Tag: ISIS

ISIL ramps up fight with weaponised drones

In the past, ISIL has used drones in Iraq and Syria for general intelligence-gathering, as spotters for mortar firing, and even for filming propaganda videos [John Beck/Al Jazeera]
Mosul, Iraq – As fighting raged in eastern Mosul on a recent afternoon, a black Humvee arrived at an Iraqi army command post with a collection of plastics, electronics and rotor blades lashed to its back.

Soldiers leaped to unload the cargo, which comprised the remnants of the latest tool in ISIL’s armoury: drones.

The haul included a number of small devices of the kind favoured by filmmakers and hobbyists, costing a few hundred dollars apiece. But there were also larger, fixed-wing craft fashioned out of corrugated plastic and duct tape, apparently made by the fighters themselves.

Since mid-2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group has held Mosul, after sweeping through northern Iraq in a shock offensive.

It is now their last urban stronghold in the country, and for more than two months, the Iraqi army’s operation to retake the city has met fierce resistance, including snipers, ambushes and suicide attacks using explosive-laden trucks. Drones have been used for reconnaissance and to relay instructions to suicide bombers, said General Abdul Wahab al-Saadi, a commander with the elite counterterrorism service in eastern Mosul.

“They use them to give directions to suicide car bombs coming towards us, as well as to take pictures of our forces,” Saadi told Al Jazeera.

In the past, ISIL has used drones in Iraq and Syria for general intelligence-gathering, as spotters for mortar firing, and even for filming propaganda videos. Soldiers have regularly spotted these drones over army positions on the outskirts of Mosul, prompting bursts of gunfire skywards.

But there is a fresh threat, Saadi said: ISIL has begun to use the drones themselves as weapons. “They also use a new tactic, where the drone itself has a bomb attached to it,” he explained.

This has already proven lethal. Last October, after Kurdish Peshmerga fighters downed an ISIL drone north of Mosul and began transporting it back to their base for examination, a small amount of explosive material inside the device detonated, killing two Kurdish fighters and injuring two French special forces soldiers with whom they had been working. These were the first reported casualties from one of ISIL’s weaponised drones.

Several of Iraq’s allies, including the United States and the United Kingdom, have long flown drones in the country for both attacks and observation. Even Saadi’s own men use small craft for reconnaissance, he said.

But American forces leading the anti-ISIL coalition have been slow to realise the threat posed by the armed group’s drone use, said PW Singer, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation and an expert in robotic warfare. “We’ve known of non-state actors … using drones for years,” he told Al Jazeera. “We’ve also known that the commercial spread of the technology made it possible for anyone to buy [them],” yet the rush towards countermeasures began only recently, he added.

The defence department last July asked Congress for an extra $20m to help tackle the threat posed by ISIL’s use of unmanned aircraft, and Lieutenant General Michael Shields, director of the US Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Organization, told reporters in October that there was “a sense of urgency” in equipping US troops with anti-drone technology.

New countermeasures have been implemented, including Battelle’s Drone Defender, a hand-held directed-energy device that can knock drones out of the sky at a distance of 400 metres. The device has already been deployed with US troops in Iraq.

Saadi, meanwhile, says that his soldiers are usually able to disable ISIL’s drones by using sniper rifles or machine guns.

“We don’t think that it is very dangerous. ISIL collects information about our forces, and we destroy the drones before they come to us,” he said.

Although ISIL’s drone fleet so far appears relatively basic, it could be developed further in the months ahead. Researchers from the UK-based Conflict Armament Research (CAR) group documented an ISIL “drone workshop” in Ramadi last February, where fighters had been attempting to build larger drones with potent explosive payloads crafted from the warheads of anti-aircraft missiles.

This suggests that commercially available drones are not fitting ISIL’s tactical needs, said CAR’s managing director, Marcus Wilson.

“The other models they’re trying to build are predominantly fixed-wing craft, which might allow for increased range or provide the ability to add a payload rather than just surveillance abilities, which is what we’ve observed in [our] report,” Wilson told Al Jazeera.

He said that further development seems likely, especially given ISIL’s history of designing complex components for weapons such as improvised explosive devices and producing them on an industrial scale.

