Unlike the famous chemical weapons “attack” portrayed by the BBC in Saving Syria’s Children, it does appear that in the latest incident at Idlib there was real horror inflicted by chemical attack of some kind. The question is who did it and why?
I am no fan of the Assad regime, and I have no problem using the word “regime” to describe it. Dictators do hold and win elections. I have lived in severe dictatorships and seen from the inside how they do it. The human rights abuses of the Assad regime have been well documented for decades.
But Bashar al Assad is neither stupid nor unsophisticated. Aided by Putin, he outwitted Obama by quickly giving up his chemical weapons to be destroyed and accepting transparency in verification. There is no justification for the destruction of Iraq, but if Saddam Hussein had been able to swallow pride as completely as Assad, he too could have had a very good chance of averting disaster.
Assad had seen his position go from strength to strength, thanks to Putin’s astute deployment of Russia’s limited military power. Militarily the balance had swung dramatically in Assad’s favour, while Trump had said the unsayable and acknowledged that putting Syria into the hands of Wahabbist crazies was not in the United States interest.
So I cannot conceive that Assad would risk throwing all of this away for the sake of a militarily insignificant small chemical weapons attack. It would be an act of the most extreme folly. It is not impossible – hubris is a great temptation to dictators – but given how Assad has played it so far, it seems out of character and extremely improbable. What is less improbable is a local battlefield decision by pro-Assad forces. In my close observation of dictatorial regimes, a fascinating feature is that they operate an image of the perfection of the state. They are highly adverse to admitting mistakes.
What did happen I do not profess to know. There are at least eleven major identifiable state and non-state forces involved in the fighting around Idlib. In going through them all and considering opportunity and motive for each, I continually find that those whose motive would be false flag stand to benefit a great deal more than those who might have been seeking military advantage.
I am therefore for now unconvinced that this was a deliberate use of chemical weapons by Assad forces. I do not rule it out, but it would take much more concrete evidence than currently offered to prove they did something so strongly and obviously against their own interest. But western governments and media have determined to make that the narrative, so the truth is, as so often in modern geo-politics, entirely incidental to the course of future events.
I see The Eyes… This Dude is for real..How have wee | I not heard of him
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjOSZ6QgGgY&t=29s
I posted it here yesterday Brian, Yes. He’s not seen on the UK corporate media.
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2017/04/the-balance-of-probabilities/comment-page-4/#comment-666893
Assad’s involvement makes little sense for another reason. Why would he do such a thing on the eve of a peace conference?
Now the US is saying Russians were present at the air base while Assad’s men loaded the chemical weapons bombs and that they must have known. Consider the implications of this allegation: the nation which brokered the elimination of Assad’s chemical weapon stocks (ie. Russia) was happy to help Assad’s prepare for a chemical weapons strike. Would the Russians be so stupid to take such an enormous risk that had no conceivable upside?
Seen and heard it all now.
Who do Sky News have on to review the papers this morning? A representative from BLiar’s grandly styled ‘Centre on Religion and Geopolitics’, Emma el-Badawy. The exchanges were all about Syria and Stockholm of course. Those nasty muzzies and ISIS.
http://www.religionandgeopolitics.org/who-we-are
Its senior advisor is Ed Husain who founded Quilliam. The son of the Archbishop of Canterbury is also on board.
Ms El-Badawy is also billed as one of the BBC’s ‘Expert Voices’ on her LinkedIn entry. Perhaps the messages coming out of the BBC and BLiar’s outfit are interchangeable.
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/emma-el-badawy-6aa15331
And so it goes on.
The other reviewer is:
Sohrab Ahmari
Editorial Page Writer, The Wall Street Journal.
Sohrab Ahmari is an editorial writer for The Wall Street Journal, based in London, where he also writes the Border Lands column on security in Europe and the Middle East. He joined the Journal in New York as an assistant books editor in 2012. Prior to that, he earned a law degree at Northeastern University in Boston, served as a non-resident fellow at the Henry Jackson Society and completed a two-year commitment to Teach for America.
In addition to the Journal, Mr. Ahmari’s writing has appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Weekly Standard, the Catholic Herald, Commentary and Dissent, among many other publications. He has testified before the British Parliament and appears regularly on broadcast media on both sides of the Atlantic, including the BBC, Sky News, France 24, Deutsche Welle and the Fox News Channel.
Mr. Ahmari is the author of “The New Philistines: How Identity Politics Disfigure the Arts” (Biteback, 2016). He is currently writing an intellectual autobiography for Ignatius Press.’
