Quote:

---

First of all, KPO, the definitions that you quoted for a coup describe what happened in Ukraine.

---

Quote:

---

So, yes, parts of the FSA have allied with ISIL. There are just too many reports of that happening to link all of them, so here is a sampling from various sources (and none of them Russian):

---

Quote:

---

U.S. Bombings Driving anti-Assad Rebels Into Alliance With ISIS, Report Says

---

Quote:

---

US-Backed Moderate Group In Syria Signs Truce With ISIS: Reports

---

Quote:

---

On Monday, the Daily Star in Lebanon quoted a FSA brigade commander saying that his forces were working with the Islamic State

---

Quote:

---

There are too many reports for me to link them all.

---

Quote:

---

First of all, nobody said ... especially not me ... that "the FSA" has allied itself with ISIL

---

Quote:

---

Russia's foreign ministry said it intends to call a session of the United Nations Security Council on Friday to discuss the Turkish government's statements about a possible ground operation in Syria.

Russia plans to table a Security Council resolution demanding an end to actions that undermine Syria's sovereignty, ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement posted on the ministry's Internet site.

---

Quote:

---

“In Cizre district of Sirnak, around 150 people have been burned alive in different buildings by Turkish military forces. Some corpses were found without heads. Some were burned completely, so that autopsy is not possible,” [Pro-Kurdish MP] Uca said on Thursday.

---

Quote:

---

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) used chemical weapons against the Kurdish peshmerga in August, two U.S. defense officials tell The Hill. The officials said they have confirmed that ISIS used chemical weapons during fighting in northern Iraq and that the Kurdish military — a staunch ally of the United States — was targeted.

“We can confirm some type of chemical weapon was employed by ISIL in that August mortar attack,” a U.S. defense official told The Hill on the condition of anonymity, using another acronym for ISIS.

---

Quote:

---

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he will tell President Barack Obama that US weapons have helped Syrian Kurds, blamed by Turkey for Wednesday's Ankara bombing.

---

Quote:

---

FSA and other rebel groups say they won't lay down their weapons until Russia stops its bombing campaign on their cities.

---

Quote:

---

Russia's foreign ministry said it intends to call a session of the United Nations Security Council on Friday to discuss the Turkish government's statements about a possible ground operation in Syria.

Russia plans to table a Security Council resolution demanding an end to actions that undermine Syria's sovereignty, ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement posted on the ministry's Internet site.

---

Quote:

---

“In Cizre district of Sirnak, around 150 people have been burned alive in different buildings by Turkish military forces. Some corpses were found without heads. Some were burned completely, so that autopsy is not possible,” [Pro-Kurdish MP] Uca said on Thursday.

---

Quote:

---

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) used chemical weapons against the Kurdish peshmerga in August, two U.S. defense officials tell The Hill. The officials said they have confirmed that ISIS used chemical weapons during fighting in northern Iraq and that the Kurdish military — a staunch ally of the United States — was targeted.

“We can confirm some type of chemical weapon was employed by ISIL in that August mortar attack,” a U.S. defense official told The Hill on the condition of anonymity, using another acronym for ISIS.

---

Quote:

---

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he will tell President Barack Obama that US weapons have helped Syrian Kurds, blamed by Turkey for Wednesday's Ankara bombing.

---

Quote:

---

The majority of Syrian people support Moscow's anti-terror campaign, the top Catholic bishop in Syria said in an interview with RT, adding that it's not only military assistance, but the promotion of peace process by Russia that they pin their hopes on.

"We see Russia's military operation as a real effort to fight terrorism. What is especially important is that this military campaign goes in parallel with promotion of peace process," Most Reverend Georges Abou Khazen, Apostolic Vicar of Aleppo for the Latins who was appointed by Pope Francis in 2013, told RT in a telephone interview. "We really hope that the peace process will soon prevail over fighting all across Syria," the bishop added.

"The majority of Syrian people" of all backgrounds and faith "regard Russian military campaign as salvation, a way out of the state we've been enduring for five years," the Catholic bishop said, adding that "Syrians are very positive about it."

"Russia's actions are not limited to the military operation. Russia makes a very positive impact by stimulating the negotiations process, and promotes dialogue between various Syrian groups," Bisoph Abou Khazen said.

Syrian minorities have been especially suffering from the conflict, the bishop told RT. Noting that there are over 20 religious and ethnic groups in the Syrian society, the Aleppo vicar said that before the conflict they've all lived in harmony. "Our pre-war society was like a beautiful multicolored mosaic. But unfortunately, it has been destroyed," he said.

Describing the harsh conditions that his congregation and other Syrians have been living in, the vicar said that there is no electricity in Aleppo and water supplies have been disrupted. "The lack of water is what has really made our lives harder," he said, adding that people have been living without water supplies for over a month now.

Many families have fled the violence and the conditions caused by constant fighting, Bishop Abou Khazen told RT, but added: "In light of recent military advances in the Aleppo region, we hope that tension will ease and situation in the city will improve."

