Russia has condemned the US-led airstrikes targeting ISIL Takfiri terrorists in Syria, calling the move a violation ofinternational law.
“Russia would like to emphasize that such actions can only be undertaken within the framework of the international law,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on Tuesday.
The law “prescribes to have a prior and clear consent of the government of Syria to such actions, or a decision passed by the UN Security Council to that effect,” Lukashevich added.
He also noted that the initiators of the unilateral measure should bear full legal responsibility for their action.
According to reports, the United States and its allies have carried out at least 200 airstrikes against the ISIL militants operating inside Syria. The strikes were carried out without approval of the United Nations. The Syrian government says the US had informed if of the strikes in advance.
The air raids were launched in northern and eastern Syria late on Monday, apparently targeting militants from the ISIL and the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra Front. However, some 12 civilians are so far said to have been killed in the raids.
On Monday night, Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement that the US army and “partner nation forces are undertaking military action against ISIL terrorists in Syria using a mix of fighter, bomber and Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles.”
The ISIL terrorists currently control parts of Syria and Iraq. They have carried out heinous crimes in the two countries, including mass executions and beheadings of people.
An increasing number of Syrians believe U.S. and coalition bombing of ISIS locations inside Syria is primarily an attempt to overthrow the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Russia also has suggested the bombings are an effort to topple Assad under the guise of fighting terrorism.
“Another night of heavy shelling in Sham (Syria),” one source in Damascus, Syria, told WND. “Friends say the government does not report most of them, but many think the Raqqa operation by the USA is aimed equally at the regime.”
Raqqa, the ISIS provisional capital in Syria, was heavily bombed in recent days by coalition aircraft, led by the U.S., with the varying participation of aircraft from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
Moscow has complained that the issue of the bombing should have gone before the United Nations Security Council.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pointed to the precedent of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1970 of Feb. 26, 2011, which imposed a “no-fly” zone over Libya.
What was first designed to be a humanitarian effort in Libya resulted in the U.S. and participating countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization using that resolution as a basis to carry out airstrikes that led to the fall of the 40-year-old regime of Muammar Gadhafi.
Lavrov said that what followed was “unlimited” chaos.
“Moscow has clearly learned its lesson from this Libyan scenario and will not accept its recurrence,” said Lebanon-based Middle East expert Jean Aziz.
Long-term goal?
While the declared immediate purpose of the U.S.-led bombing campaign is to go after ISIS strongholds in Syria and Iraq, concerns are being raised over the long-term goals of the bombing and what comes later. ISIS has shifted its own tactics since the bombing began to meld more into the local population.
Concerns among Syrians on the ground and in Moscow appear to revolve around comments President Obama has made offering to train and equip more “moderate” jihadist fighters.
Specifically, Obama has referred to the Sunni Free Syrian Army, which recently announced it had signed a non-aggression pact with ISIS, since its first priority is to topple the Shiite-Alawite Assad regime.
FSA fighters would be among some 5,000 “vetted” Islamic fighters who would undergo training for a year in Saudi Arabia, which offered a base for that purpose.
FSA is the “moderate” group that turned over to ISIS two U.S. embedded journalists – James Foley and Steven Sotloff – after they had written stories critical of FSA. Sources say FSA sold each journalist for up to $50,000.
On one side of the screen, you have the “Fox facts” and the number one “fact” listed is as “U.S. has conducted at least 160 airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq.”
At the same time on the same screen, the lower third asserts, “No military action yet against ISIS, despite coalition to fight terrorists.”
Wha…?
Oh, and in case you were wondering, there are also absolutely no boots on the ground…even as we continue to send more and more “military advisers” over there… who… apparently… Wear flip flops and levitate?
Congress is also voting once again to spend millions more to arm the supposedly “vetted” moderate rebels in Syria (rebels who, in the past after being funded, armed and trained by the CIA at a base in Jordan went on to join ISIS, the very group we’re now striking), how is anyone even supposed to keep straight who the “good guys” and “bad guys” are in this non-war, non-military action airstriking by the U.S. military?
Well, we definitely blew up 12 of Syria’s oil refineries today, so…
What was the definition of George Orwell’s “doublethink” again? Holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s head simultaneously while believing both are true?
Impossible in practice? Ask the White House and the establishment media.
Case in point: go ahead and try to wrap your mind around thesecomments President Obama made before the United Nations General Assembly earlier today:
War on war will get us peace upon peace?
So…war is peace.
(If you haven’t figured out by now that we’re living in George Orwell’s1984, I’m not sure how much more obvious it will have to get.)
The Pentagon said the US and its Arab allies are launching more airstrikes into Syria against Islamic State militants.
Pentagon spokesman Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby told CNN Wednesday that US and coalition forces hit 12 targets, including oil refineries that were providing up to $2 million a day in income to the Islamic State group.
Pentagon officials told AFP that aircraft from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates took part in the latest round of US-led bombing raids against Islamic State jihadists in Syria.
The strikes are a continuation of the broader military campaign that began Monday against the militant group. Four Arab nations — Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and United Arab Emirates — participated in those strikes, and Qatar supported the attacks.
The Pentagon released no details on the strikes, but said the operation was continuing.
As of Tuesday, according to US Central Command, the US had conducted airstrikes that hit at least 20 locations in Syria. Combat aircraft flew 64 sorties.
Israel Says Iran Used Military Site For Nuclear Detonation Testing
Israel said on Wednesday that Iran has used its Parchin military base as the site for secret tests of technology that could be used only for detonating a nuclear weapon.
The Jewish state has been a severe critic of six big powers' negotiations with Iran on restraining its nuclear program, suspecting Tehran is only trying to buy time to master sensitive nuclear know-how and would evade the terms of any final deal.
A statement from Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz, issued a day before Iranian President Hassan Rouhani - the architect of Tehran's diplomacy with the big powers - was to address the UN General Assembly, said internal neutron sources such as uranium were used in nuclear implosion tests at Parchin.
Israel, his statement said, based its information on "highly reliable information," without elaborating.
Israel, his statement said, based its information on "highly reliable information," without elaborating.
"It is important to emphasize that these kinds of tests can have no 'dual use' explanation, since the only possible purpose of such internal neutron sources is to ignite the nuclear chain reaction in nuclear weapons," the Israeli statement said.
Steinitz's intervention on the alleged Parchin tests issue came against a backdrop of sharp Israeli criticism of the powers' strategy of seeking to remove the risks posed by Iran's nuclear program through negotiations.
In an interview published on Wednesday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he was "worried ... (by) signs that the powers will agree to accept Iran as a nuclear threshold state."
Israel has said it would better to tighten isolating international sanctions against Iran, rather than loosen some of them as has been done as part of the interim deal. The Jewish state has also threatened to bomb the nuclear installations of its arch-enemy if it deems the negotiations ultimately futile.
In an interview published on Wednesday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he was "worried ... (by) signs that the powers will agree to accept Iran as a nuclear threshold state."
Israel has said it would better to tighten isolating international sanctions against Iran, rather than loosen some of them as has been done as part of the interim deal. The Jewish state has also threatened to bomb the nuclear installations of its arch-enemy if it deems the negotiations ultimately futile.
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