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

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 28 Dec 2015 17:30

There was a few years ago,posted by moi, a great stat about nations that built the highest skyscrapers and their parallel economic downfall. The US had its 9/11 moment and triggered off the global eco crash with their housing mortgage crisis.Taiwan also had its eco crisis after its tallest toothpick was built,Dubai's eeconomy hit the skids after the Burj whatever came up,and had to be rescued by the Abu Dubs,and now the Saudis are building their own "Tower of Babel" just when the oil prices have plummeted from their greatest heights! Oh the irony of it all!

http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20151 ... daesh.html
Saudi Arabia and Turkey are 'Diluted Flavors' of 'Sunni Supremacism'

Middle East
15:12 28.12.
Major Sunni powers, particularly Riyadh and Ankara, supposedly want to play a role in defeating Daesh, but they are in fact part of the problem, not the solution, journalist David Gardner asserted.

The Middle East is torn apart along sectarian lines, with radical Sunnism being the main culprit. It follows then that moderate Sunnism, according to the journalist, has to be the main component of any efforts aimed at bringing peace to the battered region.

"The lack of mainstream Sunni leadership is a blight across the region, which offers instead varieties of Sunni supremacism. [Daesh], a hybrid of al-Qaeda in Iraq and Ba'athist officers from Saddam Hussein's army, disbanded by the US after 2003, is obviously the most virulent. But the big Sunni powers – Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt – are diluted flavors of this poison to which they claim to be the antidote," he observed.

Daesh Long Reach? Anti-Jihadist Syrian Journalist Murdered in Turkey Day Before Resettling to France
In fact, neither Riyadh nor Ankara are interested in tackling Daesh, the journalist asserted in an opinion piece for the Financial Times. The oil kingdom, one of Washington's key allies in the Middle East, is primarily concerned with Iran's growing influence and views countering the Shia country as a priority.

Saudi Arabia's "sectarian Wahhabi strain of Sunni Islam competes with [Daesh] as to which is the more effective hammer of the Shia," he observed.

"Turkey under the increasingly autocratic presidency of Recep Tayyip Erdogan has seen its presumption of leading a neo-Ottoman Sunni revival boil down to a revived war with its Kurdish minority. Neither power is carrying the fight to Isis," the journalist added.

Gardner maintains that any efforts aimed at defeating the terrorist group and the like will be doomed to failure without "a Sunni counter-narrative that takes on board the rights of minorities as well as individuals."

Otherwise, any roadmap aimed at bringing peace to Syria will look "as riddled as a Swiss cheese," he observed.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Dec 2015 19:45

dubai atleast operates one of the largest airlines , airport and container terminal operations with a pop of around 4 million. saudi has a bigger problem on its hands.

kit · Post by **kit** » 28 Dec 2015 20:03

Singha wrote:dubai atleast operates one of the largest airlines , airport and container terminal operations with a pop of around 4 million. saudi has a bigger problem on its hands.

the UAE economy is probably one of the most diversified in the region with investments all around the world

Y. Kanan · Post by **Y. Kanan** » 28 Dec 2015 20:21

Turks preparing to intervene directly in Syria; airstrikes against advancing Kurd forces appear likely, possible ground invasion also. Will the Russians let them get away with it this time? I'm remembering all those SU-30's and SU-34's bristling with long range AAM's, to say nothing of the S-400 batteries on the ground.

Perhaps Erdogan will get a major war started in Azerbaijan first, forcing Russia to concentrate on defending Armenia while Turkey intervenes in Syria with impunity. Or that may be the plan, anyway...

http://news.yahoo.com/turkey-pm-says-no ... 21500.html

devesh · Post by **devesh** » 28 Dec 2015 20:44

TSJones wrote:
devesh wrote:Wasn't it also the US which claimed to have killed 20,000 ISIS Jihadis 6 months ago?

While the actual composition of the Iraqi forces which retook Ramadi still remains a mistery, the effect of the US strikes in facilitating this offensive is yet to be determined.

The targets mostly seem to be static and from the rapidity of the victory, it seems as if the jihadi rats chose the path of retreat than to stay and fight. I'm not surprised by that. It seems to me that bombing a few rigged buildings and "staging areas" is not the most effective form of halting a combat force that is in retreat. If anything, this seems to be a case of doing just enough to facilitate the entry of the Iraqi forces while not directly inhibiting the Jihadi retreat.

Based on the type of targets that are being bombed by the US coalition, this is a campaign of limited engagement almost like a PR exercise for global audience. They don't really want to liquidate the Jihadis. Merely keeping them contained and dependent on "other" forces seems to be the end goal.
that's in your "arm chair General" opinion unless you got credentials. if so please state them. we already had friendly fire deaths in ramadi, at least nine of them. and that is with out reportedly Russian style carpet bombing of civilian targets.

