This is the result of NATO bombing of Sirte to “enforce the no-fly zone” in Libya.
When the neo-cons in the UK parliament and the serial warmonger Hillary Clinton call for a “no-fly zone” they actually mean the opposite. They mean that NATO should be given untrammelled access to the airspace to carry out mass bombings – but that nobody else should.
We saw it in Libya. The argument goes like this. NATO aircraft need to enforce the no-fly zone. To do this in safety, they need to attack and destroy any ground to air weapons capabilities on the ground. That does not just include surface to air missiles, both carriage mounted and hand held, but anything that can be pointed upwards and fired. They need to take out by more bombing any stores that may house such weapons. They need to take out any radar installations, including civilian ones, that may pinpoint NATO aircraft. They need to destroy any runways and hangars, including civilian ones. They need to destroy by bombing all military command and control centres, including those in built up areas. They need to destroy the infrastructure on which air defence relies, including electricity generation and water supply, including civilian assets.
I am not exaggerating. That really is the doctrine of NATO for enforcing a “no fly zone”, as previously witnessed in Iraq and Libya. It really was NATO aircraft which did to the beautiful Mediterranean town of Sirte the destruction which you see in that picture – in order to enforce a no-fly zone. Enforcement of the no-fly zone was the only authorisation NATO had for the massive bombing campaign on Libya which enabled regime change, which enabled rival jihadist militias to take over the country. They showed their gratitude by murdering the US Ambassador. The failure of central government led to Libya becoming the operating site from which a number now in the hundreds of thousands of boat refugees have crossed to Europe.
Now they wish to do precisely the same again. Make no mistake. Those calling for a “No-fly zone” do indeed want to stop the bombs falling on jihadist-held areas of Aleppo. But they want to replace this with NATO dropping a vastly greater weight of vastly more powerful weaponry on areas held by the Assad regime. They are relentless warmongering bastards, pretending to be motivated by humanitarian concern.
There are no easy answers in Syria. Without Russian and Syrian government air power, Syria might well already have fallen to disparate groups of murdering religious fanatics, who would then have redoubled their existing tendency to also kill each other. The pretence that there is any significant number of pro-western democratic rebels is ludicrous nonsense. But so equally is the pretence that the Assad regime is a decent regime. It is not and never has been. There is always this pathetic reductionism in the western media to conflict as between “good guys” and “bad guys”. They are all killing civilians. They are all bad guys.
If all bombing were to stop, the danger is that jihadists would again gain the upper hand. But in a situation where there are no good options, I think that is still better than the continued bombing of civilian areas held by jihadists. The fact that the West has repeatedly done this massively in Mosul or Fallujah does not make it right for the Russians or Assad to do it now. The moral balance now must be for a halt to all bombing and all military air operations – including by NATO.
A security council resolution could be tabled calling for the end of all military flights, by anybody, over Syrian airspace. The UK and US would oppose that, and so would all those Tories ad Blairites pretending to advocate a no-fly zone in the House of Commons. That would show up the bastards for the evil hypocrites they are.
Regarding Saudi onslaught on Yemen;
US is “providing intelligence and Air Force tankers to refuel the coalition’s jets and bombers. The American military has refueled more than 5,700 aircraft involved in the bombing campaign since it began”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/13/world/middleeast/yemen-rebels-missile-warship.html?_r=0
Quite Strange how fucking quiet the U.K. has been on Yemen.
Well Labour are at least trying;
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CurfEpnWgAEhASz.jpg:large
And here’s a Tory talking sense (though on some issues he needs to rethink his mindset).
http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/politics/2016/10/12/daniel-kawczynski-mp-concerned-by-anti-russian-hysteria-in-commons/
“Labour are at least trying.”
