Napoleon's invasion of the Russian Empire in 1812 - Could history repeat itself?

Greg Krasovsky

June 26, 2022

 
Who remembers Napoleon's invasion of the Russian Empire in 1812 [1]?
 
Could history repeat itself?

 
Although France’s Emmanuel Macron, Great Britain’s Boris Johnson, America’s Joe Biden and Germany’s Olaf Scholz don’t seem to have the “stature” and imperial ambitions of Napoleon Bonaparte, is there a possibility that a united European army  -- EU/NATO -- would declare war on Russia (e.g. over Ukraine) and start another "Drive to the East" ("Drang Nach Osten" in German) and [2] and "Operation Barbarossa" like Nazi Germany on June 22, 1941 [3]?
     
Would NATO forces meet the same fate as Napoleon's army during the war of 1812 [1] or the forces of Nazi Germany in 1945 [4]?
 
Would Russia choose to surrender under the onslaught of NATO forces (and potential U.S. allies from Central & South America, Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand) and live under U.S./EU/NATO rule like

- Imperial Japan after WW II [5],
- Kaiser's Germany after WW I [6], or
- Russian city states under Tatar-Mongol Yoke from 1242 until then end of the XV century [7]?

     
Or would the world face

-nuclear war [8],
- nuclear famine [9],
- nuclear winter [10],
- mankind's return to the stone age [11], and/or
- the potential annihilation & extinction of humanity [12]?

 
Remember Russian President Putin's interview in October of 2018?  

When asked about the possibility of a nuclear conflict with the US & NATO, Putin said something like

“"An aggressor should know that vengeance is inevitable, that he will be annihilated, and we would be the victims of the aggression. We will go to heaven as martyrs, and they will just drop dead. They will not even have time to repent for this," he said.[13]
    
Scary thought!
 
Personally, I'd prefer not to see World War III during my or my progeny's lifetime, but a fair & long-lasting peace accord in response to Russia's "Special Military Operation to protect the Donetsk Coal Basin, demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine." [per Russian government and media statements].
 
After all, isn't a "bad" peace better than a "good" military conflict (war) in progress, especially for the civilian population?

But what do you think?
 
P.S. Stay tuned for a Ukrainian-Russian-American Observer post on  Operation Barbarossa at https://ura-observer.blogspot.com/
 
Footnotes:
 
[1] French invasion of Russia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_invasion_of_Russia

[2] Drang Nach Osten - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drang_nach_Osten

[3] Operation Barbarossa - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Barbarossa

[4] Axis collapse and Allied victory (1944–45) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II#Axis_collapse_and_Allied_victory_(1944%E2%80%9345)

   Allied-occupied Germany - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied-occupied_Germany
 
[5] Surrender and occupation of Japan - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_during_World_War_II#Surrender_and_occupation_of_Japan

[6] Armistice of 11 November 1918 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armistice_of_11_November_1918

    German disarmament - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_disarmament

    Treaty of Versailles - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Versailles

[7] Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_invasion_of_Kievan_Rus%27

[8] Nuclear warfare - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_warfare

[9] Nuclear famine - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_famine

[10] Nuclear winter - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_winter
 
[11] Global catastrophic risk - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_catastrophic_risk
 
[12] Human Extinction - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_extinction

     "In 2003, Martin Rees estimated a 50% chance of collapse of civilisation in the twenty-first century.[25]"
      [25] Rees, Martin (2004) [2003]. Our Final Century. Arrow Books. p. 9.

[13] "'Aggressors Will Be Annihilated, We Will Go to Heaven as Martyrs,' Putin Says", By Reuters, Oct. 19, 2018
     - https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2018/10/19/aggressors-will-be-annihilated-we-will-go-to-heaven-as-martyrs-putin-says-a63235

***
 
Eye of the past.
Facebook
June 26, 2022
 
June 24, 1812: French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and his Grande Armée invaded Russia.

It was the beginning of a spectacular Imperial shitshow.

"Following the rejection of his Continental System by Czar Alexander I, French Emperor Napoleon orders his Grande Armee, the largest European military force ever assembled to that date, into Russia. The enormous army, featuring some 500,000 soldiers and staff, included troops from all the European countries under the sway of the French Empire.

