DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... Russia Airstrikes in Syria, not helping fight against ISIS, seem to help Assad.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-te...78376?cid=sm_fb

ISIS Truck Bombs Kill at Least 50 in Tel Tamer, Syria

those russian bombs are really doing the trick, eh 40? got ISIS right where they want them, right?

You are so hung up on the Nuke thing that you are not seeing the Forest because all those trees are in the way.

I will finish this discussion with this...

What made Hitler and what made Russia some of the greatest threats America ever faced? What was the secret to their success that it took everything we had to defeat them? How was it that Russia became the Soviet Union and one of the Strongest foes we ever faced?

Answer... EXPANSION! Constant, calculated expansion.

Putin longs for the glory days of the old Soviet Union and what has he done? He has begun to expand the empire. He now owns Crimea, he threatens to take Ukraine, he has reentered the middle east. He is expanding and this is very dangerous for the rest of the world.

Know your enemy.

expanded what? a country nobody cared about until he invaded not even a quarter of land in Ukraine? which by the way is looking to join the EU AND NATO?

a country named Georgia in 2008 that everybody thought was a state when the news first broke?

A country in Syria that he BEEN had ties to since before the wars?

where has he expanded? we've done way more expanding then he could remotely do.

We have hundreds of FOB's iand bases in the middle east, we've expanded dominance in the pacific, we have more bases and patriot systems in eastern europe and europe and general. we have expanded special forces and NATO US soldiers all in western and eastern europe.

and we have more allies, especially military, than putin can ever hope to dream of. now countries like sweden who weren't part of NATO now have open dialogue to join, because AMERICA.

move to russia, we don't want you here.

oh, AND we've expanded in africa, as well.

and say what you want about turkey, at the end of the day, they will and have chose us before russia, as they have no problems shooting down one of their planes.

learn you're enemy. because clearly you didn't learn anything.

and, learn you're own country. never mind, you're russian.

He's actually lost a significant amount of "his empire". Yeah, he "owns" Crimea, as they've always done. But they lost Ukraine in the process. His relations with Turkey have been destroyed. And he's lost a major ally in Syria. His military presence in the world can best be described at clawing for anything.

But yeah, he's won lmao

I think it's more likely that obummer will surrender.

better chance of you joining ISIS than that happening.

He 'lost' Ukraine when the soviet union fell. Relations between Russia and turkey have never been good. He has not lost Syria, as he's doing everything he can to prop up his puppet. Where do you get your news?

Ha Ha...At the time the Soviet Union fell Putin and his colleagues were collecting press clippings for the KGB.

No kidding? That's why lost is in single quotes. I was replying to someone who's history was completely wrong.

From Foreign Policy, mainly, Politico EU, NYT, Al Jazeera and RT (along with others. Greece has had some fascinating coverage domestically). These are much more valid than Breitbart, Fox and Liveleaks and whatever ilk you read.

You realize that Russia and the Ukraine were working closely right? "Losing" means they lost that ally. I'm glad that you can read a map and understand that Ukraine is its own sovereign country, but you do realize that international politics do happen right?

Anyway, in 2010 Ukraine elected Viktor Yanukovych, the biggest Russia supporter in the country. They began planning and working together very closely. A few years later, after natural destabilization within nation, the U.S. and EU begin exploiting the disputes within the nation. Specifically the direction of foreign policy. Before Euromaidan Ukraine was working much more closely with Russia, but now they're much, much more agreeable to the EU. As a result Russia LOST an ally. A very important one, when considering Russia's natural gas economy. Do you consider that?

Probably not, because the Turkish comment relies on the same concern. Russia has been desperately trying to get an underwater pipeline through Turkey so they could better supply Turkey and the EU with natural gas. Turkey and Russia haven't had good relations in forever, but there was a plan for a pipeline (a major overhaul to the one they currently have) that would help grow Russia's economy. But after the shooting down of a Russian plane, this pipe has been formally abandoned.

These two moves hurt the Russian economy.

And I'm glad you agree with me about Syria. What you're seeing is a desperate move, someone who is "doing everything he can to prop up his puppet", but that situation is still very volatile and we shouldn't assume anything.

I'm just glad its russia spending money on a garbage country like syria instead of us. Crap ever hits the fan turkey, pakistan, and israel will nuke and obliterate everything in the middle east anyways

What Are Turkish Troops Doing in Northern Iraq?
BY DEXTER FILKINS

Outside the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad. Last week, Turkish troops rolled across the border and took up positions near Mosul.

