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

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 22 Mar 2016 10:07

A detailed and long article by Haider Sumeri (@IraqiSecurity) on various battlefronts against Daesh in Iraq, I am posting the link since article is long.

http://1001iraqithoughts.com/2016/03/21 ... tlefields/

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 22 Mar 2016 10:08

Money expands to fit wealth.

Murad Gazdiev ‏@MuradoRT Mar 17 Moscow, Russia
Russia's adventure in #Syria cost $465m - #Putin. Reference: U.S. spends ~$500m yearly on military marching bands

The 'Nimr' Tiger ‏@Souria4Syrians now7 hours ago
Russia's adventure in #Syria cost $465m. Reference: U.S. spent $500m to train "rebels" of which only 5 survived

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 22 Mar 2016 10:20

#Barıs ‏@equalright2 now7 hours ago
45 children were raped by a teacher in a pro-gov'l Islamic educational NGO in #Turkey! #StopChildRapeInTurkey

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 22 Mar 2016 10:22

Hezbollah head warns Israel against war, threatens nuke sites.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/nasrallah- ... ear-sites/

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 22 Mar 2016 10:31

this is a interesting tweet by the potus special adviser on IS who is frequently in irbil and kirkuk to confer with the kurds.

Brett McGurk ‏@brett_mcgurk Mar 11
In southern #Syria towards #DeirEzzor, Syrian opposition forces liberated #ISIL's garrison at #Tanf enabled by HIMARS strikes from #Jordan.

^^ remember the new syrian army and the old cook who was posing as the leader? IS took back that same crossing later and posted pix of their crew. the cook presumably ran away or was put back to work cooking mutton biryani.
HIMARS is a MLRS launch system and jordan has 1 batallion of it.

would be the 1st instance of jordan helping its munnas from across the border with artillery strikes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIMARS

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 22 Mar 2016 10:45

good writeup on the situation in iraq...vast parts have been outside govt control for a decade now and the countryside crawls with terrorists , training bases and bomb making factories . far more tough task than syria to uproot them here..they enjoy people's support in many places...there are tens of raqqa type fortified IS dens. millions of IEDs and mines all over.

america continues to help but at very lean levels and glacial pace.

kitting up the iraqi AF with some 50 A-10 could be most useful but that needs 6 months of training for sure. they also need more helicopter gunships of any make and drones.

http://1001iraqithoughts.com/2016/03/21 ... tlefields/

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 22 Mar 2016 11:08

^^^ Singha Ji, posted the above write up a few posts up.

On the battlefield in Southern Syria, the help could be from both Israel and Jordan but to different groups at different places. While New Syrian Army has gained a few positions from IS near Dier Ez Zor, closer to Daaraa with the Israeli border IS has gained grounds against Nusra and allies with significant victories yesterday.

Speculation among tweets is that IS gains are Israeli backed

The 'Nimr' Tiger ‏@Souria4Syrians now12 hours ago
Who is supplying ISIS in Daraa? Lets just say between Israel, Jordan & FSA; Israel has the most to benefit from this

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 22 Mar 2016 14:26

looks like SAA will need to run another Latakia style campaign to clean up this huge green thing.

IS cannot appear like a island in middle of green without external help.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 22 Mar 2016 17:37

Isis claims it was their own huge vbied and not russi airstrike

No clarity so far

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 22 Mar 2016 21:13

Singha wrote:this is a interesting tweet by the potus special adviser on IS who is frequently in irbil and kirkuk to confer with the kurds.

Brett McGurk ‏@brett_mcgurk Mar 11
In southern #Syria towards #DeirEzzor, Syrian opposition forces liberated #ISIL's garrison at #Tanf enabled by HIMARS strikes from #Jordan.

^^ remember the new syrian army and the old cook who was posing as the leader? IS took back that same crossing later and posted pix of their crew. the cook presumably ran away or was put back to work cooking mutton biryani.
HIMARS is a MLRS launch system and jordan has 1 batallion of it.

would be the 1st instance of jordan helping its munnas from across the border with artillery strikes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIMARS

CNN radio was saying that ISIS is very effective at hitting weak points in the coalition. They had downed a Jordanian airliner and since then Jordan was a token supporter. If above is true means fear of ISIS has gone away in Jordan.

