Bharat Rakshak

Russian military warship sends powerful message in Syria
Story highlights
CNN's Matthew Chance is on board a Russian missile cruiser deployed off Syria
It plays a crucial role in Russia's Syria intervention, providing support to air raids
The warship was deployed in the region after Turkey shot down a Russian jet last month

On board the Moskva, off Syria (CNN)—Several miles off the Syrian coast, the Moskva, a Russian warship laden with long-range guided missiles, is a formidable symbol of Russian naval might in this stretch of the eastern Mediterranean.

I've been given rare access on board this 11,500-ton, 186-meter (610-foot) missile cruiser to witness the key role it plays in Russia's air war against jihadist rebels in Syria's grinding civil war.

Equipped with a powerful air defense system, the Moskva has been situated off the Syrian city of Latakia to provide support to the Russian warplanes crisscrossing Syrian skies in an unrelenting schedule of sorties from the Hmeymim air base.

In the two days I've been touring the Russian military operations in Syria, their jets have flown more than 100 sorties, destroyed 287 rebel strongholds and 40 oil installations, and killed more than 400 rebels, the Russian Defense Ministry says.

The Moskva was deployed here, not far from Syria's border with Turkey, in the wake of Turkey's shootdown of a Russian Su-24 jet last month, bringing an extra layer of air defense to the Russian intervention in Syria's civil war. Russia has launched missiles from the sea during its Syrian campaign, although not from the Moskva.

Not long ago, an international journalist being granted this kind of access to an active Russian warship would have been even more of a rarity.
But the Kremlin's newfound openness around Russian military activities is a reflection both of lessons learned from recent campaigns, and the sense of confidence Moscow has about its intervention in the Syrian conflict.

On board the Moskva, a Russian warship, off the coast of Syria. "Moskva" means "Moscow" in Russian

These days, Russia's Defense Ministry runs a Facebook page and regularly posts updates about its actions. It's a far cry from its stance during hostilities in the recent past -- such as the 2008 conflict in Georgia -- when it was difficult for international media to get a sense of the Russian perspective.
It also underlines just how well the Russians perceive their campaign in Syria is going.

Up close with Russian S-400 missile system in Syria
Related Video: Up close with Russian S-400 missile system in Syria 00:46

Russian defense officials say that since the country entered the Syrian conflict at the end of September, in response to a formal request from Syria's government, it has been able to significantly degrade the capabilities of ISIS and other terror groups, including the al Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front.

With more than 4,000 sorties flown, Russia has been able to stop ISIS in its tracks, striking the terror group's assets and shrinking the territory under its command, they say.

READ MORE: The view from Hmeymim airbase

They compare their impact favorably with the efforts of the U.S.-led Western coalition in Syria, which began airstrikes in September 2014. During that period, until Russia entered the fray, the territory under the control of Islamist forces grew significantly, they say.

Critics have accused Russia of unhelpfully targeting moderate rebels opposed to beleaguered Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, rather than focusing its raids on Islamist terror groups, in order to configure realities on the ground in Assad's favor and thus shore up Russian interests.

Wednesday, amid the roar of warplanes taking off at Hmeymim airbase, I asked Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov what Russia was doing in Syria -- targeting ISIS, or supporting Assad.

"I can answer the question with our actions," he said.

"Every day we show you how Russian aviation is fighting international terrorism, destroying their infrastructure in Syria."

‘Turkey is out of control’
Published time: 17 Dec, 2015

A U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II fighter jet lands at Incirlik airbase in the southern city of Adana, Turkey, December 10, 2015. © Umit Bektas

Turks don’t feel that they need to pay any attention to the US. There are no sanctions to be incurred by ignoring the US, says Larry Johnson, former CIA and State Department official. They are pursuing their own interests regardless of what Washington wants, he adds.

Islamic State
The US Air Force is withdrawing 12 fighter jets from an air base in Turkey. The F-15s were sent to the country only last month to guard Turkish air space and fight Islamic State in Syria. The Pentagon has played down the decision, saying the warplanes had been deployed on a temporary basis.

© Yilmaz KazandiogluUS calls on Turkey to withdraw ‘unauthorized’ troops from Iraq
RT: The decision comes a few weeks after a Turkish fighter jet (an F-16 in that case) shot down a Russian bomber. Does this suggest the US is growing increasingly wary over what Turkey might do next?

Larry Johnson: I think it has more to do with the fact that the US government called for Turkey to back off and leave the Kurds alone. And this is another example of Turkish pique. They are upset with the US meddling in Turkish affairs is quite clear from the earlier reports. The biggest bad actor in this entire affair that’s enabling ISIS is, in fact, the government of Turkey. So, by forcing US fighter planes to withdraw - which are capable of providing some close air support to forces on the ground fighting against ISIS - Turkey once again is tacitly, at least, admitting that it is supporting ISIS and it is not willing to support itself fully to its destruction.

