Levant crisis - III

Rudradev · Post by **Rudradev** » 05 Oct 2016 22:10

"Counterterrorism goals"= keep the terrorists on our side, by helping them if necessary, so that their energy is directed mainly at holding territory against Assad, Iran, Russia etc. If Assad/Russia successfully overrun the territory they hold, they will melt away and reappear in the soft underbelly of Europe and elsewhere to wage a purely ideological terrorist war.

We need to think what this means for India and other "frontline" states. ISIS/Al-Nusra, unlike OBL-era Al Qaeda, emphasizes holding land and establishing a physical, territorial caliphate rather than simply spreading insurrectionist jihad as a form of resistance that would come to political fruition only decades or centuries later. Jihadis who want to hold land are better, from the Western viewpoint, than Jihadis who simply want to radicalize Muslims and carry out ops everywhere without immediate territorial ambitions. That's why the US was quite OK with reaching an agreement with the Taliban, who wanted a physical emirate bounded by definite geographical parameters, but not with OBL's Al-Q.

What are the implications for civilized countries in the immediate neighbourhood of the Jihadis who want to hold land and build a physical caliphate/emirate in the short term? The US views this as a successful localization and pinning down of the Jihadi problem, so that it is not their problem anymore... as opposed to a diffuse, endemic jihadi problem such as we see in Europe.

Bhurishravas · Post by **Bhurishravas** » 06 Oct 2016 00:29

http://aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/turkey- ... us-/658979

Turkey conveys reservations over Mosul operation to US

Turkey has expressed five reservations over the upcoming Mosul operation to the U.S. during a meeting in Ankara, including opposition to any moves to handover Iraq's Tal Afar district to a Shia militant group, a Turkish diplomatic source said Wednesday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-midea ... SKCN1250H9

Baghdad bridles at Turkey's military presence, warns of 'regional war'

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has warned Turkey that it risks triggering a regional war by keeping troops in Iraq, as each summoned the other's ambassador in a growing row.

Bhurishravas · Post by **Bhurishravas** » 06 Oct 2016 00:35

http://en.trend.az/world/turkey/2668933.html

Putin, Erdogan discuss Syria, Russia-Turkey ties in phone talks - Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed in a phone call on Wednesday the Syrian crisis and the prospects of improving Russia-Turkey ties, the Kremlin press service said.

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 06 Oct 2016 03:45

Is US fighting or aiding ISIS.
Mysterious acronym groups that pop out of nowhere are always suspicious.
Who funds them, where do they get their shiny new Toyota pickup trucks from, where do they weapons come from.. etc.
The military industrial complex wants perpetual warfare as its good for business.

----

US considers military strikes against Assad's troops - reports

GShankar · Post by **GShankar** » 06 Oct 2016 04:24

What is the low-down here?

1) Regime change
2) Territory grab for ISIS
3) Territory grab for so called rebels

Option 1

could support wahabbis
may not really help since large amount of territories are already occupied by rebels and ISIS

Options 2 and 3

could create a period of regional conflicts benefitting unkil and the juice.
This could also keep per-shians tied down for a while
Seems like this could help India in the long run as all relatively weaker ME nations would not think too condescending of the yindoos
This would bring panda and the bear bit more closer
OPEC would be obligated to keep oil prices lower and continue to weaken russian economy

Thoughts?

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 06 Oct 2016 08:48

Rudradev is perhaps right. give the orcs a Mordor to rule and burn...keep rivendell(amrika) safe for the tfta elves...and any overflow of flames will hit nearby gondor(india,persia,russia) and rohan(EU) first.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 06 Oct 2016 09:40

The 'Nimr' Tiger Retweeted
Hassan Ridha ‏@sayed_ridha 20h20 hours ago
SAA capture the Flin Jeans, Yeast factories + Brewery in Owaija district, Aleppo

The 'Nimr' Tiger Retweeted
watanisy ‏@watanisy 18h18 hours ago
#SAA captured Water institution in Bustan al-Basha district / Aleppo

^^ control of water works is always a key play anywhere.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 06 Oct 2016 11:12

UAE vessel after hit from chinese C-802 anti-ship missile

Manish_P · Post by **Manish_P** » 06 Oct 2016 11:54

All the time hoping that the Shire (UK) remains unscathed... but it has been penetrated from within

Interesting Middle Earth analogy Singha sir... but i would put Russia as Mirkwood... would that make Africa Moria ?

