Russia ...

[skye]

Go Russia....show Hussein how it is done.

Lord how I despise your Barack Caca

 

[docmauser1]

Russia has been building up their fleets. We have been shutting ours down. Russia has a guy at the helm that doesn't fuck around. We are stuck with a pussy.

And a gay in the Army.

 

[waltky]

Russia adding ground troop buildup to naval presence...

NATO: Russia Building Up Naval Presence, Ground Troop Numbers in Syria
October 6, 2015 | NATO has observed a “substantial buildup” of Russian ground troops and a stepped-up Russian naval presence in the eastern Mediterranean, the alliance’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Tuesday.

“I will not go into any specific numbers but I can confirm that we have seen a substantial build-up of Russian forces in Syria – air forces, air defenses but also then ground troops in connection with the air base they have,” he told reporters in Brussels. “And we also see increased naval presence of Russian ships, naval capabilities outside Syria or the eastern part of the Mediterranean. So there has been a substantial military build-up of Russia with many different kinds of capabilities, forces, over the last weeks.” Russia launched an air campaign in Syria a week ago, ostensibly targeting Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL) locations but, according to the U.S. and NATO, hitting other opposition groups as well, including some backed by the West. “We see that the Russian air forces are not mainly attacking ISIL but other opposition groups including those who are fighting ISIL and, and also that many civilian lives have been lost,” Stoltenberg said Tuesday.

Weaponry onboard the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s flagship, guided missile cruiser Moskva.​

Russia has a Cold War-era naval station in Tartus and is using the Hmeymim airbase near Latakia for its air operation. During September U.S. officials reported a buildup of Russian military hardware at the airbase, including 28 jets, tanks, armored personnel carriers and artillery pieces. The Russian government has denied plans to deploy ground troops in Syria. But on Monday the chairman of the security committee of the upper house of the Russian parliament, the Federation Council, Admiral Vladimir Komoyedov, said it was likely that Russian “volunteers” may fight alongside Syrian forces. (Western skepticism met the Kremlin’s claims that uniformed Russians seen fighting alongside separatists in eastern Ukraine were “volunteers.”)

When the Federation Council at the end of September agreed to President Vladimir Putin’s request to use military force in Syria, its speaker, Valentina Matviyenko, made it clear that the authorization was for an air operation only. “I will stress it – we are talking only about providing aviation support to the actions of the regular Syrian army,” the ITAR-Tass news agency quoted her as saying. “We are not talking about participating in the ground operation.” But unnamed U.S. defense officials told CNN this week that the Russians have been seen moving ground troops and artillery pieces in western Syria, apparently to support a Syrian ground offensive against anti-regime forces.

[Source]

See also:

Moscow’s Defense Ministry: ISIS is Using Mosques for Shelter, May Bomb Them to Implicate Russia
October 7, 2015 | Russia’s Defense Ministry warned Tuesday that militants in Syria may bomb mosques and then try to implicate the Russians, who are carrying out airstrikes in support of the Assad regime.

The ministry accused Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorists of sheltering in or near mosques, and released video footage taken from a drone which, it claims, shows weaponry and equipment being driven from wooded locations into an inhabited area and parked adjacent to a large mosque. It did not identify the town or the mosque. “After having recognized the high effectiveness of detection of armament and military hardware storages and the real threat of immediate liquidation, the terrorists are taking efforts to transport weapons to inhabited areas,” the ministry said in a statement. “As a rule, militants are deploying the armored hardware in close proximity to the mosques because they perfectly know that Russian aviation would never perform strikes on them.”

A still photo from drone footage, released by the Russian Defense Ministry, purports to show 'terrorists' in Syria moving weaponry and equipment from wooded areas to near a large mosque.​

The statement said that “moderate citizens” would never use peaceful civilians as human shields and would never “gather armed vehicles under the cover of religious institutions.” “All these actions are nothing but the signature of the terrorism.” The ministry said it was possible that the groups were now “intentionally preparing acts of provocation such as detonation of mosques in order to demonstrate fake photos and videos to indict the Russian aviation.” It quoted Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov as saying that terrorists “know our careful and respectful attitude to mosques. They clearly understand that we will never, on no condition, make strikes on non-military objects.”

Russia claims to be targeting ISIS in its air offensive launched a week ago. The U.S. and NATO say that it has been hitting other groups, including some anti-Assad opposition groups backed by the West. Islamic terrorists frequently take shelter in civilian areas, either to minimize the likelihood of being targeted there, or in the hope that the enemy will unintentionally harm civilians – and draw international condemnation. ISIS has been accused of using the “human shield” tactic in Iraq, as have the Taliban in Afghanistan, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Moscow’s Defense Ministry: ISIS is Using Mosques for Shelter, May Bomb Them to Implicate Russia

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - dem Russkies is just gettin' inna way...

Russia should not interfere in US efforts to destroy ISIS: White House
Oct 7, 2015, WASHINGTON: Amid Russia's escalating military activities in Syria, the White House has warned it not to interfere in the US-led international efforts to destroy the Islamic State in the strife-torn region. "The President has made quite clear that Russia should not be interfering with the 65-member international coalition that is seeking to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIS. We've made that quite clear," White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on Tuesday.