RT: Earlier this month the US put on hold a long-standing request for Turkey to play a more active role in the US-led air war against Islamic State, and Washington has now sided with Iraq, in calling for Turkish troops to leave the country. Are we seeing a deterioration in the Turkey-US relationship?

LJ: I am not so sure to as much it’s a deterioration as it is an exposing the weak influence Barack Obama has over Turkey. The Obama administration is viewed widely in the world, largely in Turkey, as being quite impotent. And this is just another example where the Turks don’t feel that they need to pay any attention to the US. There are no sanctions to be incurred by ignoring the US. They have their own interests; they are pursuing their own interests regardless of what Washington wants. Frankly, if you look at it from the Turkish perspective, you can’t quite figure out what it is that Washington wants, what its objectives are, it is very confusing.

RT: Turkey has been a member of NATO since 1952 but much has changed since then. What do the latest developments mean in terms of Turkey's future in the alliance?

LJ: What is going on – we are seeing Erdogan’s movement of Turkey into more of a radical Sunni camp. Turkey and the Saudi Arabia elites share a goal in common of trying to contain Iran. They are very fearful of the spread of the Iranian influence because it is a Shia nation and the Shia influence is spread throughout the Middle East in part because of the US decision to take Saddam Hussein out in Iraq. So, now you see Turkey and Saudi Arabia working really hand in glove and they’ve been very much the enablers of these Islamic extremists. And….regarding the sarin gas, it was absolutely true. The sarin gas was enabled because of Turkey and that was a part of Turkish intelligence’s plan to try to pin it upon the government of Bashar Al-Assad which in fact had nothing to do with that, I know that first hand. So, in watching this unfold, what we’ve seen is Turkey is deliberately sided with the Islamists. And it is provocation against the Russian people by shooting down the Russian fighter jet without any proper warning. And it was almost a deliberate ambush. So, Turkey, in my view, is out of control and some nation is going to have to bring them to heel.

Russia has made clear to Western nations that it has no objection to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stepping down as part of a peace process, in a softening of its publicly stated staunch backing of Assad ahead of talks in New York, diplomats said.

Philip wrote:News Flash:
US bungles again...or is it deliberate bombing of anti-ISIS forces?

At least 30 Iraqi soldeirs were killed and 20 others injured in US air strike, Hakim al-Zamili, the head of Iraqi parliament's Security and Defense Committee said.

"Thirty soldiers of the 55 brigade of the Iraqi army were killed and 20 injured in a US airstrike on the town of al-Naimiya in the al Faluja province," al-Zamili's statement obtained by Sputnik reads.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20151 ... z3ug2xtL3K

Syria has canceled the mutual visa waiver agreement signed with Turkey pursuant to the principle of reciprocity.

The decision, the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry explained in a statement, came in response to the Turkish government’s action taken on December 9, 2015 in which it unilaterally revoked the mutual visa exemption agreement signed between the two countries on October 13, 2009.

As per the agreement, the abolition will be in enforced after 30 days of the mentioned date, according to the statement.

“In assertion of the national sovereignty and pursuant to the principle of reciprocity, the Syrian government has decided on its part to cancel the aforementioned agreement and consequently not to allow Turkish nationals to enter Syria without a visa as of the aforesaid date,” said the Foreign Ministry’s statement.

The Ministry held the Turkish government responsible for the repercussions of these developments on the people of Syria and Turkey.

The army is advancing further in the northern countryside of Lattakia while its army units have stepped up operations in other areas, killing more terrorists and destroying their heavy weaponry.

Lattakia

Army units, in cooperation with the popular defense groups, established control over the strategic al-Sayyed Mountain in the northern countryside of Lattakia province, a military source announced on Thursday.

Terrorists positioned in the area were fired at intensively, with many of them getting killed and the rest escaped, the source said.

During combing operations in the mountain, the army units dismantled many explosive devices and mines planted by terrorists and found at its foot a 50 m tunnel equipped with lighting that contained vehicles and equipment used by the terrorists to dig trenches and tunnels to hinder the army’s advance in the region, according to the source.

The new achievement came one day after the army established control over the strategic al-Noubeh Mountain in Lattakia northern countryside.

Daraa

An army unit carried out an operation against a center for terrorists in al-Badou quarter in al-Manshiyeh neighborhood in Daraa al-Balad area in Daraa city, a military source said on Friday.

Three vehicles with heavy machine guns mounted on them were destroyed in the operation and 18 terrorists were killed, including the leader of the so-called “Jabhat Thouwar Souria” who is named Rida Muhannad al-Masalmeh.

The source also said that another army unit targeted Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists in al-Nazihin Camp in Daraa al-Balad, destroying a hideout with weapons, ammunition and terrorists inside.