They’re very trying. They’ve just gone back to their internal war again.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/oct/16/labour-mps-call-for-ballots-to-signal-open-dissent-against-corbyn
I’d thought they’d woken up midweek and were now serious about being a real opposition. Alas, these “moderates” have fallen back to their usual targets designed to divide and keep the internal problems going. I wonder if they realise that it’s they who are turning the public off to Labour with their endless efforts to destroy their own Party. So many urgent issues right now: Brexit, Syria………….yet all they can focus on is creating more division.
interesting language, michael
the bbC..Gave the Funeral Bombing 25 seconds Macky
I put this Up Against Power ( Samantha )… I Know who I would Rather Marry
” Alright, Four years ago, Who was Killing the Civilian Population ”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVoLgD1RIxE
Brian most of the oligarch and state owned media in the West and here have shunned the funeral bombing that killed at least 900 people, yes you read it correct 900! Also injured were upwards of more than 540 people, in effect around 1440 people were dead or injured in this twin bombing, with the second bomb delayed for five minutes to give enough time for more people to attend the site to search for the dead or injured.
In the west a figure of ten times less was picked up and all the “media” ran with it, thus reporting; “more than 140 people were dead or injured”!!!
That is the degree of complicity in mass murder and cover up. The al saud are killing as much as they can to suppress any notion of dissent and ensure their fiefdom remains under their control. This of course is also favoured by the banksters and the oil men alike, to keep the oil pumping and recycling the petrodollars. Seeing as the money paid for the oil makes a quick turn around and gets parked either in the banksters shops (aka banks) or gets spent on private airbus jets, and such like essentials for the al saud pederasts, their neighbours, their friends, and so forth. Everyone is a winner, except the Yemeni and the whole of the Arab population of the area, whom get bombed by the proceeds of oil money that has been spent on the arms industry in the West. What is the point of buying bombs and bullets and hoarding them? They all have a sell by date you know!!!
Just as Bernie Sanders did, Jill Stein is getting the voters out. Here’s a bit from one of her electioneering emails:
‘…. The C-SPAN interview is just one of dozens of media interviews and appearances the Stein/Baraka team is earning these days. With every national interview, Jill and Ajamu’s platform of bold, forward thinking Green ideas finds an audience, and helps grow the movement.
Over 8,000 people watched C-SPAN live, and as of Wednesday night, the program had over 312,000 total views plus 10,000 shares overall on social media!
By way of comparison, Gary Johnson—who had the spot with C-SPAN the hour before Jill and Ajamu came on—got only 4,100 people watching live, with 73,100 total views on Wednesday, and only 1000 shares on social media. This is why he’s scared to debate Jill! Just look at the difference in those numbers! The “enthusiasm gap” is just astounding…..’
Unfortunately, the US system is so unbelievably corrupt, that despite the two ‘Official Contenders’ being morally bankrupt and totally inadequate for the job, they are the only two the MSM will publicise.
Joe Public in the US is screwed by the Establishment in the States even more than we are with our shower.
Who’s airforce would enforce said un security Council imposed no fly zone? A UN air task force? As far as I know that doesn’t exist.
Exactly; a real no fly zone as proposed by Craig is fanciful nonsense and could not happen. Although it’s true there are no good guys in this or any conflict, there is a lesser of two evils which is clearly the established government of Syria under which there was social progress and unity as opposed to the forces of mostly foreign mercenaries paid for by the West and their Gulf friends who simply want to carve up Syria for the benefit of their parasitic elites as they have done around the world. It’s a shame Craig can’t get over his anti-Russian prejudice no doubt caused by their links to Uzbekistan. It’d be interesting to know how Craig would do things differently and survive if he were in Putin”s shoes.
“Although it’s true there are no good guys in this or any conflict…”
Mark, I don’t see how you come to that conclusion – unless you believe, like some religious people, that all human beings are inherently and indelibly bad.
Or perhaps you are one of those well-meaning souls who think that it takes two to start a war. Trust me: it doesn’t. Just watch “The Magnificent Seven” if you want to see the idea distilled to its utmost purity. The villagers are going about their lives, planting crops, harvesting, making bread, getting by. Then along come the outlaws, heavily armed and quite ruthless. They tell the villagers to give them everything they have, except the barest minimum needed to keep the villagers alive so they can give again in future.
There is no way for the villagers to survive except the way they choose: to hire gunmen of their own.
To return to the topic: there are good guys in the Syrian conflict – and a lot of them, too. There are the civilians of Syria – 20 million or so of them. Do you dispute that they are “good guys”? Or do you think they deserve to be tortured, killed, and driven from their homes?