“If they continue along this path, then we should be worried, because they still have a strong research and development capacity, have advanced their production abilities in the past, and still have the workshops capable of building sophisticated devices,” Wilson said.

Still, even with further development, ISIL would likely be unable to produce more than what Singer describes as “small aerial IEDs” – unlikely to cause mass casualties or alter the balance of power.

Source: ISIL ramps up fight with weaponised drones

A new wild card in Afghanistan war: Russia – CSMonitor.com

An Afghan soldier inspects the site of a Taliban suicide attack in Kabul in September. Russia has reportedly reached out to the Taliban to stem the spread of ISIS in Afghanistan.

Russia is worried that terrorists could be fleeing from Syria to Afghanistan and is moving to counter. It has many of the same goals as the US in Afghanistan, but different motivations.

Next month, Donald Trump will inherit the nation’s longest war – the war in Afghanistan. More than 8,000 United States troops remain there, 15 years on, primarily to support Afghan forces in their battle against the Taliban, while the Islamic State, or ISIS, has also gained a foothold.

For a president-elect who abhors nation-building – and castigated President Obama for prematurely pulling out of Iraq – Afghanistan presents few good options.

Peace talks with the Taliban, hosted by Pakistan, have gone nowhere. Afghan troops are more effective, but still reliant on US air power. The Taliban’s territorial control is at its greatest extent since it lost power in 2001.

One wild card is Russia. This week Russia hosted talks on Afghanistan’s security with Pakistani and Chinese envoys, the third such meeting and a sign, say analysts, of rising Russian concern over instability and Islamic extremism on the borders of its sphere of influence.

Could Moscow be a useful partner in Afghanistan? Or will it only add to the regional rivalries that perpetuate the conflict?

On one hand, Afghanistan is not Syria. There, Russia supports a regime that the US opposes. In Afghanistan, both powers want to see the Kabul government deny sanctuary to ISIS and Al Qaeda. That could present a common agenda.

“The Russians have been content to see the US tied down in Afghanistan and watch from afar. Now ISIS is making inroads in Afghanistan … I think Russia is starting to get worried,” says Lisa Curtis, an expert on South Asia at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

But Russia, which still bears the memory of the disastrous 1979 Soviet invasion, has a narrower agenda than the US has had in Afghanistan.

“Russia’s interests are not so much in Afghanistan itself but in preventing any instability spilling over into Central Asia,” says Paul Stronksi, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Russia’s pursuit of that agenda has made its role hard to pin down. For instance, Russia has warned that ISIS fighters from Syria are flowing into Afghanistan, giving them a rear base to attack Russia. In response, it is deepening its ties to the Taliban, seeking to root out ISIS from its Afghan sanctuaries, say analysts.

That could be useful for brokering political talks with Kabul – a US goal. But any material support for the Taliban would undermine US efforts to build Afghan forces capable of defeating all militants. Russia has denied helping the Taliban and said its goal is to promote peace talks.

“What we see from Moscow is a short-term tactical approach that could backfire on them,” says Ms. Curtis, a former US diplomat and adviser to the State Department.

Russia’s diplomacy has also raised hackles in Kabul. The Afghan government complained this week that it had been excluded from the Moscow talks. In a joint statement, China, Pakistan, and Russia said they would invite Afghanistan to the next meeting.

They also said that China and Russia would work with the United Nations to promote peace talks by removing Afghans from sanctions lists, a reference to Taliban leaders who are barred from international travel.

As a candidate, Mr. Trump gave few clues about his views on Afghanistan, a war that had largely fallen from public view. Given his claims that Mr. Obama “founded” ISIS because he yanked US troops from Iraq, US military deployment in Afghanistan is unlikely to end anytime soon, say analysts.

Trump might want to step up the pace of counterterrorism missions, in addition to the training and support for Afghan troops, says Curtis. “It’s safe to assume we’ll remain engaged in Afghanistan.”

One difference between Iraq and Afghanistan, says Lawrence Korb, a senior fellow at the left-leaning Center for American Progress, is that political leaders in Afghanistan want US troops there, unlike former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Mr. Korb says he expects Trump to continue a policy of trying to nudge the warring parties toward negotiations while supporting Afghan military and civilian forces – roughly in line with Obama’s current policy.

“We’re in a situation where the costs are relatively low. We may not be winning but we’re not losing dramatically, and the hope is that we could get some sort of settlement,” he says.