A vehicle equipped with a heavy machine gun was also destroyed in Daraa al-Mahatta.

Army units continued targeting terrorists’ movements on the border between Daraa and Sweida, killing all members of a terrorist group moving on the road between Busra al-Sham city in Daraa and Barad village in the southwestern countryside of Sweida.

The five permanent UNSC members have agreed on a draft of a resolution calling for a ceasefire and political settlement in Syria, agencies report, citing diplomat sources. The official vote is expected in the coming hours.
Foreign ministers from 18 countries as well as the UN and Arab League representatives gathered in New York Friday to push the Syria roadmap.

Apart from the UN and the Arab League, the group also includes Russia, the US, the EU, the UK, Germany, France, China, Egypt, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Qatar, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, who have already met twice in Vienna in the last six weeks and drafted a road map for the Syrian conflict reconciliation.

Earlier, Jordan, which was tasked with listing terrorist organizations in Syria, presented a document that includes 160 extremist groups, RIA Novosti reported, citing sources in the Russian Foreign Ministry.

“The list reflects positions of different sides,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judah, who presented the document during the ISSG talks in New York, also said, according to TASS.

On Thursday, the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution submitted jointly by Russian and the US which allows punishing individuals or companies involved in trade with Islamic State or other terror groups.

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State John Kerry held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov as well as with the Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Russia and the US managed to reach an agreement on some “critical” issues concerning Syria in particular. Kerry said that the positions of the US and Russia on Syria are “fundamentally very similar” and expressed readiness to further cooperation.

Confirmed: German Intelligence cooperation with Syria
BY PAUL ANTONOPOULOS ON DECEMBER 18, 2015 WORLD NEWS

Just moments ago, Al-Masdar News released reports that the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) are reaching out to the Syrian Military Intelligence and other Syrian intelligence agencies to establish a cooperation.

This was circulated by the Syrian Arab Army official Facebook page, and Damascus based radio stations Sham FM (92.3) and Al-Madina FM (101.5).

At the same time as our publication, Spiegel, one of Germany’s largest media services confirmed the news we circulated.

This was also confirmed by German media outlet Jung Freiheit.

The articles can be found as follow:

http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschla ... 68463.html

https://jungefreiheit.de/politik/deutsc ... -regierung

Question 8: Because today, Human Rights Watch, and the UN before that, came out with a report saying there’s widespread, as they call it, “death and dying in detention centers, since the uprising in 2011.” Is there any truth to that?

President Assad: If you want to verify the credibility of those reports, to say that they’re not politicized, they’re not talking about one side of the story. You mentioned the shelling of Damascus a few days go, and that happens every few days, killing many civilians, innocent civilians. Did they mention anything about this in the reports? You have many pieces of evidence that’s been published by the terrorists on the internet, photos, videos, about torturing, about killing, about beheading. Did they mention those stories?

Question 9: So it’s one sided? Even the UN?

President Assad: Of course, definitely, it’s politicized. Even the UN, it’s controlled by the United States, and the United States is against Syria. This is the reality, everybody knows it.

Question 13: Moving on. As you know, we are from Holland, from the Netherlands, and my country is bombing ISIS just across the border here in Iraq. They are fighting the same enemy as you are. Would you consider the Netherlands an ally?

President Assad: It depends on the real intention. What do you mean by fighting terrorists? Is it just because ISIS came here? Is it because you are afraid of their influence or effects in your region? If the incentive is fear, no, we’re not allies.

Question 14: You think the incentive is fear?

President Assad: Yes, not values. Because why didn’t they fight terrorism from the very beginning, before ISIS appeared? You had al-Nusra, you had Al Qaeda, you had many terrorists. You didn’t fight. Only this fight on terrorism started to appear when there was September 11 in the United States, the recent attacks in Paris, and in different European countries, but before that they didn’t say we are at war with terrorism.

estion 15: So you mean they are late? They’re late to the party?

22

President Assad: It should be a matter of principle. When it’s a principle, it should be sustainable, not what you call a kneejerk reaction when something you want to do it just as a reaction to something. So, it’s not principle. Fighting terrorism should be a stable, sustainable principle. This is the way we can be allies.

Question 16: So you say, in our case, Dutch bombers over Iraq bombing ISIS is a kneejerk reaction? It’s not sustainable?

President Assad: It is part of European politics and European politics is part of the American, it’s not independent. Everybody knows this. So, I cannot judge only Dutch politics as an isolated case; it’s part of this, and all this, let’s say, Western politics regarding terrorism, is not objective, and not realistic, and actually not only not productive; it’s counterproductive.

Question 17: Right, because, you would say, well, you would say they’re bombing your enemy, so, well, they’re helping in some way.

