#IslamicSocietiesReview : As human rights organizations charge Saudi Arabia of war crimes, European Parliament calls for arms embargo

#IslamicSocietiesReview : As human rights organizations charge Saudi Arabia of war crimes, European Parliament calls for arms embargo

    Thursday, February 25, 2016   No comments

Saudi airstrikes on civilians in Yemen is a war crime

The European Parliament called on the European Union to impose an arms embargo against Saudi Arabia on Thursday, saying Britain, France and other EU governments should no longer sell weapons to a country accused of targeting civilians in Yemen.
EU lawmakers, who voted overwhelmingly in favor of an embargo, said Britain had licensed more than $3 billion of arms sales to Saudi Arabia since Saudi-led forces began military operations in Yemen in March last year.

Nearly 6,000 people have been killed since the coalition entered the conflict, almost half of them civilians, according to the United Nations, and the European Parliament said it was acting on humanitarian grounds.

"This is about Yemen. The human rights violations have reached a level

#IslamicSocietiesReview : BBC report, al-Qaeda in Yemen on the same front as the Saudi Coalition

#IslamicSocietiesReview : BBC report, al-Qaeda in Yemen on the same front as the Saudi Coalition

    Monday, February 22, 2016   No comments

BBC reported that it now has evidence that al-Qaeda in Yemen is fighting on the same front as the Saudi coalition.

The Saudi rulers launched a brutal war that killed tens of thousands of civilians in Yemen, has also created a foothold for al-Qaeda and ISIL in that country. For instance, when the Saudi coalition pushed the Yemeni army and their Houthi allies out of Aden, al-Qaeda and ISIL moved in and they are now in control of many neighborhoods  of that city.

#IslamicSocietiesReview : Start Preparing for the Collapse of the Saudi Kingdom

#IslamicSocietiesReview : Start Preparing for the Collapse of the Saudi Kingdom

    Sunday, February 21, 2016   No comments

Saudi Arabia is no state at all. It's an unstable business so corrupt to resemble a criminal organization and the U.S. should get ready for the day after.

For half a century, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been the linchpin of U.S. Mideast policy. A guaranteed supply of oil has bought a guaranteed supply of security. Ignoring autocratic practices and the export of Wahhabi extremism, Washington stubbornly dubs its ally “moderate.” So tight is the trust that U.S. special operators dip into Saudi petrodollars as a counterterrorism slush fund without a second thought. In a sea of chaos, goes the refrain, the kingdom is one state that’s stable.
But is it?

Saudi Arabia is no state at all: Preparing for its Collapse

Saudi Arabia is no state at all: Preparing for its Collapse

    Thursday, February 18, 2016   No comments

The Saudi ruling elite is operating something like a sophisticated criminal enterprise
For half a century, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been the linchpin of U.S. Mideast policy. A guaranteed supply of oil has bought a guaranteed supply of security. Ignoring autocratic practices and the export of Wahhabi extremism, Washington stubbornly dubs its ally “moderate.” So tight is the trust that U.S. special operators dip into Saudi petrodollars as a counterterrorism slush fund without a second thought. In a sea of chaos, goes the refrain, the kingdom is one state that’s stable.

But is it?

In fact, Saudi Arabia is no state at all. There are two ways to describe it: as a political enterprise with a clever but ultimately unsustainable business model, or as an entity so corrupt as to resemble a vertically and horizontally integrated criminal organization. Either way, it can’t last. It’s past time U.S. decision-makers began planning for the collapse of the Saudi kingdom... read more, see

source: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/02/saudi-arabia-collapse/463212/

