Everything to do with ISIS

[visionary]

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/NewsReports/566325-irans-air-force-to-enter-syria-conflict-report

Iran’s air force to enter Syria conflict: report

 

Iran is preparing to deploy two fighter jet squadrons to Syria to conduct strikes on behalf of the Bashar al-Assad regime, according to a Kuwaiti daily with close access to Moscow’s military intervention in the war-torn country.

“The Iranian participation [in the Syrian conflict] is headed for more advancement with preparation for the arrival of two fleets of Iranian planes,” sources in the Damascus joint operations room of the “4+1” military coalition of Russia, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Hezbollah told Al-Rai's newspaper’s chief international correspondent, Elijah J. Magnier.

The sources added that Russian-manufactured Sukhoi jets would be deployed to the Tiyas (T4) airbase east of Homs after Iranian engineers finish preparations at the facility, which is near the Al-Shayrat base where Russia already plans to begin operating from.
  
“Iran and Russia have agreed that Moscow will perform all repair operations needed by these combat fleets along with provision of the necessary ammunition and the development of the launch systems of these Iranian planes,” the sources added.

Al-Rai also reported that Iran sees its planned aerial intervention in Syria as an opportunity for its pilots to gain valuable operational experience.

Iran has already provided logistical assistance to Russia’s aerial campaign in Syria; with The Aviationist blog run by Rome-based journalist David Cenciotti noting that Iranian F-14 Tomcats had escorted Russian strategic bombers flying over Iran en-route to Syria.

The Iranian jets were spotted in a video released by Russia’s Defense Ministry on November 20 showing Russian Tu-95 bear bombers conducting bombing runs as part of Moscow’s military intervention in Syria.

Al-Rai’s Magnier has written a number of articles in recent weeks on Russia’s bombardment campaign in Syria, claiming access to sources in both the Baghdad and Damascus operation rooms for the “4+1” military coalition of Russia, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Hezbollah.

On Monday, the journalist reported that Russia was moving to deploy jets in the Al-Shayrat base located approximately 35 kilometers southeast of Homs.

The following day, a US defense official confirmed to Fox News that Russia was already operating helicopters out of the base, and was preparing to land fixed-wing aircrafts at the facility.

The dramatic Al-Rai article also claimed that Russia has supplied Syria with an advanced aerial defense system.

“Damascus has received a group of Russian high-end S-300 missiles and these missiles are ready to enter active service,” sources told daily’s Magnier.

“Most importantly, Damascus will announce with this special development that any state that sends any plane into Syrian air space without coordinating with it will be considered an enemy plane and dealt with without warning,” the sources added.

“Safe passageways will be specified for planes that wish to enter the war on terror after coordination with Syrian military command.”

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/12/03/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-idUSKBN0TM2OB20151203?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews#zJmXVQDEzaaZASCI.97

Iraq PM says would consider foreign troop deployment "act of aggression"
 

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Thursday no foreign ground troops had been requested from any country and that their deployment would be considered an "act of aggression".

 

The statement on Abadi's official Facebook page came after U.S. Army Colonel Steve Warren said a new force of around 100 special operations troops would be deployed to assist in the military campaign against Islamic State militants in Iraq.

 

http://www.france24.com/en/20151203-russia-equips-central-syria-airport-new-base-raids?ns_campaign=reseaux_sociaux&ns_source=twitter&ns_mchannel=social&ns_linkname=depeche&aef_campaign_ref=partage_user&aef_campaign_date=2015-12-03

Russia equips central Syria airport as new base for raids

 

Russia is reinforcing a military airport in central Syria as a new base for its warplanes as government forces edge closer to Palmyra, a military source and monitoring group said Thursday.

 

"The preparation phase for the Shaayrat base is nearing its end. It is being prepared to become a Russian military base," the military source told AFP, declining to be named.

 

"A number of Russian advisors arrived in Shaayrat weeks ago," the source said. The base "will begin being used by Russian forces before the end of this month".

 

Since Moscow began air strikes in Syria on September 30, its Su-34, Su-24, Su-30 and Su-25 planes have operated out of Hmeimim base in the coastal province of Latakia.

 

Shaayrat lies in Syria's central Homs province, north of several towns where government forces and allied militia backed by Russian air strikes have been fighting the Islamic State jihadist group.

 

Late last month, regime forces recaptured the town of Maheen after IS had overrun it on November 1.

 

Government troops have fought to edge closer to the historic town of Palmyra, about 130 km (80 miles) east of Shaayrat and held by IS since May.

 

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Russia was "building new runways at the Shaayrat airport and reinforcing its surroundings in order to use it soon for operations" in Homs province.

 

Abdel Rahman said Russian helicopters were already using the nearby T-4 military airport to strike IS targets in Palmyra.

 

"Syrian regime forces are about three kilometres (less than two miles) from Palmyra and are advancing from the south and west with air cover by Russian helicopters," he said.

The troops have also reached the edges of Al-Qaryatain, a mixed Christian-Muslim village in Homs province that IS seized in August.

 

https://cpj.org/awards/2015/raqqa-is-being-slaughtered-silently-syria.php

International Press Freedom Awards

Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, Syria

 

In April 2014, around 17 Syrian activists set out to document the abuses of Islamic State after the militant group took over and declared the northern city of Raqqa to be the caliphate’s capital.

 

The activists, working anonymously for their safety, formed a group, Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS), which is one of the few reliable and independent sources of news left in the Islamic State stronghold. The group’s Raqqa-based members secretly film and report from within the city and send the information to members outside of Syria, who transfer the news to local and international media. Since its inception, RBSS has publicized public lashings, crucifixions, beheadings, and draconian social rules, thus providing the world with a counter-narrative to Islamic State’s slickly produced version of events.

 

In July 2015, Abu Mohammed, an RBSS founder who lives outside Syria, told CPJ: “The threats come in different forms, but they happen most days.” He said that members outside of Syria, including himself, often receive phone calls and emails saying that if they don't stop publishing, they will be killed. The group’s Twitter and personal email accounts have been hacked. But the journalists inside Raqqa face the greatest risk, Abu Mohammed said. “Cameras have been placed to monitor anyone suspected of working for us. If a suspect is caught in the street, they will be killed in front of everyone.”

 

RBSS has been declared an enemy of God by Islamic State, and at least two RBSS members have already paid the price with their lives. In October 2015, Ibrahim Abd al-Qader, an early member of RBSS, was killed by Islamic State operatives, along with his colleague Fares Hamadi, in an apartment in Urfa, southeastern Turkey. Al-Moutaz Bellah Ibrahim was kidnapped by Islamic State and murdered in May 2014. In July 2015, Islamic State released a highly produced video, showing two men saying they worked for RBSS. The men are then strung up on trees and shot. One of the founders of RBSS later told CPJ that the two men did not belong to the group.

 

While RBSS was formed to document the atrocities of Islamic State, its members have also reported critically on the Assad government’s bombings, other rebel forces, and civilian casualties caused by U.S.-led airstrikes. The group has established itself as a credible source among Syria monitors and journalists globally. RBSS members have broken several stories, including the failed special operations raid to save U.S. freelance journalist James Foley and the other hostages.

[TheGoodBits]

"Decorated" is a bit of a stretch. He received all of those medals for enlisting and showing up at his assignment.

Still, really frustrating... Clearly these were your "good Muslims" enjoying life in America, at some point in the not too distant past.

Edit- whoops, responding to posts in the wrong thread with replies in the wrong thread

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/12/04/us-mideast-crisis-thailand-russia-iduskbn0tn08e20151204?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=5661493304d30164b7a2ff16&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

Syrians linked to Islamic State in Thailand 'to attack Russian interests'

 

Ten Syrians linked to Islamic State (IS) entered Thailand in October to attack Russian interests, Thai police said in a leaked document citing information from the Russian Federal Security Service.

 

In the document, Special Branch police urged an intensification of security around "target areas that Russian authorities are concerned about", including venues associated with allies that have taken part in attacks on IS in Syria.

 

Russia began air strikes in Syria on Sept. 30 and has stepped up attacks in recent weeks. An IS affiliate claimed responsibility for downing a Russian airliner over Egypt's Sinai peninsula in October, killing all 224 people on board.

 

Thailand's Special Branch, which deals with national security issues, circulated the document to other police units.

 

Marked "Urgent" and dated Nov. 27, the Special Branch police said intelligence from Russia warned that 10 Syrians "related to" IS entered Thailand between Oct. 15 and Oct. 31. The document was circulating on social media on Thursday.

 

"The document is real. We received it from Special Branch," said a police officers who handles international crime matters. He declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.

 

"The original communication was by word of mouth between Russian and Thai police. I don't know how the document leaked."

 

The Special Branch said four of the suspects traveled to the seaside city of Pattaya, two to the tourist island of Phuket, two to Bangkok and two to an unknown destination.

 

Police had not received warnings about IS activity from any other foreign intelligence agency, Deputy Police Spokesman Songpol Wattanachai told reporters, adding that police had no information about their whereabouts, identity or possible targets.

