Manager of largest Aleppo hospital reports it has been struck again repeatedly in a series of of air attacks; a mixture of barrel bombs, including chlorine, and cluster bombs.


https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...leppo-hospital

So the Syrians and its Shia allies in the Region are going to finally kick the Opposition forces out of Aleppo.

I am sure Obama and Kerry shall give them a stern talking to about that.

Oh...sorry....the Shia are tied to the Iranians and we know how many Iranians there are pulling Obama's Strings.

Very opportune time for all those Billions of Dollars and other Cash Payments to wind up in the Iranian Coffers.



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016...-as-hospitals/

Russia warns US not to intervene as hospital is hit in latest Aleppo blitz

Sorry...we don"t even call Islamic Terrorists "Islamic" so must be you are a bit confused about these Insurgents!

As much confused as the US are about which people they do support ?

Al-Nosra (supported by US) = Al Qaïda..... and Al Qaïda was 9/11, that's as simple as that.

Ref: (and a couple of other magazines and newspaper extracts, easy to find)

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/w...cle4545775.ece

Now explain to me.

If I'd read that from an anonymous ppruner I might have assumed him to be a Putinbot but General Petraus really is insisting we MUST support Al Qaeda against ISIS. That's the thing about speaking in imperatives; it doesn't have to make sense. Assad would probably have dealt with ISIS quite comfortably without our intervention...as would Saddam, come to that...

To throw into the mix

Russia Kills 30 US, Israeli, British Officers Believed To Be Assisting ISIS – Anonymous

Al-Qaeda Leader in Syria Admits US Is Backing Them in Interview – Anonymous

http://www.anonews.co/wp-content/upl...-us-backed.jpg

It is a propaganda hit piece generated by Sputnik (Russian News Agency).

How's that Obama Foreign Policy working out for all of you that raved about his being elected eight years ago?

I don't see all those cheering crowds of admirers anymore....what happened?

Did his Secretary of State choices give him bad guidance for the past eight years?

We are out of Helmand and I haven't seen flag draped coffins coming off the tails of C17s at Brize for quite some time. I will take that thanks very much.

Any chance your political rants could be kept in Jet blast?

Back to Syria.

Given the worsening of relations with Russia, they seem to have beefed up their air defence capability in Syria.

http://www.militarytimes.com/article...siles-in-syria

So you don't like what you read ... sorry mate, it's a forum, and you have to realize that many people have different opinions than yours, and are not really on the US side (should we ?) when they do support al Qaida and affiliates.

I understand it's can be quite destabilising for you to acknowledge that some of us might be current wide-bodies Captains and/or former Groupe Captains/Colonels

Not at all recce. I understand it can be quite destabilising for you to acknowledge that those of us who are not captains/colonels/group captains have opinions:ok:

and that said Captains/Colonels and Group Captains can be quite wrong too....

To think otherwise is [probably] the very definition of arrogance.

Interesting connection of the dots.....

Last week Erdogan questioned the Treaty of Lausanne of the status of the Greek islands off the Turkish coast. Which seemed strange, as he is unlikely to try to go to war over them.

Greece Defense Official: Contest Treaty, Contest EU Borders

The article below, however, suggests he had a more oblique reason for questioning the treaty......

The questioning of the treaty of Lausanne and backstage with the Iraqi oil | Independent Balkan News Agency

"Tension has risen between Baghdad and Ankara on the presence of Turkish troops in northern Iraq. But almost all political analysts agree that the goal of Turkey is to participate in the liberation of Mosul from the hands of the jihadists -an operation which perhaps is going to take place in November.

Ankara seems to be targeting the oil fields of the region. More likely there is a connection to this claims and the questioning of the Lausanne Treaty by Recep Tayyip Erdogan ten days ago. With the Lausanne Treaty Turkey withdrew its claims on Mosul and Kirkuk and conceded that area to the British administration in 1926.

The Iraqi Parliament on Tuesday called on Turkey to withdraw its military force from the northern Iraqi city of Bashika. About 500 Turkish soldiers are located there since March 2015, whose purpose according to the Ankara is to train the men who will take part in the fighting against the Islamic State. Bashika is just 12 km from Mosul. The Iraqi Parliament called these Turkish forces as “occupying forces”. Ankara’s response was contemptuous, with the representative of the Turkish government Numan Kurtulmuş stating: “they speak of national sovereignty but where were they when others took over Mosul”?

The Turkish president however, in a television interview had revealed the intentions of Turkey when he said that “nobody has the right to invade Mosul. After the liberation of Mosul from the “Islamic State” only Sunni Arabs, Turkmen and Sunni Kurds should stay there”. Essentially, the Turkish president showed that Turkey wants the region to be controlled by Sunni Muslims, ignoring the intentions of the Shiites, who are the majority in Iraq and Iran.........

“If there is a country that is entitled to speak of Mosul, apart from Iraq, is Turkey. The Turkmen in the region were never protected by Baghdad. Until 1987 the Turkish budget documents the rights that should be collected by the oil of the region. Our forces in Bashika are following the demand of the northern Iraqi Kurds. Turkey has a greater right than even the US to participate in the battles of Mosul and then be on the negotiations table”, says Fikret Bila in Hürriyet, explaining the views of the Turkish Government..............."

In yesterday's parliamentary debate on Syria, it was asked where the Stop the War Coalition was.

Today on R4 this morning asked the very same question of one of the organisation's higher-ups. I would say his reply smacks of breathtaking hypocrisy but, then again, he probably doesn't want to bite the hand that feeds.

BBC Radio 4 - Today, 12/10/2016

Jump to 53:30.

A heavy portion of hypocricy resides with mass media, which manipulate the audience.


E.g., in Syria both sides heavily shoot at other: Assad troops and "rebels" (majority of which are teamed up with Nusra/Al-Qaeda and Daesh/ISIS). Western media hysterically reports casualties caused by the former side and keeps silence about the latter. Similarly, Russian and some arabic media show similar footage on how "rebel" (read, "terrorist") mortars are destrying Aleppo living quarters that are under governmental control also killing innocent women and children.

ORAC, that's a great summary of the Turks showing a bit of their hand in the long game they've been playing. No surprise.

Meanwhile I see the Beeb are saying the Iraqis are on the verge of re-capturing Mosul... surely that is re-taking as it was theirs to start with?

Depends if you consider it historically/politically/religiously as a Shia/Sunni/Kurd/Turkoman city........

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...-in-five-maps/