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

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 19 Oct 2015 22:52

Singha wrote:Why has the intifada kicked into high gear again?

Some payback for Syria from the ever willing Hamas/Hezb combo nodoubt

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 19 Oct 2015 22:57

http://theaviationist.com/2013/10/31/bomb-on-you/
[Video in The Link] This is what being in the trajectory of a bomb dropped by a Syrian attack plane looks like

Even if this is less spectacular so to say, this video is interesting because it shows a Syrian fighter bomber releasing flares to deceive eventual MANPADS while overflying a Syrian rebel position followed by a free fall bomb almost hitting the guy who was filming the scene.The aircraft is difficult to ID (it may be a Su-22 Fitter) so as the bomb.A lesson learned? If you see a warplane make an evasive maneuver over your head, you might better take shelter as soon as you can.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 19 Oct 2015 22:59

From the Fisk article:

If it wins – and if it holds together and if its manpower, which is admittedly at a low level, can be maintained – then the Syrian military is going to come out of this current war as the most ruthless, battle-trained and battle-hardened Arab army in the entire region. Woe betide any of its neighbours who forget this

.

BTW, look at the mard covering his eyes with his blue blouse (like Raakhee doing sharam-sharam in BlackMail ) while drawing pictures of BO in the rubble. Isn't that a US ~~mercenary~~ 'contractor/advisor'?

gandharva · Post by **gandharva** » 19 Oct 2015 23:03

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 20 Oct 2015 03:05

Lawmaker: Russia’s operation in Syria won't last long, time frames depend on results

habal · Post by **habal** » 20 Oct 2015 04:40

Terrorists leaving Damascus suburbs en masse

Terrorists from Nusra are leaving en masse positions near Damascus after Russian air strikes in Syria. This was reported by the official representative of the Russian Defence Ministry, Major-General Igor Konashenkov.

"The use of Russian combat aircraft in the province of Damascus has led to a fundamental change in the operational situation in the region. Terrorist groups are experiencing an acute shortage of ammunition, and as a result, are leaving their positions in large numbers", - RIA quotes Konashenkov.
As noted by Konashenkov, reconnaissance from last night showed them leaving fixed positions and leaving in the direction of the settlement Marge Sultan, in several large groups of about hundreds of fighters each.

vid at link http://fortruss.blogspot.com/2015/10/te ... bs-en.html

Robert Gates throws in the towel and admits that CIA just trained some merceneries and threw them in.

Robert Gates implicitly admits it was a terrorist war.

"I think the idea of TRAINING SOMEBODY FROM THE OUTSIDE AND SENDING THEM IN is nuts, it's just not going to work," Gates said in an interview with the Fox News Channel's "Special Report,"

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/25715 ... m-was-nuts

habal · Post by **habal** » 20 Oct 2015 04:44

Russia in Syria: Moscow to Increase Missions in Syria to '300 a Day'

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 98876.html

masks are dropping, desperation is everywhere and turk project is failing.
http://www.syrianews.cc/turkish-mit-chi ... ends-isis/
CIA Moves Wounded ISIS Head to Turkish Hospital After Iraq Air Attack

ISIL Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been transferred to Turkey for treatment through a series of coordination measures by the CIA after the notorious terrorist leader was severely injured in the Iraqi army’s airstrike on his convoy in Western Anbar province, media reports disclosed on Wednesday.

“The CIA has done coordination with the Turkish intelligence organization to transfer al-Baghdadi to Turkey,” the Arabic-language al-Manar TV quoted unnamed sources as saying on Wednesday.

The source said that two companions of al-Baghdadi who were also injured in the attack on the ISIL leader’s convoy and were captured by the Iraqi forces have confirmed that al-Baghdadi has been injured in the Sunday attack.

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2015/10/14 ... ir-attack/

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 20 Oct 2015 06:11

The mass of ever changing jihahi orgs can be modelled on biological bacteria or virus lines,
Shifting and mutating.

The million mutinies NGO,ej,msm jungle Raj sought to be unleashed in India follows the same algorithm and desired end result is same.

Rich sugar daddies with deep pockets and deep hatreds fund both attack vectors.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 20 Oct 2015 06:28

Sami ‏@Paradoxy13 6h6 hours ago
Really sad to hear that Russian jets targeted FSA 1st Coastal Div HQ in rural #Latakia, #Syria today killing & wounding several fighters.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 20 Oct 2015 06:30

The Opinion Pages | Op-Ed Contributor
Putin’s Partition Plan for SyriaBy HUSSEIN IBISHOCT. 19, 2015
WASHINGTON — Taking advantage of the paralysis of American policy in Syria, Russia’s dramatic escalation of military activity in that country seeks to reorder the strategic landscape of the Middle East.

