British admiration alone won’t help us beat Isis – we Kurds need heavy weapons

This is a good piece by Falah Mustafa for the Guardian Newspaper in England
Here on the frontline of democracy, Kurds are battling not just Isis, but the unfounded fears of our allies that we would use weapons elsewhere.

We Kurds are fighting the barbarians of Isis every single day, for our interests and those of the free world. We share a 650-mile border with Isis militants, and a thousand of our peshmerga fighters have paid the ultimate price. Almost 5,000 have been injured, some very seriously.

We are not asking for foreign combat troops. We will provide the boots on the ground. We are already doing most of the fighting, while the Iraqi army does the rest. But Baghdad is getting most of the foreign military supplies and we are getting the smaller portion. This cannot go on.

We are fighting with one hand tied behind our backs, with light guns against tanks and armoured Humvees that Isis captured from the Iraqi army last year. Many of our soldiers do not even have basic equipment such as helmets, body armour, boots, night goggles and winter coats. The peshmerga will suffer more casualties unless, and until, we have a much greater capacity to defend and hold our positions.

We are for the universal values of freedom and democracy. We have a long history of relations with the UK, and see ourselves as partners of choice. We know that many British citizens admire our efforts to defeat Isis. We are grateful for British military support as well as that of Germany, France, Italy and the rest of the coalition partners.

American, British and other air strikes have been vital. But we urgently need much more than the 40 heavy machine guns supplied so far by the British. We need tanks, armoured cars and heavy artillery and guns to defend ourselves and work with the Iraqi army to dislodge Isis.

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A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter launches mortar shells towards Zummar, controlled by Isis. Photograph: Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters

But we feel that supplies of heavy weapons are being restricted and rationed because of some unfounded fears. We will use it against Isis and will always defend our homeland, and have no intention of using them elsewhere. We want and seek peace and cooperation with our partners. We may become independent in the years to come, but that makes it even more important to have good relations with Baghdad. We are pleased that the MPs on Britain’s foreign affairs committee say that independence should be accepted and respected by the UK in certain circumstances.

But that is not an issue for today. We are still trying to work with Baghdad, although they owe us billions and now claim they are bankrupt and cannot pay our soldiers and civil servants. And we are looking after nearly 2 million refugees and displaced people who have fled from Isis. We are proud of our record in giving sanctuary to the victims of Isis, but it is crippling our economy.

We cannot pull our weight without budget payments from Baghdad or loans from friends. It is simply astonishing that Baghdad says it cannot pay us but tried tostop Turkey lending us money.

We cannot pull our weight without heavy weapons either. We cannot keep waiting and drifting with Isis banging on our door every day and wanting to carry out further genocide. The stakes are very high for the Kurds, Baghdad and the rest of the world.

We are grateful that Sir Richard Ottaway, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee, described the Kurds as the UK’s most reliable allies, and asked the British prime minister to look into supplying more weapons – as well as raising the issue of why we were not invited to a recent major international conference of those fighting Isis.

We ask all our friends to provide us with the tools to take on Isis. Yes, we will need to talk to Baghdad about how we live together in the future. But in the meantime, the priority is defeating Isis. We just cannot do it alone.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/13/british-isis-kurds-heavy-weapons-allies

Classified U.S. Military Document: Syrian Rebels DO Have Chemical Weapons

Posted on September 12, 2013 by WashingtonsBlog

Al Qaeda In Syria Had Sarin Before August Attack

We’ve extensively documented that the Syrian rebels do have access to chemical weapons.

It turns out that a classified U.S. military document says the same thing.

A former senior security policy analyst in the office of the secretary of defense, F. Michael Maloof,reports at WND:

In a classified document just obtained by WND, the U.S. military confirms that sarin was confiscated earlier this year from members of the Jabhat al-Nusra Front, the most influential of the rebel Islamists fighting in Syria.

The document says sarin from al-Qaida in Iraq made its way into Turkey and that while some was seized, more could have been used in an attack last March on civilians and Syrian military soldiers in Aleppo.

The document, classified Secret/Noforn – “Not for foreign distribution” – came from the U.S. intelligence community’s National Ground Intelligence Center, or NGIC, and was made available to WND Tuesday.

It revealed that AQI had produced a “bench-scale” form of sarin in Iraq and then transferred it to Turkey.

A U.S. military source said there were a number of interrogations as well as some clan reports as part of what the document said were “50 general indicators to monitor progress and characterize the state of the ANF/AQI-associated Sarin chemical warfare agent developing effort.”

