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

[Satya_anveshi]

I was not implying a causal relationship between the attack on Iraq/Syria and oil, but questioning the claim that "oil is the reason" for the war, when the drop in oil prices happened well after the Iraq war had finished and ISIS had taken control of Iraqi wells, and some of syria's wells.

The entire loot plan hinged on supplying to europe thru Syria gateway. When Russians were intent to prevent that outcome and refused to get bogged down by the Ukraine distraction, Saudis lowered the price to to punish Russians and Iranians and wanted to retain and/or expand their share:

[deejay]

It seems all those killed were sunnis. Should help hasten the inevitable demise of ISIS. Those daeshbags fleeing back to their countries should be caught, tried nuremburg style and quickly executed.

The report said 50+ SAA plus as many as 300+ civilians dead so far in the ISIS attacks. This is bad. The VBIEDs appear to have hit this time. With attack helicopters available, it should be a turkey shoot, pun intended, and literally. How can the erDOGan-kebacche take territory without air superiority?

Syrian Gov sources putting the numbers close to 250 - 280 dead with the dead including women, children and NDF fighters and SAA around 50. ISIS struck Bughayliyah and took control. They were finally evicted.

The attack could be diversionary tactics to draw the SAA to other fronts as strong SAA push on Al Bab, Dier Hafer, Al Quryatan and Palmyra is simultaneously lined up.

http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/isi ... eir-ezzor/

[deejay]

Can anyone id the helicopter version in this image from RuAf in Syria?

[abhik]

^^^
This? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mil_Mi-14

[Austin]

Can anyone id the helicopter version in this image from RuAf in Syria?

Could just be any pics and mentioned Syria , Yes it looks like Mi-14

[Singha]

syrian navy operates it, I think above is syrian navy. it is set to stage a comeback as a land based ASW bird.

from wiki entry:
Allegedly due to the strong pressure from the United States, all Russian antisubmarine Mi-14 helicopters were decommissioned in 1996.[unreliable source?][4] In May 2015, RT has reported that Mi-14 is being highly sought after by the Russian Black Sea and the Northern Fleets, and that Kazan Helicopter Works (KVZ) is preparing to return 10 previously decommissioned helicopters to active Russian Navy service with the production of new units beginning within five years. The initial demand was estimated at 100 helicopters.[4]

In January 2016, Russian Helicopters confirmed to Russian News Agency TASS that no final decision to revive production had been taken, but market demand, feasibility studies – including with Moscow’s defence ministry – and funding sources were under review. The programme remains a “priority” for Russian Helicopters. The company suggested the Mi-14 would appeal to civil operators in Russia’s far north and those supplying the oil and gas industry, alongside the nation’s armed forces. Out of the almost 300 Mi-14s produced at Kazan Helicopters between 1973 and 1986, it is estimated that just 44 examples remain in active service

[Singha]

syrian navy had a bunch of them , all based in latakia airport

http://luftwaffeas.blogspot.in/2012/08/ ... pters.html

[UlanBatori]

From AFP. Article found at a terrorist site (picture above article is blatant propaganda unrelated to Deir ez Zor), so not giving the url.

AFP, Beirut Sunday, 17 January 2016
ISIS abducted at least 400 civilians including women and children after capturing new territory in an assault on Syria's eastern city of Deir Ezzor, a monitor said Sunday.
"After their attack on Deir Ezzor (on Saturday), ISIS abducted at least 400 civilians from the residents of the Al-Baghaliyeh neighborhood it captured and adjacent areas in the northwest of the city," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
"Those abducted, all of whom are Sunnis, include women, children and family members of (soldiers)," Observatory chief terrorist Rami Abdel Rahman said, adding they were transported to other areas under ISIS control. (he should know...)
The ISIS atack on the city on Saturday killed at least 85 civilians and 50 (soldiers), the monitor said, with state media denouncing a “massacre”.
Syria’s state news agency SANA, quoting residents, said “around 300 civilians” were killed in the onslaught.

If confirmed it would be one of the highest tolls for a single day in Syria’s nearly five-year war.

The bloodshed in Deir Ezzor came as (forces of civilization) battled (Erdogan/NATO/KSA's) ISIS in the northern province of Aleppo, killing at least 16 (mofos), and as air strikes hit the ISIS stronghold of Raqa.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said ISIS had advanced into the northern tip of Deir Ezzor city and captured the northern suburb of Al-Baghaliyeh.

