The Rostov-on-Don is an Improved Kilo class submarine, an upgraded version of the 1980s-era Kilo class. Powered by diesel electric propulsion, Kilos earned the name “Black Hole” due to the difficulty in detecting them. At 3,100 tons submerged, the submarines are on the small side, less than half the size of the US Navy’s Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines.
The missiles are the SS-N-30A Kalibr, a long-range, low-flying cruise missile capable of carrying conventional or nuclear warheads. The Pentagon, fearing Kalibr’s ability to infiltrate air defense networks, constructed the JLENS aeriel detection network around the Washington D.C. area to detect a so-called “decapitation strike” by nuclear-armed Kalibrs.
Likely there are cards yet to be played by Syria and its allies, which include wider roles for Iran and China to contribute in if and when necessary. The idea is to make continued Western intervention in Syria as costly as possible. It must be remembered that beyond the deepening rhetoric of the West, they still have only one goal – the same goal that they had when first beginning their proxy war with Syria – regime change in Damascus before pursuing regime change in Tehran, then Moscow and then Beijing.
It is likely the West will not stop until forced to tactically, strategically, economically, and politically. It is therefore incumbent upon Syria and its allies to create and apply the necessary force to do this.
December 8, 2015 (Tony Cartalucci – NEO) – A string of recent provocations against both Russia and Syria are meant to look like isolated incidents, but in fact constitute incremental “mission creep” into what may become full-scale US intervention in Syria
The endgame in Syria is soon approaching, and to prevent this, the US and its regional allies have begun a series of provocations meant to tip toe the West into deeper war in the region, and in particular, against Russia and Syria.
Re: The Levant crisis.(Israel,SYRIA,Lebanon,etc)
Posted: 10 Dec 2015 07:32
by habal
azerbaijan is turk origin but they are majority shia. So between Iran & Turkey they are between rock and hard place.
Re: The Levant crisis.(Israel,SYRIA,Lebanon,etc)
Posted: 10 Dec 2015 07:35
by Satya_anveshi
Obama said ISIS is contained and his def sec says it is not contained. So they(neocons) are not happy about the recent speech by the teleprompter in chief.
On Wednesday morning in the Homs Governorate’s eastern countryside, the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) launched a large-scale counter-offensive at the village of Maheen in order to recover several points lost to the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) and their allies over the last three weeks.
ISIS began their assault at the Quraytayn-Maheen checkpoint, where they confronted a large contingent from the National Defense Forces (NDF) of Sadad; this firefight resulted in the terrorist group taking control of the checkpoint and the corresponding hill that overlooks the ancient Syriac Christian city of Quraytayn.
Following the capture of the Quraytayn-Maheen checkpoint, the ISIS forces would seize two more hilltops along the Maheen-Quraytayn Road after a fierce battle with the National Defense Forces and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.
As a result of these gains, ISIS was able to reenter Maheen and retake the town after a violent battle with the Syrian Social Nationalist Party and the National Defense Forces.
The Syriac Christian city of Sadad is once again threatened by ISIS after they captured the neighboring town of Maheen.
Recently, Syrian Arab Army’s 120th Brigade of the 2nd Division and the Assyrian “Gozarto Protection Forces” (GPF) left the Maheen-Quraytayn front to return to their posts – the departure of these troops has paved the way for ISIS to counter.
this is the reason why SAA was waiting to retake Quraytayn and Palmyra. They knew ISIS was massing somewhere in deep South towards Jordan border to launch an attack. Once they get together, and launch an attack and can be cornered, the RuAF & SAAF have to find the opportune time to launch airstrikes before ISIS can be asked to scramble over radio by NATO and warned of impending strike.
Re: The Levant crisis.(Israel,SYRIA,Lebanon,etc)
Posted: 10 Dec 2015 07:44
by Singha
interior of syria seems largely depopulated , with only orcs crawling all over the ruins...every village has its own team of orcs and very village is contested as we see in south aleppo.
