Al Saud's Fitna in Yemen - Includes lots of links for further reading

A collection of news articles on the fitna caused by Saudi's destructive war on Yemen, urged also by the U.S. using their intelligence and arms

Statistics since March 2015:
5000+ Killed (Conservative figures, local sources claim triple-fold more)
Targeted schools, markets. factories and refugee camps
80% of 25 million population on brink of famine

There are many Saudi casualties but they are all military personnel and not civilians. This blog lists Saudi's murder of civilians and not just the Houthi's.

(Most recent links at the top)

1. "While so much international attention is again focused on Syria because of the refugee crisis in Europe, another less noticed war, less commented on, yet equally vicious, especially for the civilians who bear its brunt, continues to tear at the Middle East."
   http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/13/the-guardian-view-on-yemen-remember-the-forgotten-war
2. "And the war is really about getting control of Yemen, wresting control from the Houthi Ansarullah movement and bringing that whole region under US control, because the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait is of enormous strategic importance to the United States and Israel."
   "The port of Aden, which connects the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea, is of enormous importance for Saudi Arabia as well, because they fear that conflict between Iran and the United States will close the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. They depend a lot on that. So, there’s also of course a question of oil. There’s quite a lot of oil in Yemen that has been actually undeveloped and the Saudis want to get their hands on that as well. The war has pretty much been ignored by the Western press." Colmain - Political Commentator
   http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/09/14/429102/Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-US-UNSC-Gearoid-O-Colmain
3. "The airstrike slammed into Al-Sham water-bottling plant at the end of the night shift, killing 13 workers who were minutes away from heading home." The owner, Ibrahim al-Razoom, searched in vain for any possible reason that warplanes from a Saudi-led military coalition would have attacked the place.
   http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/world/middleeast/airstrikes-hit-civilians-yemen-war.html?_r=0
4. "The bodies of six Indian nationals reported missing after their boats were hit by airstrikes off Yemen on Tuesday have been found, Indian officials say."
   http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-34217410
5. "58 civilians dead in Yemen fighting"
   http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/21/58-civilians-dead-in-yemen-fighting
6. "UN officials have been warning for months that Yemen is facing a dire humanitarian situation. How bad has the situation become?"
   http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-34011187
7. "Yemen already looks like Syria after five years of war"
   http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/yemen/11813169/Yemen-already-looks-like-Syria-after-five-years-of-war.html
8. "Banned cluster bombs used in Syria, Ukraine, Yemen, Sudan, Libya"
   http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/03/banned-cluster-bombs-syria-ukraine-yemen-sudan-libya
9. "Nearly 400 kids killed in Yemen since late March: UNICEF"
   http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/08/19/425358/Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-UNICEF-Julien-Harneis
10. "The United States has more than doubled the number of its military staff “providing intelligence, munitions and midair refueling” for Saudi Arabia’s airstrikes on Yemen."The number of so-called American advisors working at joint military operations centers in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain has risen from 20 to 45, The Los Angeles Times reports.
    In addition, US warships have also helped enforce a naval blockade in the Gulf of Aden and southern Arabian Sea.
    US officials stress the sea cordon is intended to prevent weapons shipments to Ansarullah fighters.
    However, human rights groups say the blockade has hindered imports of basic commodities, including food and fuel, to the impoverished nation.
    http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/08/19/425356/US-expands-role-in-Saudi-war-on-Yemen
11. Yemen turning into an open graveyard - RED CROSS
    http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/08/18/425320/Yemen-ICRC-Red-Cross-Nourane-Houas
12. "The US Defense Department has awarded major weapons maker Raytheon to provide the Persian Gulf Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with 355 air-to-ground missiles amid its persisting campaign of aerial strikes against civilian and economic targets in neighboring Yemen."
    http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/07/25/421791/Middle-East-Saudi-Arabia-US-arms-sale-AGM154-airtoground-missiles-Yemen-war
13. Mark Weber: Saudis enjoy US support in military campaign against Yemen
    http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/07/21/421227/Yemen-US-suWeapons-Saudi-Arabia

How the US Can Stop ISIS Without Setting Foot in Syria

Source: http://landdestroyer.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/how-us-can-stop-isis-without-setting.html

How the US Can Stop ISIS Without Setting Foot in Syria

September 1, 2015 (Tony Cartalucci - NEO) - Increasingly difficult to cover-up or spin, it is becoming apparent even in Western media coverage that the so-called "Islamic State" (ISIS) is not sustaining its fighting capacity from within Iraq or Syria, but rather through supply lines that lead to and from adjacent nations. These nations include Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, and most obviously, NATO-member Turkey.