Come on, at least do better than personal attacks. Its pointless.

Keep in mind there seems to hv been no specific effort by the jihadi rats to entrench themselves in the city and fight every block & neighborhood.

At this point, regardless of who retook the city, it's worrying that it was so easy. Almost certainly it's a tactical retreat. Hopefully there is somebody who's watching the major transit routes and neutralizing the Jihadis while they're in the move.

As far as arm chair generals go, let's wait and see what the Jihadis do next. And until we really know the composition of the Iraqi forces at Ramadi we shouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions.

Y. Kanan · Post by **Y. Kanan** » 28 Dec 2015 20:53

Russians can easily maintain Syria campaign for years
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/us-us ... BA20151228

Yet since its campaign began on Sept. 30, Russia has suffered minimal casualties and, despite domestic fiscal woes, is handily covering the operation's cost, which analysts estimate at $1-2 billion a year. The war is being funded from Russia's regular annual defense budget of about $54 billion, a U.S. intelligence official said.

Amazing how cheaply you can make war when you don't have unlimited license to bleed the taxpayer for propping up a gigantic and bloated military industrial complex. US has no interest in cost-effective warfighting as that would defeat the entire purpose.

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 28 Dec 2015 21:06

Khan's wars are normally seems to be banazas for US arms manufacturers. The cost mentioned in the media are in fact scandalous to say the least. Other than fuel extra spares and ordinance I am surprised to see the costs of a purely air war mentioned in huge amounts.

habal · Post by **habal** » 28 Dec 2015 21:19

USA so-called wars are funding some black budgets it seems. Now that the real cost of making wars has been exposed thanks to Russia.

ShyamSP · Post by **ShyamSP** » 28 Dec 2015 21:53

Y. Kanan wrote:Russians can easily maintain Syria campaign for years
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/us-us ... BA20151228

Yet since its campaign began on Sept. 30, Russia has suffered minimal casualties and, despite domestic fiscal woes, is handily covering the operation's cost, which analysts estimate at $1-2 billion a year. The war is being funded from Russia's regular annual defense budget of about $54 billion, a U.S. intelligence official said.
Amazing how cheaply you can make war when you don't have unlimited license to bleed the taxpayer for propping up a gigantic and bloated military industrial complex. US has no interest in cost-effective warfighting as that would defeat the entire purpose.

... It has also been able to tap a stockpile of conventional bombs dating to the Soviet era...

It is always good for the economy to cleanup closet to make room for new cloths. Also they can extract money from Syria for stabilizing Syrian regime. It is indeed a cheaper war for Russia.

US/West-Saudi-Turkey nexus is balanced by Russia-Iran-Syria nexus. Any residue such as ISIS is being killed by both.

Now terrorists might look east for safe havens. India watchout!

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Dec 2015 22:00

i dont think the main fathers and mothers of IS have abandoned their cherubic child yet. they could be repurposed for other useful work like burning armenia to the ground and then southern russia.

thats why putin is hardly bothered about raqqa for now, but most concerned about the mass of chechen, CAR and dagestani jihadis in latakia and idlib. by co-incidence it also makes military sense to reduce their supply channels to turkey and also for assad it means regaining control of more of his core coastal areas - idlib and jisr al shugur were lost this summer. raqqa to abhi bahut door hai.

TSJones · Post by **TSJones** » 28 Dec 2015 22:48

we're all arm chair generals here, devesh. but we still must be careful when stating something is a fact when in reality, we don't know. fact is, ramadi has had 600 air strikes since last July according to US DoD. plus apache gun ships working the meat over every day.

for instance I stated that US led sunnis spear headed the invasion of Ramadi. I am regurgitating US national news on this. could there have been other groups also involved? well. yeah, I have to acknowledge that, because basically I am another arm chair general not involved with what is happening over there other than my tax money. do i know my crew? hell yes, I know my crew, I spent four gut churning years with the great big green (olive drab) machine that chews young idiots up like cannon fodder and spits them out. I know my homies. but I don't have the inside scoop like I did years ago.

so please don't take arm chair general as a direct insult.

if any of you here on this forum do happen to have cred and in line info, then of course you are not an arm chair general.

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 28 Dec 2015 23:05

journalist & filmmaker who exposed ISIS Aleppo atrocities assassinated in Turkey - Dec 28, 2015

Naji Jerf, editor-in-chief of the Hentah monthly, known for his documentaries describing violence and abuses on Islamic State-controlled territories (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) was shot and killed near a building housing Syrian independent media outlets in the Turkish city of Gaziantep. His death was originally reported by a group of citizen journalists he was working with.

