US air war on Islamic State creates 500% increase in Syrian refugees

According to this story at the Council on Foreign Relations website, there has been a five-fold increase in the number of refugees entering the EU from the Middle East compared to last year. Most of the refugees are Syrians.

So what is it these Syrians are fleeing? Assad's barrel bombs? Islamic State head-choppers? Or America's war on Islamic State in Syria?

What's changed in Syria in the past year? Assad's been dropping barrel bombs for four years. Islamic State has been lopping noggins for at least two. Why the sudden uptick in refugees?

The only significant change is that last August the US and a tiny consortium of half-hearted allies began bombing Syria. According to the US Department of Defense website, the US has bombed Syria about 2400 times since then. America's six coalition partners, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi, UAE, Canada, and Australia, have added a further 120 air strikes between them.

My question is this; could adding seven or eight US/coalition air strikes per day lead to a 500% increase in refugees fleeing the hell hole that is Syria? Even allowing for the fact that a USAF Paveway 500 pounder or a Hellfire missile is likely to cause a lot more carnage than a "barrel bomb," this seems a bit of a stretch.

So what else could account for the exponential rise in the number of Syrian refugees?

Could it be possible that our erstwhile NATO ally Turkey has been quietly opening the gates of the refugee camps and encouraging their inhabitants to seek greener pastures in the EU?

"Go west, young man! Take your wives and children too!"

And why might the wily Erdogan pursue such a strategy?

Here's why.



Not that long ago Assad and Erdogan were pals. Then that odious "uprising" came outta the blue, and Erdogan allowed his NATO overlords to convince him that if he just stabbed Assad in the back, the Syrian regime would crumble, and Erdogan would be a hero, not to mention the man of the day among his NATO peers.

That was four and a half years ago. Erdogan did his part. He stabbed Assad in the back.

Since then, pretty much everything has gone wrong. Instead of being heralded as a hero, Erdogan is stuck with billions of dollars in expenses for the millions of Syrian refugees that his misguided adventure has created.

Flooding Europe with Syrian refugees is Erdogan's way of paying back his NATO betters who have hung him out to dry.

Canadian Air Force's lone bomber moved to Europe for possible Syria action

The Canadian Air Force is moving it's only dedicated bomber, a seventy year old Lancaster, to an unspecified NATO air base in Europe, where it will join Canada's fleet of six 35 year old CF-18s and four 50 year old Sea King helicopters for an anticipated action in Syria.

Canada's arsenal of the air last saw combat in the vaunted Libyan campaign of 2011 in which it served as the pointy end of the spear that brought freedom and democracy to the people of Libya.

Anonymous insiders speculate that NATO will soon unleash a similar humanitarian bombing campaign to bring freedom and democracy to the people of Syria.

Erdogan wags terror dog in Syria

Various news sites are reporting that Turkish fighter jets have attacked a terrorist convoy across the border in Syria.

At first blush this seems quite a turnaround for Turkey, whose political elite has actively nourished the Syrian rebels thus far. Has there been a change of heart?

No, Erdogan is merely borrowing a well-thumbed page from Netanyahu's playbook; whenever the flames of domestic politics are getting uncomfortably warm, distract the populace with a brazen diversionary tactic.

Heady days for the Oaf of Tobruk

Or "le twat," as he is known in France.

If you're at all acquainted with the folks at the so-called "Foreign Policy Initiative" you'll realize that "le twat" is in good company, namely the company of the same blood-thirsty gang of dipshits who couldn't get Bush Jr. into Iraq soon enough back when they called themselves the Project for a New American Century.

BHL is still chuffed by his glorious rout of the forces of darkness in Libya, and all things considered, finding the disco dandy's name on the list of the usual suspects prescribing more war for America should not come as a surprise.

What should be a surprise is that the man retains any credibility anywhere on the media spectrum. From the disaster that is Libya to the disaster that is Mali to the fact that Francios Hollande still doesn't have his spurs, how is it possible that any serious person cares what imbecilities tumble from the lips of the aging buffoon?

Democracy rears its ugly head...

Pity David Cameron.

The Brit PM had such a boner for justice and the rule of law that he was ready to let the cruise missiles fly a couple of days ago.

But, just as it was all coming together, just as Cameron was on the verge of earning his spurs... his glory train gets derailed by a parliamentary vote!

That's got to hurt...

PM Stephen "Me-Too" Harper gets US memo on Syria

The day after the White House decides to play the "Evil Dictator uses poison gas on own people" card, Big Steve has arrived at the same conclusion.

No question about it; the Evil Assad has most definitely crossed them there Red Lines.

Apparently you can kill 90,000 of your own people and the world will stand by, wringing its hands and averting its eyes.

But gas a couple dozen and the Nations of Virtue will spring into action.

Watch for projectiles of democracy raining on Damascus soon...

Joining hands in peace... just in time for war

They say Obama's Air Force One was still on the taxi-way enroute to Jordan when Netanyahu picked up the phone and put a call through to Turkey's President Erdogan.

"Hey, so sorry about that Mavi Marmara business," the Israeli PM whispered into the ear of Erdogan, and that's all the Turk PM needed to hear.

"Ah, thank you so much, all is forgiven!"

The pouty Turks had been waiting three years for today's apology. And Middle-East watchers knew it had to come sooner or later.

So while the Oracle of Nairobi didn't accomplish anything in terms of Israel-Palestine peace, he has set the stage for the next phase in the Syrian war.

Look at a map. The Syrian capital is less than fifty miles from the Israeli border. That's about an hour's drive for a column of Merkavas.

And of course Turkey has the northern border.

NATO-member Turkey and NATO step-child Israel have been having that unfortunate internecine spat ever since that unfortunate Mavi Marmara incident.

Looks like Obama was able to patch things up.

All we need now is the "major provocation" that will breach the "red line."

NATO chiefs overjoyed as Syria hands them "Just Cause"

One can imagine there's a whole lot of gleeful handrubbing going on in Brussels today.

NATO operates by the same code as a biker gang; an attack on one of us is an attack on all. And the downing of a Turkish fighter plane by Syria yesterday when it strayed into Syrian airspace was obviously an unprovoked attack.

Listen to the tough talk coming from one of NATO's toughest talking cheer-leaders, Brit Foreign Secretary William Hague;

This outrageous act underlines how far beyond accepted behaviour the Syrian regime has put itself. The Assad regime should not make the mistake of believing it can act with impunity. It will be held to account.

Note that this is in stark contrast to NATO, which always acts with impunity and is never held to account.

Note also that the "outrageous act" in question is the shooting down of a foreign warplane that violated Syrian territorial sovereignty, an act that would be deemed entirely justifiable were it to occur in one of the Nations of Virtue.

So the NATO brain trust will be getting together in the next few days to chart a course of action.

Expect the smart bombs and cruise missiles to follow soon after.