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167 thoughts on “The 70,000 moderate rebels are mostly cavalry. On unicorns.”

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  • Mark Golding

    One-leg John conveys the impression that British special forces in Syria have been supplied with laser spotters and Thales 5W UHF narrowband radios (up to TS) to communicate securely with RAF tornado each carrying around a dozen Brimstone laser guided missiles. Roughly 200 Brimstone at £175,000 each have been fired from Tornado, mostly in Libya campaign

    At least 6 additional RAF Tornado GR4 are in Cyprus.

    Despite a promise of UK government aid in Iraq, doctors report poor sanitation in most towns and polluted drinking water.

    The flow of water in the Euphrates River has dropped below 50 percent of its normal rate of 200 cubic meters per second since IS took over the Ramadi barrage, Tamimi told Radio Free Iraq on November 22.

    Riadh Adday of the Babel Provincial Council said that thousands of square kilometers of farms and orchards in Babel are dying because they are not receiving sufficient water. The drought is also threatening the province’s animal resources.

    Blaming Turkey

    But the water shortages in the south of Iraq are not only caused by IS, Iraqi officials say.

    Tamimi said that Iraq was already suffering from a shortfall in water from the Euphrates because Turkey reduced the water flow.

    “As we have learned from the Syrian government, the Turkish side is not adhering to the agreed-upon quantities [to be] released by them. The three-party agreement between Turkey, Syria, and Iraq requires Turkey to release 500 cubic meters per second of the river’s water but it has not done so,” Timimi told RFE/RL’s Radio Free Iraq.

    Syria has also complained that Turkey is failing to supply enough water. Syrian Water Resources Minister Kamal al-Sheikha told his Iraqi counterpart, Mohsin al-Shammari, earlier this month that Turkey had violated water-sharing agreements.

    But even if Turkey were to increase the volume of water it allowed into Iraq, that would not reduce the threat from IS.

    IS could cause considerable damage if it sabotages or otherwise mismanages the Ramadi and Fallujah dams, Ali Hashem, director general of the Engineering Design Center at the Water Resources Ministry, told Radio Free Iraq.

    “The worst damage will be in Anbar, followed by the other provinces,” Hashem said.

    IS’s control of the dam could have other implications for IS, which is likely to use its control over Iraqi water resources to gain tactical and military advantages.

    So what has Britain achieved with their ISIS bombing campaign in Iraq? The answer is NOTHING, zilch, nada, diddly-squat and now we face the same situation in Syria as a ‘yes’ VOTE SEEMS TO BE DONE DEAL ALREADY.

    And we only managed a couple of thousand activists in London on Sunday… How poignant.

  • Mark Golding

    Sorry correction – we did achieve something from British bombing campaigns – £10 million Brimstone sales to Saudi with another £50 million in the pipeline.

  • Mary No child shall be harmed

    Ref Franco contradicting his admirer.

    From that film review

    ‘….father serving in Morocco, the scene of some of the Spanish military’s worst atrocities.’

    ‘From the period shown in the film, many opponents of Franco were forced to go underground. The film’s determination to defend and even honour their memory, even in small details, is praiseworthy indeed.

    Similarly, portraying the brutality of Franco’s regime deserves acknowledgement when his heirs today are trying to equate the actions of the fascists with those of their opponents and defending Franco for having “saved” Spain.’

  • nevermind

    Eu citizens are treated like subjects here, even when they lived here longer than in their home countries.
    They are not even allowed to vote in the possibly forthcoming EU referendum which must be wholly financed by the UK, no subs, sorry.

    Oh yes. Law also says that the PM, whilst doing some recreational bombing, call it an unsolicited war, can dispense with vote of all kinds, general, local or European elections.

    So don’t expect an election during undeclared/declared war.

  • Tony M

    All the insidious horrors of War, without end, for the money power who own the politicians.

  • Mary No child shall be harmed

    Falconer is pro bombing Syria.

    BLiar’s stooge, enabler of the cover up of Dr Kelly’s death by the immediate creation the Hutton Inquiry. The dodgy dossier was also approved by him. A slimy snake.

    http://www.gibsondunn.com/lawyers/cfalconer

    Laughable. He is obviously a slow learner.

    Iraq War was mistake, Lord Falconer says
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-33198974
    21 June 2015

    Doing nicely too.
    Register of Interests
    http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/lord-falconer-of-thoroton/2758

  • Herod Murdoch

    JC has dared smoothface to give a free vote to his side of the House too, and if the vote fails then the “right thing to do” will be to call a General Election, it would be “morally indefensible” to stay in power.