 

"We're still trying to work out whether they even came in," he said, when asked if they could still be in the country.

 

National Security Council Chief General Thawip Netniyom said security units had been told to be vigilant.

 

"We have yet to find any unusual movement," he told reporters. "Everything is safe, rest assured."

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-turkey-idUSKBN0TN2HZ20151204?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Turkish soldiers training Iraqi troops near Mosul: sources
 

Several hundred Turkish soldiers have been deployed to provide training for Iraqi troops in an area near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which is under Islamic State control, a Turkish security source told Reuters on Friday.

 

Islamic State militants overran Mosul, a city of more than one million people, in June 2014, but a much anticipated counter-offensive by Iraqi forces has been repeatedly postponed because they are involved in fighting elsewhere.

 

"Turkish soldiers have reached the Mosul Bashiqa region. They are there as part of routine training exercises. One battalion has crossed into the region," the source said, declining to say exactly how many soldiers had been deployed.

 

He said troops had already been in Iraqi Kurdistan and had moved to Mosul accompanied by armored vehicles, in a move of which coalition countries targeting Islamic State are aware.

 

Video released on the website of Turkey's pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper showed flatbed trucks carrying armored vehicles along a road at night, describing them as a convoy accompanying the Turkish troops to Bashiqa.

 

A senior Kurdish military officer based on the Bashiqa front line, north of Mosul, said additional Turkish trainers had arrived at a camp in the area overnight on Thursday escorted by a Turkish protection force.

 

He said he was not aware of the size of the force and refused to speculate.

 

The camp is used by a force called Hashid Watani (national mobilization), which is made up of mainly Sunni Arab former Iraqi police and volunteers from Mosul.

It was formed by former governor Atheel al-Nujaifi, who is close to Turkey. There was already a small number of Turkish trainers there before this latest deployment

 

"Our soldiers are already in Iraq. A battalion of soldiers has gone there. Training was already being given in that region for the last two to three years. This is a part of that training," one senior Turkish official said.

Another senior Turkish official said the soldiers in the region were there to train (Kurdish) Peshmerga fighters.

 

Turkey has close relations with the Kurdish autonomous zone of northern Iraq, though it views Syrian Kurdish groups across the border as hostile to its interests.

 

"This is part of the fight against Daesh (Islamic State)," he said, adding that there were around 20 armored vehicles accompanying them as protection.

 

 

https://twitter.com/CNNTURK_ENG

BREAKING Iraqi PM Al Abadi tweets: The Iraqi govt calls on Turkey to respect good neighbourly rels & to withdraw from the Iraqi territory

6:35 PM

 

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-oil-usa-idUSKBN0TN2P920151204?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Oil smuggled into Turkey not enough to be profitable: U.S. official
 

The amount of oil being smuggled into Turkey from Syria was not enough for anyone to profit from it significantly, a senior U.S. State Department official said on Friday, rejecting claims by Russia that top Turkish officials were benefitting by smuggling oil from areas of Syria controlled by Islamic State.

 

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States believed most of the oil smuggled from Islamic State-controlled areas was going into Syrian government-controlled territory and some into Iraq.

 

The Russian defense ministry claimed this week that it has proof Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his family were benefitting from smuggling oil from Islamic State-held territory. Erdogan denied the charges, saying he would stand down if such allegations were proven true.

 

"Our assessment is that there is not a lot of smuggling happening of any significant volume between ISIL controlled territories and Turkey," the official said. "The volume itself of the oil being smuggled is extremely low and has decreased over time."

 

The official estimated that to smuggle about 20,000 barrels of oil into Turkey per day it would take about 1,000 trucks, a number that had not been seen crossing the border.

 

"The economics don't make sense for that to happen," the official said. "The evidence doesn't suggest that we would see thousands of trucks going through this territory and it would have to cross several different areas of control, and at every point have to pay fees."

 

"I don't see a lot of narrative in the argument that there is significant smuggling going," the official added.

 

While the official acknowledged that some smuggling was occurring between the neighbors, he flatly rejected that it was of any significant volume that would be profitable.

 

"The oil is being consumed almost entirely inside areas of control of Syria and trading with the regime" of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the official said, adding, "ISIL is selling it into the economy."

 

U.S., French and British jets have targeted Islamic-controlled oil fields in Syria as part of a campaign to cut the financial lifeline of the militant group. Hours after the British parliament agreed to join a coalition fighting the militant group, British bombers attacked six targets in the Omar oil fields in eastern Syria controlled by Islamic State.

 

U.S. officials have said that images posted by Russia of oil tankers crossing into Turkey from Syria were dated and were not of trucks crossing the border into Turkey.

 

"What I have not seen is imagery of the border crossing with trucks crossing the border, and that's because I don't believe that exists," the official added.

 

https://twitter.com/HodaAH

Kurds to the rescue; KRG chairman committee of energy refutes claims that Turkey gets oil from ISIS
2:01 PM

 

https://twitter.com/markito0171

Aleppo FSA regain control of Baraghidah after lost control to IS this morning- claim Azaz-media team

http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.632921&lon=37.213826&z=15&m=b
10:57 AM

 

Rebels took over Khirbet village in northern Aleppo after clashes with IslamicState
3:34 PM

 

only sporadic US-bombing on IS hold frontline-villages in northern Aleppo
3:39 PM

 

IslamicState launch assault on Mare' town in northern Aleppo tonight- after blew up vehicle bomb
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.481760&lon=37.201080&z=13&m=b
4:14 PM

 

Rebels expelled IslamicState from Yarn village in northern Aleppo
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.624914&lon=37.233481&z=16&m=b
6:28 PM

 

[about previous tweet] seems with help of US airstrikes tonight
6:42 PM

[visionary]

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/Default.aspx?pageID=238&nID=92113&NewsCatID=352

Turkish military to have a base in Iraq's Mosul

 

Turkey will have a permanent military base in the Bashiqa region of Mosul as the Turkish forces in the region training the Peshmerga forces have been reinforced, Hürriyet reported.

 

The deal regarding the base was signed between Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani and Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioğlu, during the latter’s visit to northern Iraq on Nov. 4.

 

At least 150 Turkish soldiers, accompanied by 20-25 tanks, were deployed to the area by land late on Dec. 4, Anadolu Agency reported.

 

For more than two years, Turkey has had a group of soldiers in Bashiqa, located 32 kilometers north of Mosul, which is under Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) control. The soldiers have been training the Peshmerga forces and other anti-ISIL groups.

 

Some 150 Turkish soldiers and 20 tanks were deployed to the base to take over the mission from the 90 soldiers who have been in the region for two years.  

With the increased number of Turkish soldiers deployed to the base, an increase is expected in the number of militia trained.

 

ISIL militants overran Mosul, a city of more than one million people, in June 2014, but a much anticipated counter-offensive by Iraqi forces has been repeatedly postponed because they are involved in fighting elsewhere.

 

A statement from the Iraqi prime minister's media office confirmed that Turkish troops numbering "around one armed battalion with a number of tanks and cannons" had entered its territory near Mosul without request or permission from Baghdad authorities. It called on the forces to leave immediately.

 

In a separate statement flashed on state TV, the Iraqi foreign ministry called the Turkish activity "an incursion" and rejected any military operation that was not coordinated with the federal government, Reuters reported.

 

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0TN2MW20151204

U.S. yet to agree details on new force's role in Iraq: officials

 

The United States has yet to agree with Baghdad on crucial details governing the role of a new American special forces unit aimed at hunting Islamic State militants in Iraq, U.S. officials said, underlining the difficulties Washington faces dealing with Iraq's weakened leader.

 

Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced on Tuesday the planned deployment of the small force, whose raids against Islamic State targets would be the first sustained military operations by U.S. forces in Iraq since American combat troops left in 2011.

 

U.S. officials said it had been discussed and coordinated with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

 

But Iraq's ruling alliance and powerful Shi'ite militias have warned against the plan, raising doubts over whether Abadi has the political clout to secure a final agreement.

 

In comments that may have been intended mostly for public consumption at home, Abadi said hours after Carter's announcement that any such deployment would require his government's consent. On Thursday, he said that any deployment of foreign ground troops would be considered an "act of aggression."

 

U.S. officials stressed that there will be no unilateral American military operations in Iraq, unlike in neighboring Syria. But precisely how much say Abadi will have over the unit's activities, and how much freedom of action the Americans will have, is still undecided. Having Abadi sign off before each raid would be cumbersome, U.S. officials believe, and crimp the new unit's effectiveness.

 

The Obama administration plans to send a team to Baghdad in coming weeks to sort out the details with Iraq's government, officials said.

 

"With Abadi, a core fundamental principle of ours in this whole thing is that everything we do in Iraq is with full consent and coordination with the Iraqi government," a senior administration official said. "So we will not be doing anything in Iraq unilaterally."

 

It is unclear if the unresolved questions will prompt a delay in the dispatch of about 100 elite U.S. Special Operations Forces to Iraq, which Carter said would launch raids in both Syria and Iraq to secure hostages, gather intelligence and capture Islamic State leaders.