During the opening months of the invasion, Napoleon was forced to contend with a bitter Russian army in perpetual retreat. Refusing to engage Napoleon’s superior army in a full-scale confrontation, the Russians under General Mikhail Kutuzov burned everything behind them as they retreated deeper and deeper into Russia. On September 7, the indecisive Battle of Borodino was fought, in which both sides suffered terrible losses. 

On September 14, Napoleon arrived in Moscow intending to find supplies but instead found almost the entire population evacuated, and the Russian army retreated again. Early the next morning, fires broke across the city, set by Russian patriots, and the Grande Armee’s winter quarters were destroyed. After waiting a month for a surrender that never came, Napoleon, faced with the onset of the Russian winter, was forced to order his starving army out of Moscow.

During the disastrous retreat, Napoleon’s army suffered continual harassment from a suddenly aggressive and merciless Russian army. Stalked by hunger and the deadly lances of the Cossacks, the decimated army reached the Berezina River late in November, but found their way blocked by the Russians. 

On November 27, Napoleon forced a way across at Studenka, and when the bulk of his army passed the river two days later, he was forced to burn his makeshift bridges behind him, stranding some 10,000 stragglers on the other side. From there, the retreat became a rout, and on December 8 Napoleon left what remained of his army to return to Paris. 

Six days later, the Grande Armee finally escaped Russia, having suffered a loss of more than 400,000 men during the disastrous invasion." - history.com

'Why Napoleon’s Invasion of Russia Was the Beginning of the End':  

   https://www.history.com/news/napoleons-disastrous-invasion-of-russia

[Painting]: ('Napoleon Crossing The Alps' by Jacques-Louis David, 1801-1805)
#HouseOfBonaparte #NapoleonicWars #NapoleonBonaparte #MilitaryHistory #OnThisDay
  

***

[Гугл перевод]

Григорий Красовский

26 июня 2022г.

Кто помнит вторжение Наполеона в Российскую империю в 1812 году [1]?
 
Может ли история повториться?

Хотя француз Эммануэль Макрон, британец Борис Джонсон, американец Джо Байден и немец Олаф Шольц, похоже, не обладают «статусом» и имперскими амбициями Наполеона Бонапарта, существует ли вероятность того, что объединенная европейская армия -- ЕС/НАТО -- объявит войну России (например, из-за Украины) и начнет новое "движение на Восток" ("Drang Nach Osten" на немецком языке) и [2] и операцию «Барбаросса» по типу нацистской Германии 22 июня 1941 года[3]?

Постигнет ли силы НАТО та же участь, что и армию Наполеона во время войны 1812 года [1] или силы нацистской Германии в 1945 году [4]?
 
Решит ли Россия сдаться под натиском сил НАТО (и потенциальных союзников США из Центральной и Южной Америки, Африки, Азии, Австралии и Новой Зеландии) и жить под властью США/ЕС/НАТО, как

- Императорская Япония после Второй мировой войны [5],
- кайзеровская Германия после Первой мировой войны [6], или
- Русские города-государства под татаро-монгольским игом с 1242 г. до конца XV в. [7]?
     
Или мир столкнется

-ядерная война [8],
- ядерный голод [9],
- ядерная зима [10],
- возвращение человечества в каменный век [11], и/или
- потенциальное уничтожение и вымирание человечества [12]?
 
Помните интервью президента России Путина в октябре 2018 года?

На вопрос о возможности ядерного конфликта с США и НАТО Путин ответил что-то вроде

«Агрессор должен знать, что месть неизбежна, что он будет уничтожен, а мы будем жертвами агрессии. Мы попадем в рай мучениками, а они просто упадут замертво. Они даже покаяться не успеют за это», — сказал он.[13]
    
Страшная мысль!
 
Лично я предпочел бы не видеть Третью мировую войну при жизни моей или моих потомков, а справедливое и долгосрочное мирное соглашение в ответ на российскую «Специальную военную операцию по защите Донецкого угольного бассейна, демилитаризации и денацификации Украины». " [согласно заявлениям российского правительства и СМИ].
 
