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Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 3/20/2017 2:35:18 PM
	Putin and Xi Combine to Outsmart Trump Stacy Closson NewsweekMarch 18, 2017 Russia and China recently vetoed a draft U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolution backed by the Western powers to sanction Syria over its chemical weapons use. As the first action by the Trump administration in the Security Council, this calls into question the administration’s ability to mend ties with Russia and simultaneously to sideline China. While there is a precedent for Russia and China to veto resolutions related to Syria since 2011, this resolution breaks with a plan developed by the Russians and Americans in 2013 to rid Syria of chemical weapons. The most recent joint Russian-Chinese veto indicates that they will remain united, pitted against the West. Then-candidate and current president Donald Trump has consistently praised Russia anddemeaned China. Some analysts have suggested he is playing a reverse Nixon “China card”—that is, the U.S. will strengthen its relations with Russia to the detriment of China. Likewise, President Trump’s questioning the agility and purpose of NATO and the EU, and the sense of continuing sanctions on Russia, may be a means to weaken China’s growing presence in Russia. President-elect Trump’s phone call with the Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen, followed by the nomination of Russia-friendly Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, heightened concerns in Beijing over China’s potential marginalization. However, the latest UNSC vote confirmed that the Russia-China partnership is as strong as ever. Along with Bolivia, they vetoed a measure proposed by the Western allies to sanction 21 Syrian individuals, companies and organizations for using chemical weapons in Syria and to tighten export controls on components of chemical weapons. 03_11_Xi_Putin_01 Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin view an honor guard at the Great Hall of the People on June 25, 2016, in Beijing. Stacy Closson writes that the Russian and Chinese veto of the U.N. Syria resolution was the sixth time that Russia and China have jointly vetoed a resolution on Syria that was backed by the Western allies. Lintao Zhang/Getty The draft resolution text notes recent reports by the Joint Investigative Mechanism of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), established by the UNSC, which identify actors involved in several cases of chemical weapons detected in Syria since 2014–15. Moreover, Western governments have accused the Assad regime of conducting illegal chlorine attacks in 2014–15, violating the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Syria signed in 2013. Their veto arguably undermines the most successful diplomatic U.S.-Russian effort on Syria. In 2013, Secretary of State John F. Kerry suggested that, in exchange for placing its chemical weapons under international control, Syria could avert a U.S. military attack. Support was growing in the U.S. and Europe to strike Syrian military targets in retaliation for a gas attack that killed 1,400 civilians. Syria immediately agreed, and Russia played a leading role in working with the U.S. to create a framework to monitor and verify the dismantlement of Syria’s chemical weapons, enshrined in UNSC Resolution 2118 (2013), which was unanimously adopted. This was the sixth time that Russia and China have jointly vetoed a resolution on Syria that was backed by the Western allies. Throughout the statements issued by the Russian and Chinese representatives to the UNSC in addressing the Syrian crisis since 2011, this phrase appears frequently: The international community should fully respect Syria’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. Sanctions on Syria or the threat of use of force under Chapter VII have consistently been dismissed by Russia and China as not in compliance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principle of noninterference in the international affairs of states. In the course of the discussions on the latest draft resolution, Russian government officials told the press that the charges against Syria were one-sided, lacked evidence and would interfere with ongoing Syrian peace talks sponsored by Russia in Astana, Kazakhstan. At the UNSC meeting, deputy permanent representative to the U.N., Vladimir Safronkovaccused the Joint Investigative Mechanism under the OPCW of using suspicious sources in support of regime change in Damascus. The Chinese permanent representative to the U.N., Liu Jieyi, had a more measured response, saying that while China advocates for the Joint Investigative Mechanism to continue to gather evidence and for the punishment of the perpetrators, time is needed for the peace talks to take their course. The trading of barbs between the representatives of the U.S. and Russia at the Security Council echo the early years of arguments over Saddam Hussein’s alleged hiding of weapons of mass destruction that led to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. More evidence of conflict with Russia is found in the statements made by U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley blaming Russia for the recent escalation in violence in eastern Ukraine and affirming an Obama administration policy of returning Crimea to Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russia and China have increased their joint activity since President Trump took office. They recently announced plans to hold their second missile defense drill later this year. China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange announced closer cooperation between the commercial banks of the two countries, expanding trade and economic ties. They also remain jointly opposed to U.S. support for the installation of a anti-missile defense system in South Korea, despite escalating tensions on the peninsula. These closer military and economic ties between the two powers, combined with their latest UNSC resolution joint veto point to a growing partnership between Russia and China, as I have written about here, despite the new American administration’s plans. Stacy Closson is a global fellow at the Kennan Institute. (Yahoo News)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 3/20/2017 3:08:55 PM