There has been at least one preliminary conversation between the US and Russian military officials to try to de-conflict those military activities, he said. He said many of the Russian military airstrikes have been carried out in areas where there are fewer or if any ISIS forces, and they're carrying out those military activities despite the fact that they say that they're focused on ISIS. "Russians acknowledge that the situation will only be resolved when there's a political transition inside of Syria, and yet, their actions are geared specifically at propping up a leader that has lost legitimacy to lead that country for a variety of reasons," Earnest said.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has lost both the moral authority to lead his country, but he's also lost the support of 80 per cent of the population, he claimed. The current Russian strategy of supporting the Assad regime and also hitting out at his opponents, he said, are likely to result in Russia becoming more isolated and Russia not accomplishing their stated goals, and antagonizing if not outright angering a significant Muslim population inside of Syria and a significant Muslim population inside of Russia. "So the significant negative consequences that Russia is facing right now as a result of their actions far outweighs any sort of diplomatic demarche that Russia could receive from the rest of the international community," he said. The US, he said, would continue to stay focused on its strategy, to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIS. "We are implementing that strategy. In recent weeks we've made some progress in terms of taking some ISIS leaders off the battlefield. We're going to continue to implement that strategy in a way that we think serves our interests."

But there's also no denying that what Russia is doing is further immersing themselves in a sectarian conflict that could ultimately lead to them being sucked into a quagmire in Syria, he added. On Afghanistan, Earnest said President Obama's policy in particular troops presence would be driven by the situation on the ground and long-term strategy in this war torn country. "What the future presence of US troops looks like and what future strategy will be in Afghanistan is something that will be determined by a variety of things," he said, adding that President Obama will certainly take into account the recommendations that are provided by Gen John Campbell, commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

MORE

See also:

US insists no cooperation with Russia on Syria air strikes
Oct 7, 2015, The United States on Wednesday insisted it was not cooperating with Russia over Moscow's air strikes in Syria with Defence Secretary Ashton Carter describing them as "a fundamental mistake".

"I have said before that we believed that Russia has the wrong strategy -- they continue to hit targets that are not ISIL. We believe this is a fundamental mistake," Carter told a press conference in Rome, referring to the Islamic State group by an alternative name.

"Despite what the Russians say we have not agreed to cooperate with Russia so long as they continue to pursue a mistaken strategy and hit these targets."

US insists no cooperation with Russia on Syria air strikes - The Times of India

 

[waltky]

According to Rev. Pat Robertson, it's part of Putin's goal to gain control of OPEC...

Russian warships in Caspian Sea strike Islamic State in Syria, emboldened Assad’s forces launch ground offensive
Oct 7, 2015: Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said Russia is using warships in the Caspian Sea to target the Islamic State group in Syria.

Russia last week began carrying out air strikes in Syria in what it said was a pre-emptive operation against terrorism in the Middle East. Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin in televised remarks that Russia on Wednesday morning carried out 26 missile strikes from four warships of its Caspian Sea flotilla. Shoigu insisted the operation destroyed all the targets and did not launch any strikes upon civilian areas.

Meanwhile, a Syrian official said a ground offensive has been launched in central regions of the country amid intense shelling and Russian air strikes. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the operations are concentrated in the neighboring provinces of Hama and Idlib.

Activists and rebels say Syrian troops backed by Russian air strikes battled insurgents in central Syria on Wednesday in the first major ground fighting since Moscow began launching air raids on militants last week. The Russian air strikes appear to have emboldened Syrian troops to launch a ground offensive after suffering a string of setbacks in northwestern Syria over the past few months.

Russian warships in Caspian Sea strike Islamic State in Syria, emboldened Assad’s forces launch ground offensive - The Times of India

See also:

As Russian warplanes bomb rebels, Iran pulls the strings in Syria
Oct 7, 2015: At a meeting in Moscow in July, a top Iranian general unfurled a map of Syria to explain to his Russian hosts how a series of defeats for President Bashar al-Assad could be turned into victory - with Russia's help.

Major general Qassem Soleimani's visit to Moscow was the first step in planning for a Russian military intervention that has reshaped the Syrian war and forged a new Iranian-Russian alliance in support of Assad. As Russian warplanes bomb rebels from above, the arrival of Iranian special forces for ground operations underscores several months of planning between Assad's two most important allies, driven by panic at rapid insurgent gains.

Soleimani is the commander of the Quds Force, the elite extra-territorial special forces arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, and reports directly to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Senior regional sources say he has already been overseeing ground operations against insurgents in Syria and is now at the heart of planning for the new Russian- and Iranian-backed offensive. That expands his regional role as the battlefield commander who has also steered the fight in neighboring Iraq by Iranian-backed Shi'ite militia against Islamic State.

His Moscow meeting outlined the deteriorating situation in Syria, where rebel advances toward the coast were posing a danger to the heartland of Assad's Alawite sect, where Russia maintains its only Mediterranean naval base in Tartous. "Soleimani put the map of Syria on the table. The Russians were very alarmed, and felt matters were in steep decline and that there were real dangers to the regime. The Iranians assured them there is still the possibility to reclaim the initiative," a senior regional official said. "At that time, Soleimani played a role in assuring them that we haven't lost all the cards."

"SEND SOLEIMANI"

 

[waltky]

Russian embassy in Syria gets hit by rocket attack...