‘Non resident fellow at the Henry Jackson Society’. Lovely.
The WSJ is owned by Murdoch now of course. That’s how the corporate media works chaps.
Yes, and your points are….?
Habbabk,
Its one point. There is absolutely no balanced coverage throughout the main stream English media.
Challenge their narrative, get mothballed.
And you claim to be intelligent. Tut, tut.
Keep up @ 8.48. I already said:
‘The WSJ is owned by Murdoch now of course. That’s how the corporate media works chaps.’
Murdoch Jnr is the chair of Sky.
https://corporate.sky.com/about-sky/our-management/our-board
Sultan of Turkey does another back flip
Probably the most unpleasant thing for Mr Putin is Turkey’s approval of the US strikes. The Russian leader made a big personal effort to forge an alliance between Russia, Iran and Turkey, to help impose the Russian vision of future Syrian conflict resolution, which would keep the Assad regime intact. Now it looks as if Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has started playing a different game.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39531339
US toughens stance
Key American allies in the Middle East – Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey – roundly praised his action. In the absence of a coherent policy by the Obama White House these states visibly moved towards strengthening ties with Moscow.
However, in the last few weeks President Trump, Secretary of State Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis have held intensive talks with these countries to re-establish confidence in US policies.
Workplace diversity
In 2005, Raytheon adopted equal employment opportunity policies regarding transgender and transsexual employees.
The people who manufacture the 59 missiles used on Syria
I expect the families and friends of the people killed by the American Tomahawks will be comforted to learn that they were manufactured by
a sexually diverse workforce.
Tomahawk maker’s stock up after U.S. launch on Syria
http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/07/investing/syria-raytheon-tomahawk-missiles/
Raytheon has patented a number of weapon designs which allow for the use of depleted uranium. For instance there is the patent “Missile warhead design” which suggests the use of tungsten but adds that “In addition, other ballast sizes and other materials such as lead or depleted uranium may be used without departing from the scope of the present invention”.
There is also the patent “Guided kinetic penetrator” which patents ” The projectile guidance system of claim 1, wherein the kinetic penetrator body comprises at least one of tungsten, carbide steel, and depleted uranium”.
The patent “Improved missile warhead design”
Revenue
US$23.247 billion 2015
I don’t see why. The Tomahawks nearly missed.
nearly all, or all, missed.
Alarm within the U.S. intelligence community about Trump’s hasty decision to attack Syria reverberated from the Middle East back to Washington, where former CIA officer Philip Giraldi reported hearing from his intelligence contacts in the field that they were shocked at how the new poison-gas story was being distorted by Trump and the mainstream U.S. news media
Giraldi told Scott Horton’s Webcast: “I’m hearing from sources on the ground in the Middle East, people who are intimately familiar with the intelligence that is available who are saying that the essential narrative that we’re all hearing about the Syrian government or the Russians using chemical weapons on innocent civilians is a sham.”
Giraldi said his sources were more in line with an analysis postulating an accidental release of the poison gas after an Al Qaeda arms depot was hit by a Russian airstrike.
“The intelligence confirms pretty much the account that the Russians have been giving … which is that they hit a warehouse where the rebels – now these are rebels that are, of course, connected with Al Qaeda – where the rebels were storing chemicals of their own and it basically caused an explosion that resulted in the casualties. Apparently the intelligence on this is very clear.”
Giraldi said the anger within the intelligence community over the distortion of intelligence to justify Trump’s military retaliation was so great that some covert officers were considering going public.
“People in both the agency [the CIA] and in the military who are aware of the intelligence are freaking out about this because essentially Trump completely misrepresented what he already should have known – but maybe he didn’t – and they’re afraid that this is moving toward a situation that could easily turn into an armed conflict,” Giraldi said before Thursday night’s missile strike. “They are astonished by how this is being played by the administration and by the U.S. media.”
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/04/07/trumps-wag-the-dog-moment/
We are chemical beings and we are each our own chemical weapons.
As inside, so outside, and vice versa, as outside, so inside. There is an order to things, so when there is an imbalance through a lack of self-awareness, it shows up, including through toxic posts, compulsive-obsessions, people diarising their health problems here and so on.
Best to begin with a sweep of the natural chemistry of Punjana’s or Barry’s tea and some self-reflection.
It’s fascinating to learn that the words free, freedom and friend are all related and rooted in the word ‘priyah’, in Sanskrit meaning beloved.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=free&allowed_in_frame=0
Best not make those teas with water. Water is a toxic substance, it has an LD50 and regularly kills people and I don’t mean by drowning. More like hypokalemia.
