The Levant crisis.(Israel,SYRIA,Lebanon,etc)

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 09 Oct 2015 23:34

nit wrote:I seriously hope that someone in Delhi is taking lessons on what is happening in Syria & Iraq.
It is amazing that a rag tag militias with ak's, rpg, atm & manpand is able to almost destroy an entie country in a 4 year attrition war. Purely on the bais of numbers! .

the syrian army was phenomenally incompetent and many fled or even deserted with others joining the FSA. its not that the rebels are good. its that assad and his cronies were complacent and corrupt, with much of the syrian army sitting fat and happy lording it over the locals. only now are the syrians able to manage some level of resistance with the remaining soldiers and militias fighting for assad as their fates are tied to the regime. even so, their usual attacks are haphazard and are repulsed with losses. a recent "offensive" saw the loss of 18 tanks to ATGMs per reports, any professional army would have taken this as unacceptable. in the syrian army, its just another day.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 09 Oct 2015 23:48

Al Zazeera on Keera, Teera & their Peera

Y. Kanan · Post by **Y. Kanan** » 09 Oct 2015 23:53

habal wrote:
Y. Kanan wrote:Syrian govt offensive suffering heavy casualties vs US-backed militants with TOW missiles. Numerous videos uploaded today and yesterday, showing SAA tanks getting hit with TOW missiles:

https://youtu.be/mGY9UzCSpWs
https://youtu.be/CD_VIYWGDsg
https://youtu.be/7Jn1vN5Bz0E

In that last vid, the TOW missile detonates prematurely upon hitting what appears to be tree or fence post. The (very lucky) tank crew shoots back instantly, which is the proper drill when under fire by anti-tank missiles. But the question I have to ask is where's the infantry support? SAA appears to be rolling around in tanks and BMP's completely exposed to enemy missiles. That tactic isn't working for the Saudis in Yemen and it sure as hell won't work in Syria.

If this is how SAA plans to take back lost territory, I'm afraid all the Russian air support in the world won't help them. They better get their act together.
they are all old videos or 2013 vintage.

but still 5 or so SAA tanks were destroyed in last 2 days, but that is because they were probing runs deep into rebel territory. Basically to check out where the rebels were hiding and their pockets of resistance. This is in those places where rebels are hidden in between civvies. But next time the Syrian army comes in, these pockets will be cleared of rebels and accompanied by infantry the probes will be further deep inside rebel strongholds.

No, those clips are all brand new; uploaded from Oct 7th-8th. Syrian jihadists didn't get TOW's until 2015, so there's no way those clips are from 2013 as you claim. Besides I've never seen any of these vids before; if they were from earlier I'd have seen them by now. Given the high quality of those vids, Syrian jihadists would have been posting and reposting them all over the internet. They never miss an opportunity to gloat.

I'm afraid there's no denying it; despite the Russian bombardment, Syrian militants are still putting up very stiff resistance (thanks to the US supplying them with TOW's). At this rate, the Syrian govt's counteroffensive will run out of steam long before they make any meaningful gains. There doesn't appear to be any close coordination between Syrian and Russian forces; the Russians bombard the area with dumb bombs, arty and rockets... then the Syrian Army rolls in (probably hours later). Those kind of sloppy tactics might work against demoralized Ukrainian conscripts, but it's not going to cut it in Syria, where the enemy is heavily armed and willing to die. The SAA and loyalist militias don't have an endless supply of tanks and men, in fact the jihadis probably outnumber them overall. So they can either fight smart, or lose.

The Syrian, Hezbollah and Iranian units on the ground need to have a real-time link with Russian strike aircraft orbiting above. The ground forces also need a way to designate targets and instantly pass the GPS coordinates up to the Russian planes and helicopter gunships. Without effective air-ground coordination, the Syrian offensive is doomed.

Dipanker · Post by **Dipanker** » 10 Oct 2015 00:06

I don't know if this has been posted or not but this the kind of news which is going to set the cat aong the pigeons:

Russian air force hits 60 Islamic State targets in Syria, kills 300 jihadists

Sid · Post by **Sid** » 10 Oct 2015 00:20

nit wrote: It is not about wining. ISIS cannot win against IA. It is about tieing down a conventional force using attrition tactics. Remember when PA inducted Afghan rentals into Kashmir, the violence spiked considerably.

It is about triggering a cycle of violence and having bodies to feed that cycle of violence.

For us it is important to plan, what Pak can do if it can rent battle hardened Syrians & Iraqis Sunni? Instead of sending Pak citizens for 26/11, Gurdaspur attack, it can use Syrians & Iraqis and blame it on ISIS.

