RAF target IS in Syria

[Centurion40]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/09/us-mideast-crisis-syria-exclusive-idUSKCN0R91H720150909

Apparently it is more than Spetsnaz, there is naval infantry as well.  I thought that there has been Spetsnaz on the ground in Syria for years, protecting Russians supporting the Assad regime.

Anyway, like Grim, I wish the Russians well in their escapades against ISIS.  If they want to spill blood and grind-up resources in that fight, more power to them.  If I were a Syrian, I'd rather live under Russian red, white & blue than ISIS black.  The whole place is FUBAR to start with, can the Russians really make it any worse?  Still, I doubt that their plan is destroy ISIS; it is probably more like help the Syrian government consolidate territory and build a Mediterranean base for the Russian Navy and Air Force.  I trust that the Russians will enjoy their stay in Syria a bit more than they enjoyed their stay in Afghanistan.  FUBAR.

[LongBlade]

Saw a news article yesterday that the reds are already working with Assad's combat units.

[Centurion40]

I do worry about future terrorists living among the current wave of Syrian refugees.

Here in Canada, some people are making comparisons to us offering safe harbour to Syrians in the same way that we did with Kosovars.  The Kosovars, although nominally Muslim, were (thanks to decades of Yugoslav communist rule) truly non-religious.  My concern is that many of the Syrian refugees will be religious Muslims (and not religious Christians, Druze or Yazidis), and that has the potential to be bad news in the near future.

[Boggit]

Saw a news article yesterday that the reds are already working with Assad's combat units.

I saw evidence of that on Channel 4 news tonight. They said it was just supply of weapons and equipment, but I got the impression that it was a lot more. Back to "the  enemy of my enemy is my friend...". We shall have to monitor events.

[Grimnirsson]

I do worry about future terrorists living among the current wave of Syrian refugees.

That is what the IS announced to do and what will happen. Trojan horse...

And since Canada said they will take...what? 3600 refugees till the end of the year, you are pretty save. We get 20.000 on a weekend now and will be close to 1.000.000 before the year is over. Besides the fact that it will cost us 6,6 Billion € and counting (since it won't stop at 1 Million...) our politicians simply opened the borders, there is no regulation, no one is checking the folks who stream in from all sides. I'm all for helping if the going gets tough but what we do now is pure madness and it destabilizes the EU as a political homogeneous structure. And I definitely expect bad surprises in the near future by terrorists who are among the refugees...

[LongBlade]

The US is taking 10,000 refugees. Germany half a million.

Just six months ago this is what the FBI said about being able to successfully ID Syrian refugees from the bad guys.

WASHINGTON — The FBI does not have a way to properly vet incoming Syrian refugees and the Federal Bureau of Investigation said so at a House Homeland Security committee hearing in February.

Officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), FBI and the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) told committee members that an intelligence gap exists about terrorists who joined the fight in the civil war happening in Syria and that more than 20,000 foreign fighters have joined the conflict.

"We don't have it under control," Mr. Michael Steinback, Assistant Director for the FBI told the committee.  "Absolutely, we're doing the best we can. If I were to say that we had it under control, then I would say I know of every single individual traveling. I don't. And I don't know every person there and I don't know everyone coming back. So it's not even close to being under control."

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2015/09/11/flashback-fbi-no-way-to-vet-incoming-syrian-refugees-video/

[Zulu1966]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34178998

My first reaction to this news was "Good".

The media, and some Labour politicians have since been at pains to cry about this decision, and to question the legality of the strike. They don't seem to care that these two were planning IS attacks on Britain. I just don't get what side they're on. Do they want to be reporting, and bemoaning IS atrocities instead? What a bunch of ar*eholes! It's hard for a terrorist to commit an atrocity if they're dead.

Neither of the IS pair were native Brits, but settlers. You'd think they'd be grateful the Brits let them live there, provided education, healthcare etc, but it seems not, preferring a sick culture where rape and murder are the norm.

Absolutely one hundred percent agree with this. They are better off dead and the world is a better place without them. Not all human life is sacred.
Don't know what depresses me more - the fuckers we killed or our navel gazing and pontificating about "law" when we do.