By Simon Montlake

Source: A new wild card in Afghanistan war: Russia – CSMonitor.com

Why the Resilience of Islamist Militants Will Threaten Security Across Africa in 2017

The violence of ISIS and Al-Qaeda affiliates threatens to spread far beyond Nigeria and Somalia.

BY  ON 12/30/16 AT 9:00 AM

On December 23 the Nigerian army achieved a significant milestone in its long war against Boko Haram, capturing what was described as the Islamist militant group’s last stronghold in the remote Sambisa Forest in the country’s northeast near the border with Cameroon. On Christmas Eve, President Muhammadu Buhari triumphantly tweeted that it was the “final crushing of the Boko Haram terrorists” who were “on the run and no longer have a place to hide.” The remarkable turnaround of the conflict in less than two years deserves to be applauded, but the latest victory is unlikely to put an end to terrorist attacks in Africa’s most populous country, much less extinguish the flame of militancy and violence that presents one of the biggest obstacles to the otherwise the buoyant economic prospects for the continent, with 2016’s moderate average growth expected to accelerate to 4.5 percent in 2017. Nigeria’s struggle against Boko Haram illustrates both the resilience of the threat and what might be done to counter it.

After years of ceding ground to Boko Haram, so much so that by 2014 the group had consolidated its hold over a territory larger than Belgium and proclaimed a self-styled “emirate,” the Nigerian armed forces adopted a new strategy and began fighting back. While the counterattack began in the waning days of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, things began to change after Buhari, a retired major-general, won a historic (and decisive) election victory over the incumbent in March 2015, in part by promising to defeat the militants.

Cashiering his predecessor’s military chiefs shortly after taking office, Buhari installed new commanders, including a chief of army staff, Lieutenant-General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, who is a native of Borno, the epicenter of the insurgency. He also moved command headquarters close to the fighting. Since then, in concert with a multinational force from neighboring countries, the Nigerian military has pursued an aggressive strategy, combining an intensive air campaign with a surge of troops on the ground, gradually pushing Boko Haram out of the towns it occupied and, increasingly, in remote hideouts like “Camp Zero,” the base that fell on December 23.

Along the way, as I had the opportunity to witness firsthand in November when I toured the battlefront, the Nigerian army also took on the task of not only providing security to the populations it liberated, but also, until aid groups and development organizations returned, providing humanitarian relief, medical assistance, and even education and livelihood training. For example, the civil-military operations carried out by the battalion I spent time with in Pulka, just a few kilometers from what were at the time Boko Haram positions in the Sambisa Forest, were critical to the wellbeing of the community and served to rally the population to support the government’s push against the militant group.

Notwithstanding the success of the military operations, Boko Haram remains a force to be reckoned with. In response to defeats, the militants shifted tactics, expanding their use of suicide bombings, most of which have targeted the civilian population. Just days before the capture of its forest bastion, Boko Haram staged a pair of attacks on a busy market in the town of Madagali that left 56 people dead and more than 120 wounded. Nor does its most recent setback seem to be having much effect on the terrorists’ operational tempo: two suicide bombers struck in northern Cameroon on Christmas Day and another attacked a busy cattle market in Maiduguri, capital of Borno State, the next day. Moreover, Boko Haram’s elusive longtime leader Abubakar Shekau surfaced this week in a new video in which he claimed that he and his followers were “safe” and would continue their fight “to establish an Islamic Caliphate” separate from Nigeria. Alongside the strengths of Boko Haram, the Nigerian military faced its own frustration in its attempts to purchase aircraft and other military platforms from the United States; it recently turned to Russia and Pakistan to obtain warplanes after a proposal to buy American-made A-29 Super Tucano attack planes stalled.

Meanwhile, the schism within Boko Haram may be contributing to the intensification, rather than diminution, of violence as both factions try to outdo each other in staging attacks. In early 2015, Boko Haram pledged allegiance to the militant group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and formally rebranded itself as the “Islamic State West Africa Province;” however, the group split between those loyal to Shekau and those now following Abu Musab al-Barnawi, whom ISIS appointed as the new “governor” (wali) of its “province” in August. Even if the group was weakened in Nigeria, militants still spilled into neighboring countries, causing Cameroon and Niger, for example, to rise in the 2016 edition of the Global Terrorism Index to 13th place and 16th place, respectively.

