US Official: Russia Told Washington It Would Use Cruise Missiles in Syria

© Defence Ministry RF

Middle East

Russia has been informing the US in advance about its plans to strike ISIL targets with cruise missiles in Syria, Reuters reports, citing a US defense official.

Russia has conducted a significant number of strikes in Syria, according to a US defense official. The US was informed about the strikes in advance under an agreement with Washington on air safety protocols, he added.
According to the source, a number of the strikes targeted the Islamic State stronghold in Raqqa.

© Sputnik/ Dmitriy Vinogradov

Russian Airstrikes in Syria Will Continue, Intensify - Putin

However, the Russian Defense Ministry has not yet confirmed the information. On September 30, Russia launched an aerial campaign against extremist positions in Syria, following a request from President Bashar Assad.
Since the beginning of the air campaign, Russian Aerospace Forces have carried out around 1,800 sorties, destroying some 2,700 terrorist targets. Several hundred militants have been killed, and dozens of command centers and depots have been destroyed.

Stadium hosting Germany-Netherlands match evacuated; game canceled

Breaking News from Action News and 6abc.com

Updated 2 mins ago

The stadium hosting the Germany-Netherlands soccer match has been evacuated and the game has been canceled.

Police had earlier sealed off the stadium after finding a suspicious suitcase.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and several cabinet ministers were expected to attend the match, which comes four days after the terrorist attacks in Paris.

Germany was playing France in a friendly match during the attacks. Suicide bombers sought unsuccessfully to enter the Stade de France and blew themselves up outside.

Putin Orders MoD to Cooperate With French Naval Group

© Sputnik/ Alexei Nikolsky

Sputnik

Putin ordered the Moskva cruiser to cooperate with a French naval group in the fight against the Islamic State.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin ordered the Moskva missile cruiser stationed in the Mediterranean Sea to establish contact with a French naval group which will soon arrive in the area.

"A French naval group led by an aircraft carrier will soon enter your area of operations," Vladimir Putin old Oleg Krivorog, who heads the Russian naval unit protecting the airbase in Syria hosting Russian warplanes. "It is necessary to establish direct contact with the French and work with them as allies."

"The chief of general staff and the defense minister have received relevant instructions. We must work out a plan for joint actions both at sea and in the air," the president continued.
Earlier on Tuesday, General Staff chief Gen. Valery Gerasimov that Russia's Forces launched 34 cruise missiles during the strike on the terrorist targets in Syria.

© Sputnik/ Alexey Nikolsky

Putin Vows Vengeance Against Terrorists Responsible for Sinai Crash

In a telephone conversation, Vladimir Putin and Francois Hollande agreed to ensure military and intelligence cooperation between Russia and France. The two leaders also agreed to meet during Hollande's visit to Moscow November 26.

"To continue personal dialogue on the fight against terrorism as well as other relevant topics during a meeting in Moscow on November 26," according to statement made by the Kremilin.

Hollande, who skipped the weekend's G20 summit due to the Paris attacks, said Monday that he would meet with the leaders of Russia and the United States to discuss joining forces against terrorism. The French leader is set hold talks with US President Barack Obama in Washington on November 24.

Albania Warned to Take Islamist Threats Seriously

Balkan Insight

Warnings about attacks by ISIS that were emailed to Albania’s interior minister and several media outlets should not be ignored by the Muslim-majority NATO member state, experts said.

Fatjona Mejdini BIRN Tirana

Islamic State militants. Photo:Beta/AP.

Albanian police spokesperson Genti Mullai told media on Monday that officers are investigating people believed to have been responsible for an Islamist attack threat to Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri.
"We don't have anyone under arrest yet, but we are interviewing people who have information about this threat and those who might be behind it," said Mullai.
A threatening email received by Tahiri on Saturday said that “holy war has started against all those who are involved in the war against the Islamic State”.
NATO member Albania has troops serving with the coalition fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan and has collaborated with foreign intelligence agencies involved in combatting ISIS.
Threats were also sent to some media after they reported on the email that was sent to the minister.
Fabian Zhilla, an organised crime researcher for the Open Society Foundation in Albania, told BIRN that the threats must be taken very seriously because ISIS has pledged to attack Muslim-majority countries that have alliances with the West.
Zhilla argued however that the Albanian state should not just impose repressive measures but take a more subtle, grassroots community approach.
"We have to have a very professional approach towards the problem and not a repressive one which can bring further damage and create stereotypes for the innocent Muslim community," Zhilla said.
The head of the Muslim community in Tirana, Ylli Gurra, also told BIRN that Albania should take extremist threats seriously.
“We don’t have any immunity from extremist attacks, Albania has to bear this in mind,” Gurra said.
He said that the Muslim community in Albania and state institutions have been communicating more frequently recently in an attempt to avert any potential problems.
“We have kept in close communication with state structures these days in order to pass on the information we have about every radical religious place in the country and any extremist individual in Albania. It is important that we all collaborate in this difficult moment that the world is facing,” Gurra said.
In the last census in 2011, around 60 per cent of Albanians declared that they are Muslims.
Investigative articles published by BIRN Albania have found that around 90 men, women and children from Albania who went to Syria from 2012 to 2014 to join ISIS.
From 2014 onwards, the Albanian authorities have put more investment into anti-terrorist units as well as tightening up legislation.

Why Republicans want Obama to denounce "radical Islam" — and why he won't do it

7 / 19

Vox.com

Andrew ProkopThe newest fault line in the 2016 presidential campaign is over two words: "radical Islam."