Initially it reported that 35 Syrian soldiers and allied militiamen were killed in the multi-front attack, which including a suicide bombing.

But as the day unfolded the death toll rose, with the Britain-based monitor saying that civilians were among those killed in Deir Ezzor.

It said most of the victims were killed execution-style in Al-Baghaliyeh.

Quoting “local sources”, SANA denounced a “massacre”.

“The Daesh (ISIS) terrorists carried out a massacre in Al-Baghaliyeh, claiming the lives of around 300 civilians, most of them women, children and elderly people,” the agency said.

It quoted Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halaqi as saying that the “legal and moral responsibility for this barbaric and cowardly massacre... lies on the shoulders of all the states that support terrorism and that fund and arm takfiri (Sunni extremist)” groups.

According to the Observatory, the advance puts ISIS in control of around 60 percent of Deir Ezzor city, capital of the province of the same name in an oil-rich region bordering Iraq.

ISIS said its fighters carried out several suicide bombings against ( forces of civilization) in Deir Ezzor and seized control of Al-Baghaliyeh and other areas.

The Observatory said Russian warplanes were carrying out heavy air strikes in support of regime forces as they sought to repel the militants.
Aleppo offensive

Regime troops were locked in fierce clashes with ISIS in Aleppo province, with at least 16 (mofos) killed after a failed attack on a government position near the town of Al-Bab, the monitor said.

State television also reported that (govt) forces had repelled an assault in the town.

The Observatory said heavy fighting was ongoing Saturday in the area, with Russian warplanes carrying out strikes in the region between the regime-held Kweyris air base and Al-Bab.

(Civilization) has advanced towards the town, an ISIS bastion, in recent days, and is now within 10 kilometres (six miles) of it, said the Observatory.

That is the closest (Civilized) forces have come to Al-Bab since 2012.

Located some 30 kilometres south of the Turkish border, Al-Bab fell into (NATO Moderate Terrorist) hands in July 2012, and ISIS militants captured it (i.e., got it handed over) in late 2013.
Seven battlefronts
...

The battles are intended in part to cut rebel supply lines into Aleppo city, the provincial capital and Syria’s second city. Aleppo itself is divided and (forces of civilization) are now hoping to effectively encircle the opposition-held east.
Raqa, the self-declared capital of ISIS, has come under frequent air strikes by the U.S.-led coalition, the Syrian air force and Russian warplanes.
On Saturday at least 16 people .. were killed in air strikes and 30 others were wounded, said Abdel Rahman. He said eight strikes hit the city and its surroundings but did not specify who carried them out.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, in comments reported Saturday, said some 600 Britons have been stopped from going to Syria to join ISIS and other militant groups. Hammond said these interceptions as well as air strikes were placing extra strain on ISIS in its Raqa headquarters.
“There is evidence (ISIS) is finding it difficult to recruit to the brigades in Raqa because of the high attrition rate of foreign fighters,” he said, according to The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph newspapers.
Last Update: Sunday, 17 January 2016 KSA 12:19 - GMT 09:19

Edited for common sense by UBCNews.

[Singha]

SAA Reporter Retweeted
Ashkan ‏@Zarathoustra96 18h18 hours ago
Ashkan Retweeted Rana M. Harbi
100 years after Armenian Genocide, #DeirEzzor has witnessed another massacre.. Ashkan added,

[Singha]

rus sf trooper near palmyra

[Singha]

[Philip]

It isn't "sunny" any longer in "Sunni" land,pardon the pun. Thanks to their bum-chum ISIS,the Sunnis are witnessing a huge drop in tourism as tourists shun their countries becos of ISIS and its attacks.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/j ... is-attacks
Tourists shun resorts from Egypt to Turkey in wake of Isis attacks

Sun and sand holidays underpinned North African economies but incidents in Sousse and Sharm el-Sheikh have led to severe drop in visitor numbers
Flowers on the beach in Sousse, Tunisia, where 38 people were killed by an Isis gunman. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA

Peter Beaumont in Egypt, Chris Stephen in Tunis and Ruth Michaelson in Cairo

Saturday 16 January 2016

Off the windswept headland where the Red Sea’s Gulf of Aqaba meets the Gulf of Suez, a dozen divers trail bubbles during their descent towards the famous Shark Reef, one of the world’s most popular diving sites.

