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Originally posted by SIGNYM:


NICE PICTURE!
THANX!


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You can't build a nation with bombs. You can't create a society with guns. Unless you're russia

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Earlier this week, we noted that Iran had reportedly sent “thousands” of troops to Syria in preparation for an offensive aimed at retaking the city of Aleppo.

With a population of more than 2 million, Aleppo was Syria’s largest city prior to the war and it’s now run by a hodgepodge of rebels and militants including al-Qaeda, the Free Syrian Army, and ISIS.

To get an idea of the effect the war has had on the city, have a look at the following before and after nighttime light emissions images:



The battle is also notable for the scale of Iran’s involvement. Between Hezbollah and Iranian forces, the battle for Aleppo is shaping up to be the largest ground operation orchestrated by Tehran to date.

Here’s more, via Reuters:

Syrian troops backed by Hezbollah and Iranian fighters launched an offensive south of Aleppo on Friday, expanding their counter-attack against rebels across western Syria with support from Russian air strikes.

Aleppo, a commercial and industrial hub near the border with Turkey, was Syria's largest city before its four-year civil war, which grew out of protests against Assad's rule. Control of the city, still home to two million people, is divided between the government and rebels.

"This is the promised battle," a senior government military source said of the offensive backed by hundreds of Hezbollah and Iranian forces which he said had made some gains on the ground.

It was the first time Iranian fighters had taken part on such a scale in the Syrian conflict, he said, although their numbers were modest compared to the army force. "The main core is the Syrian army," the source said.

Hezbollah, which has supported Assad in several battles during the civil war, said the army was carrying out a "broad military operation" with support from Russian and Syrian jets. It made no mention of Hezbollah fighters in its brief statement.

Two senior regional sources told Reuters this week that Iran has sent thousands of troops to Syria to bolster an offensive underway in Hama province and ahead of the Aleppo attack.

And a bit more from AFP:

Russian air cover is backing offensives by Syria's army and allied militias in the central provinces of Homs and Hama, as well as Aleppo in the north and Latakia along the coast. On Friday, the Syrian army pushed south from the provincial capital Aleppo city, where control is divided between regime and rebels forces, as Russian air strikes pounded the villages of Al-Hader and Khan Tuman and nearby localities.

"The Syrian army started a new front on Friday and advanced to take control of the villages of Abteen and Kaddar" about 15 kilometres (12 miles) south of Aleppo city, said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.

He said "dozens" of Russian aerial attacks in the past 24 hours* had struck the area, which is controlled by a patchwork of groups including rebels, Islamist fighters and Al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate, Al-Nusra Front.

Note also that Aleppo is near the so-called "anti-ISIS" zone that the US and Turkey humorously proposed to create a few months back, which means that Iran, supported by Russian air power, is now conducting an all-out ground assault very near territory Turkey likes to think it effectively patrols (if not controls).

But the real key here, is this (again from Reuters): "The assault means the army is now pressing insurgents on several fronts near Syria's main cities in the west, control of which would secure President Bashar al-Assad's hold on power even if the east of the country is still held by Islamic State."



In other words, if Iran and Russia manage to retake Aleppo (and you know they will because remember, thanks to Hezbollah, this isn't a team that's going to be confused by the vagaries of urban warfare), Assad's rule is restored.

Just like that.

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Turkey has summoned separately the American and Russian ambassadors in Ankara to complain about their countries acting in support of the military forces of the Syrian Kurds who are fighting Isis.

The Turkish government’s alarm underlines its problem in fighting a guerrilla war against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey at a time when the US and Russia, while rivals in every other respect, are both supporting the local branch of the PKK in Syria.

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The US military says that its planes have dropped ammunition to the Syrian Kurdish militia or People’s Protection Units (YPG)

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while Kurdish officials say they have received 120 tons of weapons and ammunition. Amina Ossi, a deputy foreign minister in the Democratic Union Party (PYD) enclave in Syria, told The Independent last month that the Syrian Kurdish armed forces “number roughly 50,000 and we have lost 3,000 martyrs”. The YPG is widely recognised as the most effective opponent of Isis which has won a series of victories against it with the support of US air strikes.


The Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that arms supplied to the Syrian Kurds could fall into the hands of the PKK and be used against Turkey. He added that “Turkey cannot accept any kind of co-operation with terror organisations that have declared war against Turkey”.

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Half of Turkey’s 550-mile border with Syria is now held by the YPG which is threatening to launch an offensive to seize Isis’s last border crossing with Turkey at Jarabulus and advance eastwards to link up with the Kurdish enclave at Afrin. Support for the Syrian Kurds from both the US and Russia makes it increasingly difficult for the Turkish army to stop the expansion of the Kurdish-held zone.

The confrontation between Kurds and Turkey has deepened dramatically since the constitutional pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) won 13 per cent in the Turkish general election on 7 June, depriving President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development party (AK) of its majority for the first time since 2002.

In July the Turkish army resumed military operations against the PKK in Turkey

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and Iraq.

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Since then Turkish-Kurdish relations have deteriorated rapidly, culminating in the suicide bomb attack on a peace protest in Ankara on 10 October that killed almost 100 people and wounded 500.