The ‘bite’ in radishes is in part cyanide, there is arsenic in almonds, ruhubarb leaves are only toxic because they have much more oxalic acid than the stalks do.
Your post is long on nice sounding sophistry but short, very short on actual biological knowledge.
Strangely enough the Walter Duranty’s of this blog ignore the first hand report of a journalist who has actually been to the site of gassing, just like they ignored Gareth Thomas and Malcolm Muggeridge.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/06/the-dead-were-wherever-you-looked-inside-syrian-town-after-chemical-attack
Strong on emotion, weak on evidence. A nice propaganda piece. If the evidence is so clear then a proper debate in the UN would have been in order. Nice try, though.
Oh you mean the evidence of actually having been there.
And as you haven’t actually been there your point is?
But the journalist has. Of course you can rely on evidence provided by Putin and co if you wish.
The propagandist has. You still lack a valid point. Maybe Blair will provide one for you.
Some look to Guardian journalists for their facts, some look to the likes of Putin, Assad and the KGB. Your choice – I know where history points for reliability.
Really? Then you’ll have no problem with due process; a proper, independent investigation. Or will you simply believe a newspaper article? Your choice.
There was a debate at the UN – Russia made it clear that it was going to veto any resolution, just as they did following other UN investigations confirming that Assad had used gas against civilians. This is not how the UN was meant to operate. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights should not be subject to a veto.
Lol.
The Russians were very quick to release videos of the bomber airfield, but that haven’t yet released before and after photos of the bombed arms depot/warehouse. Why do this blog’s Walter Duranty’s think that this might be? Does a good fake take time?
It escapes how the Russians are supposed to come up instantly with before and after photos of a site not in occupation by the Syrian govt.
Satellites, aerial photos and drones. The Russians are the ones claiming that the Syrian Airforce hit a weapons dump.- or is there no evidence to support that claim?
Funny how the US fails to come up with such things.
ResDes,
Are you a fucking moron incapable of learning, or actually incapable of discerning some basic facts, namely, the fact that it was Syrian Military Aircraft (SAA) manned by Syrian pilots who conducted a munitions drop in ‘hand chopper’ held territory (Idlib), the ground attack bombing was done in cooperation with Russian forces on the ground in Syria, specifically supplying coordinates for said attack. The said ‘proposed’ attacks were relayed to US military counterparts informing them that an attack was underway – this military cooperation has been in place for a few months in an effort to de-escalate tensions and ensure no accidents/incidents occur during air operations, which, as a result of Trump’s unprovoked aggression, has now been suspended.
Now, its already detailed that the pilot conducting the attack on what was thought to be a munitions warehouse was surprised not to note a rather large explosion following his bombing run, although said munitions were on target, instead, its noted that a cloud of smoke was released. Now, some aircraft are equipped with photographic equipment so an analysis of damage can be undertaken after operations, however, unlike the Yanks, the Syrians and Russians use ‘dumb’ rather than ‘smart’ munitions, as such, no video feed of an actual strike is available, although satellite imagery may be available – we shall see given both Russia and Syria are more than happy to cooperate with any formal enquiry over the supposed chemical attack incident.
Now, as the good ‘Walter Duranty’s’ that we are, here’s a few links from valid sources to get your head around, namely SWEDHR, which details how the White Helmet Jihadists have form in fall chemical attacks, and actually under taking chemical attacks themselves: http://theindicter.com/analysis-of-evidence-contradicts-allegations-on-syrian-gas-attacks/, together with the latest post from Sic Semper Tyraniss, which is a well trusted geopolitics/military website hosted by former commissioned officers and security experts with real world experience, i/e., they are not armchair generals or chickenhawks pontificating on issues they know fuck all about: http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2017/04/i-told-you-so-idlib-province.html
Further, and as it must be noted on all occasions, its universally known that Syria removed all WMDs from it’s military arsenal and this was verified by all those involved in the Russian-sponsored arrangement. I concede that Nerve agents are not too difficult to manufacture from a variety of chemical agents, however, delivery is another issue., i.e., we are not talking IEDs here, although it’s a known fact the hand choppers are quite happy to engage in such practices.