Singha wrote:Rudradev is perhaps right. give the orcs a Mordor to rule and burn...keep rivendell(amrika) safe for the tfta elves...and any overflow of flames will hit nearby gondor(india,persia,russia) and rohan(EU) first.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 06 Oct 2016 12:14

Putin as Gandalf,O'Bomber as Saruman,The Sultan as Gollum and the ISIS chief-the King of the Soothis as Sauron?

Bhurishravas · Post by **Bhurishravas** » 06 Oct 2016 13:00

http://aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/turkey- ... ary/659232

The Iraqi parliament’s rejection of Turkey’s military presence in the country is not a reflection of the feelings of ordinary Iraqis, the Turkish foreign minister said Wednesday.
Speaking at a news conference in Ankara, Mevlut Cavusoglu said the decision against the Turkish base at Bashiqa in northern Iraq “does not represent the whole Iraqi people.”

Lisa · Post by **Lisa** » 06 Oct 2016 13:57

More,

Former US Navy vessel attacked by Yemeni rebels in Indian Ocean

http://www.wearethemighty.com/articles/ ... dian-ocean

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 06 Oct 2016 15:28

GRAPHIC

syrians drop a truckload of dead jihadis bodies into a well

https://twitter.com/IvanSidorenko1/stat ... 5935217664

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 06 Oct 2016 15:30

syrians have managed to fly 10 mi17 sorties into deir azzor with fresh troops.
on paper that is 24 x10 = 240

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 06 Oct 2016 16:15

At least 29 people, most of them rebel fighters, have been killed in a bombing near Syria's border with Turkey, activists say.

The attack reportedly occurred during a change of guard at the rebel-controlled Atmeh crossing, in Idlib province.

It was not immediately clear whether the blast was caused by a suicide bomber or a remote-controlled device.

A news agency linked to so-called Islamic State (IS) said a suicide car bombing had targeted a rebel convoy.

But an opposition activist network, the Local Co-ordination Committees, reported that a suitcase filled with explosives had been planted at the scene.

In mid-August, 32 rebels were killed in a suicide attack claimed by IS at the Atmeh crossing, which they use to travel from Idlib, via Turkey, to battle the jihadist group in other parts of north-eastern Syria.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 06 Oct 2016 16:30

Russian MOD on Key Achievement in Syria for past 1 year

Shoigu: operations for the year Russia has managed to stabilize the situation in Syria

https://ria.ru/syria/20161006/1478613808.html

1 > "It has been a year since our Armed Forces carry out combat missions in the Syrian Arab Republic During this time, managed to stabilize the situation in the country, to release a significant part of its territory by armed groups of international terrorists, organize the work of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the warring parties.", -

2 > Shoigu said that "during the operation Aerospace forces attacked the places of accumulation of militants and their infrastructure, carried out the delivery of humanitarian supplies to Syrian citizens and address other, equally important tasks."

3 > "To gain practical experience of firing a long-range precision-guided weapons from surface ships and submarines from the waters of the Caspian Sea and the Mediterranean strategic aviation aircraft in a real combat situation for the first time used a new X-101 air-launched missile with a range of up to 4.5 thousand kilometers,"

4 > Many modern domestic samples of weapons have been tested in difficult conditions of desert terrain and generally demonstrated their reliability and effectiveness", - the minister added.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 06 Oct 2016 17:36

BBC: Syria conflict: Eastern Aleppo faces 'total ruin' in two months

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37576204

Y. Kanan · Post by **Y. Kanan** » 06 Oct 2016 21:16

Maybe the US\GCC\Turk alliance is backing down from starting WW3. They appear to be settling in for a protracted guerrilla war to bleed the Russians and Syrian govt indefinitely:
Aleppo will eventually fall, but Syrian war will go on
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-midea ... SKCN12513W

Instead it is likely to give way to a long-term Sunni guerrilla insurgency in which the remaining moderate rebel groups, backed by the West and the West's regional allies, are driven into the arms of militant jihadis.

Holmboe foresees the rebels becoming "isolated in various enclaves", with Assad in control of all big cities and "able to dictate a peace solution on his own terms".

The Gulf states are not pleased with the way things are going. They're willing to repeat the experience of Afghanistan," he said in reference to the 1980s when they supplied arms for the Mujahideen to fight the Soviet Union.

