News Roundup and Notes: September 15, 2015 by Nadia O'Mara
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Before the start of business, Just Security provides a curated summary of up-to-the-minute developments at home and abroad. Here’s today’s news.
IRAQ and SYRIA
Moscow has called for dialogue with Washington on solving the Syria crisis, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov today describing talks between President Obama and President Putin as indispensable. [Reuters]
Russia proposed the removal of Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad as part of a peace deal during back-channel discussions more than three years ago, an offer rejected by western nations, according to a senior negotiator involved in talks at the time. [The Guardian’s Julian Borger and Bastien Inzaurralde]
Russia in Syria. Moscow has sent tanks and artillery to Syria, part of a reported military buildup in support of the Assad regime, US officials say. Tanks and personnel have been deployed to the Syrian airbase near Latakia, a source said. [The Guardian’s Alec Luhn; Reuters’ Phil Stewart]
Pentagon officials expressed concern that Russia intends to turn the Latakia airfield into a major hub for deliveries of military aid, and potentially have it serve as a launching base for airstrikes in support of the Assad regime. [New York Times’ Eric Schmitt and Michael R. Gordon]
In response to reports, the Syrian Ambassador to Moscow denied accusations of a Russian military buildup in the country. [Reuters]
French airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria are “necessary,” according to President François Hollande. France announced its first reconnaissance flights over the country last week in preparation for possible strikes against ISIS there. [France 24]
Two car bomb attacks on a predominantly Kurdish city in northeastern Syria killed 26 people yesterday, according to state-owned news media and activists. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks. One attack targeted a graduation ceremony for Kurdish cadets and the other hit the base of a pro-government militia, the group said. [AP]
Life is unbearable for Syrian civilians who have not fled the conflict, report Maher Samaan and Anne Bernard. [New York Times]
US-led airstrikes continue. The US and coalition military forces carried out seven airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Syria on September 12. Separately, coalition military forces conducted a further 18 strikes on targets in Iraq. [Central Command]
“Death in Syria.” The New York Times hosts a powerful infographic, representing those killed during the four-year civil conflict in dots.
IRAN
The head of the IAEA will visit Iran soon for further talks on the inspection of the country’s nuclear facilities, Iranian state TV reports. A 12 member-team of inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog will also visit. [AP]
The delisting of a powerful conglomerate in Iran, Setad will serve to benefit the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who closely controls the organization. Yeganeh Torbati and Babak Dehghanpisheh provide further details at Reuters.
Alex Shirazi profiles an Iranian expat family that is behind an increasingly influential Iran lobby in Washington, at The Daily Beast.
The Iran nuclear accord has taken center stage in the 2016 presidential debate; Gerald F. Seib provides the details. [Wall Street Journal]
Iran wants China to assist in resolving the crises in the Middle East, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said today. [Reuters]
“The case for deterrence.” Michael Mandelbaum explains how to prevent Iran from achieving a nuclear weapon, at Foreign Affairs.
YEMEN
The Saudi-led coalition has further escalated attacks on Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the central province of Marib, as its forces push closer to Sana’a. [Wall Street Journal’s Asa Fitch and Mohammad Al-Kibsi]
The UN human rights chief has called for the establishment of an independent investigation into violations by Houthi rebels and the Saudi-led coalition during fighting in Yemen. [New York Times’ Nick Cumming-Bruce]
The Guardian editorial board opines that the “heart of the current chaos and misery is the larger reality that Saudi Arabia and Iran have both made Yemen a testing ground for their regional strategic rivalry, against a backdrop in which the United States, the major supplier of arms to the Saudis, is simultaneously attempting a significant thaw in relations with Iran.”
The US drone strike which killed Anwar al-Awlaki “did not silence him,” says journalist Scott Shane, author of a new book on the deceased US-born Imam, in an interview with NPR.
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
Planes and helicopters were used to bomb Mexican tourists and their guides by Egyptian security forces after they were mistaken for terrorists in an attack that killed 12, survivors told Mexican officials. The bombing took place while the group were having a picnic, witnesses said. [Wall Street Journal’s Tamer El-Ghobashy et al; New York Times’ Merna Thomas and David D. Kirkpatrick]
The US appears “confounded” by the cyber threat posed to it by China, reports David E. Sanger, providing further details. [New York Times]
North Korea military capacity. North Korea has restarted its nuclear weapon fuel plants, it announced, adding that it was prepared to use nuclear weapons “any time” against he US. [Washington Post’s Anna Fifield] The BBC explores just how advanced the North’s nuclear program is. And the country stated yesterday that it has plans to put a new satellite into orbit using a rocket which is widely considered to be an international ballistic missile in the making, writes Choe Sang-Hun. [New York Times]
Clashes between Palestinian and Israeli security forces took place for the third day at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque Tuesday, AFP reports.
