Al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri The Coordinator 2015 Part 19-122-Caliphate-al-Zawahiri-10-15-Russia

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Al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri The Coordinator 2015 Part 19-122-Caliphate-al-Zawahiri-10-15-Russia

“Under an agreement between His Majesty King Abdullah II and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, the militaries of the two countries have agreed to coordinate their actions, including military aircraft missions over the Syrian territory,” Lavrov said.

U.S. Tells Iraq: If You Ally With Russia Against ISIS, “You’re Our Enemy” Obama makes clear that America's war against Russia is more important than America’s war against ISIS.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed criticism over his country’s air campaign in Syria, accusing Western governments of double standards in their support for the Syrian opposition. "Let's not play with words and divide the terrorists into moderate and not moderate," said the president. Russia says its strikes target the Islamic State of Iraq

and the Levant (ISIL) group and other "terrorists", but rebels and the US, which is conducting its own campaign against ISIL, say Moscow has focused more on forces fighting Assad than ISIL. There can be no "moderate" terrorists, President Putin said Oct 22, speaking about the situation in the Middle East at the Valdai discussion forum. "Why play with words dividing terrorists into moderate and not moderate. What's the difference?"

Putin told the forum. A whole "snarl" of terrorist groups act in the region, who fight also against each other for "sources of income" and not for ideology, Putin said, adding that the weapons provided to "moderate" opposition in the region had ended up in the hands of terrorists. “Success in fighting terrorists cannot be reached if using some of them as a battering ram to overthrow disliked regimes," Putin told the forum, saying that this way the terrorists would not go anywhere. "It's just an illusion that they can be dealt with [later], removed from power and somehow negotiated with," he added. Syrian President Bashar Assad has also agreed with the possibility of Russia offering support to the Syrian opposition in their fight against ISIS, Putin said. "I've asked [Assad]: What would you say if we support the opposition's efforts in their fight against terrorists the way we support the Syrian Army? And he said: My attitude is positive," the Russian leader told the Valdai forum. Moscow has been seeking to exchange data about the positions of Islamic State militants in Syria with western countries for weeks, and now such cooperation is close, Putin said. Countries should perceive one another as "allies in a common fight, and act honestly and openly," Putin said, adding that only in this way can victory against terror be

1The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see. –Winston Churchill

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guaranteed. "Syria... can become a model for partners... of how to solve problems that affect everyone.” The main task is "not to let terrorists move their activity into other regions," the Russian president said, adding that to prevent such an outcome all forces in Syria and Iraq, including state armies, Kurdish militia and various opposition groups, should be united. The "hypothetical nuclear threat" allegedly posed by Iran has never existed, the Russian leader told the Valdai Discussion Club. Washington was just trying to "destroy the strategical balance," Putin said, adding that the US aimed "not to just dominate, but be able to dictate its will to everyone – not only geopolitical opponents, but also allies."Russia and the whole world have been "misinformed" and even "deceived" by the US regarding Iran's suggested nuclear threat, Putin said. Even after Tehran has agreed with the world on the peaceful nature of its uranium enrichment program, missile defense systems are still being tested by Washington far away from its borders – now in Europe. "We had the right to expect that work on development of US missile defense system would stop. But nothing like it happened, and it continues," Putin said, adding that the international security system has been destroyed under the pretext of the Iranian “threat.” There is a possibility that US anti-missile shield bases in Eastern Europe might be used for offensive weapons, the president said, adding that it may be regarded as a threat to Russia. A dialogue on limitation of strategic nuclear forces should be continued, Putin added. "This is a very dangerous scenario, harmful for all, including the United States itself," the Russian president told the forum. There can be no winner in conflicts involving nuclear weapons, the Russian leader said. "The deterrent of nuclear weapons has started to lose its value, and some have even got the illusion that a real victory of one of the sides can be achieved in a global conflict, without irreversible consequences for the winner itself – if there is a winner at all," Putin said. Europe is America’s ‘vassal’ in US sanctions policy Trade and sanctions wars show “unfair competition” on the US side, the Russian president said, commenting on current political and economic relations in the world. Moral norms should be considered in international, political, military and economic rivalry, Putin said, adding that otherwise the competition could get out of control. “Russia could also declare the necessity to democratize the USA, but that would, at a minimum, be impolite,” Putin told the discussion forum. Commenting on the situation in Ukraine, Putin said that Russia accepts any choice made by the Ukrainian people – “who we really consider as fraternal country, fraternal people,” but cannot agree with the way the power in the country was changed. Such methods “are bad, no matter where in the world it happens,” Putin added.

“How can we accept coups? You can expect that Iraq and Libya scenarios are being organized for us here. After all, the US authorities weren’t shy about openly and publicly saying that they spent $5 billion on supporting the [Ukrainian] opposition,” the Russian president said.