"For them this is the war of the century."

So Turkey takes the role that Pakistan played vis-a-vis Afghanistan in the 80's (ie: haven and launchpad for militants). Meanwhile the usual suspects (Gulf States, CIA, Jews) play their familiar nefarious role of arming jehadists and funneling them through Turkey. How can the Russians counter this and avoid a repeat of the Afghan experience?

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 06 Oct 2016 21:36

Could be ambush or vbied

Brasco_Aad ‏@Brasco_Aad
#ISIS terrorists have destroyed #French Special Forces in #Iraq. Unconfirmed reports of 2 dead & more than a dozen wounded French Commandos

kit · Post by **kit** » 06 Oct 2016 22:18

Y. Kanan wrote:Maybe the US\GCC\Turk alliance is backing down from starting WW3. They appear to be settling in for a protracted guerrilla war to bleed the Russians and Syrian govt indefinitely:
Aleppo will eventually fall, but Syrian war will go on
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-midea ... SKCN12513W

Instead it is likely to give way to a long-term Sunni guerrilla insurgency in which the remaining moderate rebel groups, backed by the West and the West's regional allies, are driven into the arms of militant jihadis.

Holmboe foresees the rebels becoming "isolated in various enclaves", with Assad in control of all big cities and "able to dictate a peace solution on his own terms".

The Gulf states are not pleased with the way things are going. They're willing to repeat the experience of Afghanistan," he said in reference to the 1980s when they supplied arms for the Mujahideen to fight the Soviet Union.

"For them this is the war of the century."
So Turkey takes the role that Pakistan played vis-a-vis Afghanistan in the 80's (ie: haven and launchpad for militants). Meanwhile the usual suspects (Gulf States, CIA, Jews) play their familiar nefarious role of arming jehadists and funneling them through Turkey. How can the Russians counter this and avoid a repeat of the Afghan experience?

Easy ..the Kurds are the turks weak point. Make sure the Kurds get a separate dominion near to Turkey inside Syria ! ..they will keep the Turks busy in years to come !

Y. Kanan · Post by **Y. Kanan** » 07 Oct 2016 06:52

kit wrote:Easy ..the Kurds are the turks weak point. Make sure the Kurds get a separate dominion near to Turkey inside Syria ! ..they will keep the Turks busy in years to come !

Maybe Erdogan doesn't mind his army being bled in Kurdish fighting for years to come. Erdogan probably wants a full-blown Kurdish insurgency: he can punish the Turkish Army (which he never trusted) by bleeding them in an endless Kurd battle, while keeping them tied up in wartime mode indefinitely. It's harder to stage a coup when the army is in "national security crisis" mode.

Putin better be ready to supply Kurds and Houthis with some very sophisticated weapons. If the Kurds can shoot down Turkish aircraft and blow up their tanks at will, or even lob SSM's into Turkey itself, that might be enough to make Erdogan think twice about letting his country play the Paki 1980's launchpad role. Same drill for Saudi: imagine Houthis with Iskanders or range-boosted Tochkas. 20-30 fairly precise SSM strikes could shut down the entire Saudi oil infrastructure. This would be a big escalation, but so is flooding Syria with sophisticated MANPAD's.

Y. Kanan · Post by **Y. Kanan** » 07 Oct 2016 06:58

Note that most of KSA's oil infrastructure is very concentrated into a handful of key bottlenecks, all within 600-700km of the Yemen border. Missile launches from the Red Sea would be even easier. Let the Houthis mysteriously "aquire" some small missile boats.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 07 Oct 2016 07:35

Peto Lucem quoting Leith Fadel AMN:

Syrian Army advances in southwest Deir Ezzor.
DEIR EZZOR, SYRIA (11:40 A.M.) - Nearly three weeks after the U.S. Coalition "accidentally" bombed their positions at Jabal Thardeh in Deir Ezzor, the Syrian Armed Forces are steadily recovering the ground they lost as a result of this attack.

The Syrian Arab Army's 71st Regiment and 137th Artillery Brigade of the 17th Reserve Division managed to recapture Point 1 at Jabal Thardeh earlier this week, paving the way their most recent advances near the Panorama Checkpoint and Kroum Hill.

