War

Russian President Vladimir Putin has deployed thousands of troops and hundreds of warplanes on Monday to southwest Russia for large-scale military drills, amid escalating tensions with the West and NATO.  Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has said that military units have been put on high alert on Monday, as troops wait in readiness for potential conflict. AP.org reports: The district includes troops stationed in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, as well as forces in the North Caucasus and southwestern regions near the border with Ukraine.

The head of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, may be an undercover Mossad agent named Elliot Shimon, according to sources close to Edward Snowden.  According to these sources, Al-Baghdadi was recruited by the Israeli intelligence agency to wage psychological warfare against Arab and Islamic societies. Usatwentyfour.com reports: We offer below three translations that want to assert that the Caliph Al-Baghdadi is a full Mossad agent: The so-called “Elliot” was recruited by the Israeli Mossad  and was trained in espionage and psychological warfare against Arab and Islamic societies.

NATO and Saudi Arabia are set to discuss Riyadh’s proposal for troop deployment to Syria under the pretext of fighting ISIS, according to reports. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have all expressed their readiness to send ground troops to Syria as part of the US led coalition. Press TV reports: Saudi media quoted NATO sources as saying on Monday that Saudi Defense Minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman is scheduled to attend the Western military alliance’s meetings in Brussels this week to hold talks on Riyadh’s plan for ground intervention into Syria.

Once again, Russia is being portrayed as the evil bad guys who frequently play opposite the good guys in the form of the peace loving NATO nations. A new BBC program features Moscow initiating an invasion on Latvia followed up with a nuclear strike on Britain.

The British Army is to deploy 1,600 troops to Jordan to take part in war games which could be preparation for a potential ‘confrontation’ between Russia and NATO member countries in Eastern Europe. Army sources told the Daily Telegraph that the drill dubbed Shamal Storm, will simulate an Iraq invasion for the first time in over a decade, but is not a prelude to sending ground troops to fight ISIS, but rather it could be seen as a dry run for one day having to deal with a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine or Eastern Europe. A source said: “This isn’t a counter-Isil exercise.