Ведь не лучше ли «плохой» мир, чем «хороший» военный конфликт (война) в разгаре, особенно для мирного населения?
 
Но что вы думаете?
 
P.S. Следите за постом Украинско-Российско-Американского Наблюдателя об операции «Барбаросса» на https://ura-observer.blogspot.com/
 
Сноски:
 
[1] Французское вторжение в Россию
      - http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&sl=en&tl=ru&u=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_invasion_of_Russia

[2] Дранг Нах Остен
     — http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&sl=en&tl=ru&u=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drang_nach_Osten

[3] Операция «Барбаросса»
     — http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&sl=en&tl=ru&u=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Barbarossa

[4] Крах Оси и победа союзников (1944–45)
     — http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&sl=en&tl=ru&u=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II#Axis_collapse_and_Allied_victory_(1944%E2%80%9345)

   Германия, оккупированная союзниками
     — http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&sl=en&tl=ru&u=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied-occupied_Germany
 
[5] Капитуляция и оккупация Японии
     — http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&sl=en&tl=ru&u=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_during_World_War_II#Surrender_and_occupation_of_Japan

[6] Перемирие от 11 ноября 1918 г.
     - http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&sl=en&tl=ru&u=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armistice_of_11_November_1918.

    Разоружение Германии
     - http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&sl=en&tl=ru&u=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_disarmament

    Версальский договор
     — http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&sl=en&tl=ru&u=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Versailles

[7] Монгольское нашествие на Киевскую Русь
    - http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&sl=en&tl=ru&u=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_invasion_of_Kievan_Rus%27

[8] Ядерная война
    — http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&sl=en&tl=ru&u=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_warfare

[9] Ядерный голод
     — http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&sl=en&tl=ru&u=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_famine

[10] Ядерная зима
     — http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&sl=en&tl=ru&u=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_winter
 
[11] Глобальный катастрофический риск
      — http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&sl=en&tl=ru&u=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_catastrophic_risk
 
[12] Вымирание человечества
      — http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&sl=en&tl=ru&u=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_extinction

     «В 2003 году Мартин Рис оценил вероятность краха цивилизации в двадцать первом веке в 50%».[25]»
      [25] Рис, Мартин (2004) [2003]. Наш последний век. Стрелочные книги. стр.9.

[13] «Агрессоры будут уничтожены, мы отправимся в рай мучениками», — говорит Путин, Reuters, 19 октября 2018 г.
     - http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&sl=en&tl=ru&u=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2018/10/19/aggressors-will-be-annihilated-we-will-go-to-heaven-as-martyrs-putin-says-a63235
 
***

[Гугл перевод]

"Глаз прошлого." [Eye of the past]
Фейсбук
26 июня 2022 г.
 
24 июня 1812 года: французский император Наполеон Бонапарт и его Великая армия вторглись в Россию.

Это было началом зрелищного имперского дерьмового шоу.

«После отказа царя Александра I от его континентальной системы французский император Наполеон приказывает своей Великой армии, крупнейшей европейской военной силе, когда-либо собранной на тот момент, вступить в Россию.

Огромная армия, насчитывающая около 500 000 солдат и личного состава, включала войска из всех европейских стран, находившихся под властью Французской империи.

В первые месяцы вторжения Наполеон был вынужден бороться с ожесточенной русской армией, которая постоянно отступала.

Отказавшись вступить в полномасштабное противостояние с превосходящей армией Наполеона, русские под командованием генерала Михаила Кутузова сожгли все позади себя, отступая все глубже и глубже вглубь России.

7 сентября произошло нерешительное Бородинское сражение, в котором обе стороны понесли страшные потери.

14 сентября Наполеон прибыл в Москву с намерением найти припасы, но вместо этого обнаружил, что почти все население эвакуировано, и русская армия снова отступила.

Рано утром следующего дня по городу вспыхнули пожары, устроенные русскими патриотами, и зимние квартиры Grande Armee были уничтожены.

