Syria: the road to full-blown war

All the bloody western media can worry about is whether Donald Trump broke a US embargo on Cuba!

No point in U.S pursuing Syria diplomacy with Russia - Kerry

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday said there is no point pursuing further negotiations with Russia over Syria, leaving the Obama administration without a backup plan and scrambling to develop new options to stop the mounting carnage

Reuters,

29 September, 2016

"We are on the verge of suspending the discussion" with Russia, Kerry said at a public policy discussion in Washington. "It is one of those moments where we're going to have to pursue other alternatives for a period of time."

Two U.S. officials said the United States was expected to inform Russia on Thursday it was suspending diplomatic contacts on Syria, given the collapse of a jointly brokered truce on Sept. 19 and the latest violence in Aleppo.

On Wednesday, U.S. officials told Reuters that President Barack Obama's administration had begun considering tougher responses - including military options - to the Russian-backed Syrian government's assault on Aleppo, the country's largest city.

The officials said the failure of diplomacy in Syria has left the administration no choice but to consider alternatives, most of which involve some use of force and have been examined before but held in abeyance.

"The president has asked all of the agencies to put forward options, some familiar, some new, that we are very actively reviewing," Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken told lawmakers on Thursday, without giving details. He said officials would "work through these in the days ahead."

Speaking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Blinken said "all of the outside patrons are going to throw in more and more weaponry against Russia. Russia will be left propping up (President Bashar al-)Assad in an ever smaller piece of Syria."

The destruction in Aleppo is so great that the U.S. should be able to assemble greater international military and logistical support and training for the embattled rebels, said one U.S. official.

The United States and Russia are on opposite sides of the civil war. Washington has said Assad must "step aside" and has been backing some opposition groups, while Moscow intervened militarily a year ago to support Assad.

On Thursday, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations called the assault on Aleppo a gift to the Islamic State extremist group, which has used the chaos of the civil war to seize chunks of Syrian territory.

'SOUL-SHATTERING'

U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said what Assad and Russia were doing in Aleppo was "soul-shattering."

"What they are doing is sowing not only the doom of this country ... but it is going to generate more refugee flow, more radicalization," U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power said. "What they are doing is a gift to ISIL (Islamic State)."

In Washington, some officials questioned whether the United States may have been played by Russia.

"Kerry and the White House basically bet everything on the diplomatic track on the assumption that (Russian President Vladmir) Putin didn't want Russia trapped in another Afghanistan and would seek a way to avoid that," said an official privy to the administration discussions.

The Russians "were never serious about anything more than the appearance of negotiations," the official added.

"The worst part is that they used Kerry's belief in the talks to build up their forces, give Assad's guys a chance to rebuild and prepare for what we're seeing now. If you ask me, they played us," the official added.

Now, another official said, the administration once again finds itself forced to respond to a Russian initiative, as it did in Ukraine and Crimea and also is doing in cyberspace.

In all three areas, this official said, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, "there are no good options."

US prepares to tell Russia ‘no more talking’, as Obama prepares war strategy in Syria

The Obama administration is considering a tougher response to the Russian-backed Syrian liberation of Aleppo, including military options.

The Duran,

28 September, 2016

Did we ever imagine that the US and Russia would go to war over Syria…a war where Russia is siding with the secular, internationally recognized government in Syria, and the US is siding with AL Qaeda / Al Nusra and ISIS.

This is exactly what is shaping up with each passing day.

Russia will not allow an ISIS black flag to be raised in Damascus, and the US has invested too much time, money, and hope in seeing the ISIS and Al Qaeda proxy army lose the war it was sent in to win, six years ago.

Reuters is reporting that…

The United States is expected to tell Russia on Thursday it is suspending their diplomatic engagement on Syria following the Russian-backed Syrian government’s intense attacks on Aleppo, U.S. officials said on condition of anonymity.

Zerohedge adds some more insight into what may very lead to a full on world war…

Why now and what happens next? According to US officials, the Obama administration is now considering tougher responses to the Russian-backed Syrian government assault on Aleppo, including military options. According to Reuters, the new discussions were being held at “staff level,” and have yet to produce any recommendations to President Barack Obama, who has resisted ordering military action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s multi-sided civil war.