“This (document) depicts our assessment of the status of effort at its peak – primarily research and procurement activities – when disrupted in late May 2013 with the arrest of several key individuals in Iraq and Turkey,” the document said.

“Future reporting of indicators not previously observed would suggest that the effort continues to advance despite the arrests,” the NGIC document said.

The May 2013 seizure occurred when Turkish security forces discovered a two-kilogram cylinder with sarin gas while searching homes of Syrian militants from the al-Qaida-linked Jabhat al-Nusra Front following their initial detention.

The sarin gas was found in the homes of suspected Syrian Islamic radicals detained in the southern provinces of Adana and Mersia.

Some 12 suspected members of the al-Nusra Front were arrested. At the time, they were described by Turkish special anti-terror forces as the “most aggressive and successful arm” of the Syrian rebels.

In the seizure, Turkish anti-terror police also found a cache of weapons, documents and digital data.

***

Sources tell WND the documentation indicates that deadly sarin poison gas was manufactured in a Sunni-controlled region of Iraq and then transported to Turkey for use by the Syrian opposition, whose ranks have swelled with members of al-Qaida and affiliated groups.

High-level former U.S. intelligence officers say that it was the rebels – not the Syrian government – which carried out the chemical weapons attack.

They note that their high-level intelligence colleagues currently working in U.S. intelligence agenciesagree.

The director of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare from 1988 to 2004 – who was a former senior consultant for the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of State – (Yossef Bodansky) also says that the rebels were the perpetrators of the chemical attack.

Propaganda War against Syria, Hezbollah and Iran

I already posted when the Der Spiegel article came out Click here for that

My thoughts on Syria having a nuclear program, weather for weapon or power, is completly fabricated and BS. The cost and time aloone would be prohibitive. Asssad is currently financial cut off. So conserving what Syria has in treasure and man power would come first.
 - Ian Bach

Timothy Alexander Guzman, Silent Crow News – Former White House Chief of Staff for President Barack Obama and the current Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel once said “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” Der Spiegel’s report on Syria’s alleged nuclear weapons program titled ‘Assad’s Secret: Evidence Points to Syrian Push for Nuclear Weapons’ is a true testimony to what Emanuel meant. The terror attacks in the offices of the French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo took place on January 7th; two days later Der Spiegel’s report is published. The timing is perfect. Israeli media is running with it. The Tel-Aviv based www.ynetnews.com published an article titled ‘Syrian rebels: Iranian officers spotted near site of reported nuclear facility’ which confirms Der Spiegel’s accusations:

Following reports Syrian President Bashar Assad was building an underground nuclear facility, a senior Syrian rebel official told Saudi paper Okaz on Sunday that the Free Syrian Army has noted suspicious Syrian and Iranian movements in the town of Qusayr on the outskirts of Homs, where the facility is said to be.

According to the official, Abu Muhammad al-Bitar, the Free Syrian Army noted the presence of Iranian officers and “unprecedented” Hezbollah security in the area. Al-Bitar said the Friday report on Der Spiegel has been discussed at length in command meetings of rebel factions in the Kalamoon area. He went on to say that “what can be confirmed is that what’s going on there is happening under direct Iranian supervision and the Syrian regime is only a cover-up for this”

Now the Free Syrian Army is a trusted source of information? Why would the editors of Der Spiegel release their findings regarding “Assad’s Secret” nuclear weapons program right after the terrorist attack in Paris? Officials in Iran and Syria reject Der Spiegel’s claims. According to ynetnews:

Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif. rejected the Der Spiegel report on Sunday as “ridiculous,” saying “the magazine’s allegation is one of the attempts made by those circles whose life has been based on violence and fear to cloud the international community with illusion and create imaginary concerns about the Islamic Republic,” according to the FARS news agency

Would Iran jeopardize the upcoming summit with U.S. officials concerning its nuclear program by assisting the Syrian government in developing nuclear weapons? A media source told the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA):

that Syria refutes these allegations in their entirety, asserting that the allegations, which were made by a magazine that often publishes preposterous allegations devoid of credibility, contradict the most basic rules of journalism ethics, and that they are part of the conspiracy and media misdirection campaign targeting Syria

Part of the report specifically focuses on the “intercepted Communication” by a high-ranking Hezbollah official and Ibrahim Othman, the head of the Syrian Atomic Energy Commission:

