For some ‘unknown reason’, this fact reminds me of what is happening in Palestine (David) as Israel (Goliath) continues their invasion and encroachment in Palestine ‘native land’.
“What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or in the holy name of liberty or democracy?” ~~Mahatma Gandhi~~
This is why America and its coalition are trying to remove Assad and get a “West Friendly” government in Syria The war against Assad did not start in 2011 with the Arab Spring but at least as early as 2000 when Qatar proposed to construct a $10 billion, 1,500 kilometer pipeline through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and Turkey, connecting Qatar directly to the European energy market and reducing the EU’s energy dependence on Russia.
This made it a threat to Russia which sells 70% of its gas exports to Europe.
Assad, remaining loyal to his Russian ally, refused to sign the agreement to allow the pipeline to run through Syria and, instead, approved the “Islamic pipeline” running from Iran’s gas field through Syria to the ports of Lebanon, potentially making Iran the main supplier to the European energy market. Naturally, this did not go down well with the Gulf’s Sunni monarchs allied with the West, Israel, nor the West itself, particularly as it seeks to weaken Russia to the point of the Yeltsin era – back to subservience.
Robert F Kennedy Jr., in February, 2016 wrote,
“Secret cables and reports by the US, Saudi and Israeli intelligence agencies indicate that the moment Assad rejected the Qatari pipeline, military and intelligence planners quickly arrived at the consensus that fomenting a Sunni uprising in Syria to overthrow the uncooperative Bashar Assad was a feasible path to achieving the shared objective of completing the Qatar/Turkey gas link.”
In 2009, according to WikiLeaks, soon after Bashar Assad rejected the Qatar pipeline, the CIA began funding opposition groups in Syria.
In 2011, the US joined France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and England to form the ‘Friends of Syria Coalition,’ which formally demanded the removal of Assad.
The CIA provided $6 million to Barada, a British TV channel, to produce pieces entreating Assad’s ouster. Saudi intelligence documents, published by WikiLeaks, show that by 2012, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia were arming, training and funding radical Jihadist Sunni fighters from Syria, Iraq and elsewhere to overthrow the Assad’s Shia allied regime.
Qatar, which had the most to gain, invested $3 billion in building the insurgency and invited the Pentagon to train insurgents at US bases in Qatar.
U.S. personnel also provided logistical support and intelligence to the rebels on the ground.
The Times of London reported on September 14, 2012, that the CIA also armed Jihadists with anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles and other weapons from Libyan armouries that the agency smuggled by ratlines to Syria via Turkey.
According to an April 2014 article by Seymour Hersh, the CIA weapons ratlines were financed by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Following Washington’s decision to remove Assad, its Middle Eastern allies, including Turkey, has been assisting anyone and everyone (including ISIS and al-Qaeda) opposing the Syrian government.
Assad has repeatedly said that Turkey was not fighting extremism but actually fomenting it.
In December 2015, German newspaper Deutsche Welle reported that “Military and logistic support from Turkey was the key factor in extremists’ takeover of Idlib”, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said.
The war in Syria has now lasted for seven years. Although its roots lie in peaceful protests against the government, it has become something much more complex.
Joe Inwood explains who is fighting whom and why.
~April 13, 2018~
Britain and France joined the United States in the strikes in a coordinated operation that was intended to show Western resolve in the face of what the leaders of the three nations called persistent violations of international law.
Mr. Drumpf characterized it as the beginning of a sustained effort to force Mr. Assad to stop using banned weapons, but only ordered a limited, one-night operation that hit three targets.
Back in April 8, 2017, I posted information about the war in Syria.
Ezra Klein, from Vox, narrated a video which explained the many factions, factors, countries and issues involved in the Syrian civil war which started in 2011 after the “Arab Spring“.
We know about the war raging within its borders.
We have seen the many refugees leaving and running into uncertain conditions about their travels and their eventual destination.
On April 7, 2017, the situation attracted a huge spotlight due to the launching of Tomahawk missiles by the United States, on a base in western Syria. The United States said was used to launch a chemical attack on April 4, 2017,which left nearly 100 people dead and hundreds more injured.