 

 

https://twitter.com/Raqqa_SL

ISIS excuted Mostafa Hassa a media actvist by a bomb in DeirEzzor
7:22 PM

 

https://twitter.com/archicivilians

Syria: Opposition forces advancing against ISIS in North Aleppo, took control of:
- Khirbah
- Qarah Mazra'ah
- Gazzl
- Gas plant
- Dudiyan
7:45 AM

 

It's the first time for Opposition to retake Dudiyan village since they lost it to ISIS in 2014. Syria
8:00 AM

 

 

https://twitter.com/markito0171

Syria Areas (light green) taken last night by FSA from the IslamicState in northern Aleppo at border to Turkey
7:19 AM

 

Russia'n airstrikes on rebel hold frontline towns & villages to the IslamicState in northern Aleppo
7:30 AM

 

Syria Seems Rebels also seized 3 other villages from IslamicState tonight in northern Aleppo tonight
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.641978&lon=37.282233&z=15&m=b
7:33 PM

 

Syria Airstrikes by Russia'n warplanes on road to Bab Al-Hawa border crossing to Turkey in western rural Aleppo
8:36 AM

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately:

 

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/asia/afghanistan/article4633105.ece

Isis invades Afghanistan

 

Islamic State fighters have captured swathes of eastern Afghanistan in a drive to establish a new province of the group’s self-styled caliphate on territory straddling the border with Pakistan.

[HogNose]

[visionary]

http://www.france24.com/en/20151205-turkmen-rebels-seize-syria-border-village-monitor?ns_campaign=reseaux_sociaux&ns_source=twitter&ns_mchannel=social&ns_linkname=editorial&aef_campaign_ref=partage_aef&aef_campaign_date=2015-12-05&dlvrit=65413

Turkmen rebels seize Syria border village from IS: monitor

 

Syrian Turkmen rebel fighters have seized three villages from the Islamic State group near the Turkish border in clashes that killed 13 from the ethnic minority, a monitor said Saturday.

 

"This is the first time that Turkmen fighters have led the battle against IS in the area, and that comes after they received support from Turkey," said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor.

 

He did not provide details on the alleged assistance.

 

The Britain-based group said the 13 fighters killed since Friday were members of the Sultan Murad Brigades, made up of Turkmen fighters, battling IS in the northern province of Aleppo.

 

The clashes were centred on a region to the east of Azaz, a town on the Turkish border, that is home to many of Syria's Turkmen minority, it said.

It added that the Turkmen had captured three border villages.

 

The Observatory did not have a casualty toll for the jihadists but said one of their vehicles was destroyed in an air strike by the US-led coalition in the Azaz area Friday night.

 

IS controls large stretches of the border area, but Ankara and Washington have sought to ensure the group is cleared from the area between Jarabulus and Azaz.

Russia has been bombing the rebels in this area, so it's kind of worrying to think that Russia and US planes may be dropping bombs in the same area against opposing groups.  

 

https://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/turkey-detains-eight-members-syria-border-army-182117830.html?soc_src=mediacontentsharebuttons&soc_trk=tw

Turkey detains eight IS members on Syria border: army

 

Turkey has detained eight members of the Islamic State group including three children while trying to cross from neighbouring Syria illegally, the military said on Saturday.

 

"Eight members of the Daesh terrorist organisation were caught and detained" on Friday in the border town of Elbeyli, Kilis province, the army said in a statement on its website, using an Arabic acronym for IS.

 

The military gave no further details on the three children detained.

 

Weapons including a Kalashnikov rifle, 11 cartridges and hand grenades were confiscated from the group, along with a notebook, the statement said.

 

Long criticised for not doing enough to stem the flow of jihadist fighters across its volatile border with Syria, Turkey has stepped up fight after a number of deadly attacks on Turkish soil blamed on IS.

 

According to government figures, between January and November around 1,200 suspects were detained over ties to the jihadist group.

Turkish courts have convicted and imprisoned more than 350 people on the grounds of IS membership.

 

 

 

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/AFP

BREAKING: IS claims killing of Aden governor in Yemen car bombing
3:57 AM

On the plus side maybe Saudi Arabia (and their Yemen coalition) will focus more on ISIS now.

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-islamic-state-idUSKBN0TP0HD20151206

At least 32 Islamic State fighters killed in strikes in Syria's Raqqa: monitor
 

At least 32 Islamic State fighters were killed and 40 more wounded in Syria's Raqqa province on Sunday, in a series of air strikes believed to be carried out by a U.S.-led coalition targeting the jihadists, a monitoring group said.

 

More than 15 explosions hit Islamic State positions in the countryside of Raqqa province and near its capital, Raqqa city, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Raqqa is Islamic State's Syrian stronghold.

 

The coalition said it hit Raqqa and other areas of northern and eastern Syria on Sunday.

 

In central Syria, at least 45 air strikes, probably carried out by Russia, hit the city of Palmyra, which is also under Islamic State's control, the Observatory said. Injuries were reported, but no details on the casualty toll were available.

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-italy-idUSKBN0TP0R920151206?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Italy rules out joining Syria air strikes, says another strategy needed
 

Italy has no intention of joining a U.S.-led coalition that is attacking Islamic State targets in Syria, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said on Sunday, warning that the air campaign would only add to chaos in the region.

 

Center-right opponents have urged Renzi to follow in the footsteps of Britain, which last week agreed to take part in missions over Syria, but Renzi told Corriere della Sera newspaper that Italy would remain on the sidelines.

 

"If being a protagonist means playing at running after other people's bombardments, then I say 'no thank you'," Renzi was quoted as saying.

"Italy's position is clear and solid. We want to wipe out terrorists, not please the commentators. The one thing we don't need is to multiply on-the-spot reactions, without a strategic vision," he said.

 

http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=62158

Syria’s Kurds at the Center of America’s Anti-Jihadi Strategy

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-turkey-idUSKBN0TP0LC20151206

Iraq's Abadi says could resort to U.N. over Turkish deployment

 

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Sunday his country might turn to the U.N. security council if Turkish troops sent to northern Iraq were not withdrawn within 48 hours.

 

He said the deployment of hundreds of Turkish forces near the northern Islamic State-controlled city of Mosul on Thursday had happened without the approval or knowledge of the Iraqi government and constituted a violation of national sovereignty.

 

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu responded to the row on Saturday saying the activity was a routine troop rotation to support a camp that Turkish forces had previously set up at the Mosul governor's request and in coordination with the Iraqi Defense Ministry.

 

Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi said on Sunday he had told his Turkish counterpart that the latest deployment had been sent without informing or coordinating with Baghdad, and should be withdrawn.

 

He said the Turkish defense minister had explained the deployment as necessary to protect Turkish military advisers training Iraqi forces some 30 km (19 miles) northeast of Mosul in preparation for a campaign to retake the city. But Obeidi said the Turkish force was too large for such a purpose.

 

"No matter the size of the force entering Iraq, it is rejected," the statement said. "It was possible to undertake this sort of prior coordination without creating circumstances which contributed to a crisis between the two countries."

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-britain-idUSKBN0TP08N20151206?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Assad says British bombing in Syria will fail, ridicules PM Cameron
 

British air strikes on Islamic State will fail to defeat the militant group, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview with the Sunday Times newspaper, mocking Prime Minister David Cameron's strategy in the region.

 

British lawmakers approved the bombing of Islamic State targets in Syria on Wednesday. Hours after that approval, the Royal Air Force struck the oilfields that Cameron's government says are being used to fund attacks on the West.

 

Speaking in an interview conducted before the vote in parliament, the result of which had been widely anticipated, Assad said Cameron's strategy would make the situation worse, not better.

 

"They are going to fail again," he said. "You cannot cut out part of the cancer. You have to extract it. This kind of operation is like cutting out part of the cancer. That will make it spread in the body faster."

 

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/heminhawrami/status/673534918522183680

Due to new waves of Russian cruise missiles , both Erbil & Slemani airports will be closed for 48 hrs, effective from 10 PM tonight .
11:10 AM

[visionary]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/06/us-intel-to-obama-isis-is-not-contained.html

U.S. Intel to Obama: ISIS Is Not Contained

 

A new U.S. intelligence report on ISIS, commissioned by the White House, predicts that the self-proclaimed Islamic State will spread worldwide and grow in numbers, unless it suffers a significant loss of territory on the battlefield in Iraq and Syria, U.S. officials told The Daily Beast.

 

The report stands in stark contrast to earlier White House assurances that ISIS had been "contained" in Iraq and Syria. And it is already spurring changes in how the U.S. grapples with ISIS, these officials said.

 

It’s also a tacit admission that coalition efforts so far – dropping thousands of bombs and deploying 3,500 U.S. troops as well as other coalition trainers -- have been outpaced by ISIS’ ability to expand and attract new followers, even as the yearlong coalition air campaign has helped local forces drive ISIS out of parts of Iraq and Syria.