Re: The Levant crisis.(Israel,SYRIA,Lebanon,etc)
Posted: 10 Dec 2015 07:47
by habal
the reason I said war in Syria is over.
Homs is capital of revolution. Along with Homs, Hama & Damascus have the **real Syrian rebels** who are disaffected Sunnis or radicalized FSA, deserters etc. South, which includes parts of Homs and Damascus have seen casualties amongst rebels but those are not any great upsurge in casualties or any great numbers because these were not focus of airstrikes or military action anyway. Once these groups align back with govt then it is the death of the 'original excuse' that NATO had created.
the rest are foreign fighters and Turkmen in Latakia or Circasians or non-syrian arabs for whom no tears will be spilt anywhere. They are under blockade and airstrikes. They won't last long and thus the flurry of 'international attempts' for peace in Syria. So this is over, only some cleaning up ops to go.
Re: The Levant crisis.(Israel,SYRIA,Lebanon,etc)
Posted: 10 Dec 2015 07:50
by SaiK
Dec 2015/Jan 2016 anyone?
Re: The Levant crisis.(Israel,SYRIA,Lebanon,etc)
Posted: 10 Dec 2015 07:56
by Singha
the current map would be similar to may 2014, with the exception of Idlib and jisr al shugur nearby still in green hands.
Re: The Levant crisis.(Israel,SYRIA,Lebanon,etc)
Posted: 10 Dec 2015 08:06
by habal
there are no orcs in Syria, only NATO deniable assets and irregulars with handheld radio to communicate with their al-ciaada handler.
not to be underestimated because with handheld radio they can even call in NATO airstrikes.
a lot of Israeli special forces and military types are also infiltrated into ISIS, kindly recollect how the Israeli border patrol 'rescued' one injured ISIS by dragging him across the border. ooh what luvv. newsclip that I posted a few pages back. they don't have to circumcise or change their looks. Just change in name and fluence in arabic is enough. Wahabbis and jews behave pretty much similarly anyways.
Re: The Levant crisis.(Israel,SYRIA,Lebanon,etc)
Posted: 10 Dec 2015 08:18
by JE Menon
^^habal you are trolling. A lot of inflammatory posts have gotten through because of the speed of the thread and wisely no one is responding. No more.
Re: The Levant crisis.(Israel,SYRIA,Lebanon,etc)
Posted: 10 Dec 2015 08:28
by deejay
While this is a Bangladesh news but for keen eyes on ISIS on this thread posting this infographic here:
Terrormonitor.org @Terror_Monitor now33 seconds ago
#Daesh Aka #IslamicState/#ISIS/#ISIL Terror Group Released INFOGRAPH Shows Its Attacks Statistics In #Bangladesh.
Re: The Levant crisis.(Israel,SYRIA,Lebanon,etc)
Posted: 10 Dec 2015 08:40
by Prem
ramana wrote:Jhujar, in my visit early September the general sense I got was Turks felt they didn't get much by way of Attaturkism. They have been reduced to a much smaller self despite all the gestures to modernity they made. So they want to revive their old glory. In particular they want a major role in Syria. Turkey due to its geography is an Asian state ( Anatolia) and hardly European.
Historically their rivals were the Persians.
Persians are still getting them in strategic game of Conquer and control the ME. Iran have definitely gotten much stronger in last one year alone. Turks must be wondering at the pace Tehran took control of their periphery. Sultan Erdogan have invited Barzani to make deal with Turkey. The photo up had Kurdish flag and not Iraqi i believe.
Re: The Levant crisis.(Israel,SYRIA,Lebanon,etc)
Posted: 10 Dec 2015 08:49
by Shanu
The Turks will be forced to make their move pretty soon. If they wait too long, the entire region between Iraq and Syria will go to the Shia Persian hands. And what is even worse, the Turks will be cut off form the main body of Sunni Islamic population of Middle East by the Shia crescent.
And the Americans will have to make their choice too. Will they support the new Sultan's ambitions or will they let Russia-Iran-Iraq-Syria axis to challenge NATO-GCC domination of the Middle East.