There is the Syrian army, which is fighting for its nation’s life against a cruel, violent, cynical enemy with vast resources and nothing to lose. The army has lost perhaps 100,000 dead already – more than a quarter as many as the UK lost in WW2, with a population more than twice as large. Syrian civilian deaths are approaching the total for the UK in WW2. Then there are the millions (literally) of refugees who fled Iraq when the American destroyed that country – Syria was one of the few nations that accepted them willingly.
President Assad is respected and supported by over half of all Syrian citizens polled. Maybe they would prefer a change, but not in the middle of a war for their very existence! The British kicked Churchill out in 1945, but would not have dreamed of doing so in the middle of the war.
And the foreigners – the Russians, the Iranians, Hezbollah, the Iraqi volunteers – do you think they are “bad guys” because they choose to risk their lives fighting to defeat the worst evil any of us have seen in our lifetimes? They are in much the same position as those who went to Spain to fight for the government against Franco’s Fascists, although I don’t think anyone would claim that Franco was anything like as bad as Daesh.
I think you should seriously reconsider your view that “there are no good guys in this or any conflict”. What do you think “good guys” should do when they are suddenly and viciously attacked by violent, murderous terrorists?
Wel said Tom Welsh, you have in fact stolen my thunder but I think you have said it better than I could have.
Bravo.
We also need to acknowledge, as do Boris and his coalition “allies” the US and France that they have no authority to run with this insane plan of theirs. They are working outwith the UN because they know their idea would find no support there. And rightly so. This isn’t about the Russians, it’s simply about their main aim which is to bring down Assad. It’s about illegally imposing regime change on another country once again where we have no right to be interfering!
The other thoroughly alarming thing is that this mad plan of theirs could very well kick off WW3!
US, Saudis to grant 9,000 ISIS fighters free passage from Iraqi Mosul to Syria – source
Published time: 12 Oct, 2016 21:01
© Stringer / Reuters
The US and Saudi Arabia have agreed to grant free passage to thousands of Islamic State militants before the Iraqi city of Mosul is stormed. The jihadists will be redeployed to fight against the government in Syria, a military-diplomatic source told RIA Novosti.
“More than 9,000 Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS, ISIL) militants will be redeployed from Mosul to the eastern regions of Syria to carry out a major offensive operation, which involves capturing Deir ez-Zor and Palmyra,” the source said.
According to the anonymous diplomatic source, US President Barack Obama has already sanctioned an operation to liberate Mosul, due to take place in October.
During the storm of the city in northern Iraq the US-led coalition’s planes would only strike detached, vacated or uninhabited buildings, while keeping terrorists as targets, he said.
/..
https://www.rt.com/news/362559-syria-iraq-mosul-isis/
@ Sharp Ears: ‘..During the storm of the city in northern Iraq the US-led coalition’s planes would only strike detached, vacated or uninhabited buildings, while keeping terrorists as targets, he said….’
That’s what many Truthers have been saying is virtually all they have been doing since the ‘Get-Go’, interspersed with arms and supplies airdrops to IS. Which is why ‘IS’ continued to expand over huge areas of the country in the 2 or 3 year ‘Coalition’ ‘air war’. Now and again they would hit an artillery piece or tank (having pre-warned the IS of their intention), just for the video footage of them ‘doing something’.
This is {was?} H.R.C.’s position?
‘Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton sent an email to her campaign chairman John Podesta in 2014, who was then counselor to President Barack Obama, that said Saudi Arabia and Qatar are both giving financial and logistical support to the Islamic State and other extremist Sunni groups, according to a recent Wikileaks release.
Clinton sent the email on August 17, 2014 to Podesta. It was an eight-point plan to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Clinton’s email said that the United States should support Kurdish forces on the ground with U.S. military advisers and avoid the use of a conventional ground operation.
“While this military/para-military operation is moving forward, we need to use our diplomatic and more traditional intelligence assets to bring pressure on the governments of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which are providing clandestine financial and logistic support to ISIL and other radical Sunni groups in the region,” Clinton wrote. ‘
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2016/10/10/hillary-in-leaked-email-saudi-arabia-and-qatar-are-funding-isis/#ixzz4MmV85knQ
Bojo is going against PM’s specific reply. yesterday, in reaction to his war mongering speech, already having been partial to the busting of the cease fire, she clearly said that the military option in Syria is off the table.