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The Ankara attack is further polarising relations between Turks and Kurds with anti-Kurdish crowds at football matches jeering and shouting abuse during a one minute’s silence for the dead. The public prosecutor in Ankara has declared a gag order prohibiting reporting of the bombing

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the worst terrorist attack in Turkey’s history. This will only be lifted when those responsible for the bombing have been detained. The bombers almost certainly come from Isis, but government officials have hinted that the PKK may be responsible though without producing any evidence.

Regardless of the outcome of the election on 1 November, the struggle between the Turkish government and Kurds in Turkey and elsewhere is the region is likely to escalate. The PKK for the first time holds power in a quasi-state in north-east Syria which has US military backing and increasingly warm relations with Russia. It claims to be allied to moderate Arab opposition to President Bashar al-Assad, but this scarcely exists.

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With Russia, Iran and the US increasingly embroiled in the Syrian crisis, Turkey’s influence in Syria is diminishing as other powers play a greater role. A crucial test for Ankara will come if the PYD launches an offensive with US and Russian air support to cut the roads between Aleppo and the Turkish border.

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It’s been a mediocre week in Syria. Syrian forces have committed to a relentless offensive and have stepped up their assaults with fresh operations in Homs and Aleppo. Operations are being committed against both the Islamic State and the so called rebels supported by the West.

Gains have been modest, while territory is being recaptured by the Syrian Arab Army (supported by the Russian air force) the offensives, in the words of Russian advisers, have been less than spectacular. The speed of the offensives has been gruelingly slow due to the entrenched resistance seen in places like Aleppo and Hama.

Some of these areas have been in rebel hands for so long they have been reinforced into micro-garrisons. Tunnels are not only used to help shelter fighters during air raids and to move men from one part of the town to another in rapid defense but also to smuggle in supplies from outside the city during government sieges and encirclement.

Needless to say the fighting has been tough, but the SAA, with the aid of the Russian air campaign and Iranian/Hezbollah support, have brought in some hard earned victories.

However there is a lack of a single decisive victory, the big win if you will, for the Syrian Arab Army. Although morale has significantly picked up since the entry of the Russian air force into the fight there is also signs that the Syrian people have become accustomed to war, or ‘crisis’ as the government calls it.

Syria has been a nation at war for quite some time (4.5+ years). Despite this and the fact major parts of the country are destroyed, other parts of the nation have long returned to a level of normalcy. Of course there will always be the security issue as long as the crisis is ongoing. Law abiding citizens turning of age will have to commit to their draft and most likely be deployed in areas of combat against rebels or the Islamic State. Some boys have already been discharged. There is the odd day or two where one or two streets will be shut down due to terrorists but eventually normalcy returns. Life goes on.

Of course that’s not to say large parts of the country haven’t been reduced to rubble. Or that there isn’t an internal refugee crisis. But where the government rules there seems to be a level of order.

The government has had a long-standing program since the onset of the crisis to maintain a series of government grocery shops and bakeries to alleviate demands on the private sector. The government continues to subsidize food and electricity. Roads are fixed and maintained. Syrian TV dramas have continued to film and air over the four years with minor interruptions. Although some parts of Syria are destroyed, major segments still seem to be functioning fine. [Source]

And just like Syrian society so too has the Syrian military accepted the new security situation. Like all conflicts in the Middle East, long protracted wars are the norm. From Lebanon to Iraq to Palestine and back again. The Syrian Arab Army has seen so many causalities and has fought hundreds of thousands of foreign jihadists over the years that to achieve peace now would be as tedious as continuing the war in its current state.

No one has ever put it better than in Shakespeare’s Macbeth:
“I am in blood stepp’d in so far that should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o’er,”

And that is what many Syrian regulars are feeling today; fighting a war that doesn’t seem to have an end. Despite the heavy propaganda of the ever-so-happy Syrian soldier, who apparently does not feel combat-fatigue fighting a war for almost half a decade, there is a general acceptance of the facts on the ground.

One of these facts it that to root out these Islamists from Syria once and for all is going to take a lot more effort than initially anticipated. The fact Assad had twice offered an amnesty to all draft-dodgers, deserters, and defectors highlights the complicated nature of maintaining dedicated manpower through his regular forces. [Source]

It’s definitely going to take more than the 30 planes and the thousands of troops coming in from Hezbollah and Iran. Something bigger must be brewing to bring the decisive victory needed to shake off the nation’s lackadaisical acceptance of the crisis and shake out the foreign invaders that are destroying the country.

The Russians have been continuously providing fire-support to Syrian troops on the ground. On top of the consistent on-call air support to the SAA, the Russian air force they have also taken the initiative in continuously harassing opposition forces. The opposition has had no respite from combat since the Russians have entered the conflict. When the SAA ground offensives stop, the Russian attack runs pick up the pressure and keep the enemy occupied and suppressed.

It’s starting to appear, albeit unclearly, that Russia’s involvement isn’t part of some larger geopolitical play or a scheme to expand further militarily into the Middle East, but to genuinely deny the fall of Assad. The plan is to truly create favorable conditions on the ground to allow for a better hand at the negotiating table. Right now Russia is content providing these airplanes, but there is no doubt that Russia has the power and projection capability to reset the battlefield should Assad ever be pushed into a corner. Something that can’t be said about the rebels, which the West refuses to support currently through direct air strikes on Assad, and ISIL, which the GCC refuses to continue financing until it comes to heel.