Russia foils IS plot to blow up transport system
Oct 13, 2015: Highlighting a new terror threat to Russia raised by its air campaign in Syria, security officials said on Monday they have thwarted a planned attack on Moscow public transport system by militants trained by the Islamic State terror group. Sunday's arrest of several terror suspects - some of whom, intelligence officials say, were trained by IS in Syria -has brought back memories of the string of deadly bombings that struck the Russian capital just a few years ago.

President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged the new danger, but insisted that launching the Russian airstrikes in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad's army was necessary to fight IS and other militant groups before they pose an even bigger security challenge to Russia.

"If we just stood by and let Syria get gobbled up, thou sands of people running around there now with Kalashnikovs would end up on our territory, and so we are helping President Assad fight this threat before it reaches our borders," Putin said in an interview with Rossiya state television broadcast on Sunday . "We must take pre-emptive action," he said. "Of course, there are risks, but let me say that these risks existed anyway, even before we began our operations in Syria." Russian authorities have said that about 2,400 Russians have joined the IS group and voiced concern that they may pose a threat when they return home.

The latest arrests may play into Putin's hands, proving his point that IS pose a major threat to Russia and the air raids are a necessary response to the challenge. The Federal Security Service, Russia's main domestic security agency , said in Monday's statement that a device with 5 kg of explosives was found in a Moscow apartment rented by the suspects.The FSB said some of the suspects had been trained by IS militants and were plotting a terrorist attack.

Russia foils IS plot to blow up transport system - The Times of India

See also:


Panic as rockets hit Russian embassy in Damascus
Oct 13, 2015: Two rockets struck the Russian embassy in Damascus on Tuesday sparking panic as several hundred people gathered to express their support for Moscow's air war in Syria, an AFP photographer said.

According to the photographer at the scene, some 300 people had begun to gather for a demonstration thanking Russia for its recent intervention in Syria when the rockets crashed into the embassy in the Mazraa neighbourhood of the capital. There was widespread panic, but it was not immediately clear if anyone had been wounded or killed. Opposition fighters in the suburbs of the capital have targeted the embassy in the past but it was not clear if Tuesday's attack targeted the rally. Russia began launching airstrikes against insurgents in Syria on September 30.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said the rockets were fired from the eastern edges of the capital, where Islamist rebels are entrenched. The Russian embassy has been the target of rocket attacks before. On September 21, just nine days before it began its air war in Syria, Moscow demanded "concrete action" after a shell hit the embassy's compound in Damascus. In May, one person was killed by mortar rounds that landed nearby. Three were hurt when mortar rounds landed inside the compound in April.

Panic as rockets hit Russian embassy in Damascus - The Times of India

 

[waltky]

Russia wants to call the shots in Syria...

Russia Proposes ‘Division of Labor’ With US: You Deal With Iraq, We'll Deal With Syria
October 13, 2015 – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested Monday that Russia and the U.S.-led coalition split the task of bombing ISIS terrorists, with Russia focusing on Syria and the U.S. and its allies on Iraq.

“Such ‘division of labor’ would be absolutely logical,” Lavrov said during a joint press conference in Moscow with Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Secretary-General Lamberto Zannier. “The coalition has been invited to Iraq, but it has not been invited to Syria. Such coordinated actions could be useful to ensure efficiency, legitimacy and compliance with international law. We are ready for that.” Lavrov noted that Russia is operating in Syria at the request of the Assad regime – unlike the U.S. and its partners, which in the Kremlin’s view, have violated Syrian sovereignty and international law by carrying out military operation there over the past year.

In Iraq, the U.S.-led coalition has been acting against ISIS at the request of the government in Baghdad; Russia has not extended its airstrikes into Iraq although Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said he “would welcome” Russian airstrikes against ISIS inside his country as well. Obama administration officials contend that the Russian airstrikes in Syria, which began on September 30, have targeted predominantly non-ISIS targets – including opposition groups which the West has supported – and appear to have the primary purpose of shoring up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Secretary of State John Kerry raised those concerns in a phone conversation with Lavrov on Friday, according to the State Department.

Russia says it wants to coordinate military actions in Syria with the U.S. and has requested information about the locations of ISIS installations as well as those of non-ISIS, anti-Assad rebels groups, but that the U.S. has been unwilling to provide it. “We asked those who think to know better the situation ‘on the ground’ to tell us where are terrorists’ bases,” Lavrov said. “But so far, our partners from that coalition are not ready for it. We also asked to tell us where the non-terrorist – the so-called patriotic – opposition is active so that we could take this information into account in our action. Our partners don’t want to do that either.” Russia recently established an intelligence-sharing center in Baghdad, together with Iraq, Iran and the Assad regime, with the declared aim of sharing information about ISIS. Lavrov said Monday Moscow would welcome other countries joining that effort. “We invite all interested colleagues to join the work of the information center that we established in Baghdad together with the governments of Iraq, Syria and Iran,” he said.

MORE

See also:

ISIS Second-in-Command Killed in US Airstrike
Oct 14, 2015 - ISIS second-in-command killed in US airstrike. The news was reported by militants from the so-called Islamic State itself. A spokesperson for the radical Wahhabi group has confirmed that Abu Mutaz Qurashi, also known as Fadhil Ahmad al-Hayali, was killed in an airstrike carried out by American forces earlier this year.