This morning Bojo has turned into Bozo and unless his comments were not cleared by No10, which I doubt, the military option is on the table.
She could not have meant it yesterday, or Bozo need sacking.
Sack Boris Johnson, Mrs May, and whilst you are at it, D. Davies, Liam Fox and Michael Gove as well.
Here he is as Bozo. In the middle as a Bichon Frise. LOL
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2016/oct/10/steve-bell-conservative-government-brexit-cartoon
considering the msm effort in the last 6 months demonising the russians — the intent is to go big on intervention as public option rather than the current use of special forces in the dark
A no-fly zone for Aleppo risks a war that could engulf us all
Jonathan Steele
This humanitarian tactic worked in Iraq in 1991, but with Russia active over Syria today, attempts to police its airspace would risk a disastrous confrontation
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/oct/12/no-fly-zone-aleppo-war-russia-syria
‘ Friday, October 7, 2016
Alexander Mercouris — CONFIRMED: U.S. backs down over Syria after Russian threat to shoot down American aircraft
Obama scotches the bellicose talk coming out of the deep state.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest confirmed this speaking to reporters on Thursday 6th October 2016.
“The president has discussed in some details why military action against the Assad regime to try to address the situation in Aleppo is unlikely to accomplish the goals that many envisioned now in terms of reducing the violence there. It is much more likely to lead to a bunch of unintended consequences that are clearly not in our national interest.”…’
http://mikenormaneconomics.blogspot.co ‘.uk/2016/10/alexander-mercouris-confirmed-us-backs.html
http://mikenormaneconomics.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/alexander-mercouris-confirmed-us-backs.html
Assad calls Aleppo ‘springboard to pushing TERRORISTS back in to TURKEY
I think Assad is implying these TERRORISTS came from TURKEY.
Now there is a thought.
http://www.france24.com/en/20161014-assad-calls-aleppo-springboard-pushing-terrorists-back-turkey
So where did you think they came from? Few will be Turks, but the great majority of Foreign mercenary Jihadi thugs came across Turkey’s long border into Iraq and Syria, having been housed, trained and armed in Turkey.
I can’t understand any one not knowing this, this late in the day….And a Turkish official admitted that Turkey has sent 2,000 truckloads of ‘supplies’ (mainly weapons) after a local Turkish Commander stopped and searched 3 suspicious trucks way back.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alparslan_%C3%87elik
Alparslan Çelik a Turk is generally thought to be the person responsible for slaughtering Russian pilot Oleg Peshkov,
after the shoot down by Turkey.
maybe we should be reminded that usa / uk intervention is illegal . is it possible to prosecute boris / may et al ?
not possible, wendy
“They are relentless warmongering bastards, pretending to be motivated by humanitarian concern.”
Don’t you think you should at least try and fairly represent your opponents instead of caricaturing them?
There is nothing in this sentence that is even remotely plausible. You’re implying that they love war for the sake of war – what kind of lame motivation is that?
Here is how Dan Dennett suggests people should argue:
“You should attempt to re-express your target’s position so clearly, vividly, and fairly that your target says, “Thanks, I wish I’d thought of putting it that way.”
If you can’t do this then people aren’t going to see you as being unbiased or fair-minded. Caricaturing your opponents like this puts a stain on your entire argument.
Inklings that some “US backed rebels” aka terrorists might be leaving Aleppo in a deal starting to emerge. Lets hope this comes off and civilians can get food and relative safety. Via Vanessa Beeley twitter account. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CuudwvjXEAAhEJr.jpg:large
I like the term “US backed rebels”.
I like the term “He’s got a bad cold” when clearly it’s AIDS.
I like the term “extremists” when clearly it’s just poor, skint, no future…lets look for a cause
I like the term “banking meltdown” when it’s just greed and people flogging sh*t.
We humans are great at “terms”.
to add….
… I personally would believe Assad rather than “the Western governments and politicians” in this current situation.
And I wonder IF Mr Murray has fallen into the “no fly zone” trap or is a “paid for member” of the “lets get our message out there in any way we can” campaign.
Or, is simply “misled” or “misleading” due to ignorance ?