Last week, leaders of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches, Vatican's Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia have held a historic meeting in Havana, Cuba. After the first ever face-to-face talks, a joint declaration has been signed, in which a special attention is given to the situation in the Middle East.

Saying that challenges of the situation in Syria, Iraq and other countries in the region with "the massive exodus of Christians from the land in which our faith was first disseminated," require "a shared response," the religious leaders called upon the international community "to act urgently."

"We wish to express our compassion for the suffering experienced by the faithful of other religious traditions who have also become victims of civil war, chaos and terrorist violence," the joint declaration said, with Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill urging global leaders "to seek an end" to the violence in Syria and Iraq

---

Quote:

---

From your buddies at putin.com:
https://www.rt.com/business/318746-russia-turkey-trade-projects/

---

Quote:

---

Of course they should. They are suggesting that Turkey could/might/maybe want to protect that supply line with military means. Not knowing the context of the statement it's hard to be sure, but that is likely a true statement no matter what and no matter who they are supplying.

---

Quote:

---

"....because as long as it remains uncertain, people will continue to fight over it." Brilliant - truer words were never spoken. Assad is not "certainty." Non of the rabble lined up against him are either. Even Russia understands this.
Uncertainty. That's precisely why they are where they are, and why the situation drags so many people into it. It's bad for every one to have an uncertain Syria.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
'Russian operation in Syria is our salvation' – top Syrian Catholic bishop to RT

---

Quote:

---

Without the violence of the Maidan, Yanukovich would not have fled and been rescued

---

Quote:

---

The change of power was violent... It was a coup.

---

Quote:

---

Russian operation in Syria is our salvation' – top Syrian Catholic bishop to RT

Quote:

---

The majority of Syrian people support Moscow's anti-terror campaign, the top Catholic bishop in Syria said in an interview with RT, adding that it's not only military assistance, but the promotion of peace process by Russia that they pin their hopes on.

"We see Russia's military operation as a real effort to fight terrorism. What is especially important is that this military campaign goes in parallel with promotion of peace process," Most Reverend Georges Abou Khazen, Apostolic Vicar of Aleppo for the Latins who was appointed by Pope Francis in 2013, told RT in a telephone interview. "We really hope that the peace process will soon prevail over fighting all across Syria," the bishop added.

"The majority of Syrian people" of all backgrounds and faith "regard Russian military campaign as salvation, a way out of the state we've been enduring for five years," the Catholic bishop said, adding that "Syrians are very positive about it."

"Russia's actions are not limited to the military operation. Russia makes a very positive impact by stimulating the negotiations process, and promotes dialogue between various Syrian groups," Bisoph Abou Khazen said.

Syrian minorities have been especially suffering from the conflict, the bishop told RT. Noting that there are over 20 religious and ethnic groups in the Syrian society, the Aleppo vicar said that before the conflict they've all lived in harmony. "Our pre-war society was like a beautiful multicolored mosaic. But unfortunately, it has been destroyed," he said.

Describing the harsh conditions that his congregation and other Syrians have been living in, the vicar said that there is no electricity in Aleppo and water supplies have been disrupted. "The lack of water is what has really made our lives harder," he said, adding that people have been living without water supplies for over a month now.

Many families have fled the violence and the conditions caused by constant fighting, Bishop Abou Khazen told RT, but added: "In light of recent military advances in the Aleppo region, we hope that tension will ease and situation in the city will improve."

Last week, leaders of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches, Vatican's Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia have held a historic meeting in Havana, Cuba. After the first ever face-to-face talks, a joint declaration has been signed, in which a special attention is given to the situation in the Middle East.

Saying that challenges of the situation in Syria, Iraq and other countries in the region with "the massive exodus of Christians from the land in which our faith was first disseminated," require "a shared response," the religious leaders called upon the international community "to act urgently."

"We wish to express our compassion for the suffering experienced by the faithful of other religious traditions who have also become victims of civil war, chaos and terrorist violence," the joint declaration said, with Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill urging global leaders "to seek an end" to the violence in Syria and Iraq

---

https://www.rt.com/news/332922-aleppo-bishop-russia-support/

ETA ...


This is another thing I'm sure you won't believe, because it just doesn't fit within your ideology, because you're good and Russia is bad and therefore how can anyone be for Russia? Just like you thought the people who were celebrating their liberation from extremists were ... oh, I dunno ... mistaken, or cowards, or were somehow unaware of the cost in terms of lives that their liberation meant, I'm sure you'll find some reason to discredit this statement by the Bishop of Syria, just as you've found reasons to discredit the statement by my Syrian Xtian acquaintance from four years ago.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by kpo:

Quote:

---

Without the violence of the Maidan, Yanukovich would not have fled and been rescued

---

'The violence of the Maidan...' is about as vague a statement as you can make. What violence are you referring to, specifically? People throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at riot police?

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by kpo:

Quote:

---

Without the violence of the Maidan, Yanukovich would not have fled and been rescued

---

'The violence of the Maidan...' is about as vague a statement as you can make. What violence are you referring to, specifically? People throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at riot police?