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 23 Mar 2016 01:21

ISIS as it stands is dissolving and the end game is in sight, iraq will head for a political accommodation soon
the 'movement' 'has moved to libya and the sahel front

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 23 Mar 2016 03:29

Lalmohan Have a request in OT thread.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 23 Mar 2016 03:50

A Q.Why has ISIS not attacked Israeli interests at all,only their fellow Muslim brethren?

Y. Kanan · Post by **Y. Kanan** » 23 Mar 2016 06:21

Philip wrote:A Q.Why has ISIS not attacked Israeli interests at all,only their fellow Muslim brethren?

Probably because Mossad and the CIA have been backing them the whole time.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Mar 2016 07:41

SAA 104 have broken out the airport south perimeter and making for town of mohassan.

zoom in a little to have the town appear
https://www.google.co.in/maps/@35.26366 ... 963,11.75z

enlarging the perimeter now gives them a buffer to trade space for time if subjected to heavy attacks when the inevitable siege of deir azzor occurs from SAA side .

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Mar 2016 09:12

even the normally pro-Obama NYT takes issue with his glacial pace approach of extending tidbits of help to fight the ISIS in syria and iraq when he has so much resources at his disposal. even if he does not want to embroil ground forces in a war which both parties dislike the US, he can provide squadrons of ground attack planes and armed drones to the table and finish this quicker than a 2 yr time line that looks inevitable now. the Euros are utterly useless and he can openly say that and these shameless fellows will just grin and say nothing, waiting for US to take the lead and pay the bill again. he could squeeze their gonads very hard and make them pay the bill in compensation to the US for any help extended...thats the bare minimum they should be forced to do.

excerpt from roger cohens article.

Syria, long regarded by the Obama administration as an intractable but parochial conflict, has proved the incubator of a global threat. From Raqqa, the Islamic State stronghold in Syria, terror radiates.

The dangerous thing about this territory, which the group calls a caliphate, is not so much its oil revenue, or training facilities, or proximity to the West, or control over several million people — it is its magnetic assertion of Sunni jihadi power. The United States and Europe would not have accepted its existence in 2001. They would not have accepted that terrorists in a sanctuary close to a NATO border in Turkey could shut down a European city, as they did again today. But the years since 9/11, with their toll in blood and treasure, have been wearing.

Since the Paris attack, Obama has insisted that an anti-Islamic State coalition with European and other allies is getting the job done. More than 20 percent of the group’s territory has been recaptured. The president has suggested that more radical military action to crush the militants — essentially the deployment of infantry — would drag the United States into another Middle Eastern war and increase the appeal of the Islamic State. His argument has been: Defeating the Islamic State is militarily feasible, but then what?

This is a very high-risk policy — too high in my view. It allows the Islamic State to strut its pure evil in and from Raqqa. The Obama approach posits that the Islamic State can be beaten before European and American societies are undermined. Again today, speaking in Havana, he said, “We will defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people all around the world.” But the president does not say when victory will come against these forces he declined to identify, and time counts.

The Islamic State effect is powerful in psychological and political terms. Europe and the United States already bear scars. A united Europe, the great achievement of the second half of the 20th century, is in imminent danger of fraying. The latest attack will play into the hands of anti-European rightist politicians like Marine Le Pen, the leader of the French National Front. It will increase calls for borders to be reinstituted and the Schengen accord allowing free movement among more than two dozen European countries to be scrapped. It will challenge Europe’s liberties.

By raising again the easily conflated specter of migration, Islam and terror, it will almost certainly bolster those campaigning to take Britain out of the European Union in a June referendum. The union is already fissuring as a result of a huge migrant flow from Syria and elsewhere, combined with an economic crisis.

In the United States, Islamic State terror also plays into the hands of demagogues, chief among them Donald Trump, with his call for a moratorium on Muslim immigration and his embrace of torture to fight terrorism. Fear is a potent political weapon. Many Americans are afraid, feeling that dim, uncontrollable forces have compromised their livelihoods, safety and futures. Trump was, of course, quick to seize on the attacks to reiterate his bellicose warnings.