It’s always interesting, that no “politician” in the history of politics, has ever called for the “demise” of the culture of “Politics”.
I suppose Socrates came close.
Leaders, leadership, religion, politicians, politics, sovereign reign…..
… I guess times may one day change. The “lot of ’em” will be “booted out” and stop sucking the blood.
Now Syria has the Pantsir air defence system. A very handy piece of kit. IDF F16s will think long and hard about another attack on Quneitra.
Russia didn’t hang about there. Probably had them stored in Khmeimim from way back when. Plan B was ready to just roll right out if the need arose.
Speak softly, and carry a big stick.
S400s, S300 (Antey) and now the Pantsir. Those F22s better be invisible.
https://southfront.org/syrian-defense-ministry-released-pics-of-pantsir-s-air-defense-system/
Just one thing wrong with this good piece. The author omitted the names of Blair, Straw, Hoon, et al in his litany of war criminals.
Illegality, Ignorance, and Imperialism
(and the Need for Revolution)
by Gary Leupp / October 13th, 2016
The Illegality of the U.S. War on Iraq
http://dissidentvoice.org/2016/10/illegality-ignorance-and-imperialism/
The subheadings are:
The Illegality of the U.S. War on Iraq
The Officially-Promoted Ignorance of the People about the Recent Past
Tired Old Russophobia in the Service of U.S. Imperialism
Asininity Rules
The Morning after the Asinine Debate
Gary Leupp is a Professor of History at Tufts University, and author of numerous works on Japanese history
Sharp Ears, I saw that about 9000 Daesh going from Mosul to Syria, probably the Deir Ezzor area.
The thing is, that’s public now. So every spare Russian drone, satellite and pair of Spetsnaz eyes will be on every road coming out of Mosul, and probably one or two within it as well. I suspect a very warm welcome lies in store for any mass movement of Islamic Proxies Inc, heading west like the Seventh Cavalry.
Gang Rape…. is a good “term” for Imperialism.
Now we are dealing with the consequence of “gang rape”.
I guess “a criminal trial” would appease the victims. But that has not been forthcoming.
So it’s back to “politics”. And the author (a political class person) saying “stop the airstrikes”.
Right tent, wrong desert !
I will say this once….
NOW WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH “THE CONSEQUENCE” WHAT THESE (SO CALLED) POLITICAL PEOPLE GAVE US.
Like George Dubya hisself said – Let’s smoke ’em out !!
Or did he say let’s airdrop them TOWs?
I forget.
That’s BUSH !
How about the simpler “LETS SEE EM FOR WHAT THEY ARE”
Socrates… if he wore a “ten gallon hat” !
When will people realise…. it’s a con.
Both sides “conning”.
Here’s an interesting slice of information about the future of warfare I referred to the other day. The future seems to be a future with wars being fought in the world’s mega-cities. A truly ghastly thought.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article45667.htm
Look at the TITLE of Murray’s debate !
It says it all.
We are “given the choice” IS IT THIS WAY OR MY WAY !
And the answer is “NO”.
It should have been NO in the first place (and where was Murray et al then ??)
They are “selling” the “con”.
What happened with “Marine A” gave away the situation…..
…let the “Royals” and the “Political Classes” defend themselves against “agro”.
AND we will sit to one side and clap….as the “fight” goes on.
It’s bollocks. Murray is “less bollocks” but still there.
Leave them to it. Lets see what happens. Lets see “who survives”.
The French had the “Gillette”. Maybe that’s what is needed.
Alex Blackman ended up “jailed”.
Tell your kids, never defend (under US “law”) your country.
Refuse.
Let the “leaders” fight.
The penny hasn’t dropped with Boris yet. Now this guy really knows his foreign policy.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/02/18/the-media-are-misleading-public-syria/8YB75otYirPzUCnlwaVtcK/story.html
Now, no one can read that brother…. so do a bit of “cut and paste” there boy.
@ Dave Lawton October 14, 2016 at 20:26
Now THAT is the best piece of American reporting I have seen in a long time – and from the prestigious Boston Globe!
Paul Barbara yes he knows what he is writing about.I`m reading his book “Overthrow” at present.