Qurashi was the top aide of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. He was in charge of ISIS operations in Iraq and was instrumental in planning major offensives and attacks against the Iraqi Army, as well as against the Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the country. The deceased extremist militant was a former Iraqi army colonel during the Saddam Hussein regime. After being decommissioned by American forces, he quickly joined radical Sunni groups and eventually became a senior member of al-Qaeda, alongside al-Baghdadi. The White House has also confirmed his death and further reiterated the danger Qurashi had posed to the Iraqi Army and Peshmerga forces. He was a prime target of the anti-ISIS coalition, led by the United States and several Arab Gulf nations.

According to the Pentagon, ISIS would not have been able to occupy such large portions of territory in Iraq and Syria without Qurashi’s military command and expertise. He was also reportedly in charge of the ISIS takeover of Mosul, which happened in June 2014. Furthermore, Qurashi was believed to be a leading figure in al-Baghdadi’s circles on matters of internal politics and the application of the radical Wahhabi ideology the extremist group adheres to. His death comes as a great victory for all forces involved in the struggle against the so-called Islamic State. However, militants from the extremist group have said that Qurashi has been martyred and they call on all their sympathizers to wage jihad against American and Russian forces involved in the fight against ISIS.

Earlier this month, reports have surfaced that the ISIS leader himself, al-Baghdadi, was allegedly killed in an air raid carried out by the Iraqi Army. It was indeed confirmed that the airstrike had targeted the convoy carrying al-Baghdadi to a meeting with fellow ISIS leaders, but the Pentagon maintains that he managed to escape in one vehicle which evaded the attack. Al-Baghdadi remains the primary target of the anti-ISIS coalition. He is venerated as a ‘caliph’ by members of the terror network, who regard him as a direct descendent of the Prophet Muhammad. The US State Department lists al-Baghdadi as a global terrorist and has placed a $10 million reward for any information leading to his capture or death.

ISIS Second-in-Command Killed in US Airstrike

 

[waltky]

Granny says dem Commies is gettin' sassy...

Obama warns Russia can not bomb its way to Syria peace
Oct 17, 2015 | WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Saturday warned Russia they could not "bomb their way" to a peaceful solution in Syria, reiterating his view that propping up President Bashar al-Assad will fail.

Speaking after US and Russian militaries reached a tentative deal to prevent mid-air clashes over Syria, Obama said there had been "no meeting of the minds in terms of strategy." "They are not going to be able to bomb their way to a peaceful situation inside of Syria," Obama told a joint press conference with visiting South Korean President Park Geun-Hye. His comments come as Russia steps up its bombing campaign in support of Assad and US officials say as many as 2,000 Iranian and Iranian-backed forces are helping regime troops in an offensive near Aleppo.

Obama said Iran was "just doing more of what they have been doing for the last five years, as is Russia." "Their basic theory on how to solve Syria has not worked and will not work." "Their preference originally was - we will simply send arms and money to Assad and he will be able to clamp down on dissent, and when that didn't work, they directed Hezbollah to come in and prop them up and sent in some of their own military advisers, and that did not work," he said. "Now the Russians have come in and Iran is going to send more people in, but it's also not going to work because they are trying to support a regime that in the eyes of the overwhelming majority of the Syrian people is not legitimate."

Obama warns Russia can not bomb its way to Syria peace - The Times of India

See also:

Russia says it has bombed 456 ‘Islamic State targets’ in Syria so far, rebukes US
Oct 16, 2015: Russia has hit more than 456 Islamic State (ISIS) group targets since launching its bombing campaign in Syria on September 30, a high-ranking military official said on Friday.

"Since the Russian air force went into action on September 30, we made 669 combat sorties," Colonel General Andrei Kartapolov, a senior Russian general staff official said in a defence ministry statement. "In the strikes, 456 targets have been destroyed," he said. "According to the general staff, we were able to significantly disrupt the militants' infrastructure, supply and control systems of the terrorist groups." Russia launched a bombing campaign in Syria in support of its longstanding ally President Bashar al-Assad, but it has been criticised by the west for hitting moderate groups rather than Islamic State jihadists. Kartapolov said the air force is avoiding areas where the Free Syrian Army — the main western-backed opposition force — is believed to be operating. "We only hit targets of internationally-recognized terrorist groups. Our planes are not working in southern Syria, where, according to our information, the Free Syrian Army groups are located," he said.

Moscow's military has systematically claimed its strikes have hit Islamic State group targets despite the fact that many of the sites struck seem to fall outside territory held by the group. The United States and other members of a rival coalition targeting ISIS say Moscow has focused the bulk of its firepower on other rebel groups battling Assad. In an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, Kartapolov slammed the US-led coalition, saying Washington had not responded to Russia's invitation to cooperate in the fight against ISIS. "They consider it humiliating to admit that they cannot fulfil a task they had set out for themselves one year ago without Russia," Kartapolov said, slamming the coalition's yearlong bombing campaign as "window dressing". "They are in fact unlikely to have the necessary amount of information about ISIS targets, which the results of their strikes reflects," he said. He added that Russia is close to signing an agreement on safe use of Syrian airspace with the United States: "We believe that this document will be signed shortly."