“This is going to happen in the United States,” he said.

The San Bernardino, Calif., rampage by Islamic State sympathizers has already happened. The question raised most urgently by the Brussels attacks, so soon after Paris, is whether and why Raqqa can be tolerated when Al Qaeda’s Tora Bora sanctuary in Afghanistan was not. There are no easy answers. But today at least the West’s ponderous wait-them-out approach to the murderous fanatics of the caliphate looks like capitulation.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Mar 2016 09:26

iraqi soldier with heavy load of munitions. almost needs a darpa exoskeleton "breacher model"

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Mar 2016 09:28

seems to have 10 telescopes on his rifle...all set to different magnifications no doubt

I would call it PS.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Mar 2016 09:29

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Mar 2016 09:31

anything that is remotely useful is being sent to palmyra from all over - by both parties. its a fight to the finished, a mahayudh

habal · Post by **habal** » 23 Mar 2016 10:06

blast it from the air. Destroy Palmyra. isis can't do jack to bombing from high altitude. It can't figure out who is bombing at night time. Destroy the whole shebang and clean it up before sending in troops. Absolutely no waste of lives necessry. Who cares if few old monuments come down ? They are very overrated.

With Jabal Hayyal completely under allied forces control, few hours ago the Palmyra triangle was taken, this is the cross road into Palmyra, and now forces are advancing overnight in the red square. Note that the Qatari Royal Villa is still under ISIS, but not so sure they will be able to hold risking a complete surrounding there.

http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=34.52 ... 6;168657;0

Should ISIS retreat from the Qatari Royal Villa overnight, we shall see the allied forces fighting in the Orchards (west of Palmyra) by the morning and inside the ancient city. There is urgency to advance NW so the hills looking at the ancient city are completely controlled, right now they are in ISIS hands and under bombing.
It will be a busy night in Palmyra.

https://twitter.com/TheArabSource/statu ... 2666101760

TSJones · Post by **TSJones** » 23 Mar 2016 10:22

as long as there is no political agreement it will lead to no peace.....that is the reason Obama is loath to conduct mass bombing campaigns that will by necessity include many civilian casualties. unless you want to conduct an ethic cleansing campaign. until then Obama intends to move deliberately slow. Misuss Clinton may feel differently when she assumes power.

Also the euros are not tracking their muslims who travel to syria and come back home.......that is intolerable. the. euros. do. not. have. a. federal. intelligence/gendarme. agency. they need to get serious about this cancer among them.

the US is tracking American jihadis and when they come back we throw 'em in jail. if we don't nail 'em with drones first..........

habal · Post by **habal** » 23 Mar 2016 10:22

A video of the capture of the 4-man TOW team that tok part in the murder of Russian troops following the Su-24 shootdown. A nice thank-you present for the Russians.

habal · Post by **habal** » 23 Mar 2016 10:35

you can follow this twitter account to keep up-to-speed on Palmyra.

https://twitter.com/AboZain6/status/712336319175852032

The Syrian reporter Abo Zain, who was in Latakia since the start of the campaign there, is now at Palmyra, he is up to speed on the events and produces excellent photos and videos. He is extremely optimistic with the victory in Palmyra, he says the allied forces morale is sky high and the momentum is also very good.

habal · Post by **habal** » 23 Mar 2016 10:39

TSJones wrote: Also the euros are not tracking their muslims who travel to syria and come back home.......that is intolerable. the. euros. do. not. have. a. federal. intelligence/gendarme. agency. they need to get serious about this cancer among them.

the US is tracking American jihadis and when they come back we throw 'em in jail. if we don't nail 'em with drones first..........

they do not travel to Syria, they just go to Turkey from where there are no exit stamps for isis.
also Bulgaria shares land border with Turkey and Turkey need not make entry stamps on passports if say muslims from Belgium or England visit Bulgaria and slip out to Turkey.

also isis fly out same way from Syria. They go to Turkey who does not stamp their passports and they can fly out via Istanbul to whichever favorite destination of their choice. Istanbul airport is very well connected.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Mar 2016 10:53

