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Daniel McAdams

They Just Can't Stop It: US Planning New Rebel Training Program For Syria

After innumerable failed schemes to train rebels to overthrow the Syrian government (and then training more rebels to take on the rebels they had previously trained who went over to ISIS and al-Qaeda), the US appears to be on the verge of launching yet another regime-change rebel training operation. According to the Wall Street Journal, the US is considering adopting a Turkey-originated plan to create an Arab fighting force in northern Syria to seal up the border and -- more importantly -- to counter the increasing influence and power of Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in the area.

Once considered proxy US boots on the ground, the YPG has always been feared and loathed by the Turks. Now, they may become victims of their own success if the new plan is implemented. The new US-created group would be tasked with limiting Kurdish advances in northern Syria which would in turn appease the Turks, who have long been more worried about the Kurds than ISIS.
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Delusional State Dept: 'We Brought Peace to Syria in 2015'

This gem from over the holidays may have passed under your radar screens. In the final State Department press conference for 2015, spokesperson John Kirby outlined the Department's "pivotal foreign policy moments of 2015." To be fair, some achievements warranted a mention by Foggy Bottom: re-establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba and finalizing the Iran deal are two bright spots in the otherwise foul witches brew called "US foreign policy 2015."

However in amongst taking credit for eliminating ebola and saving the Arctic from global warming, Spokesman Kirby let loose with this zinger -- an "achievement" called, "Bringing Peace, Security to Syria."
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White House Schizophrenia - Kerry: 'Assad Can Stay'; Obama: 'Assad Must Go'

Just three days ago, emerging from Moscow meetings with Russian foreign minister Lavrov and president Putin, US Secretary of State John Kerry signaled a major shift in US foreign policy toward Syria. "The United States and our partners are not seeking so-called regime change," he told the media. The media rightly reported the apparent US about-face as, "Assad can stay."

The shift was seen as paving the way for the adoption of a UN Security Council Resolution calling for a ceasefire and political solution to the nearly five-year old brutal war in Syria. This would not have passed the Security Council, where Russia is a permanent member, if the official US position was still that "Assad must go."
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Prayer Request for Ron Paul's Daughter

Lew Rockwell writes over at LRC:
Lew Rockwell writes at LRC: Ron and Carol’s oldest daughter, Lori Paul Pyeatt, is very sick with cancer. Please pray for her, and for the whole Paul Family.
I would second Lew's request and only add that as a long-time manager at the FREE Foundation, Lori is a valued colleague of ours at the Ron Paul Institute. I would also add on a personal note that Lori has become a big part of our daily life now that the Ron Paul Institute is in Clute, Texas. Her smile and great sense of humor brighten the mornings and we look forward to her quick return to the office.
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After US Bombers Wipe Out Syrian Village, US Will Investigate Itself

Just days after what looks to have been a terror attack in San Bernardino, it is worth remembering that while thankfully rare in the US, such attacks are commonplace in the countries the US seeks to "liberate." Just yesterday, in the Syrian village of al-Khan, US bombers wiped out at least 36 civilians as they hit the center of the village.
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Why is Turkey Not in Hot Water?

By any estimate, Turkey should be in hot water today. First, after violating Greek airspace thousands of times per year, after routinely violating Syrian airspace and territory in support of jihadists seeking to overthrow the government, Turkish President Racep Erdogan decided to shoot down a Russian SU-24 that may or may not have veered into Turkish airspace for a maximum of 17 seconds. In order to carry out such an operation, it is clear that the Turkish F-16s would have had to be lying in wait to ambush the Russians. Fellow NATO allies are trying to make supportive sounds, but behind the scenes we hear there is much grumbling over such an astonishingly reckless act. After all, the Russians were not attacking Turkey they were attacking jihadists in Syria. That could not be considered an assault on Turkish interests...unless of course Turkish interests are in backing the jihadists.
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Escalation! Two Russian Aircraft Downed in Syria!

In a sudden and dramatic escalation of the Syria conflict, two Russian aircraft -- a SU-24 fighter jet and a rescue helicopter -- have been downed in Syria. The fighter was shot down by the Turkish military after it claimed an airspace violation, and the rescue helicopter was reportedly shot down by US-backed rebels with US-made and supplied TOW missiles. 

The Turks claim the Russian fighter had ventured over Turkish airspace and that it had been warned ten times in five minutes before it was shot down by two US-made F-16 fighters. For its part, the Russian defense ministry denies any Turkish airspace violation and claims it can prove there was no violation. The Russian fighter crashed in Syrian territory and reports suggest at least one pilot is dead. The other may have been captured or killed by US-backed rebels in the area. 

Turkey has released what it claims is radar depiction of the Russian jet's airspace violation, though as Zero Hedge notes even if accurate it raises the question of how the Russian fighter could have been over Turkish airspace for the five minutes claimed by the Turk side.
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Who's Making A Killing From the Paris Terror Attacks?

Terrorism is great for business if you're in the business of growing the government leviathan. The bodies in Paris are not yet buried, while the vultures with dollar signs (and pounds and Euros, etc) in their eyes have already swooped down for a feast.

Terrorism, what is it good for?

1) The military-industrial-Congressional complex: Thanks to Glenn Greenwald for bringing to light the enormous profits that are already rolling in for the merchants of death as Paris still smolders. As Greenwald points out, the markets could hardly wait to start buying from these military suppliers...
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Is Israel Bombing Syrian Military to Benefit ISIS Near Lebanon?

The neoconservative Washington Free Beacon is reporting that the Israeli air force has attacked a Syrian government-controlled missile base near Syria's border with Lebanon. The Beacon cites a pro-rebel website that claims:
Israeli planes breached Lebanese and Syrian airspace and bombed the Syrian regime’s 155th Brigade [base] in the Qutayfa area, destroying a number of missile warehouses.
If the report is accurate it would suggest that Israel is attacking military facilities of the Syrian government to the benefit of ISIS and the al-Qaeda franchise in Syria, at least according to the latest battle map released by the Institute for the Study of War (when coordinated with a Google map search for Qutayfah, Syria).
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Iraq to Washington: We Don't Want Your Troops

What a difference a day makes. Just 24 hours ago US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter was telling the Senate Armed Services Committee all about the Obama Administration's new military strategy for the Middle East. The headline grabber from his testimony was the revelation that the US military would begin "direct action on the ground" in Iraq and Syria. 

"We won’t hold back from supporting capable partners in opportunistic attacks against ISIL (ISIS)," he told the Committee. The new strategy would consist of "three R's," he said: more US action, including on the ground, with Syrian opposition "partners" to take ISIS stronghold in Raqqa, Syria; more intense cooperation with the Iraqi army including with US-embedded soldiers to retake Ramadi from ISIS in Iraq; and the beginning of US military raids, "whether by strikes from the air or direct action on the ground.”
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