This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Syria

  • Trump announces US military strikes in Syria

    Syria

    Fox News reports President Donald Trump on Friday night announced that he authorized military strikes against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The decision follows a chemical attack from the Assad military on a town near the Syrian capital last weekend.

    The United States launched the response, along with assistance from France and the United Kingdom, Trump stated from the White House about 9 p.m. EDT.

    “A short time ago, I ordered the United States armed forces to launch precision strikes on targets associated with the chemical weapons capabilities of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad,” Trump said from the White House. “A combined operation with the armed forces of France and the United Kingdom is now under way. We thank them both.”

    French President Emmanuel Macron said the operation was targeting the “clandestine chemical arsenal” in Syria.

    British Prime Minister Theresa May also issued a statement. “This evening I have authorized British armed forces to conduct coordinated and targeted strikes to degrade the Syrian Regime’s chemical weapons capability and deter their use,” May said.

    Trump’s announcement was closely preceded by reports of explosions in Damascus, the Syrian capital. There have been multiple strikes against at least two sites, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, said.

    “Important infrastructure was destroyed,” Dunford said, noting that sites associated with the Syrian chemical weapons program were both “targeted and destroyed.”

    Trump said the U.S. is prepared to “sustain” pressure on Assad until he ends what the president called a criminal pattern of killing his own people with internationally banned chemical weapons.

    But Defense Secretary Jim Mattis labeled the strikes “right now” as being “a one-time shot,” adding that no additional attacks are currently planned.

    President Trump made it very clear this is not an escalation, but a harsh warning that the use of WMDs will never be accepted, and shamed the Russians and Iranians for being party their use. The talking heads will natter on, but the fact is Assad used chemical warfare against civilians again, and this time with US troops in the AO. That can not and will not be tolerated.

  • 82nd Troops to Deploy to Middle East

    Two companies from the 82nd Airborne Division will deploy to the Middle East soon.

    The two units will be sent to locations in either Iraq or Syria. The decision on their exact locations while deployed has not yet been made. However, at least some of the 82nd’s troops apparently will deploy to Qayyarah Airfield West, AKA “Q-West”.

    I hope I’m wrong. But I can’t help but reflect on events of 55 years or so ago – and feel that maybe I’ve “seen this movie before”.

    Hopefully we’ve learned a bit since then.

  • About That Bomber in Germany . . . .

    Remember the low-life bastard in Germany that Jonn wrote about the other day?  The guy who bombed the Ansbach music festival? You know, the guy from Syria who’d been denied asylum in Germany, but was allowed to remain (presumably temporarily) due to ongoing hostilities in his home nation?

    Yeah, that guy – the guy who blew himself up with a suicide vest at the festival’s entrance.  He ended up killing himself and wounding 12 others in the process.

    Well, guess what. According to the Bavarian state’s top security official:

    Syrian who wounded 12, killed self in Germany
    bombing pledged allegiance to ISIS chief

    But don’t worry, folks.  Something like that can’t possibly happen here.  We oh-so-thoroughly check out Syrian and other “refugees” attempting to enter the US.

    Why, we vet them almost as well  as we vet foreign-born spouses of US citizens who are applying for a visa.

  • Same Old Song and Dance, Part II

    Well, we have a new claim by our “illustrious regime” in DC.  They now claim that they know why their past attempts to support that mythical “moderate” Syrian opposition during the Syrian Civil War failed.

    They now claim that US support failed because it was sabotaged.

    Seriously.

    Specifically, the latest       attempt to grasp at straws         blatant propaganda designed to shift blame         claim is that CIA  aid to those mythical “moderate” Syrian rebels was diverted by “dirty Mideast intel”.   Allegedly, Jordanian intelligence redirected a substantial part of the aid intended for those mythical “moderate” rebels in Syria to Daesh.

    They also admit that corruption within the Syrian opposition was also partly to blame.  They had no choice but to do that; that’s already too well publicly documented.

    Why would Jordan do that, you ask?  Well, as the story goes:  because “Jordan’s biggest enemy is anything Shia” – and Daesh was opposing Iran.

    Gee.  A foreign nation looking out for its own interests.  Ya think that might happen on occasion?

    And corruption within the shadowy world of intel?  Oh, no! That implies that intel is sometimes a “dirty” endeavor!  This is big news!  Stop the presses!

    Hmm.  Ya think that maybe corruption might happen on occasion too?  Especially in the Middle East?  Or in the shadowy world of intel?

    At the risk of sounding “insensitive”:  both of those possibilities are so obvious that even Stevie Wonder can see them.

    These        inane tall tales        dubious claims by the Administration IMO show one of two things.  First, and IMO most likely:  they’re simply dissembling in an attempt to redirect blame for failure.

    And second:  if by some miracle that’s not the case and they’re telling the truth, then this fiasco shows a near-childlike level of incompetence and naïvety.  I mean really:  given how “steadfastly” we’ve supported our allies recently, did they really not expect Jordan to “look out for number one”?  Were they so foolish that they disregarded the possibility of corruption in pretty much ANY organization in the Middle East?

    And to add insult to injury:  either way,  they’re also throwing a valuable ally “under the bus” in the process.  We seem to have gotten quite good at that lately, too.

    GMAFB.  If they didn’t take measures to detect/correct diversion of support to support an ally’s agenda and limit corruption, then IMO they are literally incompetent fools.  But given what I’ve seen in the past from this Administration, I can easily believe that could well be the case.