Following in its policy of intervention in Syria, Russia has stepped up its involvement in Afghanistan, both in the military aspect and in the political aspect. However, unlike Syria, Kabul has not sent any formal invitation to Moscow regarding an





intervention in the country, and it is highly unlikely that this will ever happen. What is confirmed, however, is that Russia will continue aiding Afghanistan militarily with Western knowledge.

Russia, Jordan to coordinate actions on Syria via Amman-based center, others invitedPublished time: 23 Oct, 2015 Russia and Jordan agreed to create a coordination center in Amman, which will be used by the two countries to share information on the counter-terrorism operations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. Russia is already in touch with Iran, Iraq and Syria through a Baghdad-based center used for the same purpose. Lavrov said Jordan would play a positive part in finding a political solution to the Syrian conflict through negotiations between Damascus and opposition forces, an outcome that Russia itself is pursuing. “Under an agreement between His Majesty King Abdullah II and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, the militaries of the two countries have agreed to coordinate their actions, including military aircraft missions over the Syrian territory,” Lavrov said. His Jordanian counterpart Nasser Judeh said the center would serve as an efficient communication tool for the militaries of the two nations.

U.S. Tells Iraq: If You Ally With Russia Against ISIS, “You’re Our Enemy”Obama makes clear that America's war against Russia is more important than America’s war against ISIS. By Eric ZuesseGlobal Research, October 22, 2015 On October 14th, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the U.S. government had turned down the proposal from Russia’s President Vladimir Putin for the U.S. and Russia to cooperate together to eliminate ISIS and other jihadists in Syria and in Iraq. Lavrov said:

“We’ve made Americans the proposal announced by President Vladimir Putin yesterday. We suggested that they send a [US] military delegation to Moscow to coordinate a number of joint steps, and after that we could have sent to Washington a top-level delegation led by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, [but] … It is sad that our American colleagues in this case in fact do not side with those who fight against terrorism.

Then, on Tuesday October 20th, as CBS News online reported the following day,“The U.S. has told Iraq’s leaders they must choose between ongoing American support in the battle against militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and asking





the Russians to intervene instead. Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday that the Iraqis had promised they would not request any Russian airstrikes or support for the fight against ISIS.”

However, Iraq already had done precisely that — and had even said that Russia seemed more committed to defeating ISIS than America is. As I summed up on October 10th:Wednesday, October 7th, Reuters headlined, “Iraq Leans Toward Russia in War on Islamic State,” and reported, from Baghdad, that, “Iraq … wants Moscow to have a bigger role than the United States in the war against the militant group, the head of parliament’s defense and security committee said on Wednesday.”

Earlier, in an interview in English, with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, telecast on October 2nd, France24 TV asked him how he would view an extension of Russia’s anti-ISIS bombing campaign into Iraq, and he said (7:54), “I would welcome it.” So, at some time between October 7th and October 20th, the U.S. convinced Iraq’s leaders to, in essence, dis-invite the Russians, instead of to ally with them against ISIS in Iraq.

Two alternative explanations are possible. Either the U.S. had promised the Iraqis that the U.S. will now really get serious about defeating ISIS in Iraq, or else the U.S. had promised the Iraqis that Iraq would be punished — at the IMF or elsewhere — if Iraq followed through on their announced intention to replace the U.S. with Russia. (Or, of course, the U.S. could have done both — the carrot, and the stick.)In either case (or both), the U.S. has made clear, to the Iraqis, that America will do anything to defeat Russia — even abandon the fight against ISIS in Iraq, if need be — and that the U.S. will absolutely not ally with Russia against ISIS, under any circumstances.This makes abundantly clear, to the whole world, that the current American government considers its main enemy to be not jihadists, but Russians.

However, already, U.S. President Barack Obama had made this clear when, in his National Security Strategy 2015, he named Russia on 17 of the 18 occasions in which he charged “aggression.” The 18th instance was not Saudi Arabia, the main funder of jihadists, but instead North Korea, which poses little real threat to any U.S. ally except South Korea, and none at all to the United States. (And, of course, the U.S. President didn’t cite the U.S., which in a 2013 WIN/Gallup International poll was overwhelmingly named the most throughout the world as “the country that represents the greatest threat to peace in the world today.”)Investigative historian Eric Zuesse is the author, most recently, of They’re Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010, and of CHRIST’S VENTRILOQUISTS: The Event that Created Christianity.

Echoes Of Syrian Campaign As Russia Assists AfghanistanBy Taimoor Khan on October 23, 2015 in Politics, RussiaRussia remains wary of what Afghanistan can do in the wake of the emergence of ISIS in the region, injecting a sense of discomfort among policy makers in Moscow.