President Assad: Because when you don’t have the real intention and the realistic vision, the result will be in the other direction. You’ve been bombing, maybe you had intentions. Maybe, I mean, the politicians in your country, have good intentions, but what is the reality? The reality is that ISIS has been expanding since the coalition started in 2014.

Question 18: So bombing is not working?

President Assad: It’s not working. You cannot fight terrorism without troops on the ground, and without a real incubator, a social incubator that supports you in your war against those terrorists.

Question 19: So you say, bombing like the Dutch are doing, is for show?

President Assad: Maybe for show, that depends on the intention. But in reality, for nothing, let’s say, for no avail.

Question 20: Our government is, next month, deciding whether or not they will start bombing in your airspace as well, bombing ISIS targets in Syria, and as they are debating this, what would you tell them?

President Assad: This is illegal. This is against the international law. We are a sovereign country. If you are serious about fighting terrorism, what is the obstacle for that government to call the Syrian government, to say “let’s cooperate in fighting terrorism?” The only obstacle is that the Western policy today towards Syria is “we need to isolate this state, that president, so we cannot deal with him.” Okay, you cannot reach anything then.

Question 21: So you say it’s illegal if the Dutch bomb? They should ask your permission, that’s what you’re saying?

President Assad: The Syrian government’s permission.

Question 22: Have they ever been in touch with you about any of this?

President Assad: No-one of them, no-one. Some European governments send their intelligence in order to make a kind of cooperation, security cooperation, regarding terrorism, because they are afraid of the terrorists. Of course, we refused.

Question 23: Because they say there’s a mandate for it, because Iraq has asked for help, and now we can bomb in Syria as well.

President Assad: No, they cannot, they don’t have the right, this is illegal, in every sense of the word illegal.
Question 24: Now, moving on as well, the Netherlands, for what it’s worth, as you were saying, the Netherlands are also saying if there should be sustainable peace in Syria, that has to be without you. There might be a transitional period, but in the end, it can only be without you. What would you say to a statement like that?

President Assad: If you accept as a Netherlands citizen that somebody in Syria would tell you who’s going to be your Prime Minister or not, we would accept it. But you don’t accept it, and we don’t accept it. As you say, we are a sovereign country, whether they have a good president or bad president, this is a Syrian issue, it’s not European. The Europeans have nothing to do with such a thing. That’s why we don’t respond. We don’t care about it.

Question 25: Right. You don’t care about, in this case, the Dutch-

President Assad: No, no. This is a Syrian issue. The Syrian people would say who’s going to stay or not. If the Syrian people doesn’t want me to stay, I have to leave right away, today.

Question 29: Now, internationally, the United States always said “President Assad has to go.” Even yesterday, Secretary Kerry said, “well, maybe not immediately, and we’re not looking for a regime change.” Even the French are now saying the President may be part of a solution. Your luck seems to be changing.

President Assad (sarcastically): Thank them for saying that; I was packing my luggage, I had to leave, now I can stay. We never care about whatever they say. They’ve been saying the same for four years now. Did anything change regarding that issue? Nothing. So, this is a Syrian issue, whether it’s Obama or the United States or Europe or any country, we don’t care about it. As long as the Syrians want this president or any other president to be in power, he will be there. So, to say that that he’s leaving now or leaving in six months or six years, it’s not their business, very simply.

Question 48: Last question: how long will this take before it’s resolved?

President Assad: If the responsible countries take actions against the flood and the flowing of terrorists and the logistic support, I can guarantee that it will take less than one year.

Question 49: Less than one year?

President Assad: Less than one year. But the problem is that they are still supporting them on daily basis more and more in order to make it more messy, and to put obstacles in front of any solution, because they want the solution, what they called a political solution, to be ended with the changing of this state, getting rid of this president or depose him, and so on. So, that’s why it will drag on.

Question 50: So, if it were without outside influence, you’d be done in one year.

President Assad: Definitely, for one reason because the terrorists in Syria, they don’t have the social incubator yet. That’s why we do not worry about them.

KrishnaK wrote:Finally, one post not filled with conspiracy theories and swaggering on behalf of Mother Russia and Putin.

UlanBatori wrote:More Muslims masquerading as Christians in Syria!

Just as I thought....Muslims parading as Christians.

Those guys had the IQ of that Table. Imagine those are the guys responsible for protecting the United States and the Freeworld!

Hassan Ridha ‏@sayed_ridha now11 seconds ago
#US led Coalition says accidental airstrike kills 9 #ISF near #Fallujah, claims this was the first of such incident

yeah Assad likes to go to church.........

habal wrote:Assad is secular.
this is just like what happens in India.
Hindus go to ajmer, they also go to Velankanni shrine in TN.

hands on the ammo magazine to steady the rifle for gawd's sake!