    Hell, given this        ridiculously naïve and grossly incompetent clown krewe running the show        Administration I personally believe both deliberate mendacity and abysmally naïve incompetence played a part in creating this latest fairy tale.  No, I don’t have proof that’s the case.  But it simply fits.

    Once again, I think my leg’s wet.  And it hasn’t started raining yet.

  • Two Terrorist Bastards Bite the Big One

    Some time back, an American married couple apparently decided to turn traitor.  Well, either that or they were just a couple of evil bastards who like oppressing or killing innocents.

    Why do I say that?  Because they traveled to the Middle East – and joined Da’esh.  There, they were known as “Abu Issa Al-Amriki” and “Umm Issa Al-Amrikiah”.  They even went to Syria to get “down with the cause” – or whatever.

    Well, it turns out they may have gotten just a bit more than they bargained for.  According to social media accounts linked to Da’esh, late last month both were taken out by a US RPA strike.  The Da’esh-linked accounts did not make public the couple’s previous names.

    Gee.  That’s . . . just . . . too . . . damn . . . bad.  (smile)

    And please, libidiot SJW crowd:  spare me the naive, “But that’s illegal – they were killed without a fair trial!” bullsh!t.  These a-holes had gone overseas to fight alongside sworn enemies of the USA.  Taking up arms against the US and/or our allies and fighting alongside our enemies means you’ve just made yourself a bona fide target for friendly combat operations.

    May these two evil bastards enjoy Shay’tan’s “tender mercies” – and his personal attention – for all eternity.

  • So, How Is Europe Handling “Refugees” These Days?

    Short answer:  in many locations they’re sending them back.  The days of “open doors to all” appear to have ended.

    While Germany still accepts large numbers of refugees, Denmark is taking a rather hard line – to the point of prosecuting their own citizens for “immigrant smuggling” if they assist illicit new arrivals.  Sweden, formerly world-renowned as a refugee haven, has substantially closed its doors as well.  Hungary has closed its borders; Macedonia has followed suit.  Greece is now sending new arrivals from Turkey back vice allowing them to stay.  And even Germany appears to be rethinking its “let-em-all-come” stance.

    The Washington Post recently had a longish article on the matter, focusing on Denmark.  Predictably, that article takes the hand-wringing, “Oh, the humanity!” point of view.

    But what the WaPo doesn’t address is why Europe’s practices and attitudes towards refugees have changed – IMO, probably intentionally.

    If you need to ask why, take a look at recent incidents in Europe.  Like Charlie Hebdo.  Like the e2015 Paris massacres.  The train attack.  The repeated assaults on women by “refugees”.  The demands for European nations to change longstanding cultural events and norms to “accommodate the sensitivities of refugee newcomers”.

    One has to be a moron not to realize why Europe made this change.

    Europe is closing its borders because many of those “refugees” . . . simply aren’t really refugees.  Rather, many are instead Da’esh operatives – or are otherwise Jihadis/Jihadi sympathizers intent on colonization.

    It appears Europeans’ eyes are finally opening.  And it also looks like they’ve decided they really don’t like the concept described by the term “dhimmi”.

    Maybe our government’s eyes will open one day soon as well.  But if San Bernardino didn’t already do that, forgive me if I don’t hold my breath while I’m waiting.

  • Tell Me Again Why We’re Involved?

    During the last two months, there have been armed clashes between two Syrian rebel factions on the northern outskirts of Aleppo.  The area is contested territory, and apparently both factions want to possess it.

    One of the groups is called Fursan al Haq, or “Knights of Righteousness”. They previously controlled the territory, but in February were displaced by “Syrian Democratic Forces” that moved into the area from the east.

    This wasn’t an isolated occurrence, either.  Similar clashes have been reported earlier this month in the town of Azaz, and in Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsud neighborhood.

    Here’s the “punch line”:  Fursan al Haq is backed – an armed – by the CIA.  The Syrian Democratic Forces?  They’re backed and armed by the Pentagon.

    Yeah, you read that correctly.  Two of the Syrian rebel groups the US has backed to oppose Assad are currently fighting each other instead.

    Sheesh.  When the factions we back start fighting each other, you really have to wonder if we’re backing the right groups – or if we even have a freaking clue about what’s really going on in Syria.

    As I’ve said repeatedly:  perhaps Syria is indeed a case of, “Better the Devil you know . . . than the Devil you don’t.”  IMO, other than countering Da’esh and its allies we have “no dog in the fight” in the Syrian Civil War.  And had we not involved ourselves in Syria, I suspect Assad’s regime would have done a much better job taking care of Da’esh and its allies than we’ve done so far – at least in Syrian territory.

    This article from The Virginian-Pilot gives more details.  IMO it’s worth a read.

  • US: ISIS Used Chem Weapons Against Kurds

    US authorities have confirmed that ISIS used chemical weapons in an 11 August 2015 attack against Kurdish forces.

    After the attack, numerous Kurdish personnel became ill.  Kurdish forces obtained shell fragments from shells used by ISIS during the attack and provided them to the US for analysis.

    Preliminary analysis indicates that the shell fragments tested positive for agent HD – sulfur mustard.

    It is not known where ISIS obtained these agents.  Both Syrian and Iraqi stocks are a possibility, since ISIS has occupied large portions of each nation and both are reputed to have stockpiled chemical weapons in the past.

    But remember:  don’t worry, be happy.  Iraqi and Syrian WMDs don’t pose any threat – in fact, the former don’t even exist .  Nothing to see here; move along.

     

    (I trust the fact that the final paragraph above is sarcasm is quite obvious.)