Wednesday 18 November 2015

Changing alliances in resposne to Paris attacks - 11/17/2015

On ongoing and quickly movinf saga. France and Russia move to towards an alliance and even Cameron is saying Russia is needed.

This will be updated in the course of the day.

Putin presents evidence of illegal ISIS oil trade at G20







Pictures taken from space and from aircraft showed the scale of the illegal trade in acquiring oil and petroleum products from the "Islamic state", said the Russian leader Vladimir Putin at the G20 meeting.


Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia showed pictures at the meeting from space showing the scale of the oil trade of ISIS.


"I showed our colleagues our pictures from space of the aircraft, which clearly show the scale of the illegal trade in acquiring oil and oil products. The motor vehicles of the refuelling column stretched for dozens of kilometers, so much so that from a height of 4-5 thousand meters they go over the horizon ", - Putin said at a press conference after the summit, G20.


"It looks just like the oil pipeline system. With colleagues this question will be discussed, and I hope that in the future we will continue this work which, in my opinion, is extremely important for the fight against terror," - he added.



[O.R: In addition to handing over the photos, Putin declared that 40 countries are involved in the illegal purchase of ISIS oil, some of which are G20 members. Without a shadow of a doubt, Turkey will be one of them. This comes as no surprise as a terrorist group like ISIS are not self-funded, and, since we know from the 2012 DIA report, that the U.S hoped to remove Gaddafi and turn Libya into a buffer zone for the Jihadi’s, they are certainly not lonesome actors. The U.S allegedly bombed around 100 oil tankers in the last 24 hours, which, if it happened at all, is them covering their tracks. One thing is for sure - Putin’s pockets are very very deep, and he will not hesitate to pull things out of them.]


Angry Putin Vows Vengeance: No matter where you are hiding, we will find you and kill you!


Vladimir Putin pledged to step up military strikes in Syria to punish those who implemented one of the most bloodiest terrorist attacks on Russians, after it was confirmed the Russian passanger crash on Sinai was blown up in the air by terrorists. The Russian president also vows to search for those accountable anywhere they might be, find them in any part of the globe and scourge them. On their website, FSB issued a statement offering $50 million reward for “information helping to arrest the criminals” behind the attack.




Putin invokes the right to self-defense of the UN Charter in response to terrorist attack against the Russian plane




Meeting on investigation into the crash of a Russian airliner over Sinai


Late last night Vladimir Putin held a meeting in the Kremlin, where Federal Security Service Director Alexander Bortnikov reported on the causes of the crash of a Russian airliner over Sinai on October 31, 2015.


The Kremlin, Moscow

Taking part in the meeting were Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, Director of the Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Foreign Intelligence Service Director Mikhail Fradkov.

* * *

Director of the Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov: 

Mr President, we have studied the passengers’ personal belongings and luggage and fragments of the plane that crashed in Egypt on October 31. An expert examination of all these objects has found traces of foreign-made explosives.

According to our experts, a self-made explosive device equivalent up to 1 kg of TNT was set off on board, which explains why the aircraft broke up in mid air and its fragments were scattered over a large area.

We can say with confidence that this was a terrorist act.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: 

Let’s once again pay tribute to the crash victims.

A minute of silence.

This is not the first time Russia experiences barbaric terrorist crime, usually without any obvious internal or external causes, the way it was with the explosion at the railway station in Volgograd at the end of 2013. We remember everything and everyone.

The murder of our people over Sinai is one of the bloodiest crimes in terms of the lives it claimed. We will not dry our tears – this will remain forever in our hearts and minds. However, this would not stop us from finding and punishing the perpetrators.

We have to do it without any period of expiration; we need to know all their names. We will search wherever they may be hiding. We will find them anywhere on the planet and punish them.

In these efforts, we need to rely on people who share the moral values that lie at the basis of our policy, in this case our foreign and security policy, our counterterrorism policy.

Our aviation should not simply continue military operations in Syria, but enhance them so as to make it clear to the criminals that vengeance is inevitable.

I would like to ask the Defence Ministry and the General Staff to make their proposals. I will check the progress of this work.

I would like the Russian Foreign Ministry to turn to all our partners. We rely on all our friends in these efforts, including our search for and punishment of the perpetrators.

We will act in compliance with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which envisages the right of a state to self-defence.

Whoever tries to help the perpetrators ought to know that they would bear full responsibility for any attempts to harbour them.

I would like all our special services to focus on this work.

'Act of terror' downed Russian plane

Russia's security chief says an act of terror brought down the Russian A321 airliner in Egypt last month, killing all 224 people on board.

Wreckage from the Russian A321 airliner that crashed in Egypt last month.
Wreckage from the Russian A321 airliner that crashed in Egypt last month.
Photo: AFP



Radio NZ,
18 November, 2015



"Traces of foreign explosives" were found on debris from the Airbus plane, FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov told Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mr Putin vowed to "find and punish" those behind the attack over the Sinai peninsula. A branch of so-called Islamic State said it downed the plane.
Nearly all the dead were Russians.

In a statement on the Kremlin's website, Mr Bortnikov said a bomb had been planted on board the Kogalymavia jet, equivalent to up to 1kg of TNT.

It blew up on 31 October, shattering the plane mid-air, he said, "which explains the wide dispersal of fuselage pieces".

Mr Putin said that Russia must hunt those responsible "indefinitely, find out who the individuals were".

"We'll look for them everywhere, wherever they are hiding. We'll find them in any corner of the planet and punish them."



Heavier Russian raids

Most of the passengers were Russian tourists flying home from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Mr Putin also said that Russia's air strikes in Syria "must not only be continued - they must be intensified so that the criminals understand that retribution is inevitable".

