday targeted Kurdish positions in Hassakeh province in north-east Syria, hitting a media centre and radio station.

    A separate series of strikes hit a base near Sinjar in northern Iraq, close to the Syrian border.

    Mr Erdogan said he regretted the death of the Peshmerga, saying it was "absolutely not an operation against [them]".

    In a statement, the Peshmerga said that while the attack was "unacceptable", it blamed forces from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the area and called on them to withdraw.

    The PKK is a Turkish-Kurdish rebel group that has been fighting an armed struggle against the Turkish government since the 1980s.

    The strikes reflect how complicated the situation is in the battle against so-called Islamic State in Syria and northern Iraq.

    The US is relying heavily on Kurdish forces on the ground but its ally, Turkey, views the YPG as an extension of the PKK.

    A ceasefire between Turkey and the PKK ended last year and clashes have since claimed hundreds of lives on both sides.

    A commander for the Kurdish forces in Syria called on its international allies to defend their forces from further attacks.

    "We are asking the international coalition to intervene to stop these Turkish violations," the unnamed commander told the AFP news agency.
    "It's unthinkable that we are fighting on a front as important as Raqqa while Turkish planes bomb us in the back," he said, referring to the IS stronghold in northern Syria.

    A US military commander met Kurdish fighters after the attack to show solidarity.

Similar Threads

  1. Syria in 2017 (April-December)
    By SWJ Blog in forum Middle East
    Replies: 563
    Last Post: 12-28-2017, 05:39 AM
  2. Hizbullah / Hezbollah (just the group)
    By SWJED in forum Middle East
    Replies: 176
    Last Post: 12-19-2017, 12:58 PM
  3. Replies: 18
    Last Post: 11-22-2017, 03:43 PM
  4. Russo-Ukraine War 2017 (January-April)
    By davidbfpo in forum Europe
    Replies: 1093
    Last Post: 04-29-2017, 10:25 AM

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •