Sisi warns of response after Islamic State kills 21 Egyptians in Libya

http://news.sky.com/story/1466525/yemeni-man-saw-family-burn-in-saudi-airstrike

Yemeni Man Saw Family Burn In Saudi Airstrike
Sky News meets Mohamed, who says there is "no point continuing" after he lost eight relatives to the violence engulfing Yemen.

More than 600 people have been killed in Yemen in the past three weeks as a result of airstrikes and ground fighting, over half of them civilians including 74 children, according to the United Nations.

Our cameraman, Abd Rabu Al Hushaishi, travelled to the village of Yarim, 150km south of Yemen's capital Sana'a, to see Mohamed Al Ammari.

Mohamed, 32, lost seven members of his family when an airstrike hit a fuel truck next to his house.

In just a few minutes his daughter, two brothers and their children died. The pain of watching them burn to death was too much for him to describe.

Now what was once his home is filled with charred belongings and the blood stains of his relatives on the walls and carpet.

"The Saudi plane hit it (the fuel truck) with a missile, which led to these homes being burned as well as the people who were sleeping in their beds. It was 2.30am," Mohamed told Sky News.

"They were targeting areas with weapons, but there were no weapons," he insists.

Mohamed says he can't stop thinking about his family: "It's a miserable life without them," he says.

"There's no point continuing our days, you wake up in the morning and you hope that God makes this day your last. "

The next morning Mohamed headed to Sana'a to visit his uncle, one of the only relatives that survived the strikes. Our cameraman went with him but by the time Mohamed got there, it was too late - his uncle had died of his wounds just an hour before.

With thousands wounded since the Saudi-led campaign against Houthi fighters began, hospitals around the country are struggling.

Vital medicine is running low and with limited aid arriving because of the naval and air blockade, the head of medical supplies at this hospital says they can no longer treat all the patients.

According to the head of medical supplies at Sana'a airport, Mohamed Mansour, "there is no more stock of emergency medicine and anaesthetic medicine".

It is not just medicine that is in short supply, the price of fuel has quadrupled since the airstrikes and fighting began. Despite that and the risk of being outside, people queue for hours to fill up their cars and generators.

Some 112,000 people have been forced to flee their homes. according to the UN. Power and water supplies are now running dangerously low.

Even before the latest crisis almost half of Yemen's population, more than 10 million people, were going hungry every day.

The poorest Arab country is under attack from the richest. Whatever the politics, it is clear it is ordinary people like Mohamed bearing the brunt of this war.

As Mohamed put it: "Inside me there's a sea of pain that will not end as long as I live, tragedies and wounds, things I will suffer from my entire life."

==========

The poorest Arab country is under attack from the richest.

With the blessings of Washington and Whitehall.

Of course, Bonny.  

http://rt.com/news/253001-yemen-evacuation-russia-us/

The lack of clarity over the evacuation of US citizens from Yemen continues, as more Americans are lifted from the warzone by Russian planes. A relieved family of 10 spoke to RT amid Washington’s continuing inaction.

While it continues to say it’s too risky to evacuate its own, one American told RT of his disbelief at his government’s inaction to get his family to safety. A Russian rescue plane on Friday reunited them at New York’s JFK Airport.

“I really got lucky with Russia. It was a three-hour notice, I was contacted by them and they said they will provide a plane,” Khaled Alamari told RT in the arrivals hall, describing the trauma his children had faced amid the constant fighting and explosions. One of his daughters lost nearly half her body weight, the Yemeni-American adds.

The US State Department says it has been issuing guidelines for US citizens stuck in Yemen on how to leave the war-torn country, but the Americans evacuated by Russian planes say they haven't heard a word.

Meanwhile, the online help system the US government has set up is being lauded by spokeswoman Marie Harf, who advises the stranded people to sign up and “stay in touch” for news through email and text messages.


Yes, I am sure txt messages from the State Department are a great comfort when US's Gallant Allies the Saudis are dropping bombs on your head.

Isn't Obama in the least bit embarrassed by American citizens being rescued - from a war started by US allies - by Russia and others?

Even Somalia has got its nationals out, but not America, despite it being, as one of the rescued-by-Russia points out

“This is the most powerful country in the world…”

It obviously isn't, if all it can do is send txt messages.

http://www.infowars.com/in-iraq-isis-is-winning-and-the-united-states-is-losing/

IN IRAQ, ISIS IS WINNING AND THE UNITED STATES IS LOSING
Whatever the U.S. military accomplished during that war is being completely undone by ISIS

That's a good piece on the ongoing disaster in the Middle East.

Have bookmarked it Bonny, with thanks.   The US have been on the losing side before........

This is just about the worst, Lily. Think of all those young servicemen and women, killed and maimed, the hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis, left with a ruined nation - all for absolutely nothing.

Bonny, we know that  war is outrageously profitable to a few people.  They can make money from both sides too.

To hell with everyone else.  

Our Gallant Allies, the Saudis, take time off from advertising for new executioners and headsmen to drop a few more bombs on Yemeni civilians. One family had a lucky escape:

http://rt.com/news/260237-saudi-bomb-yemen-civilians/



Don't know what they're complaining about, that's a White House approved, Freedum-loving unexploded bomb they've got lying on what was their sofa.

Sigh.............

http://news.sky.com/story/1487671/al-qaeda-application-form-requests-next-of-kin

An al Qaeda recruitment form is among a trove of documents released by US intelligence officials from the 2011 Pakistan raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

The document begins like any other form-filling exercise for a would-be hire to a professional organisation, asking candidates to "Please enter the required information accurately and truthfully."