После месяца ожидания капитуляции, которая так и не состоялась, Наполеон, столкнувшись с наступлением русской зимы, был вынужден вывести свою голодающую армию из Москвы.

Во время катастрофического отступления армия Наполеона подвергалась постоянным преследованиям со стороны внезапно агрессивной и безжалостной русской армии.

Преследуемая голодом и смертоносными копьями казаков, опустошенная армия достигла реки Березины в конце ноября, но путь ей преградили русские.

27 ноября Наполеон прорвался через Студенку, и когда два дня спустя большая часть его армии перешла реку, он был вынужден сжечь импровизированные мосты позади себя, заставив около 10 000 отставших на другом берегу.

Оттуда отступление превратилось в бегство, и 8 декабря Наполеон оставил остатки своей армии, чтобы вернуться в Париж.

Шесть дней спустя Великая армия наконец покинула Россию, потеряв более 400 000 человек во время катастрофического вторжения».

- история.ру

«Почему вторжение Наполеона в Россию было началом конца. Французский император, намереваясь завоевать Европу, послал в Россию 600 000 солдат. Шесть катастрофических месяцев спустя, только около 100 000 человек выжили».
 
http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&sl=en&tl=ru&u=https://www.history.com/news/napoleons-disastrous-invasion-of-russia
 
Картина: ("Переход Наполеона через Альпы" Жака-Луи Давида, 1801-1805)
 
#HouseOfBonaparte #NapoleonicWars #NapoleonBonaparte #MilitaryHistory #OnThisDay

***

'Very aggressive' Vladimir Putin announces US Clinton WW3 fears in chilling video.

Putin Has Hot Words For Clinton’s Attempts At ‘Confrontation’. "Stung at the hostile tone of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s efforts to cast Russia as America’s greatest enemy, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he won’t let Clinton become a global bully. “Jeopardizing Russian-American relations in order to gain brownie points internally – I consider this to be harmful and counterproductive,” Putin recently told reporters in Russia in a video. “It’s not funny anymore. If somebody out there wants confrontation. This is not our choice but this means that there will be problems,” Putin warned." See http://www.westernjournalism.com/putin-has-hot-words-for-clintons-attempts-at-confrontation/ 'Very aggressive' Vladimir Putin announces US Clinton WW3 fears in chilling video. NEW video of Russian President Vladimir Putin discussing his concerns about the US election has shocked viewers. "In the clip – filmed in Russia – Putin, 64, tells a group of journalists that the US is creating a "distraction" aiming "to distract voters from the country's problems" by creating "an enemy and uniting the nation against them". He references both Iran and Russia as the potential enemies. But when asked whether he prefers Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton his response says a lot about ongoing World War 3 fears. The President responded: "Mrs Clinton has chosen to take up a very aggressive stance against our country, against Russia. "Mr Trump, on the other hand, calls for cooperation – at least when it comes to the international fight against terrorism." See http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/556336/Putin-Russia-America-US-Clinton-Trump-world-war-three-fears-video *** URA Observer on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/URA.Observer/

CIA Interventions in Syria - any parallels with Ukraine?

CIA Interventions in Syria - any parallels with Ukraine?

Greg Krasovsky: When the U.S. government uses the CIA, the State Department and/or the Pentagon to support radicals (including nationalists, neo-Nazis and heirs of Nazi collaborators and war criminals like the Ukrainian SS Division Galitsiya) - by providing them with money, training, weapons, safe passage, political support and media support - in order to topple a foreign regime that's not friendly (subservient?) to US interests, civil war is often around the corner.

After the end of WWII, the US Government actively hid from justice and relocated to the U.S. (against U.S. laws!) Ukrainian Nazi war criminals in order to use them in the cold war against the Soviet Union. 

We're talking about war criminals who either killed themselves or aided the Nazi SS troops in killing hundreds of thousands (perhaps over  a million) of Poles and Jews in Ukraine, Poland and Byelorussia.
   
What was the justification? In case WWIII broke out with the Soviet Union, the U.S. would have loyal Ukrainian and Russian speaking troops to help wage war against the Soviets.

