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Russia Derangement Syndrome: Syria Edition by David Archibald 6 August 2018 The road to hell is paved with good intentions. So it has been with US involvement in Syria. To provide a context to that involvement, let’s start part way through the story with the self-immolation of a Tunisian vegetable vendor on December 17, 2011, driven to despair by harassment from petty officials. That spark set off the Arab Spring. A number of Arab regimes changed; some remained resilient. That wasn’t good enough for David Cameron and Nicholas Sarkozy, the then leaders of the UK and France respectively. Their armed...

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke out against President Donald Trump in an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday, blasting his anti-press rhetoric, the retreat from the world stage, and his insults of U.S. allies.

Women’s March leader Linda Sarsour on Friday launched a racial attack against Sen. Susan Collins, saying the Maine Republican was guilty of espousing “white supremacy” with her decision to support the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Ms. Sarsour, a prominent Palestinian-American activist, blasted Ms. Collins on Twitter as a “white woman” and the “mother & grandmother of white women in America who gave us a Donald Trump presidency.”

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli official played down on Wednesday the Russian upgrading of Syria’s air defences, saying the newly supplied S-300 missile system could be defeated by Israel’s stealth fighters and possibly destroyed on the ground. Moscow said on Tuesday that it had delivered the S-300, a decision it took after accusing Israel of indirect responsibility for the downing of a Russian spy plane by Syrian forces as they fired on attacking Israeli jets last month. Damascus and its big-power backer describe the advanced addition to Syria’s arsenal as a major deterrent. Israel and Washington have both voiced misgivings...

As the fall arrives, the probability of a fourth Gaza war between Israel and Hamas is on the rise. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot decided on Thursday to reinforce troops along the tense security fence, citing the military’s policy of preventing infiltrations from the blockaded coastal enclave into southern Israel. The reinforcements include snipers, as well as infantry and armored forces. The IDF has also deployed the Iron Dome missile defense system over concerns of mortar and rocket fire from the blockaded coastal enclave. The decision was made ahead of the 29th week of violent Friday protests, out...

The update was interrupted this afternoon by pro-Palestinians at the hotel and had to be re-broadcast later. All the parts of the S-300s are in Syria now and only the further steps are needed to make them operational. Israel basically now has a border with Russia, not with Syria. Other aspects of the buildup toward conflict, involving the United States and others. The big picture is taking shape.

""Pompeo Terminates Iran Treaty After UN Court Hands Tehran A Victory In Sanctions Lawsuit Against Washington"" Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Wednesday the U.S. will terminate a 63-year-old treaty with Iran, hours after a top United Nations court ruled in favor of Tehran in a lawsuit challenging U.S. sanctions. Pompeo said the abrogation of the 1955 Treaty of Amity was “39 years overdue,” referring to the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran that resulted in the overthrow of the U.S.-friendly shah. Until Pompeo’s announcement, the Treaty of Amity had remained in force even though Washington and Tehran have not had...

Iran's Regime Faces international pressure and Domestic tension. By: Hassan. Mahmoudi In The 73rd session of the UN General Assembly Trump, said the oil-related sanctions will be followed by other punitive measures to thwart what he characterized as a “corrupt dictatorship” that still harbors nuclear weapons ambitions and foments turmoil in the Middle East through its support of militant groups. “We ask all nations to isolate Iran’s regime as long as its aggression continues,” he said. he added, “we ask all nations to support Iran’s people as they struggle to reclaim their religious and righteous destiny.” Meanwhile, Iranian regime claim...

...this subterranean tomb of 52 m2... impressive number of figures (nearly 260, including gods, humans, and animals) painted on the walls of the largest chamber. Of course other Roman tombs from the Decapolis also offer sumptuous mythological decor, but none of them can hold a candle to this one in terms of iconography... Whoever entered the tomb, before it was closed, first glimpsed on his left banqueting deities lying on beds, and tasting offerings brought by humans smaller than themselves. Again to the left of the entrance, a second painting with a country landscape shows peasants busy working the earth...

"US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Myanmar's government to take concrete steps to investigate human right's abuses against Rohingya Muslims...." "Reuters" Report Friday 9/28/2018 "The Syrian regime's butcher is enabled by Russia and Iran" President Donald J. Trump at United Nations 9/26/2018 The pattern of Western nations taking the side of jihadist opposition forces seen in Syria and Libya on "humanitarian" grounds is again being revealed in the controversy over the nation of Myanmar (commonly called "Burma") The majority Buddhist country has a minority of Muslims called Rohingyas who were engaged in a revolt that included acts of terrorism....

