Russia brings the fight to ISIS in Syria!!!

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[volprof]

Turkey bringing the heat even more:

Both sides may have a point. It is no secret that ISIS has been shipping oil out of Syria into Turkey, and it is not secret, either, that it has been selling oil to the Assad regime. But the accusations against Haswani and his kaleidoscopic connections are particularly revealing.

Russia?s ISIS Money Men Exposed - The Daily Beast

Apparently this man and his networks also serve as a subcontractor for a Russian oil firm. Looks like the Sultan and the Tsar have either directly or indirectly gotten their hands sullied in Syria with ISIS.

Oh, what a tangled web we all weave in the Middle East. Happens to the best of us.

 

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Turkey bringing the heat even more:



Russia?s ISIS Money Men Exposed - The Daily Beast

Apparently this man and his networks also serve as a subcontractor for a Russian oil firm. Looks like the Sultan and the Tsar have either directly or indirectly gotten their hands sullied in Syria with ISIS.

Oh, what a tangled web we all weave in the Middle East. Happens to the best of us.

Wow....you cheerlead for terrorist and their sponsors now? Smfh

 

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‘Incursion’: Baghdad demands Turkey withdraw ‘training’ troops from northern Iraq https://www.rt.com/news/324787-turkish-troops-deployed-iraq/

The Iraqi government has demanded that Ankara withdraw the more than 100 Turkish forces that entered Iraq with tanks and artillery for alleged “training” of troops near Islamic State-occupied Mosul. Baghdad stressed the unsanctioned move was a breach of its sovereignty.

Ya think...?

 

[volprof]

Wow....you cheerlead for terrorist and their sponsors now? Smfh

Stop spinning my words. It is unbecoming.

 

[volprof]

Is It Time to Expel Turkey from NATO? | The National Interest Blog

 

[CountVolcula]

 

[Rasputin_Vol]

Well, there are a whole lot more people to blame besides Obama, but I guess the meme wouldn't be as funny if we included every president from LBJ to Obama along with it. Not to mention Congress and the people/entities that influence our govt.

 

[Rasputin_Vol]

“Russia should be Applauded… Our Government is Unwilling to Confront the Terrorist Offensive”: US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher

When Russia courageously stepped into the breach we should have been applauding its willingness to confront ISIS. Instead, we continue to denigrate Russians as if they were still the Soviet Union and Putin, not Islamic terrorists, our most vicious enemy.

So now we see the travesty of a harsh condemnation of the Russians for introducing air strikes against terrorists who will murder Americans if they get the chance.

Yes, Russia does this to protect Syria’s authoritarian Assad regime, which has close ties to Moscow. So what?

Why do Americans feel compelled to kick Russia in the teeth? Russia’s military is attacking an enemy that would do us harm. Why ignore the hostile pro-terrorist maneuvering of Turkish strongman Erdogan?

 

[Rasputin_Vol]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOPqnJSScnQ[/youtube]

 

[Rasputin_Vol]

Now this is really getting interesting...

Turkey to stop sending soldiers to Iraq after Baghdad protests | Reuters

Turkey said on Sunday it would halt further transfers of troops to an area near the Islamic State-controlled Iraqi city of Mosul after Baghdad threatened to appeal to the United Nations to force Turkey to withdraw its soldiers.

Turkey deployed hundreds of forces to a camp in the Bashiqa region of northern Iraq on Thursday, calling it a routine rotation to train Iraqis to retake Mosul from Islamic State, which captured Iraq's second-largest city in 2014.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said 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 happened without the approval or knowledge of the Iraqi government and constituted a violation of national sovereignty.

If you read between the lines, "U.N. security council" really means Russia (and possibly China) to help evict Turkish forces out of Iraq.

 

[volprof]

There was a faint glimpse of hope, but once Erdogan rigged the run-off election for his AKP party a few months back, I knew we were in for a mess. I wasn't expecting it to get this messy this quickly though.

Erdogan is basically what you would have if Putin were to be given the keys to a powerful NATO country. Quite frankly, Erdogan may even be worse. Putin at least appears to have a fairly decent grip on his proxies, what few of them there are, while I'm not so sure Erdogan does.

 

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PressTV-US-led strikes kill 3 Syrian soldiers

 

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Have seen a few reports that say Russia has deployed 60 naval infantrymen into the Homs province to try and help govt forces retake the ancient city of Palmyra...

