Syria

Russia is scaling down its military presence in Syria by returning the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov and its group from the Mediterranean Sea back to Russia, the defense ministry reported Friday. RT.com reports: The Kuznetsov group will return to its home base in Severomorsk, the chair of the Russian General Staff, Army Gen. Valery Gerasimov, announced on Friday. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial pullout of military forces from Syria after negotiating a ceasefire deal with Iran and Turkey.

In the immediate aftermath of the failed Turkish "coup" of July 2016, the immediate concern to the US was not the fate of the Erdogan regime, but whether the US would maintain access to Incirlik Air Base, a strategic output for the US airforce, allowing it fast and easy access to most of the Middle East and part of Russia even in the immediate absence of an aircraft carrier.

The US is refusing to bomb oil production facilities operated by ISIS in  Syria, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. The oil fields earn ISIS tens of millions of dollars in revenue every month and provide the terror organization with their main source of income which is used to promote global jihad.

Russia has accused the US government of allowing ISIS militants to steal oil in Syria in order to earn hundreds of millions of dollars.  Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov warned that the US-led international coalition deliberately avoided bombing oil production facilities run by ISIS due to the fact that the US had a vested interest in the illegal oil sales.

Submitted by Rick Sterling via Strategic-Culture.org,