A year ago Ras Mohammed national park would have been crowded with boats above and hundreds of divers below the water, but today’s visitors have the blue depths almost to themselves. After the bombing of a Russian tourist jet shortly after takeoff from nearby Sharm el-Sheikh last year, most flights to the area were cancelled and tourists have mostly stayed away.

Thousands of miles away along the Mediterranean coast, Tunisian security guard Karim Sahloul surveys another idyllic beach at the resort of Sousse, which was emptied by a terrorist attack. After a lone gunman opened fire at a hotel, killing 38 mostly British holidaymakers, few have dared to come back.

“Sousse is not like before; now it is very quiet, very dark,” says Sahloul, who was hailed as a beach-front hero last summer after risking bullets to administer life-saving first aid to Briton Allison Heathcote. “A lot of people are now without work, restaurants and shopping centres are closed, everyone is feeling it.”

His bravery, and that of other tourism workers who raced to protect visitors, earned plaudits, but it was not enough to restore the confidence of visitors or their governments, which have slapped travel warnings on countries across the Middle East and north Africa.

A string of high-profile attacks, fears of more violence and official travel advisories have led to a catastrophic collapse in visitor numbers in a swath of countries across the Middle East and north Africa which had turned sun-and-sand holidays into a critical pillar of their economies.

Mile after mile of empty hotels along the Sousse beachfront bear mute testimony to the shattering impact of the June attack and a March assault on tourists in the Bardo museum in Tunis, in which 21 were killed. Sahloul counts himself lucky to still have a job: “The whole city depends on the tourists. Really life is hard; there are lots of people without work.”

Tunisia’s tourism minister, Salma Lummi, warned that the sector, which employs an estimated 400,000 people, had reached a “crisis point” and that its collapse risked fuelling a vicious circle of extremism. “Hotels have to close and this is an important industry. One of the sources of terrorism is lack of hope. It is not the only motor of it, but it is one of the very important origins,” she said.

In Egypt, the decline in tourism has been slower but just as devastating. Annual visitor numbers peaked at 14 million in 2010, but then the country’s revolution began in January 2011, sparking political instability that ate into tourist confidence. The numbers have never topped 10 million since and are expected to fall slightly to around nine million for the 2015 fiscal year, with the plane bombing and attacks on tourists adding to concerns about general violence.

Beaches and diving sites from Dahab to Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada are empty or sparsely visited. The beach hotels that are still open have shut down restaurants and wings and cut back on activities and, though they are a long way from the northern Sinai base of the Isis affiliate which claimed responsibility for the bombing of the Russian plane, Cairo, Alexandria, Aswan and Luxor have also been hit hard.

“Now we have no leisure tourism at all, it’s all conferences and business. We’re suffering a lot, as we have no groups,” said Ahmad Samir, assistant sales groups manager of the Marriott hotel chain in Cairo’s upscale Zamalek neighbourhood.

At the popular monastery of St Catherine’s, beneath Mount Sinai, the Bedouin guides sit disconsolate and barely employed. Some nationalities, Americans among them, require a police escort to visit. Along the coast even the rough-and-ready beach camp huts are empty, with even Egyptians only visiting in the smallest of numbers. “I had my own four-wheel drive to take tourists on excursions,” says one driver now driving for another firm. “I had to sell it to make ends meet.”

Efforts by Egypt’s ministry of tourism to boost arrivals with campaigns on social media have also fallen flat, with the recent #ThisisEgypt campaign hijacked by Twitter users who lampooned the campaign by using the hashtag alongside examples of Egypt’s poor human rights record.

Turkey’s tourism sector is bracing for a similar shock after an Isis-orchestrated suicide attack killed 10 people in the heart of Istanbul’s historic Sultanahmet district, outside the Blue Mosque, this month. Most of the dead came from Germany, the country which sends the most visitors to Turkey – 5.2 million last year – and cancellations are expected, worsening an already bleak year.

Up to 4.5 million Russians were already expected to change holiday plans after the Turkish military shot down a Russian jet that strayed into Turkish airspace on a bombing mission over Syria, and military operations against Kurdish insurgents in the south-east have added to a sense of crisis.

“Things are getting worse for Turkey’s tourism sector, with crisis after crisis erupting before the last one is resolved,” lamented Hürriyet Daily News columnist Günes Kömürcüler. “The situation is so bad that we should simply accept this year as a ‘lost year’ for tourism.”

