Interview with Assad

[fiddy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8XL_sJQO7Q

So according to the U.S. and Co. this is the bad guy?

[Draz]

Resembles Mr. Bean

[Dresta]

Yes, unequivocally the most evilest man evar! Stalin pales in comparison; he's soooo evil that he even makes putting up with IS worth the while for these Western 'humanitarians.'

Let's all ignore that Syria was one of the most westernised countries in the region, and one of the few that didn't persecute its religious minorities. Allying ourselves with Erdogan and the Saudis while pretending Assad is so evil as to be beyond the pale - anyone who believes this media-peddled garbage needs to take a good look at their credulity levels.

[Dresta]

And i wish the Americans would just give up trying to dictate things already, and admit they have a much poorer understanding of the region than Russian officials:

About a dozen years ago, the head of a Russian thinktank visited Israel. As head of the National Security Council, I met him, along with several other senior defence officials, and we heard him say that the greatest threat to world peace was Islamic State. True, the name “Isis” wasn’t mentioned then, but the phenomenon that it represents was predicted with astounding accuracy. The Russian official warned about the formation of an Islamic caliphate in Iraq, which was in the process of disintegrating; he warned that this caliphate would try to take control of the Middle East and, from there, would send its long arms northward, via the Islamic former Soviet republics. At the same time, it would try to take advantage of the weakness of the west and would turn its attention to Europe. His conclusion was that Russia, the western powers and Israel shared a common enemy and it was in their utmost interests to join forces to defeat it. I heard similar messages when I met other Russian officials over the years. They also criticised the US’s war in Iraq – which they described as “imbecilic” – and which they said would only accelerate the arrival of a caliphate.

About a year before that meeting with the Russian, I met a senior Turkish official. That was at a time when relations between Jerusalem and Ankara were excellent. At that meeting, the Turkish official spoke openly about his country’s world view. “We know that we cannot get back the lands that were under the control of the Ottoman empire before 1917,” he said, “but do not make the mistake of thinking that the borders that were dictated to us at the end of the first world war by the victorious countries – mainly the UK and France – are acceptable to us. Turkey will find a way to return to its natural borders in the south – the line between Mosul in Iraq and Homs in Syria. That is our natural aspiration and it is justified because of the large Turkmen presence in that region.”

There are three conclusions that we can draw when we examine the current situation in the light of those meetings. First, that Russia predicted long ago the rise of Isis and that Moscow sees the organisation as a major strategic threat. Second, that the Russians are right to expect the west to prioritise the battle against Isis, and leave disagreements over other matters until later. Third, although Turkey is a member of Nato, it is not acting in a way that promotes Nato’s interests. Rather, it is dragging the organisation into a skirmish in order to protect Turkish interests – including attacks on the Kurds, who are the only ones actually fighting Isis on the ground, as well as unnecessarily provoking the Russians. According to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, Turkey is even providing Isis with financial assistance.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentis...-moscow-turkey

And Obama has Rob Malley as his senior advisor on isis, and has people like Victoria Nuland and Samantha Powers in the State Department - what a joke

[NumberSix]

And i wish the Americans would just give up trying to dictate things already, and admit they have a much poorer understanding of the region than Russian officials

No, the United States knew exactly what was going on. Unfortunately, the man in charge didn't give a shit. This is a president that ignored all military and intelligence recommendations. In his immeasurable arrogance, despite being a blank slate, he thought he knew better than everybody who is actually entrenched in these matters. Since then, his administration has doctored all intel on the reality of the situation to suit Obama's fantasy world.

[Derka]

The American people absolutely have a very poor, Western-colored interpretation of that region of the world.

Our elected officials, going back decades now, know exactly how things work over there...they just don't care to actually use that knowledge in their dealings. We've historically tried to dictate to a part of the world that has been a certain way for a couple of millennia now and failed miserably at it.