Here he is here talking about CIA coup`s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV2mn8t7sJY
Syrian President Bashar al Assad has said the country’s civil war has become a conflict between Russia and the West.
He commented as Russian President Valdimir Putin ratified a deal with the Syrian government allowing Moscow to use the Hmeimim air base in Syria – from where it has been launching airstrikes – indefinitely.
The move coincided with Syrian and Russian warplanes carrying out dozens of airstrikes on rebel-held districts of Aleppo on Friday,
as world powers prepared for new talks on a “ceasefire”
http://news.sky.com/story/assad-aleppo-to-serve-as-springboard-for-liberation-10616125
I predict Syria will join to become one country with Russia, as did Crimea.
The Great Game is afoot.
Mr Norton….
The “great gamble” is afoot.
The “West” decided the “war” was here…. and they created the “vacuum”.
I dislike “Russia”, but THEY have the will to win.
Russia wants “an Arnhem”.
And the West (by proxy) will lose (No significant airpower)..
Sit back…and watch “Arnhem 2016”, rought to you in HD Hahhahaha
BBC ACTUALLY BROADCASTS THE TRUTH ABOUT SYRIA
At last, the BBC finally gets called out for its terrible coverage of Syria by Dr Marcus Papadopoulos, publisher/editor of ‘Politics First’ magazine.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSNT_5KJd-o)
BOOM !
The man tells it as it is (and I ain’t no friend of Russia).
So… Mr Murray’s “no fly by everyone (…oh and) and NATO also” becomes a little SUSPECT.
It’s like badly played Chess. Sacrifice the Queen, to win.
Or “No Fly NATO” stops the destruction of ISIS
More than 70% SUPPORT for Vladimir Putin’s bombing campaign despite Middle East tensions
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/611495/Vladimir-Putin-bombing-campaig n-poll-support-syria-middle-east
VLADIMIR Putin’s intense campaign of airstrikes in Syria has the support of more than two in every three Britons, according to an exclusive Express.co.uk poll.
By ROB VIRTUE
PUBLISHED: 11:00, Tue, Oct 13, 2015 | UPDATED: 12:50, Tue, Oct 13, 2015
More than 27,000 people have voted in our Express.co.uk poll with 71 per cent saying they “support Vladimir Putin’s bombing campaign in Syria”, which is blitzing a large number of Islamic State owned buildings and vehicles.
The emphatic approval rating comes despite growing tensions between Russia and the US-led coalition, including Britain, over Putin’s actions in the Middle East.
Claims have been made Russia is predominantly targeting rebel forces against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, who Moscow admits it wants to prop up.
However, Russia’s defence ministry has released a large number of videos of bombing raids on buildings from which ISIS operates.
Putin has said the terror organisation is the main target as he fears jihadis will launch an attack on his country if the group gets any stronger.
The fraught situation has seen tensions continue to escalate between Moscow and the coalition.
Yesterday, a bitter row broke out between the British and Russian governments after it was reported RAF Tornados operating over Iraq had been fitted with heat-seeking missiles for aerial combat and had been given permission to fire at Russian jets if attacked.
So even Express readers are waking up!
CAVEAT alert !
ISIS or US backed friendly smiling happy rebels !
Ya see, that is a marketing failure. WE are suppose to “take sides”.
The Internet 1 The Political Class 0
We worked out “they are ONE and THE SAME”.
To anyone in striking distance of Bristol or Frome, here are two talks on Syria which should be extremely interesting:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/syria-civil-war-or-nato-war-of-aggression-for-regime-change-tickets-27808756740 (for Bristol Event)
Location: The Arc, Broad Street. Bristol, BS1 2HG
Fri 4 November 2016
19:00 – 21:30 GMT
Speakers: Journalist Vanessa Bealey & Rev. Andrew Ashdown
Since 2011, Syria has been in the grip of a most vicious war which has left hundreds of thousands dead, millions displaced internally, in appalling conditions in refugee camps in neighbouring countries, or perishing on their hazardous journey to seek safety in Europe. The ramifications of this war which has targeted Syria’s infrastructure, its multi-ethnic, multi-faith social fabric, and its territorial integrity, reaches far beyond Syria’s borders and threatens regional and global peace.