Turkish airline is indeed a giant...

habal · Post by **habal** » 23 Mar 2016 11:04

most of isis sent to Palmyra from raqqa as per monitored chatter from ar-raqqa confirms that most of the rodents sent to Palmyra were formerly members of Saddam’s army – exclusively disgruntled Sunni bigots and hypocrites who preferred to sell their nationalism to the highest bidder just to stick a thumb into the eye of their perceived worst enemy – the Shia. These are some 80 in number who are being sent to reinforce that front and replace those isis who fled palmyra fearing imminent assault.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Mar 2016 11:10

Core janisari elite of Isis must be the anbar Sunni insurgents of post oif era. They lost Saddam but found Islam. Ruthless methods remained same.

Around this code are layers of psychopaths as the coconut shell shielding the kernel.

Then the ones who came for money female flesh and food as a thick husk

There is a town named AL baghdadi West of ramadi where perhaps the khalifa hails from

habal · Post by **habal** » 23 Mar 2016 11:19

the americans are sooo cute. From the time Saddam's deputy Izzat Ibrahim Al-Douri (anybody remember seeing this guy besides Sddam all the time) was being allowed to run free and he was not being captured and put on trial unlike others, it was evident that something rotten was underway. I remember making posts then that there was something to it, and he was being allowed to move around freely for a reason. Just couldn't figure out what it was at that time. He had excellent relations with the Saudis & GCC type sheikhs and he was being used by NATO/GCC to band up every Sunni who was useful and previously in Saddam's Army and republican guards to make his own militia. Now this militia was what was transformed to form core of ISIS. This plan was underway right from time mopping up of Saddam loyalists had started, it was a smooth transition from Plan A to Plan A+ while entire world was being told that plan A had failed and unable to control peace etc.

>> Around this code are layers of psychopaths as the coconut shell shielding the kernel.
Then the ones who came for money female flesh and food as a thick husk

I think these are the rich saudi & GCC brats and their servents and hangers on. There are enough who are just retarted to the core in that group. And also the european oil droplet crowd of moleenbeek and bradford and malmo types who survive on generous dole of social security and do not have work for a day. The only work they do is going to mosques and getting brainwashed. They are kept that way for a reason and ready recruit for any global jeehard.

you can see these types popping up on youtube videos and CNN/BBC every once in an often.

habal · Post by **habal** » 23 Mar 2016 11:28

finally we are seeing the beginning of the end of isis in palmyra.

The last fortification erected by ISIS @ al-quryatayn has been destroyed as the army actively prepares to liberate the town. Terrorist chatter is reported to be frantic.

mean-e-while

US is Offering False Hope to Syrian Kurds

http://journal-neo.org/2016/03/23/us-is ... ias-kurds/

Independent Kurdistan Would be the “Next Israel”

Geopolitically, an independent Kurdish state either in Syria or created out of an amalgamation of Kurdish regions in Syria and Iraq, would be many times weaker than any of the states they would be achieving independence from.

An independent Kurdistan would be incapable of defending itself from more aggressive offensives launched by Turkey who would no longer have to worry about provoking Baghdad, Damascus or their regional and international partners such as Iran and Russia. The United States, the chief agitator encouraging Kurdish independence, has already proven complete disinterest in truly protecting the Kurdish people from Turkish aggression both within Turkey’s borders and well beyond them. In fact, the US appears to be cynically using Turkish aggression as a “stick” to be held in contrast to whatever “carrots” are being offered in exchange for Washington’s tighter control over Ankara’s leash.

An independent Kurdistan would look a lot like Israel, or perhaps Qatar or Bahrain. It would be small, composing perhaps almost the same minuscule population of Israel with no more than 10 million people, and exist as a dependent faux-nation in need of constant and substantial foreign aid both militarily and economically (provided by the United States).