	Russian and U.S. Troops Are Now In The Same Syrian City March 19, 2017 at 10:55 am Written by Darius Shahtahmasebi (ANTIMEDIA) A regional and international proxy war that began in 2011 could well be on its way to becoming a hot global conflict as Russian and American troops arrive in the same Syrian city. According to the Military Times, the U.S. military has launched a “reassurance and deterrence” mission in the Syrian city of Manbij, which is set to become more complicated with the arrival of Russian troops and continued advances by Turkish-backed rebels. The situation was already complex due to the presence of Syrian Kurdish forces on the ground, who are opposed by forces loyal to Turkey. The Kurds are considered to be the most effective fighting force against ISIS, yet Turkish-backed forces seem more concerned with fighting against them rather than fighting ISIS. The U.S. military has fewer than 100 elite Army Rangers stationed in Manbij, and Russian troops are there to provide security for humanitarian convoys. According to Navy Captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, the U.S. and Russia have had no close interaction on the ground. For its part, Moscow has “kept [the U.S.] abreast of their operations” in Manbij, but the two militaries do not coordinate in Syria. The Military Times noted that U.S. troops are on the ground primarily to assist local forces oust ISIS. However, as Anti-Media previously reported, ISIS has almost been defeated, and as a result, the likelihood of mission creep is possible. This is made clear by the U.S. military’s cooperation with Saudi Arabia, a country that also wants to deploy troops to Syria for the specific purpose of opposing pro-regime troops, as well as Iranian troops and Hezbollah fighters. That being said, if the mainstream media were doing its job effectively, it would make a point of distinguishing between Russian and American roles in the region. The U.S. military has no legitimate excuse for invading Syria, whereas Russia’s military presence was formally requested by the Syrian government in 2015. What should be clear, however, is that none of these parties view human rights as a motivating concern for engaging militarily in Syria. All parties have blood on their hands, and in light of the fact that two nuclear powers are now stationed in the same Syrian city with complete polar opposite interests, it’s possible they will make an incredibly dire situation into an international powder keg. Creative Commons / Anti-Media / Report a typo
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 3/20/2017 4:28:42 PM
	Iraqi forces close on Mosul mosque as strike kills foreign militants By Patrick Markey and John Davison ReutersMarch 19, 2017 A vehicle that belonged to Islamic State militants and was equipped with explosive materials, is seen in Mosul, Iraq March 19, 2017. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani By Patrick Markey and John Davison MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi army helicopters strafed and rocketed Islamic State positions inside Mosul's Old City on Sunday as ground troops fought fierce street battles to close in on the strategic prize of the al-Nuri Mosque. An air strike by the U.S.-led coalition backing Iraq forces in their campaign to retake Mosul also killed six foreign militant commanders in the west, including a Russian who was a senior Islamic State leader, Iraq's defense ministry said. Federal Police troops on Sunday advanced past the train station in western Mosul close to the mosque, where IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a caliphate in July 2014 after the hardline militants had seized swathes of Iraq and Syria. Residents fled from the area, carrying suitcases and bags of belongings and picking their way through the wrecked buildings as shells and gunfire echoed behind them. Most of them were women and children. "Federal Police and Rapid Response forces resumed their advance after halting operations due to bad weather. The troops have a target of retaking the rest of the Old City," a police spokesman said. The battle to recapture Islamic State's last stronghold in Iraq has now entered its sixth month. Iraqi government forces, backed by U.S. advisers, artillery and air support, have cleared the east and half of western Mosul and are now focused on controlling the Old City. Recent fighting has targeted the centuries-old al-Nuri Mosque, with its famous leaning minaret. Its capture would be a blow for Islamic State as it was from there that Baghdadi declared himself head of his self-proclaimed caliphate. U.S. officials estimate about 2,000 IS fighters remain inside Iraq's second largest city, resisting with mortar fire, snipers and suicide car bombs that plow into army positions. The black Islamic State flag still flew from the mosque's minaret on Sunday. Iraq's defense ministry said in a statement a coalition air strike destroyed a command center, killing Russian leader Abdul Kareem al-Rusi, head of the Tareq Bin Ziyad brigade, as well as a British-Algerian, a French-Syrian, a Turkish commander and two fighters from Morocco. RESIDENTS FLEE Federal Police moved in on foot from near the train station toward the Old City, forging ahead through rubble-filled streets. Police commander General Khalid al-Obedi told reporters on the frontline: "We are advancing toward the