Levant crisis - III

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 30 Apr 2016 17:00

A overrun isis position in hasakah had some cemsnted pits with lockable trapdoors near the fighting trenches..keep warm slave flesh close to the fighters

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 30 Apr 2016 19:04

Body of Russian special forces officer who 'ordered air strike on himself' to kill Isis militants returned home
Senior Lieutenant Alexander Prokhorenko has been formally made a national hero

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 08106.html

The body of a Russian special forces officer who ordered an air strike on himself after becoming surrounded by Isis militants in Syria has been returned home.

Senior Lieutenant Alexander Prokhorenko, 25, died last month during battles by regime forces and supporters to re-take the city of Palmyra.

Vladimir Putin awarded him the title of Hero of the Russian Federation and the Kremilin co-ordinated with Kurdish forces to recover and repatriate his body.

It arrived back in Moscow on Friday, the Russian defence ministry said.

“Following special joint steps taken with the participation of representatives of the Syrian authorities and the Kurdish militia, the officer’s body has been delivered to Moscow,” a spokesperson told Tass news agency.

“Returning the body of Hero of the Russian Federation…was a matter of honour for the Russian Defence Ministry.”

Lt Prokhorenko’s funeral will be held on 6 May in the village of Gorodki, in Russia’s Orenburg region.

The 25-year-old had been tasked with guiding Russian air strikes on Isis targets during the advance on Palmyra, also known as Tadmur, by Bashar al-Assad’s forces last month.

Lt Prokhorenko was hailed as a national hero after he reportedly ordered Russian planes to target his position when it became surrounded by militants on 17 March.

The Russian President posthumously awarded Lt Prokhorenko the title of Hero of the Russian Federation “for courage and heroism in the performance of his military duties” earlier this month.

Palmyra, famed for its ancient ruins, had been overrun by Isis in May last year and became a backdrop for a series of gruesome execution videos.

The officer to his last act fought the enemy. The Russians recognised this bravery and continued to work long after his death to retrieve his body.

Impressive persistence by Russians to honour their fallen soldiers.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 30 Apr 2016 23:02

deejay wrote:The officer to his last act fought the enemy. The Russians recognised this bravery and continued to work long after his death to retrieve his body.

Impressive persistence by Russians to honour their fallen soldiers.

Senior Lieutenant Alexander Prokhorenko Certainly Deserved that Honor for his Selfless Service & Sacrifice , RIP !

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 30 Apr 2016 23:09

Russian Mi-28N crashed in Syria due to loss of balance — source
Military & Defense

April 30, 17:02 UTC+3

MOSCOW, April 30. /TASS/. Russia’s Mi-28N attack helicopter crashed in Syria due to loss of balance, a source in the probe commission told TASS Saturday with reference to the data of the flights recorders.

"After deciphering the helicopter’s flight recorders the commission’s preliminary assumption was confirmed that the so-called human factor was behind the crash… While carrying out the flight on a dark night over a featureless challenging terrain the pilots of Mi-28N lost the balance, which was followed by a collision with ground," the source said.

More:
http://tass.ru/en/defense/873502

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 01 May 2016 00:29

What's with this? Superficially blamed on Muqtada Al Sadr, but I thought Shias would be happy that guvrmand was basically taking their side?
Looks too much like Pro-Democracy (ISIS) Color Revolution. Surely this has to be orchestrated in DupleeCity?

Also, isn't Green Zone security still in US hands?

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 01 May 2016 06:55

^ that has been going on for a while. they say Sadr is anti-Iran and has been bought over by the gulf arabs...he is using corruption as a stick perhaps to beat the pro-iranian elements in the govt.

but if we look at his history, Sadr is only pro-Sadr, so all these shifting allegiances could be just tactics to get what he wants....probably replace sistani as the grand ayatollah and power broker in karbala and najaf.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 01 May 2016 09:18

jihadis thrashing their fellow member who led them into tel rifaat and ayn daqnah disaster and the truckload of bodies posted in previous page

https://twitter.com/DrPartizan_/status/ ... 1859687424

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 02 May 2016 04:21

Present situation reminds me of the book
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT

No news, but there is lots of news: fierce fighting all over the place, except no one is making big territory gains.