These next few days are going to highlight the reserve capacity of the rebels and Islamic State. As all factions have been fighting for a week we’re starting to see if the rebels and the Islamic State have the operational capability and strategic depth to withstand an extensive SAA ground offensive supported by accurate Russian firepower from the air. Iranian troops have landed in the thousands to reinforce the ground offensives. More Shia militias, trained by Iranians, have been imported from Iraq and Shia volunteers (or mercenaries) from Afghanistan are being shuttled to the combat zone.

It also seems there’s a bit of politics occurring in the background. Meetings between Russian and Saudi delegates. Russians trying to bring the Americans in with the Americans shunning all attempts. Secret Israeli and Saudi meetings. Everything is happening quietly and quickly.

So here is where we stand:

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Originally posted by G:
Peace would be the ultimate prize. But if they can't have that then Syrians and Russians and Hezbulah and Iranians and ISIS and Syrian rebels all shooting at each other... I got no real complaints. It's their war.

"Russians trying to bring the Americans in with the Americans shunning all attempts. "

As I said before, glad Obama didn't jump when everyone else wanted him to.

"Like all conflicts in the Middle East, long protracted wars are the norm."

Hey now, sounds a little like what I was saying.

"The Syrian Arab Army has seen so many causalities and has fought hundreds of thousands of foreign jihadists over the years that to achieve peace now would be as tedious as continuing the war in its current state. "

That cute, cuddly Middle East.

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Residents in the areas hit by Moscow late last week described widespread destruction of houses and buildings. “The destruction is incredible, and all of them are civilian homes,” said Adnan Kanjo, the head of the local council in Derrat al-Izza in western Aleppo. “This is the first time we see destruction at this scale. There is intense fear and terror – we can’t even open our schools.”

“The regime’s planes could bomb maybe one or two buildings, but now a whole district is destroyed. There is no specific time and we can’t take any more precautions. If you are destined to get killed you will get killed. These Russian warplanes say they are targeting Daesh [Isis],” he added. “Well, we have not had Daesh here in over a year...

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Gee, not working out like they thought. Imagine that. And all that to keep Asswad in power.

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Originally posted by G:

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Originally posted by THGRRI:

Russia's going into debt with all the military actions it's involved in and the Russia people will be kicking on the Kremlin door shortly. Going into Syria was a move of desperation on Putin's part because Assad was about to fall. Anyone who thinks Putin wanted to put troops there and spend despretly needed treasure is ill informed.

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Not so sure - according to Russian media he has 310% approval rating.

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If you’re a black flag-waving, sword-wielding, desert bandit in white basketball shoes, you’ve got a lot of options when it comes to terrorizing the locals on the way to racking up territorial gains. After all, indiscriminately killing civilians and conducting brutal executions can exert a powerful psychological effect on non combatants and on poorly trained, ill-prepared army regulars for weak Mid-East states.

You don’t, however, have a lot of options when it comes to countering an all-out aerial bombardment by one of the most powerful militaries on the planet. Your options are even more limited if said aerial bombardment is backed by thousands of fearless militiamen belonging to a group that’s been fighting Mid-East proxy wars for more than three decades.

So, with Russia in the skies over Syria and Hezbollah on the ground, ISIS is in a tough spot. But you know what they say: when the going gets tough, the tough get going, which explains why Islamic State has devised an innovative strategy for countering Russian airstrikes.

What they’ll do, you see, is inflate condoms and attach a homemade mine to them. They'll then float the condoms into the sky in an effort to create a kind of condom bomb sky minefield. That, ISIS figures, should deter Russian fighter jets.

Here’s Sputnik with some epic sarcasm:

Left with little recourse in the face of relentless Russian airstrikes, the self-proclaimed Islamic State terrorist group has apparently resorted to a fairly unique defensive strategy. According a video that surfaced online on Wednesday, the group has begun launching homemade condom bombs, hoping they’ll somehow veer into a Russian bomber.
While Sputnik cannot independently verify the authenticity of the video, it appears to show IS militants creating aerial mines out of condoms, which are then released into the skies over Idlib.
The entire arts-and-crafts project is shown, scored to look like some kind of bizarre extremist music video.
In a desperate move, the contraceptive contraptions are seemingly meant to drift into Russian bombers as they fly overhead. A clever – if fairly ineffective – strategy.

Yes, a “fairly ineffective strategy” indeed.

As Sputnik goes on to note, "why IS prefers condoms to simple, run-of-the-mill balloons, is unclear, but if they think a bunch of exploding rubbers are going to scare off the military, they’ve clearly never been to Fleet Week."

At least now we know why the US has had such a hard time achieving results with 13 months of airstrikes - the condom bombs must be disrupting the operation...

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By now everybody has seen the photo of Putin and Assad shaking hands. What has received less attention is whom Assad actually met.

Putin, of course. And Lavrov [Foreign Minister] and Shoigu [Defense Minister]. They spoke for a total of three hours. Then Medvedev joined them for a private dinner. Guess who else joined them? Mikhail Fradkov, Head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, and Nikolai Patrushev, Head of the Russian Security Council.

Guys, this is most definitely a power-meeting by any standard, something which only happens very very rarely in the presence of a foreign head of state (only Xi had that kind of access, if I remember correctly). And that tells me that major issues were discussed and very important decisions taken.

