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Thursday, May 21, 2015

World War 3 ... news and updates May 21


Some of the countries in it, either in major or minor roles:
USA, UK, Canada,  Australia, New Zealand, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Jordan, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Turkey, Kurdistan, Yemen, Nigeria, France with (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad ) Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Albania, Estonia, Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Japan, Republic of Korea, Ireland, Spain, Slovakia, Norway, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Novorussia, Ukraine, Russia, Chechnya, Somalia, Iran, India, South Korea, North Korea,  Central African Republic, Kenya, Tunisia, The Philippines, Egypt,  Albania, Serbia, China, Sudan, South Sudan, Bukina Faso, Palestine, Georgia, Chad, Spain, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Nepal, Congo, Uganda, Romania, Mexico, Gambia, Haiti, Cameroon, Chad, Algeria, Venezuela, Thailand, Argentina, Vietnam, Myanmar, Georgia, Burundi, Senegal, Macedonia

From Salon
The New York Times does its government’s bidding:   Here’s what you’re not being told about U.S. troops in Ukraine
U.S. troops are now operating openly in Ukraine. The "paper of record's" "coverage" is an embarrassment, per usual
As of mid-April, when a Pentagon flack announced it in Kiev, and as barely reported in American media, U.S. troops are now operating openly in Ukraine.
Now there is a lead I have long dreaded writing but suspected from the first that one day I would. Do not take a moment to think about this. Take many moments. We all need to. We find ourselves in grave circumstances this spring.

At first I thought I had written what newspaper people call a double-barreled lead: American soldiers in Ukraine, American media not saying much about it. Two facts.
Wrong. There is one fact now, and it is this: Americans are being led blindfolded very near the brink of war with Russia.

One cannot predict there will be one. And, of course, right-thinking people hope things will never come to one. In March, President Obama dismissed any such idea as if to suggest it was silly. “They’re not interested in a military confrontation with us,” Obama said of the Russians—wisely. Then he added, unwisely: “We don’t need a war.”...........

It's so very clear that the West's vendetta with Russia = the shortsighted scumbags of the West doing their best to  destabilize countries that are aligned with Russia without giving two hoots about these countries falling into the hands of  shariah lovers.  Is the West so blind or is this done deliberately?  In Macedonia, the Albanian minority are panting for a revolution and the West is helping them in a big, big way
From Sputnik 
Macedonia Unrest: West Giving Balkan Country a Lesson of 'Democracy'
After Russia's Stroitransgaz announced it will build a gas pipeline across Macedonia, Skopje has come under heavy criticism from Washington, Brussels and numerous US-funded NGOs, which blasted the government for violating "European values."
It looks like the West is going to give Macedonia a lesson of "democracy," noted American writer and researcher Michael Collins, drawing a parallel between the current situation in the country and dramatic events which took place in Libya, Syria, and Ukraine.
"The announcement of Russian pipeline deal on March 12 put the small nation in the cross hairs of the Obama administration and Congress. Allowing Russia a backdoor to sell Europe natural gas challenged the economic and political war against Russia. The US and its puppet governments in London, Paris, and Berlin give lip service to free markets. But, when it comes to Russia, political goals trump commerce," the researcher underscored.
Macedonia's Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski was accused of taking bribes, shortly after the Russo-Macedonian deal had been announced......



From CNN
ISIS seizes key Iraqi city of Ramadi:  What happens next?
ISIS forces pushed east Monday from their fresh victory in Ramadi as the Iraqi government rushed reinforcements to shore up defensive lines meant to stop the terror group's advance.
Iraqi and U.S. officials promised eventual defeat for the self-proclaimed Islamic State, but the loss of the strategically and symbolically important city of Ramadi -- just 110 kilometers (70 miles) west of Iraq's heavily fortified capital of Baghdad -- had taken its toll.
"This is a huge setback to Iraqi forces and to the U.S. strategy to degrade and ultimately defeat ISIS," said retired U.S. Army Col. Peter Mansoor, a CNN military analyst.
That effort Monday was focused east of the city, where tribal and local forces had set up defensive lines west of the cities of Khalidiya and Husaybah, said Ibrahim Hassan Khalaf al-Fahdawi, head of the Security Council in Khalidiya, and Mahmaoud al-Fahdawi, a leader in the Albu Fahad Sunni tribe......