However, now that diplomacy with Russia is set to end, this will give the greenlight for Obama to send in US troops in Syria, with Putin certain to respond appropriately, in what will be the biggest military escalation in the Syrian proxy war in its five and a half year history.

If Obama decides to escalate then we can be almost certain that a trip wire will be tripped.

With US fear mongering its citizens into believing that Russia is evil, Assad is a brutal dictator, and America is actually helping democracy loving “moderate rebels” in the region…an all out war with western popular support is very possible.

The escalation started yesterday when a panicky John Kerry issued an ultimatum to Russia which can be paraphrased…

‘How dare Russia bomb the ISIS army we spent so much time training and supporting!’

AP reported on Kerry’s precise ultimatum towards Russia…

The United States is “on the verge” of ending Syria talks with Russia in response to days of deadly attacks on Aleppo, Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday.

Kerry said such discussions make no sense at a time when Russian and Syrian warplanes are bombing rebel-held areas of Syria’s largest city. He said the U.S. has no indication of Russia’s “seriousness of purpose.”

Speaking Thursday at the Atlantic Council, Kerry outlined no new approaches for bringing peace to Syria. The Obama administration has made clear it won’t use military force against Syria’s government.

“We’re on the verge of suspending the discussion because it’s irrational in the context of the kind of bombing taking place,” Kerry said.

He appeared to offer Russia another last chance, however.“It’s one of those moments where we’re going to have to pursue other alternatives for a period of time, barring some clearer indication by the warring parties that they’re prepared to consider approaching this more effectively,” Kerry said.

US State Department John Kirby warns Russia. Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova warns John Kirby

US State Department Spokesman, John Kirby says, ‘Russia will continue to send troops home [from Syria] in body bags.

The Duran,

29 September, 2016

John Kirby warned Russia that terrorist attacks may take place in Russia if the war in Syria continues.

Maria Zakharova responded to Kirby’s veiled threat by turning to her Facebook page to note that the statement sounds like a call to “get ’em”.

Maria Zakharova

Yesterday at 12:52 · 

СМИ:"Официальный представитель госдепартамента США Джон Кирби заявил:"Гражданская война в Сирии продолжится, экстремисты, экстремистские группы продолжат пользоваться вакуумом власти ,существующим в Сирии, для расширения своих операций, которые будут включать в себя — несомненно — удары по российским интересам, возможно, даже по российским городам. И Россия продолжит отправлять домой военных в мешках для тел, и россияне продолжат терять ресурсы, возможно, даже снова самолеты".

Пару уточняющих вопросов американским коллегам до того, как последует официальная реакция Смоленки:

1. Этим (терактами, экстремизмом ) займутся "умеренные"? Те самые, которых полгода Вашингтон не может отделить от Нусры?
2. Теракты во Франции, США и других странах, обезглавливание в Сирии игиловцами людей всех национальностей - это некая другая парадигма? Возможно, очередная "параллельная реальность"?
3. А вам не кажется, что подобное чревовещание про "трупы в мешках", "теракты в российских городах" и "потери самолётов" больше похоже на команду "фас", чем на комментарий дипломата?

US State Department spokesperson John Kirby told reporters at Wednesday’s press briefing…

“Extremist groups will continue to exploit the vacuums that are there in Syria to expand their operations, which could include attacks against Russian interests, perhaps even Russian cities.Russia will continue to send troops home in body bags, and will continue to lose resources, perhaps even aircraft.”

Kirby then warned Russia, if the war in Syria continues “more Russian lives will be lost, more Russian aircraft will be shot down.”

“We are working through steps that we might have to take to begin to suspend our engagement with Russia on Syria. We haven’t taken those steps yet.”

“The message to the [Russian] Foreign Minister today was that we are perfectly willing and able to move forward on those steps that would end with the suspension of US-Russia bi-lateral engagement in Syria.”

Pressed by RT reporter Gayane Chichakyan…Kirby said the US has “influence over some of the [rebel] groups but not all.”

“There are other nations that have influence. We have admitted that not all opposition groups on every single day have abided by it, and we have continued to work with them on that.”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova took to Facebook…

“And those [acts of terrorism] will be perpetrated by ‘moderate’ [Syrian opposition groups]?”