Few appear to grasp the full scope of what Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, is attempting. This is partly because, in theory, this should be beyond Russia’s capabilities. But Mr. Putin cannily senses an opportunity, at the very least, to restore Russia to the role in the Middle East that it lost in the 1970s.

Russia’s intervention anticipates a resolution of the Syrian conflict through de facto partition. The Reuters news agency reports that, months ago, Iran proposed the joint offensive, now underway, to save the dictatorship of President Bashar al-Assad from imminent collapse. Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ elite Quds Force, is depicted poring over maps of Syria with Russian officials in the Kremlin.

Russian firepower is aimed at securing the larger, western part of the rump Syrian state that is still controlled by Mr. Assad — in particular the air and naval bases near Latakia and Tartus. And aside from forays into northern trouble spots like Aleppo, Iranian and Hezbollah forces will mostly concentrate on the lower half of this strip, which runs from the Lebanese border through Qalamoun, up to Damascus, and from there to the port cities and coastal heartland of the Alawites, the Syrian Shiite sect loyal to Mr. Assad.

For all of the talk of combating the Islamic State, Russia’s real aim is to push back rebel groups and secure this ministate. Given what Mr. Assad’s allies are willing to do to salvage this “Little Syria” — compared with the limited intervention being considered by Mr. Putin’s international antagonists — this is probably an achievable goal.

Such a partition of Syria would leave other parts of the country in the hands of nationalist and Islamist rebels, a Kurdish area in the north, perhaps some smaller enclaves and, most ominously, the “caliphate” of the Islamic State in the north and east. Despite Kremlin propaganda, the Islamic State is already among the biggest winners from the Russian intervention.

At the end of last week, for example, the group took advantage of Russian airstrikes, some 90 percent of which have reportedly targeted other rebel groups, and captured several villages near Aleppo. The militants also killed some of Iran’s most senior commanders in Syria, including Brig. Gen. Hossein Hamedani. These advances are realizing Mr. Assad’s goal of making the choice for both Syrians and the world at large appear to be between him and the jihadists.

Russia’s unspoken but unmistakable message is that Moscow is trying one— and perhaps the only— way of ending the conflict by means of a Lebanese-style segregation of Syria into zones controlled by rival militias. To Washington’s perennial concern in any Middle Eastern imbroglio, “Tell me how this ends,” Moscow responds: The Syrian conflict will be “resolved” on Russia’s terms, even if Mr. Assad proves dispensable to the Kremlin in the long run.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration’s desire to see the conflict end without actually doing anything itself means that, as Bloomberg View suggested recently, there is a group of senior American officials prepared to go along with the Russian plan. After all, America’s own policy in Syria has rapidly moved from tragedy to farce. The latest fiasco was the cancellation of the $500 million military training program for anti-Islamic State rebels that produced barely a handful of fighters on the ground.

So if Moscow has a policy, and Washington doesn’t, why not just support that?

Beyond the fact that it’s absurd to hope that Mr. Putin’s approach is likely to benefit American interests, giving way to Russia’s policy would, in effect, entail abandoning the fight against the Islamic State in Syria. And the militants cannot be effectively countered in Iraq alone. So what this final, ignominious capitulation would really mean is that not only would Mr. Assad (or some Russian-appointed successor) menace Syrians for the foreseeable future, but so too would the Islamic State. No wonder Gen. John R. Allen, America’s envoy to the international coalition against the Islamic State, recently announced his resignation. Being in charge of a farce is bad enough; no one can accept being the front for a fraud. Even worse, viewed through a broader regional framework, American acquiescence to this Russian initiative would ultimately mean an accommodation with a major reshaping of the strategic order in the Middle East. Moscow is clearly trying to accomplish the creation of a powerful alliance with Iran, Iraq, Hezbollah, “Little Syria” and others. To secure this new compact, Russia is willing to risk not only confrontation with the West, but also its recently improved relations with other regional powers like Turkey and Saudi Arabia. There’s no good reason Washington should go along with any of this. Russia is manifestly less powerful militarily, economically and diplomatically than the United States. But it’s no longer a matter of capabilities; it’s become a matter of will. On paper, Russia is in no position to barge into the Middle East and throw its weight around. But after the interference in Ukraine, the annexation of Crimea and the Syrian chemical weapons debacle, Mr. Putin correctly judged that nobody would stop him. Mr. Putin is canny enough to know that he is already overstretched, faces potential quagmires and has core differences with putative allies like Iran. So, at any given moment, he’ll be ready to pocket his gains and do a deal with the Americans — from an already advantageous position. The remaining question is: How far will he be allowed to go? At the moment, the astonishing answer appears to be: all the way. Hussein Ibish is a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington and a contributing opinion writer.