#IslamicSocietiesReview : Turkey blames Kurdish militants for Ankara bombing

#IslamicSocietiesReview : Turkey blames Kurdish militants for Ankara bombing

    Thursday, February 18, 2016   No comments

As it has done in the past, whenever terrorists attack civilians inside Turkey, the Turkish government used the Ankara bombing to launch fresh strikes against Kurds. It has done so in the past even after instances when ISIL (Daesh) has carried out (and took credit for) the attacks. This time, too, AKP leaders were quick to blame the Kurds of Syria. Even before the investigation concluded, the Turkish government accused "Syrians" to justify its campaign against Kurds in Iraq and Syria. This practice could undercut support for their cause since the Turkish government could be perceived as leveraging terrorism for geopolitical aims. Turkey's reluctance to fight ISIL and shut down the flow of fighters and weapons into Syria adds to the volatility of the region and will add risks to Turkey's security.
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Turkey blames Kurdish militants for Ankara bomb, vows response in Syria and Iraq

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu blamed a Syrian Kurdish militia fighter working with Kurdish militants inside Turkey for a suicide car bombing that killed 28 people in the capital Ankara, and he vowed retaliation in both Syria and Iraq.

A car laden with explosives detonated next to military buses as they waited at traffic lights near Turkey's armed forces' headquarters, parliament and government buildings in the administrative heart of Ankara late on Wednesday.

Davutoglu said the attack was clear evidence that the YPG, a Syrian Kurdish militia that has been supported by the United States in the fight against Islamic State in northern Syria, was a terrorist organization and that Turkey, a NATO member, expected cooperation from its allies in combating the group.  Source

#IslamicSocietiesReview : Turkey sends 2000 rebels with heavy weapons into Syria

#IslamicSocietiesReview : Turkey sends 2000 rebels with heavy weapons into Syria

    Thursday, February 18, 2016   No comments

At least 2,000 Syrian rebel fighters have re-entered the country from Turkey over the last week to reinforce insurgents fending off an assault by Syrian Kurdish militias, rebel sources said on Thursday.

The rebel fighters, with weapons and vehicles, have been covertly escorted across the border by Turkish forces over several nights before heading into the embattled rebel stronghold of Azaz, the sources said.

"We have been allowed to move everything from light weapons to heavy equipment mortars and missiles and our tanks," Abu Issa, a commander in the Levant Front, the rebel group that runs the border crossing of Bab al-Salam, told Reuters, giving his alias and talking on condition of anonymity.

#ISR: World War 3 is now taking place in Syria, Turkey pushes for direct confrontation between nuclear powers--and that won't happen

#ISR: World War 3 is now taking place in Syria, Turkey pushes for direct confrontation between nuclear powers--and that won't happen

    Wednesday, February 17, 2016   No comments

The siege of Aleppo is a humanitarian catastrophe on a dramatic scale -- and a victory for Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has seized on the Syrian civil war to expose an impotent West and show his own geopolitical muscle.

Aleppo has been a horrific place for some time now and few thought that it could get much worse. But things can always get worse -- that's the lesson currently being learned by those who have stayed behind in an effort to outlast this brutal conflict. People who have become used to dead bodies in the streets, hunger and living a life that can end at any moment.

#ISR: Weaponry delivered to Syria's FSA by the U.S.-led coalition have fallen into the hands of Ahrar al-Sham and al-Nusra

#ISR: Weaponry delivered to Syria's FSA by the U.S.-led coalition have fallen into the hands of Ahrar al-Sham and al-Nusra

    Wednesday, February 17, 2016   No comments

The Free Syrian Army (FSA), the recognized armed opposition group against the Bashar al-Assad in Syria, has ceased its resistance in Aleppo, Syria’s second biggest city, withdrawing its 14,000 militia from the city, a ranking Turkish security source told the Hürriyet Daily News on Nov. 17.

“Its leader Jamal Marouf has fled to Turkey,” confirmed the source, who asked not to be named. “He is currently being hosted and protected by the Turkish state.”

The source did not give an exact date of the escape but said it was within the last two weeks, that is, the first half of November. The source declined to give Marouf’s whereabouts in Turkey.

#ISR: Chemical weapons had been used by ISIL (#daesh) fighters

#ISR: Chemical weapons had been used by ISIL (#daesh) fighters

    Monday, February 15, 2016   No comments

Islamic State militants attacked Kurdish forces in Iraq with mustard gas last year, the first known use of chemical weapons in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein, a diplomat said, based on tests by the global chemical weapons watchdog.

