Hurriyet...
Turkey is drawing up plans for a safe haven on the border in Syria that will secure regions controlled by the Free Syrian Army and the Islamic Front, possibly manned only by Turkish troops, according to security sources.
Ankara would prefer any safe haven to be established by U.S.–led coalition forces, but the Turkish Armed Forces is preparing to establish a safe haven even unaccompanied by foreign troops, sources said.
The safe haven will not include any region in northern Syria that is under the control of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) or Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), so the Turkish forces will not come into contact with those groups, they added.
Turkey is willing to declare a safe haven in Syria in order to contain the mass influx of Syrians into Turkish territory before they cross into the border. Ankara also plans to transfer Syrian refugees that are currently taking shelter in Turkish territory to new camps in the intended safe haven in northern Syria.
Meanwhile, the Turkish government is set to ask Parliament for authorization to allow foreign soldiers to use its bases for cross-border incursions against Islamic State militants, and to send Turkish troops into Syria and Iraq.
Anti War ...
The Obama Administration has been attacking targets in Yemenvirtually from the start, killing large numbers of civilians in botched airstrikes off and on, initially while attempting to get former dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh to cover for them. It was also a place to assassinate American citizens.
The “near certainty” standard was meant to apply “only when we take direct action outside areas of active hostilities,” according to Centcom spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden, who says that the war with ISIS doesn’t count.
“The moderate Syrian opposition provides the best alternative to the Assad regime and the best counterweight to ISIS,” Power added. Absent in the comments is that the “moderate Syrian opposition” has no territory and is openly fighting alongside ISIS.
It’s presented as a destruction of “ISIS oil refineries,” but they’re not. They’re actually privately-owned refineries belonging to individuals and small companies in the region.
#Iraq #Anbar Failed supply airdrop for trapped government soldiers in Saglawija & Sidschar
#IslamicState seized tons of munition & food
Turkey plans safe haven in areas controlled by Free Syrian Army and Islamic Front
The safe haven will not include any region in northern Syria that is under the control of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) or Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL). AA Photo
Ankara would prefer any safe haven to be established by U.S.–led coalition forces, but the Turkish Armed Forces is preparing to establish a safe haven even unaccompanied by foreign troops, sources said.
The safe haven will not include any region in northern Syria that is under the control of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) or Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), so the Turkish forces will not come into contact with those groups, they added.
Turkey is willing to declare a safe haven in Syria in order to contain the mass influx of Syrians into Turkish territory before they cross into the border. Ankara also plans to transfer Syrian refugees that are currently taking shelter in Turkish territory to new camps in the intended safe haven in northern Syria.
Meanwhile, the Turkish government is set to ask Parliament for authorization to allow foreign soldiers to use its bases for cross-border incursions against Islamic State militants, and to send Turkish troops into Syria and Iraq.
Anti War ...
White House Presents Failed Yemen Intervention as ‘Model’ for ISIS War
Insists US 'Mitigated' Threat of Terrorism From Yemen
by Jason Ditz, September 30, 2014
The disastrous US military intervention in Yemen over the past several years, which has killed large numbers of civilians, installed a corrupt and faltering Hadi regime in a sham election, and has left the nation in a state of open-ended war, is being presented by the White House as a “useful model” for the ISIS war.
The Obama Administration has been attacking targets in Yemenvirtually from the start, killing large numbers of civilians in botched airstrikes off and on, initially while attempting to get former dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh to cover for them. It was also a place to assassinate American citizens.
When the Arab Spring brought Saleh’s rule to a close, the US orchestrated a “single candidate election” for President Hadi, with no votes not allowed. They presented Hadi’s election as a model for democracy around the Middle East.
US ground troops have been deployed in Yemen, but mostly without official details on what they are doing there, while the US has escalated a drone war against the country’s south for years.
It’s unfathomable that the administration is still presenting Yemen as a “success story” today, as the Hadi government is being brought to its knees by a growing Shi’ite rebellion in the north, and al-Qaeda mobilizes to fight them in a sectarian war.
To the extent the US has accomplished anything at all in Yemen that they’d like to transfer to Syria, it’s installing a pro-US ruler to nominally manage the tottering state while giving them free reign for an open-ended war against anyone and everyone therein.