Falijee · Post by **Falijee** » 29 Dec 2015 05:00

"Islamic Scholar" (Grand Mufti Of Saudi Arabia) Says IS Militants Are Israeli Soldiers

RIYADH (Web Desk) – Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz has claimed that the Islamic State militants are Israeli soldiers and the Saudi-led 34-nation military alliance of Islamic countries will defeat it.
The statement came after Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the secretive leader of the terror group, called for an uprising in Saudi Arabia and pledged to attack Israel, in an audio recording released Saturday and attributed to him, Express Tribune reported.
Islamic State leader urges uprising in Saudi, attacks in IsraelTerming the extremist group’s threat to attack Israel a ‘lie’, Aziz alleged that IS is a part of the Israeli army.

Snakes harvested in the backyard coming to bite the "owners"

“This threat against Israel is simply a lie. Actually, Daesh is part of the Israeli soldiers,” said the grand mufti, who is also a chairman of Senior Scholars’ Commission and Ifta Council, (impressive credentials ! so the statement must have the approval of the Saudi Royal Family )during a telephonic interview with Saudi Gazette.

And what about the "secret" Saudia Arabia- Israel tacit understanding to "contain" Iran influence in M.E. Was the Mufti taken into confidence on this aspect?

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 29 Dec 2015 09:17

IS is a part of the Israeli army.

Remember IS dissing the LeT as flunkies of the TSPA? Sometimes these twerps come out with Freudian slips. Don't discount the above without some thought: The IDF has been reported to intervene by hitting Syrian forces on the border in coordination with ISIS attacks on the same positions. The interest to permanently occupy the oil-rich Golan is a powerful motivation.

Of course if the above is true, then I wish ISIS all the best swarming into Riyadh. Hope the desis get out in an organized manner unlike Kuwait-Iraq 1990.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 29 Dec 2015 09:43

turkey and its red line on euphrates

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 29 Dec 2015 09:45

republican guard and shaitat tribe fighters in deir azzor

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 29 Dec 2015 09:50

IS shows videp of its fighters launching mortars at turkish camp in iraq
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68anht44lKc

only one hit despite all those rockets claimed to be fired.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 29 Dec 2015 09:54

found on the camera phone of a IS member killed by SDF

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 29 Dec 2015 10:02

http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/sau ... t-in-2015/
Written by News Desk on 29/12/2015

http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/sau ... t-in-2015/ | Al-Masdar News
Saudi Arabia said Monday it plans to review the prices of heavily-subsidized power and fuel as part of new measures introduced in the face of low oil prices. The kingdom’s finance ministry also said it is considering plans to raise charges on public services and apply value-added tax (VAT) in cooperation with other Gulf Arab nations. OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia announced Monday that it has posted a record $98 billion budget deficit in 2015 and a projected $87 billion shortfall for next year. AFP
http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/sau ... t-in-2015/ | Al-Masdar News

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 29 Dec 2015 10:07

Y. Kanan wrote:Russians can easily maintain Syria campaign for years
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/us-us ... BA20151228

Yet since its campaign began on Sept. 30, Russia has suffered minimal casualties and, despite domestic fiscal woes, is handily covering the operation's cost, which analysts estimate at $1-2 billion a year. The war is being funded from Russia's regular annual defense budget of about $54 billion, a U.S. intelligence official said.
Amazing how cheaply you can make war when you don't have unlimited license to bleed the taxpayer for propping up a gigantic and bloated military industrial complex. US has no interest in cost-effective warfighting as that would defeat the entire purpose.

Putin and other Defence official has mentioned earlier that war was funded by cutting down some of their internal exercises that are held on massive scale both for Russian Armed Forces and CSTO. Putin mentioned like what better way to exercise then to attack IS in Syria and that the air campaigne would end as soon as SAA ground campaigne ends.

I suspect what remains unsaid is Iran and Iraq and Syria would be contributing to it not just manpower wise as we know but even financially.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 29 Dec 2015 10:23

the pervert had forced her to wear some rapunzel/sofia type princess gown....probably a yazidi or assyrian christian woman he had put his claws on.

Bhurishrava · Post by **Bhurishrava** » 29 Dec 2015 12:32

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... rity-crime
Jailed journalist in Turkey talks about Erdogan and the republic.