It was in Germany's international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW)'s report, "'IS' supply channels through Turkey," that hundreds of trucks destined for ISIS held territory were videotaped waiting at Oncupinar, Turkey to cross over into Syria with apparently no oversight by the Turkish government. Later, TIME magazine would admit ISIS' dependence on the Syrian town of Tal Abyad, just across the border from Turkey, for supplies and the significance of its loss to Kurdish fighters in sustaining their fighting capacity both at the border and beyond.

AP's June 2015 report, "Kurds move to cut off ISIS supply lines in Syria," would state:

Syrian Kurdish fighters closed in on the outskirts of a strategic Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-held town on the Turkish border Sunday, Kurdish officials and an activist group said, potentially cutting off a key supply line for the extremists' nearby de facto capital.  

Taking Tal Abyad, some 50 miles from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) stronghold of Raqqa, would mean the group wouldn't have a direct route to bring in new foreign militants or supplies. The Kurdish advance, coming under the cover of intense U.S.-led coalition airstrikes in the area, also would link their two fronts and put even more pressure on Raqqa as Iraqi forces struggle to contain the group in their country.

And while US airstrikes are credited for Kurdish advances against ISIS, one wonders why the US, whose military including a US airbase at Incirlik, Turkey and US special forces as well as the CIA are operating along and across the Syrian border in Turkey - hasn't done more to interdict ISIS supply lines beforethey reach Syria and awaiting terrorists.

The Kurds and Syria's military both realize the importance of stemming terrorist armies within Syria by cutting them off from their supplies at Syria's borders. However, both the Kurds and Syrian forces are increasingly limited from securing these borders due to an ever-expanding "safe haven" the US and its regional allies are carving out of Syrian territory. Turkey and Israel have both attacked Syrian forces in these "safe havens" creating a virtual sanctuary for Al Qaeda affiliates including Al Nusra and ISIS.

Efforts to "assist" the Kurds appear only to have been a pretext to violate Syrian airspace first, then Syrian territory on the ground second. America's meager "Division 30" of less than 60 fighters trained in Turkey then sent to fight the thousands upon thousands of terrorists the US and its allies have been arming, training, and sending over Syria's borders for years was yet another attempt to make ISIS and Al Nusra's gains appear a result of Western folly rather than of Western design.

How the West Can Stop ISIS Without Setting Foot in Syria 

An old military maxim states: "an army marches on its stomach." Logic dictates that an army with empty stomachs is unable to march. Napoleon Bonaparte who is credited with this quote, found out first hand just how true these words were when his army found itself deep within Russia without supplies, leading to its ultimate and catastrophic defeat.

Likewise, ISIS' fighting capacity depends entirely on its supply lines. Cutting these supply lines will lead to its inevitable defeat. For the United States, who is either allied with or has troops operating in all nations bordering Syria, cutting ISIS' supply lines would be a simple matter - that is - if the United States was truly interested in defeating ISIS and other Al Qaeda affiliates.

While the United States has assisted Turkey in erecting missile defenses along its border with Syria in order to create a defacto no-fly-zone providing Al Nusra and ISIS with an invaluable sanctuary, little to no effort has been spent in increasing border security - specifically the searching for and interdiction of terrorist fighters, weapons, and other supplies. As German DW's report illustrated, it appears Turkey's borders are not only dangerously wide open, but intentionally so, with little or no effort at all by Turkey to stem the torrent of obvious ISIS supply convoys from passing through.

DW would likely videotape a similar situation unfolding in Jordan near its border with Syria, close to Syrian cities like Daraa which have become battle-torn as Syrian forces desperately try to stem the torrent of fighters and weapons flowing over the borders there, aimed ultimately at Damascus.