Quote:

---

The change of power was violent... It was a coup.

---

Leaving aside that revolutions in history often involve violence, and you are completely backtracking on your own definition of a 'coup'; what violence are you referring to that took place on Feb 21st, when the change of power happened?

---

Quote:

---

So, how about responding to the post, then?

---

Quote:

---

...why would I respond to it, or even read it?

---

Quote:

---

The majority of Syrian people support Moscow's anti-terror campaign, the top Catholic bishop in Syria said in an interview with RT, adding that it's not only military assistance, but the promotion of peace process by Russia that they pin their hopes on.

"We see Russia's military operation as a real effort to fight terrorism. What is especially important is that this military campaign goes in parallel with promotion of peace process," Most Reverend Georges Abou Khazen, Apostolic Vicar of Aleppo for the Latins who was appointed by Pope Francis in 2013, told RT in a telephone interview. "We really hope that the peace process will soon prevail over fighting all across Syria," the bishop added.

"The majority of Syrian people" of all backgrounds and faith "regard Russian military campaign as salvation, a way out of the state we've been enduring for five years," the Catholic bishop said, adding that "Syrians are very positive about it."

"Russia's actions are not limited to the military operation. Russia makes a very positive impact by stimulating the negotiations process, and promotes dialogue between various Syrian groups," Bisoph Abou Khazen said.

Syrian minorities have been especially suffering from the conflict, the bishop told RT. Noting that there are over 20 religious and ethnic groups in the Syrian society, the Aleppo vicar said that before the conflict they've all lived in harmony. "Our pre-war society was like a beautiful multicolored mosaic. But unfortunately, it has been destroyed," he said.

Describing the harsh conditions that his congregation and other Syrians have been living in, the vicar said that there is no electricity in Aleppo and water supplies have been disrupted. "The lack of water is what has really made our lives harder," he said, adding that people have been living without water supplies for over a month now.

Many families have fled the violence and the conditions caused by constant fighting, Bishop Abou Khazen told RT, but added: "In light of recent military advances in the Aleppo region, we hope that tension will ease and situation in the city will improve."

Last week, leaders of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches, Vatican's Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia have held a historic meeting in Havana, Cuba. After the first ever face-to-face talks, a joint declaration has been signed, in which a special attention is given to the situation in the Middle East.

Saying that challenges of the situation in Syria, Iraq and other countries in the region with "the massive exodus of Christians from the land in which our faith was first disseminated," require "a shared response," the religious leaders called upon the international community "to act urgently."

"We wish to express our compassion for the suffering experienced by the faithful of other religious traditions who have also become victims of civil war, chaos and terrorist violence," the joint declaration said, with Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill urging global leaders "to seek an end" to the violence in Syria and Iraq

---

Quote:

---

The majority of Syrian people support Moscow's anti-terror campaign, the top Catholic bishop in Syria said in an interview with RT, adding that it's not only military assistance, but the promotion of peace process by Russia that they pin their hopes on.

"We see Russia's military operation as a real effort to fight terrorism. What is especially important is that this military campaign goes in parallel with promotion of peace process," Most Reverend Georges Abou Khazen, Apostolic Vicar of Aleppo for the Latins who was appointed by Pope Francis in 2013, told RT in a telephone interview. "We really hope that the peace process will soon prevail over fighting all across Syria," the bishop added.

"The majority of Syrian people" of all backgrounds and faith "regard Russian military campaign as salvation, a way out of the state we've been enduring for five years," the Catholic bishop said, adding that "Syrians are very positive about it."

"Russia's actions are not limited to the military operation. Russia makes a very positive impact by stimulating the negotiations process, and promotes dialogue between various Syrian groups," Bisoph Abou Khazen said.

Syrian minorities have been especially suffering from the conflict, the bishop told RT. Noting that there are over 20 religious and ethnic groups in the Syrian society, the Aleppo vicar said that before the conflict they've all lived in harmony. "Our pre-war society was like a beautiful multicolored mosaic. But unfortunately, it has been destroyed," he said.

Describing the harsh conditions that his congregation and other Syrians have been living in, the vicar said that there is no electricity in Aleppo and water supplies have been disrupted. "The lack of water is what has really made our lives harder," he said, adding that people have been living without water supplies for over a month now.

Many families have fled the violence and the conditions caused by constant fighting, Bishop Abou Khazen told RT, but added: "In light of recent military advances in the Aleppo region, we hope that tension will ease and situation in the city will improve."

Last week, leaders of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches, Vatican's Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia have held a historic meeting in Havana, Cuba. After the first ever face-to-face talks, a joint declaration has been signed, in which a special attention is given to the situation in the Middle East.

Saying that challenges of the situation in Syria, Iraq and other countries in the region with "the massive exodus of Christians from the land in which our faith was first disseminated," require "a shared response," the religious leaders called upon the international community "to act urgently."