I’ll leave it there, but given this thread is about ‘PROBABILITIES’, I’m of the belief that its improbable that any ‘intentional’ chemical weapons attack or release has been under taken by Syrian forces, I’m open to the idea of an ‘accident’, but believe given all the ‘fakery’ out there that the hand choppers themselves have killed innocent civilians to further their military goals, and these fuckers have no respect for life – unless, as The Guardian would have us now believe’, we are now dealing with the mythical 60,000 moderates Cameron spoke of.
still a fucking racist
if your account is correct then the Russians would have provided before and after photos by now – Where are they? Don’t worry the fakes should be available soon.
ResDes,
Pull the other one please, presently no formal enquiry has been set up by the UN or any other unbiased agency to investigate the matter, that and it’s a little too late given our Warmongers across the West have already attacked Syria illegally before any evidence or enquiry was submitted/got off the ground. There is also the little matter of THEATRE, which the Yanks love to engage in, as do the MSM. Alas, Russia does not engage in theatre, it actually engages in serious diplomacy and serious warfare, rather than games. So, no doubt if photographic or video evidence is available, it won’t be withheld from the authorities that request it, why should it be when neither the Syrian Government or its Russian ally have anything to hide, verified by the fact the World agreed a while ago that Syria’s chemical weapons stock pile had been removed or neutralised.
Might I suggest that you bother to read the draft resolution 2017/172 of the UN Security Council that was vetoed by Russia and China if you want to see who is obstructing formal enquiries into the use of chemical weapons in Syria. You can also look at the result of other UN investigations into the use of chemical weapons in Syria and the other Security Council resolutions thereon that have been vetoed by Russia. Once you have done that then you can come back and tell us who is obstructing formal enquiries into the use of chemical weapons in Syria and who is ignoring the results of those enquiries that have been carried out. You could of course in the meantime go on spouting your racist ignorance in respect of Syrians – the vast majority of who support neither ISIS or Assad and who have left the country in their millions because they find neither alternative attractive.
http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/un-documents/syria/
Funny how the “handchoppers” suddenly become the good guys to many here when they target the west – just witness the reaction here to the murder of PC Keith Palmer – but strangely enough Chris Rogers goes all quiet when it comes to challenging their crap.
Chris
Have you actually taken the time to look at the evidence? God help me cause I just spent time clicking through the links and references from the inceptor article you recommend. The only compelling evidence is the White Hat fake treatment video. Everything else, as far as I got (ref[11], seems like a big circle of self referencing conjecture by one man on the internet.
Link missing from the last post
https://medium.com/@DFRLab/lie-in-the-sky-224186b6e98c
Lets hope it’s not what it at first appears!
Resident Dissident
“the Walter Durantys of this blog”
I like that expression and think it fits very nicely.
The only problem is that only the most hardened Communists, Trotskyites and other Extreme Lefties might recall who that Useful Idiot was!
there have been land wars, cod wars, oil wars, is this going to be the first
Methane War?
Habbs,
Your Habbabkuk/Resident Dissident tag team is not doing too well in this particular thread if that’s the best you’ve got, still, as most are aware, WWF is to wrestling what the MSM is to reporting, namely, FAKE.
Yeh your sources are so much more reliable.
ResDes,
I put greater faith in Sic Semper Tyrannis than I do in most of the MSM, particularly with regards Syria because it’s highly critical of mainstream narratives and is no friend of Putin or Assad, or for that matter they are not ‘Walter Duranty’s’ and actually don’t suffer fools gladly, which means neither you or Habbabkuk would be welcome voices on that Blog – although, funnily enough, one of the regular BTL commenters is actually known as Habbabkuk, but he’s not ‘GCHQ Bunker Habbabkuk’.
It appears there was co-ordination between US-Russia over the specific airfield target that was mostly evacuated before the strike. This means an ‘anti-Russian’ Trump has responded to the Zionist coalition calls for an attack on Assad, but little harm done, and now Trump can hold the investigation into the ‘chemical attack’ that exposes CIA lies/incompetence that enables him to sack the neo-con head of CIA. I hope!
Yes, some may think it strange, that The Syrians & or The Russians
did not bring down the 59 Tomahawk missiles.
I expect this Tomahawk business is related to the recent air strikes by Israel into Syria and the Syrian response, of which
ordnance crashed in Jordan.
The Israelis were quite miffed that the Syrians fired back, threatening future retribution.
Dave,
That sounds like wishful thinking I’m afraid, although it’s an idea doing the rounds on the internet, the fact remains all this happens at a time when Bannon’s influence upon Trump has been diluted – I’m now looking forward to the Return of the Jedi and please god don’t let George Lucas pen or direct it!
What has become of Australia?
“Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a prominent women’s rights campaigner who left Islam and now lives under a fatwa, remains defiant after being forced to cancel an Australian tour amid “security concerns”.”
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/04/06/ex-muslim-womens-rights-campaigner-security-concerns-force-cancellation-tour/
“I just want to point my finger at all the places in the world today where Islamic law is applied and how women are treated and I want to say to these women, ‘Shame on you’. Shame on you for carrying water for the Islamists, shame on you for trying to shut people up who are trying to raise awareness about Shariah law,” she said.
Given ResDes and Habbabkuk are having great hilarity between themselves in their flimsy effort to undermine the fact that zero, verifiable evidence has been presented to support an actual Chemical Attack, its worth readers/posters spending time on Kareem Shaheen’s Twitter Account, https://twitter.com/kshaheen/with_replies ,, this being the ‘unbiased’ corporate MSM Arab/Egyptian Journalist pulling our heart strings in The Guardian – his work appears in numerous MSM outlets in North America and funnily enough the Gulf Sates, who by chance are sponsors of the hand choppers and not know for their support of ‘free speech’ or actually human rights.
Now, and for those happy to have a look at the Twitter feed supplied, we see our hack referring to Jihadists as ‘rebel fighters’, we can make note of a photo claiming to be the point of impact of the chemical munition used to kill/Gas 100s – a nice Red Flag is on display, although no evidence of anyone wearing protective gear anywhere in is posts is on hand.
Of course, I’m sceptical of any and all claims, but no mention is made by Shaheen of the hand choppers own capabilities in launching chemical attacks, which, should have been covered, as too should have the fact that the UK Jihadist Doctor making the You Tube video’s, one Shajul Islam, is implicated in the kidnapping of two Western journalists, http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/british-doctor-who-documented-chemical-attack-previously-held-terror-offences-1615849, both he and his brother have form shall we say.
Alas, we have all the ingredients of a great story here, just a shame Jonathan Cook, formerly of The Guardian, is not on hand to write it, alas, that other former star of The Guardian, Grenn Greenwald, has been active on the Trump attack on Syria: https://theintercept.com/2017/04/07/the-spoils-of-war-trump-lavished-with-media-and-bipartisan-praise-for-bombing-syria/.
I’ll leave it there, but at least I have the temerity to supply links to all I mention so readers can make their own opinion. On balance, and given what’s known today, all we can really say is that a chemical incident may have occurred in an area in Syria controlled by the hand choppers, one Assad desires to liberate from IS and its affiliates, whom The Guardian are now referring too as ‘REBELS’, rather than Jihadists – FUNNY THAT!
You really are a racist – just because someone who is Arab doesn’t support you and your despicable friends you make the generalisation that he supports the handchoppers. Most Arabs are perfectly rational enough to understand that there is rather a lot between those two alternatives.
ResDes,
I am an enemy of Jihadists and IS and would drop large amounts of napalm or just nuke them if I was running matters – however, when its clear that decisions have been made by the President of the USA based on unsubstantiated You Tube posts by a known Jihadists, do you think I have any compassion. Further, I do not subscribe to the view that a coalition of 60K ‘moderates’ exists in Syria. I do however mourn for the millions of innocent Syrian’s caught up in Western Imperialist designs, one that aid the establishment of a Greater Israel. As Bismarck observed of the Balkan’s: They are not worth the bones of a single Pomeranian Grenadier, and the West should apply that yard stick to Syria and the ME in general.
I should add their is no hilarity on my part. Contempt and disgust are my abiding emotions when I read here the apologists excuses for Assad’s human rights abuses.
I think the same emotions are felt by those reading apologists for western regimes whose human rights abuses are just as despicable. Life’s just not fair, is it.
ResDes,
You really need to get a grip man and live in the real fucking world, the world where supposed Librul’s bring terror with them, where they talk about extending human rights, when removing human rights from their own countries, when they starve their own populations, when they deny healthcare, when they deny purpose, apart from the pursuit of COIN, and much coin exists in these nations they want to liberate. However, and in your hypocrisy, you call ‘realists’, those who have witnessed the murder, yes fucking murder of millions across the MENA, and oppose them, as ‘deniers of human rights’ and sponsors/apologists of tyrants and dictators. Well, what about the right to life of those millions killed, what about their rights removed in an instant to extend the tyranny of a non-democracy, a nation and its Western vassals who howl at the deaths of 5 people on Westminster Bridge, and yet at the same time ignore the deaths of more than 500 persons in the same timeline in the ME by the USA and its Allies to extend their fucking democracy and human rights – go ask the DEAD ResDes for I’m confident they’d tell you and your Librul, warmongering friends to FUCK OFF.