Pak inducted Afghan rentals into kashmir before, what did we strike? We have lost thousands of soliders in kashmir, when did we respond? Until it is a attrition war, there will be no reponse from India.

If they will hire outsiders, then there will be next to zero local support which current insurgency enjoys. Fighters from Afgans were usually LeT/Hizbul fighters trained/battle-hardened "in" afgan or areas like NWFP.

And if they launch attacks from Porki land, it will create a even bigger political mess for them. I know its not easy to humiliate a naked person, but something got to give.

Also, their control on outsiders will be in question as (already proven in Syria) and have greater chances of backfiring.

If I am a Porki general, I will keep miles of distance from these fanatical.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 10 Oct 2015 00:29

Excusez-moi, but I think all 3 of those videos are bogus. The first one is clearly staged, from the steadiness of the video. A demo video. The silhouette of the tank crwman leaping is also very dramatic but way over-staged.

In the second and 3rd, at least there is some movement of the vehicles, so if they are staged, the staging is better.

In #2 (or 3?) they do a replay. Nothing wrong with a replay on U-Tube, but WITH A VERY DIFFERENT ZOOM? You would need a Lyttro light field camera to do that. Or maybe you can post-edit video to do that, but I have my doubts.

I have not seen TOW trajectories before, but these seem to make way too many zig-zags as well, for something supposedly moving fast. Also seems rather slow, hain? How far were those tanks, since they could be seen so well on video? 1000m? 2000m? Surely not 3000m. The TOW flies at ~250+ m/s, (cited speed is 278m/s) so max flight time is maybe 8 seconds for these targets. Some of these seem to fly around longer, zig-zagging

JwalaMukhi · Post by **JwalaMukhi** » 10 Oct 2015 05:27

There soon will be nikkah between Russia and unkil. Just that ras(putin) is playing a game to up the pre-nup arrangement. It will soon be back to regular programming with unkil paying premium money to get russian bus to get the space station. All other trade and post nikkah arrangements will go on. Even the holier than the pope Cuba has recognized the shift and seen how the games are played.

As far as communal evil yindoo ranjit kuppusamy, it is wise to remember what wise sage said back in 1900s:
Sasha Dharmapuri velayudhan, Himalayan foothills, circa 1900s, said -
"Firing blanks using ras(putin's) shoulder is recipe for being a village idiot".

Y. Kanan · Post by **Y. Kanan** » 10 Oct 2015 05:40

UlanBatori wrote:Excusez-moi, but I think all 3 of those videos are bogus. The first one is clearly staged, from the steadiness of the video. A demo video. The silhouette of the tank crwman leaping is also very dramatic but way over-staged.

In the second and 3rd, at least there is some movement of the vehicles, so if they are staged, the staging is better.

In #2 (or 3?) they do a replay. Nothing wrong with a replay on U-Tube, but WITH A VERY DIFFERENT ZOOM? You would need a Lyttro light field camera to do that. Or maybe you can post-edit video to do that, but I have my doubts.

I have not seen TOW trajectories before, but these seem to make way too many zig-zags as well, for something supposedly moving fast. Also seems rather slow, hain? How far were those tanks, since they could be seen so well on video? 1000m? 2000m? Surely not 3000m. The TOW flies at ~250+ m/s, (cited speed is 278m/s) so max flight time is maybe 8 seconds for these targets. Some of these seem to fly around longer, zig-zagging

Wishful thinking my friend. You're reaching at straws. I've seen lots of footage of TOW and other similiar wire-guided anti-tank missiles and I can assure you, that's exactly how they fly. The missile does indeed wobble around like crazy, as it receives steering inputs over the thin wire that links it to the launcher (hence the term "wired guided anti-tank missile"). Don't believe me, look it up. As for the video quality, that's nothing new. ISIS and other jihadists have long since gone full HD 1080p with all their footage, and they use real camcorders with an optical zoom. Only broke jihadis film their exploits with cell phones - the pros use real cameras!

It's not just videos; reports are coming in from lots of different sources including tweets from hospitals in Syria telling of heavy casualties and lots of vehicles destroyed. By all indications the Russian-backed offensive has gotten off to a very bad start. The weak link is the SAA. I'm sure if it were Russian soldiers on the ground and not Syrians, the outcome would have been very different. Frankly the Russians are probably very frustrated right now; they're bringing a lot of firepower to the game but their allies on the ground aren't up to the task.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 10 Oct 2015 05:45

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-ut ... me-2133230

haramkhor - none can say how many he killed and raped over there and he wants to return from vacation and resume a normal life back in india how that frogs are being boiled.

moment they are known to join ISIS, their indian passports must be cancelled and declared non-state.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 10 Oct 2015 05:59

He is considered to be the first person from Uttar Pradesh to join ISIS directly without having any contact with any terrorist organisation in India and without any criminal past. He is among the 20-odd Indians who are currently fighting for ISIS in Iraq-Syria. These include two youth from Mumbai outskirts Kalyan, an Australia-based Kashmiri, one youth from Telangana, one from Karnataka, one Oman-based Indian and another Singapore-based Indian.