"We wish to express our compassion for the suffering experienced by the faithful of other religious traditions who have also become victims of civil war, chaos and terrorist violence," the joint declaration said, with Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill urging global leaders "to seek an end" to the violence in Syria and Iraq

---

Quote:

---

I find this telling, how there's a break in the quoting where rt adds in some editorial content:

"The majority of Syrian people" of all backgrounds and faith "regard Russian military campaign as salvation, a way out of the state we've been enduring for five years," the Catholic bishop said, adding that "Syrians are very positive about it."

---

Quote:

---

It's another rt fluff editorial propaganda piece. The fact that you can't see it or acknowledge it is not surprising.

---

Quote:

---

The best summation piece so far imho - a better, more objective pov:-GSTRING

---

Quote:

---

Russia’s bombing of the city of Aleppo this week sent a clear message: Vladimir Putin is now in charge of the endgame in Syria. Moscow’s plan — essentially, to restore its ally Bashar al-Assad to power — is quickly becoming a reality that the rest of the world will have to accept. America, Britain and the rest may not be comfortable with Putin’s ambitions in the Middle East, or his methods of achieving them. But the idea of backing a ‘moderate opposition’ in Syria has been proved a fantasy that leaves the field to Putin and Assad.

---

Quote:

---

The Syrian partial ceasefire, brokered in Munich last week by America’s John Kerry, only served to reinforce this sense of Putin’s power. Under the terms of the deal, all combatants were to cease hostilities while humanitarian aid was delivered to rebel enclaves besieged by government troops. Except Russia, whose planes have continued bombing ‘terrorist targets’ — and since Assad insists that all his enemies are ‘terrorists’, the Munich ceasefire effectively means business as usual for Russian and Syrian warplanes.

---

Quote:

---

In recent days, they

---

Quote:

---

have bombed Médecins Sans Frontières hospitals in rebel-held Idlib and Azaz

---

Quote:

---

and "Free Syrian Army" positions in the northern suburbs of Aleppo. In response to international condemnation, the Russian foreign ministry has declared that it ‘has still not received convincing evidence of civilian deaths as a result of Russian air strikes’.

---

Quote:

---

Presidents Putin and Obama have both sought to intervene in the conflict militarily, but all the successes have been Russia’s.

---

Quote:

---

Between August 2014 and December last year, the US Air Force made 4,669 air strikes to aid Syria’s elusive ‘moderate opposition’ and degrade ISIS. But while this made little impact strategically, Russian air power has proved decisive. Since last September, a single squadron of Russian bombers flying some 510 sorties a week has turned the balance of the war in Assad’s favour. Russian armour and tanks have reinvigorated the Syrian army’s battered forces. Ostensibly flown in to protect the Khmeimim airbase, Russian T-90 tanks have since been reported in the vanguard of Syrian army assaults on rebel strongholds south of Aleppo.

---

Quote:

---

Putin is also seeking to reconcile Syria’s warring factions. While the Pentagon spent billions trying to train an army of democracy–friendly moderates which turned out not to exist

---

Quote:

---

Russian military intelligence has been working with its Syrian counterparts to identify rebel groups who would be willing to cut a deal with Assad. The senior Syrian officer corps was largely trained in Moscow during the Cold War. According to one well-placed Russian diplomat, the Kremlin has drawn up a list of 38 potential opposition allies and has been actively wooing them since last October. The list is said to include the Syrian National Council’s current president, Khaled al-Khoja, together with three of his predecessors — Ahmad Jarba, Ahmad Moaz al-Khatib and Hadi al-Bahra.

---

Quote:

---

Throughout the winter, a number of rebel leaders have gone to Moscow to discuss terms — with mixed success. Late last month, a Russian attempt to bring several Syrian opposition parties together in Moscow collapsed. Brigadier General Manaf Tlass, a close Assad ally who defected from the Syrian Republican Guard in 2012, has drawn up an 11-point ‘national project’ which envisions a general ceasefire, followed by a joint regime-rebel assault on Isis. It is a proposal backed by Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and part of a wider strategy that Russia pursued successfully in Chechnya in the early 2000s: reward rebels who are willing to change sides with a place at the winners’ table, while mercilessly bombing those who resist.

---

Quote:

---

Russia’s new best friends are Syria’s Kurds. Earlier this month, the ‘Rojava Democratic Self-Rule Administration’ proclaimed itself the new government in Kurdish-held northern Syria and opened its first overseas representative office, in Moscow. Meanwhile, 200 Russian military advisers have been deployed to the Kurdish-controlled town of Qamishli, next to the Turkish border, to secure a military airport for Russian use. That gives Russia a stronghold from which to strike Isis in northeast Syria and protect its new Kurdish friends from attack by Turkey.

---

Quote:

---

A wider Kurdish-Russian pact could be a game-changer for Assad — but it also massively raises the risk of the Syrian conflict spilling over into a wider war. A deal between the Kurdish YPG militia and Damascus would deprive the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces — a coalition that includes Arab and Assyrian groups — of some of their most effective soldiers.

---

Quote:

---

It would also further confuse United States policy in Syria, since the Kurds have been Washington’s closest allies in the region for years.

