Sunday 29 November 2015

Turkey Arrests Generals for Stopping Syria-Bound Trucks 'Filled With Arms'


Turkey Arrests Generals for Stopping Syria-Bound Trucks 'Filled With Arms'

Syrian rebel army patrol an area near Homs



MIDDLE EAST



Two Turkish generals and a colonel were detained on Saturday for intercepting Syria-bound trucks that belonged to Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT), the newspaper Today’s Zaman reported.

In January 2014, Ankara Gendarmerie Major-General Ibrahim Aydin, former Adana Gendarmerie Brigadier-General Hamza Celepoglu and former Gendarmerie Criminal Laboratory Head Colonel Burhanettin Cihangiroglu stopped Syrian-bound trucks in southern Turkey after they received information from an anonymous source that the trucks were illegally carrying weapons to militants in Syria.
When the information about the trucks became public, MIT officials and high-ranking Turkish politicians, including President Recep Teyyip Erdogan, who was Prime Minister back then, and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, then the country's foreign minister, were furious that the gendarmes stopped the trucks and said the Syria-bound trucks were carrying "humanitarian aid" to Turkmen living just south of Turkey, the newspaper said.
"Yes, I'm saying this without any hesitation. That aid was going to the Turkmens. There will be a war next door and we will watch our Turkmen, Arab and Turkish brothers being massacred," Davutoglu said, as cited by Today's Zaman.
However, members of opposition parties and some Turkish media said the trucks were indeed transporting weapons to Islamic extremists in Syria.
The gendarmes involved in the interception confirmed that the Syria-bound trucks weren't going to an area where the Turkmen lived, but to an area populated by radical groups, the Turkish newspaper said.
When an investigation into the MIT case was launched, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) called the probe as "treason and espionage" on the part of prosecutors.
New Twist in the Story
New developments on the issue took place recently. Last Tuesday, Erdogan answered claims previously made by critics, who said the trucks were filled with weapons, by sarcastically asking them: "What if the MIT trucks were filled with weapons?"
Then on Saturday, contrary to his earlier claims that the MIT trucks were carrying humanitarian aid to Turkmen, Erdogan said the trucks were actually heading on their way to help the Free Syrian Army (FSA).
"They [the gendarmes who revealed the transfer] also exposed those going to the FSA in that way," Erdogan said on Saturday while addressing his supporters in Balikesir, as cited by Today's Zaman.
Well, that's getting pretty confusing — were the trucks delivering "humanitarian aid" to the Turkmen or the FSA then? Just make up your mind, Mr. Erdogan. Where the trucks were heading and what were they carrying after all?
Meanwhile, some very high-ranking Turkish officials, including then-president Abdullah Gul, revealed that the Syria-bound trucks were a "state-secret," leading to more speculations that the trucks were indeed filled with weapons.
The recent developments are taking place in the wake of a major government crackdown on two Turkish journalists of the Cumhuriyet newspaper, Can Dunbar and Erdem Gul, who we arrested for covering a story and releasing pictures, claiming that Turkish trucks provided weapons to Syrian opposition rebels.
The reason why the Turkish government arrested the journalists is because Erdogan and his ruling party don't want reporters to write about certain things, such as the government's support of Syrian rebels, corruption and other important things that people should actually know about, human rights activist Arzu Geybulla said.
Following the arrest of the journalists, who covered Erdogan's "tender" topic, it looks like the Turkish President is trying to eliminate everyone who's willing to speak up or reveal the fact that the Turkish government was helping out Islamic extremists in Syria.
All of this comes amid the political scandal involving the downing of the Russian Su-24 by a Turkish Air Force F-16 fighter jet on Tuesday.
After the incident Russia said Turkey was one of the countries which cover the actions of Islamic terrorists in Syria.    


Read more: http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20151129/1030948809/turkey-arrest-generals-truck-syria-weapons-terrorists.html#ixzz3stUEimm8

Iraq snapshot Saturday, November 11, 28, 2015.

Iraq snapshot Saturday, November 11, 28, 2015.

The Common Ills
Saturday, November 11, 28, 2015.  Chaos and violence continue, the Anbar Provincial Council objects to the war planes bombing Falluja, Haider al-Abadi appears to be slipping, and much more.

Today, the US government announced:

Strikes in Iraq
Bomber, fighter, attack, and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 17 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:

-- Near Baghdadi, two strikes destroyed two ISIL rocket rails and damaged a third ISIL rocket rail and denied ISIL access to terrain.