A source at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) confirmed that laboratory tests had come back positive for the sulfur mustard, after around 35 Kurdish troops were sickened on the battlefield last August.

Turkey at odds with Russia and now the US on Syria: Turkey strikes Syrian airport when it fell under the control of US supported rebels, but did not bomb it when it was under the control of al-Nusra

Turkey at odds with Russia and now the US on Syria: Turkey strikes Syrian airport when it fell under the control of US supported rebels, but did not bomb it when it was under the control of al-Nusra

    Sunday, February 14, 2016   No comments

Kurdish leader: Turkey strikes Syrian airport when it fell under the control of US supported rebels, but did not bomb it when it was under the control of al-Nusra. Do they want the Nusra Front to stay there, or for the regime to come and occupy it?

Turkey's faulty foreign policy choices in Syria since the beginning of the conflict, including supporting Sunnis in the sectarian strife, working for the removal of the Syrian regime from power, undermining the Syrian Kurds and downing a Russian jet, have dragged the country to such a point that today, it is at odds with not only Russia but its close ally the US as well.

Kerry says Russia should stop targeting "legitimate opposition" in Syria

Kerry says Russia should stop targeting "legitimate opposition" in Syria

    Saturday, February 13, 2016   No comments

Who decides "which group is a "legitimate opposition"? The answer to that question may hold the key to ending the bloody conflict in Syria. 

The U.S. and its Gulf allies and Turkey say that there are "moderate" opposition groups in Syria, but they refuse to identify them by name. Russia has asked, since 2015, who is Syria’s legitimate opposition? That question goes unanswered. But it is certain is that none of those governments who claim that there is a "legitimate opposition", do not and will not tolerate any armed groups to be operating within their countries' borders. In fact, Turkey is bombing a U.S.-vetted moderate, legitimate opposition group, the Kurdish Popular Protection Units, in Syria. 

The rulers of Saudi Arabia insist that they will remove #Assad by any means necessary

The rulers of Saudi Arabia insist that they will remove #Assad by any means necessary

    Friday, February 12, 2016   No comments

Saudi Arabia is arguing one point of view in one country and negating it by arguing against the same logic in another.
The Saudi minister of foreign affairs justified his regime's bombardment of Yemen by arguing the following point:

"Our intervention in Yemen came in response to a request from the Yemeni government to prevent its collapse... to reinstall the legitimate government that was removed by militias supported by Iran and Hezbollah."

Contrast that logic to the logic used by Russia and Iran to justify their intervention in Syria:

Erdogan traded Syrian refugees for money, visa-free travel to Europe, the inclusion of Turkish officials in EU summits, and a re-invigoration of Turkey's EU accession process

Erdogan traded Syrian refugees for money, visa-free travel to Europe, the inclusion of Turkish officials in EU summits, and a re-invigoration of Turkey's EU accession process

    Monday, February 08, 2016   No comments

Erdoğan used Syrians for economic and political gains: Report reveals that Erdogan, essentially, traded Syrian refugees for money, visa-free travel to Europe, the inclusion of Turkish officials in EU summits, and a re-invigoration of Turkey's EU accession process

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan threatened to send buses full of refugees to Greece if the EU did not finalize an agreement with Turkey over the action plan to stem the flow of refugees to Europe, according to the leaked transcript of a meeting between Erdoğan and leaders of the EU.

The transcript, published by the Greek-based euro2day.gr online news portal, claims to be the minutes of a meeting of Erdoğan, President of the European Council Donald Tusk and President of the European Commission (EC) Jean-Claude Juncker.