3,790 Killed Across Iraq in September
by Margaret Griffis, September 30, 2014
Updated at 7:58 p.m., Sept. 30, 2014
Antiwar.com has determined that at least 3,790 people were killed across Iraq during September. These numbers include militants, even foreign ones, killed in Iraq.Another 1,949 were wounded. The violence also left 126 dead and 184 wounded across Iraq on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, freshly equipped Peshmerga forces have apparently made a complete turnaround since losing Sinjar (Shingal in Kurdish) last month and are retaking towns and villages at a quickening pace. Further south, bombs targeting civilians in Baghdad and several Shi’ite cities left a significant number of casualties. Also, British forces conducted their first airstrikes, as the U.S. continued theirs, making this the busiest day for airstrikes across Iraq and Syria yet.
September Casualty Figures:
The number of people killed in Iraq, since the Islamic State invaded in June, is impossible to accurately pin down. Various organizations have reported casualties as they occur, but the Iraqi government has largely avoided reporting all but a few, obvious military deaths. Only today, Kurdish Peshmerga forces revealed about 200 dead and 1,000 injured during battles in Kurdish territory since early August. Most of those casualties were previously unreported, and are not included in our figures for September. Militant deaths are just as difficult, especially those deep within ISIS/DAASH territory.
During September, Antiwar.com compiled at least 1,158 civilian and security member deaths. Another 1,661 were reported wounded. These should be considered the minimum available numbers. The figures will rise as more details are received from rural areas of Iraq and those under militant control. For example, a clearer, if not final, total of the number of dead in a massacre at Camp Speicher wasreleased early in September even though the attack occurred in June. Those deaths were not included in this month’s tally.
Militant casualties reached 2,632 dead and 288 wounded, while Iraq’s military announced that they alone conducted 2,116 sorties in September. It is difficult to gauge how accurate these casualtiy figures are. They could be wild estimates by the Iraqi government, which has been known to downplay or exaggerate figures to suit political purposes. However, many of the battles and airstrikes have been characterized with vague phrases, such as "heavy fighting" and "many killed." Those were not added to the above counts but must have produced some casualties. This suggests that even the militant deaths may have been undercounted. Certainly, the wounded figure is very low compared to the reality; wounded militants would be transported to militant care centers and out of reach of Iraqi casualty counters.
In August, Antiwar.com found that 4,800 were killed and 2,839 were wounded. Although the numbers seem to indicate fewer casualties, it should not be read as such, because accurate numbers simply are not available.
Peshmerga Gains in Northern Iraq:
Peshmerga forces said they were able to take control of Rabeaa, a strategic town near the Syrian border. If Peshmerga forces retain control of the city, they will have cut off a major roadway between Syria and northern Iraq and put a stranglehold on a travel by Islamic State militants between the two countries. Rabeaa was one of the first cities captured in June. Fighting there and elsewhere during the last several weeks has cost the Peshmerga forces 200 lives. Another 1,000 Peshmerga were wounded, according to Peshmerga Spokesman Hikmet Mela Ali. The number of casualties on Tuesday was not given.
ISIS/DAASH militants destroyed their own headquarters and checkpoints as they fled from there and Sinjar. Fighters from the Shammar Tribe helped, and the troops may have had air cover from U.S. fighter planes during the operation. British planes also bombed northwestern Iraq. Kurdish Y.P.G. forces in Syria claimed to have contributed to the operation as well. Heavy fighting also took place in Zumer, near the Mosul dam. Several villages surrounding Rabeaa have also been liberated.
Closer to Kirkuk, the towns of Khaled, Sa’ad, Taza and Wahda were freed. Two Peshmerga were killed and 18 were wounded in the fighting.
Casualties elsewhere in Iraq:
In Baghdad, 20 people were killed and 35 were wounded when two car bombs exploded in the Hurriya district. Five people were killed and 15 were wounded in a mortar attack in Sabaa al-Bour. A bomb in Zaafaraniya killed seven people and wounded 21 others. Mortars left three dead and 12 wounded in Shula.
Eight people were killed and 12 were wounded in Karbala.
Shelling in Falluja left two dead and seven wounded. Clashes left five bystanders dead and 11 wounded.
A blast in Khanaqin killed four Peshmerga and wounded 12 more.
A bomb exploded in an Iskandariya parking lot and killed five people and wounded 13 more.
Another in Kefil killed two people and wounded eight more.
In Duluiya, mortars wounded six people. At least eight fighters or civilians were wounded as well. At the very least 17 militants were killed in battles.
A roadside bomb in Daquq wounded six Peshmerga fighters, where heavy fighting is reported.
Four people were killed and seven were wounded during shelling in Tikrit.
Two policemen were shot dead in Hit.
Two people were wounded in a bombing in Basra.