-- Near Albu Hayat, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.

-- Near Mosul, three strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL mortar position and four ISIL fighting positions.

-- Near Ramadi, seven strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL home-made explosives cache, an ISIL vehicle, an ISIL boat, an ISIL vehicle-borne bomb, two ISIL buildings, an ISIL heavy machine gun, an ISIL ammo cache, two ISIL weapons caches, and an ISIL fighting position.


-- Near Sinjar, four strikes struck three separate tactical units and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions and three ISIL vehicles.

The bombings have no positive effect.

They do, however, terrorize the Iraqi people.

For example, ALSUMARIA reports the Anbar Provincial Council issued a statement today decrying the bombing by warplanes flying over Falluja and notes that these bombs are effecting the lives of civilians and contributing to the deaths of "women and children and the elderly."  Civilians in Falluja are calling for an end to the bombings and safe passage out of Falluja.

Anbar is largely Sunni and what's taking place there in the so-called name of 'liberation' is not seen as such by everyone.



  • It's funny, isn't it, how when Iraqis object to actions by Bully Boy Bush, we on the left rush to insist that they be heard.  But when they're not pleased with Barack, we turn our backs on them and act like they weren't speaking.

    Or we whine about the US government interfering in an election but when Barack Obama overturned the results of Iraq's 2010 election, we fall silent.

    It's because so many of us lack ethics and integrity.

    Did someone say whore?

    Why facts matter/How Big Media Failed Us in Iraq via @BillMoyersHQcounturl= via


    Oh, can you tell us again about Bully Boy Bush?

    Please, ugly Grandma, can you tell us one more time about that?

    Bully Boy Bush is a War Criminal.

    He's also out of office.

    Even the cheapest whore or coward can now call out Bully Boy Bush.

    But remember Katrina's grand standing because it's why THE NATION is sinking.

    And things will only get worse.

    The digital age means Barack's two terms won't be like Bill Clinton's for THE NATION.

    They can pretend -- and do -- that they held Bill's feet to the fire and led the fight for the left.

    But they didn't.

    Their whoring then is protected as it existed at the early stages of the internet.

    Their whoring under Barack?

    It's all over the internet.  Not just us, but WSWS and many others have called them out.

    They have failed to fight against Barack's continued war but Katrina sticks her ugly, big nose into Iraq anytime she thinks she can score points against Bully Boy Bush which, let's all be honest, is her attempt to turn the 2016 election to the Democrats.

    She doesn't care about Iraq.

    She never has.

    That's why she repeatedly ignored Americans who refused to fight -- or continue to fight -- in Iraq.

    War resisters found no support from Katrina.

    And we documented that in real time.

    So the ugly, old whore -- with a racist grandfather who got the family rich by ripping off African-American entertainers (including Lena Horne) --  needs to grasp that she's not fooling anyone.

    And her father's connections to the intelligence community -- which, when noted on her Wikipedia page, she has her interns scrub -- are part of the control of the left and she needs to be rejected completely by the left.

    She lies so well from her Harlem mansion.

    In the real world, Loveday Morris (WASHINGTON POST) reports:

    In a mansion tiled with salmon-pink marble, Sunni politician Osama al-Nujaifi greets visitors in an expansive meeting room. From a chair flanked by the national flag, he insists he is still vice president of Iraq — even though Iraq’s prime minister says he is not.

    Nujaifi’s position and Iraq’s two other vice presidencies were eliminated by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in purported cost-cutting measures announced this summer. But there is little change at Nujaifi’s office. His staff is still paid, he said, and he is working as normal.
    Nujaifi’s defiance highlights Abadi’s weak hand as he fails to execute anything but superficial changes after pledging wide-ranging reforms in response to street protests. Smelling blood as he flounders, his political rivals have turned on him, while ­Iranian-backed militias leverage what they can from him.

    Barack backed Nouri (after Bully Boy Bush installed him).  He gave Nouri the second term that the Iraqi voters had denied him.

    Then when Nouri's strident hatred of Sunnis became even more intolerable even Barack had to walk away.

    Not too far, he can't tire himself out, after all.

    He stayed in Nouri's political party (Dawa) when picking the new prime minister of Iraq in August 2014.

    He didn't pick well.

    That's become obvious with each passing month.

    Haider al-Abadi's a failure.

    In a speech today, ALL IRAQ NEWS notes, Haider declared that he has accomplished reforms and cited opening up (a tiny) part of the Green Zone and Baghdad's night life as successful reforms.  He also spoke of the necessity to prosecute corruption . . . but offered no examples of success with that goal.