  • Rose

    Robert at 10.48 – Indeed. And I hope we all keep a careful note of who the Labour members are who vote with the government over this. I wonder if the the excuses that were trotted out last time will be used again: “We made a mistake” and of course the old chestnut: “with hindsight blah blah…”

    Surely nobody, but nobody can claim ignorance of the likely mayhem this time.

    It is striking that the cheer-leaders for this crime about to be perpetrated appear to be from a generation who have never experienced bombs raining down – except on film, where it doesn’t hurt of course. The lip-smacking anticipation of these deeply disturbed individuals is obscene.

    Some of us still live with terrifying memories of taking shelter from German bombs; this will be far far worse.

    As usual it will be the poor and vulnerable who bear the brunt of this wickedness in our name – pregnant women and their unborn children, the toddlers and their school-aged siblings and family pets. Sane people must be in anguish over this.

  • nevermind

    The lip-smacking anticipation of these deeply disturbed individuals is obscene.

    Well said Rose, all essentials in one sentence. But why the desperation, is the economy really that dependent on the arms trade?
    Is it diversion from the tax dodging and criminal money laundering in the City of London?
    Or does he need the war to disband his plans for a referendum/election?

  • Rose

    Probably all of the above Nevermind – who knows what the motives of such people as our “leaders” are?

    All I do know from my own memory and from history, is that war fulfils all kinds of personal and political ends.

    It was a well-observed fact that during the awful forties when most people were lucky to get a couple of rashers, the local Conservative club never went short of meat to distribute to its members. Quite a few “little people” did well one way and another – some by virtue of their trade and a few by being given a little power position.

    Our family was “bombed out” of the house, but it didn’t stop one of the neighbours picking through the rubble and making off with bits of household stuff and clothing. And although our family in common with lots of others suffered mental and physical trauma, there were one or two uncles I remember who boasted of having “a good war”.

    There will be quite a few I guess who look forward to gaining something or other from this coming horror – and they wont all be the obvious suspects. It’s complicated.

  • Herod Murdoch

    Only the fly on the wall that overheard that bibi-smoothface face-to-face at 10 Downing knows. Con Chairman Feldman the fiddler could be diddling us, whilst many have no roof over their heads. If only Coulson made up his mind on the “right thing to do” and rat on the rotter he gave GB hacked info to at CCO during 2010 election, and save millions of Arabs from being killed to make way for eretz israel.

  • Habbbabkuk (scourge of the Original Trolls)

    Nevermind

    “Eu citizens are treated like subjects here, even when they lived here longer than in their home countries.
    They are not even allowed to vote in the possibly forthcoming EU referendum which must be wholly financed by the UK, no subs, sorry.”
    ___________________

    I don’t know why you’re griping away again, Ingo. Perhaps it just makes you feel good about yourself?

    But get your facts right, will you?

    EU citizens in the UK are treated no worse than EU citizens in any other Member State when it comes to voting. To repeat: EU law allows EU cirizens to vote in the local and European Parliament elections of the EU Member State they live in. No Member State allows citizens of other EU Staftes to vote in their national (ie, general) elections.

    Furthermore: when it come to voting in referenda, I refer you – for example – to the Irish, Dutch, Danish and French referenda after the Maastricht and Lisbon Treaties, in which only Irish,Dutch, Danish and French citizens were allowed to vote. Why should matters be any different as far as the forthcoming UK referendum is concerned?

  • glenn_uk


    Glenn_UK

    “H: “he weapons, money and training you allege are nothing compared to the weapons, money and training which Presidents Assads’ (plural, ‘cos it’s a dynasty, isn’t it) sponsor – the Soviet Union and now Russia – has been pouring into Syria for years.”

    Do you have figures for this, please?”

    _____________________

    Do you have figure for the following, please:

    “Could it be that we (Western Imperialists – MI6, CIA, MOSSAD, etc. etc.) have been pouring weapons, money and training at Assad’s enemies for years?”

    *

    Oh really, Habbabkuk, that is rather disappointing. I ask you for your figures, you turn around and ask another question straight back instead. Would you find that acceptable, on the frequent occasions you ask for figures yourself?

    Before you come back saying I’d made an assertion first, kindly remember that it was your good self that took that much further and made a quantitative distinction, but without providing any basis for doing so.

    And for the record, are you seriously trying to deny that we have been arming and training “rebels” in Syria? Because Cameron himself admitted having done so!

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