Kartapolov also accused the US coalition of bombing infrastructure essential to a ground operation by the Syrian army. "It (coalition bombing) does not complicate the activities of ISIL as much as that of the government forces of President Assad," he said, using another acronym to refer to ISIS. Speaking at a regional summit in Kazakhstan on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin meanwhile praised the Russian campaign, saying the strikes had "destroyed dozens of command posts, munitions depots, hundreds of terrorists and a large amount of military hardware". The Russian defence ministry said on Friday that the latest air strikes had created "favourable conditions" for a Syrian ground offensive and destroyed two ISIS command posts in Aleppo province, among other targets. Kartapolov said that Russia — which already has a naval facility in the port city of Tartus and uses an airfield in Latakia — could build a full-fledged Russian military base in the country.

Russia says it has bombed 456 ‘Islamic State targets’ in Syria so far, rebukes US - The Times of India

 

[Two Thumbs]

Granny askin', "Since when does Russia dictate to us what we gonna do???...

Russia to U.S.: cooperate with us or risk ‘unintended consequences’
September 12, 2015 - Russia warned there could be ‘unintended consequences’ if the U.S. does not engage in military-to-military cooperation with Moscow, as the Kremlin stages navy exercises off the coast of Syria.

Russia’s military build up in the region has drawn concern from the U.S. and NATO. Moscow says their goal is to help end terrorism in Syria, but the U.S. has warned that Russia’s involvement could exacerbate Syria’s multi-sided civil war and is concerned over Russia’s support for Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov blamed Washington for cutting off direct military-to-military communication between Russia and NATO after the crisis in Ukraine last year.

He said such contracts were “important for the avoidance of undesired, unintended incidents,” Reuters reported. “We are always in favor of military people talking to each other in a professional way. They understand each other very well,” Mr. Lavrov said. “If, as (U.S. Secretary of State) John Kerry has said many times, the United States wants those channels frozen, then be our guest.” In recent days, U.S. officials have described what they say is an increase of Russian equipment and manpower, Reuters reported.

President Barack Obama meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, Monday, June 17, 2013. Obama and Putin discussed the ongoing conflict in Syria during their bilateral meeting.

President Barack Obama said Russia’s involvement would not change U.S. strategy in the fight against Islamic State terrorists, which included U.S. planes leading an international coalition in airstrikes in Syria. “But we are going to be engaging Russia to let them know that you can’t continue to double-down on a strategy that is doomed to failure,” he said at an event with military service members during a visit to Maryland, Reuters reported.

Recent intelligence reports have indicated that Moscow is sending anti-aircraft missiles to Syria. The system would be operated by Russia troops, rather than Syrians, a Western official said, Reuters reported. U.S. officials have also said they believe about 200 Russian naval infantry forces were now stationed at an airfield near the Syrian city of Latakia, an Assad stronghold, and that number has increased in recent days. Mr. Lavrov has said Russia was sending supplies to help Mr. Assad fight extremists and said Russia servicemen were in Syria primarily to help service equipment and teach Syrian soldiers how to use it.

Russia to U.S.: cooperate with us or risk 'unintended consequences' - Washington Times

2 countries on the battlefield not communicating to each other can end up killing each other instead of their enemy.

I say let russia kill shit and get bogged down and waste their money. Just send them intel, in the spirit of co-operation.

 

[waltky]

Good point 2 Thumbs...

... mebbe that's what we should have done in Afghanistan...

... with the mujahadeen...

... would be a far different scenario now...

... had we let the Russkies take care of their neck of the woods.

 

[Two Thumbs]

Good point 2 Thumbs...

... mebbe that's what we should have done in Afghanistan...

... with the mujahadeen...

... would be a far different scenario now...

... had we let the Russkies take care of their neck of the woods.

We wanted to give them a VN, and we did.

but we go in, giving ourselves another VN

Now the Russians come back as well? No reason to not help them have another VN

 

[Vikrant]

Russia sucks.

It's a loser country.

But Obama's incompetence is allowing it to reassert itself.

I'd like to go there though. I like the Russian people.

I am assuming your ego is bigger than your ass

 

[waltky]

Handwritin' on the wall for Assad?...

Russia says wants Syria elections, ready to help Free Syrian Army
Sat Oct 24, 2015 - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Kremlin wanted Syria to prepare for parliamentary and presidential elections, as Moscow intensified its drive to convert its increased clout with Damascus into a political settlement.

In comments which mark a shift in Russia's position, he also said that Russia's airforce, which has been bombing Islamist militants in Syria since Sept. 30, would be ready to help Western-backed Free Syrian Army rebels, if it knew where they were. The Kremlin, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's strongest foreign ally, has spoken broadly about the need for elections in Syria before. But Lavrov's comments were its most specific call for political renewal yet and came just days after a surprise visit by Assad to Moscow. "External players can not decide anything for the Syrians. We must force them to come up with a plan for their country where the interests of every religious, ethnic and political group will be well protected," Lavrov told Russian state TV in an interview broadcast on Saturday. "They need to prepare for both parliamentary and presidential elections."

A Sukhoi Su-24 fighter jet takes off from the Hmeymim air base near Latakia, Syria​

Lavrov on Saturday phoned U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss organizing talks between the Syrian government and opposition, the Russian foreign ministry said. It said the two men had spoken of the need to tap the potential of other countries in the region to push the political process forward. The U.S. state department declined to comment, pointing to what Kerry had said about Syria in Vienna on Friday when he struck an upbeat note about the possibility of cooperating with Russia to find a political solution even as he acknowledged that the basic disagreement on Assad’s future remained.