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 20 Oct 2015 06:44

‘Assad doesn’t have to leave tomorrow, can be part of transitional process’ – US State Department - Oct 20, 2015

“He cannot be part of that transitional government, however it ends,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.“He – for his many crimes against his people, for his brutality, cannot be a part of that ultimate transitional government. So – but we’ve not said that he has to leave tomorrow, that he has to be – that he can’t be part of the transitional process.”

This equivocation smells rotten and everyone knows it. Give it few more days of whooping by Syrians on ground and Russian from air....they will come down further.

They are fooling no body. US's trust quotient is at its nadir.

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 20 Oct 2015 07:03

Turkey agrees to conditional transition with Assad - Oct 20, 2015

The Turkish government has agreed on a Syrian formula which includes Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on the condition that it will end with him stepping down, according to a Turkish source.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said the decision was made together with a group of nine countries, including the U.S., during the United Nations General Assembly sessions in late September. {old deal prior to military escalation - why will russia accept it now after so much water under bridge?}

The formula suggested a six-month transition period during which al-Assad would remain a “symbolic president” of the “transition administration” with no authority on the military or intelligence apparatus and that he would leave power at the end of it.

The formula was forwarded to Russia by the Americans but no confirmation has been received from the Russians yet.

This is a clear change in Turkish policy regarding Syria. Turkey has been a staunch opponent of any transition including al-Assad so far, since the beginning of the civil war in 2011.

The source said the Turkish government still considered al-Assad the cause of the civil war and instability in the region, but with this move it demonstrated its will to find a solution in Syria as soon as possible without al-Assad.

Despite no response to the suggestion from Moscow yet, Russia has made a major move to endorse the power of al-Assad by escalating its military presence there. Relations between Russia and Turkey were strained when a Russian jet based in Syria violated Turkish air space earlier this month, which was followed by plane and radar lock-ups. The Turkish government also accused Russia of hitting Free Syrian Army (FSA) forces against al-Assad, instead of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which Moscow gave as the justification for its presence in Syria.

Turkey sees the Syrian-Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) as the Syrian extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been waging an armed campaign against Turkey in which 40,000 people have been killed since 1984. Russia sees the PYD as the only legitimate land force fighting ISIL in the Syrian theater and Turkey considers it as another terrorist organization like ISIL or al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda.

Turkey has a PYD problem with the U.S. as well. The U.S. supports the FSA as the legitimate rebel force against al-Assad, but also cooperates with the PYD against ISIL. The Turkish government, which opened up its strategic İncirlik air base for raids against ISIL, was upset by a recent American air supply drop to the PYD and warned the U.S. that if the PYD or the PKK used any of those weapons against Turkey, that would make the PYD a target.

Russia, having its only military base in the entire Middle East and the Mediterranean in Syria, on the other hand, is cooperating with Iran in the Syrian theater. Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah militia from Lebanon are fighting al-Assad ranks against the FSA under the command of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.

It is not clear what Russia will say to a transition with al-Assad with symbolic powers and a guarantee that he will not remain in power at the end of it. It is not likely to come to a settlement point soon soon, since Russia believes it should be the Syrian people to decide on that, without admitting that millions of Syrians who have saved their lives from the civil war have already made that decision by fleeing the country under al-Assad.
October/20/2015

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 20 Oct 2015 07:08

Could be true but propagandu quotient of this report is HIGH.

ISIL child training camp discovered in Istanbul: Report - Oct 19, 2015

A total of 24 of around 50 suspects of Tajik and Uzbek origin, who were detained for having links to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Istanbul on Oct. 18, have been revealed to be children being trained in basement apartments in Istanbul’s Pendik and Başakşehir districts, daily Vatan has reported.

The suspects were reported to have trained children in basement apartments in Pendik and Başakşehir, using the apartments as militant training camps, according to physical and technical surveillance collected by Istanbul Police Department Counterterrorism Unit officers before raiding 18 separate homes in Pendik and Başakşehir’s Kayaşehir neighborhood.

The suspects, mostly Uzbeks, who were detained in the Oct. 18 raids were reported to have lectured children on the basics of ISIL as well as how to live in an Islamic state.

In August, the Uzbekistan Islamic Movement, an al-Qaeda offshoot based near the Afghan border, announced allegiance to ISIL.

Uzbek intelligence sources reported that more than 5,000 paid Uzbek militants were fighting in Syria alongside ISIL.

