War

Earlier today we reported that Saudi Arabia has made a “final” decision to invade Syria.

Of course they won’t use the term “invade.” They’ll say the same thing the US says, which is that they need to send in a limited number of ground troops to help fight ISIS.

The timing of the announcement quite clearly suggests that the Saudis are going to try and shore up the rebels who are facing imminent defeat at Aleppo where Hezbollah, backed by Russian airstrikes, is about to overrun the opposition.

As you might have heard, the opposition in Syria is in serious trouble.

Last summer, Bashar al-Assad’s army was on the ropes, as the SAA fought a multi-front war against a dizzying array of rebel forces including ISIS. Then Quds commander Qassem Soleimani went to Russia. After that, everything changed.

In a replay of yesterday's idiotic opening action, WTI crude spiked on Saudi troops headlines - running stops to yesterday's close - only to dump back below $27 once again...

A petition has been published on the White House website accusing Barack Obama of war crimes and demanding his prosecution.  “We demand conviction of a war criminal Barack Obama and trial in the International Criminal Court in [The] Hague. He is guilty of crimes not only against the USA citizens, but against the whole world,” the petition says. Farsnews.com reports: The authors also note that “one of the most dreadful prisons in history – Guantanamo – continues to function.” The US added to the de-stabilization of the situation in the Middle East, too, the petition’s authors state.

"Putin Uses The Refugee Crisis To Weaken Merkel", by Judy Dempsey as originally published at Carnegie Europe,

Back in December 2015, when it became clear that refugees from the Middle East would continue to head toward Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel reassured her conservative Christian Democratic Union party that everything was under control. All she needed, she told party members, was more time. Germany could manage the influx of over 1 million refugees and asylum seekers.