During Saturday night's debate, held in the wake of the terror attacks in Paris, all three Democratic presidential candidates were asked if they'd say the US is "at war with radical Islam" — and, like President Obama, they all demurred.
That phrase isn't "particularly helpful" to America's efforts to reach out to Muslim countries, said Hillary Clinton, who used the word "jihadists" instead. "I don't think the term is what's important," said Bernie Sanders. "I believe calling it what it is, which is to say, radical jihadis," said Martin O'Malley.
Afterward, their Republican rivals professed incredulity. "I don’t understand it," Marco Rubio said Sunday. "That would be like saying we weren't at war with Nazis because we were afraid to offend some Germans who may have been members of the Nazi party, but weren't violent." And Donald Trump chimed in in a tweet: "When will President Obama issue the words RADICAL ISLAMIC TERRORISM? He can't say it, and unless he will, the problem will not be solved!"
© Provided by Vox.com (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty) To many, both the GOP's apparent obsession with repeating this phrase like a mantra and the Democrats' apparent willingness to tie themselves into knots to avoid ever saying it might seem silly. It sure seems like a lot of fuss over language that seem unlikely to have much impact on the US's broader counterterrorism efforts and operations abroad.
But this is a serious strategic debate about how the US should communicate and define its objectives in the "war on terror," both internally and externally, that dates back more than a decade.
And it's not purely a partisan controversy — because throughout most of his presidency, George W. Bush was also reluctant to define the conflict in terms that emphasized religion.

How the controversy over Obama not saying "radical Islam" began

The controversy over Obama's refusal to use the term "radical Islam" kicked off in January of this year after the Charlie Hebdo shootings. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls had said in a speech that the country was at war "against radical Islam." So at a White House press briefing days later, NPR's Mara Liasson asked why President Obama and his administration spokespeople had seemingly "bent over backward to not ever say that."
In a lengthy back-and-forth, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest confirmed that the administration was deliberately avoiding the term. He repeatedly made two main points — that the attackers' view of Islam was "distorted" and "deviant," and that most Muslims around the world condemn such attacks. Therefore, he said, the administration avoided using the term "because it does not accurately describe what happened."
Many conservatives found this exchange infuriating and bizarre — a borderline-Orwellian attempt to erase the religious element of the attackers' motivations that revealed a lack of understanding of why they are so dangerous. Ted Cruz called it "bizarre, politically correct doublespeak" that was "not befitting a commander in chief."
Since then, it's become common for Republican presidential candidates to criticize Obama for having "refused to mention radical Islam" (as Rubio put it in April). "As long as we have a Commander-in-Chief unwilling even to utter the words 'radical Islamic terrorism,' we will not have a concerted effort to defeat these radicals," Cruz said the morning after the latest Paris attacks.
But the criticism hasn't all been along partisan lines. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii criticized the White House for its apparent rhetorical dance, saying she was "upset" that the Obama wouldn't identify radical Islam as the threat. And Vox's Max Fisher argued in February that while Obama "has correctly identified economic and political factors that give rise to extremism, he has appeared to downplay or outright deny an awkward but important fact: Religion plays an important role as well."

Obama thinks declaring a war against "radical Islam" could backfire and alienate potential Muslim allies

But Obama's refusal to mention "radical Islam" isn't just, or even primarily, about political correctness. Instead, it's about strategy and the war of ideas — to effectively fight terrorism, Obama wants to win, or at least not fully alienate, "hearts and minds" in the Muslim world. And he thinks framing the conflict in religious terms would hurt that effort — a belief his predecessor George W. Bush had shared.
Obama explained this when CNN's Fareed Zakaria asked him about his word choice back in February. First, he reiterated that he thinks the extremist "element growing out of Muslim communities in certain parts of the world" has "perverted the religion." And he insisted again that "the overwhelming of majority of Muslims" in the world "don't even recognize" the extremists' views "as being Islam."
But he then pivoted to a different kind of argument.
I think that for us to be successful in fighting this scourge, it's very important for us to align ourselves with the 99.9 percent of Muslims who are looking for the same thing we're looking for — order, peace, prosperity. ... The Middle East and South Asia are sort of ground zero for us needing to win back hearts and minds, particularly when it comes to young people.
Not taking this into account, he said, would be doing ourselves "a disservice in this fight."
Translation: Obama thinks a presidential declaration of a war on "radical Islam" will just make the US more enemies, and will hurt its effort to discredit terrorist ideologies. Hillary Clinton made a similar point in this weekend's debate, saying that framing the conflict as a war on radical Islam is "not particularly helpful to make the case" to "Muslim countries."
Other commentators are even more explicit, pointing out that there are a whole lot of Muslims out there in the world who could conceivably be characterized as "radical Islamists" — the term is not exactly rigorously defined — but who are uninterested in attacking the West, and could in fact be valuable allies against terrorists. These include ordinary citizens as well as more organized Islamist groups and governments in countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
"The long war against radical Islamic terrorists requires at least the tacit support of many radical Muslims," Eli Lake, a Bloomberg View reporter popular among the hawkish right, wrote earlier this year. "Sadly, large pluralities of Muslims in countries allied with the U.S. in the war on terror disavow the tactics of terrorism but endorse the aims of radical Islam." So, Lake wrote, a presidential declaration of war on "radical Islam" would likely lead to "a world in which the U.S. stopped waging a global war on terror," due to loss of support from these Muslim allies.

This argument dates to the George W. Bush administration

The bipartisan roots of this controversy date back to shortly after the 9/11 attacks — when the George W. Bush administration decided to declare a "global war on terror" and not a war against Islamic extremism or radicalism. The administration later rebranded it the "global struggle against violent extremism," again avoiding any words linked to Islam.
Indeed, Bush worked hard to avoid framing the conflict in religious terms, arguing that the attackers weren't true Muslims, just like Obama has been doing. "The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That's not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace," Bush said just days after 9/11.
Yet many conservative commentators back then thought the "war on terror" terminology left out an important element. They thought the conflict should be framed in more ideological terms. One blogger, Stephen Schwartz, popularized a new term, "Islamofascism," which soon spread on the right. In a later essay, Schwartz lumped together "the Wahhabis and their Pakistani and Egyptian counterparts," Hezbollah, and Iran as the true "Islamofascist" enemies of the US.
And some high-level members of the Bush administration agreed with the commentators.
"Saying we were in a war on terrorism was like saying we were in a war against bombers or we were waging a war on tanks," Bush's first defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, later griped in his memoir. "From the beginning, members of the administration worked gingerly around the obvious truth that our main enemies were Islamic extremists. I didn't think we could fight the crucial ideological aspect of the war if we were too wedded to political correctness to acknowledge the facts honestly."
After five years of the war on terror, Bush — perhaps feeling a need to address these criticisms from conservatives — responded to a failed plot to bomb airplanes in 2006 by declaring that "this nation is at war with Islamic fascists."
Unsurprisingly, there was an intense backlash. The term "offends the vast majority of moderate Muslims," Ahmed Younis of the Muslim Public Affairs Council told the BBC shortly after. "The use of the term casts a shadow upon Islam and bolsters the argument that there is a clash of civilizations between Islam and the West."
But the backlash wasn't only from Muslims. Even Karen Hughes, then in charge of Bush's State Department's outreach to the Muslim world, said she preferred not to "use religious terms" because of how they were likely to be interpreted abroad.
Bush avoided the term afterward. It seemed that the problems caused by a US president using the word "Islamic" negatively — even when it was paired with the term "fascists" — didn't outweigh whatever gains it brought.