Resilience is a characteristic shared not only by ISIS-aligned groups in Africa like Boko Haram, but also al-Qaeda affiliates such as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Somalia’s al-Shabaab. Despite being mauled by the French-led intervention in Mali in 2013, AQIM has bounced back to stage a series of deadly attacks in 2016, including hits on luxury hotels in Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, countries that had not previously not been hit by terrorism.

In Somalia, despite punishing U.S. airstrikes, al-Shabab appears far from finished. Notwithstanding the presence of a 20,000-strong African Union force in the country to prop up the weak but internationally backed government, al-Shabab continues to be able to regularly seize control of towns like Mahadaay, a strategic crossroads the militants took over on December 19 after driving out regime soldiers. This came just days after the militants briefly overran El Wak, a town near the border with Kenya, a country that has repeatedly suffered attacks by al-Shabab in the last year.

The continuing threat posed by these varied militant groups is the result of their exploitation of local conflicts and social, economic, and political marginalization, as well as the fragile condition of many of the states affected. This weakness often manifests in a low capacity to resist militants overall and a tendency towards ham-fisted responses that aggravate grievances. In some cases, defeat spurs the extremists to adapt new strategies that result in renewed vigor—an example is the fragmentation of AQIM’s organization in the Sahel in the wake of the Mali intervention. The multiplication of factions along ethnic lines facilitated both the members’ blending into local populations and their making inroads among them; one splinter group, the ethnic-Fulani jihadist Macina Liberation Front, freed 93 suspected militants in a jailbreak in early December.

In other instances, the manifest failure to achieve political settlements propels the resurgence of otherwise weakened militant groups—in Somalia, the utter fiasco of the process for selecting a new government in Somalia, including the sale of electoral seats for up to $1.3 million and the recent postponement for the fourth time of the presidential vote, serves as an example. New instability, such as the crisis now underway in the Democratic Republic of the Congo thanks to President Joseph Kabila’s decision to hold on to power despite his term of office expiring on December 19, presents armed movements with additional opportunities, underscored by the recent massacre of civilians in the country’s east.

Even where they do not pose an existential threat to the states affected, the various militant jihadists currently active across Africa can have a disproportionate impact on their fortunes. Counterinsurgency campaigns are expensive affairs that divert resources from the investments in infrastructure, education, and health, which Africa’s emerging economies need to make if they are position themselves to take advantage of the current growth opportunities. Ivory Coast may be Africa’s new economic powerhouse, with a diversified economy and growth in 2016 expected to hit 8.5 percent, the second-highest in the world, but more attacks such as the one in March by AQIM can still scare off foreign investors who are just beginning to discover its potential. The stakes are even higher for country like Nigeria: Africa’s biggest economy slipped into recession this year and continued insecurity—not just from Boko Haram, but also militant groups in the oil-producing southeast such as the Niger Delta Avengers —doesn’t help.

            …CONTINUE READING AT

Why the Resilience of Islamist Militants Will Threaten Security Across Africa in 2017

WikiLeaks reveals emails from President Erdogan’s son-in-law ‘proving ISIS connection’ | (Daily Mail Online)

Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder, said the emails had been released after the Turkish government attempted to silence voices of dissent Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4006568/WikiLeaks-reveals-57-000-emails-son-law-President-Erdogan-proving-connection-ISIS-operation-smuggling-oil-Turkey.html#ixzz4T6xrhwAc Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

WikiLeaks has released a tranche of more than 57,000 personal emails from the account of Turkey’s Minister of Oil Berat Albayrak.Albayrak is the son-in-law of the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The emails span a six-year period from 2000 to 2016 and allegedly reveal his level of influence in the country’s political scene.The emails appear to have been obtained by Turkish hacktivist group Redhack, and which threatened to make his communications public back in September.

The emails, which allegedly contain details of exchanges between Albayrak and the Turkish ‘ruling elite’ were briefly published earlier this year, before being taken down following a crackdown by the Turkish government.

WikiLeaks alleges that the emails reveal ‘Albayrak’s involvement in organisations such as Powertrans, the company implicated in Isis oil imports’.