Elijah J. Magnier ‏@EjmAlrai 11h11 hours ago

#Damascus informed #Russia its readiness to include #Aleppo in the Cease-fire, although #Moscow insists on rebels 2take a distance from #AQ+

#Russia informed #Damascus that its Air Force attacks and air cover will regain its intensity soon as it was the case before the Cease-fire.

Maybe just hope, but something is needed for a big breakout and thrashing of the terrorists.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 02 May 2016 05:52

Both are still attacking saa jointly in aleppo but...

Hassan Ridha ‏@sayed_ridha
#JN & #JaishIslam are clashing in Deir Al-Asafir. Nusra also detonated a suicide belt killing several JaishIslam militants in Al-Ash'ari

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 02 May 2016 07:59

Amarnath Amarasingam ‏@AmarAmarasingam 7h7 hours ago
British fighter Abu Qaqa al-Britani (Raphael Hostey), who came to #Syria in Sept 2013, killed this week. #ISIS #IS

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 02 May 2016 09:21

Good Read

Seymour Hersh Says Hillary Approved Sending Libya’s Sarin to Syrian Rebels

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 02 May 2016 14:15

news18

London: Islamic State (ISIS) technicians are working to develop a Google-style driverless car that could navigate itself into a crowded area before detonating an explosive device, a NATO security expert has warned.
ISIS' research and development department in the terror group's de facto Syrian capital, Raqqa, is believed to be producing the vehicles at the same time as US Internet giant Google attempts to perfect the same technology.
If successful, the invention could prove to be a major headache for security services in Britain and throughout Europe and North America, where self-driving cars are expected to become commonplace, Daily Express reported.
Thousands of driverless cars are expected to be on Britain's roads within the next few years and there is a very real prospect jihadis could prey on the new technology to launch attacks in the UK

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 03 May 2016 07:24

That Seymour Hersh link is IED Mubarak onlee: posting in full.

Eric ZUESSE | 28.04.2016 | WORLD
Seymour Hersh Says Hillary Approved Sending Libya’s Sarin to Syrian Rebels

The great investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, in two previous articles in the London Review of Books («Whose Sarin?» and «The Red Line and the Rat Line») has reported that the Obama Administration falsely blamed the government of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad for the sarin gas attack that Obama was trying to use as an excuse to invade Syria; and Hersh pointed to a report from British intelligence saying that the sarin that was used didn’t come from Assad’s stockpiles. Hersh also said that a secret agreement in 2012 was reached between the Obama Administration and the leaders of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, to set up a sarin gas attack and blame it on Assad so that the US could invade and overthrow Assad. «By the terms of the agreement, funding came from Turkey, as well as Saudi Arabia and Qatar; the CIA, with the support of MI6, was responsible for getting arms from Gaddafi’s arsenals into Syria». Hersh didn’t say whether these «arms» included the precursor chemicals for making sarin which were stockpiled in Libya, but there have been multiple independent reports that Libya’s Gaddafi possessed such stockpiles, and also that the US Consulate in Benghazi Libya was operating a «rat line» for Gaddafi’s captured weapons into Syria through Turkey. So, Hersh isn’t the only reporter who has been covering this. Indeed, the investigative journalist Christoph Lehmann headlined on 7 October 2013, «Top US and Saudi Officials responsible for Chemical Weapons in Syria» and reported, on the basis of very different sources than Hersh used, that «Evidence leads directly to the White House, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, CIA Director John Brennan, Saudi Intelligence Chief Prince Bandar, and Saudi Arabia´s Interior Ministry». And, as if that weren’t enough, even the definitive analysis of the evidence that was performed by two leading US analysts, the Lloyd-Postal report, concluded that, «The US Government’s Interpretation of the Technical Intelligence It Gathered Prior to and After the August 21 Attack CANNOT POSSIBLY BE CORRECT». Obama has clearly been lying.

However, now, for the first time, Hersh has implicated Hillary Clinton directly in this «rat line». In an interview with Alternet.org, Hersh was asked about the then-US-Secretary-of-State’s role in the Benghazi Libya US consulate’s operation to collect weapons from Libyan stockpiles and send them through Turkey into Syria for a set-up sarin-gas attack, to be blamed on Assad in order to ‘justify’ the US invading Syria, as the US had invaded Libya to eliminate Gaddafi. Hersh said: «That ambassador who was killed, he was known as a guy, from what I understand, as somebody, who would not get in the way of the CIA. As I wrote, on the day of the mission he was meeting with the CIA base chief and the shipping company. He was certainly involved, aware and witting of everything that was going on. And there’s no way somebody in that sensitive of a position is not talking to the boss, by some channel».