The White House commissioned the intelligence report prior to last month's deadly strikes in Paris, and long before last week's terror attacks in San Bernardino, California, three senior U.S. officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to describe a confidential document and policy changes. It was also commissioned before Obama declared ISIS “contained” in Iraq and Syria — just a day before the Paris attacks — but it was delivered to the White House in the weeks afterward.

 

After reviewing its grim conclusions, President Barack Obama asked Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford to come up with new options to beat the group back.

 

The counterterrorism campaign is being stepped-up—using the same arsenal of drones, special forces raids, and local proxies previously employed in the global war on al-Qaeda. A special operations targeting cell, announced by Carter last week, is one of the recommendations. The roughly 200-strong team will conduct raiding operations in Iraq and Syria, coordinating strikes through a 50-man team that will work inside northern Syria with a band of U.S.-supported guerrillas known as the Syrian Arab Coalition.

 

Defense chiefs have also tasked the military's Special Operations Command (SOCOM) to host an interagency think tank of military, diplomatic and intelligence representatives to come up with other options, The Daily Beast has learned.

 

The roughly eight-page intelligence report was compiled by a team of analysts from CIA, DIA, NSA, and other agencies, all reporting to the Director for National Intelligence.

 

"This intel report didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know," said one official. “It was lots of great charts showing countries highlighted across the globe, with some groups having pledged allegiance to ISIS and others leaning towards it."

 

It described how the terrorist group with aspirations of founding an extremist Islamic caliphate already has a network of groups that have pledged allegiance or are vying for membership in a dozen countries.

 

http://rudaw.net/NewsDetails.aspx?pageid=177118

Kurdistan suspends flights at airports as Russian jets fly over Syria

 

Baghdad has asked that Kurdistan suspend flights at its two airports for 48 hours, because Russian are targeting the Islamic State (ISIS) just across the border in Syria, a Kurdish airport official said late Sunday.

 

This is the second time in less than a month that Kurdistan is suspending all fights at Baghdad’s request.

 

“We have been informed by Baghdad to halt the flights because of Russian jets attacking Daesh (ISIS) in Syria. This is for the safety of travelers,” Talar Fayiq, head of Erbil International Airport, told Rudaw late Sunday.

 

She said that both Sulaimani and Erbil airports will adhere to the directive for the safety of travelers.

 

Fayiq said all flights would halt at 10 pm on Sunday and will not resume for 48 hours. Flights will resume if there is no extension from Baghdad.

 

 

https://twitter.com/brett_mcgurk

The U.S. does not support military deployments inside Iraq absent the consent of the Iraqi government. 
3:56 PM

 

This includes deployment of U.S. military personnel, as well as military personnel from any other country.
3:56 PM

 

Last 24 hours, we have actively encouraged Turkish and Iraqi authorities to discuss current situation through appropriate channels.
3:56 PM

 

The recent phone call between the Turkish and Iraqi defense ministers was a positive and constructive step forward. 
3:56 PM

 

We are encouraged by reports that Turkish military forces have pulled back from the Iraqi border as diplomatic engagements proceed.
3:57 PM

 

We continue to encourage all parties to bring this issue to a diplomatic resolution as partners & friends united in fight against ISIL.
3:57 PM

[visionary]

http://money.cnn.com/2015/12/06/news/isis-funding/index.html

Inside the $2 billion ISIS war machine

 

ISIS buys bombs and pays fighters with the billions of dollars it makes from the oil fields, mineral mines, and banks under its control. ISIS also imposes taxes on the people living inside its territory in Iraq and Syria.

 

ISIS raked in $2 billion in 2014 alone.

 

CNNMoney has interviewed military scholars and financial investigators, and it has reviewed dozens of reports from ISIS, the U.S. Treasury, Defense Department, United Nations, British government, and several terrorism research institutes.

 

Together, they show why ISIS is so powerful. It ditched Al-Qaeda's old model of relying on rich donors in the Arabian Gulf. Instead, the Islamic State is a self-funded powerhouse.

ISIS subsidizes bread for the public, experts say. Soldiers earn $400 to $1,200 a month, plus a $50 stipend for their wives and $25 for each child, according to the Congressional Research Service. Highly skilled engineers and technicians can make upwards of $1,500 a month, according to an investigative team of UN researchers.

 

"The Islamic State is certainly the best financially endowed terrorist organization in history. That is particularly due to its ability to govern ungoverned spaces," said Andreas Krieg, a military scholar at King's College London in Qatar.

 

Here's how ISIS pays for it all.

Taxes: $360 million-plus a year

 

Oil: $500 million a year

 

Kidnapping ransoms: $20 million to $45 million a year

 

https://twitter.com/archicivilians

 

 

 

 

 

 

Things getting very very messy in Syria right now

 

https://twitter.com/markito0171

Syria Aleppo Reports that cruise missiles hit defence factories in al Safira
A dozen Russia'n airstrikes on rebels in northern Aleppo
5:58 PM

 

unconfirmed reports that 35 regime forces killed by Russia'n mistake missile strikes on defence factories
6:13 PM

 

Syria Lots of dead SAA forces & destroyed tanks by (failed) US airsrikes in DeirEzZor (several regime sources)

5 dead 17 wounded from SAA & 2 tanks destroyed
6:08 PM

 

Clashes tonight btw rebels & IS about control of Kafrah in northern Aleppo
6:02 PM

 

Syria Reports that kurdish YPG crossed Euphrates river tonight near Jarabulus
6:10 PM

 

Airstrikes by US & Russia tonight in DeirEzZor- unclear who hit regime forces
6:23 PM

Would not be at all surprised if it that was Russia as well.

[SkinsHokieFan]

http://www.lettertobaghdadi.com/

[visionary]

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/world/article48196120.html

Russia has stepped up bombing since Turkey downed its aircraft

 

In the days since Turkey downed a Russian warplane that flew into its airspace, Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a bombing campaign that’s destroyed bakeries and relief convoys in northern Syria, cutting the flow of food to more than half a million civilians.

 

The result has been a complete halt in relief operations by major humanitarian aid groups, all of which operate out of Turkey. It’s also brought the region to the brink of further catastrophe as hundreds of thousands of residents are caught in the crossfire and are unable to flee their homes.

 

Since Russia began bombing Sept. 30, “there’s been a huge wave of internally displaced,” said Karl Schembri, regional coordinator for the Norwegian Refugee Council. The situation has grown worse since the shoot-down Nov. 24. “People cannot move at all, and there is nowhere for them to flee to,” he told McClatchy.

 

All of Syria’s neighbors, including Turkey, have now shut their borders to fleeing refugees, and informal camps for displaced persons just inside the Syrian border are reported to be packed.

 

The stepped-up Russian bombing campaign has had another effect, rebels and aid workers say, allowing the Islamic State to move into areas that it previously had not controlled close to the Turkish border.

 

Putin’s aim appears to be cutting supply lines from Turkey to rebel forces and civilians in northern Syria as well as, Turkish officials say, preventing the creation of a safe zone just inside Syria where civilians could flee without fear of being bombed. If the Turks were to reopen their border, aid workers say, the refugee flow into the country could be enormous.

Immediately after Turkey shot down the Russian warplane, Russian aircraft launched air attacks in the border area, striking major transportation hubs where humanitarian aid is transshipped. Russian aircraft hit one such hub three times in five days, incinerating 15 trucks, killing up to a dozen drivers and injuring seven, humanitarian aid officials said.

 

On subsequent days, Russian or Syrian warplanes attacked key facilities inside Syria. On Nov. 26 – Thanksgiving Day – an airstrike destroyed a grain silo in Tasbabet, with capacity to supply mills and bakeries throughout Idlib province, according to the U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

 

One day later, an airstrike targeted a bakery in Saraqeb that served 50,000 people a day.

 

On Nov. 28, an airstrike destroyed another bakery as well as a water pumipng station in Ma’aret Numan, a town in southern Idlib province. Also targeted: two schools in Jisr Shughour in Idlib province, which subsequently discontinued classes for more than 1000 students.

 

Now the aid cannot flow. “The fighting is destroying all sorts of civilian infrastructure, from houses to schools, bakeries and hospitals,” said Jan Egeland, the secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, one of the groups that had been supplying food and other aid into Syria. “At the same time “We’ve had to suspend most of our programs because of the security situation, just when they are most needed.”

 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mikegiglio/airstrikes-alone-wont-stop-isis-inside-the-war-on-the-ground?bftwnews&utm_term=.ynXkzzOZl#.hrMNGGZlM

Inside The War Against Isis

 

Khalil Darwish, a sheikh in northeastern Syria, stood in the center of his small desert village and recalled the moment the war arrived. Earlier this month, U.S.-backed fighters took cover in some houses as they advanced on ISIS across the sparse terrain. Then the militants sent in a suicide attacker with a car bomb, killing six civilians, including Darwish’s wife. “We had been like a buffer zone,” Darwish, an aging man wearing oversized eyeglasses and a white dishdasha robe, said as he pointed to the crater from the blast. “Then it became very dangerous.”