A State Department review found a months-long gap in the email correspondence of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton; the four month period in which it appeared Clinton sent no emails while in office has since been filled, the government claims. [The Hill’s Julian Hattem]
Nigeria’s government is offering rehabilitation programs to ex-Boko Haram militants at prison complexes as well as providing assistance to women left traumatized by the group, write Drew Hinshaw and Patrick McGroarty. [Wall Street Journal]
A “very powerful” cyberattack targeted the Kremlin website on Sunday, Moscow said yesterday, linking the incident to regional elections. [Reuters] And Russia has taken “alarming” strides to strengthen its air forces since its invasion of Georgia in 2008, a US Air Force general said yesterday, adding that the American military advantage from the air is “shrinking.” [Reuters’ Andrea Shalal]
China is building a “third airstrip” in the South China Sea, according to new satellite images analyzed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies based in Washington. [CNN’s Katie Hunt]
Five World Food Programme vehicles were torched after their capture by gunmen in northern Afghanistan, the latest incident highlighting the risk posed to humanitarian workers in the country, reports Sune Engel Rasmussen. [The Guardian]
Seven people have been sentenced to death in Kuwait for their involvement in the suicide bombing of a Shi’ite mosque which left at least 27 people dead. [BBC]
The US is pushing to bring officers of the Salvadoran Army involved in a 1989 massacre to justice, despite having supported the military regime during much of the civil war that took place from 1979 to 1992. [New York Times’ Jonathan M. Katz]
The Navy will limit its use of certain technologies, including sonar, which inadvertently harm marine mammals off Hawaii and California during training, a settlement with environment groups agreed yesterday. [AP’s Jennifer Sinco Kelleher]
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 РБК |
Bloomberg рассказал о тайных переговорах Москвы о судьбе Башара Асада
РБК О том, что переговоры о возможных условиях ухода от власти Асада ведутся Москвой как минимум с июня, сообщает Bloomberg со ссылкой на дипломатические источники из России, Саудовской Аравии и США, а также на представителей сирийский оппозиции. В июне, когда переговоры ... Bloomberg: Россия ведет переговоры об отстранении АсадаГазета.Ru Bloomberg: Россия ведет тайные переговоры о судьбе Башара АсадаКоммерсантъ СМИ: Россия ведет тайные переговоры о свержении АсадаРосбалт.RU УНИАН -РБК Украина -ЛІГА.net Все похожие статьи: 178 » |
General: 'We Don't Truly Understand' Russia's Plans in Syria
The Weekly Standard (blog) Weekend remarks concerning Russia's current activities in Syria by Gen. Philip Breedlove, commander of U.S. European Command and NATO's supreme allied commander, are far from reassuring. Speaking to reporters after NATO's Military Committee ... and more » |
Элтон Джон в Киеве by SvobodaRadio
Элтон Джон в субботу выступил в Киеве с лекцией о толерантности, а затем встретился с президентом страны Петром Порошенко. Глава государства подарил музыканту футболки с портретами Олега Сенцова, Александра Кольченко и Надежды Савченко. Подробности в репортаже Рейтер. Рассказывает Артем Сторонов.
Ссылка на источник - http://www.svoboda.org/media/video/27246881.html
EU Extends Russia Sanctions Over Ukraine Crisisby webdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press)
The European Union has extended by six months a visa ban and asset freeze targeting several close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin and others involved in Russia's annexation of Crimea and other territorial disputes in Ukraine. The EU said Monday that the "assessment of the situation did not justify a change in the regime of sanctions" under which 149 people and 37 entities are currently listed. The 28-nation EU has coordinated its sanctions in close cooperation with Washington. The extension came amid continued unrest in eastern Ukraine throughout the year. Despite a cease-fire declared in February, both Ukrainian troops and the Russia-backed separatists carried out regular artillery strikes until they pledged anew to implement the truce from Sept. 1.
Russian Regionalism ‘a Cultural Revolution’ from Which Political Change Will Come, Shtepa Saysby paul goble (noreply@blogger.com)
Paul Goble
Staunton, September 14 – “Regionalism in the first instance is a cultural revolution which changes consciousness;” and politics, when it eventually reemerges in Russia, will be “only the result of these changes,” according to Vadim Shtepa, one of Russia’s leading advocates of regionalism says.
“Many now faceless and indistinguishable Russian regions are having to work literally ‘from nothing,” he continues, because they have been so unified by the hypercentralized imperial system. But they are making strides in that direction and in ways that many do not see as politically relevant (rufabula.com/articles/2015/09/11/the-future-has-not-come-yet).
What they are doing, Shtepa says, is creating their “own unique brands,” a step some might be inclined to dismiss as “simply a fashionable hobby” but in fact it is becoming “an economic necessity of the era of glocalization” and especially important it is a step that many are taking without regard to the opinions of those in power today.
Shtepa makes his point in the following way. He suggests that too many people talking about the future of Russia do so without a clear understanding of either reality or possibilities. If Russia fell apart tomorrow “on the model of the USSR into 85 independent states, this would represent not the establishment of really new countries but the division of the imperial amoeba.”
That is because, he says, how could anyone divide much “the paternalistic political consciousness which dominates everywhere?” What you would get, he suggests, would be analogous “not to the Baltic countries but to the Central Asian khanates, only the place of the Kremlin tsar would be taken by some local ‘Turkmenbashi.’”
But such a variant is highly improbable given that none of the current governors has an independent political base. Instead, all have been named by the Kremlin. And building regional identities based on ethnocratic principles, Shtepa suggests, are also highly doubtful, given the globalization and glocalization sweeping the world.
One thing all such improbable predictions have in common is an assumption that Russians can and do participate in politics. That is untrue for all but the very highest figures of the regime. Real politics for everyone else does not exist, and consequently, thinking in political terms about the future gets in the way of understanding.
“When politics returns, this will immediately be clear to everyone,” but even before it does, certain basic principles of what this politics will look like can be described. One o fthem is the impact of glocalizaiton, “the dialectic synthesis of the global and the local,” in which regions become players because they are interested in attracting resources from elsewhere.
To understand these processes, one needs a very different political consciousness than the one cultivated by the imperial “’power vertical.’” And one needs to recognize that the advantages that glocalization can bring will happen only when the de-imperialization of Russia leads to “the liquidation of Moscow hypercentralism.”
Moscow is both a perpetator and a victim of this hypercentralization, Shtepa says. It is a both because the Bolsheviks made it the center of all things and allowed it to homogenize others but in the process destroyed “the historical Moscow identity” (forbes.ru/mneniya-column/tsennosti/298897-epokha-plitki-v-chem-politicheskii-smysl-blagoustroistva-moskvy).
“The de-imperialization of Russia is in the first instance economic decentralization, and only in this case will Moscow have the chance to preserve its urban identity.” One thing this may involve is a change in names. A decade or so ago, the word “Ingriya” seemed “exotic” to many, but not is has become “a recognized and inalienable element of the urban political landscape” in St. Petersburg.
That is because, Shtepa says, “the Intermanlanders organically combined the megalopolis and its surroundings, local mythology and contemporary culture.” It is “unfortunate” that Moscow has not yet found a way to do something similar: instead, its residents “identify themselves with the imperial capital.”
Twenty-five years ago, Mikhail Epshtein wrote what is “a prophetic essay about the future [and multiple] ‘Russian republics.” (printed in Na granitsakh kultur (New York: Slovo, 1995; available online at kitezh.onego.ru/o_ros.html. His argument wasn’t understood because both Russian liberals and Russian patriots were “imperial centralists.)
Epshtein’s point was simple and profound, Shtepa suggests. If one looks back in time, one sees that in pre-Horde times, there was an extremely varied and complex “map of Russian principalities and many-faced Russian lands. Russia [in fact] initially was born as a community of Russias, as something more than one country.”
“Imperial propagandists present [today’s recovery of] this regional differentiation in the darkest colors as if it would inevitably lead to unending ‘fratricidal’ wars. In reality, however, Russia’s regions don’t have anything to divide among themselves. They have only one opponent – the oppressive single imperial ‘vertical’ that steals from them all.”
And “among themselves, they easily will find a common language and establish direct and equal ties.” As for the empire, it “can rule only as long as it divides the regions among themselves and interferes with their independent mutual interaction.” In a globalized and glocalized world, the empire’s task is ever more impossible to carry out.
“In more developed countries, they understand this dialectic,” Shtepa says, noting that “each of Japan’s 47 prefectures actively pushes its local brands, making them recognizeable throughout the country and abroad.” But unfortunately, for the time being at least, Russia is not among those who do.
“A new politics will arise only there where there is a powerful cultural background,” he continues. “Until the middle of the 19th ce ntury, Finnish consciousness was quite provincial, suppressed by two neighboring empires, Sweden and Russia.” But then its leaders many of whom weren’t even Finns “created a contemporary and independent Finnish national culture.”
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Russian president honours homophobic MP who drafted the 2013 Russian law banning "gay propaganda"
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No End in Sight for Syria Warby webdesk@voanews.com (Jamie Dettmer)
In the immediate wake of the Iran nuclear deal there was a flurry of diplomacy involving Washington, Moscow and Tehran with talk that the time might be right to hammer out an agreement to end Syria’s four-year-long civil war. But with renewed commitments from Iran and Russia to shore up President Bashar al-Assad there seems no end in sight for the ruinous war of attrition that has left an estimated 240,000 people dead. No one is budging their hard-held positions inside or outside Syria, despite the recognition by most parties involved that defeating the extremists of the Islamic State should be among the highest priorities — and that is unlikely to happen while the civil war rages. Last month, the U.N. Security Council backed a new push for peace in Syria in a measure adopted by Damascus' ally Russia and the other 14 member states, marking the first time in two years that the council had agreed on a political statement on Syria. The 16-point plan drafted by France included a call for the “establishment of an inclusive transitional governing body with full executive powers, which shall be formed on the basis of mutual consent while ensuring continuity of governmental institutions.” For the West the mounting refugee crisis roiling Europe has added urgency to the search for some kind of resolution to the barbaric conflict. Over the weekend Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier pushed “for a new diplomatic initiative” in talks with his Russian counterpart, according to his spokesman Martin Schäfer. Schäfer says the Syrian conflict is of mounting concern “due to the increasing amount of human suffering and need of refugees from the region who are trying to seek asylum here [in Germany] or elsewhere.” Speaking to the BBC Monday, Gen. John Allen, President Obama’s envoy for the U.S.-led coalition combating IS, said the key to solving the refugee crisis is ending the war in Syria. “This instability has been created by Bashar al-Assad and that regime. He ultimately chose to make war on his own people. That ultimately created the crisis that we face today,” he said. Allen said not only has IS to be defeated but President Assad “had to go.” But Allen appeared to hint the broader civil war in Syria will be ended not by military means and the clash of arms. “The conflict has got to be solved at a political level and a global level,” he said. That some kind of political deal signed on to by the Assad government, the variegated opposition battling him with a dizzying array of rebel factions and their foreign backers will be a tall order. Last week, a key foreign supporter of the Syrian government, Iran, which has shored up President Assad with billions of dollars worth of arms, fuel and loans as well as thousands of proxy fighters, indicated it is not ready to agree that Assad should go, the bedrock demand for all rebel groups. “Those who set conditions about the Syrian president should be blamed for the continued war,” Iran’s foreign minister, Javad Zarif, said on September 7. A day later Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told a news conference in Tehran that he is willing to sit down with Iran’s international rivals, including adversary Saudi Arabia, to discuss the crisis in Syria. But he emphasized there could be no debate about the future of President Assad until peace is achieved. Yet as far as the insurgents are concerned, peace can’t be achieved without Assad going. Russia’s commitment to Assad is also steadfast. Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, has dubbed the demand for Assad to go “unrealistic and counterproductive.” And with Russia in the past few weeks abruptly upping its support for the Syrian government, adding to a constant flow of weapons, intelligence and technical aid by air and sea, the prospects for some kind of diplomatic breakthrough have dimmed. The rate of ships docking at Russia’s naval depot in the Syrian port of Tartus has grown in what U.S. officials complain amounts to a military buildup. On Sunday, Foreign Minister Lavrov said the military supplies are “ongoing and they will continue,” according to Russian news agencies. But he dismissed U.S. accusations that Russia has started to rotate in and out highly trained infantry, saying the supplies are “inevitably accompanied by Russian specialists, who help to adjust the equipment, to train Syrian personnel how to use these weaponry.” Lavrov said the military aid is to help combat the jihadists of IS rather than the rebels — a claim dismissed by Western officials, who say the aid helps Assad survive. Meanwhile, the U.N.’s special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, has been shuttling across the Middle East and Europe to try to create the circumstances for a negotiated political settlement. His earlier initiative pushing for local cease-fires to help build up trust is now dead, U.S. officials told VOA. And as the search for peace drifts, the refugee influx is likely to grow as ordinary Syrians despair of any conclusion to the conflict, warn Syrian rebel leaders. “Those fleeing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis see no prospect of improvement,” says Bassam Abdullah, representative to Germany of the Syrian Coalition, a Western-backed opposition group. “Syrians are by far the largest group embarking on the perilous journey to seek asylum in Europe. There is good reason for this. For the past four years Syrians have endured a crippling conflict that has seen the use of chemical weapons against civilians, a growing extremist threat, and daily bombardment of innocent people,” he added.
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Trump Braces for Attacks in Second Republican Debateby webdesk@voanews.com (Jim Malone)
Republican presidential contenders gather Wednesday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California for their second nationally-televised debate — this one to be broadcast by CNN. A total of 11 candidates will be on stage this time, including the current frontrunner, real estate mogul Donald Trump. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has a preview from Washington.
Why Russian Propaganda Links Chechen Militants, IS, And Assad's Coastal Strongholdby support@pangea-cms.com (Joanna Paraszczuk)
Amid reports that Russian forces are expanding a military airport in Syria's coastal province of Latakia, Life News, a Russian website with links to the security services, carried a story that appears to set the scene for these developments.
Mirror.co.uk |
Russia trolls David Cameron over Jeremy Corbyn 'security threat' message
Mirror.co.uk Among the countless Tweets mocking Cameron's over-the-top warning about Labour being a 'security threat' was one from the Russian Embassy. They said: "Just imagine UK media headlines if Russian President called a leading opposition party threat to ... and more » |
Fox News |
Analysis: Russia takes gamble in Syria, ramping up military involvement in ...
Fox News FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2012, file photo, pro-Syrian government protesters gather under a largeRussian flag made with balloons as they cheer a convoy believed to be transporting RussianForeign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Damascus, Syria. In ramping up ... and more » |
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Economic and political instability are deepening before a snap election scheduled for November.
On September 13, Russians voted in regional elections across the country. Opposition candidates sought to run in Kaluga, Kostroma, Magadan, and Novosibirsk Regions, but they managed to get on the ballot only in Kostroma, under the aegis of Parnas. According to exit polls, Parnas did not manage to collect enough votes to pass the 5 percent threshold needed to enter the regional legislature.
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BBC News |
Russia 'plans forward air operating base' in Syria - US
BBC News Russia's recent movements near Syria's city of Latakia suggest that Moscow plans to establish a "forward air operating base" there, the US has said. Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said there had been a steady flow of people and equipment in the coastal ... Russian Moves in Syria Widen Role in MideastNew York Times US Officials Say Russia is Positioning Tanks at a Syrian AirfieldNewsweek This Satellite Image Leaves No Doubt That Russia Is Throwing…Foreign Policy (blog) The Guardian- U.S. News & World Report all 1,926 Russia shipping tanks into Syria, in 'first clear sign of offensive weapons'Fox News Reuters-Military Times all 1,833 news articles » |
Newsweek |
US Officials Say Russia is Positioning Tanks at a Syrian Airfield
Newsweek A plane, transporting medical aid from Russia to the Syrian government, is seen at Damascus airport October 6, 2012. On September 8, Russia was banned from Bulgarian airspace after concerns arose over the contents of the cargo Russia was flying into ... Russian Moves in Syria Widen Role in MideastNew York Times Russia 'plans forward air operating base' in Syria - USBBC News Russia's Expanding Military Presence in SyriaU.S. News & World Report Fox News -Reuters all 1,847 news articles » |
 Voice of America |
Wary of Russia, Estonian Volunteers Rush to Join Militia
Voice of America PALA, ESTONIA—. Members of Estonia's part-time militia crouch in a sandy trench on a hilltop as machine gun fire echoes through rain washed forest. Russia may be some way off but it is wariness of a vast neighbor that is swelling the force's ranks ... and more » |
Moscow police have opened a criminal case over the vandalization last month of Soviet artworks by Orthodox church activists, police spokesman Andrei Galiakberov said on September 14.
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Russian Moves in Syria Widen Role in Mideastby By ERIC SCHMITT and MICHAEL R. GORDON
American officials said the movement of modern battle tanks into Syria was part of an escalating buildup that could give Moscow its most significant military foothold in the Middle East in decades.
Hackers made a "very powerful" attack on the Kremlin website on September 13, the Russian government said on September 14.
'Alarming' Russian Arms Buildup Said To Have Closed Gap With U.S. by support@pangea-cms.com (RFE/RL)
The commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe said September 14 that the Russian air force buildup and modernization in recent years has been both "alarming" and effective at achieving near parity with the West.
International Business Times |
Russia Blames US, Allies For Not Coordinating Anti-ISIS Operations: Russian ...
International Business Times Russian Special Forces soldiers from the army's Intelligence unit take part in a military drill at a training ground near the village of Molkino, Krasnodar region, July 10, 2015. The RussianDefense Ministry announced an increase in contract servicemen ... Syria: Russia's Motives Behind Military Build-UpSky News Russia to US: Help Syria or Face 'Unintended Consequences'Breitbart News all 4 news articles » |
STRATFOR |
The Logic and Risks Behind Russia's Statelet Sponsorship
STRATFOR Mother Russia can be quite generous when it comes to her collection of statelets. In the early 1990s, when a broken Russia had no choice but to suck in her borders, a severely distracted Kremlin still found the time and money to promote and sponsor the ... and more » |
A U.S. Air Force general on Monday cited what he called "alarming" moves by the Russian military to beef up its air forces.
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 The Guardian |
West 'ignored Russian offer in 2012 to have Syria's Assad step aside'
The Guardian Officially, Russia has staunchly backed Assad through the four-and-half-year Syrian war, insisting that his removal cannot be part of any peace settlement. Assad has said that Russiawill never abandon him. Moscow has recently begun sending troops ... and more » |
Russian President Vladimir Putin says it's impossible to defeat the Islamic State group without cooperating with the Syrian government.
USA TODAY |
Russia trying to set up base in Syria, US says
CNN International (CNN) The Russian military appears to be attempting to set up a forward operating base in western Syria, the U.S. government says, deepening concerns about Moscow's intentions in the war-torn nation. "We have seen indication in recent days that Russia ... Putin defends Russia's military assistance to Syrian regimeUSA TODAY Russia 'plans forward air operating base' in Syria - USBBC News Russian Moves in Syria Widen Role in MideastNew York Times Foreign Policy (blog) -Newsweek -The Guardian all 2,123 news articles » |
ValueWalk |
Countering Russia's Expansionism
ValueWalk Since November 2013 when pro-Russia Ukrainian President Yanukovych rejected an EU association agreement, Russia's involvement in Ukraine has been extensively covered in the news. This was followed by violence between pro-Europe Ukrainians and ... Why Roy Jones Jr. became a RussianChristian Science Monitor EU Gives Russian Sanctions Six-Month ExtensionWall Street Journal Vladimir Putin gives Russian state honour to 'anti-gay' politicianThe Guardian Yahoo News -ABC News -The Times of Israel all 1,012 news articles » |
Putin Defends Russian Military Aid to Syriaby webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
Russian President Vladimir Putin defended his country's military support for Syria, saying Tuesday that Russia will continue to aid President Bashar al-Assad's forces in their "fight against terrorist aggression." Speaking at a regional security conference in Tajikistan, Putin said Assad is open to working with the "healthy" opposition in Syria on a political solution to the conflict that has stretched on for four and a half years, but that the focus must first be on terrorism. Assad has routinely used the word "terrorist" to describe rebels who have opposed his forces in the fight that has grown in complexity with the addition of Islamic State militants in large areas of the country. Putin also pushed back against critics who say Russia's involvement in Syria is increasing the flow of people fleeing the region. He said without Russia's support in Syria, the situation would be worse and the flow of refugees greater. His comments come a day after the U.S. Defense Department confirmed reports that Russia appears to be setting up an air base in Syria. Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters Monday that the movement of Russian personnel and equipment into an area near the coastal city of Latakia "suggests the establishment of a forward operating base." Western news agencies earlier Monday quoted unidentified U.S. officials as saying Russia has sent artillery and seven T-90 tanks to a Syrian air field near Latakia. Late last week, the Pentagon said Russia recently sent 200 naval personnel and modular housing for up to 1,500 troops to Syria, along with artillery, a short-range guided missile controller and about a dozen armored vehicles. Syria's ambassador to Russia, Riad Haddad, on Monday called talk of a Russian troop presence in Syria "a lie." "We have been cooperating with Russia for 30-40 years in various areas, including the military sphere," Russia's RIA Novosti quoted Haddad as saying. "Yes, we receive arms, military equipment - all this is done in line with agreements sealed between our countries. But the talk of your (Russian) troop presence on Syrian territory is a lie spread by Western countries, the United States." In a Russian television interview aired on Sunday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated that Moscow has supplied arms to Damascus and will continue to do so. He added that such supplies are "inevitably accompanied by Russian specialists, who help to get the appropriate equipment up and running [and] to train Syrian personnel in the handling of these weapons." President Barack Obama has voiced concern about Russia's military activity in Syria, warning that it could prevent the United States and its allies from finding a political solution to the Syrian civil war. The president said Friday that Washington would confront Moscow about its Syrian military activities. Russia, a traditional Syrian ally, has supported the Assad government throughout the civil war with aid. It also has used its U.N. Security Council position to shield the Syrian government from U.N. sanctions.
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Police search for active shooter at Delta State University
DEVELOPING – A history professor was shot and killed Monday as he sat in his office at Delta State University in Mississippi, Bolivar County Deputy Coroner Ted Ray told Fox News.
Police identified the victim as Prof. Ethan Schmidt and cops told Fox News they believe the gunman is Shannon Lamb, another professor at the university.
Cops are eyeing a love triangle as the motivation for the shooting. Authorities suspect Lamb shot and killed a woman he was romantically involved with in Gautier, Miss. early Monday morning, before shooting Schmidt. Lamb allegedly believed the woman may have also been in a relationship with Schmidt.
Warren Strain, spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, says the suspect is no longer believed to be on the Delta State University campus. He did not immediately elaborate, and it was not clear how investigators reached that conclusion. The suspect's possible whereabouts also were not immediately clear.
According to a resume for Schmidt that had been posted on Delta State’s website, the professor was based in Jobe Hall, where the first reports of an active shooter on campus originated from.
Schmidt graduated from the University of Kansas with a PhD in philosophy in 2007. He had taught at Delta State since August 2013. He previously served as an assistant professor and director of graduate studies at Texas Tech University, and was a lecturer and graduate teaching assistant at the University of Kansas. Schmidt wrote two books about Native Americans: “Native Americans in the American Revolution,” published in 2014, and “The Divided Dominion,” published in February 2015.
Schmidt was a member of numerous organizations at Delta State, including the Diversity Committee and the Student Success Task Force.
Delta State University tweeted about a Monday afternoon shooting on its campus. (The Bolivar Commercial)
Cleveland police, Mississippi Highway Patrol and the Bolivar County Sheriff's Department are assisting in the investigation. The governor's office and the Institute of Higher Learning have also offered assistance, according to Delta State. The FBI was initially monitoring the situation, but has since sent assets to the university.
The lockdown began about 10:45 a.m. local time, with the university advising students, faculty and staff to take shelter and stay away from windows. The university has about 4,000 students.
"Fortunately for us, our public safety officers and university officials have trained many of us for active shooter situations," Don Allan Mitchell, an English professor, wrote in a Facebook message to The Associated Press. "Many students are locked-down in classrooms, and professors and staff members are telling them the protocol. Plus, we are all texting and Facebooking each other to make sure we are safe."
He said police helicopters were in the air, and officers were sweeping buildings.
However, another English professor, Bill Hays, said the university did a poor job of communicating with faculty, staff and students about the emergency situation.
"It's really frustrating because there is no campus-wide updating from a central command center. Everything we're getting is just rumors," Hays said in a phone call from his office in Keithley Hall, across the street from the shooting site.
Cleveland is a city of about 12,000 people. It's located 38 miles northeast of Greenville.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Today's Headlines and Commentaryby Elina Saxena, Quinta Jurecic
Despite a string of stinging military defeats, the Assad regime is hanging on to power. That’s the word from the BBC, which suggests that "predictions of the imminent, or even medium-term fall of Damascus” are deeply misguided. Yet while Assad’s forces remain firmly in control of Damascus, Syrian rebels have recently pushed into the stronghold of the country’s Alawite minority, to which President Assad belongs. Reuters reports that long-simmering tensions between the Alawites and predominantly Sunni anti-Assad forces may soon lead to a “bloodbath”--particularly if ISIS gains the upper hand.
Following reports of Russian personnel buildup in Syria, Defense One's Molly O'Toole reports thatU.S. forces and the recently arrived Russian troops are steering clear of “military-to-military contact.”But with the two countries “essentially on opposite sides of a civil war,” that lack of contact may prove to be a major strategic problem.
Syrian state media reported that two Russian planes had arrived carrying humanitarian aid including tents and mattresses for refugees. And fueling American concerns, the New York Times indicatesthat a total of seven Russian Condor transport planes have flown over Iran and Iraq after Bulgaria rejected Russian access to the country’s airspace. Over at the Washington Post, Jackson Diehlconsiders the Kremlin’s apparent shift of attention from Ukraine to Syria.
The Islamic State has not officially responded to allegations of their use of chemical weapons in Iraq and Syria, the BBC tells us. Adding to American reports suggesting the group's use of chemical weapons, German officials also suspect that ISIS has used mustard gas against Kurdish forces.
The Australian Air Force has participated in its first air mission against the Islamic State in Syria, Iraqi News reports. Australia’s role has so far consisted of refueling and intelligence gathering. On that note, Iraqi News also indicates that a coalition attack killed 27 ISIS militants in Ramadi yesterday. Meanwhile, Defense One’s David Alpher questions the efficacy of drone usage in the fight against the Islamic State, citing the effects of drone strikes in Yemen and Pakistan.
Foreign Policy discusses recent allegations that U.S. intelligence officials have been altering intelligence reports to present a rosier view of the battle against ISIS. Director of intelligence for US Central Command Army Maj. Gen. Steven Grove now faces increasing scrutiny for the "high-profile and politically explosive allegations that military leaders pressured analysts to skew intelligence reports about the campaign against the Islamic State in order to bolster tenuous White House claims of progress."
The blog Bored Jihadi notes the various colors of prison uniforms used by ISIS, and questions whether there’s a meaning behind the apparent color-coding. “Few things,” the blog notes, “are random in IS propaganda.”
The European Union has extended sanctions against Russia by six months, the Post writes, on the basis of continued artillery strikes and tension in Ukraine before the September 1 truce. A total of 149 people and 37 entities are targeted by the European visa ban and asset freeze. The Post alsoreports that for the first time in 18 months, no shelling has been recorded in eastern Ukraine.
With more than four million refugees fleeing the violence in Syria, Germany moved to implement emergency border controls on its border with Austria, citing concerns over national security. The Postreports on the controversial decision, which seems to fly in the face of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s much-publicized choice to allow refugees into the country last week. Germany’s decision to tighten its border controls appears to have had a ripple effect, with Austria, Slovakia, and the Netherlands following suit. The Times has more.
According to the Guardian, the overwhelming influx of refugee and migrant populations has marked the effective exit of Germany from the Schengen system.The 1985 Schengen Agreement, the BBCexplains, abolished internal borders within the EU and enabled free movement between member states without passport verification. The agreement has caused controversy in the past, particularly in the aftermath of the 2007 decision to increase the size of the Schengen zone to include eastern European states recently accepted into the EU. Meanwhile, the Economist suggests that Germany’s threat to the Schengen system might be in part an effort to push other European states to accept refugees.
The European Union also announced a decision to take action against human smugglers and traffickers active in the Mediterranean, approving a plan that would allow European authorities to search and seize vessels suspected of operating in a smuggling capacity. AFP has the story.
The Times attempts to bring home the massive scale of the humanitarian disaster in Syria with a series of striking graphics--a useful reminder of the crisis driving the surge of refugees into Europe.
As the day goes on, the AP is providing live updates on the migration and refugee crisis.
Pitted against the Islamic State, American troops advising Iraqi forces are sharing a base with a militia supported by Iran. Considering factors ranging from the recent nuclear deal to domestic political circumstances in the two countries, the New York Times highlights the complexity of the United States-Iran relationship.
According to Reuters, Iran has allegedly discovered a high reserve of uranium and will soon begin extraction of the element. This announcement raises concerns amongst Western experts, many of whom had argued that Iran’s low uranium supply would force the country to import the element and therefore place the Iranian nuclear program under international control.
Highlighting Iran’s cooperation with the July nuclear accords, Reuters reports that International Atomic Energy Agency personnel will accompany Iranian technicians as they take samples from the Parchin site, where suspected weapons-related tests might have occurred. The AP released a controversial story last month indicating that the IAEA-Iran agreement would allow Iranians to independently conduct tests at Parchin.
Sixteen people have died through a combination of PKK attacks and violent clashes this past week in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir, NDTV tells us. The city has witnessed an escalation of violence since the collapse of a ceasefire agreement between the PKK and the government in July,writes Reuters. The recent attacks caused a reinstatement of curfews in both Diyarbakir and Cizre, the latter of which was lifted after 36 hours.