---

Quote:

---

The danger is that Russia’s overtures to the Kurds could put Moscow on a direct collision course with the Turks. Ankara sees the Syrian Kurdish YPG as an offshoot of Turkey’s home-grown Kurdistan Workers’ Party — or PKK — which has been fighting a renewed insurgency against the Turkish state since last summer.

---

Quote:

---

Turkey’s tough-talking [idiot] president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has repeatedly declared that he will not tolerate a de-facto Syrian Kurdish state on his southern border.

Last week, Turkey’s army — the second largest in NATO — backed up Erdogan’s words by shelling YPG positions from across the frontier, ostensibly in self-defence.

---

Quote:

---

Moreover, Erdogan recently said that a Turkish-US buffer zone mooted for northern Iraq in 2003 would have preserved Iraq from its current problems with ISIS. Erdogan added that he saw no need ‘currently’ for a similar buffer zone in northern Syria — but said that the Turkish military had all the parliamentary authority it needed to create one if the order was given.

---

Quote:

---

More worryingly, Putin and Assad have accused the Turkish army of running weapons to Ankara-backed rebel groups [ISIL] deep inside Syrian territory via the Bab al-Salam border crossing point.

---

Quote:

---

The Russians expect Turkey to go further. ‘At a certain point, a full Turkish intervention is inevitable,’ Fyodor Lukyanov, who heads Russia’s Council on Foreign and Defence Policy, told Bloomberg last week. ‘That would mean a completely different conflict, with a much larger force fighting on the side of the opposition and the risk of a direct Russian-Turkish conflict.’ Nationalist-leaning media on both sides are already fighting a war of words. It’s highly likely that another clash — beginning with, say, a Russian airstrike hitting Turkish troops inside Syria — would escalate quickly. In that case, Turkey could potentially invoke article five of NATO’s founding treaty, which states that an ‘armed attack against one [member] shall be considered an attack against them all’. The terrifying result: war between NATO and Russia.

---

Quote:

---

To further complicate the situation, Saudi Arabia moved fighter jets to Turkey last week to carry out strikes inside Syria — and both Turkish and Saudi foreign ministers agreed that Saudi special forces troops deploying via Turkey might be involved in a future operation to liberate Raqqa from ISIS.

---

Quote:

---

But Saudi troops on the ground in Syria would be a red rag to Assad’s other key ally, Iran — which already has troops from its revolutionary guards fighting in Syria.

Speaking at a security conference in Munich, US senator John McCain correctly predicted that Russia would not observe the recent ceasefire. ‘Russian presses its advantage militarily, creates new facts on the ground, uses the denial and delivery of humanitarian aid as a bargaining chip, negotiates an agreement to lock in the spoils of war, and then chooses when to resume fighting,’ he said. ‘The only thing that has changed about Mr Putin’s ambitions is that his appetite is growing with the eating.’

---

Quote:

---

Certainly part of Putin’s plan in Syria is to distract international attention from his own unfinished intervention in eastern Ukraine. That conflict has cost Russia dearly: international banking sanctions and falling oil prices have sent inflation soaring and halved the value of the ruble. Putin is also ambitious to restore his country’s status as a world power. And he would like to show potential allies in the Middle East and the wider world that Russia stands by its friends. For the first time since the 1980s, Moscow’s military and diplomatic backing is something truly worth having.

Putin’s intervention in Syria is an act of reckless geopolitical buccaneering

---

Quote:

---

— just like his invasion of Georgia in 2008

---

Quote:

---

and his annexation of Crimea in 2014. But it’s worth asking the question: if Assad wins decisively, and peace breaks out, is Putin’s plan so terrible?

---

Quote:

---

Washington and Moscow want many of the same things: an end to hostilities on the ground,

---

Quote:

---

the destruction of radical Islamist groups such as ISIS and the Al-Nusra Front

---

Quote:

---

the establishment of a transitional government and, eventually, free elections.

---

Quote:

---

Even the Americans are willing to

---

Quote:

---

fudge on a key rebel demand — that Assad, personally, be removed from power. They agree that he could at least stay for a transitional period.

If Putin’s latest gambit does bring peace to Syria

---

Quote:

---

even if it is a peace on Assad’s terms, it may one day be counted as a success, albeit a self-serving one. But it is also Putin’s riskiest move yet, and growing riskier by the second. So far Putin’s opponents have consisted of the disorganised regimes of former Soviet nations. In his Syrian war, he faces a ruler every bit as choleric and ruthless as himself — Erdogan — and an increasingly belligerent Saudi Arabia.

---

Quote:

---

The prospect of peace in Syria is now dependent on the wisdom, restraint and goodwill of Putin and Erdogan: an unsettling prospect.

---

Quote:

---

The US president has sided with Turkey and warned the Syrian Kurdish militia not to seize more territory in Syria to avoid upsetting Ankara or the so-called “moderate” opposition. Obama voiced support for Erdogan against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.

In a long phone conversation that lasted an hour and twenty minutes, Obama told his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the US has an “unwavering commitment” to Turkey’s national security.