Moscow says Assad must be part of any transition and that the Syrian people will decide who rules them. Washington has said it could tolerate Assad during a short transition period, but that he would then have to exit the political stage. Lavrov, who also discussed Syria on Saturday with his Iranian and Egyptian counterparts, said the Kremlin had told Assad during his Moscow visit that political progress was needed. Lavrov said the success of Assad's army on the battlefield, with Russian air support, would consolidate his government, making it more interested in a political deal. Lavrov's interview was broadcast a day after a meeting in Vienna between Russia, the United States, Turkey and Saudi Arabia where a political solution to Syria's civil war - now in its fifth year - was discussed.

MORE

See also:

Russia Says It's 'Ready to Help' Western-backed Rebels in Syria
October 24, 2015: Russia on Saturday expressed its support for elections in Syria and said it was ready to help Western-backed Free Syrian Army rebels.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow wanted Syria to prepare for parliamentary and presidential elections, and he indicated his government would take firm action if necessary to move that process forward. Speaking on Russian state television, Lavrov said the Kremlin was intensifying its drive “to convert its increased clout with Damascus into a political settlement.” He did not, however, give details about how there could be a transition from years of civil war in Syria, with an enormous toll of casualties and displaced civilians, toward a political settlement. "External players cannot decide anything for the Syrians," he said. "We must force them to come up with a plan for their country where the interests of every religious, ethnic and political group will be well protected. ... They need to prepare for both parliamentary and presidential elections."

In contrast to Moscow's previous broad statements about Syrian politics, Lavrov's comments appeared to signal a specific call by the Kremlin for political renewal in the war-torn country. The Russian foreign minister criticized U.S. policy on Syria and denied Western charges that Russia's airstrikes in Syria had indiscriminately targeted Western-backed rebels as well as Islamic State extremists.

Lavrov said Russia's air force would be ready to help units of the "patriotic opposition" in Syria — specifically, the Free Syrian Army — if it knew their whereabouts. He contended that the U.S. and its allies had refused to provide information about the rebel units' locations, or to "coordinate" their anti-terrorist campaign against Islamic State extremists with Russia's military. "I repeat: The Americans' refusal to coordinate their anti-terrorist campaign with us is a big mistake," Lavrov said. "We are seriously prepared for such coordination. Though we are denied information on the terrorists' whereabouts ... we are ready to give air support to the patriotic opposition, including the so-called Free Syrian Army. But we need to get in contact with the people who will have the authority to represent certain armed groups which are fighting against terrorism, among other things."

Rebels: Stop bombing

 

[waltky]

Russia needs to back off...

Russia’s ‘Power Projection’ in Western Hemisphere is ‘Deeply Troubling’
October 26, 2015 – Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) expressed concern over what he called Russia’s recent “power projection” in the Western Hemisphere, including flying military aircraft near the coasts of Alaska and California.

“Russia’s engagement in the Western Hemisphere is deeply troubling,” Duncan said Thursday during a hearing held by the U.S. House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, which Duncan chairs. “At a time when Russia is flexing its geopolitical muscles in other parts of the world, its power projection in our very region should be met with U.S. strength, resilience, and clarity,” he said.

Duncan gave several examples of Russian military activity in the Western Hemisphere last year. “In June [of 2014], NORAD reported it had scrambled two F-22s and two F-15s after seeing a fleet of Russian bombers off the coasts of Alaska and California. “In July, Russian President Putin traveled to the region to visit Cuba, Nicaragua, Argentina, and Brazil. At that time, Russia forgave 90 percent of Cuba's debt, and reportedly, Russia and Cuba agreed to reopen the Lourdes base only 150 miles from the United States' coast. “In September, the U.S. intercepted Russian fighter jets and tankers in airspace near Alaska, and just in November of last year, Russia announced that it planned to send its long-range bombers to the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. “The United States did very little in response to all these developments,” Duncan pointed out.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), who previously chaired the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also expressed her concern regarding Russian activities in the region, including Russian bombers “regularly patrolling the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.” “The Russian Federation's activities in Latin America have a clear intent: eroding U.S. influence in our region, increasing military cooperation with the adversaries of democracy, of transparency, of the rule of law in Latin America,” she said. “By forming military alliances and increasing defense cooperation, Russia has effectively gained power projection of forces right in our back yard. “According to the Russian defense minister, supersonic bombers are regularly patrolling the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico to quote 'monitor foreign military powers, military activities, and maritime communications' end quote, and have on occasion landed in Venezuela just as they did precisely two years ago today. “This year [Nicaraguan president Daniel] Ortega agreed to allow Russia to establish a satellite station in Nicaragua, and Nicaragua recently expressed an interest in acquiring top of the line MiG-29 fighters to be used in counter-narcotics operations, fueling fears that the Russians may have a continuous military footprint so close to our nation,” she noted.

Rep. Duncan: Russia’s ‘Power Projection’ in Western Hemisphere is ‘Deeply Troubling’

 

[waltky]

ISIS in Russia lookin' for recruits...

Islamic State on recruitment spree in Russia
Oct 28,`15 -- The Russian province of Dagestan, a flashpoint for Islamic violence in the North Caucasus, is feeding hundreds of fighters to the Islamic State in Syria - and now some are coming back home with experience gained from the battlefield.