Twelve tourists, including eight Mexican citizens, were mistakenly shot and killed by Egyptian forces in an anti-terrorist operation after the tourist convoy entered a prohibited area in the western desert, an increasingly unstable area following the degradation of security in neighboring Libya. The killings have sparked international outrage. The Post and the BBC report.
Clashes broke out on the eve of Rosh Hashanah at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem on Sunday, CNN writes. Differing Israeli and Palestinian accounts of the incident indicate escalating tensions surrounding the holy area.
The exiled Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi has declined to participate in U.N. facilitated discussions with the Houthis--that is, unless the Shiite rebel group accepts a U.N. resolution to withdraw from the seized territory and surrender weapons illegitimately acquired from the state. Moreon that from the Post.
A Taliban raid earlier this morning resulted in the escape of hundreds of prisoners from an Afghan prison in the southern province of Ghazni, the Post says. The Taliban used a series of explosions to kill the prison guards and free prisoners. The New York Times reports that of the 351 escaped prisoners, 148 were reportedly Taliban. The Guardian discusses the possible repercussions that the attack could have on already poor morale amongst Afghan security personnel, which is already suffering from casualty rates that have increased by almost 50% from last year.
Also in Afghanistan, five vehicles delivering food aid from the World Food Programme were set on fire this weekend. With humanitarian workers facing increasingly dangerous and hostile conditions and the persistent food shortages plaguing the country, no party has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks. The Guardian has more.
Al Qaeda leader Ayman al -Zawahri has released a new video encouraging young men to pursue lone wolf attacks, Reuters writes. He also calls for greater militant unity and maintained his stance on the Islamic State claiming that the group’s claims to the caliphate were illegitimate but pledging nonetheless to “join them in fighting Western and secular forces in Iraq and Syria.”
Over the weekend, attacks by Boko Haram hit in northern Cameroon and in a Nigerian refugee campfor people internally displaced by the extremist group’s insurgency. The latter bombing may be thefirst ever Boko Haram attack on a displaced persons camp. Yet Vanguard News reports that “scores” of Boko Haram fighters surrendered this morning, following an intense air and ground campaign by the Nigerian military.
Malaysia has arrested three suspects in connection with last month’s bombing of a Bangkok shrine,VOA News tells us. Two of the suspects are Malaysian and one is Pakistani. The BBC also reportsthat one suspect, a Chinese citizen, is believed to have fled to Turkey.
The Journal examines what appears to be Vietnam’s strategy against Chinese aggression in the South China Sea: strengthen ties with other neighbors. An upcoming visit to Japan by the leader of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party indicates Vietnamese efforts to strengthen cooperation with its regional ally.
On Saturday, U.S. and Chinese officials concluded a four-day-long series of meetings on cybersecurity, Reuters writes. According to the White House, the officials had a “frank and open exchange about cyber issues,” and the Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported that the countries reached an “important consensus” on cooperation over fighting hacking.
But The Hill tells a different story: potential U.S. sanctions over China’s use of hacking for economic espionage may lead President Xi Jinping to cancel his upcoming visit to the States, as Beijing gets antsier about the possibile overlap of sanctions implementation with Xi's much-touted state visit. That alone, of course, may be enough to push the White House to delay implementing sanctions until Xi is safely back home.
The Times reports on President Obama’s decision to break with tradition during his visit to the U.N. General Assembly next week and take up residence away from the Waldorf Astoria, the hotel that has historically housed the president during trips to the United Nations. The White House cited “security concerns”--which those in the know have interpreted as a reference to worries over Chinese cyberattacks. Last year, a Chinese investor with strong ties to the Chinese Communist Party purchased the hotel.
Amidst this flurry of diplomatic activity over cyberattacks, one Temple University professor is breathing a sigh of relief. The Justice Department has dropped charges of economic espionage against the Chinese-American physics professor Xi Xiaoxing, after realizing that the supposedly incriminating blueprints shared with Chinese scientists by Dr. Xi in fact had nothing to do with the secret technology at the heart of the case. The Times has the story.
A leadership election among ministers of Australia’s ruling Liberal Party has ousted Tony Abbott as the Australian Prime Minister, with Malcolm Turnbull taking his place. Turnbull’s rise to power will likely have significant national security implications: according to Michael Fullilove of the Lowy Institute for International Policy, Turnbull is “less prone to seeing the world through a security prism” than was Abbott.
And lest we forget about this weekend’s Labour Party leadership election in the United Kingdom, Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted his views on Labour under new leader Jeremy Corbyn as a “threat to our national security.” More on that from the Independent.
Parting shot: “Detained but ready to mingle.” That’s how one Guantanamo detainee has described himself to his lawyer, who he has tasked with keeping him updated on the status of his Match.com account. This news not from the Onion, but instead from Al Jazeera.
ICYMI: This Weekend, on Lawfare
Ben posted Rational Security. This week: drones, the Iran deal, and a certain presidential candidate’s failure to remember the names of terrorist leaders.
Cody provided the Lawfare Podcast, featuring an interview with Gabriella Blum and Dustin Lewis on the topic of medical assistance to terrorists under IHL.
William McCants of the Brookings Institution argued against the common narrative that the U.S. occupation of Iraq “created” Abu Bakr al Baghdadi.
Email the Roundup Team noteworthy law and security-related articles to include, and follow us onTwitter and Facebook for additional commentary on these issues. Sign up to receive Lawfare in your inbox. Visit our Events Calendar to learn about upcoming national security events, and check out relevant job openings on our Job Board.
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MIDDLETOWN, Calif. (AP) — The latest on wildfires barreling through drought-wracked California (All times local):
9:55 p.m.
Authorities say a wildfire that overtook several Northern California towns destroyed more than 400 homes and businesses, and also burned up to 1,000 structures.
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Daniel Berlant says those structures include barns, sheds and other outbuildings.
The post The Latest: California fire destroys 400 homes, businesses appeared first on In Homeland Security.
CAIRO (AP) - Egyptian security forces hunting for militants in a remote area of the western desert mistakenly fired on a group of tourists on a safari, killing at least 12 people, including two Mexican nationals, officials said Monday.