In Israel, and in the occupied West Bank too, where numbers were only just beginning to recover from the impact of the 2014 Gaza war, tourism is again in reverse following more than three months of almost daily violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

Despite hopes by Israel to market its own Red Sea coastal resort, Eilat, to Russian tourists avoiding Egypt and Turkey, there is little evidence yet of that succeeding. “What we see is not connected to [the 2014 Gaza war] but rather an extended, low-intensity conflict without an end,” Eran Ketter, a lecturer on tourism planning, management and marketing, recently told the Israeli daily Haaretz. “It wears down the tourists and Israel’s ability to launch campaigns, because it is impossible to promise that it will be over soon.”

When suicide bombers killed 60 people in three hotels in the Jordanian capital, Amman, tourism for the first six months of last year declined by $1.5bn (£1bn) in a country where tourism makes up 15% of the economy.

Even those countries least affected by the regional turmoil have not been spared. Morocco has had no major terrorist attack since 2011, but also remains under a shadow. The UK Foreign Office does not advise against travelling to the country, but has warned the 500,000 Britons expected to visit this year that there is “a high threat from terrorism”.

Necessity, however, is the mother of invention. While the usual tourists stay away, some countries are attempting to look to different places to fill the gap left by absent Europeans and Americans. In Egypt the government announced this month that it would grant Chinese tourist groups visas on arrival as a way to boost visitors. For its part, Tunisia is trying to attract new tourists from Algeria to stay afloat.

“Visa-free arrival from China could have a positive effect,” said economics analyst Angus Blair, head of the Signet Institute. “There won’t be the same numbers as from Russia, but it could make up for some of the fall.”

[member_29325]

The entire loot plan hinged on supplying to europe thru Syria gateway. When Russians were intent to prevent that outcome and refused to get bogged down by the Ukraine distraction, Saudis lowered the price to to punish Russians and Iranians and wanted to retain and/or expand their share:

We know the following to be true:
1.ISIS's intellectual brigade that does the military planning were all from Saddam's Ba'ath Party.
2. US did leave behind a motherlode of weapons and did not anything to stop them from getting into the hands of ISIS, suggesting collusion by inaction.
3. Russia's Ukraine issue was over once Debaltsevo was captured -- US/NATO wrongly figured that Russia would get mired in capturing all of Ukraine, but it stopped once it had control over the Crimean Peninsula and the warm water ports in the Black Sea. Russia had no intention of being a land-locked state during winters with only Murmansk as the warm water port, and they made sure of it.

However, Russia's interest in backing Syria less to do with Oil, which Russia has no need for, given that it is an exporter of oil, but retaining influence in that part of the world, and not have NATO/US take down the an important russia-friendly regime in that region.

Another explanation that can be supported by these facts is that the looting of oil in Iraq was to ensure funding for ISIS and all the anti-syrian govt. groups so that US/EU/UK could take syria down by supporting self-sustaining sunni terrorist groups with plausible deniability -- just like the Iran-Contra affair. So stealing the oil was merely a way to finance the sunni "syrian rebels"/ISIS. The oil itself is not the main point behind this oil looting -- it was just a means to an end.

ISIS was then the cover for bombing all the other groups that Turdogan's Turkey and KSA wanted to eliminate, and we saw 2 years of "US fighting ISIS" resulting in ISIS gaining a lot of territory and becoming more powerful and starting to control more wells.

[Singha]

https://www.rt.com/news/329243-sweden-m ... -teenager/

none can say whats the truth behind this.
version1: big tfta lithuanian teen bullies and bashes skinny syrian migrant teen
version2: skinny syrian teen harassed girl in class, who big tfta lithuanian teen stood up for

either way - skinny teen puts a knife into big teen from behind and kills him in school.

personally looking at the size differential I am inclined to believe version1 - probably a gang of big bad jocks were going after the small guy, who turned out to be fairly violent in his own way to get revenge. the syrian kids have seen a lot of death and ruin first hand ..... it changes you for sure ... they can do stuff that normal teens would shy away from. so anyone trying to pick on them has to watch out.

[deejay]

So this one goes to both Russians and US (NATO). Russians for hitting the ISIS oil trucks and US for ISIS bank bombing

J. Faraday
‏@CTstudies
Da'ish militants "suffer" lowering of salaries by 50% http://www.aymennjawad.org/2016/01/arch ... ocuments-1 … by and H/T to @ajaltamimi

[Suresh S]

Russia had no intention of being a land-locked state during winters with only Murmansk as the warm water port, and they made sure of it.

hey boss I hope you know where Murmansk is ? it is anything but warm over there.