Turkey has stepped up anti-terror police operations against ISIL militants in the country, as the Oct. 10 twin blasts in the Turkish capital sent shockwaves through the country, with at least 102 civilians dead and hundreds of others injured.

Thirteen ISIL-linked suspects have reportedly been detained so far within the investigation launched into the Ankara bombing.
October/19/2015

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 20 Oct 2015 07:16

Satya_anveshi wrote:‘Assad doesn’t have to leave tomorrow, can be part of transitional process’ – US State Department - Oct 20, 2015

“He cannot be part of that transitional government, however it ends,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.“He – for his many crimes against his people, for his brutality, cannot be a part of that ultimate transitional government. So – but we’ve not said that he has to leave tomorrow, that he has to be – that he can’t be part of the transitional process.”
This equivocation smells rotten and everyone knows it. Give it few more days of whooping by Syrians on ground and Russian from air....they will come down further.

They are fooling no body. US's trust quotient is at its nadir.

This is what happens when you've been left with nothing. You shout empty threats while leaving. You have to make it seem like you're still committed.

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 20 Oct 2015 07:21

Kurdistan Region appoints a Jew to official position - Oct 20, 2015

ERBIL – The Kurdistan Region of Iraq has now an official representative for the Jewish community in the government in Erbil, media sources reported.

“KRG has appointed Sherzad Omar Mamsani as the Jewish representative to the Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs in Iraqi Kurdistan,” a Kurdish official told reporters in Erbil.

Mamsani said in statement: “We are Kurds and we are Jews. There are more than 730 Jewish families in the Kurdistan Region.”

He pointed out that his aim of this representation is to preserve the rights of Jews in the Kurdistan Region, “and participate in the peace efforts and reconciliation process to enhance religious coexistence in the region”.

Mamsani’s appointment comes after a new law was passed by the Kurdistan Parliament on the inclusion of all minorities residing the region.

“The Jewish voice in government is a welcomed step,” Ben-Zion Cassouto of the Israel Kurdistan NGO reported.

“Iran may appoint Jewish representatives too in a bit to show they are not anti-Semitic, but Kurdistan’s policy is different in this regard,” the Regional Cooperation Minister Ayoub Kara told reporters in Erbil.

“Iranian authorities see Jews as bolstering what is called ‘covenant of minorities’ in the Middle East,” he argued.

“Kurds consider Israel a partner and they want to strengthen ties with it.”

The Jewish community in Mesopotamia (current Iraq) is one of the oldest in the world, dating back to the Babylonian conquest of the southern tribes of Israel –mostly the tribe of Judah– in 586 BCE.

There were times when Jews flourished in Babylon, producing the Babylonian Talmud there between the years 500 and 700 BCE.

During a vista to Kuwait in May 2006, the President of Iraqi Kurdistan, Massoud Barzani told a press conference on the Kurdish-Israeli relationship: “It is not a crime to have relations with Israel. If Baghdad established diplomatic relations with Israel, we could open an Israeli consulate in Erbil.”

In June 2014, the Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has expressed support for a Kurdish statehood, claiming the creation of a Kurdish state would help build an alliance of moderate powers in the Middle East.

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 20 Oct 2015 07:26

As I've saying, the Russians have replaced the US as mediator. They're bringing everyone to the table while the US dog claws at the door from outside. Turks seem like they're on a path to civil war. There is no way that the Kurds and political volatility can be good for the territorial integrity of the country. We'll have to wait and see.

habal · Post by **habal** » 20 Oct 2015 09:04

according to S&P Greece and India have same BBB- rating. Does this mean both Greece & India are on equal footing. Similarly western economic analysis of Russia is flawed as well. They are interested in creating a mirage where they outperform the rest. It may be true ocassionaly but there are other economies that are self sustaining and really do not depend on foreign trade surplus to wage wars. This creates a sense of wonder in sarkari economists and analysts writing in dailies and other publications.

But this fact cannot be obviously given huge publicity or publicaly acknowledged since that would be psychological defeat.

habal · Post by **habal** » 20 Oct 2015 09:27

In aleppo Yesterday, (the 18th) Russia revealed that large numbers civilian factories and businesses, wholly owned by civilians, were bombed to smithereens by "someone with aircraft". And these businesses had nothing to do with war or anything of the sort. They proved that the damage signatures which "erased" the businesses could not possibly have come from any sort of ground assault, only direct aggression from the air. They proved that Syria and Assad did not do it, and then asked the question "Who has been flying aircraft in this area, to do so much damage to civilian infrastructure?" And there are only two possibilities, America and Israel. In one fell swoop, Russia proved in front of the world that America was not in Syria to do anything against ISIS at all, America was in fact in Syria to destroy as much of the nation as possible.

http://82.221.129.208/ifyouareinamerica ... this1.html
Press TV article, US responsible for destruction of Syria: Interesting read.