 

Far below the warplanes flown by the U.S. and its allies in their campaign against ISIS, Syrians in forgotten towns and villages like Darwish’s are witnessing what it means to fight the jihadis on the ground. At the southern edge of Hasakah province, near the border with Iraq, the path the battles have traced over the last month winds along dirt roads, through improvised minefields, and past mud-brick homes crushed by airstrikes, signs of a desperate war often fought across desperate land.

 

In the wake of the terror attacks in Paris, Western leaders have talked tough about defeating ISIS and ramped up airstrikes on the Syrian city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of its self-styled caliphate. But the war against the militants won’t be won in the air — they can be rolled back only by local forces willing to face them. The U.S. has placed its hopes in a new group of fighters in Syria dedicated to that cause. On the edges of Raqqa, they are engaged in a grueling struggle against the jihadis, often with dated weapons, taking regular casualties as they work to slowly eat away at ISIS territory. “The war is difficult, and it’s painful,” said Ahmed Sarhat, 36, a soldier on a front line in Hasakah who had been a farmer before the conflict began. “But we have to fight. Because the enemy we have here is not just the enemy of this nation; it is the enemy of all nations. When you understand that they are against humanity, then you force yourself to fight them.”

 

 

https://storify.com/AthertonKD/obama-isis-and-dabiq-questions

Obama, ISIS, and Dabiq Questions

How do you avoid an apocalypse when your foe keeps goading you into one?

[visionary]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35024408?ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbc_breaking&ns_source=twitter&ns_linkname=news_central

Syria conflict: 'Coalition strike' kills government forces

 

An air strike on an army camp has killed three soldiers, the Syrian government says, blaming the US-led coalition for the attack.

 

It said warplanes fired missiles at the camp in Deir al-Zour province, which is largely controlled by the jihadist group Islamic State (IS).
The ministry condemned what it called an act of "flagrant aggression".

 

However, a coalition spokesman denied that its forces had carried out any strikes in the area.

 

The coalition has been targeting IS militants in Syria since September 2014, and does not co-ordinate with the authorities in Damascus.

"The Syrian Arab Republic strongly condemns this flagrant aggression by the US-led coalition forces, which blatantly violates the objectives of the UN Charter," the foreign ministry warned.

 

The ministry called on the UN Security Council to "take urgent measures to prevent such aggressions from occurring again".

 

It added that such "aggression hinders the efforts to fight terrorism, and proves that the US-led coalition lacks seriousness and credibility to effectively fight terrorism".

 

However, coalition spokesman Col Steve Warren denied it was responsible.

 

"We've seen those Syrian reports but we did not conduct any strikes in that part of Deir al-Zour yesterday. So we see no evidence," he told the AFP news agency.

 

Col Warren said the coalition's only strikes in Deir al-Zour were some 55km (34 miles) away from the area where the Syrian soldiers were reportedly killed.

 

A separate strike believed to have been carried out by the coalition in the nearby city of Deir al-Zour overnight killed a woman and two of her children, the Syrian Observatory said.

 

https://twitter.com/OS26

Increasing likelihood that Russian Warcraft hit Syrian regime forces in deir ezzor.  
5:02 AM

 

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-syria-nato-idUKKBN0TQ0HS20151207?utm_source=twitter

NATO says won't send ground troops to fight IS - report
 

NATO has ruled out sending ground troops to fight against Islamic State militants in Syria, NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg told a Swiss newspaper, stressing the need to bolster local forces in the conflict.

 

"That is not on the agenda of the coalition and the NATO allies," he told the Tages-Anzeiger paper when asked about dispatching ground forces to accompany air strikes.

 

"The United States has a limited number of special forces. In the foreground, however, is strengthening local forces. This is not easy, but it's the only option," he added

 

Stoltenberg stressed that the conflict was not a war between the West and the Islamic world, but rather against "extremism and terrorism".

 

"Muslims are on the front line in this war. Most victims are Muslims, and most of those who fight against the IS are Muslims. We can not carry on this struggle for them," he said.

 

Stoltenberg pointed out that NATO would help Turkey improve its air defences after Turkey shot down a Russian military jet last month. The alliance will adopt a package of measures for Turkey before Christmas, he added.

 

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/NewsReports/566340-russia-strikes-militants-along-lebanon-border

Russia strikes militants along Lebanon border

 

Russian jets have conducted airstrikes in Lebanon’s remote northeastern border region with Syria, days after Lebanon’s interior minister said that the Arsal area was “occupied” by militants.

Lebanon’s state National News Agency reported Monday morning that explosions heard in the area were “the result of raids launched by Russian warplanes on the Syrian-Lebanese border in the Anti-Lebanon Mountain Range in the area adjacent to the Arsal Mountains."

The Russian strikes were "targeting the militants' gatherings and centers," according to NNA.

Local Lebanese outlets, including Al-Jadeed television, also reported that Russian jets had conducted a series of strikes outside the troubled northeastern border town of Arsal, which hosts more refugees than Lebanese nationals.

“The Russian Air Force has launched raids that for the first time targeted militants deployed in the eastern slopes of the Lebanese Mountains [near] Arsal, Al-Qaa and Ras Baalbek,” An-Nahar reported.

 

“The sound of the bombing was heard in Bekaa villages and the sound of ground based anti-aircraft guns, probably being used by the militants, was also heard,” the leading Lebanese newspaper added.

Meanwhile, a pro-Hezbollah online outlet said that the Russian Air Force targeted “ISIS positions in the Qara, Ras Baalbek, and Arsal Mountains.

Mulhak news reported that “warplanes have continued to fly in the area.”

The Lebanese Armed Forces has yet to issue an official statement on the Russian strikes.

 

http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/world/why-we-cant-tackle-is-without-tackling-assad

Why we can’t tackle IS without tackling Assad

 

We need a Syrian rebel force to defeat the terror group—but they're too occupied with their primary enemy

Why do the Syrian rebels prioritise fighting Assad over IS? While IS’s bloody cinematics make them seem bigger than they are, it’s an often overlooked fact that despite their brutality, they are not the most prolific murderer in the Syrian conflict. Many people are shocked to know that it is Assad, in fact, who is responsible for 95.96 per cent of civilian deaths, 92.91 per cent of child deaths, and 99.5 per cent of deaths under torture. More relevant for Europe is the fact that 70 per cent of all refugees say they are fleeing Assad, not IS.

 

Getting native Syrian boots to support the fight against IS is an absolute must—and to be legitimate, these Syrian boots should represent the Syrian majority. This majority cannot be built on the premise of fighting IS alone—to build this majority, the world cannot ask Syrians to forget about or cooperate with their worst persecutor. The fight against IS is linked to justice in Syria, and justice in Syria cannot be attained without getting serious about the role of Assad in this catastrophe.

 

 

On the topic of partitions and such:

 

https://twitter.com/iyad_elbaghdadi/status/673768412896595968

Any kind of sectarian or ethnic separatism in this region is dangerously misguided and deeply destabilizing. 

This map-drawing fetish of Western commentators is really stupid, like nobody learned the lesson from Sykes-Picot?
2:38 AM

 

First of all, in the modern world, the "pure" ethnic or religious state is a fantasy and will be inherently unsustainable.

History is decidedly on the side of more intermixing. It's also an economic necessity. All big Arab cities are mixed.

Second, most big population centers in the Arab world are more or less mixed. Carving out a tribal state = ethnic cleansing.

Third, the identities upon which you want to cut up our body are tentative and flexible anyway. Who's a Sunni? Who's an Arab?

Fourth and perhaps most importantly - a separatism attempt in Syria won't end in Syria. It'll just be the first domino. 
 

If you "carve out" a sectarian state in Syria it'll have a domino effect across the Arab region. Rivers of blood will flow.
If you legitimize the idea of the sectarian state then why stop at Syria? What about Saudi Arabia? Yemen? Iraq? Egypt?

The idea that we'll have peace when you separate each tribe into their own state is not just wrong, it's outright dangerous.

Peace comes when we accept our diversity and insist to coexist under a wider open identity. Not when we cantonize the region.

This Arab region is mixed and has always been mixed and we like it that way. Only pluralistic democracy will bring stability.
2:44 AM

[visionary]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-big-hole-in-obamas-islamic-state-strategy/2015/12/07/04ce2d16-9d01-11e5-bce4-708fe33e3288_story.html?tid=ss_tw

The big hole in Obama’s Islamic State strategy

 

At the center of President Obama’s strategy for dealing with the Islamic State is an empty space. It’s supposed be filled by a hypothetical “Sunni ground force,” but after more than a year of effort, it’s still not there. Unless this gap is filled, Obama’s plan won’t work.

 

Otherwise, Obama made a reasonable case in his speech to the nation Sunday night. He’s right to argue for patience and persistence in fighting the Muslim terrorists, rather than “tough talk.” He’s correct that the United States shouldn’t feed the jihadists’ fantasies with “a long and costly ground war.” And especially right that we’ll be safer at home and abroad if most Muslims are allies against the extremists.

 

But there was a mysterious black box in the middle of Obama’s speech. Here’s how he tried to explain it: “The strategy that we are using now — airstrikes, special forces and working with local forces who are fighting to regain control of their own country — that is how we’ll achieve a more sustainable victory.”