The real debate: Is the US at war with an Islamic ideology or not?

There's certainly a political aspect to the GOP presidential candidates' loud and proud insistence that we're at war with "radical Islam" and that, unlike the feckless President Obama, they aren't afraid to say it. They could well care more about appealing to their party's primary voters — including some who are suspicious and fearful of Muslims — than about winning Muslim hearts and minds abroad.
But lurking beneath all this is an even broader debate: Is the US, in fact, at war with an ideology that is inherently linked to Islam — something that could be called "radical Islam" or "Islamofacism?" Put another way, are groups like ISIS intrinsically Islamic in a way that makes it both correct and necessary to label them as such?
Scholars who study ISIS generally say the group is indeed, in at least some ways, linked to Islam. But they are also quick to point out that this does not mean that Islam itself, much less all Muslims, are in any way to blame for the group, nor that this makes Muslims — who are by and large ISIS's most numerous victims — a threat.
But that sort of nuance is not easy to convey in politics, and politicians understandably worry that it is easier to overstate the links to Islam in a way that would backfire strategically and exacerbate Islamophobia in the US.
It also risks exacerbating very real fears in the Middle East and other Muslim communities that the US is at war with Islam. Obama thus fears that denouncing "radical Islam" risks playing into the terrorists' hands by making the conflict seem more like a holy war, to no apparent gain. "Those of us outside Muslim communities need to reject the terrorist narrative that the West and Islam are in conflict, or modern life and Islam are in conflict," he said in February.
Yet many conservatives see an effort to downplay ISIS's ideology as disingenuous or naive, an affirmation of their concern that the Obama administration does not understand its enemy or take it seriously enough. Many also see the conflict in more ideological or even apocalyptic terms. Sen. Lindsey Graham, for instance, argues that "Radical Islam is motivated by a religious doctrine that requires them to purify their religion. They can’t be accommodated or appeased."
And then there's Marco Rubio, who's now viewed by some savvy commentators as the likely GOP nominee. After the Paris attacks, Rubio released a video in which he argued that "what we're in now is a civilizational conflict with radical Islam." It is, he said a "clash of civilizations." Whether this is just campaign trail rhetoric, or Rubio's genuine belief, we don't yet know.

Serbs "could leave" govt. over failure to implement deal

Ahead of a final decision of the Constitutional Court in Pristina, Belgrade is saying it has no intention of giving up on what was signed in Brussels.
Source: B92 Monday, November 16, 2015 | 14:39

Representatives of Serbs in Kosovo are announcing they could leave the government if the Community of Serbian Municipalities (ZSO) is not formed.
Although Serbia has no alternative to dialogue, the possibility of breaking off the Kosovo talks is not being ruled out.

The situation in which one party is free to do anything, while they other can do nothing, is explained by Serbian officials by saying that "while Pristina is killing the dialogue, Belgrade is not agreeing to a circus show."

Has the time come to also be thinking about breaking off the Brussels negotiations? "The only option that is out of the question is to give up on living in this area, " Branimir Stojanovic, a Serb who is currently a deputy Kosovo prime minister, commented, and added:

"Everything else is an option. When we exhaust all possibilities for reasonable dialogue that makes sense, then I believe that, just as someone had decided to talk, a decision can also be made not to talk."

Serb representatives in Kosovo say that Pristina is currently carrying out "quiet ethnic cleansing by institutional means." They say their participation in the government of Kosovo will be reconsidered - specifying they will "likely leave the government" if the agreement on the ZSO - a part of the EU-sponsored Brussels agreement - is not respected by Pristina.

"Leaving would not mean an end to normalization of relations. I think that Brussels (EU), which has been passive and unconvincing in its reaction to Pristina, could become engaged, as well as Washington," says Chairman of the Serbian Parliament's Committee on Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun.

Meanwhile, experts are categorical - whatever the other side does, it is best to stay at the table.

"I do not know of another model except conversation... I think closing the door is an invitation to conflict, and I do not see any possibility nor the desire to make it happen," said Nenad Djurdjevic of the Forum for Ethnic Relations NGO.

The final decision of the Constitutional Court in Pristina in connection with the establishment of the ZSO should be made very quickly. The reaction of Serbia is already known - Director of the Office for Kosovo Marko Djuric says what has been signed in Brussels will not be given up, and that Belgrade does not consider the court is question to be "a competent instance."

Albania Minister Receives Emailed Terror Threat

An email sent to the private address of Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri says Albania will be the next country after France to be attacked for its role in the war on terror.

Fatjona Mejdini BIRN Tirana

An email sent to the private address of Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri

Albanian Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri on Saturday said he had received a threatening message via his personal email about a terrorist attack in Albania.
The short message writes that Albania will be the next country to be attacked by Islamic State in revenge for Albania's involvement in the war on terror.
"Now is your turn. The holy war has started against all those who are involved in the war against the Islamic State. You are going to shake and kneel in front of Allah. Allahu Akhbar," the email reportedly said.
The name of the group who sent the email is "Brigadat e Kuqe" or The Red Brigade.
The name was identified for the first time on the eve of the Albania-Serbia football match, when group then sent threatening emails about the Serbian football team , calling them an enemy organisation.
Police sources told BIRN that they were investigating the message sent to Tahiri.
Following Friday's terrorist attacks in Paris, Albanian police said they had tightened security measures and urged citizens to report anything suspicious that they might see.

