Russia Only Power Able to ‘Quash’ ISIL While Ignoring Western Accusations

November 18, 2015 By administrator

Former White House National Security Council advisor Gwenyth Todd claims that Russia is the only major power able to destroy the Islamic State terrorist group because it can ignore Western accusations and media backlash while doing so.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Russia is the only major power able to destroy ISIL terrorist group because it can ignore Western accusations and media backlash while doing so, former White House National Security Council (NSC) advisor Gwenyth Todd told Sputnik.

“The world needs a truly powerful country, ready to do whatever is necessary to quash well-armed and financed terrorists, in the face of accusations of gross human rights abuses, to stop the Turks and Arab Gulf states from continuing to fuel the Islamic State terrorist machine,” Todd told Sputnik on Wednesday.

Todd explained that the Unites States has great difficulty exacting revenge on terrorists because “a large segment of US citizens feels a deep obligation to avoid any collateral damage or even brutal treatment of the guilty.”

The British, French and Germans are also prone to forgiveness, but in their case they seek to preserve economic interests, even with countries whose governments have sponsored horrific acts against their own citizens, Todd added.

“Neither of these approaches is viable when dealing with the rise of Islamic terrorist activity. When the West does retaliate, the terrorists know they can protect themselves by surrounding themselves with civilians,” Todd noted.

Now, “foolish terrorists” have made the assumption that Russia has adopted the Western fear of appearing too harsh: those who bombed the Metrojet flight and publicly threaten Russia today are testing this theory, she said.

“The US will be incredibly relieved if the Russians can ignore public handwringing and attack and destroy the headquarters of Islamic terrorists,” Todd asserted.

The former NSC official added that Western liberals will be more forgiving of Russian military operations in the face of Russia’s announcement that ISIL was behind the Metrojet bombing.

The chilling photos of the brightly coloured luggage of the families aboard that flight behind police cordons in the Sinai Peninsula make any Russian actions against ISIL more acceptable and the Paris attacks magnify that acceptability, she continued.

“That window will only be open for a short time, however, and Russia therefore needs to move quickly and with great force against the Islamic State,” Todd pointed out.

Russia knows it will face criticism after the fact, even as the West winks and nods at Russian operations over the coming weeks, she said.

“The West quietly recognizes the role of Turkey, one of NATO’s key members, in supporting Islamic State terrorism and is unlikely to defend Turkey if it chooses to confront Russia in Syria. The Gulf Arabs are certainly not going to risk armed confrontation with Russia,” Todd insisted.

If Russia is willing to “take one for the team,” and carry out the necessarily brutal operations to cut off the head of ISIL, the West will be tremendously grateful, even if Western governments refuse to admit it publicly, she concluded.

Source: sputniknews

Putin Names And Shames Obama Into Bombing ISIS Oil Smugglers to Turkey

November 18, 2015 By administrator

Originally appeared at Moon of Alabama

The U.S. claims it wants to hit the Islamic State but in one year of bombing it never really touched one of its biggest sources of income. Hundreds of oil tanker trucks are waiting every day at IS distribution points to smuggle oil to Turkey and elsewhere. Only one such distribution point was ever bombed and that attack was by the Iraqi air force.

Now the Russian President Putin played some “name and shame” at the G-20 meeting in Turkey and, lo and behold, the problem gets solved.

The Obama administration recently claimed it would increase attacks on the most expensive Syrian oil infrastructure which is owned by the Syrian government but under IS control. But it said it would still not hit the large truck gatherings.

While the American-led air campaign has conducted periodic airstrikes against oil refineries and other production facilities in eastern Syria that the group controls, the organization’s engineers have been able to quickly repair damage, and keep the oil flowing, American officials said.

The Obama administration has also balked at attacking the Islamic State’s fleet of tanker trucks — its main distribution network — fearing civilian casualties.

But now the administration has decided to increase the attacks and focus on inflicting damage that takes longer to fix or requires specially ordered parts, American officials said.

The obvious target to stop the oil trade is to hit the trucks. Without trucks the other infrastructure is useless for IS as the oil can not be sold.

With trucks destroyed the men behind the smuggling will lose all profits and leave the business.

The “civilian casualties” argument does not hold. There could be warnings to avoid human damage or one could consider that these oil smugglers are dealing with terrorists and thereby accomplices.

The real U.S. reluctance to hit the oil smuggling might be out of deference to the Turkish government which of course profits from such oil transfers.