#ISR , #HumanRights; Department of Defense released 198 photos relating to prisoner abuse by U.S. military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan

#ISR , #HumanRights; Department of Defense released 198 photos relating to prisoner abuse by U.S. military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan

    Sunday, February 07, 2016   No comments

The photos were released in response to an ACLU lawsuit that we have been litigating for almost 12 years. You can see a few of them in the slideshow to the right. The photos mostly show close-ups of body parts, including arms, legs, and heads, many with injuries. There are also wider shots of prisoners, most of them bound or blindfolded. But what they don’t show is a much bigger story, and the government’s selective release of these photos could mislead the public about the true scope of what happened.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is furious over a senior U.S. official’s visit to northern Syria

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is furious over a senior U.S. official’s visit to northern Syria

    Sunday, February 07, 2016   No comments

Erdoğan protested in Ecuador: Erdoğan loves ISIS

ISR comment: The Turkish president, who has resisted pressure to take actual actions against ISIL, is now furious that the U.S. has made contact with a Syrian group that has fought and defeated ISIL. Erdoğan, instead, insists that Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party is a terrorist organization, but his government still refuses to legally classify ISIL (also known as ISIS, Daesh) as a terrorist organization. His insistence on denying the Syrian Kurdish people any level of autonomy within their country is unrealistic and is a direct interference in the affairs of other countries. 

It is likely that the new Syria will be decentralized and that the Kurdish people will have autonomy there with or without the consent of the post-civil war Syrian government. The only thing Erdoğan can do to stop that from happening is to invade northern Syria. He may do that with the help of his sectarian backers like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and local allies such as Daesh, al-Nusra, Jaysh al-Fath, and Jaysh al-Islam. If the U.S. allows that to happen, the Middle East will be further destabilized and more states will fail, creating the perfect environment for ISIL and al-Qaeda.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Latin American Protesters: "As you can see there can be disrespectful people"

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Latin American Protesters: "As you can see there can be disrespectful people"

    Friday, February 05, 2016   No comments

Erdogan protested in Ecuador

The Turkish president, who is not not known for tolerating dissent at home lashes out at protesters in South America. Erdoğan, who uses state institutions to punish dissenters, accusing them of "insulting the president" accused Latin American protesters of being "disrespectful" and his body guards were accused of assaulting the protester and a lawmaker who tried to protect her.

Riyadh-based opposition groups are not interested in lifting the siege on civilians, they are interested in leveraging humanitarian crises for military and political grains

Riyadh-based opposition groups are not interested in lifting the siege on civilians, they are interested in leveraging humanitarian crises for military and political grains

    Thursday, February 04, 2016   No comments

Revealing their callousness towards Syrian civilians, Syrian opposition groups that are supported by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey insisted that the Syrian government stop its military campaign, provides aid to civilians under siege, and releases detained individuals as stated in UNSC Resolution 2254, before they take part in the indirect talks with the Syrian government. But when the Syrian government troops broke a three and half year long siege on two cities north of Aleppo, they accused the government of besieging Aleppo, not breaking a siege, and walked away from the talks. Carelessly, Western media took the same position: Instead of cheering the breaking of a siege that starved more than 60,000 civilians, they complained about Russia bombing "moderate" opposition groups and cutting supply lines to rebels inside Aleppo. It is disgusting that Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and their allies did not care that residents of two cities were starved for more than three years because they were Shi`a and continue to claim that they are helping Syrian people. Riyadh-based opposition groups are not interested in lifting the siege on civilians, they are interested in leveraging humanitarian crises for military and political grains.

The  UNSC Resolution 2254 the opposition groups are using as leverage asks both parties, the Syrian government and the rebels, the following:

Demands that all parties immediately cease any attacks against civilians and civilian objects as such..

Calls on the parties to immediately allow humanitarian agencies rapid, safe and unhindered access throughout Syria by most direct routes, allow immediate, humanitarian assistance to reach all people in need...

The Riyadh-based opposition groups had no intention to lift the siege they and their allies imposed on these cities. They wanted to use them as leverage instead and that is why they became furious when they lost that leverage. Moreover, it is not known if these opposition groups can in fact implement a ceasefire on the ground since most of the groups that are shelling civilians and denying aid organizations access are not represented in the talks.

Samples of the coverage and these events is below:

Greek soccer players' tribute to the refugees

Greek soccer players' tribute to the refugees

    Monday, February 01, 2016   No comments

Greek soccer players' tribute to refugees who have lost their lives trying to escape death and indignity.