FYROM Prepare to Raise Fence on Border with Greece

By Philip Chrysopoulos -
Nov 15, 2015

Greek Reporter

FYROM Prepare to Raise Fence on Border with Greece The Security Council of Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has ordered the army to start preparations to erect a fence on the border with Greece to contain the refugee influx.

According to an AP report. FYROM President Gjorge Ivanov presided at an emergency Security Council meeting late Saturday in light of the Islamic State attacks in Paris. Officials are concerned that if other countries where asylum-seekers are headed shut their borders, FYROM will end up keeping more migrants and for a longer period of time.

Ivanov has claimed that more than 8,500 migrants have entered the country unregistered through illegal border crossings from Greece.

AP says that a statement issued after the meeting says the FYROM Security Council “emphasizes that a fence would not be aimed at closing the border, but channeling and limiting the flow of the migrants.”

The statement also says “this step would be taken as a last resort.”

Obama Criticized for Claim That ISIS Is 'Contained'

• By Alexander Mallin

Nov 14, 2015

The White House

WATCH Eyewitness Recounts Chaos During Paris Attack Aftermath

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Critics are lashing out at President Obama in the wake of the attacks in Paris on Friday for remarks he made to ABC's George Stephanopoulos a day earlier in which he said that ISIS was "contained."

“From the start, our goal has been first to contain, and we have contained them," Obama told ABC on Thursday. "They have not gained ground in Iraq. And in Syria it -- they'll come in, they'll leave. But you don't see this systematic march by ISIL across the terrain."

The comment came just hours before the announcement of a U.S. airstrike in Syria that had targeted 'Jihadi John.' But the mainly symbolic victory was cut short following the attacks in Paris on Friday in which at least 127 people were killed.

President Obama Says Donald Trump's Immigration Plan Is Unrealistic

'Jihadi John' Believed Killed in US Drone Strike, US Officials Say

French President Francois Hollande blamed ISIS for the attacks on Saturday, calling it "an act of war."

Several Republicans, including candidates for the GOP presidential nomination, seized on Obama's comments as his latest mistake in underestimating the terror group.

“They are not a JV team. They are not contained. They are on the march," Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina said in an interview with conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt. "Secondly, I think it reminds us that when the United States is not leading the world is a more dangerous and a more tragic place."

Donald Trump tweeted Friday evening, sending his condolences to the victims and hostages, however Saturday morning he took a much more critical tone.

GOP Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee also attacked Obama's "contained" comment, citing the downing of the Russian plane over Egypt and the Paris attack.

"We are clearly not dealing with leashed animals or with a JV team," Huckabee said. "During the debate last week, I stated that we should not admit those claiming to be Syrian refugees and was condemned by the left for that position. I was right and the events in Paris affirm that."

Obama is convening a meeting with his National Security Council this morning on the Paris attacks and the response from the U.S. They will meet before Obama leaves for Turkey this afternoon.

Marine Le Pen Urges to Stop Accepting Migrants

© AFP 2015/ FRANCOIS GUILLOT

Europe

The leader of France's far-right National Front party has urged to immediately stop taking in migrants.

© AFP 2015/ JOEL SAGET

Refugees Must Not Be Denied Asylum Due to Paris Attacks - MSF Director

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Leader of France's far-right National Front party Marine Le Pen has urged to immediately stop taking in migrants, a communique issued Monday read.

"As a precaution, Marine Le Pen urges to immediately stop accepting migrants in France and to stop urgently their spread in the French communes, towns and villages," the communique read.

According to the document, one of the suicide bombers arrived in France via Greece that, alongside other EU states, has been hit by a huge influx of migrants.
On Friday night, several extremists wearing explosive belts attacked public venues across Paris, killing some 130 people and injuring over 350 at restaurants, the Bataclan concert hall and in the vicinity of the Stade de France.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/europe/20151116/1030222366/marine-le-pen-urges-stop-migrants.html#ixzz3rgeEko00

France Sending Aircraft Carrier to Fight ISIL in Syria

© AFP 2015/ PATRICK BAZ

World

 

The aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle will set sail for the shores of Syria on Thursday, French President Francois Hollande said during a rare address to the congress of the National Assembly and the Senate in Versailles.

"The sponsors of the attack in Paris must know that their crimes further strengthen the determination of France to fight and to destroy them," Hollande said.

© AP Photo/ Uncredited/ French television pool

Assad is Not the Enemy of France, ISIL is - Hollande

He vowed to increase France’s participation in the ongoing battle against ISIL in Syria, naming that country as "the largest terrorist factory the world has ever known." Hollande also called for a united and strong anti-ISIL coalition, saying that he will meet with the US and Russian leaders to discuss coordinating their efforts in the struggle against the Islamic State.
"We are not in a war of civilizations. These assassins don’t represent a civilization. We are at war with jihadist terrorism which threatens the whole of the world and not only France," he declared.
Hollande also said that he would formally request the parliament to extend the state of emergency declared in the aftermath of the attacks in Paris for three months.

Putin: ISIS financed from 40 countries, including G20 members

Published time: 16 Nov, 2015 14:29Edited time: 16 Nov, 2015

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© Alexei Druzhinin / AFP

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President Vladimir Putin says he’s shared Russian intelligence data on Islamic State financing with his G20 colleagues: the terrorists appear to be financed from 40 countries, including some G20 member states.