Video footage from this battle on Wednesday was captured by Ruptly; it shows the Syrian Armed Forces advancing around the southwestern outskirts of Deir Ezzor City.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 07 Oct 2016 10:35

N3 welcome to syria thread.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 07 Oct 2016 10:36

ALEPPO, SYRIA (6:30 A.M.) - Minutes ago, the Syrian Arab Army's 800th Regiment of the Republican Guard, backed by the Ba'ath Battalions and Hezbollah, launched their second attack on the southern districts of Aleppo, striking the jihadist rebels at Sheikh Sa'eed and the 1070 Al-Hamdaniyah Housing Project.

Backed by Russian airstrikes, the Syrian Armed Forces and Hezbollah continued where they left off last night, advancing eastward inside the Sheikh Sa'eed District, despite fierce resistance from Jaysh Al-Fateh (Army of Conquest).

According to preliminary reports from southern Aleppo, the Syrian Armed Forces and Hezbollah managed to capture an important hilltop inside Sheikh Sa'eed after an intense battle with the jihadist rebels.

The hill was identified by a Syrian field journalist as Tal Sheikh Sa'eed, which is considered one of the most important sites inside the district.

Meanwhile, at the 1070 Al-Hamdaniyah Housing Project, the Syrian Armed Forces and Hezbollah are attempting to capture the remaining building blocks under jihadist control.

Thus far, the Syrian Armed Forces and Hezbollah have managed to capture a few buildings in the 1070 Housing Project; however, they have yet to seize something significant inside this district.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 07 Oct 2016 10:38

jund al aqsa has started fighting ahrar al sham for control of the spoils of the idlib-hama emirate

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 07 Oct 2016 10:40

looking at this map, perhaps SAA is trying to split the pocket into two via the middle

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 07 Oct 2016 10:44

RT:Russia’s Defense Ministry has cautioned the US-led coalition of carrying out airstrikes on Syrian army positions, adding in Syria there are numerous S-300 and S-400 air defense systems up and running.

Russia currently has S-400 and S-300 air-defense systems deployed to protect its troops stationed at the Tartus naval supply base and the Khmeimim airbase. The radius of the weapons reach may be “a surprise” to all unidentified flying objects, Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson General Igor Konashenkov said.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, any airstrike or missile hitting targets in territory controlled by the Syrian government would put Russian personnel in danger.

“Russian air defense system crews are unlikely to have time to determine in a ‘straight line’ the exact flight paths of missiles and then who the warheads belong to. And all the illusions of amateurs about the existence of ‘invisible’ jets will face a disappointing reality,” Konashenkov added.

He also noted that Syria itself has S-200 as well as BUK systems, and their technical capabilities have been updated over the past year.

The Russian Defense Ministry’s statement came in response to what it called “leaks” in the Western media alleging that Washington is considering launching airstrikes against Syrian government forces.

US-led coalition jets bombed positions of the Syrian government forces on September 17, resulting in the deaths of 83 servicemen. Washington said the airstrike was a mistake, however Damascus claimed the incident was a “blatant aggression.”

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 07 Oct 2016 10:46

DAMASCUS, SYRIA (10:20 A.M.) - Iran's prominent military commander, Major General Qassem Suleimani of the Al-Quds Force, stated on Wednesday that the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman traveled to Moscow recently to meet with Syrian government officials.

The Iranian General did not go into specifics; however, if true, this will be the first meeting between Riyadh-Damascus in nearly a year.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 07 Oct 2016 10:50

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 07 Oct 2016 11:02

Iraq requests the assistance of UN Security Council

The main reason for such an initiative by the official in Baghdad associated with the continued violation by Turkey of Iraq's sovereignty.

The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls upon the convening of an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council. It is about finding the Turkish troops in the north of the country. Iraq is calling for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council

RIA Novosti leads fragment statement Iraqi Foreign Ministry: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iraq has sent a request for an emergency UN Security Council meeting to discuss the violations committed by Turkey in Iraq, and its interference in internal affairs. The request included a request to the UN Security Council about it to fulfill its obligations towards Iraq, adopted a resolution on this matter and put an end to a violation of Iraq's sovereignty by Turkish forces.

http://vpk-news.ru/news/32829

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 07 Oct 2016 11:28

The Star Online
Syrian army warns rebels and families to leave eastern Aleppo
The Star Online - ‎8 hours ago‎
BEIRUT/GENEVA (Reuters) - Rebels holed up in Aleppo can leave with their families if they lay down their arms, President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday, vowing to press on with the assault on Syria's largest city and recapture full control of the ..

habal · Post by **habal** » 07 Oct 2016 12:05

Singha wrote:

has the face of a horse.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 07 Oct 2016 12:27

Sultan Stalin of the latter day Ottomans.