The company has been implicated in oil imports from ISIS-controlled oil fields.

Turkey banned oil transportation by road or railway in or out of the country in more than five years ago, but with provision for limited exceptions such as meeting the needs of the military.

WikiLeaks claims that the Turkish government later gave Powertrans the monopoly on the transit of oil.

Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder, said the emails had been published in response to the Turkish government’s silencing of detractors.

He said: ‘The people of Turkey need a free media and a free internet.

‘The government’s counter-coup efforts have gone well beyond their stated purpose of protecting the state from a second Gulenist coup attempt and are now primarily used to steal assets and eliminate critics.

‘The Turkish government continues to use force to jail journalists, shut down media and restrict internet access to its citizens, depriving them of their ability to access information about their situation including by banning WikiLeaks.

‘This consolidation around the power vertical of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ultimately weakens Turkish institutionalism, leaving Turkey more susceptible to future coups by those in Erdoğan’s chain of command.’

Source: WikiLeaks reveals emails from President Erdogan’s son-in-law ‘proving ISIS connection’ | Daily Mail Online

BREAKING: Putin Prepares To “Unleash Hell” Upon ISIS Forces After Airline Bombing Attack… – DCWhispers.com

Earlier today the Obama White House attempted to downplay any links to ISIS in relation to the recent Russian airline disaster that took place shortly after Metrojet Flight 9268 took off from Egypt last week on its way back to Russia, killing everyone on board.

For days British officials have quietly suggested foul play while U.S. officials were noticeably tight-lipped.

Now some within American intelligence are voicing very similar thoughts to their British counterparts, despite the Obama White House’s apparent desire that no official statement on the matter be made.

As for Russia’s Vladimir Putin, he is said to be at this very moment reviewing a myriad of counter-measure options – all of them intending to “unleash hell” in the form of powerful military-based retribution the likes of which ISIS militants have yet to have faced.

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Putin is said to have already initiated warnings to various Middle East nations of his intent while ignoring the Obama White House, though some have suggested Russian intelligence officials have been in contact with Pentagon officials directly as a sign of professional courtesy.

Apparently it is Barack Obama himself Mr. Putin has no use and even less regard, for.  One D.C. Whispers source went so far as to suggest part of the Obama administration’s hesitation to make public statements regarding the Russian airline tragedy is based upon concerns there is a Muslim Brotherhood connection and that measures are being taken by administration officials to make certain no such connection, if in fact it exists, will become part of the investigation.The Muslim Brotherhood is a radical and highly influential Islamic group with strong ties to the Obama White House. DEVELOPING…

Source: BREAKING: Putin Prepares To “Unleash Hell” Upon ISIS Forces After Airline Bombing Attack… – DCWhispers.com

Why are the naive politicos making Guantanamo Shaker Aamer a martyr? asks LEO MCKINSTRY | Leo McKinstry | Columnists | Comment | Daily Express

The release of detainee Shaker Aamer from Guantanamo Bay has driven our political class and parts of the media to new depths of selfabasement.

From the orchestrated explosion of rejoicing across the airwaves, you would have thought that Aamer was a nationally cherished prisoner of conscience, Britain’s answer to Nelson Mandela.

As politicians, lawyers and campaigners lined up to celebrate and wallow in sentimentality, broadcasters provided a breathless commentary on his arrival in Britain at Biggin Hill airport, courtesy of a Gulfstream private jet with the £50,000 cost met, inevitably, by the taxpayer.

The adulation continued long after the aircraft landed. A doctor who examined him declared that Aamer “has got a fantastic sense of humour and a beaming smile”. It should be little wonder that the former Guantanamo detainee was grinning.

Like several others released to Britain by the US, he is in line for no less than £1million in compensation from the Government. That lavish payout is as sickening as the hysterical coverage.

Both show an elite that has lost its moral compass for Shaker Aamer’s story is much darker than the sanitised version fed to the public. He has constantly been described as a “British resident” or even just “a Briton”. But he is nothing of the sort.

Born in 1968 he is actually a Saudi national who only came to Britain in the mid- 1990s. He gained indefinite leave to remain in 1996 through his marriage to British Muslim Zin Siddique, whom he met through a Battersea mosque.