Last week, several hundred Turkish troops, backed by tanks and artillery, rolled across the Iraqi border and took up positions near the city of Mosul, which has been held, since last year, by ISIS. The Turks have since reinforced the battalion with warplanes and intelligence officers. At the same time, the airspace over northern Iraq has been closed for most of the past ten days, because Russian cruise missiles, fired from ships on the Black Sea, have been flying through the region—sometimes even over downtown Erbil.

It’s not entirely clear why, or with whose permission, the Turks ordered their soldiers across the border. The Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, protested loudly. So has the United States. So what happened? And why are the Turks sending their troops into the volatile country, anyway?

The Turkish move into Iraq is the latest in a series of geopolitical flailings by the blustering and impulsive Turkish President, Erdogan. Most of them are related to the civil war in Syria. Since 2011, when the Syrian uprising began, Erdogan has sought to gain some kind of advantage there, or at least to feel sure that he is backing the right horse. And he’s failed miserably. As much as any other leader in the region, Erdogan has pushed vigorously for the removal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. To see this through, the Turkish government has backed the most extreme rebel groups, including ISIS, allowing and even helping foreign fighters to come into Turkey and cross into Syria. ISIS would never have metastasized as virulently as it has without Turkey’s assistance.

The Turkish policy in Syria matched its efforts elsewhere in the Middle East in the early years of the Arab Spring. Wherever he could, Erdogan backed parties linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, the Sunni Islamist movement that Erdogan’s own political party, known by its Turkish initials, A.K.P., grew out of.

The Muslim Brotherhood has been routed across the Middle East, most notably in Egypt, where its leaders are either in prison or dead. In Syria, Assad is standing stronger than he has in months. (Remember when, in 2013, President Obama decided not to use force against Assad after he crossed the “red line” by using chemical weapons? No one was angrier at President Obama than Erdogan.) Assad—a member of the Alawite sect, a minority group in Syria with strong ties to Shiite Islam—was rescued by the Iranians; by Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group, which sent thousands of troops into Syria to bolster the regime; and, most recently, by Russia. Since September, when Russian President Vladimir Putin mobilized his forces in Syria, the Russians have carried out hundreds of airstrikes against rebel targets. Assad’s government, which was teetering, is safe for now.

Then came Turkey’s downing of the Russian fighter jet last month. Erdogan, his Syria policy in a shambles, had picked a fight with his vastly more powerful neighbor. Putin, acting like the calculating former intelligence officer that he is, then unloaded a trove of intelligence that revealed the extent of Turkey’s official coöperation with ISIS oil smuggling. It’s been a bad a month for Erdogan.

This brings us to the Turkish troops in Iraq. The focal point of the anti-ISIS campaign in Iraq is Mosul, the country’s second-largest city, which ISIS rolled into in July, 2014. Last month, Kurdish forces, backed by American airstrikes, cut the highway that connected Mosul to the ISIS base in Syria. There are still a few roads leading into Mosul that ISIS can use to resupply its fighters, but the Kurds are moving to cut them, too. Very soon, the ISIS fighters inside Mosul will be isolated. “If you cut those roads, the quality of life inside Mosul is going to deteriorate very quickly,’’ a former American intelligence official who works in the region told me.

There is no credible Iraqi force that can move into Mosul, kick out ISIS, and occupy the city, and there probably won’t be for a long time. But the siege of Mosul has begun. Clearly, Turkey, which has boxed itself out of a solution in Syria, wants to be a part of whatever happens in northern Iraq. The Turkish troops that rolled across the border last week took up positions in the town of Bashiqa, a few miles outside of Mosul. The public reason given by the Turks is that the troops were sent to bolster a contingent of forces that was already there to train a Sunni militia. But no one really believes that.

The Iraqi government may not have invited the Turks, but it seems pretty clear that the Kurdish Regional Government, which oversees the autonomous region of northern Iraq, did not protest when they arrived. In any case, the Iraqi Kurds can’t say no to the Turks: the thing that all Kurdish hopes of independence rest on is the oil pipeline that sends Kurdish oil to the Mediterranean every day. It runs through Turkey, and Erdogan could turn it off at any moment if he wanted to. On Wednesday, the Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani, whom I Profiled in the magazine last year, met with Erdogan in Ankara.

So, finally, why did the Turks go into northern Iraq? It seems pretty clear that Erdogan, whose policy has failed in Syria, is trying to be relevant again. “Erdogan wants to be part of whatever happens in Mosul, and putting troops there guarantees that,’’ a senior Iraqi official told me.