The US Can Stop ISIS in One Month... If it Wanted

By cutting off ISIS from its money, supplies, additional fighters, weapons, and essential equipment, it would quickly be overwhelmed by Syrian and Iraqi forces. Without cash to pay fighters, and without new fighters to replace those lost in fighting, morale would quickly falter. Without a constant torrent of weapons, ammunition, and fuel, ISIS and other Al Qaeda affiliates would quickly lose their tactical capabilities. Fighters unable to flee would be encircled and destroyed as has happened deep within Syria's interior where Syrian forces have been able to cut supply lines to key cities and starve out terrorist armies.

Syria is intentionally prevented from securing its borders through an increasingly overt "buffer zone" or "safe haven" the US and its regional allies are creating for the purpose of sheltering clearly non-existent "moderate rebels." What these "safe havens" are in actuality doing, is ensuring ISIS' supply lines remain intact. With the Kurds - the only effective force near the Turkish-Syrian border able to threaten ISIS' supply lines - now being attacked by Turkish forces directly, what little obstacles supplies had in reaching ISIS through Turkey is being swiftly negated.

The US and its allies could easily increase security along Syria's borders and permanently cut ISIS and other Al Qaeda affiliates supply lines without having to enter Syrian airspace or cross onto Syrian soil. Just as easily as the US built a line of missile defenses facing Syria, it could create border checkpoints and patrols within Turkey to interdict and effectively stem all weapons and fighters flowing to ISIS. It could, but it intentionally doesn't.

The implications are obvious. ISIS is both a creation and intentional perpetuation of US foreign policy. Just as the US so many years ago colluded with Saudi Arabia in the creation of Al Qaeda in the mountains of Afghanistan in the first place, it to this day colludes with its regional allies to use Al Qaeda and its various rebrandings - including ISIS - to fight wars Western troops cannot fight. This includes dividing and destroying Syria - the overtly stated, true objective of US policymakers.

Could Syria and its allies create their own "buffer zone" in northern Syria? Could international troops be brought in, with the inclusion of UN observers to secure the Syrian border and put in check attempts by both Turkey and the US to engage Syrian and Kurdish fighters attempting to restore order there?

The incremental strategy of carving out northern Syria, claiming to shelter "moderate rebels" while in reality securing further ISIS' supply lines and providing them an increasingly unassailable safe haven from which to launch operations deeper into Syria, is inching along and will inevitably pay off at the expense of Syrian territorial integrity, stability, and perhaps even its existence as a functioning state if no measures are taken to counter this conspiracy.

The basics of logistics and the simple fact that the US can both fight and defeat ISIS by simply securing Turkey and Jordan's borders must be repeatedly brought up by non-Western media and diplomatic circles - highlighting the fact that Syria's conflict is one of foreign invasion, not civil war. The conflict can be brought to an end, along with all the horrors associated with it, by simply checking ISIS' bags at the Turkish border. If the US and Turkey refuse to do this, someone must check them on the other side, someone the US and Turks may hesitate to attack as they have the Syrians and Kurds.

Tony Cartalucci, Bangkok-based geopolitical researcher and writer, especially for the online magazine“New Eastern Outlook”.   

Iraqi official: Military planes dropped weapons to ISIS fighters by 'mistake'

Source: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/18651-iraqi-official-military-planes-dropped-weapons-to-isis-fighters-by-mistake

AGAIN! What a surprise?

This has happened way too many times for it to be a coincidence. From mass armament of defected rebels to dropping ammunition willy nilly in ISIS strongholds. The U.S. will continue in getting away with fuelling the ongoing bloodshed in the Middle East by proxy militias.

An Iraqi official revealed today that Iraqi air force planes dropped weapons and ammunition to ISIS by mistake. The planes had intended to drop the weapons to security forces that are besieged by ISIS in Baiji oil refinery in northern Iraq.