From ABC
  Macedonia's political crisis compounded by police deaths in armed border clashes
Five police officers have been killed in clashes with unidentified gunmen in Macedonia, which is already struggling under the weight of a deep political crisis.
The country's interior minister, Gordana Junkuloska, told reporters the officers were killed in a shootout with "terrorists" and 30 were injured in the northern town of Kumanovo..........
"There are victims among the terrorists but for the time being we cannot give the exact number," Ms Junkuloska said.
Meanwhile, local papers in the Albanian language reported that five members of an armed group were killed in Kumanovo.
Police said earlier that the armed group illegally entered Macedonia from a neighbouring country, without elaborating.
Local media suggested they came from neighbouring Kosovo, populated mostly by ethnic Albanians....

........The former Yugoslav republic is also battling an economic crisis, with unemployment running at 28 per cent.
Many in Macedonia, regardless of ethnicity, are frustrated at the slow pace of development and integration with the West, with the country's bid to join the European Union and NATO blocked by a long-running dispute with Greece over the country's name...........

Jurgen Todenhofer is the German journalist who ventured into the poisonous nest of jihadis in Syria and Iraq.  Very, very interesting .... what he has to relate.  A must watch.


From PressTV
ISIL sends prettier virgins to Raqqa to sell them at higher prices: UN envoy
The ISIL Takfiri terrorists send “prettiest virgins” to the northern Syrian city of Raqqa to sell them at higher prices there, a UN envoy says.
Following her investigative mission to Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan to gather data on the ISIL sex crimes, Zainab Bangura, the special representative of the UN secretary general on sexual violence in conflict, told online news portal Middle East Eye on Monday that the Takfiri group is committing horrendous crimes against women, particularly against the Izadi community.
After the Takfiris attack a village, they strip the girls naked, conduct virginity tests, evaluate their physical attributes, and send them to slave auctions, with those considered the prettiest and youngest being sent to ISIL stronghold Raqqa, she said......




I am betting that in the next few months, Canada, the USA, the UK and the EU will see 1000s of well-heeled Yemenis fleeing the war and making the West their new home and if they are "good" Muslims they will work diligently to eventually make the West shariah-compliant.  What's not to love about that, eh?  The more Muslims, the merrier our nations. Think samosas, biryani, bombs,  etc.  Let's not forget to thank Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the USA and USA's Western allies for the cultural enrichment we are gonna get whether we like it or not.
Ceasefire Expires, Saudis Resume Airstrikes on Yemen
UN officials were desperately pushing the Saudi government to agree to an extension of the five-day humanitarian ceasefire, hoping to allow a bit more aid to flow into Yemen before the resumption of hostilities
The push was unsuccessful, however, and with the 11 pm deadline Sunday evening, the Saudis immediately resumed strikes in force across Yemen.
While a fair amount of humanitarian aid was transported to a UN hub in Djibouti over the course of the five days, it’s not clear how much actually made it into Yemen.
Iran’s own cargo ship of aid never even made it close to Yemen, and as of Sunday night they were still said to be at least four days away from the Yemeni port of Hodeida, their intended destination.......