Fifteen militants were killed while trying to attack checkpoints in the recently cleared town of Amiriyat al-Falluja. Airstrikes killed another seven.
Six militants were killed and more were wounded in an airstrike in Saidiya.
Security forces killed five militants in Tarmiya.
Five militants were killed near Baquba.
Tribal forces in Mansouriya killed a militant leader and a companion. Militantsdamaged levees to prevent security forces from approaching them through now-flooded areas.
Heavy fighting is taking place in Rashad.
Airstrikes in Hawija killed several militants.
Many militant vehicles were destroyed, and the militants in them killed, during airstrikes in Thar Thar.
Militants suffered "heavy losses" in a failed attack on Balad.
Several sites in Anbar province were bombed by coalition jets.
US Loosens Standards on Killing Civilians
Promises Not to Kill Civilians 'Don't Apply' to ISIS War
by Jason Ditz, September 30, 2014
The Obama Administration’s previous promises not to launch drone strikes unless there is a “near certainty” that the strike won’t kill any civilians, much publicized in the lead up to the new ISIS war, doesn’t apply to US strikes in Iraq or Syria, according to Centcom.
The “near certainty” standard was meant to apply “only when we take direct action outside areas of active hostilities,” according to Centcom spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden, who says that the war with ISIS doesn’t count.
The US has often played fast and loose with that standard at any rate, routinely killing civilians in Pakistan and Yemen in areas most assured “outside areas of active hostilities.” Nevertheless, one shudders to think how much worse the civilian toll in Iraq and Syria will be, with officials openly saying that nominal care they’re supposed to take doesn’t apply.
US strikes, particularly in Syria, have killed a number of civilians already, with two confirmed civilian deaths yesterday when US warplanes attacked grain silos in ISIS-held territory. Though the Pentagon is officially denying any deaths, today’s Centcom comments clearly lay the groundwork for an admission of guilt, and a position of formal ambivalence about the civilians the military is killing.
The more fast-and-loose definition of care may mirror the US occupation of Afghanistan, where airstrikes have routinely killed large numbers of civilians, and incidents of scores and even hundreds of civilians slain in botched strikes are not unheard of.
It also makes the weekend admonition by the Red Cross for the US to take care that it abides by international bans against targeting civilians and medical personnel all the more important, as their checkered track record of doing that in past wars seems to be the template they’re applying to the new conflict.
US Envoy: ISIS War Doesn’t Change Plans for Assad Ouster
Power Insists US Wants 'Moderate Syrian Opposition' to Take Over
by Jason Ditz, September 30, 2014
US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power insists that the ever-escalating US war with ISIS has not changed their underlying plans to see Syrian President Bashar Assad ousted.
“The moderate Syrian opposition provides the best alternative to the Assad regime and the best counterweight to ISIS,” Power added. Absent in the comments is that the “moderate Syrian opposition” has no territory and is openly fighting alongside ISIS.
Power went further in the false narrative, claiming the rebels “engaged in pitched battles against ISIS since December,” which appears to be a reference to the failed attempts to take ISIS territory in Aleppo Province earlier this year, which ended in a nonaggression pact.
Power’s comments reflect and ever-mounting series of US goals in the region, as their own military forces ramp up in the area. Between the plans to destroy ISIS, the war on al-Nusra, and the regime change goal against Assad, the US seems to be planning decades of conflict.
East Syria Economy in Ruins as US Destroys Privately-Owned Refineries
Officials Presented Attacks as Cutting Off 'ISIS Funding'
by Jason Ditz, September 30, 2014
The economy of eastern, ISIS-held Syria is in ruins after some of the ugliest cases of civilian infrastructure targeting in years by US warplanes, as officials bragged about cutting off “ISIS funding” by wiping out most of the oil refineries in the area.
It’s presented as a destruction of “ISIS oil refineries,” but they’re not. They’re actually privately-owned refineries belonging to individuals and small companies in the region.
ISIS indeed gets some of the proceeds from the sales through taxation, like any de facto state does. Yet the concerted effort to cripple the economy of a region filled with millions of people with military strikes is definitely a war crime, and one the US is gleefully bragging about.
For civilians in ISIS-held territory, the price of refined petroleum has spiked dramatically in the past week, with the US attacks wiping out a lot of the supply. That’s the lifeblood of the oil rich region’s economy, and the war’s clearly not going to stop there.
Yesterday, the US warplanes also attacked multiple grain silos in eastern Syria, killing civilians and destroying a large amount of stored food. Though the initial assessment was that this was an accidental targeting, the US war seems to be aiming for these sorts of targets, and less and less concerned about the civilians it kills along the way.