The State Department is temporarily closing the U.S. Consulate in the southern Iraqi city of Basra and evacuating all diplomats stationed there, following a rocket attack early Friday morning. Although there were no casualties, concerns back in Washington grew. The decision comes out of concern for the safety of U.S. personnel stationed in that Iraqi city near the border with Iran. In a statement released Friday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cited "repeated incidents of fire" from Iranian-backed militias. "I have made clear that Iran should understand that the United States will respond promptly and appropriately to any such attacks,"...

Amnesty International director alleged to have links to Muslim Brotherhood & radical Islamists Amnesty’s director of faith and human rights, Yasmin Hussein. A senior Amnesty International official has been found to have private links with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and revolutionary Islamists accused of plotting a coup in an Arab state. Amnesty’s director of faith and human rights, Yasmin Hussein, stayed overnight at the residence of a Muslim Brotherhood advisor during an official visit to Egypt in direct contravention of Amnesty guidelines. Her husband was also named as an alleged Islamist in documents relating to a 2013 sedition trial...

Beirut (AFP) - A formerly US-backed Syrian rebel group on Saturday rejected a deal between Russia and Turkey to avert a large-scale military assault on rebel-held Idlib province. The deal makes way for a demilitarised zone between rebel and regime-held areas in and around the northwestern governorate, Syria's last insurgent bastion. Under the accord reached on September 17 amid mounting fears of a devastating regime offensive, jihadist factions would withdraw their heavy weaponry from the buffer zone. Pro-Turkey rebels have cautiously accepted the deal, but the Jaysh al-Izza faction on Saturday rejected it, saying the zone to be set up...

Palestinian Authority (PA) chief negotiator Saeb Erekat on Thursday evening accused Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of “victimizing the criminal” following the Prime Minister’s speech at the UN General Assembly. “Netanyahu’s speech is a combination of old and well-known talking points that conclude on victimizing the criminal and blaming the victim. His speech further exposes Israel’s systematic denial of our right to exist, to live in freedom and to celebrate our national identity,” said Erekat in a statement. “The reality on the ground in occupied Palestine is a manifestation of what Israel is: a colonial- apartheid state. Despite the oppression, racism...

The deputy head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned U.S. and Israeli leaders on Monday to expect a "devastating" response from Tehran, accusing them of involvement in an attack on a military parade in the city of Ahvaz. "You have seen our revenge before ... You will see that our response will be crushing and devastating and you will regret what you have done," Hossein Salami said in a speech before the funeral of the victims broadcast live on the state television. Thousands of people packed the streets of the southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz to mourn the victims of Saturday's...

The Israel Defense Forces are so much more than the picture of raw power perceived in news stories and war-centered history books. The IDF functions on a daily basis employing stealth and deception in the battle against Israel's unremitting enemies. Pre-1967, the state and military were perceived as underdogs fighting the good fight against all odds. The devastating effectiveness and efficiency with which the IDF knocked out and embarrassed Arab armies changed the perception of the IDF and the Jewish people into a conquering military machine. The success was so decisive that it altered the mindset of the Jewish people...

Russian officials said Syria's outdated S-200 systems weren't sophisticated enough to identify the Russian plane as a friendly one. Monday's statement from Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Russia will send the newer S-300 missile defense systems to Syria within the next two weeks. Earlier in the war, Russia suspended a supply of S-300, which Israel feared Syria could use against it. Shoigu said Russia is now going to go ahead with the shipment because "the situation has changed, and it's not our fault." The supply of S-300s to Syria will "calm down some hotheads" whose actions "pose a threat...

"We have made it very clear, we are not going to pay for reconstruction of Syria as long as there is Iranian influence there," Haley said. "We're not going to pay as long as ISIS has not been defeated, which we're almost there. We're not going to pay for reconstruction to help Russia out when this is their problem." Haley added how Russia took responsibility for what is happening in Syria and are now have their hands out asking for money. "What we're saying is there are a lot of things that have to happen before reconstruction is even talked...

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi authorities have deprived Turkish soldiers, deployed in northern Iraq to combat Kurdish militias, from visas to return to their bases as means to cut down the number of troops which Baghdad had repeatedly demanded to pull out. Watheq al-Hashemi, director of al-Nahrain Center for Strategic Studies, an Iraqi government-affiliated think tank, told Almaalomah website that the Iraqi government has unilaterally decided not to grant Turkish soldiers on leave at their homeland visas to return to the Turkish military base in Bashiqa region, north of Iraq. According to Hashemi, the measure, adopted over the past months, has helped...

With rising unilateralism challenging its very existence, the United Nations convenes its annual meeting of world leaders Monday and will try once more to tackle problems together as a community of nations, addressing threats ranging from Mideast conflicts to the effects of global warming — and also encouraging the glimmer of hope over the nuclear standoff in North Korea. This year, 133 world leaders have signed up to attend the General Assembly session, a significant increase from last year’s 114. Secretary-General António Guterres called the expected large turnout “eloquent proof of the confidence of the international community in the United...