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2015/10/1 ... estruction

Something similar happened in Sudan, where the americans led by chilton bombed the largest pharmaceutical factory in Sudan, Al-Shifa which was responsible for manufacturing 80% of pharma products sold in Sudan. That nation has not yet been able to replicate that and still imports whatever medicines it needs and shortages are rife throughout the country. That factory was bombed on some vague pretext and later on they mumbled something about a 'mistake'. To destroy successful corporations in these countries under pretext of fighting terrorism has been underlying and unsaid agenda behind external aggression.

Melwyn · Post by **Melwyn** » 20 Oct 2015 09:39

^^Whats new in this?
They seem to be still stuck in WW2 tactic of carpet bombing enemy cities to defeat the enemy morale.
If nothing works nukes are always handy.

habal · Post by **habal** » 20 Oct 2015 09:48

Well Sudan was split into 2 after it was economically crippled.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-10-0 ... z-doctrine

Putin Has Just Put An End to the Wolfowitz Doctrine
4 star general wesley clarke noted

In 1991, [powerful neocon and Iraq war architect Paul Wolfowitz] was the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy – the number 3 position at the Pentagon. And I had gone to see him when I was a 1-Star General commanding the National Training Center.

***

And I said, “Mr. Secretary, you must be pretty happy with the performance of the troops in Desert Storm.”

And he said: “Yeah, but not really, because the truth is we should have gotten rid of Saddam Hussein, and we didn’t … But one thing we did learn [from the Persian Gulf War] is that we can use our military in the region – in the Middle East – and the Soviets won’t stop us. And we’ve got about 5 or 10 years to clean up those old Soviet client regimes – Syria, Iran, Iraq – before the next great superpower comes on to challenge us.”

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 20 Oct 2015 10:41

Iraq Mi-35 and Mi-28N against ISIS ops

Iraqi Mi35M and IA-407 "tag team" in

Mi-28NE using S-13 rockets

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 20 Oct 2015 10:46

Mi28N has got to the ugliest and brutish gunship out there, but for night ops and middle east theater must be cost effective and that big shipunov cannon will chew up toyota pickups all day.

such kit in numbers sounds far more effective to me than a few gold plated longbows that we will have to guard like crown jewels lest someone scratch them.

just the US 1st airborne div has more apaches than all other apache operators. people forget that adequate quality + numbers is what matters as the sharp end of the stick.

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 20 Oct 2015 11:42

Hope IA gets a 100 LCH and HAL is empowered to stock enough spares and supplies for proper ops.

habal · Post by **habal** » 20 Oct 2015 12:12

US Bombing Plants In Aleppo

By From Detlef Reimers
10-19-15

The power plant was destroyed to cut water even more to Aleppo - the lift stations bringing water from the Euphrates are affected. The U.S. borrowed this very Israeli (and ISIS) tactic to create more chaos in the city. That and the limited supply of chlorine mean water-borne illnesses are almost guaranteed to explode in Aleppo. The purpose of this undisputable war crime is to create a flood of refugees from all areas of Aleppo. A secondary purpose might be to affect the Syrian Army and allies fighting in the area - they are also dependent on city water.

The flood of refugees leaving (which has so far failed to transpire) are suppose to curtail Russian efforts to attack supply lines or mask the movement of rebels. The refugees fleeing to camps on the Turkish border would be flooding the very roads and towns along the supply routes with a 'moderate rebel' presence.

The has the U.S. censored - to the degree possible - news of the F-16 strike and destruction of the power plant. Almost at the same time, the dark forces that control Twitter started deleting accounts reporting the serious humanitarian effects of the loss of water and electricity. Water and power were very sporadic in Aleppo to begin with because of the conflict - maybe an hour or two a day of either one. Now there's none to speak of.

Instead of masking the voices of the Aleppo victims, the U.S. has created more of a crisis via blowback: people that had their Twitter accounts deleted for reporting the water shortage have gone on other social media and are bringing attention to the ham-handed U.S. government attempts to control the narrative via censorship on Twitter.