Here are the thoughts of Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson on the Trump attack.
He was chief of staff to Colin Powell and advised on the speech of the “anthrax” waving Secretary of State when he appeared before the UN Security Council in 2003 to advocate war on Iraq.
He subsequently regretted his work then and here offers cautionary views on where the attack and yesterday’s performance at the UN by both the US ambassador and our own Matthew Rycroft might lead:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah14yOHWrGY
A very good piece. Wont really add anything but yesterday was pleasantly surprised to see Peter Ford (who is an ex UK ambassador to Syria) on Breakfast BBC really have a go at the US response to the so-called Assad crimes. Like you, he questioned what the motives would have been for Assad to launch such an attack at this point and thought it more likely ISIS were behind it. I particularly liked where he said he doesnt leave his brains at the door, unlike all these gullible journalists.
I think it just shows Trump’s talk about not getting involved in these conflicts is hollow and he felt he had to go for this action to get the neo-liberal hawks on board. How much further havoc is wreaked remains to be seen.
Former ambassador Peter Ford is a prat – you should listen to him on RT to get the full measure of his foolishness.
I have my theory about Peter Ford-like former ambassadors. It is that they are retired and cannot come to terms with the fact that no one listens to them (deferentially in the case of many) any more. They are just Old Age Pensioners (remember : most people gain status and are validated through work).
So, to retain some sort of audience, to validate themselves, they sound off about policies and events which they spent most of their careers helping to carry out.
Habbabk,
Is it the same logic that brings you here?
Peter Ford wah wah wah.
If the current Israeli governments cheerleader in chief (and apologist for their war crimes, white phosphorous anyone???) on here says PF is a prat, I shall start listening to his arguments more closely.
Clearly Peter Ford carries a lot of credibility, unlike yourself.
Habbabkuk,
Unlike you, Peter Ford was able to pass all exams allowing him to enter diplomatic service, so like Craig, he’s a smart cookie from a time when the UK had a decent, non-politicised Diplomatic service – Craig himself has charted the decline of our Diplomatic service, or is he too an idiot and prat?
The self-confessed snitch is too much of a sycophant to admit that his criticism of Ford was also directed at Craig, but it obviously was.
Best to find a more credible source than Breitbart on here for the anti-Muslim rhetoric.
There are plenty of others.
@Sharp Ears,
You’ll be surprised to find that the ‘deplorables’ posting BTL comments on Breitbart are not amused by Trump’s actions, be they anti-Muslim or anti-Semites, indeed, and via extensive dialogue on Naked Capitalism, it would seem the ‘deplorables’ in the flyover states of the USA actually do prefer Jobs over War, perhaps influenced by the fact that its its own youth that does much of the Imperial States fighting, whilst the older generation are staved of both jobs and healthcare – I’m sure the more than US$50 mil wasted by Trump could extended Medicare to a few lucky ones, instead they must look on in awe at the destruction of a few MIG 25’s and a rather nice fireworks display!
Good sense of responsibility on your part to educate Mary, but she can’t help her self on her trollish behaviour.
Constructive post and brief, much easier to appreciate than when you mingle too many issues.
Thank you.
Villager. Stop trolling me. I have said so many times that my name is Sharp Ears.
I see. Your name is Sharp Ears. So what made you think that Alcyone at 11.12 was talking about you?? and why did you say “stop trolling me”??
Put up or shut up.
Now this is worth listening to.
“Philip Giraldi, former CIA officer and Director of the Council for the National Interest, says that “military and intelligence personnel,” “intimately familiar” with the intelligence, say that the narrative that Assad or Russia did it is a “sham,” instead endorsing the Russian narrative that Assad’s forces had bombed a storage facility. Giraldi’s intelligence sources are “astonished” about the government and media narrative and are considering going public out of concern over the danger of worse war there. Giraldi also observes that the Assad regime had no motive to do such a thing at this time.”
https://off-guardian.org/2017/04/08/philip-giraldi-says-ic-military-doubt-assad-gas-narrative/
I heard Ray McGovern say that his military and intel contacts were telling him exactly that. He said it on RT before the U.S. attack.
Interesting interview with Assad on Youtube:
goo.gl/3dcwTF
How is it that nobody has mentioned, even in passing, that the suspected Stockholm murderer is from Uzbekistan?