Then came along Russia and its President Putin and demonstrated at the current G-20 meeting that the U.S. is not serious about fighting IS.

Today the Turkish journalist Abdullah Bozkurt reports remarks by President Putin from a G-20 sideline event:

Abdullah Bozkurt @abdbozkurt

Putin in #Turkey: I provided examples based on our data on the financing of different #ISIL units by private individuals.

“This money, as we have established, comes from 40 countries and, there are some of the G20 members among them”, Putin says

“I’ve shown our colleagues photos taken from space & from aircraft which clearly demonstrate the scale of the illegal trade in oil”

Putin provided that information and the photos yesterday. Obama must have been deeply embarrassed and pissed. Suddenly, a day after Putin exposed the U.S. reluctance to hit IS where it is needed, a big truck assembly was bombed:

Intensifying pressure on the Islamic State, United States warplanes for the first time attacked hundreds of trucks on Monday that the extremist group has been using to smuggle the crude oil it has been producing in Syria, American officials said.

According to an initial assessment, 116 trucks were destroyed in the attack, which took place near Deir al-Zour, an area in eastern Syria that is controlled by the Islamic State.

…

Until Monday, the United States had refrained from striking the fleet used to transport oil, believed to include more than 1,000 tanker trucks, because of concerns about causing civilian casualties.

As a result, the Islamic State’s distribution system for exporting oil had remained largely intact.

It seems that Putin’s naming and shaming with regards to the oil smuggling was successful. We might soon see a similar effect on the financing sources he mentioned.

Run for the Hills: ISIL Fighters Fleeing Raqqa Amid Russian Air Campaign

November 18, 2015 By administrator

Islamic State fighters are fleeing Raqqa, the terrorist group’s stronghold in Syria, as Russia and France have intensified airstrikes on their positions, Russian media reported on Wednesday.

The terrorists have abandoned their positions and are fleeing toward the Turkish border, while some of them are hiding in civilian buildings, RIA Novosti news agency wrote, citing local eyewitness reports on Wednesday.

In Tel-Abyad, a town 100 kilometers north of Raqqa, ISIL fighters abandoned their strongholds under pressure from Kurdish self-defense forces.

The Islamic State group is coming under increased military pressure after claiming responsibility for last month’s bombing of a Russian passenger jet in Egypt and Friday’s attacks in Paris, which killed more than 120 people.

Russia said on Tuesday that it had doubled the scale of its attacks on Syria.

The latest airstrikes are “the most intense” since world powers led by the US started targeting the group.

Russia deployed 37 new aircraft to carry out airstrikes after security officials said the passenger plane that crashed over Egypt’s Sinai on October 31 was caused by a bomb. ISIL Egyptian affiliate had claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed 224 people.

Russia conducted 34 cruise missile strikes and deployed long-range Tu-160, Tu-95 and Tu-22 bombers from its bases to hit ISIL’s de-facto capital of Raqqa as well as other targets.

Russia planned 127 sorties on 206 targets in the first 24 hours of the new campaign, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.

France bombed Raqqa on Sunday night in its most aggressive strike against ISIL to date destroying a command center and a training facility used by the terrorists.

Source: sputniknews

Long-range bombers to fly anti-ISIS missions from Russia, Putin orders Navy to work with France

November 17, 2015 By administrator

(RT) Russia has deployed its fleet of strategic bombers to double the volume of airstrikes on Islamist targets in Syria, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has announced. Vladimir Putin has ordered a cruiser to coordinate operations with French naval forces in the Mediterranean.

“We are conducting a mass airstrike campaign against Islamic State targets in Syria. We have now doubled the number of sorties, which is allowing us to conduct operations throughout the length and breadth of the country,” Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said during a Security Council meeting in Moscow chaired by the Russian president.

Shoigu said that Russia’s Tu-95, Tu-22 and Tu-160 strategic bombers have been brought into the operation, while the Air Force command added that the strike group has been bolstered with 37 new planes, including Su-34 bombers and Su-27 fighter jets.

The head of the General Staff reported that the new phase of the anti-ISIS campaign will involve 25 long-range bombers flying out of airfields in Russia.

“By conducting military missions in Syria, you are protecting Russia and her citizens,” Putin told his military chiefs. “Our air campaign in Syria must not only be continued, it must be boosted, in such a way that the criminals are made aware that retribution is inevitable.”

