1) Are We In A Proxy War With Russia ..... 2) Is Russia Guilty Of War Crimes?

[ScottL]

1)
14 U.S. Troops Wounded in Iraq and Syria since October - Andrew deGrandpre (Military Times)
At least 14 American military personnel have been wounded in combat since the start of October while battling Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria, according to Defense Department data.
The numbers suggest that more U.S. troops are being sent closer to the Islamic State's front lines to direct or help local forces.
More than 5,500 U.S. troops are now deployed in both theaters.

Who the hack are we fighting over there? Because,

2)
Report: Israeli Spy Satellite Discovers Secret Russian Missile Cache in Syria (Jerusalem Post)
In high-definition photos taken by the Israeli "Eros B" spy satellite, Russian mobile short-range Iskander ballistic missiles are clearly seen on trucks inside an army base in Latakia, Syria, Israel's Channel 2 reported Friday.
The pictures prove that Russia has provided Syria with some of its most advanced missiles.
Strong rainstorms forced the Russians to transfer the missiles to different locations using trucks, leaving them exposed.
The Iskander, with a range of up to 500 km., has the capacity to carry nuclear warheads and is superior to the older Scud missile.
Its accuracy is very high and it can strike a target within a 7-meter radius, compared with the Scud which can strike within a 450-meter radius.

Is it unfair to say these weapons were turned on Syrian civilians by the dictator's airforce, supported by Russia? Is that not a war crime?

 

[superbeets]

American troops are in a war zone, anyone in a war zone, military advisers,civilians,journalists are at risk of injury or death. that is a given.

Russia since 1944 has had strong ties with Syria, Syria is strategically important to Russia. It houses the only Russian military facility outside of the former USSR.

The Tartus naval base is critical to Russia, and Russia will defend that to the last, even if it means World war.

Russia has always in modern history been the supplier of almost all its arms.

The Assad regime while vile has been little different from the majority of Arab country regimes historically. The only sane country in the region is Israel. Arabs do as Arabs do.


The only hope is for the Assad regime once again to control the whole of Syria. Otherwise we have another Yemen, Libya, Iraq, or a even viler Islamic state like Iran.

The West has supplied umpteen vile anti Assad groups with incredibly sophisticated weaponry. All these groups bar the Kurds are vile shit Islamists. A Western solution to Syria will be a State that is far worse than the Assad regime. Assad was not a threat to the West, a toppled Assad Syria will be a constant threat to the West and the region.

 

[SheriffJoe]

face)(*^%

 

[Dave007inVegas]

14 U.S. Troops Wounded in Iraq and Syria since October - Andrew deGrandpre (Military Times)
At least 14 American military personnel have been wounded in combat since the start of October
while battling Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria, according to Defense Department data.
The numbers suggest that more U.S. troops are being sent closer to the Islamic State's front lines
to direct or help local forces. More than 5,500 U.S. troops are now deployed in both theaters.

That report has to be an out right lie because Obama repeatedly promised no boots on the ground.

Aug. 20, 2013
"Again, I repeat: We’re not considering any open-ended commitment. We’re not considering any boots-on-
the-ground approach."
-Obama at a press conference at the White House with Baltic leaders

Aug. 30, 2013
"And in no event are we considering any kind of military action that would involve boots on the ground;
that would involve a long-term campaign."
-Obama in remarks with the presidents of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia at the White House

Aug. 31, 2013
"Now, after careful deliberation, I have decided that the United States should take military action against
Syrian regime targets. This would not be an open-ended intervention. We would not put boots on the ground."
-Obama in a statement on Syria at the White House

Sept. 7, 2013
"What we’re talking about is not an open-ended intervention. This would not be another Iraq or Afghanistan. There would be no American boots on the ground."
-Obama in his weekly address

Sept. 9, 2013
"This will not be Iraq or Afghanistan. There will be no American boots on the ground — period."
-National Security Advisor Susan Rice

Sept. 10, 2013
"I will not put American boots on the ground in Syria."
-Obama in a televised national address from the White House

More recently, in 2014, Obama talked less about "no boots on the ground" and more about those
hypothetical troops not having a "combat" mission or be actually fighting — a distinction the
White House keyed on Friday.