TrendsIslamic State, Russian anti-terror op in Syria

During the summit, “I provided examples based on our data on the financing of different Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) units by private individuals. This money, as we have established, comes from 40 countries and, there are some of the G20 members among them,” Putin told the journalists.
Putin also spoke of the urgent need to curb the illegal oil trade by IS.
"I’ve shown our colleagues photos taken from space and from aircraft which clearly demonstrate the scale of the illegal trade in oil and petroleum products," he said.
“The motorcade of refueling vehicles stretched for dozens of kilometers, so that from a height of 4,000 to 5,000 meters they stretch beyond the horizon," Putin added, comparing the convoy to gas and oil pipeline systems.
It’s not the right time to try and figure out which country is more and which is less effective in the battle with Islamic State, as now a united international effort is needed against the terrorist group, Putin said.
Putin reiterated Russia’s readiness to support armed opposition in Syria in its efforts to fight Islamic State.
"Some armed opposition groups consider it possible to begin active operations against IS with Russia's support. And we are ready to provide such support from the air. If it happens it could become a good basis for the subsequent work on a political settlement,” he said.
“We really need support from the US, European nations, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran,” the president added.
Putin pointed out the change in Washington’s stance on cooperation with Moscow in the fight against the terrorists.
"We need to organize work specifically concentrated on the prevention of terrorist attacks and tackling terrorism on a global scale. We offered to cooperate [with the US] in anti-IS efforts. Unfortunately, our American partners refused. They just sent a written note and it says: ‘we reject your offer’,” Putin said.
“But life is always evolving and at a very fast pace, often teaching us lessons. And I think that now the realization that an effective fight [against terror] can only be staged together is coming to everybody,” the Russian leader said.
According to Putin, first of all it should be decided which groups in Syria can be considered terrorist organizations and which can be attributed to an armed, but still legitimate part of the Syrian opposition.
“Our efforts must be concentrated on the battle with terrorist organizations.”
Putin also disagreed with Western criticism of Russia’s actions in Syria, where the country has been carrying out a large-scale air campaign against Islamic State and other terror groups since September 30.
“It’s really difficult to criticize us,” he said, adding that Russia has repeatedly asked its foreign partners to provide data on terrorist targets in Syria.
“They’re afraid to inform us on the territories which we shouldn’t strike, fearing that it is precisely where we’ll strike; that we are going to cheat everybody,” the president said.
“Apparently, their opinion of us is based on their own concept of human decency,” he added.
Putin told the media that Russia has already established contact with the Syrian opposition, which has asked Moscow not carry out airstrikes in the territories it controls.

Still no conclusion on what caused Sinai plane crash

It’s too early to make conclusions about the reasons for the crash of the Russian A321 jet over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula in late October, as all possible reasons are still being considered by the investigators, Putin said.
“We know about all the possible scenarios, all of the scenarios are being considered. The final conclusion can only be made after the implementation and completion of the inspection,” he stressed.
"If there was an explosion, the traces of explosives would have remained on the liner’s cover and on the belongings of the passengers. It’s inevitable. And we have enough equipment and skilled, world class experts, capable of finding those traces. Only then would it be possible to speak about the reasons for this tragedy," the president added.
With 224 people dying in the crash, Putin said that "it's a huge emotional pain for all of us; for all Russian people, no matter what the cause of the crash was."

SYRIAN REFUGEES REFUSES TO ENETR N UNITED STATES

Donald Trump For President Mississippi just got added to the list. Great job America! Let's Take America Back! 9 States halting relocation of Syrian Refugees. Not allowing entry, effective immediately: 1. Alabama 2. Arizona 3. Indiana 4. Louisiana 5. Michigan 6. Texas 7. Illinois 8. Massachusetts 9. Mississip

What to Expect After the Nov. 13 Paris Attacks

 

Analysis

November 13, 2015

French security forces evacuate Paris’ 10th arrondissement following a string of Nov. 13 attacks. (KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images)

Analysis

Update (9:30 a.m. CST): The death toll from the Nov. 13 attacks has now reached over 120, according to France 24.
Update (6:00 p.m. CST): According to French media reports, French security forces have stormed and secured the Bataclan theater. The attackers apparently used grenades inside the main concert hall, Aujourd'hui Paris reported Nov. 13. Details are still emerging.
As many as 60 people died Nov. 13 in multiple terrorist attacks throughout Paris. At least five gunmen – likely jihadists judging from witness's accounts – conducted the attacks.

Timeline of the Attack

The attacks, which were clearly coordinated, took place in multiple locations and involved different methods. In the first wave, two suicide bombers detonated their explosives at locations near the Stade de France, where a soccer match between France and Germany was taking place. (French President Francois Hollande himself was at the stadium at the time of the attack. He was escorted from the scene and met with French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve in a closed meeting shortly thereafter.) It is unclear whether grenades or other explosives were used, and it is possible a suicide bomber may have been involved.
Meanwhile, gunmen also opened fire, reportedly with Kalashnikov rifles, on a tightly packed Cambodian restaurant in a drive-by shooting. Shots were also fired at the Bataclan concert hall, where a hostage situation is now underway.
Roughly 25 minutes later, gunmen also opened fire on Rue de Charonne. And about an hour after the initial attacks, attacks by other terrorist cells took place at the Louvre and Les Halles.
Special police units, including RAID, a police intervention unit, have been rapidly mobilized and are currently securing the areas around the stadium, the bars and restaurants in the area of the 10th and 11th arrondissement, a part of Paris popular with young people and tourists, and the Bataclan concert hall, where at least some of the gunmen, allegedly armed with explosives, are reportedly located and holding up to 100 hostages.
Events in Paris could evolve rapidly – the standoff with the gunmen at the Bataclan concert hall could end at any moment if the French special police units believe that the gunmen are going to harm the hostages.
Though shocking, the attacks are not completely surprising. Multiple individuals from France and other European countries have traveled to Syria to join extremist groups there. As the Charlie Hebdo attacks have also demonstrated, there is a persistent risk of terrorist attacks within Europe. An important question going forward is whether the attacks were entirely grassroots in nature or whether the assailants received instruction or assistance from abroad from groups such as the Islamic State or al Qaeda. Furthermore, the recent influx of refugees into Europe from places such as Syria highlights the risk that jihadist groups could have placed some of their members among the large refugee flow in order to conduct attacks in Europe.
In an address to the nation, French President Francois Hollande said that the country will close off its borders. The French government will prioritize immediately locking down the city, protecting civilians and capturing the attackers. The next piece of that will be to close down transportation and the borders to prevent any perpetrators from escaping. Finally they will begin to investigate to uproot the parties responsible for the attacks. Notably, Hollande has officialy declared a state of emergency.