Actually, OSS, CIA and its European partners provided Ukrainian Nazi collaborators and war criminals with weapons, communications logistics and training bases as they waged an insurgency and terrorism in Ukraine and the Baltics up to the early 1950s. Most of their victims were local civilians, including many women and children, who dared support new Soviet rule.
  
So when Ukraine became an independent country in 1991, is it surprising that the CIA began to fund and develop Ukrainian nationalists, including radical xenophobes and neo-Nazis, to bring about a Ukrainian government that would be anti-Russia and controlled (politically, economically and eventually militarily when it joined NATO or had enough NATO bases & troops on its soil) by the USA?

Unfortunately, the history of CIA work against the anti-US Assad government in Syria since 2010 is a pertinent example of how the CIA has operated since its inception to force regime change and install pro-US regimes (even authoritarian and totalitarian ones!) when necessary by covert action, false flag operations, assassinations and military support to radical insurgents.
   
When the US government and its agencies - CIA, NSA, Department of Defense, Department of State - exploit and/or inflame political, ethnic and religious tensions (conflicts) to enact regime change, the consequences can be utterly devastating for any country.
  
What's the worse case scenario for a country? Let's look at Syria, Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan. 
  
As I've written before many times, as an American of Ukrainian and Russian heritage, I don't want Ukraine to join this club of failed states. 

I have always been for a truly for truly independent and democratic Ukraine - but not for a country where radical nationalists and ant-Russian xenophobes beat, detain, torture, kidnap and even kill their opponents (normal Ukrainian people who don't share the radicals' hate of everything Russian) with impunity, de facto and de jure legal immunity from prosecution.

So let's look at Syria and try to do everything in our power to prevent the US and its NATO allies from doing the same thing in Ukraine - namely, supporting pr-US hate-spewing radical extremists who will eventually create either a totalitarian state or a failed state embroiled in civil war with an endless outflow of refugees seeking peace in neighboring countries. 

BTW, these failed states always become breeding grounds, staging areas and refuge for radical terrorists bent on committing terrorist acts in neighboring countries. 

Who do you think the militarization of Ukrainian society will produce, especially when there are no jobs available for these newly trained radicals who've already tasted blood and overcome any hesitation at killing civilians (pro-Russian separatist-supporting scum, as they call them)? These people have been taught to hate Russian and  trained to kill any Pro-Russian who does not agree with their vision of a pure Ukraine for Ukrainians.

So guess what? The natural target for anti-Russian radical Ukrainian nationalists will be Russia. If you think that Israel was ruthless in stomping out Palestinian bases in neighboring countries (like Lebanon in 1985), then I've got some bad news for you - Russia will be just as ruthless as Israel with all ensuing consequences for Ukraine and its innocent civilian population that's been taken hostage in the very dangerous geopolitical game. 

Judging by the US response to Al Qaeda attacks on US soil in 2001 - the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq - if a major terrorist act is committed on Russian soil by anti-Russian Ukrainian radicals, then Russia's response is likely to exceed the US response, as Ukraine is literally next door unlike Afghanistan or Iraq.

Do we want the US, EU and NATO to face such a scenario? Only a madman would want to risk a potentially (likely) nuclear WWIII in the geographic center of Europe..
  
Would you?
  
Here's a compilation of articles about how those radical insurgents in Syria, like ISIS (DAESH), al-Nusra Front and the so-called "moderate opposition" got their start, funding, weapons and other logistical help that helped them gain control by the summer of 2015 of at least half of Syria. 

*******************

CIA Interventions in Syria: A Partial Timeline
Michael S. Rozeff

"This partial timeline provides evidence that the U.S. government and Obama in particular bear a significant responsibility for the Syrian war and the results of that war. Obama approved elements of CIA plans that go back over 65 years. The CIA meddling is distinct from the Pentagon’s failed plan to train moderate rebels, not covered in this timeline.
...
In my opinion, the most serious U.S. meddling is what the Wikileaks cables reveal, which is the State Department’s organization of domestic opposition to its elected government. This provoked the revolution that started in Daraa, and that provided an opening for radical and armed Muslim elements to enter the battle. Next in importance is Obama’s position that Assad must go, because this guides the entry of the CIA and Pentagon into the war while committing the U.S. to a politically untenable and impossible course of attempting to reconstitute a new government among radical and rival forces if and when Assad falls or rebel forces gain control. Undetermined but significant amounts of arms and training have ended up flowing to ISIS and other radical groups that the U.S. cannot control, and these forces can’t be dislodged without bigger military commitments by the U.S. Neither the CIA’s activities nor the Pentagon’s failed training program have resulted in control over the battlefield or those groups, which have expanded control over Syrian territory.