Last year, a youth from Kalyan had returned home after spending about six-months with ISIS. Among the six Indians, who fought alongside the ISIS and got killed were three Indian Mujahideen terrorists, including Sultan Ajmer Shah and Bada Sajid, who had joined its ranks after being in Pakistan, two from Maharashtra and one from Telangana. On September 15, UAE deported four Indians suspected to have links with ISIS and it is expected to send back the same number of people soon.

About a fortnight ago, the UAE had sent back a 37-year- old woman, Afsha Jabeen alias Nicky Joseph, who was allegedly involving in recruiting youths for ISIS. Earlier in January, Salman Mohiuddin of Hyderabad was arrested at that airport when he was preparing to board a flight to Dubai on way to Syria via Turkey. So far, 17 young men, mostly from Telangana, have been prevented from travelling to Syria, ostensibly to join ISIS.

I think he should be 'facilitated' to return, and be hanged by his balls.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 10 Oct 2015 06:18

Kananji: I am not able to find any reports on this supposed carnage of Syrian armor. Are the Free Syrian Army suddenly short of propaganda writers? Destroying 18 Jaish-e-Assad tanks etc would be great news on Reuters, Yahoo, CNN and BBC, hain?

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 10 Oct 2015 06:24

https://www.rt.com/news/318123-saudi-we ... ia-russia/

saudi govt has increased arms supplies to syrian jihadi fronts

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 10 Oct 2015 06:26

UlanBatori wrote:Kananji: I am not able to find any reports on this supposed carnage of Syrian armor. Are the Free Syrian Army suddenly short of propaganda writers? Destroying 18 Jaish-e-Assad tanks etc would be great news on Reuters, Yahoo, CNN and BBC, hain?

true. the death of the iranian commander was gleefully splashed on CNN within minutes...

that being said, I think the syrian army lacks in manpower for a truly powerful campaign. perhaps they can take a leaf from Saudi playbook in yemen and recruit various armed lashkars, levies, out of work pirates and kabilas from all over africa

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 10 Oct 2015 06:40

Sounds like Russia is opening the door to kick the Saudis. At this point it is useful to remember that Nut&Yahoo and Comrade Vlad are buddies who totally understand each other. If Israel had a chance to destroy Eyeran or KSA, KSA wins the lottery by a mile. This is a point that several Israelis have made very clear to me. As in "We feel far worse about KSA than you do about Pakistan".

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 10 Oct 2015 06:48

syrian army lacks in manpower for a truly powerful campaign

True, and they are really demoralized and exhausted. But this is the big chance for the Hezbollah etc and the Eyeranian Revolutionary Guard to extract payback for the Iraq War, and all the years of destruction in Gaza and Lebanon.

Oh, BTW, check Natural Gas, oil and gold stocks and futures. Rising steadily and fast for the past week or so, though nothing visible at the gas pump yet. Someone knows something. KSA supplies heading for interruption?

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 10 Oct 2015 06:53

Chris Djiongouros ‏@chrisdj Oct 8
Former British Ambassador in #Syria: It's embarrassing #Russia achieved more in 4 - 5 days than the #US coalition in a year against #ISIS
129 retweets 30 favorites

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 10 Oct 2015 06:59

Syrian Army with Russian air support liberated the village of Al-Bahsa in the Hama province.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GvH_NGPN8A

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 10 Oct 2015 07:02

Maybe this is why the saudis and the GCC states are hell bent on opposing the eyeranians and also why the amrekis and the gelfie states are playing games with the ISIS and targeting the syrian leadership

and putin crashed their private party and how!!

The REAL Reason Saudi Arabia Hates Iran

The REAL Reason Saudi Arabia Hates Iran

Everyone knows that the Saudi Arabia – the center of Sunni Islam – hates Iran because it is the center for the rival Shia Muslim sect.

The Saudis – close U.S. allies – also hate Iran because it is allied with Russia.

But there is a third, little-known reason why the Saudi government hates Iran.