Re: The Levant crisis.(Israel,SYRIA,Lebanon,etc)
Posted: 10 Dec 2015 09:11
by habal
rebels are leaving Homs .. look at the orderly retreat with even red crescent ambulance lined up.
Turkey under Erdogan had plans of realizing the “misak i milli” (the national covenant) or the supposedly natural geographic-ethnic borders of Turkey which (in their eyes) 'should' include northern Syria (Aleppo) and northern Iraq including Kirkuk and Mosul. Putin torpedoed the Syria part of that wet dream, frustrating the Turks, so in order to ensure that they did not lose the Iraq part of this wet dream Erdogan sent troops in to near Mosul.
This is just a sign that the RuAF intervention in Syria is working and paying off dividens as the Turks know their Syria project is over so they have started targeting Iraq.
They will fail in Iraq as there are thousands and thousands of Shia volunteers who will expel them from Mosul with a direct border with Iran unlike Syria.
The fighters who were evacuated on Wednesday were mainly from the Nusra Front, a Syrian affiliate of Al Qaeda — a group that is excluded from the Riyadh talks. Those who stayed behind were mainly associated with less radical groups, loosely grouped as the Free Syrian Army. They said that despite their mistrust of the government, they were willing to try a cease-fire to end years of privation, destruction and isolation in the embattled neighborhood.
“We are implementing the first stage, which will be complete at the end of next week,” Barazi said, according to AFP.
During the second stage, all of the militants willing to get back to their normal lives will have their legal status restored.
Around 2,000 militants and their families are expected to leave the city, once known as “the capital of the revolution.” Buses will take them to the rebel-held areas in the northwestern province of Idlib.
Re: The Levant crisis.(Israel,SYRIA,Lebanon,etc)
Posted: 10 Dec 2015 10:03
by Satya_anveshi
habal wrote:
most likely these can be mukhabarat informers, else I do not understand this royal VVIP treatment given to these ..
1. Compromise with and accommodation of forces that are mainly syrian
2. Sowing doubts within broader rebel forces that have both local and foreign components
3. Continue to retain legitimacy by showing 'progress' on political front; if rebels are seeing the light who are furriners to say 'assad must go' is necessary criteria for political settlement
Turkish Air Force Carries Out Several Airstrikes Over Iraq: PKK Targeted
BY NEWS DESK ON DECEMBER 9, 2015 MIDDLE EAST
Last night, Turkish fighter jets carried out a barrage of airstrikes against the predominately Kurdish fighters from Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, the army said on Wednesday.
------------
Israeli commandos provide 'humanitarian' assistance to Nusra
Israel insists that the dangerous operations are humanitarian efforts, and that it hopes to “win hearts and minds” in Syria.
“My dream is that one day, the Red Cross will say, thanks guys, we’ll take it from here, you go back to your unit and take care of injured Israelis,” said Lt. Col. Itzik Malka, commander of the medical branch of the Golani Brigade.
can anyone sense any irony ??
Re: The Levant crisis.(Israel,SYRIA,Lebanon,etc)
Posted: 10 Dec 2015 11:25
by habal
US airstrikes ka kamal ..
a lot of civilians still live in aleppo.
Hassan Ridha @sayed_ridha 14h14 hours ago
#Aleppo has been without electricity for 50 days #Syria
-----------
Hassan Ridha @sayed_ridha 15h15 hours ago
Nah, they prefer the 'left side' Hassan Ridha added,
this is war.
russians keep writing op-eds about morality.
they are just making a case for massive attack on NATO when the time comes, they want western populations to 'understand' their stand.
basically they want to be on high moral ground.
they are playing for a division in west.
FSU would never have bothered with such courtesies.
The Islamist rebels of Jabhat Al-Nusra (Syrian Al-Qaeda group), Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham, Harakat Nouriddeen Al-Zinki, and Liwaa Suqour Al-Sham are in serious trouble in the Aleppo Governorate’s southern countryside, as both the Syrian Armed Forces and Hezbollah push towards the strategic Aleppo-Damascus Highway (M-5).