Political Fallout

The attacks will surely have political consequences. They come five days before France's only aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, is due to set sail for the Persian Gulf for actions against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. France has been carrying out airstrikes in Syria since late September. Should the attacks be traced back to the Islamic State's core area of operation, France will probably deepen its involvement in anti-Islamic State operations in Syria and Iraq at a time when the Syrian battlefield in particular is becoming crowded and complicated.
From a political perspective, the attacks are a reminder of France's longstanding ethnic frictions following several months in which the focus has been on neighboring Germany. High numbers of migrants have been entering Germany from the east and south, with very few carrying on to France. As a result, France has kept a relatively low profile in the attempts to stem the flow of migrants, though it has been present at the numerous summits on the issue and has supported Germany's push for a relocation of asylum seekers across Europe. Nevertheless, this event can be expected to strengthen the argument of those groups that have been calling for a halt in the flow of immigrants and the closing of borders in countries such as Germany, Sweden and much of Central and Eastern Europe
In the wake of these attacks, Marine Le Pen and her far-right National Front party could see their popularity rise. Le Pen kept a low profile after the Charlie Hebdo shooting in January and still saw an increase in her party's popularity because of its longstanding anti-immigration message. Hollande also saw a brief uptick in popularity after the Charlie Hebdo attack because of his reaction to the events, but a repeat of this trend is not expected because people will now question whether the anti-terrorism measures that were approved this year actually worked. The leader of the center-right Republicans Party, Nicolas Sarkozy, also has a history of taking a strong stance on security issues; he was campaigning on the subject only last week. He is expected to battle the milder Alain Juppe for his party's nomination in the 2017 elections, and voters may swing to his side in the wake of the attacks.

 

Does Sarkozy’s Visit to Moscow Beckon a New Franco-Russian Axis?

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Politics

Sputnik 

In a follow-up to the former French president’s trip to Moscow and an informal meeting with President Putin in late October, one French magazine has offered an interesting analysis of what it actually means: is it simply a way to distance himself from President Hollande or does it represent a deeper ideological shift between France and Russia?

© East News/ AP Photo/Francois Mori

Victory Over ISIL Requires Coalition Containing Russia – Sarkozy

Projecting the outcome of the meeting for the French 2017 presidential elections, the authors of the Slate.fr explore whether an alignment of positions between Russia and France may well be on the cards. "In the same vein, in his address at MGIMO, Nicolas Sarkozy carefully listed all the points of convergence between Vladimir Putin and himself:

he was the first to call for the lifting of sanctions against Russia, in opposition to Hollande, putting him in the camp with those who in Europe, such as Hungary, Greece and Italy, wish to abandon the tough stance taken on Moscow led by Poland, the Baltic states and supported by Berlin."

"The former president also called for a united front of Europe, Russia and America against international jihadism: having the same enemies, suffering the same threats and being exposed to the same global risks, France and Russia are natural allies on the international scene."

"In short, the French leader seems to align with the long term positions defended by the Russian presidency and proclaimed on September 28 2015 at the UN podium by Vladimir Putin."

© AP Photo/ French Air Force/ECPAD

France Conducts Airstrikes on ISIL Oil Facilities in Syria

It might also symbolize a strategic shift between the two nations. Some in France are cautious that Nicolas Sarkozy's possible victory in the 2017 French Presidential elections might signify a change to the country’s strategy.

"With his trip to Moscow, Nicolas Sarkozy is sending a signal to the most conservative wing of his party. The fight for Christian values and traditional values, the fight against terrorism and illegal migration, promoting a strong state and an uninhibited patriotism…These are all the elements that the future candidate receives in Moscow, benefiting from the aura of the Russian president."

However, the magazine notes, Nicolas Sarkozy has preserved, despite appearances, several "pretexts" of French diplomacy from the past decade: the continued rule of Bashar al-Assad, officially supported by Russian authorities, is an "obstacle to the resolution Syrian political crisis."
"In addition, it is both possible and necessary to distinguish, within the Syrian opposition, between moderates and radicals, contrary to the arguments advanced by the Russian President who said this is a vain distinction at the recent meeting of the Valdai Club in Sochi by deleting the notion of a "moderate terrorism."
Finally, the idea of regime change (the neocon regime change as reviled by the Russian President) is considered a necessity by the former French president.

All the above allows the authors to suppose that there are fundamental disagreements between the two leaders despite an abundance of common ground.

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Excusez-Moi? Obama Claimed ISIL Was 'Contained' Hours Before Paris Attack

The position of France on the Ukrainian crisis is due to the consistently argued principles of all French authorities, including by Sarkozy during his presidency: the principle of territorial integrity of Ukraine is fundamental and prohibits the recognition of such a rapid integration of Crimea into the Russian Federation; the principle of national sovereignty is also unbreakable and can only lead Paris to demand the application of the Minsk I and II agreements to gradually restore Kiev's "monopoly of legitimate violence" in Donbass. Finally, the sanction regime is not just at the discretion of Paris to make: a newly elected French president may well be able to argue a case, but certainly the decision is not his alone to take amongst his European partners.

However, in the final outcome, for Moscow, Nicolas Sarkozy does not offer an alternative to Francois Hollande's existing policy on Russia. While following in the traditional patterns of French opposition leaders abroad, which involves scoring some political points against the existing French president through cozying up to Putin, under Sarkozy, France is likely to maintain its existing political path meaning that the strengthening of Franco-Russian ties remains unlikely.

Assailant Involved in Paris Attacks Passed Through Leros, Greece

By Philip Chrysopoulos -
Nov 14, 2015

Greej Reporter
paris_Attack23At least one of the eight Paris attack perpetrators was among the refugees who had passed through Greece in October holding a Syrian passport, Greek authorities say.