The Russian president has issued orders for Russia’s Moskva cruiser, covering the Russian base in Latakia from the Mediterranean Sea, to work together with a French naval group led by flagship Charles De Gaulle, a 26 fighter-jet aircraft carrier, which is departing for Syria this week.

“The French naval group, led by the air carrier, will soon reach your area of operations. We need to establish direct contact with it, and treat it as an ally,” the Russian president said. “We need to develop of a joint action plan for both sea and air operations.”

The Kremlin said that the parameters for a joint mission had been agreed upon by Putin and French President Francois Hollande, following a personal phone call.

“The two leaders focused their attention on bilateral and multilateral cooperation in combating terrorism,” a Kremlin statement said. “This includes closer ties and joint operations between the military command and intelligence services of Russia and France in Syria.”

Vladimir Putin and Francois Hollande are to meet in Moscow on November 26.

The chief of Russia’s General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, reported that Russian forces have made nearly 2,300 sorties in 48 days since their deployment at the behest of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Gerasimov said that 26 cruise missiles had been launched from Russia’s Caspian Fleet, and ten space satellites had been involved in mapping target sites, including several that had been repurposed from civilian use.

“The work of Russia’s air force has enabled Syrian government forces to go on the offensive along the entire front in the regions of Aleppo, Latakia, Idlib, Homs and Damascus, freeing significant territories from terrorist control,” said Gerasimov, mentioning that in the province of Aleppo alone, 40 settlements have recently been liberated.

Russia pledges $50 million reward for info on Sinai plane crash

November 17, 2015 By administrator

Russia’s FSB security service has offered a $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for downing a passenger plane over Egypt, the Associated Press reports.

FSB director Alexander Bortnikov announced Tuesday, November 17, that a homemade explosive device had blown apart the aircraft and that it was now clear that it was a “terrorist” act.

The FSB later appealed to “Russian and international communities for cooperation in identifying the terrorists” and offered “50 million U.S. dollars” reward.

AP. The Latest: US officials: Russia attacks IS stronghold

Russia intends to come to the aid of Christians in the East

November 13, 2015 By administrator

while US mainly helping and supporting Sunni Muslim Turkey, Saudi and Israel

Russia Claiming a tradition inherited from Imperial Russia which wanted the Third Rome and arose as such legitimate protector of Eastern Christians, Putin’s Russia shows concern about the fate of the endangered Christian community in his homeland. A particularly assertive concern since Russia got involved militarily in Syria, where its intervention will be justified also by his desire to protect.

Russian air forces expand operations in Syria

November 13, 2015 By administrator

Russian warplanes carried out 107 sorties and hit 289 terrorist targets in Syria over the past 48 hours, expanding the operation range from six to eight provinces, Fars News Agency reports, citing the Russian Defense Ministry.
“On November 11-12, (Russian) aircraft conducted 107 sorties, hitting targets in Aleppo, Damascus, Idlib, Lattakia, Hama, Dara’a, Homs and Deir Ezzir,” Major General Igor Konashenkov said, Sputnik reported.

According to Konashenkov, 184 terrorist fortified areas, 50 strongholds with military equipment and weapons and 34 command centers were destroyed by Russian airstrikes.

The Russian Aerospace Forces destroyed an ISIL ammunition depot in the Damascus province, which was supplying the terrorists with rockets to shell the Syrian capital.

A Russian Su-34 bomber launched a pinpoint strike by a BETAB-500 bunker buster bomb on an ISIL ammunition depot in Syria’s province of Dara’a, the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said.

An ISIL stronghold and the terrorist group’s ammunition depot were destroyed by a Su-24M military jet
in the Homs province.

Moreover, a major Nusra Front ammunition depot was destroyed in the Hama province.

Meanwhile, in the Idlib province, the Russian Aerospace Forces launched airstrikes on a Nusra Front plant, which had been producing rockets and explosive devices.

“In the city of Maarrat al-Nu’man in Idlib province, a Su-34 bomber destroyed a factory producing ammunition for the Nusra Front (terrorist) group. The militants manufactured missiles, hand-made explosive devices and equipped vehicles with explosives at this site. As a result of the airstrike, both buildings, where the factory was located, were completely destroyed.”

A Nusra Front command center was destroyed in the Syria’s province of Lattakia, the general said.