But he soon showed his real contempt for this country in the summer of 2001 by taking his young family to Afghanistan, then under the barbaric rule of the Taliban. According to one Left-wing journalist who later interviewed his wife, Aamer “wanted to be part of building a pure Islamic state, leaving Britain and western culture behind for ever.”

After 9/11 he took Zin and his children to Pakistan but, damningly, he returned alone to Afghanistan where he was soon taken prisoner by American forces. His supporters deny that he was a terrorist, claiming that he was working for an Islamic charity though no details of this organisation have ever been revealed.

Moreover, they say he was subject to torture and degradation in contravention of his basic human rights. His lawyers say that despite being held for more than 13 years no charges were brought.

On the other hand the Americans claimed to have powerful evidence to support his detention at Guantanamo. It is often said that Aamer was “cleared” by the US authorities in 2007 but that is typical of the distortions which riddle this saga.

He was not “cleared” in the sense of being declared innocent but merely accepted by the Pentagon for transfer to his native Saudi Arabia. Amid the political wrangling, Aamer eventually insisted on being returned to soft-touch Britain.

Why does he have nothing to fear from the British legal system? The main reasons are: Britain has no jurisdiction over offences committed in Afghanistan; evidence collected by US interrogators would probably be inadmissible in court; and eye-witness statements and forensic material would be hard to find.

After all, a battlefield is a combat zone not a crime scene. The metropolitan elite never want to learn from their past errors. In 2004 Jamal Al Harith, a resident of Manchester, was released from Guantanamo and awarded £1million in compensation.

The Labour Home Secretary David Blunkett said that he and other freed detainees “posed no threat” to Britain. Yet now Harith is reported to be fighting for Islamic State in Syria. That case just shows how badly our rulers have failed us in the fight against jihadism.

A supporter welcomes Shaker Aamer to the UK

Only a supine bunch of metropolitan chatterers, devoid of patriotism and common sense, would think that Britain has any obligation to a Saudi Arabian dogmatist. What seems to motivate the politicians is a pathetic mix of cowardice and vanity.

They simultaneously want to appease our enemies while signalling their own magnanimity. Yet the idea that Islamists will be impressed by Britain’s conduct over the Shaker Aamer case is idiocy.

They will be laughing at a self-inflicted humiliation. And they would be right. The eagerness to shower Aamer with praise and cash comes from the same treacherous impulse to destroy our borders, impose multi-culturalism, cling to the EU and squander a fortune in foreign aid.

We are governed by politicians who plan to give Aamer £1million, yet – as this paper reported on Saturday – want to wrench a seriously ill 91-year-old, Myrtle Cothill, from her devout Catholic family in Dorset and deport her to South Africa because she did not fill in the correct immigration form.

Supporters of Shaker Aamer pose for the cameras

Similarly, while Aamer walks free, decorated Royal Marine Sergeant Alexander Blackman is languishing in prison having been convicted of the murder of a Taliban insurgent in 2011. Last week there was a large rally, led by uniformed troops, in central London in support of Sergeant Blackman and addressed by Express columnist Frederick Forsyth.

Tellingly, the BBC gave it little coverage. It was too busy fixating on Aamer, ignoring the real British injustice. That says everything about the warped values of our rulers and their media cheerleaders.

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Source: Why are the naive politicos making Guantanamo Shaker Aamer a martyr? asks LEO MCKINSTRY | Leo McKinstry | Columnists | Comment | Daily Express

Putin avverte: guerra mondiale sempre più probabile!

Tra i molti articoli riguardanti Putin e le sue discussioni sui recenti fatti che coinvolgono la Russia nella guerra al terrorismo in Siria, l’articolo che segue da una buona visuale sui problemi che tutto il mondo potrebbe presto dover affrontare.

Non si può negare che, nell’immobilismo generale, Putin sia al momento l’unico Leader “occidentale” a contrastare con mano ferma la predominanza terroristica nella regione.  Non solo, spesso le sue allocuzioni palesano e ripercorrono pensieri comuni letti nei vari commenti a fatti recenti in tutte le piattaforme di social media, ovvero, la dove a parlare non sono testate giornalistiche strumentalizzate o politici che mirano a conquistare una o un’altra fazione, ma sono “la gente qualunque”, che vedendo ciò che succede nel mondo esprime il suo “semplice ed ingenuo” pensiero!