According to Deputy Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Toskas, the Syrian passport found at one of the attack sites was identified as a person who was a refugee, registered on Leros island, on October 3rd.

The official citizen protection ministry statement reads as follows:

“On the case of the Syrian passport found at the scene of the terrorist attack. We announce that the passport holder, had passed from Leros on 03.10.2015 where he was identified based on EU regulations on the refugee issue. We do not know if the passport was checked in other countries which the holder likely passed through. We will continue the painstaking and persistent effort under difficult circumstances to ensure the security of our country and Europe, insisting on the thorough identification of all persons in the refugee inflow.”

The perpetrator had arrived at Leros on October 3rd along with 70 other migrants. He was registered and identified at the island’s hot spot and two days later left Greece.

French authorities have given Greek police a second name of a suspect who had also passed through Greece along with other refugees.

Greeks are the Hardest Working People in Europe, Rank 4th Worldwide

By Philip Chrysopoulos -
Nov 13, 2015

Greek Report

Greeks are the hardest working people in Europe and rank fourth internationally, according to a new survey by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Mexicans work more than anyone else, followed by Costa Ricans and Koreans. Greeks come fourth on the international list, the study shows. Chileans, Russians and Polish follow.

The OECD study has estimated the yearly hours of work per country, taking into account full-time and part-time employment, overtime, seasonal employment and other contributing factors.

Based on the yearly hours for 2014, Fortune magazine estimated the hours of work on a weekly basis. According to this calculation, Greeks work 39.27 hours per week, ranking fourth internationally.

Mexicans are the hardest working putting an average of 42.85 hours per week. Costa Ricans come close with 42.62 hours, while Koreans put 40.85 hours per week at work.

On the bottom of the list, the French rank 32nd for working 28.22 hours per week, Danes follow at 27.62, Norwegians are 34th with 27.44 hours per week, Dutch follow at 27.40 hours and Germans rank 36th working 26.37 hours per week.

Americans rank 16th with 34.40 hours per week, while Russians come in 6th place with 38.17 hours per week.

Storm on the Horizon: Does Soros Want to Inflame Revolution in Europe?

© AFP 2015/ TOBIAS SCHWARZ

Politics

It looks like notorious billionaire George Soros wants to inflame an all-out revolution in Europe, Polish political analyst Adriel Kasonta notes.

George Soros, a Hungarian-born American business magnate, apparently despises the idea of national sovereignty, considering it an obstacle to his new "open borders" agenda.

"A few weeks ago, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban accused the billionaire financier of funding activists trying to encourage the continued flow of refugees heading to the continent from the Middle East and beyond," Adriel Kasonta, an editorial board member at the Central European Journal of International and Security Studies, writes in his article for the American Conservative.

© AP Photo/ Kerstin Joensson

Ticking Clock: European Civilization on the Brink of Extinction?

Kasonta notes that Orban has nailed it, since the statement voiced by the Hungarian Prime Minister in fact expressed the emotions of many Europeans regarding the continent's place in the world and the future of national sovereignty. According to the Polish analyst, a recent report of the International Organization for Migration has indicated that around 760,979 asylum seekers have poured into Europe this year. Furthermore, about 218,394 migrants reached European shores in October, according to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR).
It this does sound alarming since the total number of migrants and refugees that arrived in Europe in 2014 amounted to just 219,000.

"It is essential to not only look at the economic, political, and humanitarian aspects of the crisis, but also consider the state of the European psyche in order to understand what is happening in the continental European mind," Kasonta stressed.

© Sputnik/ Alexei Druzhinin

Oil Power: How Russo-Saudi Rapprochement Upsetting Washington's Applecart

He quoted the Hungarian Prime Minister who warned: "Everything which is now taking place before our eyes threatens to have explosive consequences for all of Europe… If Europe does not return to the path of common sense, it will find itself laid low in a battle for its fate." Billionaire George Soros does not share this stance: "[Orbán's] plan treats the protection of national borders as the objective and the refugees as an obstacle. Our plan treats the protection of refugees as the objective and national borders as the obstacle," the notorious magnate said in response to Orban's warning, as quoted by Kasonta.

The Polish analyst elaborated that it is actually Soros, who shares part of the blame for bolstering the migrant influx. Activists like Soros, Kasonta says, are encouraging migrants to flow into Europe and persuade Europeans "to regard borders and sovereignty as things of the past."

© Flickr/ gingerbeardman

US Gov't Redrawing European Borders According to Its Needs After the Fall of the Soviet Union

"[Activist like Soros] are trying to rip off our birth right to sovereignty and stigmatize people by accusing them of upholding an outmoded Christian identity," the Polish analyst stressed. Kasonta bemoans the fact that the current refugee crisis in Europe "is already creating damage that will be hard to repair."
He warns that the continental nationalism has caught a second wind and could undermine European peace and well-being.
Kasonta cited prominent French thinker Alexis de Tocqueville who wrote on the eve of the 1848 revolution that "we are sleeping on a volcano… A wind of revolution blows, the storm is on the horizon."
Is inflaming a revolution in Europe what George Soros really wants?

NATO’s Turn to Attack

There’s a time for soft power and playing the long game. But the attacks in Paris prove the Islamic State is overdue for eradication.

• By James Stavridis
• November 14, 2015 
• Foreign Policy 

On the morning after France’s long night of terror, the language of war has been impossible to avoid. President François Hollande declared the attacks on Paris “an act of war that was waged by a terrorist army, a jihadist army, by Daesh [the Islamic State], against France.” The Islamic State has hailed the “blessed” operation of its “soldiers” and has vowed continued attacks. Pope Francis has described the current state of events as “a piece” of a piecemeal Third World War.
The weather in Paris today is grim and gray, a reflection of the city’s somber mood. But as the French government prepares for a possible military response, France’s military allies — including the United States — would be wise to do the same. Paris would be within its rights to expect NATO to play a meaningful role in organizing a significant military response to the attacks.
In Brussels, at the political headquarters of NATO, and in Mons, the military “Pentagon” of NATO just an hour south, officials will be working through the weekend. The 28-nation alliance, after all, is founded on one key premise enshrined in the Article 5 of its founding treaty: “The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked.” It is worth noting that the only country to ever activate Article 5 was the United States after the 9/11 attacks in 2001.
If France would like to become the second such country, the first step would be to call for an Article 4 consultation, which would convene the ambassadors of the 28 nations, who are in permanent session in Brussels, to discuss the situation and decide a course of action. This happened most recently in 2014, when Turkey requested an Article 4 meeting after the Islamic State attacks there.
It seems likely that an Article 4 meeting would conclude that the Paris massacres, given their scale and scope, should be considered an attack under Article 5. That would be entirely appropriate. The terrorist attacks — assuming that the Islamic State is, in fact, responsible for them — are the culmination of a long-running humanitarian disaster in Syria that has destabilized the Middle East and initiated the flow of millions of refugees into the heart of Europe. NATO can no longer pretend the conflict does not affect its most basic interests.