Why did Obama intervene in Syria? There are four main reasons and they are not mutually exclusive. One reason is “democracy promotion”. This appears again and again in his rhetoric and that of the State department, where “democracy” is taken to mean “rights” among other things. Obama viewed Assad as standing in the way of the Syrian people. Obama’s intention to bomb Syria when he accused Assad of using chemical weapons brought out a version of this position in his concern for violations of international law. Obama has an idea of world order and the U.S. role in enforcing it. Obama’s position on the Arab Spring also showed this democracy promotion concern. The second reason is to thwart Iran in order to maintain U.S. dominance in the region. Related to this is U.S. support for Saudi Arabia and Gulf states who have also supported rebel elements in Syria as well as support for Turkey. The U.S. leads a coalition. The third reason is Israel’s influence in administration circles and on Capitol Hill. The fourth reason is to thwart Russia’s influence in Syria and deny it access to the Mediterranean. This appears to have backfired.
...
Why would I or many sane Americans want to bother with who rules Syria or how they rule it? It’s not my province. It’s none of my business. How in the world can I know whether I’m doing any good if I decide to butt in?

The government doesn’t think this way. It’s composed of people who want to meddle and run for office for that very reason. They are arrogant enough to think that they know what’s good for everyone when they don’t know diddly-squat. Who are they but pompous babbling fools? The CIA attracts smart people who love to work by schemes and subterfuges behind the scenes. These are power freaks who love playing byzantine games and relish manipulations. Why should any sane American want to allow these kinds of people to have access to ungodly amounts of money and power that they waste on their futile and very dangerous schemes that kill, maim and destroy?"

Please read the rest at https://www.lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog/cia-interventions-in-syria-a-partial-timeline/


Daraa 2011: Syria’s Islamist Insurrection in Disguise.

“I have seen from the beginning armed protesters in those demonstrations … they were the first to fire on the police. Very often the violence of the security forces comes in response to the brutal violence of the armed insurgents” – Jesuit priest Father Frans Van der Lugt, January 2012, Homs Syria

“The claim that armed opposition to the government has begun only recently is a complete lie. The killings of soldiers, police and civilians, often in the most brutal circumstances, have been going on virtually since the beginning.” – Professor Jeremy Salt, October 2011, Ankara Turkey

“The protest movement in Syria was overwhelmingly peaceful until September 2011” – Human Rights Watch, March 2012, Washington

A double story began on the Syrian conflict, at the very beginning of the armed violence in 2011, in the southern border town of Daraa. The first story comes from independent witnesses in Syria, such as the late Father Frans Van der Lugt in Homs. They say that armed men infiltrated the early political reform demonstrations to shoot at both police and civilians. This violence came from sectarian Islamists. The second comes from the Islamist groups (‘rebels’) and their western backers, including the Washington-based Human Rights Watch. They claim there was ‘indiscriminate’ violence from Syrian security forces to repress political rallies and that the ‘rebels’ grew out of a secular political reform movement.

Careful study of the independent evidence, however, shows that the Washington-backed ‘rebel’ story, while widespread, was part of a strategy to delegitimise the Syrian Government, with the aim of fomenting ‘regime change’. To understand this it is necessary to study the outbreak of the violence in Daraa, in March 2011. Central to that insurrection were shipments of arms from Saudi Arabia to Islamists at the al Omari mosque.
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After months of media manipulations, disguising the Islamist insurrection, Syrians such as Samer al Akhras, a young man from a Sunni family, who used to watch Al Jazeera because he preferred it to state TV, became convinced to back the Syrian government. He saw first-hand the fabrication of reports on Al Jazeera and wrote, in late June 2011:

‘I am a Syrian citizen and I am a human. After 4 months of your fake freedom … You say peaceful demonstration and you shoot our citizen. From today … I am [now] a Sergeant in the Reserve Army. If I catch anyone … in any terrorist organization working on the field in Syria I am gonna shoot you as you are shooting us. This is our land not yours, the slaves of American fake freedom’ (al Akhras 2011).