There's no easy way to 'prove' Twitter's censorship other than reports of deleted accounts, but one only need to do a search on Aleppo and Water to see the awkward results remaining: 1) No individual reports of water cuts or hardship if they directly attribute the bombed power plant (those accounts deleted), 2) An odd number of NGO (Red Cross, UNICEF) tweets on where to find water wells in Aleppo - which is mostly polluted and unfit to drink.

https://twitter.com/search?q=aleppo%20water&src=typd

And any tweets of the power plant bombing left are all ones pointing back to Veterans Today. See? It's only the nutjob conspiracy sites reporting it, so it must not be true.

https://twitter.com/search?q=aleppo%20p ... g&src=typd

Goebbels would weep in admiration - he had nothing on the U.S. Ministry of Propaganda

Link: http://www.moonofalabama.org/2015/10/sy ... df4a73970b
http://www.rense.com/general96/aleppo.html

habal · Post by **habal** » 20 Oct 2015 12:18

british bbc journalist suicided at Ankara airport, Turkey

https://www.rt.com/uk/319051-jacqueline ... list-dead/

caught filming western/turkish aid to isis maybe ?

Bhurishrava · Post by **Bhurishrava** » 20 Oct 2015 12:43

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/ ... 6O20151019

Syrian rebels say they receive more weapons for Aleppo battle.

What is more interesting in this article is that it quotes several `FSA` fellows. As if they still exist. An attempt to recreate dead FSA ?!
Besides US of A has ensured that these weapons will in no case land with Jabhat al Nusra which is sharing the front with `moderate terrorists`.

Jai Ho strategic geniuses of Pentagon. No wonder Pakistan is a not NATO ally.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 20 Oct 2015 14:02

TOW has a achilles heel. the operator must be in a relatively clear firing position above the battlefield to both keep lasing the target and ensure the unspooling wire reel does not tangle into something. the new wireless guided version might not be in rebel hands...even in that case the shooter needs a high and clear position to keep lasing the target.

its obviously unviable against a massed tank attack on a narrow front or heavy rolling artillery barrage but the syrian army does not have the resources needed for either.

what they might be able to ensure is attack at night, behind a deliberate smoke screen planted right before the first line of buildings where TOW shooters would need to set up and hence deny firing opportunities and also keep some helicopters and frogfoots on standby with drones scanning the rooftops.

organising a few heavy bombers to drop full bore payload at the impact points of the attack may also help.

they need to avoid attacking in penny packets instead mass their remaining armour and artillery and grads at one or two well chosen spots at night and work from there. once the line is breached, flood the place with boots on ground , put the armour into protected firing positions as day breaks and let the troops flush out the rebels from the ruins in the day.....

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 20 Oct 2015 14:16

The joker Ford,former ambassador to Russia said on the Beeb when asked about the imaginary anti-Assad forces,who have done b*gger all in the spat,that the "CIA was supporting some entities"-whomsoever they might be! Will the CIA then please speak up and tell the world whom they've been supporting? It can only be one of the other two entities,the pro-Al Q fighters or ISIS!

The death of a British journo in Turkey,extremely suspicious has not even received the same outrage and uproar as that of the turd rate Russian defector Litvinenko,a hit allegedly using polonium where the British/West tried to put the blame on Putin when Russian oligarchs and their own intel agencies where allegedly involved in the murky affair. The journo obviously stumbled upon some very embarrassing facts about the entire Syrian conflict which had to be kept secret.Now that Russia has entered the conflict with more than a bang,the skeletons are tumbling out of the ruins of Syria ,proving that the US/Western anti-ISIS war was in fact a gigantic fraud.

Syria suddenly doesn't make the western media headlines anymore! With the US's game exposed,the urgent message is out,clamp down on all news showing the US/West in a bad light. Unfortunately,you can't fool all the people all of the time

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 20 Oct 2015 14:56

NYT http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/20/us/po ... -plan.html

WASHINGTON — The Army general in charge of the Pentagon’s failed $500 million program to train and equip Syrian rebels is leaving his job in the next few weeks, but is likely to be promoted and assigned a senior counterterrorism position here, American officials said on Monday.

The officer, Maj. Gen. Michael K. Nagata, is stepping down as commander of American Special Operations forces in the Middle East, which made him responsible for the training program that ultimately produced only a few dozen fighters. That was a far cry from the 15,000 fighters that the program was going to train over a three-year period when it was formally started in December.

The Obama administration this month abandoned its efforts to build up a new rebel force inside Syria to combat the Islamic State, announcing that it will instead use the money to provide ammunition and some weapons for groups already engaged in the battle. The shift in the program made for a logical time for General Nagata to move on, said the American officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the action had not yet been formally announced.

[ snip snip ]

General Nagata has been in the Special Operations job for more than two years and was overdue to switch assignments as part of the military’s regular rotation of senior officers, the American officials said. The setback in training Syrian rebels does not appear to have derailed his career as one of the Army’s rising stars.