 

[volprof]

Have seen a few reports that say Russia has deployed 60 naval infantrymen into the Homs province to try and help govt forces retake the ancient city of Palmyra...

Baby steps turn into big boy walking.

Has Putin learned nothing from watching American foreign policy over the past two decades? This is not like eastern Ukraine, where you can turn it on or off like a light switch. This is the Middle East, where no one ever truly controls anything.

I have to believe he's smarter than this. But maybe not. A lot of analysts couldn't believe he was dumb enough to get involved in Syria in the first place. Syria is not Ukraine. It's a sectarian country 500-1000 miles away from the Russian border with no ethnic Russian population or natural proxies (like the Cossacks or eastern Ukrainians) on the ground to help stabilize local populations.

 

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Baby steps turn into big boy walking.

Has Putin learned nothing from watching American foreign policy over the past two decades? This is not like eastern Ukraine, where you can turn it on or off like a light switch. This is the Middle East, where no one ever truly controls anything.

I have to believe he's smarter than this. But maybe not. A lot of analysts couldn't believe he was dumb enough to get involved in Syria in the first place. Syria is not Ukraine. It's a sectarian country 500-1000 miles away from the Russian border with no ethnic Russian population or natural proxies (like the Cossacks or eastern Ukrainians) on the ground to help stabilize local populations.

That's exactly what our government thought too. I think any reasonable person would concede the fact that Russia and it's allies are on the hit list. Putin would have a lot to lose strategically in Syria. He's going no where until the job is done....eradicating western funded terrorist and protect the legitimate leader of Syria, which in turn, protects Russia.

Don't be fooled. Putin is anything but dumb...

 

[volprof]

Well, those of us who aren't cheerleaders will sit and watch patiently.

I admit anything is possible. It's just more likely he'll fail miserably than succeed, and all available signs thus far seem to be pointing to the former.

 

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Well, those of us who aren't cheerleaders will sit and watch patiently.

I admit anything is possible. It's just more likely he'll fail miserably than succeed, and all available signs thus far seem to be pointing to the former.

 

[volprof]

Forgive me if I don't have the faith you do in a man who has proved absolutely nothing on the world stage thus far, other than that he can bark really loud.

If Russia was going to act and fix things, without suffering great disasters in the process, the time to have addressed these matters was four years ago.

The window of opportunity has most likely come and gone for Putin in Syria.

 

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Forgive me if I don't have the faith you do in a man who has proved absolutely nothing on the world stage thus far, other than that he can bark really loud.

If Russia was going to act and fix things, without suffering great disasters in the process, the time to have addressed these matters was four years ago.

The window of opportunity has most likely come and gone for Putin in Syria.

Bark really loud? Not sure if serious...

In a nutshell, Putin has been the antithesis of Boris Yeltsin, a western sellout. Russia was a corrupt and economically deprived nation when Putin took over. He is a real statesman that didn't caress the US led global hegemony. Its that simple...

Of course our media and govt are going to demonize such resistence, but make no mistake, Putin has more influence on world affairs than anybody.

Along the way, he's exposed the insane intentions that our govt has. There's a long list of the times he's bitten the western world that would take too long to list.

Posting that Putin has yet to prove nothing on the world stage is either complete denial or just sheer butthurt...

 

[volprof]

Bark really loud? Not sure if serious...

In a nutshell, Putin has been the antithesis of Boris Yeltsin, a western sellout. Russia was a corrupt and economically deprived nation when Putin took over. He is a real statesman that didn't caress the US led global hegemony. Its that simple...

Of course our media and govt are going to demonize such resistence, but make no mistake, Putin has more influence on world affairs than anybody.

Along the way, he's exposed the insane intentions that our govt has. There's a long list of the times he's bitten the western world that would take too long to list.

Posting that Putin has yet to prove nothing on the world stage is either complete denial or just sheer butthurt...

So your argument to counter mine is essentially just a confirmation of my own position - that Putin has only barked loudly thus far and nothing more. If that's the case, then we are in agreement.

Of course Putin is the most powerful and influential man on Earth. Any man with the power of his executive in a country as powerful as Russia, with its geostrategic position (bordering nearly all strategic parts of the world that really matter, i.e., Eurasia), could not help but be the most powerful man on Earth. The American executive has too many curtails on its power, and rightfully so, while the Chinese are too far away from Europe and too concerned with East Asia (and rightfully so).