Si potrebbe pensare che anche il Presidente Putin legga i Social media, e nel tentativo (per il momento di successo) di conquistare l’opinione pubblica, segua semplicemente il desiderio del popolo.  Ma bisogna comunque fare attenzione;  non bisogna infatti credere che “il lupo” sia improvvisamente diventato buono, bensì capire che comunque la si voglia mettere e guardare, quel lupo sta facendo il suo interesse, e che quando esso cesserà, probabilmente, ritornerà ad essere quel lupo che tutti conoscevamo.

In virtù di questa mia considerazione allora, sarebbe bene che le nostre forze politiche smettessero di tergiversare su ogni decisione (quasi come se il tempo possa realmente risolvere i problemi la dove ormai sono diventati fatti), ed iniziassero ad attuare delle reali politiche estere difensive dei nostri e degli altrui diritti e territori!

Come sempre vi lascio all’articolo dal quale ho preso spunto, con la certezza che molti di voi non potranno far altro che pensare: “cavolo, Putin ha proprio ragione”!

Danilo Amelotti

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L’ARTICOLO:

Agli Usa: “perchè fare distinzione tra i terroristi in moderati e non moderati? Le armi fornite alla cosiddetta opposizione ‘moderata’ in Siria sono finite direttamente nelle mani dei terroristi”.

ROMA (WSI) – L’avvento di una guerra mondiale sta diventando ogni giorno più probabile. A lanciare l’allarme – o la minaccia? – è Vladimir Putin, presidente della Russia, che non ha assolutamente intenzione di fare un passo indietro nelle strategie ben chiare di politica estera, e che accusa piuttosto gli Stati Uniti: “loro e solo loro sarebbero responsabili dell’escalation delle tensioni in Medio Oriente e nel mondo”… Anche perchè poi, sul fronte del disarmo nucleare – sottolinea – non c’è stato alcun progresso. Avevamo il diritto di aspettarci che lo sviluppo del sistema missilistico di difesa degli Usa si sarebbe fermato. Ma non è accaduto nulla del genere, dal momento che invece continua. Questo è uno scenario molto pericoloso, che arreca danni a tutti, inclusi gli Stati Uniti stessi. (…)

Alcuni hanno anche l’illusione che una vera vittoria di una delle varie controparti possa essere raggiunta in un conflitto globale, senza conseguenze irreversibili per lo stesso vincitore – sempre se ce ne sarà mai uno”, è quanto ha detto Putin, in occasione del forum di Valdai, che si è tenuto a Sochi.

LEGGI:  IL PARTITO DEMOCRATICO AUTORIZZA L’EMBARGO ALLA RUSSIA SPINGENDO PMI ITALIANE AL FALLIMENTO E ONESTI LAVORATORI IN MEZZO ALLA STRADA

Putin ha confermato la sua volontà di abbattere il terrorismo, tornando a giustificare la strategia militare e di geopolitica che lo ha portato a intervenire in Siria.

“Noi continueremo a fornire assistenza a tutti i paesi minacciati dai terroristi”.

Una critica aperta verso la politica estera degli Stati Uniti è arrivata nel momento in cui ha affermato che non esiste alcun bisogno di fare distinzioni tra i terroristi moderati e non.

“Perchè fare questo gioco di parole e dividere i terroristi in moderati e non moderati. Qual è la differenza?”, ha detto il presidente russo. “Il successo nella lotta ai terroristi non può essere raggiunto usando alcuni di loro per rovesciare regimi che non piacciono, perchè poi è solo un’illusione quella di poterli gestire in un momento successivo”.D’altronde, “le armi che sono state fornite alla cosiddetta opposizione ‘moderata’ in Siria sono finite direttamente nelle mani dei terroristi”.

Secondo Putin, il pericolo è proprio nella convinzione degli Usa di avere la capacità di vincere una guerra contro quelle nazioni che fanno parte della loro lista nera (come appunto la Russia, l’Iran e la Cina).

“Washington crede che l’America possa vincere senza rischiare conseguenze simili ai danni che infliggono ai loro nemici. Ma questo, ha ripetuto Putin, è un calcolo sbagliato e pericoloso che potrebbe finire con il mettere in pericolo gli stessi cittadini Usa”.