On 7 April 2018, a suspected chemical attack in the Syrian city of Douma reportedly killed at least 70 people. On-site medics stated that exposure to chlorine gas and sarin nerve agent killed the victims. Several reports attributed the attack to the Syrian Army, which the Syrian Government and its allies disputed, either denying involvement or that a chemical attack had taken place at all.
Almost exactly to one year, the United States and European allies launched airstrikes on Friday night, April 13, 2018, against Syrian research, storage and military targets as Drumpf sought to punish President Bashar al-Assad for a suspected chemical attack near Damascus last weekend that killed more than 40 people.
The video explains the many details, factions, alliances and ‘players’.
And to add to the mortal mix, Drumpf is now the ‘so-called Commander- in-Chief”.
Syria’s civil war has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions. To understand how Syria got to this place, it helps to start at the beginning.
Vox Facebook Video
SYRIA PRIMER …. “from EZRA KLEIN & VOX …. details here …. “!!
Syria has been at the forefront of the news for several years.
We know about the war raging within its borders.
We have seen the many refugees leaving and running into uncertain conditions about their travels and their eventual destination.
This week, the situation attracted a huge spotlight due to the launching of Tomahawk missiles, early Friday, April 7, by the United States on a base in western Syria that the United States says was used to launch Tuesday’s chemical attack, April 4, which left nearly 100 people dead and hundreds more injured.
The video explains the many details, factions, alliances and ‘players’.
Ezra Klein brings you a video that starts where all good videos of this type start: from the beginning of the conflict so as to understand how it has morphed beyond its original intent.
After four-plus years of fighting, Syria’s war has killed at least 250,000 people and displaced 12 million people. And, though it started as a civil war, it’s become much more than that.
It’s a proxy war that has divided much of the Middle East, and has drawn in both Russia and the United States.
To understand how Syria got to this place, it helps to start at the beginning and watch it unfold.
~Democratic Senator Voted To Confirm Career Racist Sessions~
John Prager on February 9, 2017 5:19 am ·
Apparently, West Virginia Democrat – not to be confused with real Democrats – Joe Manchin effectively told voter he doesn’t want his job anymore when he was the only person supposedly on “our side” who voted to confirm lifetime racist and embarrassment to humanity Jeff Sessions as Attorney General.
Manchin, who reportedly considered switching to Republican just after the 2016 election (though he denies it), has been on the wrong side of history many times in his career. Not only did he vote with Republicans to terminate funding for Planned Parenthood after right-wing “activists” produced heavily-edited propaganda videos that claimed the women’s health organization sells “baby parts,” but he is so deep in the pockets of the coal industry that the lint is jealous.
On top of that, Manchin has been endorsed by the NRA and has supported legislation that sought to prevent the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas.
While Manchin has been criticized for all of that in the past, his decision to support a career racist for Attorney General is bringing a sh*tstorm his way that he seems to have failed to anticipate.
~Senator’s Wife Used Education Position To Boost Daughter’s EpiPen Sales~
Robert Donachie
September 20, 2016
Finance Reporter
The wife of a prominent US Senator, Gail Manchin, used her position as head of the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASB) to boost her daughter’s EpiPen sales, according to recent reports
EpiPen, short for epinephrine injection, is a life-saving auto-injection device for those with serious allergies that cause anaphylactic shock.
CEO Heather Bresch of Mylan, the company that makes EpiPen’s, caught flack after reports revealed Bresch raised the price of EpiPen’s 461 percent since acquiring the drug in 2007.
Further adding fuel to public outcry was the fact that Bresch’s salary rose from $2,453,456 in 2007 and skyrocketed 671 percent to $18,931,068 in 2015
“The pot calling the kettle black” is a proverbial idiom that seems to have been of Spanish origin, versions of which began to appear in English in the first half of the 17th century.
It is glossed in the original sources as being used of a person who is guilty of the very thing of which they accuse another and is thus an example of psychological projection.
~Wikipedia~
Psychological projection … this is the best thing he’s at.
All along the campaign, during the primaries, during the debates …
… all the things he said about others, where all applicable to him.
The only thing that may not apply to him from the above meme is the
I stand with my Lakota and Dakota brothers and sisters because I believe the central question of the creation story is at the heart of their lament and their protest:
What will we do with the blessing of power God has given us?
This is a particularly poignant God-question for those of us who have the power of privilege in our country and the world.