“Just the ones that Washington has been unable to separate from Al-Nusra for as long as six months?”

“[What about] Terrorist attacks in France, America and other countries; the beheadings of people of all nationalities by Islamic State militants in Syria – is this all kind of a different paradigm? Perhaps another ‘parallel reality?’

“Don’t you think that such ventriloquism about ‘body bags,’ ‘terrorist attacks in Russian cities’ and ‘loss of aircraft,’ sounds more like a ‘get ’em’ command, rather than a diplomatic comment?”

RT reports….

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Thursday that the US statements on the suspension of cooperation with Russia on Syria amount to blackmail.

“It’s a policy of threats and blackmail, aimed at imposing solutions favorable to US and its clients,”Ryabkov told RIA Novosti. “It’s impossible to reach a settlement and stabilization on such basis. But there’s no winning love by force. We have our own approach and principles,” he added.

Lavrov told Kerry that the US has long promised to separate the rebels from terrorists, citing a recent interview of an Al-Nusra commander, revealing how the group is receiving outside support, including American weapons. He also told Kerry that a number of US-backed groups are working side by side with the Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front.

Russia is fully ready to continue the dialogue with the US regarding joint actions to combat terrorists in Syria, the Russian Ministry of Defense has said. It stressed, however, that this is only possible if Washington abstains from “any hints of threats to Russia’s military and citizens.”

Via: https://www.rt.com/news/361032-zakharova-kirby-syria-body-bags-attacks/

US To Suspend Syria Diplomacy With Russia, Prepares "Military Options"

ZeroHedge,

29 Septgember, 2016

In the most dramatic diplomatic escalation involving the Syrian conflict in the past years, yesterday John Kerry issued an ultimatum to Russia, in which he warned his colleague Lavrov to stop bombing Aleppo or else the US would suspend all cooperation and diplomacy with Russia.

24 hours later, this appears to be precisely what is about to take place, leading to an even greater geopolitical shock in Syria. According to Retuers, the United States is expected to tell Russia on Thursday it is suspending their diplomatic engagement on Syria following the Russian-backed Syrian government's intense attacks on Aleppo, U.S. officials said on condition of anonymity.

"We are on the verge of suspending the discussion because it is irrational in the context of the kind of bombing taking place to be sitting there trying to take things seriously," Kerry told an audience in Washington.

"It is one of those moments where we are going to have to pursue other alternatives," he added.

Why now and what happens next? According to US officials, the Obama administration is now considering tougher responses to the Russian-backed Syrian government assault on Aleppo, including military options. According to Reuters, the new discussions were being held at "staff level," and have yet to produce any recommendations to President Barack Obama, who has resisted ordering military action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country's multi-sided civil war.

"The president has asked all of the agencies to put forward options, some familiar, some new, that we are very actively reviewing," Blinken said. "When we are able to work through these in the days ahead we'll have an opportunity to come back and talk about them in detail."

However, now that diplomacy with Russia is set to end, this will give the greenlight for Obama to send in US troops in Syria, with Putin certain to respond appropriately, in what will be the biggest military escalation in the Syrian proxy war in its five and a half year history.

Here is the Democracy Now! version of events

The western view through Radio NZ

Russia vows to continue bombing Aleppo

Syrian civilians and rescuers gather at site of government forces air strikes in the rebel held neighbourhood of Al-Shaar in Aleppo.Photo: AFP

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that the Russian air force would continue its support of the Syrian armed forces.

He also urged Washington to deliver on a pledge to separate moderate Syrian opposition fighters from "terrorists".

US Secretary of State John Kerry warned the US was "on the verge" of suspending talks with Russia over Syria.

"It's irrational, in the context of the kind of bombing taking place, to be sitting there, trying to take things seriously," he told a conference in Washington.

"There is no notion or indication of seriousness of purpose with what is taking place right now."

The US and Russia have been negotiating for months to try to secure a cessation of hostilities but the latest truce collapsed last week after only a few days and attacks on eastern Aleppo have since intensified.

The US warned on Wednesday it would end talks on military co-operation unless Moscow stopped the bombing.