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

He's been exceedingly successful, Bonny.  Look at all those millions he has earned out of it.

Oh, apologies.  No, he has failed in the worst of ways.

http://news.sky.com/story/1450372/islamists-capture-syrian-airmen-after-crash

Islamists Capture Syrian Airmen After Crash
One airman is feared dead and another four are being held captive after crashing in an area controlled by rebel fighters.

slamist rebels have reportedly captured four Syrian government airmen after their helicopter crashed in a rebel-held area in the northwest of the country.

According to the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, two of the servicemen are being held by the al Qaeda-affiliated group al Nusra Front.

Another two were captured by an unknown Islamist group, he said.

A fifth airman survived the crash, but was reportedly killed by his captors, while the fate of a suspected sixth airman is unknown, he added.

The plane is reported to have crashed some some six miles north of the town of Maarat al Numan in Idlib province, which is an al Nusra Front bastion.

......full story at link.

Chickenhawk John McCain proudly posing with Al-Nusrah:

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

John McCain Says Al Nusra are moderate Muslims

No doubt McCain's chums will patch the Syrian airmen up and return them safely to their families? No?

Do they seriously believe this themselves?

Lily, I am quite beyond knowing what goes through the mind of just about anyone in Washington these days. A few brave souls still seem to be clinging onto sanity - and decency - but as for the rest.....

We all need for ourselves and future generations, politicians elected to be of good honest, decent, moral fiber.   I wish for the world that we could start there immediately.  

The services of the McCains, Obamas,  et al of this world would be no longer of use.

Let us not forget the Clintons, financed not only by the Saudis, but as has just been revealed, assorted Ukrainian kleptomaniac oligarchs. Who are now all fighting amongst themselves, but that's another story....

I know, Bonny.  Everywhere we turn there are greedy politicians with their hands out to line their pockets.

Then they lie about anything that might possibly incriminate them in their stupid belief that they are above the law.

It wouldn't be so bad if it was just at the old level of corruption, Lily, but this corruption is causing wars, and getting innocent people killed in their thousands.

I know, Bonny.  It's not enough any more.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-03-25/another-middle-east-war-breaks-out-saudi-arabia-begins-bombing-yemen


To summarize: Saudi Arabia is now bombing a rebel force that has been armed by the US and is backed by Iran, even as the US is bombing an enemy of Iran in Iraq with the blessing of Saudi Arabia.

All in a day's work in the Middle East.

That just about sums it up. And from what I saw, the 'rebel positions' the Saudis bombed were actually those mud-built tenements so common in Yemen.

In other words, civilians. As usual.

What happened to the days when soldiers fought other soldiers, instead of using technology to slaughter non-combatants from a safe distance?

Same link:



Yemen being Freedumbed.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/white-house-u.s.-successful-in-yemen/article/2562026

A White House spokesman said American efforts in Yemen are a "template that has succeeded," even as President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi was forced to flee the country by boat.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Wednesday said that the U.S. still had Yemeni extremists in its crosshairs.

According to media reports, Hadi fled the presidential palace in Yemen as rebels attempted an armed takeover of the city of Aden.

Earnest told reporters that U.S. officials were not aware of Hadi's destination but insisted that American officials still had a level of control over the chaotic situation.

"We have the ability to continue to apply pressure on the extremists," Earnest told reporters. "They are still in the crosshairs of U.S. security forces."

The turmoil in Yemen is particularly problematic for the White House, as President Obama has repeatedly cited the country as a model for his counterterrorism strategy.


I've got a suggestion for Washington. Why not stop meddling in every single nation on earth? Not a single one has been made in the slightest bit better for more than five decades; they're all been ruined at a staggering cost to human life.

The death toll from Freedumbing is approaching levels Hitler or Stalin would be proud of - and then Washington wonders why they're hated.

No problem with what you say, Bonny.

This one seems minor, but could turn into a really, really bad one, very quickly.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-03-26/saudi-arabia-imposes-naval-blockade-red-sea-strait-deploys-150000-troops-iran-condem

And since to Saudi Arabia preserving the logistics of oil supply is critical, it is hardly surprising that as Egypt's Ahram Gate reported earlier, the Saudi-led Firmness Storm coalition imposed a naval blockade on Bab El-Mandab strait earlier today. The Saudi navy's western fleet has also secured Yemen's main ports including Aden and Midi.