The fundamental purpose of a NATO missionshould be to defeat the Islamic state in Syria and destroy the infrastructure it has created there.

The fundamental purpose of a NATO mission should be to defeat the Islamic state in Syria and destroy the infrastructure it has created there. Such a mission would have the additional benefit of demonstrating that NATO is willing to act decisively when it is under threat. Setting aside the internal disagreements that sometimes slow it down, NATO is an imposing military force. NATO has tremendous military resources at its disposal, including over 3 million troops under arms (and more in reserve), over 25,000 military aircraft, 800 oceangoing major combatant ships, and 50 AWACS aircraft. Meanwhile, the group’s 28 nations represent over 50 percent of global GDP.
A major NATO mission against the Islamic State would consist of a number of smaller, practical steps. First, according to NATO’s treaty, the incident must be referred to the U.N. Security Council. In terms of international law, it would be ideal for the Security Council to endorse a military response, though NATO would be capable of proceeding regardless.
Second, the alliance should assign one of its major joint commands to lead the planning and conduct of any operational response. Since the Allied Joint Force Command in Brunssum in the Netherlands is fully engaged as the lead command for Afghanistan, the task would likely fall to the other major command: the Allied Joint Force Command in Naples, Italy. This is the command that conducted the intervention in Libya and is one that has significant planning and operational experience, as well as deep connections to coalition partners from the region — the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar, and others. NATO’s military planners should aim to include not only the alliance’s official members, but also its many coalition partners, including Sweden, Finland, and other regional actors.
A third key initiative would be to prepare NATO special forces for a central role in military operations. NATO Special Operations Headquarters in Casteau, Belgium, should take the lead in organizing intelligence-sharing among member states; it should also prepare the alliance’s joint special forces to be deployed on the ground in Syria to train and motivate anti-Islamic State fighters, gather firsthand intelligence, conduct raids, and serve as spotters for NATO and coalition aircraft.
Fourth, and most importantly in the long term, NATO should organize a training mission to work with both the combined Kurdish Peshmerga-Yazidi force operating in northern Iraq and the Iraqi security forces in Baghdad. Jordan — which has highly capable ground troops — should also be invited to participate at a high level. These efforts could be modeled on the NATO Training Mission-Iraq (NTM-I), which was in place from 2004 to 2011.
Fifth, the current U.S.-led bombing campaign in Syria and Iraq should come under NATO leadership. NATO could then increase the assets deployed in that mission by contributing additional aircraft, troops, ordnance, and AWACS aircraft, whose powerful radar provide 360-degree coverage of air battle space. NATO very effectively organized command and control over airspace in Afghanistan, and it could do the same in the current conflict.
Lastly, NATO should emphasize that it is building an “open coalition,” one that can not only include the forces of traditional allies, but also those of NATO’s traditional adversary, Russia. The Russian government claims to want to defeat the Islamic State, and it should have no lack of motivation, given the over 200 dead citizens — including many women and children — who seem to have been massacred by the Islamic State in the downing of a civilian aircraft just two weeks ago. Russia should be invited to participate alongside NATO and other coalition members against the Islamic State.
If the French seek strong NATO participation in a broad and lethal campaign against the Islamic State, Americans must offer support. They would be following the example set by the French on behalf of the United States after 9/11, and, in an earlier century, during the American Revolutionary War.
The Islamic State is an apocalyptic organization overdue for eradication. It has beheaded and raped citizens from around the world; has killed civilians in spectacular and horrific ways; has enslaved young women and girls and sold them in open markets; and appears to have brought down a commercial aircraft full of tourists. Now it has killed Westerners execution-style in a city theater. There is a time for soft power and playing the long game in the Middle East, but there is also a time for the ruthless application of hard power. It is NATO’s responsibility to recognize our current moment qualifies as the latter.

Photo credit: STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images

Putin, Obama Agree Need for UN-Brokered Syria Talks

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© AP Photo/ Cem Oksuz/Anadolu Agency via AP, Pool

Middle East

"President Obama and President Putin of Russia held a constructive discussion on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Antalya, Turkey," the White House said Sunday.

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Putin, Obama Hold Informal Meeting on G20 Sidelines (VIDEO)

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Barack Obama agreed on the need for a ceasefire in Syria and UN-brokered talks between the conflicting parties, the White House said Sunday. Earlier today, the two presidents held informal talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Turkey's Antalya.

"President Obama and President Putin agreed on the need for a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition, which would be proceeded by UN-mediated negotiations between the Syrian opposition and regime as well as a ceasefire," the White House statement reads.

Obama welcomed efforts by all countries in confronting Islamic State, noting the importance of Russia's military efforts in Syria focusing on the group, the statement reads.
The Kremlin was also positive about the talks, with Putin's aide Yury Ushakov saying that Russia and the US have similar strategic objectives in the fight against terrorism, though there are differences in tactics.

"It was an opportunity to talk quite thoroughly and the discussion was focused on two topics – at the beginning on Syria, and then on Ukraine," Ushakov told reporters adding that more time was devoted to Syria.

In addition, President Obama offered his condolences over last month's crash of a Russian airliner in Egypt resulting in the death of 224 people, the White House said in its statement.