FIsk:Erdogans normalisation of Turkey has echoes of Stalinism.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/tur ... 47966.html

Walking the streets of Istanbul, Erdogan's crackdown lingers heavy in the air
Erdogan has extended Turkey’s state of emergency by 90 days and the Turkish lira has fallen – I guess that’s what 'normalisation process' means

Robert Fisk Istanbul
A huge pro-Erdogan rally in Istanbul the wake of the failed summer coup. Many fear that the subsequent state crackdown is a threat to Turkey’s secular and democratic traditions Reuters
On vast building sites around Istanbul, the hoardings announce that the people “will never submit to terror”. Others near the Sea of Marmara confidently predict that “the people will not let terror overcome their patriotism”.

Driving around this city gets a bit tiresome after a while. The attempted coup against President Erdogan is almost three months ago. The dead – memorialised now in a bloody swath of crimson string lights at night over the great Bosphorus Bridge – produced a crop of martyrs scarcely greater in number than a single day in Aleppo. An economic magazine quotes US businessmen as saying they will maintain their Turkish investments because they are unnerved by “the heinous failed coup”. Which is not, I suspect, quite how the Americans referred to the event.

Then I open a copy of Habar Turk, a Turkish newspaper. It’s full of economic improvement (an illusion) and show business (illusion of a different kind), but at the top of page 5, there’s a frightening 2x3 inch photograph of 14 haggard men, hair uncombed, in T-shirts or open-necked shirts, marching towards the camera. An even smaller picture shows another unidentified man bending towards the camera in apparent fear, hair tousled, with what might be a bruise on the left side of his jaw. “They are some of the generals,” a Turkish acquaintance tells me. “They have been beaten.”

Somehow the smallness of the pictures makes them even more sinister – as, I suppose, they are intended to be – since there are now tens of thousands of prisoners in Turkey’s forbidding jails; cops, generals, corporals, sergeants, security agents, judges, school-teachers, academics, doctors. Another 540 soldiers were arrested on Tuesday.

All day in Istanbul you are bombarded by what the government now calls its “normalisation process” (a very Soviet expression, when you come to think of it; Stalin’s purges come to mind) – good news about the Turkish airline industry, the new tunnel under construction between the Black Sea and the Bosphorus. I have shaken my head in near disbelief several times these past 24 hours.

Then you find Basar Arioglu, the chairman of Atas, the company hired to design, build and operate the tunnel, saying of the attempted coup in a magazine article: “We have to forget it, not even talk about it and look to our future … It’s a dark day of our history now.” So do we forget it, shut our mouths and look to that “future” (under Erdogan, of course)? Or do we look again at those fearful generals – remember, Erdogan has talked of a possible renewal of the death penalty – and tremble a little?

As a Turkish friend put it to me: “Anything can happen, anything is possible.”

READ MORE
They called the War on Terror a world war – and then forgot about it
Certainly, it would be better not to be a relative, however distant, of Fethullah Gulen, the self-exiled cleric blamed by Erdogan for the attempted July coup. There’s a popular (and true) story going the rounds in Istanbul of the poor university professor “related to relatives” of Gulen, who was arrested.

The elderly man is unlikely to have supported the cleric, who is of course safe in America. The old boy turns out to be both an atheist and a Marxist. But they’ve put him in the slammer anyway. Court hearings are to begin “soon” – no-one knows when, possibly not even the prosecutors, because the evidence to support these mass trials may not exist.

Erdogan has just extended Turkey’s state of emergency by another 90 days, and the Turkish lira has just fallen to more than three to the dollar. I guess that’s what “normalisation process” means.

I have lunch with two Turkish acquaintances. All such meetings must now be smothered in anonymity. That is the rule if you’re going to write what they say (unless it contains grovelling praise for Erdogan). But it’s a revealing moment when one of them says to me that they “also have difficulty in understanding this”.

READ MORE
A year on from Alan Kurdi, we continue to ignore the facts
So here’s the first explanation of one of the two friends. “You must understand that this was a real attempted coup d’etat. You must be careful not to repeat what some said in the Western press, that this was actually staged, a fake coup by Erdogan to get rid of his enemies. This is rubbish. It was real.