Obviously, not a word came out about what was discussed, but a meeting like that is something unprecedented. Foreign heads of state don’t get to speak directly to folks like Fradkov, especially not on camera. This is yet another strong message to the USA: this time, we mean business.

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About 4,000 Muslims from ex-Soviet countries are fighting alongside the Islamic State in Syria and Putin feels they cannot let these people gain combat experience and go through ideological indoctrination and then return to Russia.

Islamist extremism is growing among Al Qaeda and IS in northern Afghanistan and the concern is they will find support from ethnic Uzbeks and Tajiks who had rejected the Pashtun Taliban.

One of the goals of the Russian operation in Syria is to stop IS before it opens a second front in Tajikistan.

As I said, I don't think Putin particularly likes the position he is in. Or appreciates the fact that Assad can't take care of business without Russia having to get involved the way they are now. I think the Russians are not as adept as the Americans who have more than a decade worth of experience doing this, and Putin is hoping for a quick knock out blow.

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I'm sure Signy, who feels so strongly about dead children and the bombing of nations, will have something to say about this carnage.

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SIG...

It's terrible, IF TRUE. But the reports are very biased. As I read the reports and maps (even from the so-called FSA)

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It's terrible, IF TRUE. But the reports are very biased. As I read the reports and maps (even from the so-called FSA)...

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As for the rest of what you have posted SIG, it's a mismatch of speculations that are subjective in nature. In other words...crap.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

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It's terrible, IF TRUE. But the reports are very biased. As I read the reports and maps (even from the so-called FSA)...

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I quoted the FSA and re-posted THEIR map (not mine, theirs) to demonstrate that even their maps and texts don't agree.

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As for the rest of what you have posted SIG, it's a mismatch of speculations that are subjective in nature. In other words...crap.

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Since I quoted you at length, does that mean that YOUR posts are crap too?

So, another thought that came to me ... I guess, given which way the SAA is heading, is that Aleppo is the next target. But no news from Aleppo, so clearly no "big victory" or decisive battle has occurred.


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You can't build a nation with bombs. You can't create a society with guns.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

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It's terrible, IF TRUE. But the reports are very biased. As I read the reports and maps (even from the so-called FSA)...

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I quoted the FSA and re-posted THEIR map (not mine, theirs) to demonstrate that even their maps and texts don't agree.


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COMRADE TROLL.

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Tell your dictator-president Erdogan to go to hell and that unless he stops well established and easily proven support for ISIS, Russia will sever diplomatic relations. We are prepared to turn Syria into a big Stalingrad for Turkey and her Saudi allies and their vicious little gang of Hitlers.

Your little dictator is a hypocrite, attacking the military coup in Egypt while, at the same time, he is trying to overthrow the elected government of Syria. As it stands, China, Iran and Russia will guarantee the survival of Syria.

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_on_Cluster_Munitions

I will condemn Russia for any cluster bombs it may have used and for not joining the international treaty against them - exactly as loudly as you have condemned Israel and the US for the same in the past.

Otherwise - no, I'm not going to hold myself to a higher standard in this back and forth WITH YOU than you hold yourself. Or, to put it another way - since you're not interested in a open discussion, but instead use hypocritical tactics to 'win' for your 'side', I will not participate in your farce the way you want me to.

Got it?

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Originally posted by kpo:

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_on_Cluster_Munitions

I will condemn Russia for any cluster bombs it may have used and for not joining the international treaty against them - exactly as loudly as you have condemned Israel and the US for the same in the past.

Otherwise - no, I'm not going to hold myself to a higher standard in this back and forth WITH YOU than you hold yourself. Or, to put it another way - since you're not interested in a open discussion, but instead use hypocritical tactics to 'win' for your 'side', I will not participate in your farce the way you want me to.

Got it?

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That was an awful lot of words to say what we all knew you were going to - "No, I won't criticise my hero Putin."

I will point out that the source, HRW, is the exact same source that blamed Kiev for using cluster bombs in the Ukraine conflict. You SCREAMED against Ukraine then, and you are silent about Russia/Assad now. Your hypocrisy is proven right there, no matter your attempt to deflect by bringing up Israel/the US.

It's not personal. It's just war.

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As regarding this: "turn Syria into a big Stalingrad for Turkey and her Saudi allies" I've been trying to make sense of Russia's move to join in. Since it seems to me there are a LOT of ways it could go sideways or backwards, it doesn't strike me as the tactical slam-dunk brilliant move everyone thinks it is. Even with Russia, Syria and Iran joining forces there are equally powerful forces on the other side.

That statement indicates to me Putin means war. Not quick surgical temporary maneuvers, but a bloody brutal death match against international extremists - even if they're overtly supported by the US and NATO/ Turkey. That lines up more with how I read the situation.