LEGGI  Putin: la Federazione Russa istituirà un proprio sistema di pagamento nazionale

“Vorrei sottolineare ancora una volta che gli interventi della Russia in Siria sono completamente legittimi, e hanno come solo scopo quello di ripristinare la pace”; “noi dobbiamo unire gli eserciti siriani e iracheni e le fazioni curde per sradicare il terrorismo e siamo pronti a coordinare le nostre azioni militari con i partner occidentali”. (Lna)

Source: Putin avverte: guerra mondiale sempre più probabile | StopEuro.org

Police raids to crackdown on ISIS stronghold in Europe as extremists secretly buy up land – Mirror Online

The swoops follow an exclusive Sunday Mirror investigation which revealed that IS had developed new training grounds in Balkan countries.

Local security services have staged a series of raids in Balkan countries following revelations that Islamic State terrorists have been secretly buying up land in mainland Europe.

The swoops follow an exclusive Sunday Mirror investigation which revealed that IS had developed new training grounds in the region.

Locals in the Bosnian village of Osve told our investigators that they regularly heard gunshots and a terrorism expert warned that the village is “a major threat” after it become a hideout for terrorists on the run, and a training centre for new recruits before they go to fight in Syria and Iraq.

Raids took place in five major cities across Macedonia, including the capital Skopje, and were aimed at smashing a network of recruiters and organisers for the terrorist group.

Macedonian police raided 25 homes, the Yaya Pasha and Tutunsuz mosque in Skopje, an internet cafe and the offices of two Islam-linked NGOs identified as Spark of Grace and Islamic Youth.

The nine arrested are aged between 19 and 49 and have all been detained for 30 days as police continue their investigation.

Now a senior police source in Kosovo has warned that IS is preparing a huge attack on mainland Europe.

The nine arrested are aged between 19 and 49 and have all been detained for 30 days as police continue their investigation.

Now a senior police source in Kosovo has warned that IS is preparing a huge attack on mainland Europe.

“When the attack comes it will come from Europe, not Syria.”

The entire region is now on red alert and police in Macedonia admitted this week that they have arrested nine IS terrorists and revealed they are hunting 27 more.

Interior minister Mitko Chavkov said: “The mere fact that these people were present on those battlefields and have returned here is an indicator that terrorist acts against Macedonia are a real possibility.”

Source: Police raids to crackdown on ISIS stronghold in Europe as extremists secretly buy up land – Mirror Online

Islamic State: The British ISIS jihadis who could be next on Cameron’s drone ‘hit list’ | UK | News | Daily Express

Following yesterday¹s announcement from Prime Minister David Cameron that two British nationals fighting with the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group had been killed by unmanned RAF aircraft, it today emerged a number of other extremists might soon be the target of an airstrike.Defence Secretary Michael Fallon refused to deny the existence of a list of extremists known to British security forces that will be taken out by a missile strike if they are located in Syria.He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The list is the other way round. There is a group of people who have lists of targets in this country, who are planning armed attacks on our streets and who are planning to disrupt major public events in this country.”Our job, together with the security agencies, is to keep us safe, to identify who they are and to track them down.”If there’s no other way of preventing these attacks then we¹ll authorise strikes like we did.”

More at: Islamic State: The British ISIS jihadis who could be next on Cameron’s drone ‘hit list’ | UK | News | Daily Express

BREAKING NEWS – Putin admits Russia’s aiding Syrian Army in war

Putin-dubbio-danilo-amelotti.comIn the first public statement confirming his country’s military involvement in Syria’s civil war against the Islamic state, Russian President Vladmir Putin has said his country is providing significant logistical support and training to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad. He has denied reports that Russia has deployed combat troops to fight alongside the Syrians, but hinted that this might be an option in the future.

Putin said to the state-owned RIA Novosti news agency at an economic forum in Vladivostok, “To say we’re ready to do this today – so far it’s premature to talk about this. But we are already giving Syria quite serious help with equipment and training soldiers, with our weapons.”

Russia is known as one of the largest military suppliers to the Syrian government and has supported Assad in the Global arena, using its UN Security Council veto to support him during a war that has claimed over 250,000 lives, creating a wave of refugees fleeing the country. Russia has also delayed an international investigation into claims that Assad has used chemical weapons.

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