This was, in fact, the Syrian part of the State Department’s Libyan operation, Obama’s operation to set up an excuse for the US doing in Syria what they had already done in Libya.

The interviewer then asked: «In the book [Hersh’s The Killing of Osama bin Laden, just out] you quote a former intelligence official as saying that the White House rejected 35 target sets [for the planned US invasion of Syria] provided by the Joint Chiefs as being insufficiently painful to the Assad regime. (You note that the original targets included military sites only – nothing by way of civilian infrastructure.) Later the White House proposed a target list that included civilian infrastructure. What would the toll to civilians have been if the White House’s proposed strike had been carried out?»

Hersh responded by saying that the US tradition in that regard has long been to ignore civilian casualties; i.e., collateral damage of US attacks is okay or even desired (so as to terrorize the population into surrender) – not an ‘issue’, except, perhaps, for the PR people.

The interviewer asked why Obama is so obsessed to replace Assad in Syria, since «The power vacuum that would ensue would open Syria up to all kinds of jihadi groups»; and Hersh replied that not only he, but the Joint Chiefs of Staff, «nobody could figure out why». He said, «Our policy has always been against him [Assad]. Period». This has actually been the case not only since the Party that Assad leads, the Ba’ath Party, was the subject of a shelved CIA coup-plot in 1957 to overthrow and replace it; but, actually, the CIA’s first coup had been not just planned but was carried out in 1949 in Syria, overthrowing there a democratically elected leader, in order to enable a pipeline for the Sauds’ oil to become built through Syria into the largest oil market, Europe; and, construction of the pipeline started the following year. But, there were then a succession of Syrian coups (domestic instead of by foreign powers – 1954, 1963, 1966, and, finally, in 1970), concluding in the accession to power of Hafez al-Assad during the 1970 coup. And, the Sauds' long-planned Trans-Arabia Pipeline has still not been built. The Saudi royal family, who own the world’s largest oil company, Aramco, don’t want to wait any longer. Obama is the first US President to have seriously tried to carry out their long-desired «regime change» in Syria, so as to enable not only the Sauds’ Trans-Arabian Pipeline to be built, but also to build through Syria the Qatar-Turkey Gas Pipeline that the Thani royal family (friends of the Sauds) who own Qatar want also to be built there. The US is allied with the Saud family (and with their friends, the royal families of Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, and Oman). Russia is allied with the leaders of Syria – as Russia had earlier been allied with Mossadegh in Iran, Arbenz in Guatemala, Allende in Chile, Hussein in Iraq, Gaddafi in Libya, and Yanukovych in Ukraine (all of whom except Syria’s Ba’ath Party, the US has successfully overthrown).

Hersh was wrong to say that «nobody could figure out why» Obama is obsessed with overthrowing Assad and his Ba’ath Party, even if nobody that he spoke with was willing to say why. They have all been hired to do a job, which didn’t change even when the Soviet Union ended and the Warsaw Pact was disbanded; and, anyone who has been at this job for as long as those people have, can pretty well figure out what the job actually is – even if Hersh can’t.

Hersh then said that Obama wanted to fill Syria with foreign jihadists to serve as the necessary ground forces for his planned aerial bombardment there, and, «if you wanted to go there and fight there in 2011-2013, ‘Go, go, go… overthrow Bashar!’ So, they actually pushed a lot of people [jihadists] to go. I don’t think they were paying for them but they certainly gave visas».

However, it’s not actually part of America’s deal with its allies the fundamentalist-Sunni Arabic royal families and the fundamentalist Sunni Erdogan of Turkey, for the US to supply the salaries (to be «paying for them», as Hersh put it there) to those fundamentalist Sunni jihadists – that’s instead the function of the Sauds and of their friends, the other Arab royals, and their friends, to do. (Those are the people who finance the terrorists to perpetrate attacks in the US, Europe, Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, India, Nigeria, etc. – i.e., anywhere except in their own countries.) And, Erdogan in Turkey mainly gives their jihadists just safe passage into Syria, and he takes part of the proceeds from the jihadists’ sales of stolen Syrian and Iraqi oil. But, they all work together as a team (with the jihadists sometimes killing each other in the process – that’s even part of the plan) – though each national leader has PR problems at home in order to fool his respective public into thinking that they’re against terrorists, and that only the ‘enemy’ is to blame. (Meanwhile, the aristocrats who supply the «salaries» of the jihadists, walk off with all the money.)