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In a meeting with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq, General Allen received assurance that a new “coordination center” the Russians had established here with Iraq, Iran and Syria would not organize military operations but would limit itself to sharing information about the militants

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Turkey is pressuring Germany to create “safe zones” inside Syria as a “price” for alleviating the EU’s refugee crisis. It’s a Faustian bargain that could escalate the Syrian conflict, where NATO forces could end up pitted against Russia’s military.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s hot-footing to Istanbul last weekend was capped with a U-turn regarding Turkey’s much sought-after membership of the European Union. In a surprise move, Merkel announced that she was now in favor of pushing for Turkey’s accession to the EU, when only a few weeks ago she had reiterated her opposition to its membership.“Turkey holds the cards,” declared the German news outlet Deutsche Welle. And it’s hard to disagree with that, given Turkey’s pivotal role in Europe’s migrant crisis, which has seen the biggest mass movement of people since the Second World War. Some 600,000 refugees have reached EU borders this year alone, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Most of the human exodus has come through Turkey, which is currently accommodating 2.5 million refugees. Most of those have stemmed from the nearly five-year conflict in Syria, on Turkey’s southern border.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu are pressing home the opportunity presented by this crisis, by getting the EU to accept that it “needs Turkey” to halt the flow of refugees. That’s why Merkel and other high-ranking EU officials have in the last week showed a newfound attentiveness to the government in Ankara.

Before she flew to meet Erdogan and Davutoglu last Sunday, the German Chancellor said that “all options were on the table.” The leaders subsequently said they had worked out an “action plan” which will be finalized over the coming weeks, with more high-level meetings planned in Berlin and Ankara.

What is known is that Merkel is now backing revitalized talks over Turkey’s accession to the 28-member EU. Negotiations had been mothballed since 2005 owing to EU concerns over Turkey’s human rights record and Ankara’s repression against its minority Kurdish population.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Oh, by the way KIKI, your posting a link to the old thread where THUGR basically said he didn't care about people ... it gave me an opportunity to look back, not just at that but a GSTRING and THUGR in general.

They're idiots. Along with KPO. Not worth replying to.

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You have to hand it to Washington. When it comes to foreign policy blunders, the US certainly isn’t afraid to double and triple down.

As a leaked diplomatic cable from 2006 definitively shows, the US has actively sought to stoke sectarian violence in Syria for at least the last ten years and part of that effort has involved coordinating with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey to support Sunni extremists. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-09-21/secret-cable-reveals-us-plan-
overthrow-assad-exploiting-extremist-groups

That support led directly to what has to be considered the most absurd foreign policy outcome in the history of modern statecraft and we never tire of calling it out: Washington, Ankara, Riyadh, and Doha trained and equipped a group of fighters, told them to go and destabilize the Assad regime, and somewhere along the way, that group of fighters went rogue and metamorphosed into a insane band of black flag-waving, sword-wielding, white Nike-wearing, desert bandits hell bent on establishing a medieval caliphate....

...despite the sheer ridiculousness of that “train and equip” exercise, the US and its regional allies went on to arm and fund still more Sunni extremists hoping against hope that they might manage to find the rebel Goldilocks zone and finally back a group that is all at once effective at fighting to overthrow the regime and not prone to going absolutely nuts in the process.

... The effort to rearm the rebels [with anti-tank weapons?- SIGNY] is now more urgent than ever thanks to the fact that Russia and Iran are advancing on Aleppo. If Aleppo falls to the regime, it’s game over. Assad will effectively be restored and Putin and Soleimaini will turn their eyes west [east- SIGNY] to ISIS and then, once Raqqa falls, they'll march and fly right on into Iraq. Amusingly, Moscow even offered to provide air cover for the Free Syrian Army if the US would be so kind as to point Russia to the group’s “patriots” who are defending the country against extremists. The FSA declined to accept help from The Kremlin. ...

From the WSJ .... Secretary of State John Kerry and Saudi King Salman

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agreed to increase support for Syrian forces fighting Islamic State militants while backing international diplomatic efforts to begin a political transition in Damascus, U.S. and Saudi officials said.

The U.S. diplomat and Saudi monarch also coordinated on their countries’ joint efforts to fight the Islamic State terrorist organization that has gained control over large sections of Syrian and Iraqi territory in recent months.

“The secretary thanked the king for Saudi Arabia’s support to multilateral efforts to pursue a political transition in Syria … and reaffirmed our mutual goal of achieving a unified, pluralistic and stable country for all Syrians,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said after Mr. Kerry’s meeting on Saturday night with the Saudi monarch....

The U.S. and Saudi Arabia provide arms and training to rebel armies fighting in Syria. Washington, though, has refrained from backing insurgents who are directly fighting President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. - WSJ

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Tony Blair has apologised for mistakes made over the Iraq War - and said there were "elements of truth" in claims that it caused the rise of Islamic State.

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History has a jolly habit of repeating itself as surrealist farce. Is it 1683 all over again, with the Ottoman Empire laying siege to Vienna just to be defeated by the “infidels” at the last minute?

No; it’s 2015 and a Caliph simulacrum – Ibrahim, a.k.a. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi — has prompted a gaggle of world powers, lesser powers and assorted minions to converge to Vienna to discuss how to defeat him.

Westphalians, we got a problem. None of this makes any sense if Iran is not at the table discussing a solution for the Syrian tragedy. Moscow knew it from the start. Washington — reluctantly — had to admit the obvious. But the problem was never Iran. The problem is the ideological matrix of goons who metastasize into Caliphs: Saudi Arabia.

Back — inevitably — to surrealism. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir stated, “The view of our partners … was that we should test the intentions of the Iranians and the Russians in arriving at a political solution in Syria, which we all prefer.”

Translation: “Our partners” means “His Masters’ Voice,” Washington; and the beheading-addicted oil hacienda does not “prefer” a political solution; they want regime change and a House of Saud satrapy.

Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, the EU, France and even Qatar — whose mini-emir wanted to launch his own military campaign for regime change before someone told him to shut up — are keeping company to Iran in Vienna, alongside the US, Russia, Turkey and the House of Saud.

Talk about parallel lives. One thing is a polite altercation inside a gilded Vienna palace. The shifting military sands across a Sykes-Picot-in-shambles “Syraq” tell a very different story.

Beware the new Global Jihad

The ideal solution is tempting; Russia dispatches the Spetsnaz and some extra commandos; beheads the ISIS/ISIL/Daesh goons from a C4i point of view; surrounds them; and wipes them out.

Yet it won’t happen, as long as Sultan Erdogan in Turkey, petrodollar GCC minions and the CIA persist to “support” and/or weaponize assorted Salafi-jihadi goons, “moderate” or otherwise.

The fake “Caliphate” will be a very tough nut to crack because they don’t – and won’t – care about their own mounting casualties. The “4+1” alliance – Russia, Syria, Iran, Iraq plus Hezbollah – already knows it, and has already experienced trouble in their ranks.

Hezbollah took casualties. So did Iran’s Quds Force – as in reliable mid-level commanders. Iran has around 1,500 fighters on the ground – many of them Afghans – on the “4+1” side. On the opposite side we have the House of Saud funneling a lot of cash and TOW anti-tank missiles to the Army of Conquest, which is nothing but an al-Qaeda-led coalition of the willing displaying relatively overlapping agendas (first regime change, then Caliphate or Muslim Brotherhood reign).

There’s no evidence – yet – that ISIS/ISIL/Daesh has been depleted of the bulk of their shoulder-fired anti-aircraft plus anti-tank guided missiles.

So while Vienna talks, what is ISIS/ISIL/Daesh really up to?

They are about to choose between two different strategies.

Firstly, the dig in in Raqqa – the former capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, before Baghdad – waiting for a Mother of All Battles. After all they can’t afford to lose it, as Raqqa, geostrategically, is the ultimate crossroads in Syria. Former Ba’athist military and a cluster of Arab nationalists are lobbying for this strategy.

Secondly, forget about digging in. The best is to expand the frontline, into the deeper desert, to the max. This means no clusters of targets available to the Russian Air Force, with the added benefit of the “4+1” – as in the Syrian Arab Army (SAA)/Iran/Hezbollah ground units supported by the Russian Air Force — overextending their lines of communication/supply and being faced with extra logistical problems. Hardcore Turks, Chechens, Uyghurs and Uzbeks are lobbying for this strategy.

Arguably the ISIS/ISIL/Daesh command is leaning towards option 2 – because of the Jihad Inc. component. At least 2,000 fake “Caliphate” goons – most of them from Chechnya, Turkey, Central Asia and Xinjiang – were killed in Kobani, which, unlike Raqqa, had no strategic value. The Jihad Inc. gang now wants to expand all the way to Central Asia, Xinjiang, Russia and, if they manage to find an opening, Europe and the US.

Option 2 also carries the added benefit, for fighting purposes, of extra support for “moderate jihadis” (not “rebels”), which means more interaction with Ahrar al-Sham, Liwa al-Tawhid, a few Army of Conquest factions, the Islamic Front and a bunch of Turkmen Salafi groups. None of these, by the way, are “moderate rebels”.

All these outfits would perfect mesh into an ISIS/ISIL/Daesh “expanding frontline” strategy, defended, among others, by one Muslim Shishani, Chechen commander of the Jund al-Sham, which is currently fighting around Latakia.


Shishani, significantly, told al-Jazeera Turk, “Fronts [such] as Raqqa and Aleppo will have no significance in a ground war against the Russians. The real war will be on the Tartus-Latakia front line. Jihad must be moved to that area.”

So imagine all of these outfits coalescing on an internal jihad plus global jihad platform, and still flush with cash. It’s no secret that Russian intel is alarmed by the high number of Chechens in the fake “Caliphate” ranks, not to mention Chinese intel regarding the Uyghurs. These may find very hard to return to Xinjiang; but the Chechens will be back in the Caucasus. That’s the famous “Aleppo is 900 km away from Grozny” syndrome.

To add to the royal mess, FSB director Alexander Bortnikov has already warned about a concentration of Taliban – many of whom pledged allegiance to the fake “Caliphate” — at Afghanistan’s northern borders with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. For Putin and the Russian intel apparatus, the situation in Afghanistan is “close to critical”. A jihad spillover across Central Asia is all but certain.

The bottom line, thus, is stark. Move over, al-Qaeda; ISIS/ISIL/Daesh is using the “4+1” offensive to forge its identity as the leader of a Global Jihad. Saudi imams anyway have already declared jihad against Russia. And the decrepit Al-Azhar in Cairo is about to do the same thing.

Check the Iranian game

It’s already murky enough as it stands. The mix of Syrian/Iranian ground intel plus the Russian air campaign have to make sure not only that ISIS/ISIL/Daesh does not have the hardware nor the manpower to defend Raqqa; they also need to cut off all their communication/supply lines with those jihadis who are fighting the “4+1” in western Syria.

Even under attack by the Russian Air Force, which forced a large number of goons and their families to flee Syria for the Western Iraq desert, ISIS/ISIL/Daesh managed to make progress in southern Aleppo, infiltrating al-Safira, and keeping control of at least 10 checkpoints along the crucial supply line that runs from Hama, through Salamiyeh, Ithriyah and Khanaser, all the way to Aleppo. The SAA simply cannot afford to lose this corridor; now that’s priority number one. Hundreds of thousands of Aleppo civilians, meanwhile, are trying to survive as de facto hostages.