Obama said he is “concerned” about the Syrian Army’s and Kurdish fighters’ gains in northern Syria as he “urgently called for a halt to actions that heighten tensions with Turkey and with moderate opposition forces in northern Syria,” according to a statement from the White House.

The US president stressed that the ongoing advance of Syrian armed forces and Kurdish militia, with support from the Russian Air Force, could “undermine our collective efforts in northern Syria to degrade and defeat ISIL.”

---

Quote:

---

While advising Erdogan to show “reciprocal restraint” and avoid shelling northern Syria where Ankara is engaging Kurds

---

Quote:

---

Obama stressed that “YPG forces should not seek to exploit circumstances in this area to seize additional territory.”

---

Quote:

---

Earlier in the day, Washington [and France] rejected a Russian draft resolution at the UN Security Council condemning any plans for foreign military intervention in Syria. Ambassador Samantha Power even accused Moscow of trying to “distract the world” with its resolution.

---

Quote:

---

De Mistura told Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet that the peace talks won't resume in Geneva on February 25 as he had hoped. He said he can’t "realistically" get the parties in the Syrian conflict back to negotiations by that time. However, he added that he hopes the parties will gather “soon.”

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by G:

I find this telling, how there's a break in the quoting where rt adds in some editorial content:

"The majority of Syrian people" of all backgrounds and faith "regard Russian military campaign as salvation, a way out of the state we've been enduring for five years," the Catholic bishop said, adding that "Syrians are very positive about it."

Wonder what else they added?

---

Quote:

---

If you've been wondering about Aleppo, here is an interesting article about life in the city as it is now, by Peter Osborne

---

Quote:

---

"I should state that I stayed exclusively in government-held areas. I made no attempt to cross the lines into rebel zones (I would have been kidnapped [Also the Syrian government doesn't let journalists into the areas it besieges - KPO]). Government minders accompanied me throughout the trip and were present at almost every conversation. But I am as certain as I can be that people told me the truth as they saw it."

---

Quote:

---

Syria's army and allies, backed by Russian air strikes, recaptured 18 villages from Islamic State fighters in eastern Aleppo province on Saturday, a monitoring group said. The advance extended their control of parts of a road running towards the jihadist group's stronghold of Raqqa, and built on gains made in assaults that intensified sharply earlier this month.

Damascus's offensive, drawing heavily on Russian air cover and ground support from Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian fighters, has brought the Syrian army to within 25 km (15 miles) of Turkey's border. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syria's army and allied fighters recaptured 18 villages east of Aleppo, bringing under their control some 40 km (25 miles) of a highway that leads from the city to Raqqa.

---

Quote:

---

And now, for a bit of speculation:
According to RT... - SIGNY

That should be on their masthead! You're a crack-up Sniggles.- GSTRING

---

Quote:

---

Syrian army, allies advance against Islamic State in eastern Aleppo - reports

Syria's army and allies, backed by Russian air strikes, recaptured 18 villages from Islamic State fighters in eastern Aleppo province on Saturday, a monitoring group said. The advance extended their control of parts of a road running towards the jihadist group's stronghold of Raqqa, and built on gains made in assaults that intensified sharply earlier this month.

Damascus's offensive, drawing heavily on Russian air cover and ground support from Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian fighters, has brought the Syrian army to within 25 km (15 miles) of Turkey's border. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syria's army and allied fighters recaptured 18 villages east of Aleppo, bringing under their control some 40 km (25 miles) of a highway that leads from the city to Raqqa.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-syria-aleppo-idUKKCN0V
T0UN

Well, aside from the military gains reported here, there are three other pieces of information that one can glean from this article

1) Aleppo was controlled at least in part by ISIL. The idea that it was just "Syrian rebels" who took control of Aleppo was like the belief in the existence of the "FSA"- a fantasy.

2) Given that Aleppo was controlled at least in part by ISIL, I think we can ditch the propaganda point that Russia was just focusing on 'the rebels'. I could go into the tactical and strategic reasons why the Four plus one did what they did ... but I'll let KPO, G, and THUGR figure that one out for themselves.

3) The article is missing the usual embedded anti-Russian propaganda. That should tell people something. Again, intelligent people can figure that one out for themselves.

-SIGNY

You left out:

"Russia intervened in Syria's nearly five-year-old civil war in September with an air campaign to bolster Assad

---

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

Its air strikes have hit Islamic State targets but mostly other insurgents, including Western- and Turkish-backed fighters.

---

---

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

U.S.-led air strikes are also hitting Islamic State in areas it controls in Raqqa, Deir al-Zor and Hasaka provinces in the north and east of the country."

---

I don't think you know the difference between "assumptions" and "lies."

"Given that Aleppo was controlled at least in part by ISIL" - what's that word you love? Evidence?- GSTRING

---

Quote:

---

3rd time - What again is Russia's gain from all this? Loosing billions worth of business with Turkey? Propping up a hated "dictator?" More dead Russians? More dead civilians?- GSTRING

---

Quote:

---

Yanno, you quoted an entire article from somewhere that you thought was "more objective", and yet it referenced the same facts that I quoted from elsewhere.- SIGNY

Some facts are so obvious even you can't miss them.

