Obama on Syrian crisis: Russia air strikes 'strengthen IS'

[uhnope]

Source: BBC

US President Barack Obama has said the Russian bombing campaign in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad is driving moderate opposition underground and "only strengthening" Islamic State.

Mr Obama said he rejected the Russian assertion that all armed opponents of the "brutal" Mr Assad were terrorists.Moscow insists its air strikes - which began on Wednesday - are targeting IS.

But the Syrian opposition and others have suggested non-IS rebels are bearing the brunt of Russian attacks.

Russia said its aircraft had hit IS command centres, arms depots and military vehicles. Targets included the IS stronghold of Raqqa, but also Aleppo, Hama and Idlib - provinces with little IS presence.

Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34431027

[frizzled]

1. The worst thing that can happen to an American President is to look weak, outmaneuvered, outclassed

nt

[840high]

2. 100% correct.

[pampango]

3. Other rebel groups have battled ISIS much more than have Assad's forces.

If Russian attacks target these other rebel groups, ISIS will send Mr. Putin a thank you note for weakening the very groups they are primarily fighting with.

It seems likely that Russia's main goal is to protect Assad which protects the Russian naval base. Attacking these other rebel groups, which have had the Syrian army retreating in recent months, is a smart move if your immediate goal is to protect Assad rather than to defeat ISIS.

[frizzled]

4. Russia is doing exactly the right thing to take these assholes out, stabilizing the Syrian Gov

Why are you supporting Al Qaeda and other extremists?

Do Americans EVER learn?

[uhnope]

5. ah jeez, another Putin Fan Club member

enjoy yr stay

[frizzled]

10. Another blind America apologist

nt

[puzzledeagle]

19. +15 rubles

[pampango]

6. I support attacking ISIS but not all those who all oppose a dictator are terrorists.

Why are you supporting Al Qaeda and other extremists?

Are you implying that Bush was right when he said, "You are with us or you are with the terrorists."

If I do not wholeheartedly support the dictator, I must support "Al Queda and other extremists"?

In return I might ask why you support ISIS by approving of attacks on the very groups that are fighting with it?

[frizzled]

9. Yet you support dictators who support terror in Saudi Arabia

I await your production of the mythical "moderate" fighting the Syrian Government.

[pampango]

13. How do you know I support this? You know what assuming too much makes you.

I await your evidence that only terrorists fight against dictators. Would that not be a world filled with dictators?

Of course that is what Assad has been saying since protesters filled his streets in 2011. "Anyone who opposes me is a terrorist." It is good to see that he has convinced some folks, even a few liberals, that "You either support me or you support the terrorists."

[frizzled]

14. Oh yes, America did so well in Iraq, why not try getting rid of Syria's secular government next

Do you ever learn? I mean, ever?

[pampango]

18. Do you just go from one talking point to the next?

When you respond to a post, how about responding to the points or questions raised in the post? I have tried to do that in my responses to your posts.

[pampango]

16. "Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia does not consider the U.S.-backed Free Syrian

Army rebels a terrorist group, and they should be part of a political solution in Syria."

http://news.yahoo.com/lavrov-says-russia-does-not-consider-free-syrian-153750858.html

[geek tragedy]

15. You went west again, young man? nt

[NuclearDem]

17. This one's one of the other Putin trolls.

GWYM mostly spams LiveLeak links.

[newthinking]

7. CounterPunch: A Useful Prep-Sheet on Syria for Media Propagandists

A Useful Prep-Sheet on Syria for Media Propagandists

by Gary Leupp

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/10/02/a-useful-prep-sheet-on-syria-for-media-propagandists/

State Department talking points on Syria for cable news anchors:

* Keep mentioning the barrel bombs. Do not mention how their use was pioneered by the Israeli Air Force in 1948, and how they were used by the U.S. Air Force in Vietnam in Operation Inferno in 1968. Keep repeating, “barrel bombs, barrel bombs” and stating with a straight face that the Syrian regime is using them “against its own people.” Against its own people. Against its own people. Against its own people.

* Keep mentioning “200,000.” (The UN estimates that 220,000 have been killed in the conflict since 2011.) Declare like you really believe it that this is the number of civilians the Syrian government of Bashar Assad has killed during the war. (Do not be concerned about any need to back the figure up. No one is ever going to call you on it publicly.)

Do NOT mention that around half of the war dead (estimates range from 84,000 to 133,000) are Syrian government forces waging war against an overwhelmingly Islamist opposition, and an additional 73,000 to 114,000 are anti-government combatants.

Do not discuss these figures because they would call into question the claim that the Syrian government is targeting and killing tens of thousands of civilians willy-nilly. (If feeling any qualms of conscience, recall Karl Rove’s immortal dictum that “We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality.”)

* Keep mentioning the “Arab Spring” and how in 2011 Syrians peacefully mobilized to challenge the regime were violently repressed. But don’t dwell on the Arab Spring too much. Realize that the State Department was actually shocked by it, particularly by its repercussions in Egypt, where democratization brought the Muslim Brotherhood to power before the U.S.-backed military drowned its opponents in blood.

And recall but do NOT mention how in Bahrain, peaceful demonstrations by the majority Shiites against the repressive Sunni monarchy were crushed by a Saudi-led invasion force tacitly supported by the U.S. And NEVER mention that the bulk of the peaceful protesters in the Syrian Arab Spring want nothing to do with the U.S.-supported armed opposition but are instead receptive to calls from Damascus, Moscow and Tehran for dialogue towards a power-sharing arrangement.

Continued:

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/10/02/a-useful-prep-sheet-on-syria-for-media-propagandists/

[uhnope]

8. thank you once again for the Kremlin's view

very predictable

[NuclearDem]

20. Note to Stalinists masquerading as leftist American commentators:

* False equivalences are the best. Point out the Vietnam War use of barrel bombs to make the US seem as bad as the Assad regime, but refrain from mentioning how they were never deployed near heavily-populated areas (in contrast to Assad, who has dropped them on most of his major cities) and were discontinued after they were found to be as useful as a hill of beans.

* All groups fighting Assad are Islamists, al-Qaeda, barbarians, and terrorists. Don't attempt to explain the complexities of alliances forged by necessity, tactics, strategic planning, or the history of the groups involved; chances are, your readership isn't capable of the complex reasoning necessary to understand it anyway.

* Ignore the Arab Spring. It would look really embarrassing if we were to have cheered on revolutions against American-friendly regimes in Egypt and the Gulf, but called for the slaughtering of protestors in less-than-friendly regimes in Libya and Syria. See Ukrainian instructions, section on "regime change" and pretending people had no legitimate grievances with the dictator.



So, just because I haven't gotten to say so in quite some time: go fuck yourself, CounterPunch.

[roamer65]

11. The Iraqis have given Russia an air base and the Chinese are going to fly sorties.

Obama does not have the public backing for more war. Let the Russians and Chinese take a crack at IS. Syria was under the Russian sphere of influence anyway.

I'm more concerned with the growing animosity between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Something happens between those two and we WILL be getting involved.

But, the Russian air strikes do not strengthen IS. On that point Obama is full of shit.

[frizzled]

12. Link?