This one is another article on Turkey. Nothing that we didnt know. Such articles coming in western press is surprising though.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/turkeys-dan ... 1451345693

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 29 Dec 2015 13:58

so the euphrates has been crossed and SDF/YPG are creeping upon a town around 25km west

themess forums:

The Kurds have reportedly liberated Abu Qelqel, just en route to Manbij. Reports that IS have fled the city in light of an expected YPG-attack.

Meanwhile, Davatoglu still doesn't see Kurds crossing the Euphrates.

They evaced their families to al-Bab. To put into perspective - for past year Minbij has been known as "Little London".

The reason is that originally, pre war population has been divided into Arab, Kurdish and Circassian with most of population being sufi nashqbandians. Long story short - ISIS cosideres sufis as "kuffar", demolished sufi shrines, chased large part of population away, repalced them with foreigners, especially from Western Europe and started cleansing the area. Its the only ISIS city where in 2015 population had the giant balls of steel to actually protest ISIS presence in public. Not a nice end to that, but it shows that Manbij, unlike fe Jarabulus, is not ISIS stronghold. At. All.

Kurdish and Arab groups probably have a lot of informants in the town.

Bhurishrava · Post by **Bhurishrava** » 29 Dec 2015 16:54

http://news.yahoo.com/turkeys-kurds-cal ... 11706.html

Turkey's Kurds call for self-rule amid violence in southeast

The declaration called for the formation of autonomous regions including several neighboring provinces of Diyarbakir to take account of cultural, economic and geographic affinities.
The call could escalate tensions between Kurds and the Turkish government as the government adamantly opposes a separate Kurdish state.

TSJones · Post by **TSJones** » 29 Dec 2015 23:12

....and we bid a fond farewell to another of God's mischievous creatures......

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/chara ... ed-n487311

Charaffe al Mouadan, ISIS Figure Linked to Paris Ringleader Abaaoud, Killed in Syria: U.S.

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 30 Dec 2015 00:26

Singha wrote:the pervert had forced her to wear some rapunzel/sofia type princess gown....probably a yazidi or assyrian christian woman he had put his claws on.

Probably enough talent needed to be an emir of sultan.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 30 Dec 2015 07:34

syrians in some govt held area having a small party. doubt IS would approve of such cavorting

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 30 Dec 2015 07:38

bearded mutton fed irani types catch hold of a FSA coastal division youth in latakia..these two look like out of the bearded winged lion-god school of sculpture of babylon.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 30 Dec 2015 07:39

ouch - talk about carrying a sack of coal around the farm. non-veg diet for sure.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 30 Dec 2015 07:47

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/mi ... rges-.html

Sources told Al Arabiya News that twenty-three Saudi women accused of association with Al-Qaeda and ISIS are currently being tried in the Kingdom. Some of them have been convicted and jailed.

According to official sources, the Special Criminal Court began hearing the cases of these female extremists two years ago. They added that the most noteworthy case was that of Haila Al-Qaseer, who is known as “Lady Al-Qaeda,” and who was convicted of terrorism and sentenced to 15 years in jail.

The court tried in October another woman, 27-year-old Um Oweis, who joined ISIS after pledging allegiance to Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi and helping provide logistical services to terrorosm via media and found communicating with ISIS members and leaders of Al-Nusra Front through Twitter.

Umm Oweis has a master’s degree from a Saudi university.

In December, the criminal court opened the case of “Al-MohajIra,” 25-year-old female member of Al-Qaeda and ISIS who also served as a media member. She was charged with supporting and pledging allegiance to Al-Baghdadi, as well as encouraging killing in conflict zones and inside the Kingdom.

Last Update: Tuesday, 29 December 2015 KSA 16:57 - GMT 13:57

habal · Post by **habal** » 30 Dec 2015 08:28

Singha wrote:bearded mutton fed irani types catch hold of a FSA coastal division youth in latakia..these two look like out of the bearded winged lion-god school of sculpture of babylon.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CXbHxTrWcAQ-Y84.jpg

those are not Iranian. They are syrian militia suqur-al-sahara (desert falcons) who were deployed to Latakia.
Consist of retired SAA officers, serving officers, volunteers.
specialize in setting up ambush.

habal · Post by **habal** » 30 Dec 2015 09:32

China to deploy special forces in Syria

Ministry of National Defense (MoND) of the People's Republic of China has secured the permission of the Syria Arab Republic to begin “flooding” into the Levant War Zone up to 5,000 of its most elite military forces, and which will first include the feared Shenyang Military Region “Siberian Tiger” Special Forces and Lanzhou Military Region “Night Tiger” Special Forces Units.