---

Quote:

---

I've have exhaustively posted about agreeing with you on some things

---

Quote:

---

I can't freakin' wait! It's going to be great to see how you twist my words to make your point! Half the time you confuse what poster said what! Please tell me we expect your favorite habit of presuming the negative from a statement! So even if someone didn't say something you will say they were obviously thinking it?! Ha! It always makes you look like a desperate fool but it's worth the laugh.

---

Quote:

---

I do consider how you assess information :) - you push it through a pro-Russian filter. That has been obvious since the 'Russia Invades Ukraine' thread over a year ago. You are still in denial. Thing is as long as Crimea is under Russian rule it is a cold hard fact. One that I expect you deny in your next post.
So yes - I am picky about sources, and you as a source is untrustworthy as hell. Even your choice of sources shows you to be a untrustworthy echo bot.

---

Quote:

---

I am more likely to trust sources that are not blatant propaganda for governments - you should try it (IF you can find one from Russia). I can't believe someone has to tell you that!

---

Quote:

---

I think a lifetime of trusting government shills acting as "reporters" has broken your objectivity when it comes to professional journalism. I'm not even sure you understand what that means or just how hard those pros work at finding the story amongst all the junk. And the more you make these sweeping, blanket statements about the "Western Press" being in the pocket of Big Gov, and how you try and smear their efforts, just underscores how much you realize the West has a much freer flow of information. Truth be told, I think you are jealous - of course you will not admit it!
That is not to say there isn't plenty of bad reporting in the West, or poorly concealed political agendas like in Russia. Fox comes to mind.

---

Quote:

---

Russian air strikes in Syria have killed hundreds of civilians and caused massive destruction in residential areas, striking homes, a mosque and a busy market, as well as medical facilities, in a pattern of attacks that show evidence of violations of international humanitarian law, said Amnesty International in a new briefing published today.

‘Civilian objects were not damaged’: Russia’s statements on its attacks in Syria unmasked highlights the high price civilians have paid for suspected Russian attacks across the country. The report focuses on six attacks in Homs, Idleb and Aleppo between September and November 2015 which killed at least 200 civilians and around a dozen fighters. The briefing includes evidence suggesting that Russian authorities may have lied to cover up civilian damage to a mosque from one air strike and a field hospital in another. It also documents evidence suggesting Russia’s use of internationally banned cluster munitions and of unguided bombs in populated residential areas.

“Some Russian air strikes appear to have directly attacked civilians or civilian objects by striking residential areas with no evident military target and even medical facilities, resulting in deaths and injuries to civilians. Such attacks may amount to war crimes,” said Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International.

---

Quote:

---

Amnesty International interviewed eyewitnesses and survivors of attacks as well as examining video evidence and images showing the aftermath of attacks, aided by analysis by weapons experts. The attacks were identified as suspected Russian air strikes by cross-referencing details of each attack with statements from the Russian Ministry of Defence announcing “terrorist” targets struck, or from details about the nature of the attack in witness testimony.

The organization’s research into these strikes indicate that there were no military targets or fighters in the immediate vicinity of the areas that were struck. This suggests that the attacks may have violated international humanitarian law and may, in some circumstances, constitute war crimes.

In one of the deadliest attacks documented in the briefing three missiles were fired on a busy market in the centre of Ariha in Idleb governorate killing 49 civilians. Witnesses described how within seconds the bustling Sunday market turned to a scene of carnage...

---

Quote:

---

...In just a few moments, people were screaming, the smell of burning was in the air and there was just chaos. There was a primary school nearby, and children were running out absolutely terrified… there were bodies everywhere, decapitated and mutilated,” said Mohammed Qurabi al-Ghazal, a local media activist.

He saw one woman sitting and crying beside 40 bodies lined up in a row. She had lost her husband and three children. ”Her children were literally in bags. To this day, I cannot get over it,” he added.

In another suspected Russian attack, at least 46 civilians, including 32 children and 11 women who were sheltering for safety in the basement of a residential building, were killed on 15 October in al-Ghantu, Homs governorate. Video footage of the scene after the attack shows no evidence of a military presence. Weapons experts who analysed images of the attack said the nature of the destruction indicated possible use of fuel-air explosives (also known as “vacuum bombs”), a type of weapon particularly prone to indiscriminate effects when used in the vicinity of civilians...

---

Quote:

---

The Russian authorities’ reaction to an attack on Omar Bin al-Khattab mosque in central Jisr al-Shughour, Idleb governorate, on 1 October raises serious questions about the tactics they are prepared to deploy to undermine criticism of their operations. After reports and photos of the destroyed mosque emerged, the Russian authorities responded by calling it a “hoax”, presenting a satellite image purporting to show the mosque still intact. However, the mosque shown in the image was a different one from the one destroyed in the attack.

“By presenting satellite imagery of an intact mosque and claiming it showed another that had been destroyed, the Russian authorities appear to have used sleight of hand to try to avoid reproach and avert scrutiny of their actions in Syria...