This way, US oil and gas companies will refine, and pipeline into Europe, the Sauds’ oil and the Thanis’ gas, and not only will Russia’s major oil-and-gas market become squeezed away by that, but Obama’s economic sanctions against Russia, plus the yet-further isolation of Russia (as well as of China and the rest of the BRICS countries) by excluding them from Obama’s three mega-trade-deals (TTIP, TPP & TISA), will place the US aristocracy firmly in control of the world, to dominate the 21st Century, as it has dominated ever since the end of WW II.

Then, came this question from Hersh: «Why does America do what it does? Why do we not say to the Russians, Let’s work together?» His interviewer immediately seconded that by repeating it, «So why don’t we work closer with Russia? It seems so rational». Hersh replied simply: «I don’t know». He didn’t venture so much as a guess – not even an educated one. But, when journalists who are as knowledgeable as he, don’t present some credible explanation, to challenge the obvious lies (which make no sense that accords with the blatantly contrary evidence those journalists know of against those lies) that come from people such as Barack Obama, aren’t they thereby – though passively – participating in the fraud, instead of contradicting and challenging it? Or, is the underlying assumption, there: The general public is going to be as deeply immersed in the background information here as I am, so that they don’t need me to bring it all together for them into a coherent (and fully documented) whole, which does make sense? Is that the underlying assumption? Because: if it is, it’s false.

Hersh’s journalism is among the best (after all: he went so far as to say, of Christopher Stephens, regarding Hillary Clinton, «there’s no way somebody in that sensitive of a position is not talking to the boss, by some channel»), but it’s certainly not good enough. However, it’s too good to be published any longer in places like the New Yorker. And the reporting by Christof Lehmann was better, and it was issued even earlier than Hersh’s; and it is good enough, because it named names, and it explained motivations, in an honest and forthright way, which is why Lehmann’s piece was published only on a Montenegrin site, and only online, not in a Western print medium, such as the New Yorker. The sites that are owned by members of the Western aristocracy don’t issue reports like that – journalism that’s good enough. They won’t inform the public when a US Secretary of State, and her boss the US President, are the persons actually behind a sarin gas attack they’re blaming on a foreign leader the US aristocrats and their allied foreign aristocrats are determined to topple and replace.

Is this really a democracy?

Can't say if this is Oiropean nutcase rants, but if Seymour Hersh actually said those things...

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 03 May 2016 09:59

tiger forces slowly continues is cleanup around palmyra and has reached the outskirts of arak gas fields.

rest of it is the daily yo yo.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 03 May 2016 10:00

green vs green
#IslamicState Executes 3 Men In #DeirEzzor On Charges Of Spying For #AlQaeda Wing #JN

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 03 May 2016 10:04

https://twitter.com/islamicworldupd/sta ... 0784342016

people picking up supplies dropped by UN @ deir azzor

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 04 May 2016 00:06

NATO-buddies ISIS kill American SEAL near Mosul
The ISIS fun & games just got serious - American SEAL killed. Hillary Clinton made some $37 million last year.
Why are they sending SEALs as "advisors" to the Peshmerga I wonder.

The U.S. responded with F-15s and drones which dropped more than 20 bombs, according to a U.S. official. 3 ISIS-owned US-donated Humvees got flat tires as a result.

And so the CNN mofos decided to re-run the photo of the Jet Airways crew member sitting in Brussels after the bomb blast.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 04 May 2016 03:56

Russian artillery devastates rebels in Aleppo as Syrian Army retakes vital fortification