From RT
Washington is losing its weight in the international arena and this makes it target Russia and Venezuela, as well as attempt to curtail China’s growth, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro told RT's Spanish-language channel in an exclusive interview.
In March, the US declared Venezuela a threat to its national security which is usually the first step in starting a US sanctions program. Maduro said the country found great support in Latin America after this attack, which forced Washington to backpedal on its pressure.
“All those countries stood against it even before the Summit of Americas started exactly a month ago and demanded that [US President] Barack Obama repeal the executive order that declared Venezuela a threat. It was very convincing,” he said. “President Obama realized that Venezuela was not alone, that it would have help and support. We were united in our multiplicity.”
The Venezuelan president, who continued a policy of opposing the influence of the US in Latin America that his predecessor Hugo Chavez started, believes that Washington is unnerved by the growth of political and economic power in countries it does not control. .........




From TheAustralian
Libya the beachhead   for ISIS push into Africa
Islamic State has sent money, trainers and fighters to Libya in increasing numbers, raising new concerns for the US that the militant group is gaining traction in its attempts to broaden its reach and expand influence.

In recent months, US military officials said, Islamic State has solidified its foothold in Libya as it searches for ways to capitalise on rising popularity among extremist groups around the world.
“ISIL now has an operational presence in Libya, and they have aspirations to make Libya their African hub,” said one US military official, using an acronym for the group. “Libya is part of their terror map now.”
Islamic State’s growth as a powerful anti-Western force has militant groups throughout the world trying to latch on to its ­notoriety. But until recently, affiliates have operated with a great ­degree of independence and there was little evidence they were taking orders from the group’s core leadership in Syria and Iraq, US officials said...........

From DailyO
An insider's view  on surviving Taliban attacks in Afghanistan
Indians are now in the terrorists' crosshairs and one must be careful to not question local traditions.
The May 13, 2015 attack on the Park Guest House in Kabul where Taliban terrorists shot dead four Indian nationals among 14 other people, marks the continuation of a dangerous trend that began in 2010. Indians are now in the Taliban crosshairs. In 2010, gunmen attacked two guest houses including the Park, killing 18 people including nine Indians. Last week’s attack saw Taliban gunmen going from room-to-room, specifically looking for Indian nationals to kill. One of the key targets was Indian ambassador Amar Sinha who was to attend a music reception at the guest house that evening..........



From Sputnik
NATO Uses Clashes in Macedonia to Undermine Russia's Gas Pipeline Project
Ethnic Albanians involved in recent violent clashes in the northern Macedonian city of Kumanovo were used by Washington to threaten construction plans for Russia's Turkish Stream gas pipeline, a Serbian political scientist claimed.
Macedonia witnessed violent clashes between police and an armed group in Kumanovo, a city bordering Serbia and Kosovo, which claimed the lives of eight Macedonian security officers and 14 gunmen.
According to the Macedonian Interior Ministry, the group was led by five former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
"Albanians are used to hinder [the implementation of] the Turkish Stream [project] and as a US method of putting pressure on Europe by fomenting a new conflict in the Balkans," Dusan Prorokovic told Sputnik Tuesday.............




Buddhists and Hindus in Thailand better beware.  Your politicians and army generals are selling out the country to shariah lovers.  I predict huge trouble brewing in Thailand.
  .........Evidence showing this unnamed military official's possible involvement in Rohingya trafficking was found during a raid at a suspect's home in Ranong's Muang district last Wednesday, a security source revealed...

From Tass
According to the intelligence available   to the Donetsk republic, Ukrainian forces have been using hospitals and other social facilities in Volnovakha and Kurakhovo for military purposes
The reconnaissance of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic has spotted multiple rocket launchers at the positions of Kiev-controlled forces, the Donetsk Republic’s Defense Ministry spokesman, Eduard Basurin, has said.
"The Donetsk Republic’s reconnaissance has identified the deployment of Grad and Uragan rocket launchers in the village of Peredovoye," the Donetsk News Agency quotes Basurin as saying. "It is noteworthy that the launchers are targeted at the city of Volnovakha."......
 
This is the nun who was denied an entry visa by US Home Dept before pressure was mounted by the internet community asking WHY.  Listen to her testimony about the plight of Christians in the lands that the US and allies have torn asunder.