“It was against Erdogan, and Gulenists were involved. A retired major said that if you take all the business class passengers off a plane, you have the Gulenists, and so they did the coup. The men behind the coup probably hoped the Kemalists would come on to the streets.”

The “Kemalists” are those who still believe in the precepts of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey and hero of Gallipoli, who fear that Erdogan is going to destroy his secular legacy, either by turning Turkey back into a caliphate or “forward” into some other kind of Islamic state. I noticed that quite a lot of portraits of Ataturk have disappeared in Istanbul, even in my own hotel. The friendly receptionist explained that there had been a “renovation” and Ataturk’s portrait had been hung elsewhere – in the hotel staff offices.

“Some officers,” my friend continued, “would have been eliminated if the coup had been successful. Some probably thought they’d be promoted if they joined, or would lose their jobs if they didn’t.”

On the day of the planned coup, Turkish military officers apparently went to the army chief of staff at 3pm or 4pm – they told him he could telephone Gulen to hear what he said – but the chief of staff refused. Instead, he ordered all soldiers confined to barracks that night. From that moment, the coup plotters knew that the plan may be exposed. Coups are supposed to take place at 3am or 4am in the morning when cities proverbially sleep. But, having failed to keep their plans secret, they went ahead on the grounds that “we’d better do it anyway”.

The Russians, many people in Istanbul confirmed, also tipped off Erdogan. That’s almost certainly true.

There’s an instructive Turkish account of the Putin-Erdogan meeting on the edge of the recent G20 summit in China. Putin apparently paid special attention to one man in the Turkish delegation, Hakan Fidan, the head of the Turkish National Intelligence Organisation. “We do not have anything to talk about if your chief intelligence officer is here,” joked the former KGB intelligence man in Dresden. “He (Fidan) has already informed you of everything.”

So how did Erdogan’s men know which of the tens of thousands should be picked up? “Simple,” said my other acquaintance. “Until two years ago, the Gulenists were allies of Erdogan’s AK Party in government. Everyone knew who had been appointed by the Gulen people and who was appointed by the AK. They knew which general, which professor, had been favoured for a position by the Gulenists. And there are informers everywhere.” It’s a reasonable explanation – but, I think, it’s not the only one. Besides, proof is escaping with those who fled Turkey. When the Erdogan cops closed down the only English language (and Gulenist) newspaper in Turkey, Zaman Today, they destroyed the daily’s entire archives. Now that’s an odd thing to do in the offices of an opposition paper which so often taunted Erdogan.

And what did the eight air force men who fled to Greece from Turkey by helicopter, and who have not (so far) been returned by the EU, actually know? Erdogan has been making noises about taking back the Greek islands of the Turkish coast. The Greeks are all of a fluster.

“This is entertainment,” my other friend says. “Erdogan likes to make enemies.” Then, in the taxi back to central Istanbul, I watch the giant billboards again and cynically observe a prayer.

“God save Erdogan,” I mutter. My friend laughs. “Erdogan saves God,” he replies.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 07 Oct 2016 12:57

US threats to attack Syrian forces may result in WW3,say the Russians.Putin's 40M strong nuclear war drills a few days ago should leave none in dioubt as to the seriousness of the situ in Syria.

The deathwish by some in the US ho seem hell-bent upon orchestrating a mil crisis between Russian and US forces ,appears to be a last ditch effort to save the US's chief partner in crime,the Saudis.Plummeting oil prices leading to the unheard of salary cuts for Saudi royals and looming bankruptcy fears,require a major international crisis to spark a huge surge in oil prices and thus save the Soothis. Regime change in Syria is the one and only ambition of the US and Saudi led combine and using a variety of ungodly forces has been a spectacular failure thus far,esp. after the Russian entry onto the battlefield,one yr. on. The fal of Aleppo will be seen as a massive victory for Russia and Assad and the US is now on the brink of militarily preventing that from happening.It is the most dangerous moment this century since 9/11.The Russians have thrown down the gauntlet.It remains to be seen whether the lame duck O'Bomber administration wants to pick it up in a deathwish.

US Bombing Syrian Army Would Start World War III

WORLD 05:31 07.10.2016
After the US government suspended cooperation with Russia in Syria earlier this week, military action by the White House against Damascus was back on the table.