    Opening a small spot of the Green Zone -- and not even open to all Iraqis -- was treated as a major move by the press -- those who actually reported on the opening, however, tended to note how nothing had really changed.

    And Baghdad's night life was already doing well before Haider became prime minister.

    In fact, the biggest problem for Baghdad's night life was -- and remains -- Shi'ite police that regularly try to shut down clubs for 'morality' reasons.
    As Barack continues to back Haider, it's interesting to note that the  only real support he receives in Iraq comes from the man the US government has branded a threat to the US.

    ALL IRAQ NEWS reports Shi'ite cleric and movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr has called for Haider al-Abadi to continue his push for reforms even in the face of the appeal that a coalition led by Osama al-Nujaifi has filed with the Federal Court of Iraq to overrule Abadi's move to cancel the posts of vice president.  ALSUMARIA notes this follows an October 24th decision upholding Haider's move.  However, Wael Grace (AL MADA) reports Parliament's stating that despite voting to pass the bill they have never received the official legislation on this move.

    Nothing gets sorted out.

    On the political front, US Senator John McCain is in Iraq and has Tweeted the following on his meet-ups.




  • Starting imp't trip to  w/  visiting  PM  & discussing fight vs 
    Embedded image permalink


    1. Will be live  from   tomorrow w/ , discussing latest on fight vs  terror 
    Media Matters has their Soros-bought panties in a wad as usual.

  • yes,  has invited two GOP senators to discuss Iraq tm. No panel scheduled re: PP terror attack

  • It's all binary and political games to Bitch-boi Boehlert and the other Soros whores at Media Matters.

    Real critics would point out that the two senators support more war on Iraq.

    They'd note that this means to war hawks will be on and that there will be no voices of peace.

    But for Boehlert isn't about actions or opinions, it's just about team jerseys.

    They don't do media critiques at Media Matters, they just spread the text equivalents of venereal diseases.

    Turning to some of today's violence,   IRAQI SPRING MC reports government forces shelled Salman Village today resulting in the deaths of several civilians.  ALSUMARIA notes a suicide car bomber in Tuz took his own life and the lives of 5 other people with fifteen more left injured,, aTarmiya roadside bombing killed 1 person, and former MP Mishan al-Jubouri's cousin was kidnapped in Hillah and then found dead hours later.  al-Juburi is also a Sheikh in the al-Jiburi tribe and he is part of the Sunni community in Iraq.  In addition, AFP reports, "A bomb-rigged mass grave believed to hold the remains of more than 120 people killed by the Islamic State group has been found in north Iraq, an official said today."

    Meanwhile, David Pugliese (OTTAWA CITIZEN) reports newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will reportedly keep Aurora surveillance jets and at least one military refuelling aircraft in Iraq:

    The move would placate coalition allies, particularly the United States, who view the refuelling plane and the surveillance aircraft as valuable contributions to the ongoing air campaign.
    The move would also allow Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to continue to say he is keeping his election promise of withdrawing Canada’s six CF-18 fighter jets. Trudeau promised to end Canada’s combat mission in Iraq and Syria by bringing the CF-18s home before March. Sources have said that there is a good chance the Polaris and the Auroras will stay…..it is unclear at this point how many Canadian Forces personnel will remain in Kuwait to support the planes.

    npr










    Saturday 28 November 2015

    By shooting down Russian jet, Turkey exposed as more than terrorist accomplice

    By shooting down Russian jet, Turkey exposed as more than terrorist accomplice


    © Stringer
    Turkey has shown its hand by destroying the Russian warplane over Syria and followed through on its previous threats to Russia. We must now regard Turkey as a hostile state that supports terrorism.
    As has been widely reported, on November 24, Turkey – an EU aspirant NATO member – shot down a Russian warplane on legitimate Syrian duties. As a result, one pilot was killed and the other was rescued by Russian Special Forces. Another soldier was killed during the rescue operation and Russia lost a rescue helicopter in the process.
    Turkey has been sabre-rattling at Russia for some time. It made a tremendous hue and cry about a previous brief accidental incursion into its airspace, backed up with threats and warmongering. Only two days before this incident, Turkey was threatening Russia with ‘serious consequences’ if it didn’t end its operations near the Turkish border.
    Turkey’s actions were clearly premeditated rather than a response to an incursion as first claimed. But they didn’t manage to get their story straight and have been backfilling ever since. The ever-changing Turkish version of events has more holes in it than a piece of Swiss cheese. Turkey claims it gave the Russian plane ten warnings but Wikileaks showed us proof that Turkey claimed the planes were allegedly in Turkish airspace for only 17 seconds.
    There would have been no time for ten warnings or for the pilot to seek authorization to fire, so he was acting on a standing order. He had permission in advance from high up the Turkish food chain to shoot a Russian plane down.


