Syria in 2015

[OUTLAW 09]

MORE Russian disinformation from their greatest Russian owned propaganda media outlet.........


Sputnik ‏@SputnikInt · 11m11 minutes ago
#Syria defines Israeli airstrike on Damascus suburb as 'terrorist act'
http://sptnkne.ws/asz7

Sputnik ‏@SputnikInt · 26m26 minutes ago
#SyrianArmy takes full control of several areas south of Aleppo
http://sptnkne.ws/aszy #Syria

Sputnik ‏@SputnikInt · 1h1 hour ago
Faithful friend: German vice-chancellor stands up for #NordStream2 project
http://sptnkne.ws/asyP

Sputnik ‏@SputnikInt · 47m47 minutes ago
Neocons and #Assad haters outraged: #Obama 'accepts Russia's stance' on #Syria
http://sptnkne.ws/aszq #SyriaCrisis

[OUTLAW 09]

From the above posted Sputnik article.......

Neocons and Assad Haters Outraged: Obama 'Accepts Russia's Stance' on Syria

Politics
17:31 20.12.2015


President Barack Obama appears to have finally abandoned the Assad must go stance and agreed that the Syrians are the ones who can and will decide the future of their country – something Russia has long advocated, investigative journalist Robert Parry asserted.

Although this is a positive development for Syria, US hardliners and their Middle Eastern allies, who tried to push through a "regime change" scenario in Syria, are not happy about it.

"Obama finally ceded to the more democratically defensible position that the Syrian people should pick their own leaders. After all, if Obama is right about how much the Syrian people hate Assad, elections would empower them to implement their own 'regime change' through the ballot box," the analyst observed. "But that uncertain outcome is not what the [neocons] want. They want a predetermined result – Assad's ouster – regardless of the Syrian people's wishes."

Parry's opinion piece came in response to a Washington Post editorial, chastising the Obama administration for what they see as an about-face following four years of a (failed) "Assad-must-go" strategy.

Matter of True Intentions: This is Why Washington Does Not Want to Send Troops to Syria

"The more immediate issue is the Post's fury over the prospect that the Syrian people would be allowed to vote on Assad's future rather than have it dictated by neocon think tanks, Islamic jihadist rebels and their Turkish-Saudi-Qatari-Israeli-CIA backers," the journalist noted.

For the Washington Post, democratic elections in Syria are "a likely recipe for an impasse." The United Nations Security Council does not see it this way.

On Friday, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution designed to create a roadmap towards peace in the war-torn country. The agreement sets a timeframe for a ceasefire followed by the UN supervised "free and fair" elections in Syria.

The document does not say whether Assad can or cannot take part in the election, but Saudi Arabia, Turkey and other Sunni states will make every effort to prevent him from running.

Assad "is an Alawite, an offshoot of Shia Islam. Further condemning Assad in their eyes, he seeks to maintain a secular government that protects Christians, Alawites, Shiites and other minorities," Parry explained.

'I Was Already Packing': Assad 'Thanks' West for 'Allowing' Him to Lead His Own Country

Middle Eastern powers, who want to see Assad gone, share this sentiment with Israel and Official Washington's alliance of neoconservatives and liberal interventionists, as the journalist describes them.

The latter "have made Assad's ouster a cause célèbre despite the disastrous experiences overthrowing other secular regimes in Iraq and Libya," Parry observed.

In the past, the US president, according to the investigative journalist, "has been highly sensitive" to what this group thinks. But recent developments suggest that Obama might have opted for pragmatism instead of "neocon/liberal-hawk ideological desires."

[CrowBat]

From the above posted Sputnik article.......

Assad "is an Alawite, an offshoot of Shia Islam. Further condemning Assad in their eyes, he seeks to maintain a secular government that protects Christians, Alawites, Shiites and other minorities," Parry explained.

I strongly recommend Mr. Parry, the entire team of the RT - and everybody else sharing their opinion - to rush and emigrate to Syria, so they can enjoy a life full of fullfillment under that secular government that's protecting all possible minorities there...

[OUTLAW 09]

Jaish al Fatah bombing #Kefraya & #Fuah after #Russia'n airstrikes on #Idlib city break the truce

News
Despite massive #RussianAirstrikes, Syrian rebels recaptured Jabal Al-Nuba from pro-#Assad forces.

BREAKING
The title alone is groundbreaking! Lots of details in new @hrw report.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/12/20/russia/syria-extensive-recent-use-cluster-munitions …

Schools, homes, market, IDP camp attacked with cluster munitions in Syria/Russia op. -
@hrw http://bit.ly/1YtSWac

Blood on the ground of an IDP camp after 9M79-series Tochka ballistic missile attack
http://bit.ly/1YtSWac #Syria

Syria #Map
Rebels recapture ground S-W of Marj al-Sultan air base in #EastGhouta.
Graphic!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW8tG-ODqDI&oref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Do W8tG-ODqDI&has_verified=1 …

News
#Assad and #Putin war planes and helicopters keep bombing cities in northern #Hama province.