However, the clearest proof the report cited was an intercepted communication by radio traffic recently intercepted local spies, in which the voice identified as belonging to a high-ranking Hezbollah official can be heard calling the place an “atomic factory” specifically naming Qusayr as the area.  More importantly, the Hezbollah official frequently updated Ibrahim Othman, the head of the Syrian Atomic Energy Commission. The Syrian regime has transferred 8,000 fuel rods to the plant that had been planned for a facility at Al-Kibar, it added

The new propaganda campaign against the Syrian government is a dangerous elevation towards war. Der Spiegal’s report can be a starting point for a Western media propaganda blitz that will follow their government’s line, especially in the U.S. The allegations bring back memories of Ahmed Chalabi, the Iraqi politician who provided false information regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD’s) and Saddam’s alleged connection to Al-Qaeda. The information led to the Bush administration’s decision to invade and eventually occupy Iraq in 2003.

Der Spiegel and Israeli media are following Rahm Emanuel’s advice with the recent terror attacks in Paris. With more than 40 World leaders in attendance at a Paris solidarity movement against Islamic extremism this past Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas were at the forefront with French President Francois Hollande. Can Netanyahu be exploiting the terrorist attacks in Paris for an Israeli propaganda campaign against its adversaries back home because they too, face terrorism on a daily basis? Can he be as cynical as Madonna when she sent a “Je Suis Charlie” image on Instagram with a Hashtag promoting her new album ‘Rebel Heart’? Yes, of course he can. The point is that people in power especially politicians, will exploit any crises to their advantage, in this case, new accusations that Syria is in the process of developing nuclear weapons. Israeli officials in the past has warned that terrorists can eventually use “nuclear suitcases” in New York and other European cities as reported by the Washington Examiner in 2013:

An Israeli official warned that the agreement could result in a nuclear attack on the United States. “If a nuclear suitcase blows up in New York or Madrid five years from now, it will be because of the deal that was signed this morning,” Naftali Bennett, the nation’s minister of trade, industry, and labor

Bennet was speaking about Obama’s diplomatic efforts concerning Iran’s nuclear program. The Israeli government wants hegemony in the Middle East but it has a few obstacles in the way, and that is Syria and Iran. Many people in Israel prefer that the U.S. and its European allies to attack Syria. In 2013, a Gal Hadash poll was published in Israel Hayom, an Israeli national Hebrew-language newspaper and stated that more than 66 percent of respondents are in favor of a U.S. and European military intervention in Syria. For the Israeli government, a U.S-NATO attack on Syria would give the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) an open opportunity to pursue a war with Hezbollah and eventually Iran. Israel can use Der Spiegel’s report to its advantage no matter how preposterous it sounds. Right now, the world is mourning the 12 people who were gunned down in cold blood by Islamic extremists in Paris, France and you can bet Israel will exploit the tragedy to discredit its perceived enemies in the Arab world.

Israel is prepared for another war with Hezbollah as it is also awaiting the outcome of the upcoming nuclear talks between Iranian and U.S. officials which will resume on January 14th. One thing is for sure, 2015 is proving to be a very dangerous year for war and it can begin in Syria. Der Spiegel has ignited a new propaganda campaign against Syria as did the New York Times who made the same tragic mistake right before the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. But the question we need to ask is, will the world buy their story?

Posted in Geopolitics, Middle East on 12 January 2015 

For Dollars or for Jihad?

Dollars or Jihad?
Iraqis are getting paid between $100 and $200 (250,000 Iraqi dollars) each attack weather lobbing a grenade in the green zone (IZ), killing an Iraqi police officer, or Iraqi civilians.

Here is a portion of an insurgent being interogated:

Officer: were you doing these killings for Jihad?
Criminal: yes Sir.
Officer: for Jihad or for money?
Criminal: for both Sir.
Officer: how could Jihad be paid for!!
Criminal: (no answer)
Officer: you're Muslim?
Criminal: yes
Officer: on ID card, huh?
Criminal: yes
Officer: do you pray or go to the mosque?
Criminal: no
Officer: do you drink?
Criminal: yes Sir.
Officer: so you don't pray and you don't go to the mosque and you drink and you kill for money and after all this you call your evil doings Jihad?!!! And you call your group the "Islamic Army"!!
Criminal: (no answer again)
Officer: so, tell me about those 9 policemen. Where were they coming from and where were they heading?
Criminal: coming from 'Msayab and heading to Hilla
Officer: so they weren't coming from Tel Aviv? (from the officer's tone, obviously mocking the conspiracy theorists).
Criminal: no Sir, they were Iraqis.
Officer: THEN WHY DID YOU KILL THEM!!?