Following in its policy of intervention in Syria, Russia has stepped up its involvement in Afghanistan, both in the military aspect and in the political aspect. U.S. and NATO forces were to withdraw from Afghanistan, but recent incidents, such as the temporary capture of Kunduz by the Taliban, have forced the Obama administration to take a U-turn. U.S. forces are now set to stay in





Afghanistan for another year, during which they will train the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), as Washington believes that in the wake of the recent Taliban attacks, the Afghan National Security Forces have yet to reach the level where they can counter Taliban aggression. Russia, on the other hand, has increased its role in Afghanistan after successfully launching a military offensive against ISIS in Syria. Moscow sees Afghanistan as the biggest threat to peace in region, and with ISIS being targeted in Syria, Russians believe that the extremist group can move towards Afghanistan in a bid to further its heinous agenda. ISIS can use the fact that the U.S. plans to withdraw its forces from the war-stricken country to its advantage and strengthen its position in Afghanistan.Russia looking to stop ISIS? In addition, the Taliban’s recent capture of Kunduz, a very important strategic city, has the Putin administration shifting uneasily. Russians are still wary of Afghanistan, with memories of the 1979-89 war still haunting them when more than 15,000 Russian soldiers lost their lives, along with a huge number of Afghan civilians. That war subsequently resulted in the collapse and eventual disintegration of the Soviet Union. In addition to the threat posed by a resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, Russia is increasingly worried about the role of ISIS in the country. ISIS has established several training camps in the region where they have been training fighters before sending them out to Syria and Iraq. Moscow is aware of the fact that if they are given free rein to carry out their activities like this in Afghanistan, ISIS can turn out to be a much bigger threat to not only this region but also the entire world, starting with Central Asia where Russia still carries a considerable amount of influence.

Protecting Central Asia Russian authorities believe that these elements can infiltrate former Soviet states in Central Asia and will affect Russia’s Muslim-populated Caucasus region negatively. During a recent Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit, which took place in Kazakhstan, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for all the member states to pay close attention to the situation unfolding in Afghanistan. He termed the contemporary situation in the country as “Close to Critical,” or something that can escalate very rapidly if left unattended. Russia is adamant that terrorist groups are using Afghanistan as their base camp to bring people from several regions in order to train them and convert them to lethal mercenaries. Russian authorities also warned China that their Muslim autonomous region of Xinjiang in the Northwest is being targeted by ISIS and other terrorist groups in order to recruit militants. More than 50,000 militants are currently present in Afghanistan working in more than 4,000 different groups. At the end of that joint summit of CIS, the member countries announced plans to form a joint border task force in the wake of serious warnings from Tajikistan that several groups are engaged in battles along its border with Afghanistan. Following that warning, Russia has already shored up its military base in Tajikistan by sending reinforcements. Tajikistan plays host to Russia’s biggest military base in a foreign land, where the Russian army’s 201st Motorized Rifle Division resides.Russia, in order to counter these threats from Afghanistan, is looking to help the Afghan government stand on its own and fight these non-state actors. Moscow is set to supply Kabul with military equipment that includes heavy weapons, including helicopter gunships, the same Hind-E types that are promised to neighboring Pakistan. The move came in the backdrop of Abdul Rashid Dostum’s visit to Moscow this month. Dostum is a former Russian-trained warlord and is currently serving as the vice president of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan seeks Russian help Dostum asked for Russian aid as Afghanistan lack air





support, and that is where Russia has vowed to help out the troubled Afghan government, just like Moscow is doing in Syria for Bashar-al-Assad’s regime. However, unlike Syria, Kabul has not sent any formal invitation to Moscow regarding an intervention in the country, and it is highly unlikely that this will ever happen. What is confirmed, however, is that Russia will continue aiding Afghanistan militarily with Western knowledge.Russia’s actions in Afghanistan are similar to those taken in Syria. U.S. disengagement from the region is creating a power vacuum there, and Moscow is catching up on the situation by moving into the vacuum cleverly. Putin wants to see Russia become a major player in world politics once more, and these actions by Moscow in recent months are a clear indication of Russia following that objective.Russia’s profile as a global player has been raised significantly following its intervention in Syria, which so far has yielded positive results for the region. Moscow sees the USA’s decision to postpone the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan as a failure of Obama’s policies in the region. However, one of the reasons behind Obama’s decision to put a hold on the withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan is the fear of Russia taking the place of the United States in the region.Russia gives the U.S. something else to worry about Russia has started another period of the Great New Game by expanding further into the region following the annexation of Crimea. The United States, on the other hand, is wary of that, and Moscow’s success in Syria has further worried policymakers in the United States, who will now be considering devising a policy to counter Russian advances in Afghanistan.








Al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri The Coordinator 2015 Part 19-122-Caliphate-al-Zawahiri-10-15-Russia

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