Old City. Their resistance is weakening. They are mostly using car bombs and that shows they are losing on the ground." He barked orders into his radio as mortar rounds landed beyond his position. Reporters saw an air strike hit Islamic State positions about 300 meters (yards) ahead on the frontline. Helicopters circling overhead fired rockets and raked the ground with machine gun fire. Federal police also arrested Husam Sheet al-Jabouri, the local chief of Diwan al-Hisba, an IS unit responsible for enforcing strict Islamic rules, in Mosul's Bab al-Sijin area, a police statement said. As fighting has entered into the narrow alleyways and densely populated parts of west Mosul, more residents are fleeing from liberated areas where food and water are scarce and homes are often caught in shelling. Families with elderly relatives and children marched through western Mosul's muddy streets, past buildings pock-marked by bullet and bombs on Saturday. Some said they had hardly eaten in weeks, scrambling for supplies handed out by a local aid agency. "It is terrible, Islamic State have destroyed us. There is no food, no bread. There is absolutely nothing," said one resident. As many as 600,000 civilians may be caught inside the city with the militants. About 255,000 people have been displaced from Mosul and surrounding areas since October, including more than 100,000 since the military campaign in western Mosul began on Feb. 19, according to United Nations figures. The last week has seen the highest level of displacement yet, with 32,000 displaced between March 12 and 15. (Additional reporting by Ahmed Rasheed in Baghdad, Writing by Angus MacSwan in Erbil; Editing by Tom Heneghan) (Yahoo News)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
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Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 3/20/2017 5:00:34 PM
	New World War? China Target Of French Ships Joining US, Japan, UK In Pacific BY GREG PRICE @GP_IBTIMES ON 03/18/17 AT 11:20 AM Drawing together much of the West’s biggest powers, France reportedly intended to sail carriers and head up drills with the United States, Japan and Great Britain in the western Pacific in May. The expected maneuvers were viewed as a way for France to show China it’s military’s strength, Reuters reported Friday, citing sources. In the second and third weeks of May, the French planned to send their Mistral naval carriers, capable of transporting helicopters, around Tinian island, where it will team up with U.S. and Japanese forces as well as two British helicopters. The island is part of the Northern Mariana Islands, a commonwealth of the U.S., located north of Guam. Though the sources were anonymous, one made it clear that the future military exercise was directed towards China. "Rather than just being a naval exercise, this amphibious exercise will send a clear message to China," the insider told Reuters. China steadily ratcheted its military presence in the Pacific – where France still has a stake in places like French Polynesia – as well as the South China Sea. The Chinese military announced the building of its second aircraft carrier in 2015 and it’s expected to potentially reach full service by 2020, according to The National Interest back in October. The report stressed France and Britain attempted to create "closer defense ties" with Japan, which planned to send its biggest warship to several Asian nations in and around the South China Sea for a three-month training with the U.S. Navy in May. The drills and trip were reported as Japan’s largest mobilization of its naval forces since World War II. The U.K. reportedly sent four jet fighters in October to train with the Japanese Air Self Defense Force. The South China Sea continued to be a sticky issue between China, the U.S. and Japan. The hotly disputed waterway became a reason for considerable military posturing from each party, especially after China installed man-made islands in the heart of the valuable international trade route. A French Mistral-class helicopter carrier was expected to join the U.S., Japan and the United Kingdom in the western Pacific in May. Photo: Reuters (ibtimes.com)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 3/20/2017 5:42:04 PM
	Israel: America’s Mad Dog In Syria MARCH 20, 2017 By Tony Cartalucci Israel has played an increasingly provocative role in the destructive conflict unfolding within and along Syria’s borders since 2011. To many observers, it appears Israeli policy borders between opportunistic and unilateral aggression. In reality, Israel’s role in the Syrian conflict fits a much larger and long-term pattern with Anglo-American plans not only for Syria but for the entire region. A more recent row between Israel and Syria was the reported incursion of Israeli warplanes into Syrian airspace, including attacks near the eastern Syrian city of Palmyra. Palmyra hosts an ongoing battle between Syrian forces and the self-proclaimed “Islamic State” (ISIS) terrorist organization. Israeli airstrikes against Syrian forces – then – would have facilitated ISIS operations in the region. Israel is a State Sponsor of Terror, Not a Champion Against it Israel has existed as a nation-sized, de facto forward operating base for Anglo-American interests since its creation in the 20th century. It has pursued aggressive regional policies that have intentionally pitted itself against its neighbors as a means of maintaining a Western foothold and point of leverage in North Africa and the Middle East for decades. Ongoing conflicts between Israel and Palestine are fueled by an orchestrated strategy of tension between a manipulated Israeli population and controlled opposition – Hamas – politically backed, armed, and funded by Israel’s own regional collaborators including Saudi Arabia and Qatar. When proxy military operations began