Iskandar Witwit, a member of parliament's security committee, told the Anadolu Agency that "Iraqi army planes dropped weapons and ammunition to the Iraqi security forces that are besieged by ISIS in Baiji oil refinery, but the dropping operation was mistaken. This enabled ISIS members to seize most of the weapons." He did not specify the date of the incident or the type or number of weapons.

The Islamic State organisation (ISIS) has been seeking for weeks to seize complete control of the Baiji oil refinery, which is considered the biggest refinery in Iraq, although its attempts have been stopped on multiple occasions by forces protecting the refinery and military reinforcements. This has recently driven the government to support the protection of the refinery.

Since ISIS began to seize control of major sites in the northern and western areas of the country last summer, the refinery stopped its operations.

Before it stopped operations, the refinery produced 170,000 barrels of oil derivatives consumed locally.

Witwit explained that ISIS is gaining progress in a number of areas in the country in the eastern area of Fallujah in the Anbar governorate. He noted that the ISIS fighters greatly progressed in the past few hours, towards the Tareq camp where joint forces of the Golden Team (state forces) and the eastern Fallujah army forces are located.

Speculation: Did the West offer Russia economic incentives in return for Ukraine peace deal?

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/hariri-forestalls-arming-lebanese-military


It's interesting to see how such major deals for arms shipment were previously stalled but now going through right after the peace deal agreement for Ukraine. Could this be one of the agreements between the West and Russia?


From Source:

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri did not make good on his promises to make the appropriations necessary to finalize the arms deal signed by the Lebanese army and the Russian government. The United States and Saudi Arabia support Hariri’s delay, while the army is in the midst of an ongoing confrontation with takfiri terrorist groups on the eastern border with Syria.

The Lebanese army should not be supplied with Russian weapons, though it desperately needs them for its battle against takfiri terrorist groups. This is a logical deduction from the arms deal’s hiatus, brought about by a failure to make the proposed $500 million appropriations. These appropriations were supposed to come out of a $1 billion grant from Saudi Arabia to the Lebanese army and security forces, the spending of which is being supervised by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

During a visit to Moscow last January, a large delegation of the Lebanese army leadership headed by the chief of staff, Brigadier General Walid Salman, put the finishing touches on an order of Russian weapons. They carefully determined the types of weapons they needed and signed the contracts. The weapons are ready to be transferred to Lebanon as soon as Hariri makes the appropriations, something he promised to do “within 48 hours.”

This raises questions about the reason behind Hariri’s position. Do the Saudis not want this number of weapons reaching the Lebanese army in its confrontation with terrorist groups in the hills along the eastern border, so as to keep the area a bleeding wound for Hezbollah? Or is it pressure by the US, which is opposed to the idea of diversifying weapons sources for the Lebanese army, in order to keep it dependent on US weapons exclusively?

Lebanon has a prior experience with the US blocking a Russian arms shipment to the army in 2010. Wikileaks documents revealed that the US ambassador in Beirut at the time, Michele Sison, worked with then-assistant secretary of state (current US ambassador to Beirut) David Hill to block the gift. She informed then-Lebanese Defense Minister Elias al-Murr of her country’s objection to the Russian deal which included 10 MiG-29 fighter aircrafts. Murr promised her to do what is necessary to “dilute this” and guarantee that “Lebanon would not accept this delivery before 2040.”

US plans to establish military base in Kurdistan

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/americas/16887-us-plans-to-establish-military-base-in-kurdistan

The United States is planning to establish a military base in the Iraqi Kurdistan town of Erbil, the regional capital. The intention is to provide logistical support to military aircraft deployed against ISIS positions, it has been report by Anadolu.

A spokesperson for the Peshmerga Ministry, which looks after military affairs for the autonomous Kurdish government, said on Monday that military officials and aircraft will be based in Erbil as soon as construction work is finished. "The aircraft will carry out surveillance," said Helgurt Hikmet, "but those on bombing missions will not take off from the new base." He did not disclose how many aircraft will be based in Erbil, but said that all 60 member states of the coalition fighting ISIS could make use of the new facilities.

The US-led coalition has launched numerous airstrikes against ISIS targets in both Iraq and Syria in recent months.

Hikmet added that military advisors from eight countries are helping to train Peshmerga personnel.