On Wednesday morning, the Syrian Arab Army’s 4th Mechanized Division – in coordination with the National Defense Forces (NDF) of Aleppo, Hezbollah, and Harakat Al-Nujaba – continued their powerful assault on Barqoum and Al-Zorba, advancing inside these aforementioned towns located along the Aleppo-Damascus Highway after a series of intense firefights with the Islamist rebels of Jabhat Al-Nusra, Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham, and Harakat Nouriddeen Al-kinky.
Re: The Levant crisis.(Israel,SYRIA,Lebanon,etc)
Posted: 10 Dec 2015 12:23
by Aditya_V
From the above report Israel has been playing with fire, these guys are not going to be grateful once out of the Hospital, and Israel had virtually defanged the Syrians many years before, so its strange they treat 2000 wounded miltants, the only logical conclusion is that they have been persuaded to do so my Massa.
Syria was supposed to fall like Libya, first Nato countries should put boots on the groundin Libya in order to stabilize the country for removing Gaddafi and completely ruining the country, they must stop all other militarily activities outside of there borders unless they stabilize Libya given their role in the ouster of Gaddafi Regime. Similarly, so should GCC countries.
Re: The Levant crisis.(Israel,SYRIA,Lebanon,etc)
Posted: 10 Dec 2015 12:43
by JE Menon
As far as can be told from the article posted from Independent or Guardian, the Israelis are treating militants from all sides as well as civilians wounded in the conflict. Are they maintaining and trying to maintain contacts with all sides. You bet. We would do the same. It is of course a useful source of intelligence. They are not naive about how these guys think, including the civilians. Gratitude, if any, will be minimal and arbitrary, and probably only reflected in pointless gesture. As for playing with fire, who in the region hasn't been?
In reality, the situation is pretty dire from the Israeli point of view, I would think.
Re: The Levant crisis.(Israel,SYRIA,Lebanon,etc)
Posted: 10 Dec 2015 12:58
by Aditya_V
No need to take them to thier hospitals, and they have done it for SAA or Hezbelloh casualties. Israel is going out of its way for Nusra, and there does not seem any logic unless someone else is leaning on them.
Re: The Levant crisis.(Israel,SYRIA,Lebanon,etc)
Posted: 10 Dec 2015 13:46
by JE Menon
Aditya_V, where is the indication that it is going out of its way for Nusra - anything to suggest that in particular. For this we would need a breakdown of people treated by Israel. Or someone would need it, and would have to state it publicly. I'm not saying they are not, quite possibly they are, but so far as I know there is no indication that it is so. If there is, please link.
Re: The Levant crisis.(Israel,SYRIA,Lebanon,etc)
Posted: 10 Dec 2015 15:36
by arun
Singha wrote:Meantime smug londoners have a petition going to ban trump for saying london has a jihadi issue
There is also in the UK a counter petition that says "Don't ban Trump from the United Kingdom : There are proposals to ban Donald Trump from the United Kingdom. At least, there's a petition on the topic. This is totally illogical."
JE Menon from the above article, some of it might be biased, but Israel has done no such thing for regime forces, to say rescue or Militarily intervene people during Nusra massacres or rescue wounded Regime SAA personal.
The Al-Nusra Front, Syria’s Al-Qaeda branch, who are the dominant opposition force along the Syria-Israel border have confirmed its collaboration with Israel. Although non-mainstream have been reporting on this collaboration for at least three years, on Tuesday, the Daily Mail exposed a video of Israeli commandos entering Syrian territory to rescue several wounded Al-Nusra militants and retreating to aid the terrorists within Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The report revealed that Israel have saved the lives of at least 2000 militants at the cost of $13 million. Although Israel have limited their involvement in the Syrian war to airstrikes against Syrian government and Hezbollah positions, this new action shows direct cooperation with them and Islamist forces.
Israel insists that the dangerous operations are humanitarian efforts, and that it hopes to “win hearts and minds” in Syria.