[Bhurishrava]

Well. turkeyhas killed exactly 200 ISIS militants after terrorist attack in Istanbul. Neither 199 nor 201.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspec ... -ISIS.html

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Thursday said Turkey killed 200 ISIS militants, including regional leaders, in 48 hours along the border with Syria and in northern Iraq.

[member_29325]

Russia had no intention of being a land-locked state during winters with only Murmansk as the warm water port, and they made sure of it.

hey boss I hope you know where Murmansk is ? it is anything but warm over there.

Snahata, of course I know where it is -- a "warm water port" is just a port that is open all year round. If you had bothered to do a web search for Murmansk you would have seen this.

The port of Murmansk remains ice-free year round due to the warm North Atlantic Current and is an important fishing and shipping destination.

[Suresh S]

good to know you have access to wiki. Look at the context in which you are writing above. Theoretically yes murmansk is a port that stays open in winter but the sea and ocean around it are frozen for many months in a year at least historically.You need ice breakers to navigate in these waters. Historically and even today a critical deficit for russian navy and Russia as a country has been lack of a real warm water port and easily navigable seas around it. But russians are hardy people and inspite of nature being not so kind they have built a formidable navy.
If you look at the history of Russia large number of it,s soldiers and citizens have died just to get a real warm water port like in the black sea.Murmansk qualifies theoretically but because of it,s location not so practically even though this may change in the future due to global warming.no more from me on this.

[member_29325]

Theoretically yes murmansk is a port that stays open in winter but the sea and ocean around it are frozen for many months in a year at least historically.You need ice breakers to navigate in these waters. Historically and even today a critical deficit for russian navy and Russia as a country has been lack of a real warm water port and easily navigable seas around it. But russians are hardy people and inspite of nature being not so kind they have built a formidable navy.
If you look at the history of Russia large number of it,s soldiers and citizens have died just to get a real warm water port like in the black sea.Murmansk qualifies theoretically but because of it,s location not so practically even though this may change in the future due to global warming.no more from me on this.

you can cut the snark to make your point..or not. So you claim murmansk is of no use to Russia even as a warm water port. ok, fine, if you say so. That only reinforces the claim that Russia finds a lot of value in the Crimean peninsula's warm water port, and does not negate anything written in that post. and FYI, Russia has the largest fleet of icebreakers in the world compared to other navies, and they do have an operational naval port in murmansk. My point in bringing up murmansk is that Russia losing Crimea would put the Russian navy at a terrible disadvantage, if Ukraine/US was to control the naval bases built by Russia in Crimea, like sevastopol.

[UlanBatori]

EZ ppl. Murmansk will soon b a tropical port, with the Royal Carribbean docking there whenever their pakistans overflow. At present oil prices, with natural gas flowing out of the perma-thawing Siberian and Canadian tundra, sunbathing at the North Pole is going to be a prime tourist attraction. BUT.. pls get back to Syrian war b4 the Adminullah cruise mijjiles coming over the Black C take u out.

[member_29325]

Ulanji, the original post did have a connection (even if tenuous) about why "looting oil" does not seem to be the reason why this crisis came about, which was anveshiji's theory. Just presenting another theory that fits the facts just as well. I have my asbestos underpants on, so cruise missiles can't hurt me (I think). But will zip up and avoid being martyred by the powers that be.

[UlanBatori]

Why Le Freauggueaux don't command le respeauct.

On Thursday, France’s Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Fraugge de Drian said that Russia’s actions against Daesh (Islamic State terrorist group outlawed in Russia) in Syria were insufficient and failed to convince Paris that Moscow’s top priority in Syria was to battle Islamists.

More:
http://tass.ru/en/politics/850121

The jhapad to le musharraf came promptly:

"It is not Russia that bears responsibility for creation of that hornet's nest but today's critics who have been supporting and arming Islamic 'opposition' groups since 2011," the general said. Besides, .. effectiveness of the Russian air strikes could be assessed "with the help of tangible hundreds of cities, towns and villages liberated by Syria’s armed forces and the country’s patriotic opposition and with the help of thousands of square kilometres of the Syrian land freed from terrorists." "So we do not need to be those who have to persuade Paris of effectiveness of our actions against terrorists in Syria but those must do it who promised to avenge for the deaths of French nationals on November 13, 2015," Konashenkov said.