 

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/12/russia-warns-nato-reinforcing-turkish-defences-151207150500059.html

Russia warns NATO against reinforcing Turkish defences

 

Russia's envoy to NATO has warned the alliance against reinforcing Turkey's air defences after the Turkish army downed a Russian military jet sparking a major and ongoing diplomatic row.

 

Alexander Grushko said on Monday that Russia was not certain strengthening the forces would "strictly correspond to the task of neutralising possible challenges from terrorist organisations".

"If by the NATO efforts Turkey tries to contain Russia, this will be an obstacle to the establishment of an international coalition against terrorism," Grushko said, according to Russia's Itar-Tass news agency.

 

The comments came after NATO allies discussed sending patrol aircraft and patriot missiles to Turkey - an alliance member.

The country currently hosts only Spanish missiles.

 

NATO foreign ministers said on Tuesday that measures were likely to include more ships from NATO members in the eastern Mediterranean, more NATO planes based in the Turkish base at Incirlik and more missile defence batteries in addition to that of Spain.

 

The final plan has not been made to date.

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ap-source-russians-not-us-killed-syrian-troops-deir-ezzor/

AP source: Russians, not U.S., killed Syrian troops

 

A senior U.S. military official says the United States is "certain" that it was a Russian airstrike that killed three Syrian soldiers and wounded 13 others.

 

The U.S. has said it was not a coalition strike, but Syria's government accused the U.S.-led alliance of bombing the army camp and hitting troops loyal to President Bashar Assad.

 

The city of Deir Ezzor, where the strikes are said to have been carried out on Sunday, is mainly held by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), but the Syrian government maintains a presence in some parts of it.

 

The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, so spoke on condition of anonymity.

 

Col. Steve Warren told CBS News the coalition had carried out four strikes in Deir Ezzor on Sunday, but that all of them targeted oil infrastructure and that the U.S. military had "no indication any Syrian soldiers were near our strikes."

 

Warren said the strikes were about 30 miles away from the town of Ayyash, cited by the Syrian government as the location of the bombardment, and said the coalition jets "did not strike any vehicles or personnel targets."

 

The U.S.-led coalition, which is focused on eliminating ISIS, has not previously attacked Assad's forces.

 

"Four U.S.-led coalition jetfighters targeted last night one Syrian army camp in Deir Ezzor with nine missiles, where three soldiers were martyred and 13 others wounded," the Syrian Foreign Ministry claimed in its statement.

 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based monitoring group which relies on a network of sources on the ground in Syria, also said there was a strike by multiple jets in Deir Ezzor that killed Syrian army personnel, but it did not specify which nation it believed to be in control of the flights.

 

A source told CBS News' George Baghdadi in Damascus that two vehicles and two weapons caches were destroyed in the alleged attack on a military camp near the town of Ayyash, on the northern edge of Deir Ezzor, an area where ISIS holds significant territory.

 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/borzoudaragahi/we-just-had-kebabs-with-the-guys-russia-says-prove-turkey-lo?utm_term=.vjeNmm1M5#.tiPgPPek4

We Just Had Kebabs With The Guys Russia Says Prove Turkey Loves ISIS

 

A senior Turkish official chose a noisy, out-of-the-way kebab joint to brief a group of international journalists Monday about the bad rap his country is getting in the pro-Moscow media following the downing of a Russian fighter jet in Syria.

 

That restaurant, Cigeristan, is owned by two brothers, Ali and Ismail Kember, a pair of pious Muslims and ex-musicians (“We are like Cat Stevens,” jokes one) who sport beards similar to the ones worn by ISIS fighters. A couple of years ago Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son, Bilal, ate at the busy eatery, and the proud owners posed for pictures with him.

 

Those photos have since resurfaced as part of Russia’s “evidence” that Turkey has been colluding with ISIS leaders amid escalating rhetoric between Moscow and Ankara after Turkey shot down the plane.

 

“All the claims about Turkey and ISIS [should be taken as] seriously as this allegation,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized by the government to speak to the public — despite organizing the fast-food fete.

 

https://twitter.com/zaidbenjamin

Breaking: We are happy to see Baghdad & Ankara talking about the Turkish deployment - State Department Spx
2:44 PM

 

Breaking: There is a real possibility that "the Turkish deployment" could be resolved - State Department Spx
2:45 PM

I've seen reports that Turkey plans two more bases in Iraq, in addition to the one near Mosul that may be part of an effort to help train peshmerga and other Iraqi fighters.  Also seen reports today that Saudi soldiers arrived at the one near Mosul.  Not sure if either are accurate, but both would definitely add another element to the situation.  

[visionary]

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.690580

Le Pen’s Surge in France: Giving ISIS the Victory It Was Hoping for

As an organization that aims to convince Western Muslims that they will never be accepted in the West, that they will never be allowed to assimilate, that Western nations will always be fundamentally Christian and therefore hostile to Muslims, there is nothing that ISIS wants more than U.S. presidential candidates advocating the creation of Muslim “databases”, pondering mosque closures, comparing Syrian refugees to “rabid dogs” and tainted peanuts and advocating the admittance of only Christian refugees, as the leading GOP candidates have recently done.

 

Likewise, there is nothing ISIS wants more than to have liberal democracies like France or the U.S. be willing to chuck away some of their most sacred values for fear of “Islamist totalitarianism”. The only side profiting from a “clash of civilizations” approach is ISIS itself. The rise of the far-right in Europe and in the U.S., in that sense, plays right into ISIS’ hands.

 

ISIS can’t win a war against the West in a military sense. Its best bet is to do what Al-Qaida did after 9/11, which is to drag Western nations into prolonged, bloody wars that are hugely expensive and end up radicalizing local populations instead of turning them against radical Islam.

 

But, given the right circumstances, ISIS can win a war of ideas. If countries like France and the U.S. indeed end up electing Le Pen or Trump, thereby showing a willingness to concede longstanding values like pluralism, liberty and secularism, that will go a long way toward proving ISIS’ point that these values are worthless. Otherwise, why would Westerners be willing to throw away ideas they fought for and for which they died for 300 years? 

 

What’s more, the purpose of terrorism isn’t military triumph - it is to cause panic and exploit the media in order to change political behavior. To do that, ISIS needs to convince young alienated Muslims inside Western nations that supporting ISIS is their only option, that they have no choice but to choose a side. If done right, ISIS doesn’t even have to initiate attacks - it can just inspire them and watch them unfold on their own, until there are a thousand San Bernardinos. It can’t do this alone: It needs Islamophobic far-right politicians as its subcontractors. If they treat all Muslims as terrorists, eventually it might just make terrorists of some.

 

Le Pen may eventually end up not winning the French presidency, just as Trump may very well end up not winning the Republican nomination. But the wave Islamophobia, nationalism, and the bigotry currently plaguing Western democracies, gives ISIS the victory it was hoping for.

[visionary]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/07/syrian-civilians-killed-us-airstrike?CMP=share_btn_tw

At least 26 Syrian civilians killed in suspected US-led airstrike

 

At least 26 Syrian civilians have been killed in an airstrike suspected to have been launched by the US-led coalition against the so-called Islamic State, piling pressure on the alliance after allegations another bombing raid left regime soldiers dead.

 

The coalition has been bombarding the Islamic State group for more than a year in Syria and neighbouring Iraq, where the jihadists have declared a self-styled caliphate.

 

But according to a monitoring group, strikes on Monday on the village of Al-Khan in north-eastern Syria only left civilians dead.

 

Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Isis is in control of Al-Khan but is only on its outskirts, “which is why all of the deaths were civilians”.

 

The death toll included at least seven children and four women, he said, adding that it was likely to rise as more than a dozen civilians were still missing under rubble.

 

A spokesman for US Central Command said the military was investigating the allegations. “We take all such allegations seriously and conduct credibility assessments of all information we receive regarding civilian casualties. If the information is deemed credible we will investigate and publicly release the results of the investigation,” the spokesman said.

 

Last month, the US said four civilians were “likely” to have been killed in strikes against Isis in Iraq. And in November 2014, it admitted accidentally killing two children in a strike in Syria.

 

http://www.vice.com/en_au/read/asking-syrians-about-bombing-syria-800?utm_source=vicetwitteranz

Syrians Explain How They Feel About the West Bombing Their Country

 

This week, Britain joined the coalition of countries dropping bombs on Syria in an effort to disrupt the Islamic State's operations, though some experts think airstrikes alone won't have much of an effect. Meanwhile, many Syrians feel their voices are often ignored as global powers play out an extended proxy war on their country.

 

The Turkish town of Antakya has become an ad-hoc refuge for Syrians fleeing the escalating conflict in their country. Thousands of people escaping airstrikes near the Turkey/Syria border live in dilapidated buildings scattered around the city without food, heating, or water. I asked five young Syrians there—some of whom risked their lives crossing the border between the two countries—how they felt about foreign involvement in a war that has killed over 300,000 Syrians and displaced millions. Many didn't want to give me their full names or have their faces in pictures as they cross the border regularly and fear for their families.