As the Gulf Cooperation Council – the official council for the Arab Gulf States, comprised of the monarchies of Saudi Arabi, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman – writes:

More than any other single factor, the Iranian Revolution helped to coalesce the security concerns of Saudi Arabia and the other monarchies in the Gulf region. As the largest Arab monarchy, Saudi Arabia was in a position to lead the others toward cooperative efforts. The impact of the Iranian Revolution on Saudi Arabia was manifold. The revolution destroyed the most powerful monarchy in the Gulf area. It was the second revolution to send shock waves throughout the Gulf region, the first being the revolution in Iraq that destroyed the monarchy in 1958. The Iraqi revolution had been followed by deteriorating relations between Riyadh and Baghdad, when the Baathist regime tried to subvert the Gulf monarchies. The Iranian example, however, appeared more menacing. The balance of forces seemed to have changed further against the monarchical regimes in the region because Iran, like Iraq, replaced the monarchy with a republic. Whatever course the new Iranian republic took, its very existence would threaten Saudi Arabia and other Gulf monarchies.
In other words, the Saudi government hates Iran because it is a republic, while Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states are monarchies.

Indeed, Vijay Prashad – Professor of South Asian History at Trinity College, Connecticut – said today (starting at 33:22) that the Saudis want to crush Iran so that it cannot set an example showing that Muslims can live in a republic without a monarchy.

Prashad points out that the “Saudis made claim that a Muslim country has to be a monarchy”, and Iran’s very existence undermines that claim.

Why does the U.S. support Saudi Arabia and not Iran?

As Lawrence Davidson – author of Islamic Fundamentalism, and professor of history at West Chester University – explains:

Saudi Arabia is a monarchy without representative institutions. Iran, though ideologically authoritarian and possessing the dictatorial office of jurisprudent, is a republic with a parliament and an electoral process. Saudi Arabia strictly forbids female participation in the public realm, whereas Iran leaves some space for women in this regard.

Given these comparisons, it would seem that, in terms of institutions and their potential for “democratic evolution,” the Islamic Republic in Iran has much more to recommend it to the West than does Saudi Arabia. Why then, one might ask, is the United States so much more hostile to Iran than to Saudi Arabia?

***

For decades, the United States supported the shah’s monarchy in Iran and continued to do so even after it was clear that it was unpopular, corrupt, and oppressive. When the shah was overthrown, the fundamentalists who took power identified the United States with the deposed government. The new Iranian government’s predictable hostility made difficult any reconciliation between the two powers and fueled continued American animosity.
Indeed, the U.S. supports virtually all of the dictatorial monarchies in the Arab Gulf.

And, of course, there is oil and pipelines play a big part.

Postscript: By way of background, the CIA admits that the U.S. overthrew the moderate, suit-and-tie-wearing, Democratically-elected prime minister of Iran in 1953. He was overthrown because he had nationalized Iran’s oil, which had previously been controlled by BP and other Western oil companies. As part of that action, the CIA admits that it hired Iranians to pose as Communists and stage bombings in Iran in order to turn the country against its prime minister.

If the U.S. hadn’t overthrown the moderate Iranian government, the fundamentalist Mullahs would have never taken over. (Moreover, the U.S. has had a large hand in strengthening radical Islam in the Middle East by supporting radicals to fight the Soviets and others)

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 10 Oct 2015 07:04

UlanBatori wrote:
He is considered to be the first person from Uttar Pradesh to join ISIS directly without having any contact with any terrorist organisation in India and without any criminal past. He is among the 20-odd Indians who are currently fighting for ISIS in Iraq-Syria. These include two youth from Mumbai outskirts Kalyan, an Australia-based Kashmiri, one youth from Telangana, one from Karnataka, one Oman-based Indian and another Singapore-based Indian.
I think he should be 'facilitated' to return, and be hanged by his balls.

Let's not forget gerat Azamgarh connection with group currently spent lot of money on anti Pm demonstrations in USA. Azamgarh needs through cleaning by internal security forces.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 10 Oct 2015 07:16

That is Kaleem K..ja and "IndiaUnity"

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 10 Oct 2015 08:11

UlanBatori wrote:That is Kaleem K..ja and "IndiaUnity"

And his Paki friend Var...ney.

habal · Post by **habal** » 10 Oct 2015 08:18

Y. Kanan wrote:
No, those clips are all brand new; uploaded from Oct 7th-8th. Syrian jihadists didn't get TOW's until 2015.

Is Konkurs a TOW ?