“China, an ally of [Syrian leader] Assad has committed more than $30 billion to postwar reconstruction in Syria. China, too, is worried about the Islamic State. China regards the Syrian crisis from three perspectives: international law and legitimacy; global strategic positioning; and the activities of jihadist Uighurs, from Xinjiang province in China’s far west. “

President Putin’s special envoy, Alexander Lavrentyev, continues today visiting and informing various Middle East nations of Russia’s new alliance with China against Turkey and the Islamic State, this report concludes, it is, also, preparing for the worst—and which is why the Western Military District, equipped with Iskander-M tactical ballistic missile systems, was put on alert just hours ago.

http://yournewswire.com/pentagon-stunne ... -isis-war/

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 30 Dec 2015 09:38

BRF ahead of the curve.I predicted this the moment the Russians intervened at the behest of the Syrian regime!

China now wants hands-on experience at warfare,as they've not been in a hot conflict since their drubbing from Vietnam. The Chinese gave a hint of ME ambitions when they sent a warship into the Meditt. earlier. Itaq may be another nation where they will send in "specialists".Assad is also showing to the West that he can't be pushed around or pushed out.He has powerful friends whom he can call upon to come to his aid.

schinnas · Post by **schinnas** » 30 Dec 2015 09:55

China believes it is ready to project power in its quest for world domination. Chinese goal is not be a pole in a multi polar world but first establish a duopoly with USA en route to being sole superpower of the world.

So this is hardly surprising and wouldnt be the last. I hope they get humbled in one of these adventures.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 30 Dec 2015 09:56

Link pls?

vina · Post by **vina** » 30 Dec 2015 10:01

China now wants hands-on experience at warfare,as they've not been in a hot conflict since their drubbing from Vietnam. The Chinese gave a hint of ME ambitions when they sent a warship into the Meditt. earlier. Itaq may be another nation where they will send in "specialists

If TRUE, the reasons why China is doing this is

1. Getting back at Turkey and it's support for hosting the Uighurs. The Turks support that as part of the "Pan Turkish" whatever.
2. Positioning to get the first rights to buy up Iranian oil and E&P in Iran when it the sanctions expire
3. Strategically get one foot into the Mediterranean and the middle east. Will need to establish Naval supply chain and bases in the India ocean, to the east of Straits of Mallaca. Watch out for strong moves to reach out to Sri Lanka for this, along with Maldives.

The Pakis will be forced to choose between the Turk/Saudi/GCC - Sunni access, their key cash and remittance benefactors and the Chinese who are their main strategic support.

Whichever way they choose, one of the of the three legs of the stool that Pawkisstan rests on (ie China, Gulf States and America) will be knocked down. While America will still need Pawkisstan's support in Fak-Ap (oops Af-Pak) and will continue to not cut it off fully and get it flushed down the toilet and China will support Pawkisstan as a strategic counterweight to India in ALL situations, Pawkie's relations with the GCC will be shot. Expect deep economic pain and social tensions to increase if the "free /subsidised oil" spigot is turned off and the Paki Abduls in Soddy Barbaria and Doobye and other places in Gelf are are sent back home (inevtiable anyways, given the budget cuts in Soddy and other Gelf countries with the collapse of oil prices)

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 30 Dec 2015 10:10

Note that all this stuff about oil prices is very unstable. All it takes is a couple of supertankers sunk across the Straits of Hormuz.. along with a few minor mishaps in the Suez Canal. 10 missiles should do it, can be done any day now.

hnair · Post by **hnair** » 30 Dec 2015 10:26

Years after our BENIS threads got started, Anonymous warms up to Bojitive Neuj style posts

Here’s The Very NSFW Way Anonymous Trolled The Hell Out of ISIS

(got to say, they are sub-par. But a good start)

habal · Post by **habal** » 30 Dec 2015 11:08

Chine's New Anti-Terror Law Clears Path For Global Troop Deployment Overseas

habal · Post by **habal** » 30 Dec 2015 11:10

Syria: It’s Not a Civil War and it Never Was

http://journal-neo.org/2015/12/28/syria ... never-was/

The weapons are foreign, the fighters are foreign, the agenda is foreign. As Syrian forces fight to wrest control of their country back and restore order within their borders, the myth of the “Syrian civil war” continues on. Undoubtedly there are Syrians who oppose the Syrian government and even Syrians who have taken up arms against the government and in turn, against the Syrian people, but from the beginning (in fact before the beginning) this war has been driven from abroad. Calling it a “civil war” is a misnomer as much as calling those taking up arms “opposition.” It is not a “civil war,” and those fighting the Syrian government are not “opposition.”

Those calling this a civil war and the terrorists fighting the Syrian state “opposition” hope that their audience never wanders too far from their lies to understand the full context of this conflict, the moves made before it even started and where those moves were made from.