One of the things that amuses me most is the idea that Putin is the salve that addressed Yeltsin's corruption. True, Putin's policies allowed Russia to enter the 21st Century (not that anyone with any modicum of competency couldn't have done the same with Russia's vast resources), but, as I've said before, Putin is often contrasted to the oligarchs, many of whom are his friends or a part of his inner circle. This is erroneous thinking. Putin isn't just an oligarch; he's the best oligarch. The one who was capable of best milking the (still) corrupt system. He has only given Russians a better economic situation (typically enough to placate any group of people) and has done nothing to address corruption in that country. Now that the Russian economy is in recession, he's going to have an awful lot of 'xplaining to do, because he has nothing else to offer the Russian people.

John McCain, god bless his ignorance, was at least right about one thing: under Putin, Russia is merely a gas station masquerading around as a nation. This doesn't mean Putin's Russia isn't a real "world player"; it most certainly is, just like any gas station and its prices have lots of bearing on our lives. But, you also have to be able to sell people more, to sell them a political narrative that will fundamentally improve their lives. Putin doesn't do that, and, in that sense, his Russia is a gas station, because all it really sells is gas. "The West is failed and bad" does not equal a political narrative that demonstrates how you can improve the lives of people around the globe.

 

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So your argument to counter mine is essentially just a confirmation of my own position - that Putin has only barked loudly thus far and nothing more. If that's the case, then we are in agreement.

Of course Putin is the most powerful and influential man on Earth. Any man with the power of his executive in a country as powerful as Russia, with its geostrategic position (bordering nearly all strategic parts of the world that really matter, i.e., Eurasia), could not help but be the most powerful man on Earth. The American executive has too many curtails on its power, and rightfully so, while the Chinese are too far away from Europe and too concerned with East Asia (and rightfully so).

One of the things that amuses me most is the idea that Putin is the salve that addressed Yeltsin's corruption. True, Putin's policies allowed Russia to enter the 21st Century (not that anyone with any modicum of competency couldn't have done the same with Russia's vast resources), but, as I've said before, Putin is often contrasted to the oligarchs, many of whom are his friends or a part of his inner circle. This is erroneous thinking. Putin isn't just an oligarch; he's the best oligarch. The one who was capable of best milking the (still) corrupt system. He has only given Russians a better economic situation (typically enough to placate any group of people) and has done nothing to address corruption in that country. Now that the Russian economy is in recession, he's going to have an awful lot of 'xplaining to do, because he has nothing else to offer the Russian people.

John McCain, god bless his ignorance, was at least right about one thing: under Putin, Russia is merely a gas station masquerading around as a nation. This doesn't mean Putin's Russia isn't a real "world player"; it most certainly is, just like any gas station and its prices have lots of bearing on our lives. But, you also have to be able to sell people more, to sell them a political narrative that will fundamentally improve their lives. Putin doesn't do that, and, in that sense, his Russia is a gas station, because all it really sells is gas. "The West is failed and bad" does not equal a political narrative that demonstrates how you can improve the lives of people around the globe.

I think the political narrative in Russia is historically, recurrently the same...a true patriotic country..

 

[Rasputin_Vol]

Posting that Putin has yet to prove nothing on the world stage is either complete denial or just sheer butthurt...

Most people are still fighting the Cold War and are looking at Russia through Communist/Soviet prisms.

This is a country that has learned the hard lessons of 80+ years of communism. Russia is not our enemy.

 

[volprof]

I think the political narrative in Russia is historically, recurrently the same...a true patriotic country..

I'm a little confused as to what exactly you're suggesting or what that has to do with this conversation, but, yes, I agree Russians are very patriotic people and are very admirable in that trait. Unfortunately for Russians, their leaders have historically channeled those energies and passions in unproductive directions.

But maybe you're right. Maybe Putin is the guy to finally lead them in that direction. After all, all that rational analysis I just gave really doesn't matter in the end; all that really matters is human emotion, and Russians, just like Americans, are very passionate and emotional people.

 

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Most people are still fighting the Cold War and are looking at Russia through Communist/Soviet prisms.

This is a country that has learned the hard lessons of 80+ years of communism. Russia is not our enemy.

Truth. Putin is standing up to communism...