The departures mean that the region itself has become markedly less violent recently with fewer bombings and shootings. And the returning fighters have either landed in jail or been kept under close police surveillance. But there are long-term concerns that the presence of radical Muslims trained in IS warfare could lead to greater instability and violence. "We can't allow them to use the experience they have just gained in Syria back home," Russian President Vladimir Putin said recently. Eduard Urazayev, a former minister in Dagestan's provincial government, and now a political analyst, said that poverty and unemployment in the region made the IS recruiters' job easier. "If the high level of corruption and unfavorable socio-economic situation remain," Urazayev said, "it may further fuel protest sentiments and increase sympathy for the IS."

Russian special force soldiers wear masks during an anti-terrorist operation in Makhachkala, regional capital of Dagestan, Russia. The Russian province of Dagestan, a flashpoint for Islamic violence in the North Caucasus, is feeding hundreds of fighters to the Islamic State in Syria, officials say, and now some are coming back home with experience gained from the battlefield.​

The Islamist insurgency that has swept Russia's North Caucasus after two separatist wars in Chechnya has a proclaimed goal of carving out an independent state governed by Shariah law. The Caucasus Emirate, an umbrella group comprised of rebels in several Caucasus provinces, has sworn allegiance to the IS. Alexei Malashenko, an expert on Islam with the Carnegie Endowment's Moscow office, said that officials in the Caucasus had an interest in encouraging the militants to move out of the region. "A drop in the Islamists' activity and the reduction in the number of casualties in the North Caucasus in 2014-2015 were the result of militants leaving for the Middle East," Malashenko wrote in a recent article.

Officials said they were keeping close watch on those who return. Dagestan authorities have tried to register all followers of Salafism, a radical branch of Sunni Islam, taking their fingerprints and DNA samples. Sharaputdin Arslanbekov, a police official in Makhachkala in charge of fighting extremism, said the official number of Dagestan residents who have left for Syria stands at 419, but reliable intelligence indicates that the actual figure is around 700, a significant share of an estimated 2,500 Russian citizens with IS. Arslanbekov said IS recruiters were working actively in universities and schools, taking advantage of economic and social problems in the region. "The recruiters are quite sly and well-prepared, they know methods of ideological indoctrination and are good psychologists," he said.

MORE

 

[Igrok_]

ISIS in Russia lookin' for recruits...

Islamic State on recruitment spree in Russia

some people thought they are civilians or peaceful 'rebels'

 

[waltky]

Russia sneakin' Iranian weapons into Syria...

Russia Flying Iranian Weapons Shipments Into Syria, Sources Say
Oct 29, 2015 | Russia has helped Iran deliver weapons into Syria twice a day over the past 10 days, western intelligence sources tell Fox News.

Those sources say Russian cargo planes transported the weapons. The planes were spotted earlier this month on the tarmac at the Russian air base in Latakia, Syria's primary port city. The flights are not registered, and are in breach of two United Nations Security Council resolutions that impose an arms embargo on Iran.

Fox News is told the increased Russian transport of Iranian weapons is being coordinated by Qassem Soulimeini, the head of the Iranian Al-Quds force, as well as President Vladimir Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. An Iranian civilian airline, Mahan Air, is flying military personnel into Syria several times each day from Tehran to Latakia.

Tehran's support has been crucial to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's survival. Besides significant financial aid to Assad, Iran has acknowledged that its Revolutionary Guard officers are on the ground in Syria in an advisory role. There have been multiple Iranian officers and soldiers killed in fighting in Syria, though Tehran denies the presence of actual combat troops in the country.

Russia Flying Iranian Weapons Shipments Into Syria, Sources Say | Military.com

 

[waltky]

Kinda looks like dey gonna be shootin' at our jets...

Russia Sends 'Antiaircraft Missiles' To Syria
November 05, 2015 - The commander of the Russian Air Force says Russia has deployed antiaircraft missile systems to Syria.

In an interview with the daily Komsomolskaya Pravda published on November 5, Colonel General Viktor Bondarev said Russia made the decision because "we have calculated all possible threats."

For instance, he added, a military aircraft could be hijacked in a country neighboring Syria and used to attack Russian forces. He did not specify the type of missiles deployed. Bondarev also said Russia has more than 50 planes and helicopters stationed in Syria.

Moscow says it launched its bombing campaign in Syria on September 30 to target "terrorists," but the United States and its allies claim Russia's increasing military involvement in the Syrian conflict aims at beefing up President Bashar al-Assad.

Russia Sends Missiles To Syria

See also:

Why Are Russian, Central Asian Militants Vanishing From Social Networks?
November 05, 2015 - Russian and Central Asian militants fighting alongside Islamic State (IS), Al-Qaeda, and the Taliban in Syria and Iraq are disappearing from social-networking sites like Odnoklassniki and VKontakte.

Whereas just a few months ago, these networks were abuzz with propaganda and recruitment activity from personal militant accounts and official propaganda pages, many accounts have been banned, gone quiet, or closed. Where have all the militants gone?

Where have all the militants gone?​

Continual bans -- particularly on VKontakte -- as well as concerns that law enforcement agencies could monitor recruitment efforts likely account for some of the reduction of militant activity. Some militants may have deleted their own accounts for security reasons. Another reason for the slowdown in militant activity could be an uptick in deaths. And there is also evidence that militants are moving over to the new and more secure Telegram messaging service.