Is it going to work? Maybe. But the danger, increasingly, is that with so many major countries jockeying for power in Syria and Iraq events will spin out of control. The Russian cruise missiles flying over northern Iraq are just one example. Several have already crashed in northwestern Iran; just wait until that happens in Iraq.

Turkish troops in Iraq; Russians, Iranians, and Hezbollah fighters in Syria: the Middle East is a very busy place. The longer the war goes on in Syria, the greater the risk that it turns into something much worse.

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/what-are-turkish-troops-doing-in-northern-iraq


--Starting to smell more like the beginnings of WWIII to me.
What do you think? Are we seeing History in the making?

I said two years ago that the next world war would happen when turkey decided to flex its muscles in the middle east. I don't think they are doing that just yet though. When they really start to flex they will start using their control of the water supply of the middle east to force many of the countries to give into them.

I think they are just looking to secure themselves a safer position against russia and that is all atm.

Russian fighters are joining ISIS in record numbers


Foreign fighters from Russia and Central Asia joining ISIS have surged by as much as 300 percent since June 2014, according to New York City-based Soufan Group (TSG), a strategic intelligence consulting firm that advises governments and corporations.

Official estimates from the Russian Federation alone suggest that 2,400 Russians had joined the Islamic State by September 2015, compared to more than 800 in June 2014.

That's an increase that is proportionally higher than the flow of foreign fighters from Western Europe over the same period.

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/12/09/russian-fighters-are-joining-isis-in-record-numbers.html

looks like your comrades are failing...again.

I once got suspended for saying "You Heathens."
I think we all know what is going on here.

i highly doubt that's what you were suspended for.

if i end up suspended again, so be it. but i stand by every word i say about you. you're not american, you're not a patriot. you're a communist and a fraud.

Take a little time to re-read my posts about Putin's actions in the Middle East vs Our actions and then, one by one, post where I said I supported Putin, where I am not an American, where I am a Communist and how my views are a Fraud.

I won't make the claims Swish has, but all of your assertions on the future are based on worse case scenarios that in all likelihood will never come to pass.

There are some things that I enjoy being proven wrong. This would be one of them =) Historical patterns show that we are due for a major war and it will most likely be one of epic proportions. IF it happens the winners won't be the people.

The people never are.

We are nothing, if not maddeningly, depressingly predictable.
We've had millennia to get this crap worked out. Instead, we've only succeeded in creating more efficient ways to slay each other....


...usually because of some b.s.

You could probably form the argument that it would help the people, but that has to do with overpopulation and our daily lifestyle. But this isn't the thread for that

You know CHS Ive had this argument with my religious friends/family that are producing children at a high rate..we don't have a resource problem..we have a population problem.

Man I never understood how that idea really bothers some people.

It is off topic..it was just funny I just had this convo with a friend and here I saw what you wrote.

Back on topic-Razor I agree with historical patterns and I also think we are due for a major world tiff...guess time will tell if we are wrong..for my sons sake I hope so.

You realize of course that Putin is the Russian ruler for life which means two things:

He wont "quit" until:

a) he dies
b) he's ousted

Either way this is likely to be a highly unstable transition.

"you're not american, you're not a patriot. you're a communist and a fraud."


-And apparently I'm not alone...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSWwz7dXUP8

Russia ignores Kerry plea to stop Syria bombing, deploys advanced fighter jets

Russia seemingly has ignored Secretary of State John Kerry’s appeals to stop bombing civilians and allow critical humanitarian aid to starving Syrians – and is instead escalating its military involvement, deploying four of its most capable fighter jets to Syria, two defense officials confirmed to Fox News.

The decision to send the Su-35S jets poses yet another hurdle for Kerry’s efforts to proceed with peace talks. The Su-35S is Russia’s most advanced warplane, capable of air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, one official familiar with the jet said.

Already, continued Russian airstrikes against Syrian opposition fighters, some backed by the CIA, were enough to derail proposed peace talks in Geneva Wednesday.

Despite backing two U.N. resolutions in support of a ceasefire, Russia reneged on its promise to stop bombing civilians in Syria, a prerequisite for the U.N.-backed talks in Geneva.

"[T]here will be a ceasefire," Kerry predicted Tuesday in Rome. “We expect a ceasefire. And we expect adherence to the ceasefire. And we expect full humanitarian access.”

Two days later, the Russian bombing hasn’t stopped and thousands of Syrians remain starving.