More:
http://tass.ru/en/politics/850121

[UlanBatori]

TSJ: Finally a re-lie-able source for u:

Russia may start publishing data on US-led anti-IS coalition actions in Syria
The Defense Ministry said that these results did not always correspond to the stated objectives

General Konashenkov recalled that at the end of last year the ministry said that it had the sufficient amount of information on the results of the work of the countries of the anti-Islamic State coalition in Syria. The Defense Ministry said that these results did not always correspond to the stated objectives. "Frankly speaking, we expected our colleagues not only to pay attention to this, but also to draw certain conclusions. Therefore, to disprove further rumours and accusations against us and if our colleagues keep silent on the results of their bombings in Syria, we will ourselves have to inform the public of these facts," ...

... in the area of Aleppo where a school was allegedly destroyed by an airstrike more than 10 aircraft of the coalition, as well as attack drones were fulfilling various combat tasks on that day. In addition, since December 20 last year to this day the coalition planes have been making sorties and hitting targets in the area of Aleppo practically every day. "Thus, the question is: which facilities were targeted in that area by the coalition aircraft? Our colleagues continue to stubbornly keep silent," the Russian defense official said.

Last week, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published a report, which accused Russian warplanes of delivering an air strike at a school in the Al-Adzhar populated locality. The number of casualties, according to the Observatory, varied from 8 to 20 people. "As usual, the report lacked the victims’ names and addresses and did not give the name of the school or its location," Konashenkov went on to say. "The professional analysis of photos distributed in social networks revealed, judging from the nature of destruction, that the school had been hit by an ‘air -to-surface’ missile, which are used in Syria and Iraq exclusively by the warplanes and assault UAV of the anti-ISIS coalition," General Konashenkov said.

Read also Aerial view, depicting the building of a hospital in Sarmin and surrounding buildings

Russian Defense Ministry learns who is behind Syrian Observatory for Human Rights

..the ministry has found out who is behind the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which distributes information blackmailing the Russian Aerospace Force grouping in Syria. According to the official, the man moved to the United Kingdom after serving three terms in Syria.

"The first throwing-in of false information about claimed victims in the Russian air strikes appeared in social networks and some western media well before our mission in the Syrian Arab Republic began," he said. "Most information was distributed on behalf of so-called ‘Syrian human rights activists’."

In "distribution" of the statements made by those "human rights activists" participate, as a rule, some foreign media, which use most often the organisation called the "Syrian Observatory for Human Rights," with headquarters in the United Kingdom, he said. The defense ministry’s representative said over recent five years the organization’s head and sole employee was the man called Ossama Suleiman, who moved to the UK in 2000 after having served three prison terms in Syria and who took the nickname of Rami Abdurrahman. "In his many interviews with the western media this mister every time stresses all the information he publishes comes to him personally on the phone from trusted sources," the defence ministry’s spokesman said in conclusion. "Thus, that network of the so-called reporting human activists is active right under the nose of Islamic State and other extremists.

At the same time, for some reason, they would not see the atrocities of those terrorists." Read also Russia warplanes in Syria made 5662 sorties since operation start — general staff West considers 49 civilian deaths insignificant in Syria operation planning The spokesman also pointed out that the Western coalition considers the death of 49 civilians as insignificant in Syria operation planning while the Russian military excludes such risks in its plans. "Our aviation does not even plan air strikes on such targets in the event of a threat of civilian deaths. However, the Western coalition can just allow itself to consider the death of 49 civilians as insignificant," Konashenkov said. According to the Russian general, CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr said that the US military had told her that the American command made decisions on delivering such air strikes on condition that the number of civilian deaths would not exceed 50 people.

(true.. any hit on a Afghan wedding is expected to yield at least 250 dead)

More:
http://tass.ru/en/defense/849934

[UlanBatori]

And to reinforce what Comrade General said, here is the latest from the Terrorist News Channel:

Sound and Picture comprises {terrorist} activists who document and report on the situation in Raqqa and Deir Az Zor. They also provide images and infographics on the humanitarian situation on the ground.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights {approved by the ISIS in Raqqa, with phones, Internet connection and all provided} put the death toll at 40, adding that eight of those killed were children.

Al Jazeera at its terrorist best:

In another development, ISIL has been accused of carrying out a massacre in Syrian government-held districts in the eastern city of Deir Az Zor, with the Syrian Observatory saying that more than 130 people were killed. (yes, 600 is more than 130)

It said on Saturday that at least 80 of those killed were pro-government militia members (Oh! then no problem!!) and the rest were civilians when ISIL reportedly captured {when in truth they merely came by to distribute copies of the HoKo} the northern suburb of al-Baghaliyeh.