“In the Lattakia province, a Nusra Front command and surveillance center was destroyed. The building occupied by terrorists was completely destroyed by a pinpoint strike.”

Terrorists fighting in the Lattakia province have received an order to urgently evacuate modern arms and assets, Konashenkov said.

He added that local citizens in Syria’s provinces of Lattakia, Tartus, Homs, Hama, Idlib and Damascus were joining self-defense groups.

Russian aviation destroyed a column of fuel tankers with crude oil, which was heading toward Iraq, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

“As a result of the aerial reconnaissance near Al Mayadin in the province of Deir ez-Zor, a column of fuel tankers heading toward the Syrian-Iraqi border was uncovered. According to data, the vehicles transported crude produced in the ISIL-controlled oil fields to refineries of terrorists located in Iraq.”

Russia to Focus Attention on Christians’ Concerns in Mideast, Says Foreign Minister

November 12, 2015 By administrator

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (Source: Alexandr Sherbak/TASS)

MOSCOW (TASS)—Russia will increase its efforts in focusing attention on the concerns of Christians in the Middle East, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday at a meeting with the Syrian Orthodox Church’s Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, TASS reports.

“Russia was among the initiators to hold a special event on the sidelines of the human rights council in Geneva this March, which was devoted to the Christians’ distress and beginning of their exodus from the region,” Lavrov said. “We will stand up for this direction and this position, and will promote it in international organizations.”

“The Middle East is a cradle of Christianity,” he went on to say. “Christians have been living there for 2,000 years. It should be done so that the civilizational tissue of that region would be preserved and would not be breached.”

It’s necessary to do everything possible to prevent interfaith and inter-civilizational split in the Middle East, Russian Foreign Minister went on to say.

“We have traditionally paid huge attention to close contacts with representatives of various faiths in the Middle East, taking into account the necessity to do everything to prevent an interfaith, inter-civilizational split in that key region of the world,” Lavrov said.

He also said Russia will continue actively defending the initiative to attract attention to problems of Christians in the Middle East.

According to UN statistics, fighting between Syrian government troops and militants has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced millions since the civil war’s start in 2011.

Russian MPs ask Putin to expand Russian flights ban to Tunisia & Turkey

November 12, 2015 By administrator

RT Russian MPs representing the Communist Party have written to the resident saying that the security situation in Turkey and Tunisia is just as dire as in Egypt, and therefore passenger flights to these countries should also be banned.

“We ask you to consider including the republics of Turkey and Tunisia in the list of territories where Russian airline companies were temporarily banned to deliver passengers by the presidential decree issued on November 8,” reads the letter signed by State Duma deputies Valeriy Rashkin and Sergey Obukhov.

The lawmakers noted in their message that the recent deadly crash of the Russian A231 airliner in Egypt could have been caused by a terrorist attack, adding that several leading politicians, including Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, British State Secretary Philip Hammond and Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon named terrorism as a very probable reason behind the disaster.

Rashkin and Obukhov said they proposed Turkey and Tunisia to be included in the ban because these countries are within the Islamic State terrorist organization’s sphere of influence (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL). “Seven terrorist attacks have occurred in Turkey in less than a year. Two coastal hotels were attacked in Tunisia in June,” the letter reads.
The Russian Foreign Ministry already lists some areas in Turkey and Tunisia as places not recommended for visiting. In Turkey this is the south of the country and in Tunisia – its whole territory “with the exceptions of safe tourist-oriented regions.”

Upper house MP Igor Morozov, a member of the chamber’s International Relations Committee, supported the Communists’ idea.

“Turkey and Tunisia remain among the few destinations of mass tourism today, but the security situation there leaves a lot to be desired,” Morozov told RIA Novosti. “The main task the Russian government must pursue through canceling flights to Turkey and Tunisia is to make the governments of these countries take a more serious approach to security in the tourist sector – airports, hotels and major places of interest,” the senator said. “The main task for Russia is to keep its citizens safe and not to replenish the state budgets of some foreign countries,” he added.

Putin instructs Russian Gov’t to sing joint defense air deal with Armenia

November 11, 2015 By administrator

Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed the government to sign an agreement with Armenia on the creation of a joint regional missile defense system in the Caucasus, Sputniknews.com reports, citing a decree published earlier on Wednesday.
“Accept the proposal by the government of the Russian Federation on signing an agreement between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Armenia on creating a Joint Regional System of Anti-Air Defense in the Caucasus region of collective security,” the document reads.