Please read the rest at http://www.globalresearch.ca/daraa-2011-syrias-islamist-insurrection-in-disguise/5460547


Logistics 101: Where Does ISIS Get Its Guns?

The current conflict consuming the Middle East, particularly in Iraq and Syria where the so-called “Islamic State” (ISIS) is operating and simultaneously fighting and defeating the forces of Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran, we are told, is built upon a logistical network based on black market oil and ransom payments.
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While many across the West play willfully ignorant as to where ISIS truly gets their supplies from in order to maintain its impressive fighting capacity, some journalists have traveled to the region and have video taped and reported on the endless convoys of trucks supplying the terrorist army.

Were these trucks traveling to and from factories in seized ISIS territory deep within Syrian and Iraqi territory? No. They were traveling from deep within Turkey, crossing the Syrian border with absolute impunity, and headed on their way with the implicit protection of nearby Turkish military forces. Attempts by Syria to attack these convoys and the terrorists flowing in with them have been met by Turkish air defenses.

Germany’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) published the first video report from a major Western media outlet illustrating that ISIS is supplied not by “black market oil” or “hostage ransoms” but billions of dollars worth of supplies carried into Syria across NATO member Turkey’s borders via hundreds of trucks a day.

The report titled, “‘IS’ supply channels through Turkey,” confirms what has been reported by geopolitical analysts since at least as early as 2011 – that ISIS subsides on immense, multi-national state sponsorship, including, obviously, Turkey itself.

Looking at maps of ISIS-held territory and reading action reports of its offensive maneuvers throughout the region and even beyond, one might imagine hundreds of trucks a day would be required to maintain this level of fighting capacity. One could imagine similar convoys crossing into Iraq from Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Similar convoys are likely passing into Syria from Jordan.

Please read the rest at http://journal-neo.org/2015/06/09/logistics-101-where-does-isis-get-its-guns/


How The Hell Does ISIS Get All Those Tanks, Weapons And Shiny New Toyota Trucks? 

CNBC reported that so far we’ve accidentally furnished the Islamic State with at least $219.7 million worth of weapons, vehicles and other military supplies and gear — and that’s just the stuff we know about. 

Based on various reports, CNBC came up with the following laundry list of supplies the U.S. has so kindly provided to ISIS so far. 

2,300 Humvee armored vehicles at $70,000 each: $16 million 
40 M1A1 Abram tanks at $4.3 million each: $172 million 
52 M198 Howitzer mobile gun systems at $527,337 each: $2.7 million 
74,000 Army machine guns at $4,000 each: $29 million 
TOTAL: $219.7 MILLION in military weapons, vehicles, and other supplies and gear for ISIS. 

How does the Islamic State get hold of all these U.S. weapons? We deliver them, either directly or through the tattered remnants of Iraq’s military. 

[Jeremy Salt, a political analyst in Ankara, Turkey]...reminded us of our nation’s major blunders for supplying weapons to ISIS for the past couple of years. 

- Accidental air-dropping of weapons and supplies intended for the Syrian Kurds into Islamic State territory. 
- This didn’t just happen once, it happened several times. 
- Weapons and supplies seized by ISIS during the falls of Mosul (Iraq), Ramadi (Iraq), AND Palmyra (Syria). 

Salt doesn’t even bother explaining how the George W. Bush administration created ISIS by invading Iraq on false pretenses and chasing off all those heavily armed and well-trained Baathist soldiers. 

But he does ask how it’s even possible that U.S. intelligence and the military — both of which are among the most sophisticated in the world — could have possibly NOT seen what was coming. 

Please read the rest at http://reverbpress.com/news/international/isis-toyota-trucks-us-tanks-weapons/