It is not just Saudi Arabia: moments ago Reuters reported that four Egyptian naval vessels have crossed the Suez Canal en route to Yemen to secure the Gulf of Aden, maritime sources at the Suez Canal said on Thursday. The sources said they expected the vessels to reach the Red Sea by Thursday evening.

I'm old enough to remember the British Army being chased out of Aden, and they didn't rely on bombing peasants from a great height.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-03-26/futures-tumble-yemen-war-starts-oil-surges


In a somewhat surprising turn of events, this morning's futures reaction to last night's shocking start of a completely unexpected Yemen proxy war, which has seen an alliance of Gulf State launch an air, and soon land, war against Yemen's Houthi rebels, is what one would expect: down, and down big.

http://rt.com/news/244185-yemen-conflict-gulf-rebels/

I am sure it will come as no surprise to anyone that the 'pinpoint air strikes' have, as usual, killed one or two possible rebels, and rather a lot of civilians, including children, and are, as usual, little more accurate than dropping bombs out out of a Lancaster.

This has, naturally, annoyed the locals greatly, and increased support for the rebels.

No-one should have any illusions about the reason behind this Freedumbing; it's because Aden controls the entrance to the Red Sea and Suez Canal, just as it did when the Brits were there. Though at least the Brits fought on the ground, not by indiscriminate bombing.

The general consensus is that if the Saudis sent in ground troops, they will get their asses kicked, as the pretty boys are more used to harem-guarding than actual fighting.

Oh, and questions are being asked as to why it's OK for the Saudis to attack a sovereign state to 'restore stability' - hypocrisy, much?

The Iranian view of events in Yemen:

http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/03/28/403679/Saudi-invasion-of-Yemen-doomed

A senior Iranian lawmaker has lashed out at Saudi Arabia for its airstrikes against Yemen, saying such attacks will fail dismally.

“Saudi Arabia’s policies in the region have failed," said the chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of Iran’s Parliament (Majlis), Alaeddin Boroujerdi, adding that the Saudi war in Yemen "has no logic."

“Saudi Arabia’s military strike [on Yemen] is considered as a blatant violation of international regulations, and this aggression is a breach of Yemen's sovereignty as a member of the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC),” he told reporters on Saturday.

Boroujerdi further said that Saudi Arabia has upheld an "arrogant approach" to regional states including Yemen and resorted to all means in imposing its policies on Sana’a, but has failed to achieve its objectives.

The Iranian legislator emphasized that Saudi Arabia and the coalition it has formed will fail to defeat "the brave Yemeni people," and said the consequences of Riyadh’s offensive against its neighbor would haunt the kingdom for years to come.

Yemen has witnessed deadly Saudi-led air raids against the Houthi Ansarullah movement since March 26.

The Al Saud regime’s aerial attacks are aimed at restoring fugitive president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh and the West, to power. This is while the Houthis say Hadi lost his legitimacy as the president after escaping the capital, Sana’a, to Aden on February 21.

In January, the Yemeni leader and the cabinet of Prime Minister Khaled Bahah stepped down and refused to reconsider the decision despite calls by the Ansarullah movement. However, the parliament rejected the resignation.

The Riyadh regime’s violation of Yemen’s sovereignty comes against a backdrop of total silence on the part of international bodies, especially the United Nations. The world body has so far failed to show any reaction in the face of the Saudi-led invasion.

Reports say at least 40 civilians have so far lost their lives in the Saudi-led war on Yemen.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/03/30/assad-open-to-negotiations-with-us-isis-strengthening-despite-airstrikes/

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Sunday that he’s "open" to negotiations with the United States and that airstrikes conducted by a U.S.-led coalition in the region are not defeating the Islamic State terror group.

“We didn’t attack the American population. We didn’t support terrorists who did anything in the United States,” Assad told CBS’ "60 Minutes." "We always wanted to have good relation with the United States. We never thought in the other direction.”

Assad was reacting to comments made earlier this month by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in which Kerry said Washington was "working very hard with other interested parties to see if we can reignite a diplomatic outcome ... Because everyone agrees there is no military solution. There is only a political solution."

Assad has presided over Syria during a devastating civil war that has lasted for four years, claimed over 200,000 lives, and seen the rise of jihadist groups like Islamic State, or ISIS. The Obama administration has repeatedly insisted that any solution to the conflict would involve Assad's removal from power.