Sept. 5, 2014
"With respect to the situation on the ground in Syria, we will not be placing U.S. ground troops
to try to control the areas that are part of the conflict inside of Syria."
-Obama in remarks at a NATO conference

Sept. 10, 2014
"I want the American people to understand how this effort will be different from the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan. It will not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil."
-Obama in his plan to destroy the Islamic State

Sept. 19, 2014
"The president has ruled out the option of deploying American boots on the ground in Iraq and in Syria
in a combat role."
-Earnest in a press briefing


Sept. 20, 2014
"I won’t commit our troops to fighting another ground war in Iraq, or in Syria."
-Obama in his weekly address


The bullshit artist can't leave soon enough.

 

[ScottL]

The questions (at least I thought they) were non-political.

 

[superbeets]

 

[Willie99]

we are at war with Russia, they protect their interests and we protect ours (or used to)

we seem to be on the opposite side of many issues, but one thing both countries can agree on is that radical MUSLIM terrorists must be killed, annihilated, exterminator, removed from the face of the earth

only then can peace come to the ME

 

[Dave007inVegas]

The questions (at least I thought they) were non-political.

Gibbs rule # 51

 

[fletchisrhsm]

Clinton wanted as much of our intelligence community seems to want war with Russia via proxy or full blown conflict. The Neocons have finally returned home to their liberal rats nests but it is sure funny watching people like McCain and Grahm run around like cockroaches with no home as the light is turned on. Pathetic.

 

[ScottL]

Fletcher hope life is good. Good to see someone overcome addiction to this room ;-)
Don't always agree with you but you present an interesting viewpoint.
You still blogging or tweeting?

 

[fletchisrhsm]

Fletcher hope life is good. Good to see someone overcome addiction to this room ;-)
Don't always agree with you but you present an interesting viewpoint.
You still blogging or tweeting?

H
haha all good my man. Hope youve been well and i hope the holidays were good to you. I picked some writing back up again a few weeks ago. Still betting, not cashing as many tickets as i would like but its January. Always a swoon for me with the hoops this time of year. Still tweeting into an oblivion of nothing. Voted for the prick Trump, had to go that route this time around. I hope to get some whores sometime with you go over to the city and treat them liberal whores to a night of savagery and maybe a rail or two off a strippers ass.

 

[ScottL]

Why now BO?

U.S. Troops Carry Out Ground Raid against ISIS in Syria - Liz Sly and Missy Ryan (Washington Post)
U.S. Special Operations troops carried out a ground operation on Sunday near Deir al-Zour, deep in the heart of Islamic State territory in eastern Syria, U.S. officials said Monday.
The troops, who landed in helicopters, spent 90 minutes in the area, then left carrying Islamic State captives and bodies.
A U.S. defense official said that during the operation, aimed at capturing an Islamic State militant, a firefight broke out and the militant, along with another person in the vehicle, was killed. No Americans were injured.
Full Article:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...52e1df-f035-493c-bb2e-3932d788be01_story.html

 

[TotalRecall]

H
haha all good my man. Hope youve been well and i hope the holidays were good to you. I picked some writing back up again a few weeks ago. Still betting, not cashing as many tickets as i would like but its January. Always a swoon for me with the hoops this time of year. Still tweeting into an oblivion of nothing. Voted for the prick Trump, had to go that route this time around. I hope to get some whores sometime with you go over to the city and treat them liberal whores to a night of savagery and maybe a rail or two off a strippers ass.

An article abut an "Eros B" spy satellite leading to a plan to watch strippers.
Why am I not surprised? LoL!
Nice to see intellectuals like Fletch thinking of coming back.
I've been thinking the same thing. It's a whole new world since we were last here.

 

[ScottL]

An article abut an "Eros B" spy satellite leading to a plan to watch strippers.
Why am I not surprised? LoL!
Nice to see intellectuals like Fletch thinking of coming back.
I've been thinking the same thing. It's a whole new world since we were last here.

Also it's refreshing to occasionally see a post from someone on the front line of the W.O.T. -- Whaddup Buddy! ;-)

 

[fletchisrhsm]

An article abut an "Eros B" spy satellite leading to a plan to watch strippers.
Why am I not surprised? LoL!
Nice to see intellectuals like Fletch thinking of coming back.
I've been thinking the same thing. It's a whole new world since we were last here.

Damn son, havent seen you in YEARS? How you been?

 

[TotalRecall]

Fine. Just Fine. Been takin the cool quiet ride for the last few years. Route 66 baby. It's a world that's crazy, man. Sometimes even W.O.T isn't far enough for my refined senses.
Came out from under the porch and voted for Trump, too. Last time I voted was 44 years ago. So the BS Fake News Russian narrative isn't what lost the election. It was voters like me trying to save whatever we can of this country and maybe turn this firesale thing (everything must go) I used to predict would happen OFF because it needed to stop now.
Now we wait and see if he will do what we need him to do.