Egyptian officials said the safari group did not have permission to ...
Russia is ignoring warnings from the United States and flying military equipment and troops to an airfield south of the Syrian port city of Latakia where Moscow appears to be constructing a military base.
The New York Timesreported:
American officials disclosed Sunday that at least seven giant Russian Condor transport planes had taken off from a base in southern Russia during the past week to ferry equipment to Syria, all passing through Iranian and Iraqi airspace. Their destination was an airfield south of Latakia, Syria, which could become the most significant new Russian military foothold in the Middle East in decades, American officials said.
Russia, a supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, has insisted that the aid to Syria is meant to help the country fight the Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIL or ISIS). The Obama administration has strongly warned Moscow against bolstering its military assistance to Syria.
The move by Russia comes after Bulgaria, a NATO member, refused the Russian planes access to its airspace. However, despite efforts by the United States, both Iran and Greece granted Russia approvalfor flights to Syria in their respective airspaces. Iraq has also not followed Bulgaria and blocked the flights despite encouragement from American diplomats.
Russian foreign minister Sergey V. Lavrov said Sunday that the flights would continue, according to news sources in Russia.
“There were military supplies, they are ongoing, and they will continue,” Lavrov said. “They are inevitably accompanied by Russian specialists, who help to adjust the equipment, to train Syrian personnel how to use this weaponry.”
Secretary of State John Kerry has warned Lavrov against increasing its aid to Syria, but Russia has defended the assistance as consistent with its policy toward Syria.
According to U.S. intelligence, approximately 200 Russian marines and six Russian howitzers are guarding the base near Latakia, and a dozen advanced infantry fighting vehicles have been identified there. Prefabricated housing units to hold 1,500 personnel have also been delivered.
Some U.S. officials also speculate that Russian fighter jets may be transported to the area in the next buildup phase.
The post Russia Defies U.S. Efforts, Flies Troops and Equipment to Syria appeared first onWashington Free Beacon.
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Ayman al-Zawahiri's latest audio recording made headlines over the weekend by calling for lone-wolf attacks in the U.S., but the al Qaeda leader also pleaded for greater unity among jihadis worldwide — a shift in message that analysts say sheds fresh light on the complex rift between Osama bin Laden's ...
Below is a calendar of congressional hearings on national security matters for this week.
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
2:30pm – Senate Intelligence – Briefing: Intelligence Matters – closed briefing (here)
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
10:15am – Senate Judiciary – Reforming the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (here)
2:30pm – Senate Foreign Relations – Syria, Iraq, and the Fight Against ISIS (here)
Thursday, September 17, 2015
10:00am – Senate Armed Services – Maritime Security Strategy in the Asia-Pacific Region (here)
2:00pm – House Foreign Affairs – Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa – Major Beneficiaries of the Iran Deal: IRGC and Hezbollah
(here)2:00pm – House Oversight and Government Reform – Federal Air Marshal Service: Oversight
(here)
2:00pm – House Homeland Security – Subcommittees on Transportation Security & Counterterrorism and Intelligence – Safeguarding Our Nation’s Surface Transportation Systems Against Evolving Terrorist Threats (here)
2:30pm – Senate Intelligence – Briefing: Intelligence Matters – closed briefing (here)
Friday, September 18, 2015
9:00am – House Intelligence – Defense Intelligence Agency and the Defense Clandestine Service – closed hearing (here)
10:00am – House Homeland Security – Subcommittee on Oversight and Management Efficiency – Making DHS More Efficient: Industry Recommendations to Improve Homeland Security (here)
Read on Just Security »
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WASHINGTON (AP) - A Pentagon spokesman says the Russian personnel and military equipment arriving in recent days at a Syrian air field suggests Moscow intends to operate military aircraft from the base. But he says the U.S. has not yet seen any fighter jets or attack helicopters arrive.
The spokesman, ...
VIENNA (AP) - As Congress was debating the merits of the Iran nuclear deal last week, the U.S. political world was whipping itself into a frenzy. Not so much the rest of the world - it was busy restoring relations with Tehran, selling it weapons, and inking contracts with Iranian ...
A Pentagon spokesman says the Russian personnel and military equipment arriving in recent days at a Syrian air field suggests Moscow intends to operate military aircraft from the base. But he says the U.S. has not yet seen any fighter jets or attack helicopters arrive.
In 2012 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared at the UN to warn Iran was close to building a nuclear weapon
As Congress was debating the merits of the Iran nuclear deal last week, the U.S. political world was whipping itself into a frenzy. Not so much the rest of the world - it was busy restoring relations with Tehran, selling it weapons, and inking contracts with Iranian firms.
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's space agency is close to developing a new satellite and readying it for launch, state media said on Monday, suggesting it will fire a long-range rocket around a national anniversary next month.
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DSEI weapons fair: authoritarian regimes descend on Londonby Richard Norton-Taylor
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Azerbaijan and Bahrain are among 61 countries the UK government has invited to biennial event
Authoritarian regimes including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and Azerbaijan are among the official guests the UK government has invited to one of the world’s largest arms bazaars opening at London’s Docklands this week.
The biennial weapons fair, which opens on Tuesday, is the focus of an increasingly heated debate between those who say major weapons producers such as Britain cannot claim at the same time to defend human rights, and those who say the arms industry provides tens of thousands of jobs and valuable exports.
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Same-sex couple gets marriage license over clerk's objection; 1st since she returned to work
The moves in Germany, Austria and elsewhere came as E.U. interior ministers met to discuss the crisis.
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The governor of California has declared a state of emergency after wildfires forced thousands of people to flee their homes.
Ending the conflict in Syria and Iraq is key to solving the migrant crisis facing Europe, a senior US official tells the BBC.
Fifteen babies and children were among 34 refugees who drowned when their boat sank off a Greek island, in what is thought to be the largest single loss of life in those waters since the crisis began.
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