Like Israel, this Kurdish state would be governed by proxies selected by Washington. Either through internal division or the constant threat of aggression from abroad, this Kurdish state, like Israel, would be plunged and intentionally left in perpetual conflict. This conflict could even be sustained by creating aggressive foreign policies like Israel has adopted, creating a “siege mentality” among the Kurdish people and justifying long-term military dependency on the US.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 23 Mar 2016 16:07

Russian Il-76 Transport Jet Leaves Syria With 160 Support Personnel

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/world/20160323/1 ... z43j2mlM2X

HMEIMIM (Syria) (Sputnik) – Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the pullout of a bulk of air groups from the Arab republic on March 14 after they had broadly completed anti-terrorist objectives.

The servicemen and women who left the Hmeimim air facility performed refueling missions, as well as assignments concerning fuel, water, food and aircraft ammunition supplies. Their other tasks included laundry service and equipment and communications maintenance at the facility.

The decision to send them back to their home bases was made as a consequence of a reduced workload after the departure of most air groups from Syria over the past week.

The Russian Defense Ministry press service said the Il-76 was expected at one of the Central Military District airfields late Wednesday.

An An-124 Ruslan (Condor) airlifter is also en route to Russia, carrying equipment and three Mi-35 helicopters that have wrapped up their missions in Syria.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/world/20160323/1 ... z43j2tvbyr

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Mar 2016 04:49

Slow progress due to ferocious Isis and mines

Meantime ruaf is bombing arms storages in and
Around raqqa town

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Mar 2016 04:52

The road behind Palmyra to sakanah seems to be left open to encourage Isis to run back but so far no signs they want to give up.

Might as well send a column well armed with atgms and zsu23 around the salt lakes to the south and establish fire control position over this road. When isis columns pull back in a few days these will have rich pickings with the hinds also

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Mar 2016 07:12

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CePrjebWIAE2pYM.jpg

french made gazelle heli in palmyra

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Mar 2016 07:15

Ivan Sidorenko ‏@IvanSidorenko1 12h12 hours ago
#Syria #Homs #Palmyra #Tadmur #SAA #SyrianArmy Are still about 4.8-5 KM away from entering the ancient city of Palmyra

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Mar 2016 07:19

The commander of Russian ground forces in Syria, Colonel General Alexander Dvornikov, issued a public statement on Wednesday, confirming the large presence of Russian Special Forces inside the country after much speculation. “These forces are tasked with directing the Syrian Air Force and advising the Syrian Arab Army during ground operations against terrorist groups,” the colonel general said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta Daily. “I am not going to conceal the fact that our special operations forces are working in the territory of Syria. They are doing reconnaissance checks prior to the Russian air strikes; heading the planes to targets in remote regions as well as fulfilling other special tasks.”

The colonel general added that the U.S. Armed Forces and several other Anti-ISIS Coalition participants are doing the same inside Syria. In addition to that, Russian military advisers are helping the Syrian authorities. “These officers are helping their Syrian colleagues to plan and conduct the warfare against terrorists and learn to handle the Russian military hardware.” “Russia has supplied advanced artillery systems, communication and reconnaissance equipment, and other technologies to the Syrian Armed Forces,” Colonel-General Alexander Dvornikov added. The Russian Defense Ministry announced that sufficient troops will be kept in Syria to monitor the implementation of the ongoing ceasefire and to secure the Russian military bases near the Syrian coast.

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/ru ... ia-report/ | Al-Masdar News

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Mar 2016 07:23

finally the exalted orchards of palmyra - whose golden fruit fed the finest knights of the empire !

clashes ongoing at perimeter of semiramis hotel

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 24 Mar 2016 08:59

Singha wrote:iraqi soldier with heavy load of munitions. almost needs a darpa exoskeleton "breacher model"

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CeMmFlNXIAAbmc1.jpg

Looks like a used telescope salesman

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 24 Mar 2016 11:07

IS Sell Oil to Turkey at $12 per barrel

https://www.rt.com/news/336967-isis-fil ... exclusive/

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 24 Mar 2016 12:05

For TSJ, from trusted sources like BBC

BBC News USVerified account
‏@BBCNewsUS
How heavy are the air strikes against Islamic State really? Judge for yourself: http://bbc.in/1lHYgKY

Video on this link: https://twitter.com/BBCNewsUS/status/669258301280940032