 

[fletchisrhsm]

Fine. Just Fine. Been takin the cool quiet ride for the last few years. Route 66 baby. It's a world that's crazy, man. Sometimes even W.O.T isn't far enough for my refined senses.
Came out from under the porch and voted for Trump, too. Last time I voted was 44 years ago. So the BS Fake News Russian narrative isn't what lost the election. It was voters like me trying to save whatever we can of this country and maybe turn this firesale thing (everything must go) I used to predict would happen OFF because it needed to stop now.
Now we wait and see if he will do what we need him to do.

You were the most out of his mind poster ive ever had the pleasure of coming across. I mean that as a compliment. Despite some of the most obvious nutjob batshit crazy you would come up with there was always a stroke of pure fucking genius and research behind your takes.... im with you on the election as well. It was lost by the elites to the working man struggling to provide for his family knowing he was being gamed by a system that couldnt give two shits about political persuasion or parties. For many of us i dont think it was so much "I like Trump' as it was like being in prison with two life sentences and getting a chance to work in the boiler room. For me it was the FP with Russia that turned me from Gary Johnson to Trump. I have kids now. Rather not watch them be incinerated by a hydrogen bomb. Also, those emails were fucking insane. Sure politically it hurts BUT there is alot of twisted shit in them as well. And you have Clinton (Bill) being brought up in a questionable light and we all know that sick fuck would stick his dick in a spade shaped cheese grader. I really think Hillary clinton and her shady dealings with pay to play showed alot as well. Trump is surely a threat to those in control behind the scenes (banking, lobbyists, special interest) it will be interesting to see how far and he can stick a his arm into the gears.

 

[ScottL]

Putin's Syria: Success through Strength - Prof. Eyal Zisser (Israel Hayom)
Russian President Vladimir Putin is the most powerful man in the Middle East today.
The peace Putin is pushing in Syria is not a "just peace," but rather a peace completely based on force.
Putin is far from being a "fair mediator." He took a clear stance on one side of the conflict - Assad's side.
The military presence the U.S. maintains across the Middle East - soldiers, planes and warships - is 10 times as big as the Russian military presence in Syria, but everyone ignores them.
The lesson for Israel is that the key to success in our region is not in trying to appease anyone, but in standing up for our interests resolutely and showing strength.
Whoever wishes to advance Israeli-Palestinian negotiations should pay attention to this.
The writer, vice rector at Tel Aviv University, is former director of its Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies.

 

[ScottL]

Iran's Axis of Resistance Rises - Payam Mohseni and Hussein Kalout

What is known as the "axis of resistance," with Iran as its undisputed center, includes Iraq, Syria, Hizbullah, and Hamas in Gaza. Iran and its partners, including Russia, are building a new regional political and security architecture, with Shiite armed movements, totaling hundreds of thousands of combatants, creating a transnational, multiethnic, political and security network that has made the axis more muscular and effective than ever before. The most important issue that the new U.S. administration will face in the Middle East will be the rise of the Iranian-led axis.

Pro-Iranian factions of Hamas have now taken over leadership of Gaza. Imad al-Alami, reportedly the new transitional leader of Hamas in Gaza, has cultivated close ties to the IRGC and Hizbullah over the past few decades, traveling frequently to Iran.

Growing Iranian power means that there is a real risk of the axis expanding across Shiite-majority Bahrain and into the Shiite eastern Arabian Peninsula where the main Saudi oilfields rest, or consolidating its position in Yemen and the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Dr. Payam Mohseni is director of the Iran Project at the Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, where Hussein Kalout is a research scholar. (Foreign Affairs)

 

[fletchisrhsm]

Scott, one thing I find interesting and tragic is the way our media here has coveted Syria and the conflict. You either believe the narrative of the state and media alike that Assad is a war criminal and killed hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians OR you see things 180 degrees differently. You see Allepo under terrorist rule for 3+ years and being butchered in the process for doing things like...going to school. Bein a Christian or rejecting Islam. That perspective is not of mainstream media but instead the dots have to be connected independently. If the latter is true then we have witnessed the biggest fuck job and a complete propaganda agenda we've seen since... I don't know. Hard to come up with an example of an entire press Corp and government presenting the exact opposite of truth in terms who's the enemy. This is something I'm writing now but won't have time to finish until the weekend. But ide love to hear your take on this and Syria and our involvement