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 10 Oct 2015 08:43

Singha wrote:http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-ut ... me-2133230

haramkhor - none can say how many he killed and raped over there and he wants to return from vacation and resume a normal life back in india how that frogs are being boiled.

moment they are known to join ISIS, their indian passports must be cancelled and declared non-state.

Not to worry. I don't think that any of these yevil blokes will ever get an Indian travel document again or even manage to get a job in India except may be as puncture shop mechanics.

serves these sob's right

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 10 Oct 2015 08:45

Tow is a old but powerful American atgm called tube launched optical tracked missile, us army moved to javelin but tow still in wide use.

Konkurs is a smaller Russian atgm

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 10 Oct 2015 08:46

America has said it will stop training rebels not arming them. This can be done directly or via proxies like turkey and Saudis who have ready inventory

habal · Post by **habal** » 10 Oct 2015 08:52

konkurs is also wire guided no ? syrian rebels started using these wire guided atgm since 2013. Is there any dramatic difference between konkurs and TOW except in maybe range.

IS has very strong propaganda arm and their utube videos may well be edited at langley.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 10 Oct 2015 09:04

New Air Strike Footage

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 10 Oct 2015 09:06

More video of Kalbir Cruise Missile over Kurdistan , from the sound of the engine it appears to me like Turbojet engine , its got more screeching sound

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksXyFevOt0M

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 10 Oct 2015 09:13

If one looks at the trajectory of cruise missile it taking lot of uneven path to reach the target , when a straight trajectory would have been much shorter , I think they are avoiding civilian areas for the cruise missile trajectory

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 10 Oct 2015 09:19

Su-34 with 4 KAB-500S and Su-25 with Rocket Pod looks like CAS mission for the later

Note How low Mi-24PN is flying over rebel areas , the rebel fires a AK when it flies over head

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 10 Oct 2015 11:05

Here is a good article on Kalbir ( use translator

Sword of the Caspian Sea - missile complex "Caliber-NK"

http://eurasian-defence.ru/?q=node/31968

The 3 m CEP for Kalbir is also the accuracy provided by GLONASS Navigation system , So apparently you can get that close and then use Terminal Homing , Klub has DSMC type guidance so would be the same.

The range of 2600 km would mean they could have put this missile atleast more 1000 km from the current target that was struck , So the remaining fuel would have been used in the warhead explosion.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 10 Oct 2015 11:13

via livefist , Mi-24PN flying low over Syria captured in Slow Motion

https://twitter.com/muradort/status/651386823978188800

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 10 Oct 2015 11:29

^^^ Truly awesome footage of the Mi 24. Marketing teams take note!

manjgu · Post by **manjgu** » 10 Oct 2015 12:00

i would have thought russian artillery support would have been more useful ..rather than relying on armor in built up area or even air strikes.... Its not going to be easy to retake the towns..which are like bombed out ... there will be street to street ..house to house fighting..not very pleasant or quick.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 10 Oct 2015 12:29

russia no artillery regiments in syria. for that they would have to build manpower and logistics because artillery needs lot of shells to be effective.

https://www.rt.com/news/318184-captured ... trocities/
trail of bodies left by retreating al-nusra jihadists. the pressman mentions they are armed with TOW missiles supposedly given to moderate groups by massa.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 10 Oct 2015 12:30

jihadis spreading peace and love in turkey now

powerful blast in ankara main railway station kills many
https://www.rt.com/news/318185-ankara-r ... ion-blast/

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 10 Oct 2015 12:31

manjgu wrote:i would have thought russian artillery support would have been more useful ..rather than relying on armor in built up area or even air strikes.... Its not going to be easy to retake the towns..which are like bombed out ... there will be street to street ..house to house fighting..not very pleasant or quick.

They have had plenty of action and experience in Chechnya to hone strategy and develop tactics.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 10 Oct 2015 12:32

Singha wrote:jihadis spreading peace and love in turkey now

powerful blast in ankara main railway station kills many
https://www.rt.com/news/318185-ankara-r ... ion-blast/

wouldn't put it past "KGB" putin, to send out a message or two or three.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 10 Oct 2015 12:38

Singha wrote:russia no artillery regiments in syria. for that they would have to build manpower and logistics because artillery needs lot of shells to be effective.

https://www.rt.com/news/318184-captured ... trocities/
trail of bodies left by retreating al-nusra jihadists. the pressman mentions they are armed with TOW missiles supposedly given to moderate groups by massa.

ruski supplied syrian stock of arty + ammo?? Can't imagine the ruskis with out arty, it's the most basic of their doctrines.

Chandragupta · Post by **Chandragupta** » 10 Oct 2015 14:21

Has China joined Russia's campaign against ISIS?