Journalist, Vanessa Beeley, and Rev. Andrew Ashdown who have returned from recent peace and fact-finding missions in Syria, will discuss the origins and nature of the war in Syria, the role of the media and humanitarian NGOs in constructing public opinion in favour of western military intervention, and the current prospects for reconciliation and peace.
Vanessa Beeley is a contributor to 21WIRE. She is a member of the Steering Committee of the Syria Solidarity Movement, and a volunteer with the Global Campaign to Return to Palestine. She represented Yemen at the UNHRC in March 2016 testifying on Saudi Coalition use of cluster bombs on civilian targets. Vanessa lived in Gaza during 2012 Israeli bombardment and after several trips to Gaza, launched the FB page, the Wall Will Fall “to raise awareness but also to convey the idea that through education, awareness and the development of our own consciousness we can bring down all walls that keep us in ignorance and far from the Truth”. In August 2016, she spent a week in Syria with the US Peace Council, and a further three weeks travelling independently throughout Syria including Aleppo.
Rev. Andrew Ashdown led a UK peace delegation for a fact-finding and pastoral visit to Syria in August. This was Rev Ashdown’s fifth visit to Syria since April 2014. The delegation included Rev. Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester and cross bench peers, Baroness Cox and Lord Hylton. Rev. Ashdown describes the journey which has been heavily criticized in the mainstream media and by establishment politicians as “a pastoral visit, to visit the people and listen to their voices. We were invited by Church leaders and faith leaders. We met an enormous number of people from right across the religious and sectarian spectrum and different political views. The purpose was to listen to the people and to see the situation for ourselves and to share the message when we return”.
https://www.facebook.com/events/182511218841441/
Frome Stop War, on Wednesday 9th November 2016, 19.30 p.m. Wheatsheaves (aka Frome Venue), Bath St., Frome.
Admission £4 on the door. Enquiries Contact: 01373-839038
Paul Barbara will this be filmed and available online?
Reverend Andrew Ashdown interviewed here by UK Column news. http://www.ukcolumn.org/ukcolumn-news/uk-column-news-tour-syrian-realities-andrew-ashdown-6th-october-2016
I wonder if Andrew is about to break down at one point at 12.52 The enormity of the horror, the lies told to British citizens and complete disregard for Syrian citizens wishes?
This is a bizarre suggestion. A no fly zone by everyone which is voluntary and not imposable is a free for all way of escalating under the cover of false flags and allegations.
There is also the small matter of then what? Stalemate? Terrorists gaining upper hand with long war of attrition?
Any plans that are proposed for Syria should take account of what succession there should be in Syria. The fact is that the overwhelming effective anti government forces are jihadist terrorists and these cannot be handed over the fate of Syria.
Just reiterating the mantra that both sides are bad goes nowhere near trying to see or solve the problem.
There is no question that NATO-GCC is the major aggressor across Eurasia and North Africa. The discussion about ‘no-fly zones’ is at best – in Craig’s post – a red herring and at worst – when posited by NATO-GCC – simply a mechanism for helping the clerical fascist Jihadist instruments of NATO-GCC regaining tactical advantage in Syria.
@ Suhayl Saadi October 15, 2016 at 09:05
Glad to see you on here, Suhayl. Note the talks in Bristol and Frome I posted about a few comments above – might be useful spreading the news.
Even so, as far as I can tell, nearly all Syrians who have recently lived in Syria, or still live there, support the secular Assad government, because most of them do not want to live under a US-UK-imposed Sunni jihadist regime, or under Saudi-style sharia law.
Also, the Russians have been invited into Syria by the legitimate, elected, government of Syria, to defend the country from, US-UK-backed, proxy-invaders. The USAF and the RAF have not been invited into Syria by the Syrian government. Therefore, they are there illegally. Despite this, I’ve recently heard that RAF pilots have been given orders to shoot at Russian aircraft, if they decide to fell threatened by them. This could cause a nuclear war! and we’ll be even more likely to have a nuclear war after Hillary gets elected (or fiddles the results)
“Worse than a slaughterhouse” were the words the outgoing UN Chief, Ban Ki Moon, used to describe the killing in eastern Aleppo.
And it is easy to see why he used such a graphic analogy.