Russian warplanes are supporting Syrian government forces against various rebel groups, including so-called Islamic State (IS) militants and other Islamists.
Russia's military commanders were also at the meeting with Mr Putin and the Federal Security Service (FSB) chief.


Russia fires missiles from Mediterranean on targets in ISIS stronghold Raqqa – reports



The Russian military has launched airstrikes against the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa in Syria with cruise missiles from the Mediterranean Sea, France’s Le Monde newspaper said, citing a French official.

The information that Russia has struck Islamic State positions in Raqqa has been also reported by a senior French government source, cited by Reuters.

A US official told Reuters that Moscow has conducted a significant number of strikes in Syria using both sea-launched cruise missiles and long-range bombers.

Russia gave notice to Washington ahead of the airstrikes, in accordance with an agreement on air safety, US official said, adding that some of Russian strikes had targeted Raqqa, the stronghold of IS militants.

If confirmed, this would be the second time Russia has hit Islamic State positions in Syria from the sea. The first attack was in October this year when Russian warships fired cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea to hit several Islamic State positions in Syria.

On September 30, Russia launched its military operation against Islamic State at the request of the Syrian government. Since the start of the operation the Russian military have destroyed hundreds of extremist targets in the Syrian provinces of Aleppo, Damascus, Deir ez-Zor, Hama, Homs, Idlib and Latakia.

Earlier on Tuesday France’s defense ministry confirmed that Raqqa was also being targeted by the French military.

"For the second time in 24 hours the French military conducted an air raid against Daesh [derogatory name for Islamic State] in Raqa [Raqqa] in Syria," the ministry said, adding that ten Rafale and Mirage 2000 fighters dropped at least 16 bombs.

"Both targets [chosen for the attack] were hit and destroyed simultaneously…Conducted in coordination with US forces, the raid was aimed at sites identified during reconnaissance missions previously carried out by France."

France started launching airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Syria in September. The strikes have intensified following the deadly Paris attacks on November 13 that left 129 people dead. The attacks were claimed by IS militants.

On Tuesday, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian made the country’s first-ever request for military help from all 28 EU members in French operations in Middle East and Africa. Such EU defense cooperation is possible thanks to the 2009 Lisbon Treaty.


"France cannot do everything, in the Sahel, in the Central African Republic, in the Levant and then secure its national territory," Le Drian said.


Long-range bombers to fly anti-ISIS missions from Russia, Putin orders Navy to work with France



TU 95 and TU 22 strategic bombers. © Ruslan Krivobok

Russia has deployed its fleet of strategic bombers to double the volume of airstrikes on Islamist targets in Syria, Defense Minister S ergey Shoigu has announced. Vladimir Putin has ordered a cruiser to coordinate operations with French naval forces in the Mediterranean.

We are conducting a mass airstrike campaign against Islamic State targets in Syria. We have now doubled the number of sorties, which is allowing us to conduct operations throughout the length and breadth of the country,” Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said during a Security Council meeting in Moscow chaired by the Russian president.

Shoigu said that Russia’s Tu-95, Tu-22 and Tu-160 strategic bombers have been brought into the operation, while the Air Force command added that the strike group has been bolstered with 37 new planes, including Su-34 bombers and Su-27 fighter jets.



The head of the General Staff reported that the new phase of the anti-ISIS campaign will involve 25 long-range bombers flying out of airfields in Russia.

By conducting military missions in Syria, you are protecting Russia and her citizens,” Putin told his military chiefs. “Our air campaign in Syria must not only be continued, it must be boosted, in such a way that the criminals are made aware that retribution is inevitable.”

The Russian president has issued orders for Russia’s Moskva cruiser, covering the Russian base in Latakia from the Mediterranean Sea, to work together with a French naval group led by flagship Charles De Gaulle, a 26 fighter-jet aircraft carrier, which is departing for Syria this week.

The French naval group, led by the air carrier, will soon reach your area of operations. We need to establish direct contact with it, and treat it as an ally,” the Russian president said. “We need to develop of a joint action plan for both sea and air operations.”

The Kremlin said that the parameters for a joint mission had been agreed upon by Putin and French President Francois Hollande, following a personal phone call.

The two leaders focused their attention on bilateral and multilateral cooperation in combating terrorism,” a Kremlin statement said. “This includes closer ties and joint operations between the military command and intelligence services of Russia and France in Syria.”

Vladimir Putin and Francois Hollande are to meet in Moscow on November 26.

The chief of Russia’s General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, reported that Russian forces have made nearly 2,300 sorties in 48 days since their deployment at the behest of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Gerasimov said that 26 cruise missiles had been launched from Russia’s Caspian Fleet, and ten space satellites had been involved in mapping target sites, including several that had been repurposed from civilian use.

The work of Russia’s air force has enabled Syrian government forces to go on the offensive along the entire front in the regions of Aleppo, Latakia, Idlib, Homs and Damascus, freeing significant territories from terrorist control,” said Gerasimov, mentioning that in the province of Aleppo alone, 40 settlements have recently been liberated.

Gerasimov said that on Tuesday alone, 65 sorties were conducted out of Russia’s temporary airbase near Latakia. Among the targets destroyed by Russian airstrikes were eight command centers, eight armories, four plants for making explosives and six fuel storage tanks. Russian aircraft also launched 34 cruise missiles, destroying 14 terrorist targets.





The response of the neo-con warmongers

Victoria Nuland in Germany: Anti-Russia sanctions must remain in place


US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland said that sanctions on Russia must remain in place until the conclusion of the Minsk peace accords and the return of the Crimean peninsula to Ukraine, during a speech at the Berlin Security Conference in Berlin on Tuesday.






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