It’s crucial to check out the Iranian game on the ground. The best source so far has been the deputy commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Brig. Gen. Husayn Salami, who talked extensively to the Vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran Network 2.

Salami – that’s the IRGC speaking – frames Syria as the “focal point of strategic efforts made by an international coalition” to implement a “destructive political scheme in the Islamic world.” By “international coalition” he means NATO plus the Saudis. Iran’s role is “guaranteeing the political, psychological, economic and military stability of the Syrian system.”

He frames Iran’s role on four levels. “On a strategic level, we support the Syrian government, nation and army politically and psychologically. As advisors, we transfer our war experiences to top commanders in the Syrian army. Actually, we are helping them modernize and rebuild the structure of the Syrian army … When it comes to the operational level, we are helping brigade commanders for example … This is why a number of our commanders are there and are helping in planning and devising operational strategies.” Iran also helps at a tactical and technical (logistic) level.

And here’s something absolutely key – as well as anathema for the House of Saud; “Our national security is intertwined with the security of important parts of the Islamic world, the national security of Syria. This is the main philosophy behind our presence [in Syria].” The nuance that US Think Tankland is incapable of spotting is this doesn’t have anything to do with keeping Assad in power forever, as Iranian diplomats are now saying on the record.

Salami also stressed Russia went into Syria because otherwise it would have to fight jihad at home (that’s exactly what the Chechens at ISIS/ISIL/Daesh want). Putin’s Syria strategy, by the way, has been fully supported by the speaker of the Iranian parliament, Ali Larijani, who was a key guest at the Valdai summit last week.

I’m the Caliph; hear me roar

Faced with the Russian/Iranian strategy, what is the Empire of Chaos to do?

Murk the already murky sands, what else? That sorry lot that passes for Obama’s “senior national security advisers” has recommended positioning US Special Forces closer to ISIS/ISIL/Daesh in Syria.

This special “guidance” is supposed to help the coalition known as Democratic Forces of Syria – which is led by the YPG Kurds – to take Raqqa. But that does not necessarily mean US Special Forces will be fighting alongside the “4+1” towards the same objective. After all, we’re always thrown back deep into Geopolitics Surrealistan – where the US-led Coalition of the Dodgy Opportunists (CDO) totally ignores what the “4+1” are doing. And don’t forget intra-coalition hatred — as in Ankara abhorring the US insistence on working with Syrian Kurds.

As for Iraq, the Obama administration and the Pentagon now barely qualify as the butt end of running jokes. Sunnis in Anbar province are furious that the mightiest satellite surveillance system in history simply failed to register ISIS/ISIL/Daesh’s advances, from Tikrit to Ramadi and environs.

To add a final insult to (repeated) injuries – as in the “4+1” intel center in Baghdad, excluding the US, plus the authorization for Russia to bomb fake “Caliphate” convoys trying to cross from the Syrian desert – Baghdad and the EU have just agreed to set up yet another intel center to exchange data on ISIS/ISIL/Daesh. The bottom line is the Obama administration is absolutely terrified that the EU is inclined to support the Russian campaign – increasingly regarding the CDO for what it is; a joke.

The near future offers even more dangerous surrealist instances; think of the Obama administration helping Shi’ite militias to take Mosul in Iraq back from ISIS/ISIL/Daesh, and at the same time helping Kurds in Syria to take back Raqqa, an Arab city. All hell is bound to break loose between Sunnis across “Syraq” and Americans – and ISIS/ISIL/Daesh will mightily profit from it.

As it stands, there’s not going to be a frontal attack on Aleppo by the SAA and Iran/Hezbollah, covered by the Russian Air Force; instead, the “4+1” strategy will be to disrupt to the max the logistical supply routes to all Salafi-jihadi outfits, which implies trying to cut off the flux of cash and weapons smuggled via Turkey.

But once again; what about the Empire of Chaos?

The Obama administration is essentially fighting — sort of — ISIS/ISIL/Daesh in Iraq, where Washington lost a multi-trillion dollar war. Team Obama never bothered to fight the fake “Caliphate” in Syria — because they were contributing to the “Assad must go” agenda.

Sultan Erdogan – with Ankara at the table in Vienna – is still allowed to have a free-for-all border out of which ISIS/ISIL/Daesh profits handsomely. And the paranoid, Shi’ite-hating House of Saud – with Riyadh at the table in Vienna – is still allowed to shower all manner of Salafi-jihadi goons with all manner of weapons. This is what passes for Obama’s policy in Syria, as the Caliph’s roaring laughter can be heard all the way to Vienna.

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Beirut, November 1 (AFP) - A major Syrian rebel group is using dozens of captives in metal cages as “human shields” in the largest opposition stronghold on the outskirts of Damascus, a monitor said Sunday.

Jaish al-Islam, regarded as the most powerful rebel group near the capital, has put regime soldiers and Alawite civilians it was holding in metal cages, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP.

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In order to deter the Syrian and Russian Air Forces inside the East Ghouta (collection of farms) region of rural Damascus, the U.S. backed moderate rebels from “Jaysh Al-Islam” (Army of Islam) and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) have placed kidnapped Alawite women in cages to protect themselves from airstrikes.