    Russia says the plane was attacked over Syria and has published credible evidence to prove it. The plane crashed in Syria and the pilots ejected and landed in Syria. Russia has no reason to knowingly enter Turkish airspace while on Syrian duties.
    Turkey knows that Russian planes are legitimately operating close to its borders in Syria. So the Turks were not acting against any actual or perceived threat. They are likely hoping to evade any serious Russian retaliation by hiding behind NATO’s skirts with a supportive narrative guaranteed to come from Uncle Sam. NATO has already announced that the organisation agrees with Turkey’s claims and has pledged to stand in solidarity with them.

    Federico Pieraccini: Russian FM Wants to Know If US Greenlighted Turkish Ambush of Su-24… http://dlvr.it/CrNGCP 

    The attack was premeditated to the extent that even TV crews and others with cameras were standing by waiting to film the events. They were clearly tipped off in advance.
    Turkey is now claiming that it didn’t know the plane was Russian and have rushed out a dubious unverified recording of what is claimed to be the warnings given to the ‘unidentified’ plane.
    There seems no doubt that the terrorists in the area whose loyalties are with Turkey had a heads-up and instructions to kill the aircrew. That one of them got away with his life is going to be inconvenient for the Turkish narrative. The pilot reports that there were no warnings of any kind, they know the area like the back of their hand and were not in Turkey.
    Let's be realistic here, this was a planned attack, probably cleared in advance with the Americans, with a story concocted in advance to give plausible deniability.

    Follow the Money

    What Turkey was really reacting to is Russia disrupting the lucrative and murky oil deals some of its officials and family members of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan are tangled up in.
    Large amounts of stolen oil are transported illicitly by ISIS to Turkey for onward transportation and sale. The profits from which are helping fund the expansion of ISIS and turning a nice profit for some people in Turkey. Russia has been disrupting this supply chain by bombing the tankers and the production plants. This means certain people in Turkey are losing a lot of money due to the effectiveness of Russia’s air campaign. Some sources claim that one of these people isBilal Erdoğan, son of Turkish president Erdoğan.
    Clearly, there is enough money to be made from stolen oil that decision makers in Turkey were prepared to commit a war crime in defence of it and damage Turkish tourism at the same time.

    Tourism in Turkey Will Suffer

    Turkey may have just imploded its tourism industry overnight. It has long been a very popular destination for tourists from Russia. Over four million tourists from Russia visited Turkey last year.

    Russian tour operators Pegas Touristik, Natalie Tours, Biblio Globus and Tez Tour have already announced they are ending package holidays to Turkey.
    The backlash against Turkey is already being seen in Russia. There have been protests outside the Turkish embassy in Moscow and Russians are being very vocal on social media.

    Goodbye ! You imported 60% of natural gas from , have had 84% Russian tourism! But all of this is going to go away!
    With Egypt also off the table for many Russians, Greece will no doubt welcome the 2016 influx of tourism from Russia with open arms.

    Rethink on Turkey needed

    President Putin has described Turkey’s actions as a “stab in the back by terrorist accomplices” – and it’s hard to disagree with him.
    The West needs to take off its rose-coloured glasses in respect of Turkey. Turkey has spent years allowing terrorism to flourish in the region. Far from trying to usher Turkey gleefully into the EU, as Brussels is trying to do, they should be kept at arms length. Turkey has proved itself to be dishonest, hostile and disingenuous.
    Turkey cannot be considered a partner or an ally to countries that are legitimately fighting terrorism. Turkey is complicit in the support of terrorism. They must be treated as such.
    Russia is now beefing up its air defenses in the region, and future bombing missions will be flanked by fighter planes. It is unlikely that Moscow will be as restrained as they have been on this occasion if something similar happens again.
    Russian Lieutenant General Sergey Rudskoy was quoted as saying, “We warn that every target posing a potential threat will be destroyed”. If Turkey commits further acts of war against Russia, they know to expect robust military retaliation.
    We must now regard Turkey as a hostile state that supports terrorism rather than a European ally and an agreeable holiday destination.

    Stuart Smith, for RT.