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/ru ... ification/

Furthermore, a military source in Aleppo told al-Masdar that Russian artillery units had participated in the battle; this is the first time Russian ground troops assist the SAA outside Latakia province. This corresponds with reports of Russian artillery moving to Aleppo two weeks ago. On the rebel side, militias involved were Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki, Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar and Jabhat al-Nusra. The latter two groups are officially affiliated to al-Qaeda. Contrary to the friendly sounding name, the embattled Family House park lies on the very frontline of western Aleppo and represents a launching pad for rebels to enter the city’s western government-held districts. Several T-72 tanks and tens of airstrikes ensured that Islamist rebels were forced to flee westwards while government troops could re-enter the building blocks and set up new defence positions. A military source in Aleppo said approximately 70 militants were killed during the battle with most of their bodies discovered inside the housing. However, the local SAA commander was also killed in the battle while the military source wished to withhold the government casualties during the battle for security reasons.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 04 May 2016 07:09

Ru units must be operating TOS, Tochkas, that mine removal explosive cable thing and Smerchs.

we do have footage of TOS smacking hillsides in latakia.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 04 May 2016 07:11

Nusra training camp syria - must be pre-teen khalifa cubs in Idlib, led by a few hardened teen cadre who already earned their spurs by slitting some throats..Gurukul system

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 04 May 2016 07:14

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 05 May 2016 10:19

Diplomat: West blocks Russia-China initiative on stopping chemical attacks in Syria

More:
http://tass.ru/en/politics/873898

UNITED NATIONS, May 5. /TASS/. Western countries are hampering the passage by the United Nations Security Council of a Russian-Chinese initiative geared to prevent the production and use of chemical weapons in Syria, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said on Wednesday.

He drew attention to the conclusions of specialists from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) that militants in Syria used, most likely, yperite, a highly toxic gas. He said Russia is worried over the fact that terrorists seem to have learned to manufacture poisonous substances.

"It is regrettable that in conditions when it is necessary to immediately employ all available mechanisms to put a roadblock to the activities of chemical terrorists some of the United Nations Security Council’s Western members use trumped-up pretexts to block the Russian-Chinese initiative aimed at checking the threat of production of chemical weapons in Syria and around it by terrorists," the Russian diplomat said.

In April, Russia and China initiated a draft resolution of the United Nations Security Council that binds the countries to immediately report to the United Nations Security Council and the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) in Syria about any actions of non-government entities aimed at developing, obtaining, possessing, transporting, transferring or using chemical weapons and means of their delivery. Apart from that, the draft resolution tasks the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism with monitoring capacities to reveal persons, groups or governments involved in such activities.

A number of the United Nations Security Council members, including Venezuela and Angola, have supported this initiative whereas others, in particular Great Britain, said the Russian and Chinese initiative needed thorough consideration.

More:
http://tass.ru/en/politics/873898

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 05 May 2016 14:34

The would-be Sultan strengthening his position by dumping his PM.

Ahmet Davutoğlu's future as Turkish prime minister in balance
Critics of the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, say Davutoğlu’s departure would allow a further consolidation of Erdoğan’s power

Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoğlu, left, and president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, right, at a meeting of the Turkish Red Crescent in April 2016.
Agence France-Presse in Istanbul
Thursday 5 May 2016 09.

Turkey’s prime minister Ahmet Davutoğlu is set to pave the way for his own departure on Thursday in a dramatic turn of events that will boost the power of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Divisions between Davutoğlu and Erdoğan, rumoured for months, erupted into the open on Wednesday, with the two leaders holding crisis talks at the presidential palace.

The central executive committee of the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) will meet on Thursday and Davutoğlu will announce he will not be a candidate for party chair at an upcoming congress, meaning he will also step down as prime minister, Turkish media reported.

European commission faces challenge to grant visa-free travel to Turks

According to the conventions of the AKP – a party co-founded by Erdoğan to bring Islam into the mainstream of Turkey’s secular politics – the party chair and head of government are the same person.

Davutoğlu, who became prime minister in August 2014 when Erdoğan moved from the premiership to the presidency, will make the highly-anticipated statement after the meeting of the party committee, the official Anatolia news agency reported.

The possibility of tumult at the top of Turkish politics unnerved financial markets, with the lira extending Wednesday’s losses to lose 1.09% in value against the US dollar.

The appointment of a potentially more pliant prime minister would allow Erdoğan to further consolidate his powers as he seeks to win backing for controversial constitutional changes to make Turkey a presidential system.

Since becoming president in August 2014 after over a decade as prime minister, Erdoğan has sought to tighten his grip on the levers of power, leading critics to accuse him of authoritarianism.

Relations between Erdoğan and Davutoğlu had been seen by analysts as uneasy, but the speed with which it burst into the open took many by surprise.