against the Syrian state in 2011 under the cover of the US-engineered “Arab Spring,” Israel along with Jordan and Turkey, played a direct role in backing militants and undermining Damascus. While Jordan has played a more passive role, and Turkey a more direct role in facilitating proxy militant forces, Israel has played the role of “unilateral provocateur.” While Turkish, US, and other “coalition” forces are unable to directly attack Syrian forces, Israel – posing as a unilateral regional player – can and has done so regularly since 2012. CNN in its article, “Israeli jets strike inside Syria; military site near Palmyra reportedly targeted,” would note: In November 2012, Israel fired warning shots toward Syria after a mortar shell hit an Israeli military post, the first time Israel had fired on Syria across the Golan Heights since the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Israeli jets have been striking targets in Syria since at least 2013, when US officials told CNN they believed IDF jets had hit targets inside Syrian territory. CNN would also report: Israeli strikes may have gone as far inside Syria as the capital. In 2014, the Syrian government and an opposition group both said an IDF strike had hit Damascus’ suburbs and airport. And while Israeli politicians and military officials claim their aggression seeks to stop the transfer of weapons to terrorist organizations, organizations they deem as “terrorist” are in fact the sole forces within Syria fighting actual, internationally recognized terrorist organizations including Al Qaeda, its various subsidiaries and affiliates, as well as the Islamic State itself. Paradoxically, these genuinely terrorist organizations have existed along Israel’s border enjoying de facto protection from Israeli forces from Syrian military operations. Israel’s Role as America’s “Mad Dog” is No Secret Israel’s geopolitical role as “unilateral mad dog” has been a matter of stated US policy since at least the 1980s – and in specific reference to America’s repeated attempts to undermine and overthrow the Syrian state amid much larger objectives aimed at Iran and the region as a whole. A 1983 document – part of a deluge of recently declassified papers released to the public – signed by former CIA officer Graham Fuller titled, “Bringing Real Muscle to Bear Against Syria” (PDF), states (their emphasis): Syria at present has a hammerlock on US interests both in Lebanon and in the Gulf — through closure of Iraq’s pipeline thereby threatening Iraqi internationalization of the [Iran-Iraq] war. The US should consider sharply escalating the pressures against Assad [Sr.] through covertly orchestrating simultaneous military threats against Syria from three border states hostile to Syria: Iraq, Israel and Turkey. The report also states: If Israel were to increase tensions against Syria simultaneously with an Iraqi initiative, the pressures on Assad would escalate rapidly. A Turkish move would psychologically press him further. In 2009, US corporate-financier funded policy think tank, the Brookings Institution, would publish a lengthy paper titled, “Which Path to Persia?: Options for a New American Strategy toward Iran” (PDF), in which, once again, the use of Israel as an apparently “unilateral aggressor” was discussed in detail. Of course, a US policy paper describing planned Israeli aggression as part of a larger US-driven conspiracy to attack, undermine, and ultimately overthrow the Iranian state reveals there is nothing “unilateral” at all about Israel’s regional policy or its military operations. In 2012, the Brookings Institution would publish another paper titled, “”Saving Syria: Assessing Options for Regime Change” (PDF), which stated: Some voices in Washington and Jerusalem are exploring whether Israel could contribute to coercing Syrian elites to remove Asad. The report continues by explaining: Israel could posture forces on or near the Golan Heights and, in so doing, might divert regime forces from suppressing the opposition. This posture may conjure fears in the Asad regime of a multi-front war, particularly if Turkey is willing to do the same on its border and if the Syrian opposition is being fed a steady diet of arms and training. Such a mobilization could perhaps persuade Syria’s military leadership to oust Asad in order to preserve itself. Once again, the use of Israel as one of several regional provocateurs executing policy as part of a larger US-orchestrated conspiracy is openly discussed. As each Israeli incursion into Syria unfolds – regardless of the details, claims, and counterclaims made regarding each incursion – it should be analyzed within the context of US interests, not “Israeli” interests. And regardless of the details of each incursion, the ultimate purpose is to escalate the conflict continuously until Syria and its allies react and provoke a much larger, direct military conflict the US and others amid its axis of aggression can openly participate in. It should be noted that in Brookings’ 2009 paper, “Which Path to Persia?,” using Israeli attacks to provoke an Iranian response and thus justify direct US military intervention involving everything from an air campaign against Tehran to a full-scale US invasion and occupation were among the centerpieces of the policy paper. It is clear that an identical policy is now being pursued against Syria. Unveiling the true nature of Israel’s incursions into Syria and resisting the temptation to escalate the conflict further is key to confounding US designs and rendering the provocations of its proxies – including Israel and Turkey – moot. Tony Cartalucci, Bangkok-based geopolitical researcher and writer, especially for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”. (activistpost.com)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

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