Telegram

Over the past months, IS has shifted at least some of its propaganda and recruitment efforts to the Telegram mobile messaging app. More recently, Russian-speaking and Central Asian militants from IS-, Taliban-, and Al-Qaeda-affiliated groups have also opened Telegram accounts. There are at least four official or semiofficial Russian-language IS news accounts on Telegram -- IS News, ShamToday, FuratMedia, and Voenkorr. The IS News account has been advertised on Twitter this week as the official Russian-language IS Telegram group.

Why Are Russian, Central Asian Militants Vanishing From Social Networks?

Mebbe dey goin' over to the Dark Net?

 

[waltky]

Russian gays wantin' to move to America...

Russian Applications For U.S. Asylum Skyrocket In 2015
Monday, November 4, 2015 - The number of new U.S. asylum applications by Russians has reached its highest level in more than two decades, a surge that immigration lawyers link to the Kremlin's tightening grip on politics, pervasive corruption, and discrimination and violence against sexual minorities.

Russian nationals filed 1,454 new asylum applications in the 2015 fiscal year ending September 30, up 50 percent from the previous year and more than double the number filed in 2012, when President Vladimir Putin returned to the Kremlin after a four-year stint as prime minister, according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security data obtained by RFE/RL under the Freedom Of Information Act. It is the third consecutive year that the number of U.S. asylum applications filed by Russian citizens has risen since Putin took office for a third presidential term. A single asylum application can include more than one individual, such as the spouse or children of the applicant.

Russian riot police detain gay rights activist Nikolai Alekseyev during an unauthorized gay-rights rally in central Moscow​

The data obtained by RFE/RL does not specify the motivations of the applicants for seeking asylum. U.S. immigration lawyers have said the steady rise is likely driven in part by an exodus of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Russians after Putin signed a controversial 2013 law banning the spread among minors of "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations." Western governments have denounced the law as discriminatory, and rights groups say it has helped foster an atmosphere of impunity for those who commit acts of violence against gay people. Putin insists the law does not infringe on LGBT rights and is merely aimed at protecting children.

Politics And Corruption

Anecdotal evidence from lawyers who work with Russian asylum seekers suggests that the sharp spike in new applications this year may also be tied to an increasing number of Russians claiming to be victims of political persecution and threats or harassment by corrupt officials. New York-based immigration attorney Alena Shautsova tells RFE/RL that she has fielded an increasing number of inquiries this year from Russians due to their opposition to Putin's policies and actions, including the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine last year. "They reach out to me and they say, ‘Well, we can't live there anymore. How can we immigrate?'" Shautsova says, adding that her clients include both LGBT Russians and those purportedly persecuted for their political views.

Since returning to the presidency, Putin has embarked on a range of domestic policies that have further consolidated the Kremlin's control of Russia's political landscape. He has sharpened the state-owned media's messaging to more closely mirror the Kremlin line and cracked down on foreign funding for nongovernmental organizations, many of which are critical of his policies. Opposition activists -- including prominent anticorruption crusader Aleksei Navalny -- have also been targeted in criminal cases widely seen as politically motivated.

MORE

 

[waltky]

The devil knows he has a short time to act before Obama leaves office...

US Doesn’t Seek Conflict With Russia, But Will Defend its Interests and Allies
November 9, 2015 – Russia seems intent on eroding the principles that have underpinned the international order for decades, and the United States, while not seeking conflict, will act to defend its interests and allies in the face of Moscow’s provocations, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said at the weekend.

“We do not seek a cold, let alone a hot war with Russia,” Carter said in an address at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif. “We do not seek to make Russia an enemy. But make no mistake; the United States will defend our interests, and our allies, the principled international order, and the positive future it affords us all.” Picking up on the forum’s theme – “peace through strength in a time of transition and turbulence” – Carter said Russia was a source of “turbulence” in today’s world, while China’s rise was driving “transition” in the Asia-Pacific.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt is seen in the background shortly after Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, seated here in a V-22 Osprey, visited the aircraft carrier in the South China Sea​

While neither was capable of overturning the international order that has served the U.S. and many other countries well for decades – an order involving the peaceful resolution of disputes, freedom from coercion and respect for state sovereignty – both Russia and China present different challenges to it, he said. “In the face of Russia’s provocations and China’s rise, we must embrace innovative approaches to protect the United States and strengthen that international order.” Carter painted a somber picture of Russia’s actions in Europe and the Middle East, and what he described as its “nuclear saber-rattling.”

“In Europe, Russia has been violating sovereignty in Ukraine and Georgia and actively trying to intimidate the Baltic states,” he said. “Meanwhile, in Syria, Russia is throwing gasoline on an already dangerous fire, prolonging a civil war that fuels the very extremism Russia claims to oppose.” “At sea, in the air, in space, and in cyberspace, Russian actors have engaged in challenging activities,” Carter continued. “And, most disturbing, Moscow’s nuclear saber-rattling raises questions about Russia’s leaders’ commitment to strategic stability, their respect for norms against the use of nuclear weapons, and whether they respect the profound caution nuclear-age leaders showed with regard to the brandishing of nuclear weapons.”

MORE