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/stockholm-attack-latest-killed-shots-fired-lorry-truck-ahlens-mall-crash-crowd-sweden-people-a7672636.html
Alcyone,
You find Jihadists all over the place, and not all are Muslim, same applies to Zionists, not all are Jewish, indeed, probably more Christian Zionists in the USA than actually those of Jewish descent.
Shock horror. He’s from Uzbekistan,
Details of religions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzbekistan#Religion
A 39 year old man has been arrested and now, a day later, a suspect device is discovered in the vehicle. YCNMIU.
Stockholm attack: ‘Suspect device’ in Sweden crash lorry
4 minutes ago
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39539689
My money is that he is either mad like you or Mohammedan.
That he was a foreigner was a no-brainer or what do you imply?
Anders Breivik turned out not to be foreign
Quite or indeed the many of the ‘home-grown’ variety.
According to the Russian video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkHB_viLZf4), the 59 Tomahawks seem to have missed all vital parts of the airbase. Incredible. Was the GPS badly calibrated? It’s a significant failure for the US.
” It’s a significant failure for the US.”
____________________-
Says he, licking his chops with satisfaction.
Tell us why you, who lives in France, appear so happy everytime the West suffers what you consider to be a reverse?
You could do a kind of academic Depardieu – why don’t you take up a job in an Arab university (Syria or Irak would appear to suit you best )and obtain citizenship?
Habbabk,
Are their many universities left standing after the last 20 years of western interventionism in Iraq or Syria?????
Pity you don’t have any sensible comment, Habb.
Truly conscientious Germans hoped for the defeat of their Nazi government in WWII. Of course their feelings were conflicted, but they had to conclude that defeat would be a better outcome, and that victory would be a catastrophe.
Trump has either taken bad advise or he is mad. In any case there is no evidence that any chemical attack was the result of Syrian bombing. There is evidence that false-flag or deliberate chemical attacks are a ploy of the US for propaganda purposes in pursuit of creating for their masters a Greater Israel.
https://www.sott.net/article/347532-Pentagon-Trained-Syrias-Al-Qaeda-Rebels-in-Use-of-Chemical-Weapons
MSM, and western governments are as culpable as ever in their lies over this. America and Israel are sick. I do not think there is a cure.
Advice is with a c. We can presume that your previous enthusiasm for Trump has now gone, or at least until he rejoins Sycophants for Putin?
“Lysias” has done the journey the other way round – from being an ardent supporter of Ms Jill Stein (“I have even given a lot of money to her campaign”) he now appears very keen on Mr Trump.
My only hope was that Trump would investigate the event in which allegedly a cousin of yours died. As to US intent it is a long-term plan. As to advice/advise (noun/verb) I make mistakes like everybody but being corrected by somebody who make more is quite a novel experience. Thanks. As to the content – which your comments are so often short of – the US has been planning the destabilisation of Syria for many decades.
http://www.mintpressnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/CIA-RDP86T01017R000100770001-5.pdf
No cousin of mine has died in Syria – my wife’s family does of course have relatives who were murdered by the KGB of which you are such a persistent admirer.
You should write your life-story. A cousin killed on 9/11, wife’s family murdered by KGB, why you had to take on dual personalities. It might even be as interesting as Litvinenko’s. Good for a laugh anyway. 🙂
It was a brother of a friend who was killed in 9/11. Most Russians lost family in the Gulag.- not that you care!
“….in pursuit of creating for their masters a Greater Israel.”
___________________
You’re incorrigible aren’t you, Mr Goss.
All the world’s woes are due to Israel.
Your political views are as primitive and antediluvian as your sexual ones (“non-real rape” refers).
Not all but quite a few. ?
@ Resident Dissident.
In the run up to the Iraq war, did you ever cite the “evidence” of WMD as justification for Western military action?
No – just the evidence that Saddam had used them, admitted to having them and had not fully accounted for their disposal. Poisonous gas is obviously the weapon of choice fro Baathists, .however their are lots of other reasons for supporting their removal.
…. and had not fully accounted for their disposal.
So you justified Western military intervention on the grounds that Saddam might have chemical weapons but you didn’t cite Colin Powell’s “evidence”? Hmmmmmmm.
Do you have ANY doubt that Assad is responsible for the chemical attack?
Anyway, enough of this foolishness!
The sun is shining and there’s a whole real (as opposed to pixellated) world out there which beckons.
I’m out of here for the rest of the day.
Do carry on, though 🙂
“Anyway, enough of this foolishness!”