The pictures streaming out of the city have been horrific.
Little boys bloodied and caked in dust; their eyes dead with trauma. Babies dug out from the rubble. Their limp bodies held aloft accusingly by White Helmet rescue workers.
http://news.sky.com/story/why-the-west-wont-go-to-war-over-aleppo-10617642
But, none of these appalling attacks on civilians have changed the calculations in the West . Intervention, it seems for the moment at least, is not the answer.
If France, U.K.America want the horror to stop in Syria, it is easy, just stop promoting the conflict via Turkey
Don’t you think, for a moment (please don’t even try to answer that!) that similar and far worse pictures could have been blazoned on our MSM about Gaza, Eastern Ukraine, Yemen, Fallujah (circa US ‘Siege/Bombardment’), Vietnam, Korea, Panama, Dresden etc. if it suited Western propaganda? Meanwhile ‘back on the ranch’, ‘Bank-Ki-Moon’ rubs his hands all the way to his new-found wealth and Western accolades for ‘services rendered’.
Bit like the ‘Bliar’!
Craig still blaming Dr Assad when we are directly responsible for the destruction of Syria. Google French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas admitting the plot long before the fake CIA Arab Spring. The evidence is overwhelming. Also we drew up Sikes Picot not Dr Assad. But then Craig always goes pro Neocon messaging to rescue his career. 9/11 too….
The Roland Dumas business really infuriates me – NO ONE WANTS TO KNOW – yet it is so damning of the lying Western ‘Narrative’. But don’t be too hard on Craig – he has earned ‘Indulgences’ galore by his extremely brave and costly stand for basic human rights in Uzbekistan (read his books, particularly ‘Murder in Samarkand’, before criticising him over Assad and 9/11, both of which of course you are correct about).
“By 2014, the sectarian Sunni-Shia character of the civil war in Syria was bemoaned in the United States as an unfortunate development. But in December 2006, the man heading the US embassy in Syria advocated in a cable to the secretary of state and the White House that the US government collaborate with Saudi Arabia and Egypt to promote sectarian conflict in Syria between Sunni and Shia as a means of destabilizing the Syrian government. At that time, no one in the US government could credibly have claimed innocence of the possible implications of such a policy. This cable was written at the height of the sectarian Sunni-Shia civil war in Iraq, which the US military was unsuccessfully trying to contain. US public disgust with the sectarian civil war in Iraq unleashed by the US invasion had just cost Republicans control of Congress in the November 2006 election. The election result immediately precipitated the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld as secretary of defense. No one working for the US government on foreign policy at the time could have been unaware of the implications of promoting Sunni-Shia sectarianism.”
http://www.truth-out.org/progressivepicks/item/33180-wikileaks-reveals-how-the-us-aggressively-pursued-regime-change-in-syria-igniting-a-bloodbath
Thanks for that useful info, Postkey. I hadn’t heard about it before; it adds to the mountain of evidence about what the Syrian ‘war’ is really about.
When I used Paypal to pay for a ticket to the public meeting talk by Vanessa Bealey & Rev. Andrew Ashdown (https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/syria-civil-war-or-nato-war-of-aggression-for-regime-change-tickets-27808756740) about the TRUE situation in Syria, Paypal held the payment and sent me an email asking: ‘ 1. Explain the reference to “Syria” in payment xxx***xxx attempted on 14 October 2016 in the amount of £3.72, including a complete and detailed explanation of the goods or services you intended to purchase.’
Pity the financial institutions and banks don’t apply the same rigor with the British and other governments’ payments to support terrorists of all hues in their ‘proxy wars’ around the globe!
Supported by TURKEY
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Turkmen_Brigades
that means funded, trained, supplied and organized by TURKEY
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-37670998
Turkey aims to continue stealing territory from SYRIA
My sympathies are with the Syrian government simply because they are willing to seek a diplomatic end to the war. The rebels, on the other hand, have prevented a diplomatic solution by insisting that Assad must go, I imagine at the behest of the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. Any true friend of Syria will seek an end to this war which is in fact what the Russians are doing. The Russians also do not insist that Assad must stay but say this is a matter for Syrians to decide. Isn’t it a scandal that the West will not concede Syrian should choose the leader of their government?