From EnglishAhram
Despite US strikes, IS advances   in Syria, Iraq
The Islamic State jihadist group has made several high-profile advances in recent days, despite a US-led air campaign against the movement in Syria and Iraq.

Here are answers to some key questions about the group's progress and the international effort to stop them:
A: On Sunday, Islamic State group fighters seized Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's largest province of Anbar, in their biggest victory since a major offensive in Iraq last summer.
The group has also moved to within a kilometre (less than a mile) of Syria's Palmyra world heritage site, and has seized the town of Al-Sukhnah and two gas fields northeast of the ancient city.
The advances expand the existing territory the group holds across Syria and Iraq -- land it has labelled an Islamic "caliphate".

A: The fall of Ramadi is a particular blow to Iraq's government, which only last month was touting its recapture of the city of Tikrit from the jihadist group.
In Syria, Palmyra has key symbolism as both the home of world-famous Greco-Roman ruins, but also the site of one of the regime's most infamous prisons.
Homs province, in which Palmyra lies, also holds several large gas fields, including two -- Arak and Al-Hail -- that were captured by IS on Monday.
IS has proven adept at filling its coffers by exploiting captured oil and gas resources in Syria and Iraq.
Jessica Lewis of the Institute for the Study of War think-tank said the two offensives could be linked, and be a bid by IS to consolidate its territory in eastern Syria and western Iraq.

A: A coalition led by the United States has been carrying out air strikes against IS since last year in both Iraq and Syria.
The strikes have targeted IS's military equipment, oil fields and refineries and fighters on the ground.
The raids have had some notable successes, including preventing the group from advancing on the capital of the Kurdish region in northern Iraq, Arbil.
They have also managed to push back IS from the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane on the Turkish border, and were key to the recapture of Tikrit by Iraqi government forces.

A: Analysts note that the coalition's victories against IS have come in areas where its strikes have been backed by allied ground forces.
"It's a basic truism of counterinsurgency that success requires boots on the ground," said Max Abrahms, a political science professor at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.
In Kobane the coalition worked with Kurdish ...........

Russia stops transit of NATO military cargo to Afghanistan
Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev has revoked a decree that allowed delivery of NATO military equipment to Afghanistan through Russian territory.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has been ordered to inform all the countries involved. .......

From HuffingtonPost
Saudi-Led Airstrikes On Yemen Resume After Ceasefire Ends
Saudi-led air raids hit the Yemen capital Sanaa overnight, targeting forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the east and south of the city, residents said on Tuesday.
The strikes are the first to hit the capital after a five-day ceasefire ended late on Sunday, although military operations resumed earlier on Monday in northern Saada province and in the southern city of Aden.
Saudi Arabia and its Sunni Muslim allies have been conducting an offensive against Iranian-allied Houthis and units loyal to Saleh for more than seven weeks, part of a campaign to restore exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power..........

From NBC
A U.S. warship  has begun shadowing an Iranian cargo ship approaching the coast of Yemen with Iranian military escorts, raising concerns it could be delivering weapons for Houthi rebels in violation of a United Nations arms embargo, Defense Department officials said.
Iran says the cargo ship, "Iran Shahed," is carrying humanitarian relief to war-torn Yemen. It is being accompanied by a pair of Iranian warships, the "Vosper" and "Bandar Abbas." .....



From AtlanticCouncil
Recent developments in Sinai   have once again raised the specter of a “tribal awakening” to rid the region of jihadists. Talk in recent years of armed tribal action against jihadists is not new and has generally gone nowhere, but a number of dynamics may make this moment different. Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, (ABM), an Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) affiliate seems to have overreached and some families belonging to a major tribe, the Tarabin, are urging mobilization. These families seem motivated by a fear that their economic interests may be threatened by ABM, and thus believe they have a bone in the fight. This presents a unique opportunity for the Egyptian military. If it fails to on it, the army risks further alienating tribes who have stuck their necks out and even the possibility that ABM takes over these “collaborators” lands. ..........