The Syrian Observatory said at least 400 civilians, including families of pro-government fighters, were abducted.

Sound and Picture, however, denied that 400 civilians were taken and could only document the abduction of 15 civilians.

[Austin]

Janes: Russia to deploy Ka-52 helicopters to Syria

http://www.janes.com/article/57253/russ ... yria[quote]

Key Points

The Ka-52 attack helicopter looks likely to become the latest Russian platform to make its combat debut in Syria
An Mi-8AMTSh has been carrying the L370 Vitebsk defensive aids suite

Kamov Ka-52 ('Hokum-B') attack helicopters carrying the L370 Vitebsk defensive aids suite will deploy to Syria to provide security for the Russian task force at Humaymin Air Base in Latakia province, a defence industry source told the TASS news agency on 15 January.

"Ka-52 helicopters equipped with the Vitebsk electronic warfare system will be deployed to Syria soon. They will not only control the situation around the Humaymim airfield, but also conduct combat search-and-rescue operations [CSAR]," the source said.

He noted that the deployment will provide an opportunity to test the Ka-52 in a war zone for the first time.

At present the Russian air group operates Mil Mi-24P and upgraded Mi-35M attack helicopters, as well as Mi-8AMTSh transport/attack helicopters, one of which was lost to ground fire during a CSAR operation on 24 November.

The Vitebsk system includes radar and laser warning systems, as well as active electro-optic and radar jammers.

It already appears to have been deployed to Syria on an Mi-8AMTSh helicopter that was seen in footage broadcast by the Russian news channel RT on 11 January. The helicopter carried an electro-optical turret on each of its weapon pylons and another on its tail: a configuration associated with the Vitebsk's directed infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) capability.

DIRCMs are designed to defeat infrared-guided surface-to-air missile systems. While Syrian rebels have been seen with such systems in the past, no Russian aircraft have been lost to one as yet.[/quote]

[Singha]

remains of a rodent suicide bomber in deir azzor
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CY7-v2kUsAASIWf.jpg

Tasnim News Agency ‏@Tasnimnews_EN Jan 16
#Iran and @Airbus have agreed for the purchase of 114 planes

Fars News Agency ‏@EnglishFars Jan 16
Under the same swap deal, the US has also demanded the Interpol to stop prosecution of 14 other Iranian nationals.
http://bit.ly/1QdhEM2

[Austin]

Looking at the weapons deployed in Syria , Cruise Missile Kalbir/KH-101 , Kilo Launched Missile , Su-34/30SM , S-400 ,EW stuff now Ka-52 .........it looks like Rus MOD is also looking at the opportunity to battle test all its new weapons and would be a good PR for them at low risk

[Singha]

Part of their contingency for this new offensive in Deir Ezzor is to utilize several suicide bombers instead the usual one or two terrorists that are typically killed before reaching their intended target.

Sources from Deir Ezzor reported that dozens of ISIS fighters would charge their defenses and the first one to reach the Syrian Arab Army’s fortifications would detonate their explosives in order to propel the other militants.


According to a military source in Deir Ezzor, ISIS has conducted over 30 suicide attacks in the last 48 hours, with at least 10 of these suicide attacks reported near the 137th Artillery Brigade’s headquarters in Jabal Thardeh.

While these suicide attacks appear foolish, they have turned out to be a successful counter measure to the Syrian Arab Army’s powerful weaponry.

This new tactic of having all their fighters strapped with suicide belts has proven to be the ISIS’ most effective method to combat the Syrian Arab Army in Deir Ezzor.

http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/isi ... eir-ezzor/

[Austin]

Tasnim News Agency ‏@Tasnimnews_EN Jan 16
#Iran and @Airbus have agreed for the purchase of 114 planes

They badly need that aircraft most of the commercial aircraft are like 30 years old from Shah Era ....also had couple of accidents involving older aircraft

[TSJones]

DoD action report,,,,,

http://www.defense.gov/News-Article-Vie ... syria-iraq

Strikes in Syria

Remotely piloted aircraft conducted 3 strikes in Syria:

-- Near Ar Raqqah, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.

-- Near Manbij, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.

-- Near Mar’a, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.