Evening tweets .....
Morning Tweets......
IS moving around in 25+ vehicle convoys around Balad, Dujayl and Dhulu'iyah indicates fed govt control in the area almost completely (1/2)
restricted to the main towns and Highway 1. IS reportedly control 80% of the Dhulu'iyah area, prob/ nor far off for Balad and Dujayl (2/2).
Abdulkader Hariri retweeted
Erdogan criticizes US airstrikes, seems in no rush to offer military support to the coalition http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/turkey-to-approve-a-bigger-military-role-in-iraq-and-syria--but-not-on-american-terms/2014/10/01/3f860ad8-49a5-11e4-b72e-d60a9229cc10_story.html?wpmk=MK0000200 …
Demirtaş Warns International Community of #Kobani Fall http://www.basnews.com/en/News/Details/Demirtas-Warns-International-Community-of-Kobani-Fall/36113 …
#TwitterKurds #Turkey #HDP #BDP #Rojava
Today: SRF group bombed in Idleb; a Hazm leader killed in W Aleppo. Lots of US-linked rebels dying mysteriously in NW #Syria these days, eh?
IS able to overrun part of Albu Athea army camp in Anbar & seize weapons http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/isis-seizes-weapons-after-overruning-iraqs-albu-aytha-base-n215586 …
Morning Tweets......
Abdulkader Hariri retweeted
DavidKenner
Interesting report on Syrian rebels and the Assad regime striking a "gas for detainees" deal. https://www.zamanalwsl.net/en/readNews.php
Alexblx
#ISIS surround the city of #Kobani- its tanks & hvy guns a sitting target - to any Air Force which genuinely wants to 'degrade & destroy' it
Alexblx retweeted
MED☀KURDISTAN
This is the tunnel ISIS use to cross Turkey-Syria border with the guidance of Turkish forces
#OBAMAhearKOBANI
Mark retweeted
A
Very heavy shelling continue on Kobane, ISIS is only 2 KM to center of the city. I confirm. #DemandForAction #StopKurdishGenocide
Mark retweeted
More than 33 mortars fell inside Kobane from yesterday until today morning.
Aron Lund
IS reportedly massing outside Suleiman Shah exclave in #Syria http://m.eldorar.com/node/60705 #Turkey tells IS to think real hard about its next move
Joel Wing retweeted
12,618 civilians killed in #Iraq so far this year.
251 civilians killed in #Iraq in September by government forces.
1,500 so far this year.
Abdulkader Hariri retweeted
Names on list of "Wolf unit JaN" are all foreigners. 4 from Turkey, 2 Egypt, 2 Yemen, 2 Tunisia, 1 Palestine, one Serbia, one Caucasus.
Abdulkader Hariri retweeted
U.S calls them “Khorasan” but document we spotted btwn rubble shows Khorasan is in fact “Wolf Unit of Jabhat AlNusra” http://www.alaan.tv/news/world-news/114998/khorassan-group-is-in-fact-the-wolf-unit-of-nusra-front-documents-show …
"The Case Against #Qatar" http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/09/30/the_case_against_qatar_funding_extremists_salafi_syria_uae_jihad_muslim_brotherhood_taliban … Oil, Islamists & lobbyists in #Syria, #Libya & elsewhere - superb report by @dickinsonbeth
Aron Lund retweeted
Syrians fear freezing to death after Coalition airstrikes and regime push cause fuel oil prices to spike. https://zamanalwsl.net/news/53879.html (Ar)
Final touches to an already exquisitely chaotic warzone. MT @Charles_Lister Iraq received SA-22 anti-air systems & SA-24 MANPADS from Russia
U.S. has no HUMINT on the ground in Syria, nearly hit an FSA HQ, most of the IS bldgs the airstrikes hit were empty: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/09/30/exclusive-america-s-allies-almost-bombed-in-syrian-airstrikes.html?via=mobile&source=twitter …
15+ ISF Humvees captured or destroyed, along with 4+ M113 APCs, 1+ BMP-1 IFV and an M1A Abrams tank.
#IS images of the assault on the Camp Saqlawiyah IA 30th Bde base:
Following the release of the #Turkish “hostages,” #US officials, led by Secretary of State John #Kerry and... http://fb.me/6OnkQLaSh
Antoun Issa retweeted
Proposed Syria Buffer Zone to Extend 30 Km, Says Turkey’s Atalay, deputy chair of AK Party "buffer zone could become reality in “coming days
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