From RT
Turkish intelligence ‘aided shipment of arms’ to Syrian rebel areas
Turkey helped deliver weapons to rebel-controlled Syrian territories, according to testimony from prosecutors and gendarmerie officers, Reuters says. It contradicts Ankara's denials that it sent arms to rebels and thereby contributed to the rise of ISIS.
Testimony from gendarmerie officers, seen by the agency, allege that rocket parts, ammunition, and semi-finished mortar shells were carried in trucks accompanied by the country's state intelligence agency (MIT) to parts of Syria under Islamist control. This occurred more than a year ago, according to the testimony.
Meanwhile, testimony from prosecutors backed up the story of Ankara sending weapons across the border.
The prosecutors said that four trucks were searched in the southern province of Adana in raids by police and gendarmerie – one in November 2013 and three others in January 2014 – on the orders of prosecutors acting on tip-offs that they were carrying weapons.
While the first truck was seized, the three others were allowed to continue their journey after MIT officials accompanying the cargo threatened police and resisted the search, according to the testimonies and the prosecutor's report. ........

From RFI
Nigeria’s Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) is urging banks to do more to understand who is behind Boko Haram. The DIA chief, Rear Admiral Gabriel Okoi, told journalists on Wednesday that he expects more cooperation from Nigerian banks. Speaking in Abuja, he said: “We told them how they should go about intelligence gathering so we expect positive results from them.”

Okoi's comments came as a new book on Boko Haram highlights the group's many sources of funding. In Boko Haram: Nigeria’s Islamist Insurgency, Virginia Comolli explains that the sect had benefited from many sources – from northern officials to Internet scams.

"During the early stages of Boko Haram [around 2002] there had been a number of officials and northern businessmen who were involved in providing support," she said in an interview. "It is also possible that in the early days a number of local politicians would have hired the early Boko Haram members as their political enforcers, basically local thugs used to intimidate political opponents."

Oh yeah ... now that the USA has been assured a foothold in Nigeria, what was probably started by the USA and her allies, will quieten down a bit.
From Guardian
How Nigeria turned a corner   against Boko Haram
The Nigerian army has recaptured all of the major towns occupied by Boko Haram in recent months, and rescued nearly 1,000 kidnapped women and children. It claims to have destroyed several of the militants’ camps, pursued the group into the Sambisa forest and arrested those suspected of supplying thme with food and fuel.

Isolated attacks have continued, but after more than five years of torment, the insurgents seem to have been transformed from the hunters to the hunted. It is now Boko Haram fighters who are fleeing, with the army in pursuit. Recently released footage shows militants running away in disarray from aerial bombardments by the Nigerian air force.

Only five months ago Boko Haram was wreaking havoc in the north east, seemingly able to launch attacks at will after having captured an area about the same size as Belgium.........

Meanwhile in Canada......
From GlobalNews
RCMP in Quebec arrest 10 youths on suspicion of planning to join jihadist groups
RCMP in Montreal arrested 10 young people over the weekend who were suspected of wanting to leave Canada to join jihadist groups.
In a statement released late Tuesday, RCMP said the arrests took place at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport and the persons arrested were released without charge.
In a statement released late Tuesday, RCMP said the arrests took place at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport and the persons arrested were released without charge.........

From GlobalNews
Does Quebec have a young extremist problem?
Ten young people accused of trying to leave Canada to join extremist groups have had their passports seized after authorities arrested them before they could depart Montreal.
RCMP didn’t reveal the ages or genders of any of the individuals arrested last week, none of whom are facing charges at this time, nor what information led to the arrests. But, the arrests come only months after police revealed they suspected seven other young people, who attended Montreal-area colleges, had travelled abroad to join up with jihadists and add to a growing list of suspected extremist travellers coming out of Quebec.....
Posted by MariaS at 18:04
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