I very much doubt it. But I live in hope. 😀
So ETA are to disband, and seek independence through the democratic route. ETA are a branch of the (BNP) the Basque National party, and began their armed struggle with General Franco’s regime. Probably their most infamous success came with assassination of Franco’s chosen successor, Luis Carrero Blanco.
Martin McGuinness, visited and spoke at ETA meetings.
“The Bank of England has asked City financial firms to submit Brexit contingency plans, with Governor Mark Carney warning of major economic harm if negotiations between Britain and the EU falter.”
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/news/bank-of-england-urges-city-firms-to-prepare-brexit-contingency-plans-35602905.html
Well the governor of the BoE, can’t make it any clearer, in my opinion that a poor deal or no deal over Brexit, will be a unmitigated disaster for Britain.
The bungling Brexiteers are playing Russian Roulette, with a already debt ridden British economy.
The English NHS is on its knees into the bargain, and all the focus is on, is Syria and Assad, distraction and propaganda are the orders of the day.
The Guardian online has had an image for 2 days now (gone this morning I have a screen shot) continuously flashing as one of the first image’s you see on their main landing page, showing a picture of a distraught man (possibly a ‘moderate rebel’) carrying a little girl through the halls of a medical facility suffering the effects of the alleged CW’s attack.
Article after article by their staff states categorically the Syrian airforce used Sarin gas munitions.
If skin contact is made between someone who has been exposed to Sarin gas with someone who has not (ie a medic/first responder), they will immediately start to suffer the same crippling effects.
How this man can run through a medical facility carrying a child suffering from Sarin exposure with no protective clothing is a mystery, no?
The narrative they attempt to peddle contradicts itself.
The Guardian staff, perpetuating fake news, is clearly taking the piss out of its audience.
The Guardian – Because facts are unwanted.
Comment is free* (*but severely restricted/controlled)
What a rag.
Maybe Habbabk + co could square that anomaly?
Ball,
I lament like you and am disgusted that The Guardian is running ‘Fake News’ to facilitate War in the Middle East, as for our resident GCHQ stooge Habbabkuk squaring any circles, well I’m of the opinion it’s actually Jonathan Freedland who’s posting under the username Habbabkuk, I mean, they share so much in common its all rather uncanny.
Chris,
I laughed at the Freedland remark. Nice one.
I am beginning to steer clear. Not a balanced, nor honest source of news at all. (crossword and sport section only)
The comment section is also infested with rabid morons that have no clue. Its an echo chamber of absolute nonsense.
More sense in a creche.
Even the previously ‘anti-war’ journos like Monbiot are insultingly determined not to show ANY caution in supporting the paper’s stance on the veracity of the attacks or its perpetrators.
No mention of the view of Duggan, Ford or Giradi – just religious conviction that their reports are accurate and complete.
The Guardian is a cult. A dangerous one at that.
Boris is having a hissy fit and has cancelled his trip to Moscow at the last minute. I expect President Putin is very disappointed.
Boris Johnson cancels Russia trip just hours before take-off after US air strike on Syria
8 April 2017 • 1:01pm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/08/boris-johnson-cancels-russia-trip-just-hours-take-off-us-air/
Order came from Trump probably.
It rather more sounds like you are the one having hissy fits Mary. Tillerson is in Moscow next week so it makes sense for Boris to stay quiet for now. Try it sometime.
Chris,
Appreciate your help. If you click back to page 3 of this comments thread, at the very bottom, Sharp Ears herself explains who she is (Mary) and why she feels she had to change names.
The main thing is though she is still here contributing and by the sounds of it she ain’t letting these degenerates grind her down.
My question still remains – Alcyone – Are you a misogynist? I have suspicions with the level of venom you direct at female posters such as Sharp Ears.
Nelson Mandela aside (he had the difficult task of trying to unite SA) the former old guard of the ANC who’ve held the presidency of SA since the 90’s haven’t been doing too well.
The lastest debacle and a long running one, is the presidency of Jacob Zuma. Plagued by allegations of corruption, and the political moving of pro-personnel into official position within the government, has saw mass protests on the streets of Pretoria.
With South Africa, now downgraded to “junk status by Fitch, Standard & Poors then followed suit, Zuma and the SA economy don’t have their troubles too seek.
The move will almost certainly lead to a rise in government debt-servicing costs, which will mean less money for critical services such as housing, education and sanitation, which could incite even more protests across the country.
RoS
Yes, South Africa’s membership of the BRICS group is almost certainly for diplomatic reasons and not economic ones.
It helps China in the pursuit of its African interests.