Kerry said he was assured by his Russian counterpart the Russians would stop bombing.

"I talked to Foreign Minister Lavrov a couple of days ago and I specifically discussed a ceasefire with him, and he said they are prepared to have a ceasefire," Kerry said.

But Kerry’s counterpart responded the next day saying the strikes would continue.

"Russian strikes will not cease [in Syria] … I don’t see why these airstrikes should be stopped," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday in Oman. Hours later, the U.N. talks fell apart.

Kerry continued calling on Russia to stop bombing Thursday in London.

“It could not be more clear. That is an obligation that is not tied to talks. It is an obligation accepted by all parties in the United Nations resolution. Russia voted for that, Russia has a responsibility, as do all parties, to live up to it,” he said.

The Russians have carried out 270 airstrikes since Monday, according to its defense ministry.

On Wednesday, a United Nations special envoy suspended the peace talks, which include participation from Russia and Iran, just hours after they began.

"It is not the end and it is not a failure of the talks,” said U.N. Special Envoy to Syria Staffan di Mistura.

The State Department denied the peace conference was a waste of time.

“It’s not a charade because they were there and because there was a beginning,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday.

The top U.S. general in Iraq said the U.S. wants to avoid a confrontation with Russia, despite Russia bombing U.S.-backed rebels.

“I wouldn't characterize it as a proxy war. I would say that we are pursuing different goals," Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland told reporters, speaking from Baghdad earlier this week.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Syrians are starving inside the country, besieged by Russian airstrikes preventing humanitarian aid from reaching them.

The U.N. chief humanitarian coordinator says close to 500,000 Syrians are cut off from food assistance surrounded by Bashar Assad's forces. Fifty-one people have died of hunger in Madaya, a town of 20,000, located an hour outside Damascus and just 10 miles from Lebanon and 40 miles from the Israeli border.

Aid workers who arrived with the first and only food convoy last month said they have never seen such devastation.

"We saw people who are clearly malnourished, especially children, we saw people who are extremely thin, skeletons, that are now barely moving," said Yacoub El Hillo, the U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator in Syria to Reuters.

There are currently no plans for the U.S. military to help the U.N. get food to the hundreds of thousands trapped in Syria.

"There are no plans for that at this time,” said Col. Steve Warren, a U.S. military spokesman for the coalition based in Baghdad. “We'll, of course, support them if asked and able, but our focus is the defeat of ISIL.”

"We haven't seen a catastrophe like this since World War II," said Kerry in Rome. “[I]n recent months its people have been reduced to eating grass,” he added.

A Washington Post editorial blamed Secretary Kerry's compromise with Russia in the pursuit of peace talks, in part, for the prolonged starvation crisis: "Unfortunately, the Obama administration's handling of the Syrian crisis appears to be enabling those very war crimes."

In a statement late Wednesday, the State Department said the peace talks in Geneva were “paused” and would resume later this month.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/02/...ml?intcmp=hpbt2

they doing all that bombing.

yet ISIS has gotten stronger. oh, and a russian officer just recently got killed.

they spend billions, ISIS spends thousands, yet look who's been more effective.

Those gorilla tactics yo...

and we still haven't figured it out. no official military has.

the days of storming the beach, holding the line and waving the white flag of surrender are long over with.

at this point, the only way to destroy ISIS is to infiltrate them from within.

They aren't so worried about ISIS...

The top U.S. general in Iraq said the U.S. wants to avoid a confrontation with Russia, despite Russia bombing U.S.-backed rebels.

Already, continued Russian airstrikes against Syrian opposition fighters, some backed by the CIA, were enough to derail proposed peace talks in Geneva Wednesday.

It would be smart to avoid conflict with Russia.

that would be the start of WW3. A Russia and her allies VS America and her allies, staged in the middle east?

nah, i'm good bro.

I dont want to see one...but we are due for a world dust up.

Swish I agree mostly on your post in regard to Isis....wonder if we could get suicide bombers to infiltrate and blow up the leadership

Just a joke man...kind of.

I agree. America just needs to pull back and abandon our people in Syria until the Russians are done taking what they want.

Too bad we were put in this position.

our people in Syria?

I think he means the people we are supporting.

kind of.

i know man... remember that movie "Traitor"? Don cheadle went undercover as a terrorist to infiltrate a terrorist cell.

just had me thinking.

i'm having a hard time remembering the people we have supported who didn't end up bombing us the moment they got what they wanted.