US Discussions on Military Option in Syria Continue Despite Russia’s Warning - State Dept. Syrian journalist and political analyst Kevork Almassian told Radio Sputnik's Brian Becker that a US announcement that it would halt coordination with Russia is "misleading," as there was no genuine cooperation in the first place, given the parties' contradicting approaches to ending the Syrian civil war. According to Almassian, Washington was likely not interested in preventing violence in Aleppo, as it is satisfied with the status quo and supports the al-Nusra Front — an al-Qaeda-linked violent jihadist group — while the Russians and Syrians are determined to liberate the city at any cost. "The Americans were forced, I believe, to halt this cooperation because they feel that they are embarrassed in front of their allies at least in the Middle East, and they're also embarrassed that their strategy is not working in Syria," Almassian said during the Loud & Clear broadcast. Political writer Diana Johnstone, participating in the program, agreed with Almassian, saying that the US has all along had the single objective of eliminating the independent Arab nationalist government in Syria and putting a US-controlled puppet in its in place. That plan, she said, has failed, and now the new strategy is "simply to destroy Syria." Keeping the war going is in the interests of the US and its allies in the region, namely Israel and Saudi Arabia, she said. "These powers have joined together to destroy the legitimate state of Syria, and that's what this is all about," Johnstone told Radio Sputnik. Deliberation by the Obama administration to begin a direct bombing campaign against the Syrian Army is a consequence of losing the proxy war in Syria, according to Almassian. The US President, however, is not likely to take such drastic measures, he believes, especially when acknowledging how the balance of power on the ground has shifted toward the interests of the Syrian Army, supported by Russia. "This is all a media talk at the moment," he said, "If the Americans bomb Syria, I think it will be a World War. I mean, this is not an exaggeration," he warned, explaining that a direct intervention would result in unpleasant consequences. Johnstone, meanwhile, was less optimistic.

Washington 'Has Neither Sticks nor Carrots' to Influence Russia in Syria "The United States has already bombed Syrian soldiers, killing over 60 and wounding a hundred, and saying, ‘Oh dear me, we didn't know we were doing that,' which I don't think any sane person can believe for a minute," she said. "The US doesn't want to send in foot soldiers, that's the policy now, the United States wants to wreck the rest of the world from a safe distance." If the US carries out the bombing, the possibility of an even wider conflagration, with the Russians against the Americans on one side, and the Saudis against Iran on the other, is very high, Almassian suggested.

Read more: https://sputniknews.com/world/20161007/ ... -army.html

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 07 Oct 2016 13:04

turkish f16 shot down while trying to bomb pkk
Dr Partizan ‏@DrPartizan_ 12h12 hours ago
ANF reports that F-16 Turkish jet shot down over Qandil mountains, Kurdistan.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 07 Oct 2016 22:29

LA Times: Al Qaeda-founded rebel group's growth underscores U.S. challenges in Syria

http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast ... story.html

In June, Brett McGurk, President Obama's envoy in the campaign against Islamic State, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Al Nusra had become “Al Qaeda’s largest formal affiliate in history”

kit · Post by **kit** » 08 Oct 2016 00:54

The American Raptors are not there for joy ride .. they can easily take out the S300 and 400 missile systems ..but in doing so will highly escalate the middle east war .. as one would say the gloves are off ..the Russians seem to emphasize this point well ..they are not going to let go their hard earned gains

TSJones · Post by **TSJones** » 08 Oct 2016 01:27

the sword cuts both ways.......if the russians/syrians start shooting at US planes then something will be done about it.

so they can arm themselves with all the SAM's all they want but once the first shot is fired they will get to show how bad a$$ their tech is.....or most likely *isn't.*

if you think wild weasels haven't been studying and practicing then you might want rethink it over. I mean right down to simulating the same radar and tactics. how many f-22s have the russkis practiced on when the f-22s weren't wearing their radar reflection luneburg lens?

Rudradev · Post by **Rudradev** » 08 Oct 2016 01:46

Ah but TSJ, the ball's clearly in your court now. What will your side do? You've been ramping up the rhetoric about Aleppo this and Human Rights that. The Russkis and Syrians are continuing their efforts to liberate the city from yer chums regardless.

I don't see what you have to lose. If the jih... I mean, innocent civilians of Aleppo mean that much to you, why not call their bluff about S300s and S400s and wade right in?