[visionary]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/07/leaked-isis-document-reveals-plan-building-state-syria

The Isis papers: leaked documents show how Isis is building its state

 

A leaked internal Islamic State manual shows how the terrorist group has set about building a state in Iraq and Syria complete with government departments, a treasury and an economic programme for self-sufficiency, the Guardian can reveal.

 

The 24-page document, obtained by the Guardian, sets out a blueprint for establishing foreign relations, a fully fledged propaganda operation, and centralised control over oil, gas and the other vital parts of the economy.

 

The manual, written last year and entitled Principles in the administration of the Islamic State, lays bare Isis’s state-building aspirations and the ways in which it has managed to set itself apart as the richest and most destabilising jihadi group of the past 50 years.

 

Together with other documents obtained by the Guardian, it builds up a picture of a group that, although sworn to a founding principle of brutal violence, is equally set on more mundane matters such as health, education, commerce, communications and jobs. In short, it is building a state.

 

As western aircraft step up their aerial war on Isis targets in Syria, the implication is that the military task is not simply one of battlefield arithmetic. Isis is already far more than the sum of its fighters.

 

The document – written as a foundation text to train “cadres of administrators” in the months after Isis’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, declared a “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria on 28 June 2014 – sketches out how to organise government departments including education, natural resources, industry, foreign relations, public relations and military camps.

 

 

 

[visionary]

http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/08/middleeast/isis-iraq-syria/index.html?sr=twCNN120815isis-iraq-syria0530PMStoryGalLink&linkId=19413292

Iraqi military: Iraqi forces retake 60% of Ramadi from ISIS

 

More than half of Ramadi -- the Iraqi city whose sudden fall to ISIS raised questions about Baghdad's ability to combat the terror group -- is now back in Iraqi control after a big push early this week, the country's military said.

 

The inroads came after Iraqi troops, counterterrorism unit members and federal police officers targeted ISIS militants from three sides in a 24-hour period, aided by U.S.-led airstrikes. Iraq's Joint Military Command reported 60% of the Anbar province city had been retaken, including a one-time Iraqi military headquarters in northern Ramadi as well as western and southern parts of the city.

 

Dozens of ISIS fighters died in the process, according to the military, though the number of Iraqi casualties (if any) wasn't immediately clear. Iraqi troops also managed to confiscate a large amount of weaponry.

 

Besides its strategic significance, some 75 miles (120 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Ramadi also has symbolic importance in Iraq's fight against ISIS.

 

That's because Iraqi forces withdrew en masse from the city last May, a pullout that spurred U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter to question whether the Iraqis lacked the "will to fight."

 

Iraqi officials, including Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, later said Carter had bad information. And Salim al-Jabouri, the speaker of the Iraqi parliament and arguably the country's most powerful Sunni politician, said that even the Prime Minister didn't know of the withdrawal until after it happened.

Starting late last month, Iraqi forces began dropping leaflets on Ramadi urging people to leave the city ahead of a promised military offensive.

 

"To our people in the city of Ramadi, evacuate your families from the city immediately and go to the south through al Hameera area," the leaflets read, according to the Iraqi military.

 

But leaving isn't necessarily easy. Ramadi residents told CNN on Monday night that ISIS had set up additional checkpoints around the city to prevent people from fleeing.

 

"Daesh made it very clear to all of us that anyone who tries to flee the city will be considered an apostate. And you know what they will do to an apostate," said one resident, referring to ISIS' practice of detaining and killing those who don't accept its extreme ideology.

 

Very interesting analysis of Turkey's moves in Iraq.

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/12/turkey-iraq-becomes-third-largest-army.html

Turkey sticks its neck out again, this time in Iraq

 

In its second incredibly controversial move in as many weeks, Turkey drew Baghdad's wrath over the weekend by dispatching uninvited reinforcement troops to Iraq. While Turkey said the move was merely routine, Baghdad called it a “violation of sovereignty” and told Ankara it had 48 hours to get those troops out.

 

Turkey has since said it will send no more troops but has not withdrawn any soldiers.

 

Ankara deployed the troops to the Bashiqa area of Iraq, just north of Mosul, the night of Dec. 4 — less than two weeks after Turkey downed a Russian warplane Nov. 24 near the Turkish-Syrian border.

 

About 80 Turkish special forces personnel have been giving military training for more than a year to Kurdish peshmerga, Turkmen and Sunni Arabs. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu described the arrival of new troops as “a routine rotation and reinforcement.” However, the elements of the new Turkish troops and reports circulating in corridors of Ankara that the dispatch will continue suggest that this was more than a routine movement.

Based on Al-Monitor’s contacts with security sources in Ankara, Turkey apparently has three goals with this reinforcement activity:

 

To provide a counterweight to the anti-IS alliance between Iraqi Shiites and Iran, formed under Russian leadership. This explains Turkey’s efforts to shape an alliance with the KRG and Sunni Arabs led by Mosul’s Nuceyfi tribe to balance the growing Shiite power in Iraq. Ankara feels it has to have boots on the ground to avoid the kind of fait accompli that kept Turkey out of the game in Syria.

 

Ankara believes IS, which controls Mosul, has reduced its forces in the city and is having problems controlling the urban terrain. There are strong indications of a possible Sunni uprising against IS in Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city. This explains Turkey’s moves to form a military security belt north-northeast of Mosul to protect Turkmen and Kurdish areas. Naturally, Ankara’s primary motive is to be among the key actors to decide on the future of Mosul.

 

Turkey is particularly uneasy with the PKK gains in Iraq and Syria. Turkey wants to militarily dominate the Shengal region, which has been a bridge between the PKK and the Kurdish nationalist Democratic Union Party in Syria, to cripple that link.

 

Do these developments indicate Ankara is abandoning its policy that has until now backed Iraq’s territorial integrity? That is not yet clear, but it is not far-fetched to claim that Ankara is increasingly of the opinion that there is no central authority in Iraq. Ankara could believe the PKK and Shiites are getting the upper hand unchallenged.

 

Ankara — which realizes each player in Syria and Iraq is setting up its own “boutique power base” — feels a best-case scenario for Turkey will be:

 

To allow emergence of the Mosul-based "Sunnistan Autonomous Administration," which is loosely linked to Baghdad, as Baghdad's central authority is waning by the day.

To enable cooperation between the KRG and the Sunni bodies in Syria, and the "Iraqi Sunnistan" under the security umbrella of the Turkish military.

For Turkey to become the regional sponsor of this new three-entity structure.

 

Will these scenarios work? What can’t be denied is that all the players who have expectations in Iraq and Syria are focusing on post-IS power sharing instead of fighting IS now. It will be wise to keep an eye on the foreign policy and field moves of the United States, Russia and Turkey, which will set the tone.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/09/world/asia/isis-china-recruitment-chant-mandarin.html?_r=1

ISIS Extends Recruitment Efforts to China With New Chant

 

The Islamic State has been recruiting far and wide for members to join its ranks on the battlefields of Iraq and Syria or elsewhere. Now those efforts are extending to China.

 

The group recently posted a digital recording of a new chant in Mandarin Chinese that calls for Muslims to “wake up” and “take up weapons to fight.” The chant is typical of many others released by the group, also called ISIS or ISIL.

 

The chant was posted online by Al Hayat Media Center, the foreign-language media division of the Islamic State, according to an assessment on Monday by the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks the propaganda of jihadist groups.

 

Some political Muslim groups, especially in Turkey, have joined international human rights advocates and other organizations in condemning China’s anti-Islamic policies in the western region of Xinjiang.

 

There, many Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking ethnic group that mostly practices Sunni Islam, say they are discriminated against and persecuted by the ruling ethnic Han.

 

In recent years, violence has surged in Uighur areas, and the Communist Party says it faces a terrorist threat there. Chinese officials have said that security officers have seized recordings from abroad that inspire Uighurs to take up arms. Just last month, Chinese officials said that security forces had used a flamethrower to force 10 “terrorists” from a cave in Xinjiang after tracking a group that officials believed to be responsible for a recent deadly coal mine attack. Security officers killed 28 people linked to the attack, official reports said. (A Radio Free Asia report said women and children were among the dead.)

 

https://twitter.com/michaelh992

A Russian submarine equipped with cruise missiles entered the Mediterranean sea heading toward the Syrian coast
3:25 AM

More cruise missiles for the Russian cruise missile wheel of fortune.

[visionary]

http://www.ibtimes.co.in/iraqi-forces-recapture-anbar-headquarters-al-tamim-isis-ramadi-658631

Iraqi forces recapture Anbar headquarters, Al-Tamim from Isis in Ramadi

 

The Iraqi forces made a major gain against the Islamic State (Isis) terrorists after they retook large areas in Ramadi from the Sunni group on Monday, AFP reported.

The operations command headquarters and Al-Tamim neighbourhood in the west of Ramadi was recaptured from Isis, also known as Daesh, the state TV reported.