He is in line to be awarded a third star, to lieutenant general, and take a senior position at the National Counterterrorism Center in Washington, said officials who emphasized that the decision was not yet final.

Spokesmen for the military’s Central and Special Operations commands and the National Counterterrorism Center declined to comment.

General Nagata has fought in the shadows for most of his 33-year Army career, serving in Special Operations forces and classified military units in hot zones such as Somalia, the Balkans and Iraq.

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 20 Oct 2015 15:27

http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-ru ... or-2136744

So Putin may be doing some real damage to ISIL forces which claim to be "free Syrian" force.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 20 Oct 2015 15:40

The BBC has hardly commented in detail about her death,a British subject and a former BBC staffer too.Will it launch its own "Panorama" investigation into her death and give it as much publicity as the Litvinenko affair? Or was she just "collateral damage"?

https://www.rt.com/uk/319051-jacqueline ... list-dead/

Ex-BBC journalist Jacky Sutton found hanged in airport ‘feared ISIS would kill her’
Published time: 19 Oct, 2015 10:47
Former BBC journalist Jacky Sutton. © Facebook

Jacky Sutton, a British BBC journalist and acting director for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), has been found dead at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport after missing a connecting flight to Iraq.

Sutton, 50, was found hanged in a toilet cubicle in the early hours of Sunday morning after missing her connecting flight from Istanbul to Erbil, Iraq, which departed at 12:15am.

According to airport staff, Sutton appeared distressed when she was told she had to buy another ticket.

She was found dead a few hours later.

The full circumstances of her death remain unknown, but friends and colleagues insist she must have been murdered.
‘I had PTSD, I was unable to cope’

It has emerged that Sutton had suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after being detained for spying in Africa in 1995.

In a new blog post which includes an autobiography written by Sutton, it said she was “unable to cope” after being detained for five years.

“I was detained as a spy and deported and many people fled the country,” it said.

“I got (a scholarship) to do a PhD at Leeds University, but my mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and I think I had PTSD from the detention so I was unable to cope.

“Now there would be counseling, but back then I was given Prozac (anti-depressants) and told to soldier on. I took Prozac for a month, but it had some seriously weird side effects so I stopped.”

In an email sent to her friend Amanda Whitley in June, Sutton said she feared being targeted by Islamic State while working in Erbil.

“I’m in a hotel at the moment – a low key one with hardly any guests. The accommodation that had been prepared was basically one room and a bathroom above the office with only one door in and out, and that off the street.”

“So if someone came in uninvited I was trapped and, as my Kurdish friends said, ‘It just needs one whacko to hear in the Friday prayers that killing foreigners is jihad, and they’ll come knocking at your door in a heartbeat.’”
‘Someone killed Jacky’

Iraqi journalist Mazin Elias, who has previously worked with Sutton, said it is highly unlikely she committed suicide, alleging “someone killed Jacky.”

“She continued in Iraq – everything was difficult, everything was a challenge, but she still continued,” he told the Mail Online.

“But, what I’m sure about, the kind of person that Jacky was, it’s impossible she would have killed herself, impossible.

“She’s really looking for a better life for everyone. So kill herself? That’s crazy.

“I’m really sad and sorry what happened, but if someone tells me ‘she killed herself,’ I tell him: ‘No, that’s wrong, someone killed Jacky.’”

Another of Sutton’s former colleagues, Rebecca Cooke, has called for an investigation into her death.

“Shocking and sad news about the death of Jacky Sutton in Istanbul. An international, not just local, investigation is needed,” she told the Press Association.

Sutton’s friend Christian Bluer also expressed his doubts on Twitter.

“I’m not into conspiracies, but if the Turks say a security camera at Istanbul-Ataturk was malfunctioning then Jacky Sutton was murdered,” he tweeted.
‘Deeply saddened’

Sutton had also been studying for a PhD at the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Australian National University.

Her former professor Amin Saikal said he is “deeply saddened” by the news.

“We are deeply saddened and shocked by the tragic death of one of our brilliant PhD students,” he said.

“She was not only an outstanding research scholar, but a highly valued friend and colleague who made remarkable contributions to the work and activities of the center.”

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We can confirm the death of a British national in Istanbul. We are providing consular assistance to the family at this difficult time.”

Sutton’s death comes just five months after previous IWPR director Ammar Al Shahbander was killed in a car bomb attack in Baghdad.