The U.S. backed Syrian Opposition’s social media activists posted the photos of the six kidnapped Alawite women on Twitter, adding their extra commentary that included sectarian insults to degrade the helpless women and taunt the Syrian President Dr. Bashar Al-Assad.


This is not the first time that the U.S. backed moderate rebels have used the Syrian people as human shields in order to deter airstrikes; however, this blatant disregard for human life has contradicted their alleged ethos to protect the Syrian people and put an end to the government of Dr. Bashar Al-Assad.

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The Pentagon's focus on developing a "jack of all trades, master of none" aircraft, while rival countries build technology capable of sinking American carriers, could make these expensive warships ineffective in the coming years, according to the naval expert who authored the report.

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In a time when China wants full control of the disputed South China Sea, Beijing has developed a potential carrier-killer: an anti-ship missile called the Dong Feng-21 (CSS-5) that could deal catastrophic damage to US vessels.

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As Russian warships rain down cruise missiles as part of its military strike in Syria, there's now a glaring absence in the region: For the first time since 2007, the U.S. Navy has no aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf.

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Yanno, instead of constantly launching personal attacks against ME, why don't you pay attention to actual facts and trends around the world once in a while? -SIGNY

Quit whining - you deserve it, you bring any personal comments on yourself.

"The world would be better off without you..."
"Do you think anyone is ok with bombing civilians?-GSTRING" "You are.-SIGNY"

Even in this post you insult - get a clue.-GSTRING

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Wow - is that your husband's web site? It's almost hard to tell if they are being serious.

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You post from BS web sites

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Originally posted by G:

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

You have NEVER, and I mean NEVER posted any information.

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You make such silly statements.

Maybe you thought I made these up? These are real headlines from the site you used for a source:

- "The End of the US Empire – Live on Video!"

- "Dear American 'Liberals': Everything You Think You Know About Russia Is Wrong"

- "US Navy Can Be Sunk"

- "Pathetic Old Fart Calls for Terror Alliance Against Russia and the West"

Those are real. That's who you choose as your information source??? Do you even know what "journalism" is??

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Originally posted by G:

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

You have NEVER, and I mean NEVER posted any information.

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You make such silly statements.

Maybe you thought I made these up? These are real headlines from the site you used for a source:

- "The End of the US Empire – Live on Video!"
- "Dear American 'Liberals': Everything You Think You Know About Russia Is Wrong"
- "US Navy Can Be Sunk"
- "Pathetic Old Fart Calls for Terror Alliance Against Russia and the West"

Those are real. That's who you choose as your information source??? Do you even know what "journalism" is??

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US, allies launch 23 airstrikes in Syria, Iraq

The US and its allies targeted Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in Iraq with 14 airstrikes on Thursday, Reuters reported. Six of the strikes in Iraq hit tactical and fighting units, bunkers and an assembly area near Sinjar, the US military said on Friday. Four strikes near Ramadi also hit tactical units while destroying sniper positions, weapons, bunkers and a building. Nine airstrikes in Syria struck crude oil collection points and tactical units as well as fighting positions near Al Hawl, Al Hasaka and Abu Kamal.

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Allow for the fact that carrier's will use a laser which no conventional missile can out run or maneuver. Laser's travel at the speed of light.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

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Allow for the fact that carrier's will use a laser which no conventional missile can out run or maneuver. Laser's travel at the speed of light.

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Among the many items that hubby has designed for is high-powered lasers. Many months ago, hubby pointed out a Navy demo of a high-powered laser in ship, hitting a floating target and a target drone.



It was particularly underwhelming to my untrained civilian eye.

Now, I'm sure that the Navy is not going to advertise ALL of the laser's capabilities but I've been told that lasers can send BRIEF surges of high powered beams, but are easily defeated by smoke, fog, and multiple missiles requiring fast recharge rate. Hopefully, the Navy also has much faster targeting than demonstrated, and better control systems that aren't defeated by electronic warfare.

Just sayin'

This could be another F-35 boondoggle.


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You can't build a nation with bombs. You can't create a society with guns.

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First of all if your hubby is working on sensitive information and it's for this country maybe our government would be interested in that.

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Second, anything you post is an argument against the technology given the link you posted earlier. No news there. They said the same thing about the minuteman defense system.

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The Lasers in the video are hitting the targets dead on.

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The residual splashing is parts flying off the targets.

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All these systems will be running on automatic targeting at speeds not see in the video.

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Again, once the trigger is pulled on a Laser system impact is immediate. Speed of light remember?

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WASHINGTON — The Navy is going to sea for the first time with a laser attack weapon that has been shown in tests to disable patrol boats and blind or destroy surveillance drones.

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Among the limitations, according to the research service, is that lasers are not effective in bad weather because the beam can be disturbed or scattered by water vapor, as well as by smoke, sand and dust. It is also a “line of sight” weapon, meaning that the target has to be visible, so it cannot handle threats over the horizon. And enemies can take countermeasures like coating vessels and drones with reflective surfaces. Navy officials acknowledge that the first prototype weapon to be deployed is not powerful enough to take on jet fighters or missiles on their approach. That capability is a goal of researchers.

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Originally posted by G:

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
There are a lot of things in the works.

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Get us the eff out.

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