The premier has championed a deal with the EU to stem the flow of refugees across the Aegean Sea – an issue in which the president has shown little interest.

On Wednesday, the EU commission announced it was recommending giving Turks visa-free travel as part of the deal, one of Ankara’s key demands.

Davutoğlu has said there is no need for haste in Erdoğan’s drive to create a presidential system in Turkey, a pet project of the president that risks diminishing Davutoğlu’s own standing.
He has also clashed with Erdoğan over whether journalists should be held in pre-trial detention.

Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute, said Davutoğlu’s departure would be the next stage in a “hollowing out” of Turkish institutions by Erdoğan, who already controls the army and parliament.

“It shows how much power has been massed in one person’s hands,” he said, adding that Erdoğan was now exercising more control than anyone in Turkey’s modern democratic history.

The departure of Davutoğlu “will allow Erdoğan to distance himself from some of his failed policies that can be attributed to Davutoğu,” he added.

Leading potential successors if Davutoğlu steps aside include the president’s longtime ally, transport minister Binali Yildirim, and the youthful energy minister Berat Albayrak, 38, who is married to the president’s eldest daughter Esra.

But press reports also suggested a less high-profile figure was possible, such as deputy prime minister Yalçin Akdoğan, justice minister Bekir Bozdağ, or AKP deputy chair Mehmet Ali Şahin.

“Whoever the new PM will be, it is clear that it will mean more power over the government by the president,” said Ozgur Altug, chief economist at BGC partners in Istanbul.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 05 May 2016 15:28

turkey has fed in 1000s of jaish al fatah and turkestan islamic party militants into the aleppo sector per reports.
the confused urban fighting, wanton shelling of all areas continues.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 05 May 2016 16:29

Video of the fight where the seal was kia in iraq

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016 ... ttle-video

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 05 May 2016 16:34

Isis came in 20 humvees led by a mobile bridge truck which spanned the trench dug by kurds . the 150 fighters then fanned out in humvees and caused mayhem

Amrika threw in day long airstrikes and claims to have killed them all. The town is probably a ruin now

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 06 May 2016 03:24

https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/05/05/tu ... rs%20Picks
Turkey’s Prime Minister Resigns Over Muted Differences With Erdogan

Durkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s quest to consolidate power has claimed one of his closest and highest-profile allies: Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.In his resignation speech Thursday, Davutoglu said he had concluded, after consulting with the president, that a change in the “prime minister’s position would serve a better purpose.” His vaguely worded explanation appears to reference Erdogan’s proposed constitutional amendment to further empower the president and reduce the position of the prime minister to a ceremonial one.In his years as foreign minister, Davutoglu forged strong working relationships with many foreign leaders in the West, including with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He was the point man for negotiating Turkey’s agreement this spring to accept unwanted refugees from Europe in return for money and visa-free travel.He also may have been caught in the middle of Erdogan’s ongoing battle with free speech and press freedoms. Davutoglu was by no means a publicly ardent and outspoken defender of the media, but as recently as March, he told a European Council assembly he was “against any restriction of freedom of speech.”

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 06 May 2016 06:34

Assyrian christian militia in that town meeting american advisors ran from the surprise isis breaching attack.
Help was radioed for. The kurdish sof and seal team respobded and the kia seal was in that qrt.
Thats the official story to explain why the unit was going into the town

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 06 May 2016 06:36

Ran is a strong word probably put out by Kurds to discredit.
Overwhelmed by the swarm attack but regrouped and kept fighting

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 06 May 2016 15:04

Field Report: Islamist militants break into Army's bastion in #Aleppo southern ... http://bit.ly/26WCyWW

I think Gen. Vodkov is on vacation in Crimea, while his bum factories try to replenish stocks.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 06 May 2016 15:10

Speaking of targets for Gen. Vodkov:
Al #Qaeda Is About to Establish an Emirate in Northern #Syria

I think this article has been in preparation in beer review for over 9 months.
The point of the article, given where it appeared, comes here:

If such escalatory conditions persist, the West’s best hope of thwarting al Qaeda’s ambitions is to dramatically scale up assistance to vetted military and civil components of the mainstream opposition inside Syria. Nusra Front has acquired its influence in Syria precisely because more moderate elements of the opposition have received insufficient backing to compete with its battlefield power and capacity to control territory. That needs to change.