Assad repeated his denial that the Syrian Army has been responsible for thousands of civilian casualties through the use of chemical weapons such as chlorine gas, as well as so-called "barrel bombs." He called the claims by activists "part of the malicious propaganda against Syria."

The Syrian leader said that his government has had no direct contact with U.S. officials, but noted, "As principle, in Syria we could say that every dialogue is a positive thing, and we are going to be open to any dialogue with anyone, including the United States, regarding anything based on mutual respect."

However, Assad refused to countenance the idea of stepping down at the insistence of the U.S., saying "This is not their business. We have Syrian citizens who can decide this. No one else." He said he would step down "when I don't have public support. When I don't represent the Syrian interests and values."

When asked why the West questions his legitimacy as president, Assad said the West is used to having “puppets” and “not independent leaders, or officials in any other country.”

More at link.

I suppose it's a good sign that Fox has actually published something resembling the truth for once.

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/31/world/yemen-crisis/index.html

'Disturbing' reports of civilian casualties in Yemen, Red Cross says
By Nic Robertson and Jason Hanna, CNN
Updated 1215 GMT (1915 HKT) March 31, 2015
(CNN)Intense fighting in Yemen has brought "disturbing reports of civilian casualties," the International Committee of the Red Cross said Tuesday after nearly a week of Saudi-led airstrikes against rebels in the Middle Eastern country.

The ICRC said levels of fighting were especially high in and near the southern port city of Aden. The organization said it was focused on getting medical supplies into Yemen and helping to ensure hospitals stayed open.

"Every effort must be made to protect civilian life and property from attacks," the ICRC said.

The Red Cross didn't specify whether the violence involved airstrikes. A Saudi-led coalition of nine countries started airstrikes last week against Shiite Houthi rebels, who had captured key parts of Yemen and ousted that country's President.

The Houthis, who gradually took control of the capital, Sanaa, from September to January, advanced with military allies toward Aden earlier this month, sparking battles between them and military forces loyal to Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi.

And who else, pray tell, did they think was getting killed other than civilians, as usual? Did they actually believe all the bullsh*t about Our Gallant Saudi Allies and 'accurate' bomb strikes?

They're NEVER accurate and it is ALWAYS civilians.

A round-up of what Saudi is actually doing here:

http://www.infowars.com/saudis-committing-war-crimes-in-yemen-as-war-on-shia-houthi-continues/

According to news reports, the Saudis bombed a refugee camp in at Haradh, killing 40 people, including women and children.

The Independent reports today:

The International Organization for Migration said 40 people were killed and 200 wounded, while Doctors Without Borders said at least 34 injured people were brought to a hospital in Haradh which it supports and a further 29 were dead on arrival.
In addition to targeting civilians, the Saudis are reportedly engaging in other war crimes as they battle the Shia Houthi.

From Albawaba:

Members of the Saudi-led coalition are preventing a plane carrying medical supplies from landing in Sanaa, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross told Reuters on Tuesday.

Anyone that bothers to find out a bit of the background to all this will soon discover that the Saudis are detested in Yemen for very good reasons - like, trying to bully Yemen for decades.

The only saving grace is that (like so many of Our Gallant Allies these days) Saudi may be great at bombing refugee camps, but their troops are rubbish at actually fighting armed men that shoot back.

Photos from an Iranian source of what Saudi Arabia and others of Our Gallant Allies have really been bombing in Yemen:

http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/04/01/404210/Over-140-Yemenis-killed-in-Saudi-raids

Saudi aggression against Yemen in photos

Sample:



Yup, they really showed those cars who's the boss!

Why is there no outcry at the UN about this? Oh wait, I know.....the West is backing the bombing. Despite the fact that the Houthis, who overthrew the puppet government, have been fighting AGAINST Al Quaeda and other terrorist groups.

Ah, the UN has now noticed what is going on:


In New York, the UN said late on Tuesday that at least 62 children had been killed and 30 wounded in fighting over the past week, and that an attack on a refugee camp in northern Yemen, which medics blamed on an air strike, broke international law.

Was listening to the talking heads yesterday.  Horrible!

Just stop and think for one minute what would have happened if Putin had started bombing Kiev after their legitimate president was overthrown in the Cookie Coup, and announced it was to 'restore stability'. All Hell would have broken loose - but there is barely a word being said about the Saudis doing this.

I did see one of the Fox anchors (who rarely see a bombing campaign they don't like) puzzling, What are we doing? Why are we fighting people we are supporting elsewhere?

It's totally insane.