Strikes in Iraq

Rocket artillery, ground attack, attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 26 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:

-- Near Albu Hayat, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed three ISIL command and control nodes.

-- Near Kisik, three strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL heavy machine gun, an ISIL fighting position, and denied ISIL access to terrain.

-- Near Mosul, 10 strikes struck seven separate ISIL tactical units and an ISIL-used culvert and destroyed three ISIL vehicles, 34 ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL weapons caches, three ISIL assembly areas, three ISIL bunkers, and wounded two ISIL fighters.

-- Near Qayyarah, four strikes struck an ISIL weapons manufacturing facility and an ISIL-used culvert and destroyed an ISIL crude oil heater and denied ISIL access to terrain.

-- Near Ramadi, five strikes struck three separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL artillery piece, five ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL vehicles, an ISIL bunker, and an ISIL heavy machine gun, suppressed an ISIL staging area, and cratered an ISIL-used road.

-- Near Sultan Abdallah, one strike suppressed an ISIL mortar position.

-- Near Tal Afar, one strike struck an ISIL-used bridge.

[Singha]

news.az

Airways News website reported in an article that experts believe Iran will order 450 new airplanes over the next five years.
It added that 200 of the new planes will be for mainline services, adding that 150 of them will be used for widebody services. The remaining 50 will be used for regional purposes and will be mostly turboprops.

Airways News added that demand for international flights that would require wide body aircraft will specifically rise.
“The deal opens up an entirely new long haul market, with VFR and even business driven traffic to the US,” the aviation news site added.

“There are roughly 700,000 Iranian-Americans [in the US], and Los Angeles (where the largest Iranian expat community in the US lives), New York, Washington D.C., and Houston could all support service to Tehran over the medium to long run.”
Airways News further emphasized that the demand for air trips from Europe and China to Iran will also rise as the country is expected to become a major tourism destination for both regions once the sanctions are lifted.

[rsingh]

Russia had no intention of being a land-locked state during winters with only Murmansk as the warm water port, and they made sure of it.

hey boss I hope you know where Murmansk is ? it is anything but warm over there.

[TSJones]

not trying to be pedantic here in front of all these professors but Murmansk is an ice free, year around port and was essential to Russia during WW2 in order to receive US war supplies. thousands of US merchant sailors lost their lives to Nazi submarines making the "Murmansk Run". just for the record.....

[UlanBatori]

We have read of Convoy PQ-17 etc. Incredible heroism and a tragic loss of so many lives.. Incomprehensible today to most ppl.

[rsingh]

Actually for the first time i agree with TSJ. Soviet historians buried this. I used to have a professor (spent 5 years in Moscow during and before Piristroika) Who blew off more then 20 German tanks,lost one leg in war and he was awarded "Hero of Soviet union". One day i asked him about truth behind USA helping via Murmansk etc. He got lil bit angry and then told me there were those frozen diesel barrels and few jeep that wont start..........so no big deal.You find no reference to this in any Soviet History books.

[member_29325]

Turkish Newspapers continue to indulge in bare faced lies --- as usual, they claim that Turkey is taking on ISIS, but the more devious lie they are spreading is that ISIS is using Russian weapons and this supported by Russia.

Rocket From syria hits another turkish school


OT, but just saying, If folks had bothered to look up the definition of a "warm water port" (since they claim to have access to wikipedia), they would realize that murmansk being in a very cold place near the arctic circle has nothing to do with it being a "warm water port". Being ice-free *is* the definition of a warm-water port.

A warm-water port is one where the water does not freeze in wintertime. Because they are available year-round, warm-water ports can be of great geopolitical or economic interest.

Missing the point with silly nitpicking just degrades the quality of exchanges out here.

[Baikul]

..........

OT, but just saying, If folks had bothered to look up the definition of a "warm water port" (since they claim to have access to wikipedia), they would realize that murmansk being in a very cold place near the arctic circle has nothing to do with it being a "warm water port". Being ice-free *is* the definition of a warm-water port...................

That is my impression as well.

And continuing this OT spree:

We have read of Convoy PQ-17 etc. Incredible heroism and a tragic loss of so many lives.. Incomprehensible today to most ppl.

Alistair MacLean's HMS Ulysses, his first and to my mind by far his best, novel, was based on the Murmansk run and PQ-17.

[member_19686]

Aljazeera Arabic: Should We Kill All Alawites?

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

[Lalmohan]

by warm water port, the russians mean med or red seas