IOW, more TOW to ISIS.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 06 May 2016 15:20

Deir Ez Zor Seesaw:

Yesterday, government troops retook the Industrial District from ISIS fighters who had attempted to advance towards Deir Ezzor Airbase from the northern flank. Meanwhile, another major battle took place at the neighbouring al-Sina’ah district which was captured by Islamic State forces 2 weeks ago but since almost entirely retaken. With government forces in control of 80% of the district at daybreak, ISIS launched a morning offensive and managed to captured a dozen building blocks. Optimized by Komoona However, during yesterday afternoon the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) Republican Guard launched a counter-offensive which had them seize the entire al-Sina’ah district and simultaneously the neighbouring Industrial Zone. ISIS was unable to keep control of al-Sina’ah due to Major General Issam Zahreddine commanding the battle from the strategic al-Tharda Mountain which overlooks the district. The initial ISIS thrust into al-Sina’ah did nevertheless cause the death of 10 government troops while an SAA source said they had killed approximately 20 ISIS fighters in return. With the SAA in control of both al-Sina’ah district and the Industrial District, they are now set to strike towards the Old Airport neighbourhood where government troops did a special demolishing operation 3 days ago. If the SAA can capture the entire western bank of the Euphrates in Deir Ezzor city, this would have their forces entrenched until Tiger Forces advancing from Palmyra can relieve the besieged troops held up in the provincial capital of Deir Ezzor.

https://www.almasdarnews.com/?p=60597 | Al-Masdar News

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 06 May 2016 15:23

Aleppo See-Saw:

Ivan Sidorenko ‏@IvanSidorenko1 3h3 hours ago

#Syria #Aleppo #SouthernAleppo Militants say they captured "Tank Hill" "#Khan_Toman "Tunnels" & #Miratah

Hassan Ridha ‏@sayed_ridha May 3

Area claimed by rebels/Islamists today in west #Aleppo: Daheret Mahana, Obri farms & Family House

Hassan Ridha ‏@sayed_ridha May 3

Unconfirmed reports by Pro Opp of taking control of the Family House NW of #Aleppo from #SAA

********************
But then May 4:
Peto Lucem Retweeted
Islamic World News ‏@A7_Mirza May 4

#SAA & Allies recaptured Family house park & Mahna & Obari Farms in west #Aleppo #حلب
HD: http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/4a26/p ... iz4xzg.jpg …

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 06 May 2016 15:23

Eyerak Tamasha

#Iraq-i Army 7th Division & #ISF liberated 42km of area between Hīt - Al-Baghdadi thus breaking an almost 2 year siege by #IS on #Haditha

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 06 May 2016 15:28

Given that the rebels are going to bomb hospitals and everything else once SAA recaptures them, isn't it better to have Gen. Vodkov and his merry band demolish the whole place with aerial and artillery, before going in, I wonder. Rebuild after the pest-e-Sha'eed is completed.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 06 May 2016 17:03

Russian music concert in Palmyra disliked by UK

http://tass.ru/en/politics/874281

The Russian Foreign Ministry is upset that British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond did not like the Russian music concert in Palmyra, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday.

Philip Hammond described the performance as an attempt to distract attention from the ongoing suffering of millions of Syrians.

"As for Mr. Hammond, it is certainly sad that he did not like it. We ran off our legs to please him. We did everything for that, and not because he is knowledgeable in music - now we know that he does not know a good thing about it all - but because everybody is interested in what he said about the concert. His other comments are of no interest to anybody," the Russian diplomat said.

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 06 May 2016 17:12

the atlantic vs taiga contest is on in full swing and will be fought to the last syrian

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 06 May 2016 17:20

Hayder al-Khoei
‏@Hayder_alKhoei
Turki bin Faisal at @WashInstitute: I always tell my Jewish audiences, with Jewish money and Arab brains we can go a long way. #IsraelSaudi

Hayder al-Khoei ‏@Hayder_alKhoei 6h6 hours ago
A Conversation on Security and Peace in the Middle East, Turki bin Faisal & Maj. Gen. Yaakov Amidror

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 06 May 2016 17:22

er... the arabs have the money and the jews have the brains... no?

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 06 May 2016 17:30

size of the truck vbieds is mind blowing

https://twitter.com/IraqiSecurity/statu ... 7119702016