 

The recapture of the Al Tammen, is being hailed as a major victory for the Iraqi forces, who for months have been fighting the Isis (Daesh) in Ramadi, to keep the militant group from growing its reach towards the west of Baghdad.

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-usa-idUSKBN0TS1YK20151209

U.S. ready to send advisers, helicopters to Iraq to help retake Ramadi
 

The United States is prepared to deploy advisers and attack helicopters if requested by Iraq to help it "finish the job" of retaking the city of Ramadi from Islamic State, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Wednesday.

 

Carter's remarks were the latest sign of U.S. preparations to intensify its military campaign against the group, which controls wide swaths of Iraq and Syria and has orchestrated and inspired attacks abroad.

 

Islamic State captured Ramadi, a provincial capital just a short drive west of Baghdad, in May in its biggest conquest since last year. Retaking it would be a major victory for Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

 

Carter, speaking at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, said it has taken a "frustratingly long time" for Iraqi security forces to claw back territory.

 

But he pointed to significant gains, including recapturing the Anbar Operations Center on the northern bank of the Euphrates River in the past 24 hours.

 

"The United States is prepared to assist the Iraqi Army with additional unique capabilities to help them finish the job, including attack helicopters and accompanying advisers, if circumstances dictate and if requested by Prime Minister Abadi," Carter said.

 

A U.S. defense official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. advisers would be prepared to provide advice to Iraqi security forces on how to move through the center of Ramadi over the next several weeks.

 

The White House cautioned later on Wednesday that President Barack Obama had not yet approved the use of the helicopters, and that Abadi would first have to request such support.

 

"Any decision like this would only come at the request of Prime Minister Abadi, and after explicit sign-off from the president of the United States," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. "And that sign-off has not been given at this point."

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/zaidbenjamin/status/674737053775634432

 

 

[kost203]

haven't posted in a while due to close friends funeral.. but here you go ! what a great nato and u.n. and usa ally! congrats American you've sided with a extremist country yet again!  so they want to say genocide yet fail to look at what they have done!!!! wow!!! really wow!!!

 

 

 

http://www.infowars.com/turkey-ignores-own-history-as-it-accuses-russia-of-ethnic-cleansing-in-syria/

[visionary]

http://www.wsj.com/articles/iraqi-coalition-forces-repel-islamic-state-counterattack-in-ramadi-1449690502

Iraqi Forces Repel Islamic State Counterattacks in Ramadi

 

Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led airstrikes repelled Islamic State counterattacks here Wednesday, a day after the army gained an important foothold in the city.

 

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-kurds-idUSKBN0TT0Y720151210?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews#G22Jxuf70Y7yRtQQ.97

Seven Kurdish militants, one policeman killed in southeast Turkey

[visionary]

http://www.npr.org/2015/12/10/459111960/millennials-want-to-send-troops-to-fight-isis-but-not-serve?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=2037

Millennials Want To Send Troops To Fight ISIS, But Don't Want To Serve
 
In the wake of the Paris attacks, a majority of young Americans support sending U.S. ground troops to fight ISIS, according to a wide-ranging new poll from the Harvard Institute of Politics.
 
The institute has asked millennials about the idea of American boots on the ground at three different times this year, and the survey results have fluctuated somewhat, but there seems to be a "hardening of support."
 
In this most recent survey, 60 percent of the 18- to 29-year-olds polled say they support committing U.S. combat troops to fight ISIS. But an almost equal number (62 percent) say they wouldn't want to personally join the fight, even if the U.S. needed additional troops.
 
The disconnect in joining the fight comes down to how millennials feel about the government writ large, according to Harvard IOP Polling Director John Della Volpe.
 
"I'm reminded of the significant degree of distrust that this generation has about all things related to government," said Della Volpe. "And I believe if young people had a better relationship with government ... they'd be more open to serving."
 
Della Volpe does caution, though, that this poll doesn't dig into the size or the scope of the military campaign that young folks would be willing to theoretically support.
 
"I can't tell you that young people support 5,000 troops or 50,000 troops," he said.

 

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/64dacf9baabe40a58713ea1da656b7f8/us-keeps-wraps-new-commando-force-iraq

US keeps wraps on new commando force for Iraq

 

The commando force that President Barack Obama is dispatching to Iraq to conduct clandestine raids against the Islamic State group does not fit neatly into a picture of the U.S. military strategy for defeating the extremist army.

 

Even the name — "specialized expeditionary targeting force" — is a bit of a riddle.

 

The main point is that the force is intended to ratchet up pressure on the Islamic State by using a small group of special operations troops — possibly fewer than 100 — to more aggressively use intelligence information, to include capturing and killing the group's leaders. In theory, this would generate even more and better intelligence, feeding what the military calls a "virtuous cycle" of intelligence-driven air and ground operations.

 

It will be combat, but on a relatively small scale. Obama remains opposed to major U.S. ground combat in Iraq or Syria. Several weeks ago the administration said it would send up to 50 special operations troops to Syria as trainers and advisers.

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-usa-oil-idUSKBN0TT2O120151210?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=twitter

Islamic State oil is going to Assad, some to Turkey: U.S. official says
 
Islamic State militants are engaged in oil trading worth as much as $40 million a month with significant volumes sold to the government of President Bashar al-Assad and some finding its way across the border into Turkey, senior U.S. Treasury official Adam Szubin said on Thursday.
 
"ISIL is selling a great deal of oil to the Assad regime," Szubin, acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence with the U.S. Treasury, said at Chatham House in London.
 
"The two are trying to slaughter each other and they are still engaged in millions and millions of dollars of trade."
 
"The volumes we are talking about and the amounts of money we are talking about are very sizeable," said Szubin.
 
Szubin said the "far greater amount" of Islamic State oil ends up under Assad's control while some is consumed internally in Islamic State areas but some ends up in Kurdish regions and Turkey.
 
"Some is coming across the border into Turkey," Szubin said.
 
Islamic State militants have made more than $500 million from black market oil sales and looted up to $1 billion from bank vaults in Syria and Iraq, he said in prepared remarks.
 
"Our sense is that ISIL is taking its profits basically at the wellhead and so while you do have ISIL oil ending up in a variety of different places that's not really the pressure we want when it comes to stemming the flow of funding - it really comes down to taking down their infrastructure," he said.

 
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/11/world/europe/turkey-expands-alevi-rights.html?smid=tw-nytimesworld&smtyp=cur&_r=0

Turkey Expands Rights of Alevis, a Muslim Minority
 
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Thursday announced a set of reforms that will grant greater rights to the country’s Alevi minority, including the legal recognition of their houses of worship.
 
Traditional Alevi religious schools and houses of worship, known as cemevis, will be granted full legal status in Turkey, Mr. Davutoglu said. He did not elaborate on what the exact legal status would be.
 
Turkey’s government has long refused to officially recognize Alevi houses of worship, arguing that Alevism, a brand of Islam rooted in Shiite beliefs, is a branch of Islam and not a separate religion.
 
“There is a single house of worship in Islam — the mosque,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan, then the prime minister, said in a speech in 2012. Cemevis, he said, were cultural houses.
 
The Alevi minority, which is the second-largest religious community in Turkey, after Sunni Muslims, have long sought legal status for their cemevis and have requested the tax-exempt status granted other places of worship in Turkey.
 
In 2014, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Turkey’s failure to exempt the cemevis from paying utility bills was a violation of the articles on discrimination in the European Convention on Human Rights.
 
Mr. Davutoglu also called for the opposition to support a new Constitution to replace the current one, a product of a military coup. “In its place, let us together compile a modern, democratic, liberal constitution, which all would be proud of,” he said.

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/markito0171

Syria IslamicState retook Mahin city from Assad-forces ~60km SE of Homs city
3:59 AM

 

Exodus of Christians from Sadad town after IS seized Mahin
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=34.309696&lon=36.932602&z=12&m=b
8:25 AM

 

https://twitter.com/Rita_Katz

Syrian activists report drone strike in #Raqqa on Rawand Taher, a Danish #ISIS leader allegedly involved in the #ParisAttack
2:36 PM

[DogofWar1]

These nomination slowdowns seem counter-productive.  Especially the Szubin holdup.

 

http://www.federaltimes.com/story/government/management/2015/12/10/defense-secretary-confirmation-delays-impede-isil-fight/77111972/

 

 

Defense Secretary Ash Carter didn't mince words in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee Dec. 9, admonishing lawmakers that by prolonging the confirmation process for key Pentagon positions, they are making it harder for the military to combat threats from the Islamic State group, also known as ISIL or ISIS.

"I have appeared before this committee, as noted, six times over the last 10 months, four times on the Middle East and twice in just the last six weeks on ISIL," Carter said, noting that only three of the committee's 58 hearings last year were to confirm civilian Defense Department leaders. "DoD currently has 16 nominees awaiting [confirmation, and] 12 of the 16 are still awaiting even a hearing, including our nominees to be secretary of the Army, the undersecretaries of each of our three military departments, Army, Navy and Air Force, and the undersecretaries of both intelligence and personnel and readiness. These positions should be filled by confirmed nominees, especially in a time of conflict."