Bhurishrava · Post by **Bhurishrava** » 20 Oct 2015 15:42

Here is something that I found out -

"Syrian Observatory for human rights" which is quoted by all western media sources to create headlines is run by one person. Its run from a two bedroom apartment from Coventry.
The man himself visited Syria last in 2000.

The west is really making a laughing stock of itself.

https://www.rt.com/news/317813-sohr-visit-syria-long/
https://www.rt.com/news/317372-nimrod-k ... servatory/

For those with patience wanting to study western regime change tricks, this article talks of it all; PR campaigns, propaganda, shady financial deals.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... he-talking

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 20 Oct 2015 16:05

must be the first suicide/murder at a airport i have ever read of.

have heard of childbirths, deaths from natural causes, strokes etc.

right out of a jason bourne script...someone activated a pre-positioned 'asset' in istanbul and snapchatted her a copy of this woman's id.

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 20 Oct 2015 16:14

homeland had a murder/kidnap scene in islamabad airport...

habal · Post by **habal** » 20 Oct 2015 16:51

she was doing some research on the bombings carried out in Syria, Turkey etc including suicide bombing. Must have stumbled upon some crucial information regarding the bombing on the Kurdish rally recently or maybe she stumbled upon something inconvenient.

btw an interesting statistic is that 70% of Assad's army is still Sunni.
80% of Syria's population are Sunni's.
Even if half of that are radicalized, then that comes to around 40% of total.

Now that also explains why there are pockets of rebel strongholds in say Jobar or in north Latakia near Aleppo etc. You can take them out with carpet bombing, but then you also stand the risk of alienating the liberal 40% who enjoy living in a multi-confessional, tolerant, societies like in Saddam's Iraq and are relaxed about their religion. Just yesterday saw a report on RT on how truckers were still bringing in vegetables, potatoes and fruits in Damascus from ISIS controlled areas at huge risk. But they were still doing it.

So basically for rebel held pockets they would want to outflank the pockets totally and give civilians a chance to leave and neutralize the hardcore rebels. ISIS leadership in Northern Aleppo is made up chiefly of Afghans and they are quitting the theatre en masse to Mosul. There are also vague reports that ISIS is executing its own who wish to do the boat trip circuit and join the circus in europe. The remaining ISIS may even surrender en masse to avail of some amnesty.

http://sputniknews.com/military/2015101 ... alyst.html

SAA/Hezb is marching further east in Aleppo. Around 20 pockets were retaken just yesterday.
http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/che ... -captured/

amidst all this movement the rebels also managed to destroy 4 tanks, 1 BMP and 2 towed canons in southern outskirts of Aleppo.
#Syria Rebels claim destroyed 4 tanks, 1 BMP & 2 technicals with mounted 14.5mm gun in southern outskirts of #Aleppo this morning
Mark markito0171 33m33 minutes ago

I remember the large grain silos with attacked industrial scale flour mills which were taken over during the ISIS/Nusra surge regime somewhere in central Syria. Now even those have been retaken it seems.

Hassan Ridha sayed_ridha · 46 min.
#SAA #NDF have entered Mansoura after taking control of Grain Silos, they are now clashing with #Jaish_Fateh in the tow

the Iskender missile was used in Syria yesterday at Deir El Zor.

A perfectly fired SS-26 missile struck a major “command-and-control” HQ for ISIS called “Tal Al-‘Arabaat” which contained a huge communications center loaded with Turk-supplied, American-manufactured, equipment and 18 vehicles including mostly Toyota pickups with Croatian-manufactured 23mm cannons.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 20 Oct 2015 17:21

Russia must be having a ample boneyard of serviceable tanks and BMPs, these could be shipped via the black sea to replace and build up numbers. they also desperately need old school massed artillery with ample ammo.

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 20 Oct 2015 17:27

Singha wrote:Russia must be having a ample boneyard of serviceable tanks and BMPs, these could be shipped via the black sea to replace and build up numbers. they also desperately need old school massed artillery with ample ammo.

But who will operate them sir? Is there any trained people in Syria? All said and done I am sure Russia also do not want to give too much to people presently in power in Syria and Iran as they are also Muslims.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 20 Oct 2015 17:42

there are rumors of russian and iranian volunteers helping in comms and artillery units.
the syrian army has operated such kit for decades anyway, nothing fancy. just cheap D30 122mm will also work.

military offensive commentary of Oct 19
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5DnHWJWNN8

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 20 Oct 2015 17:50

SAA using UR77 Dragon minefield clearing system to clear a lane through the rubble of some town

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvqL0GNl6po

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 20 Oct 2015 18:02

turkish police break up isis kids camp in istanbul
https://www.rt.com/news/319160-istanbul ... -children/