Applicants are advised to "write clearly and legibly" and submit their "name, age, marital status."

But it soon poses questions revealing a more sinister purpose, including, "Do you wish to execute a suicide operation?"

"Who should we contact in case you become a martyr?" it also asks.

The declassified documents also show that Bin Laden was an avid reader of conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks he masterminded, as well as the Illuminati...etc


I don't think I can quite process the idea of Bin Laden being a conspiraloon....and WHY was he reading them? He's supposed to have known what happened.....

It all sounds so strange to me for some reason.  

On the same subject:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-05-21/isis-controlling-more-half-syria-us-alliances-prepares-pounce

Quote from a lengthy piece:

As Reuters also reports in an exclusive piece, Turkey's state intelligence agency helped deliver arms to parts of Syria under Islamist rebel control during late 2013 and early 2014, according to a prosecutor and court testimony from gendarmerie officers seen by Reuters.

As Reuters observes, the witness testimony contradicts Turkey's denials that it sent arms to Syrian rebels and, by extension, contributed to the rise of Islamic State, now a major concern for the NATO member.

In other words, a NATO member and a nation very close to the US, has been instrument in the rise of ISIS. Worse, unlike running speculation that ISIS was created by the CIA and funded by the Saudis, there is now documented evidence that ISIS is indeed a "western" creation.

The Reuters report:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/21/us-mideast-crisis-turkey-arms-idUSKBN0O61L220150521

Related: WORLD, TURKEY, SYRIA
Exclusive: Turkish intelligence helped ship arms to Syrian Islamist rebel areas

And on the subject of State Department documents:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-05-23/secret-pentagon-report-reveals-us-created-isis-tool-overthrow-syrias-president-assad

And while speculation was rife that just like the CIA-funded al Qaeda had been used as a facade by the US to achieve its own geopolitical and national interests over the past two decades, so ISIS was nothing more than al Qaeda 2.0, there was no actual evidence of just this.

That may all have changed now when a declassified secret US government document obtained by the public interest law firm, Judicial Watch, shows that Western governments deliberately allied with al-Qaeda and other Islamist extremist groups to topple Syrian dictator Bashir al-Assad.

According to investigative reporter Nafeez Ahmed in Medium, the "leaked document reveals that in coordination with the Gulf states and Turkey, the West intentionally sponsored violent Islamist groups to destabilize Assad, despite anticipating that doing so could lead to the emergence of an ‘Islamic State’ in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

According to the newly declassified US document, the Pentagon foresaw the likely rise of the ‘Islamic State’ as a direct consequence of the strategy, but described this outcome as a strategic opportunity to “isolate the Syrian regime.”

No surprise to anyone that's been paying attention as this unfolded.

Bigger sigh....

http://news.sky.com/story/1497973/turkish-voters-block-erdogans-push-for-power

Turkey's ruling political party has lost its majority following parliamentary elections – blighting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ambition to secure greater powers.

For the first time since coming to power in 2002, the AK Party will need to form a coalition in order to stay in government.

The incumbents managed to secure 41% of the vote, but this is 10 percentage points down compared to its election result in 2011.

Although President Erdogan did not appear on ballot papers throughout Turkey on Sunday, his hopes of changing the constitution to give his office more responsibility was forefront in the minds of voters.

He would have needed two-thirds of the seats in parliament for this policy to go ahead – or approximately 367 seats – but the AK Party is projected to have just 258 seats following the ballot.

The considerable dent in support came as HDP, a pro-Kurdish party, managed to pass the 10% threshold required to enter parliament for the first time.

There were jubilant scenes in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, as it was revealed the party secured 13% of the vote under proportional representation – bringing them 79 seats and transforming Turkey's parliament into a four-party system.

The HDP's leader, Selahattin Demirtas, told a gathering in Istanbul: "The discussion of an executive presidency and dictatorship has come to an end in Turkey."

Dubbed the "Kurdish Obama" for his charisma and speaking style – and a frequent target of Mr Erdogan during the campaign – Mr Demirtas said the HDP wouldn't form a coalition with the AKP, and would be a "strong and honest opposition" instead.

For Mr Erdogan's party, weeks of challenging coalition talks could lie ahead to try and establish a stable government, as the threat of another election looms large.

His Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, may also now be in a vulnerable position, following his failure to retain the AK Party's majority.

But during an impassioned balcony speech in Ankara, he said: "Everyone should see that the AKP is the winner and leader of these elections. No one should try to build a victory from an election they lost."

Fadi Hakura, a Turkey specialist from London's Chatham House, said: "Erdogan turned the election into a referendum on his personal ambitions. These elections have put his plans on the backburner for a very long time."

Mr Erdogan was criticised for becoming heavily involved in the AKP's campaign, as it contradicted his requirement as head of state to stay neutral and keep out of party politics.

This may, or may not, be good news. While Erdogan's party got the most votes, they can now be out-voted by a coalition of Kurds and the secular Turkish party, which could put a dent on his madder schemes to bring back a neo-Ottoman empire.

Time will tell, as ever.

Let's hope that his neo-Ottoman Empire doesn't get the chance....

He's been involved in some dirty, nasty stuff, Lily, especially with regard to Syria, so I don't see him abandoning his ambitions easily.

Oh he won't, Bonny.  He's too well in with a certain crowd I think?