And the other side of that is the bomb that killed 27 in Iraq yesterday but gets minor mentions, if any, in our managed and well embedded agency-fed madia.
The chain of destroyed states expanding towards Iran and beyond to Russian and Chinese pie-slicing is not to be mentioned.
PNAC, full spectrum. As with the napalm-cold war, its all done with proxy smoke and mirrors.

Rebels (Saudi Arabia) or Assad (Iran)? I’ve no preference really, except maybe for the fact that Iran at least pretends to be a bit more progressive then the Saudis who actually take pride in their mistreatment of their own people, especially women. As with all their proxy battlefields like Lebanon or Iraq its the average joe soap that loses.

You omit, Gearoid, the Nato shadow boxers behind the fronts, and that these entities are creations of imperial Britain and France post Ottoman collapse. They never really went away you know.

What we are witnessing is regional and global reconfiguration to suit the Aipac/Pentagon/Nato axis of virtue of the ‘international community’ that has displaced the UN and hollowed out any semblance of international legality and attempt at justice.
It is structural adjustment for the post cold war neoliberal totalitarian dictatorship of the velvet-gloved corporatariat.

@B Lowe Happy New Year to you. I do not understand either why this group has been recognised, they do seem dubious, but I am no expert..

And you are obviously an international security expert John, are you? Car bombs are the specialist trademark of the Syrian security services, perfected in Lebanon 1978-2004. To deduce “special forces training” in a region that is full of militant forces and warlords with their own sinister agendas. Think again.

I never claimed to be an expert my friend. It was not I who posted the silly punctuated sound bites, that allude to some deeper knowledge on the subject, held by the author. As I said I am no expert but I have worked in a national and international security environment for the past 32yrs, spending some time in the region, I also have many friends and colleagues working in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Haiti, Kosovo, Bosnia, Chad, East Timor, and numerous other places with whom I meet quite regularly. As to your accusation of naivety, where is the evidence of that in my post? I am afraid your own post condemns you, not me, on that score.