“U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis raised the matter in an exchange with reporters after unrelated meetings in the Indonesia capital with senior government officials. He made clear that while the U.S. sympathizes with Turkey’s concerns about border security, Washington wants the Turks to minimize their military action inside Syria.”
“American forces went to Syria with the declared objective of pushing the ISIS terror gang out of territory it had seized there. This has been accomplished. It is an ideal moment for the U.S. to declare victory and depart. That, however, would be hauling down our flag. By Roosevelt’s logic — and evidently Tillerson’s — American soldiers should not be withdrawn from any country where they have ever been deployed.”
“Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan: This trifecta of semi-permanent US military engagements reflects the extraordinary power of the Pentagon to sway even a president who had made opposition to such policies a central element of his campaign.”
“U.S. and Western politicians avert their eyes from this data and this correlation; acts of terror are explained away as ‘random,’ ‘mindless,’ and, perhaps most disingenuously of all, ‘unprovoked.’ The public, either unfamiliar with secret operations carried out by the U.S. military or intelligence services, or uninformed about the brutal nature of the foreign wars fought in their name, tend to buy into this fantasy of an ‘innocent’ America hated and attacked by hordes of ‘mad’ Muslims.”
Read more: https://theintercept.com/2018/01/22/blowback-cia-drones-middle-east/
“Israel is considering offering a national cryptocurrency– a digital shekel – which would correspond in value to physical shekels. Additionally, the government is considering legislation that would substantially reduce the amount of physical cash in the economy. For example, one suggestion would be a law against paying wages in cash.”
Read more: https://cointelegraph.com/news/israel-government-considering-national-cryptocurrency
“The oil-rich nation plans to pay public workers in the digital token and to use tax incentives to encourage its use. While the petro would be backed by one barrel of Venezuelan crude, the coins can’t be exchanged for the actual oil.”
“In Iraq, a population that numbered more than a million in the 1990s dwindled to less than a third of that in the wake of the US-led invasion and removal of the secular government of Saddam Hussein. In Syria, under threat since 2011 by Salafist groups armed and funded by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and other countries – the US shamefully included – Christians seemed to be facing a similar fate.”
Read more: https://www.rt.com/op-edge/415047-syria-christmas-russia-vatican/
“Tillerson once again reiterated the US desire to eventually see President Bashar al Assad removed from power while also pledging US commitment to staying in Syria in order to counter Iran’s influence in the region. Ultimately, according to Tillerson, ‘the United States will remain in Syria’ until certain conditions are met which include the complete destruction of ISIS, Assad’s removal from power, and the return of refugees to a stabilized country.”
“Contradiction has become the norm for US foreign policy over the past many years – an observation that is clear to anyone even remotely paying attention. On Tuesday the US State Department spokesperson was asked during the daily press briefing about the obvious contradiction inherent in US ally and NATO member Turkey shelling US-backed Kurdish forces in Afrin – the Kurdish held zone in northwest Syria near the Turkish border.”
“Despite the PKK being listed as a terrorist group by the U.S., European Union, and U.K., the U.S.-led coalition supports the PYD and YPG as the most effective partner against Daesh, overlooking their proven links with the PKK.”