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by G:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by kpo:

“Some Russian air strikes appear to have directly attacked civilians or civilian objects by striking residential areas with no evident military target and even medical facilities, resulting in deaths and injuries to civilians. Such attacks may amount to war crimes,” said Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International.

---

It seems to be Russia's and Russian trolls' go-to response for these allegations - the "no response" response. We see it here even. "If I don't acknowledge it, then it didn't happen." Or, at the very least, it will go away sooner.

And even when they do try and "explain"... it's little green men time.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by kpo:
Russian government lies and deflection to cover up its atrocities:

"The Russian authorities’ reaction to an attack on Omar Bin al-Khattab mosque in central Jisr al-Shughour, Idleb governorate, on 1 October raises serious questions about the tactics they are prepared to deploy to undermine criticism of their operations. After reports and photos of the destroyed mosque emerged, the Russian authorities responded by calling it a “hoax”, presenting a satellite image purporting to show the mosque still intact. However, the mosque shown in the image was a different one from the one destroyed in the attack.

“By presenting satellite imagery of an intact mosque and claiming it showed another that had been destroyed, the Russian authorities appear to have used sleight of hand to try to avoid reproach and avert scrutiny of their actions in Syria..."

---

The level of immaturity in their cover ups is what stands out to me - like a game almost - or like a junior high school kid trying to avoid parental detection. I only wish it was that funny.

---

Quote:

---

A fact-finding mission of the global chemical weapons watchdog (OPCW) concluded in 2014 that the use of chlorine gas has been "systematic" in the Syrian civil war, even after the country surrendered its stockpile of toxic weapons.

Both sides have denied using chlorine "barrel" bombs, which the OPCW said are dropped out of helicopters. The Syrian air force is the only party in the conflict known to have helicopters.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
This is why I'm not participating in this thread anymore:

1) It started out biased, like "Russian Invasion of Ukraine". If there was a thread about "WAR CRIMES IN SYRIA" - of which there are a-plenty - that would be more informative. But KPO - being the anti-Russian troll that he is - zeros right in on every presumed Russian infraction, and ignores proven ones like the ones ISIL is committing right now.

2) Just like the "Russian Invasion of Ukraine" thread KPO (and the two other stooges) takes every oppty to air that particular bee in his bonnet.

3) The thread gets its lifespan by attention. I refuse to pay attention to it from now. All of the time that I might have spent arguing minor points, I spent more productively recovering from surgery and managing my health better, going to a newly-discovered CA-native nursery, starting and re-potting plants, helping build a new computer, trying out new recipes, cleaning up, and being present for my family. What's the point of engaging fully-biased people who even REFUSE to look at a website because it might dirty their ideological skirt hems? After this, I'll refill the hummingbird feeders.

4) Just as an aside of how ridiculous G, KPO, and THUGR are: "G" - the top headlines that I posted were a SNAPSHOT- a 10-minute or less moment in time from various websites. Yes, some websites have "scrolling headlines", but for those which don't, I posted THE top headline at the moment, and for those which do they fortunately had a "Breaking news" headline which I chose. The point still stands: If you look at various websites- whether over a 10-minute or 24-hour or 1-week period, they present very different viewpoints, "updates" or not. Comparing ALL of the headlines across ALL of the websites at any one time, I'm fortunate if they overlap by 7%. Arguing over whether "updates" changes that fact ( it doesn't) is pointless - as are you.

5) I've found a much better discussion board- one that isn't filled by ideological trolls, like you three.

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

---

Quote:

---

At the present time, according to Siege Watch, there are forty-six sieges operating in Syria, forty-three of them (93.5%) imposed by the Assad regime, two (4.5%) imposed by Jaysh al-Fatah, an insurgent coalition that includes Jabhat an-Nusra (al-Qaeda in Syria), and one (2%) by the Islamic State (IS).

Siege Watch also documents the severity of the sieges in three categories. Category one (C1) is the most severe: very little gets in even by smuggling and international aid deliveries are rare if at all; the risk of malnutrition is high. Category two (C2) sieges are porous enough for the black market and/or locals might have some access to locally-grown produce, but prices for basics are extremely high and residents are at “some risk of malnutrition/dehydration”. Category three (C3) sieges require smuggling to get food, but there is a consistent supply, even if home-grown. While risk of malnutrition is low in C3 zones, medical emergencies are likely because of attacks by besieging forces.

All six C1 sieges are imposed by the regime. Thirty category C2 sieges are operating: twenty-nine by the regime and one by IS. The regime is also operating eight C3 sieges and Jaysh al-Fatah is operating two C3 sieges

---

Quote:

---

And the Syrian people in rebel areas, free from Assad's barrel bombs, gas attacks and Russia's terror bombing for the first time in years, take to the streets to protest and call for freedom and the downfall of the Assad regime. 104 protests across Syria today

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by THGRRI:
Are you too stupid SIG to realize they are calling for the destruction of Assad? Really, are you that stupid?

---