[OUTLAW 09]

Regime killed soldiers in Marj al-Sultan front
https://youtu.be/oW8tG-ODqDI
Regime army and allied militia killed soldiers in Khan Tuman front south
Disgusting! wasn't fighting for you Hamas nor for the Palestinian people, killed like a dog fighting for a dictator!

FSA @Skore_aljbl seized RPG grenades from Iranian militias attacking Khan Touman today

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Mesraba
#Damascus cs #Syria Dec 20

#Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes on #al_Bab, resulting 5 civilians killed
#Aleppo #Syria Dec 20

[OUTLAW 09]

Al_Jazeera Mbasher Suhaib alKhalif correspondent injured due #Russia airstrikes on Downtown #Idlib
#Syria Dec20

RUssia warplanes carried out airstrikes on #al_Lataminah
#Hama #Syria Dec 20

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Morek area
#Hama #Syria Dec 20

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Maarkaba village
#Hama #Syria Dec 20

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Lahaya neighborhood
#Hama #Syria Dec 20

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Deir_Hafir, resulting in 2 martyrs so far
#Aleppo #Syria Dec 20

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Maskanah village
#Aleppo cs #Syria Dec 20

Syrian Rebels destroy 2 tanks so far today one in Al Hayah in Hama & another in Daraya

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes on #al_Sayyad neighborhood, #Kafr_Zeta
#Hama #Syria Dec 20

Saa shelling mortars targeting civilians houses in #Douma
#Damascus CS #Syria Dec 20

[OUTLAW 09]

South Aleppo: big victory for Syrian Rebels. They laid trap for Iraqi forces & killed more than 20 fighters & captured 23 cannon

After Assad & Russia violated the ceasefire in Al Fua with Iraqi forces trying to advance, Rebels shelled Fua killing dozens of fighters

Results of an Israeli air strike previously posted here......
Damascus: Samir Kuntar the Hezbollah "hero" & Farhan Shaalan commander in "Syrian resistance" killed along with other 7 Hezbollah fighters
Remember: Samir Kuntar promised to cut the hands of anyone who would oppose Bashar Assad.

Mihraç Ural's "Syrian Resistance" has been the main perpetrator of the horrible #Banias massacre allegedly.

[OUTLAW 09]

The White Helmets ‏@SyriaCivilDef
Abdul Aziz Tallawy. He died saving others from Russia bombing in Idlib today. 20/12/15. We will remember him.

13 civilians killed & others wounded in #Russia|n airstrikes on Kafr Naha in west rural #Aleppo, #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

From the above posted Sputnik article.......

Neocons and Assad Haters Outraged: Obama 'Accepts Russia's Stance' on Syria

Politics
17:31 20.12.2015

THIS is the ground reality to the propaganda pushed by the 100% Russian government owned Sputnik International media outlet above.......

BREAKING
The title alone is groundbreaking! Lots of details in new @hrw report.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/12/20/...ster-munitions …

Schools, homes, market, IDP camp attacked with cluster munitions in Syria/Russia op. -
@hrw http://bit.ly/1YtSWac

Blood on the ground of an IDP camp after 9M79-series Tochka ballistic missile attack
http://bit.ly/1YtSWac #Syria

Surprised that this particular US journalist although considered to be a Progressive would allow himself to be wrapped up in a blatant propaganda piece....

BUT it seems the Progressive Left has fully bought into the Putin narrative globally since Crimea.....

[OUTLAW 09]

In #Syria more Kata'ib Hizballah were killed. This offensive (Aug-now)cost KH almost as many since entire 2013-14 period

[OUTLAW 09]

Oh great. #Germany supplied G36 to Kurds now in the hands of Shia Jihadists in #Iraq reportedly.

Iraqi #HashdAlShaabi buying G36 weapons from #KDP, who receives the weapons from #Germany.

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat----more evidence that he is in fact seriously wounded and or KIA.....

Interesting. Even Iranian @alalam_news reporting outdated #Soleimani footage as new.

[OUTLAW 09]

Eliot Higgins ‏@EliotHiggins aka bellingcat·
I wonder if the people who attacked me for claiming cluster munitions were used in Syria in 2012 now accept they are
https://www.youtube.com/watch?

Iran wants to buy Russian T-90 tanks. Russian T-90 tanks appear in Aleppo, where Iran-backed forces leading offensive. Coincidence?

[OUTLAW 09]

Damascus: Samir Kuntar the Hezbollah "hero" & Farhan Shaalan commander in "Syrian resistance" killed along with other 7 Hezbollah fighters[/B]
Remember: Samir Kuntar promised to cut the hands of anyone who would oppose Bashar Assad.

Mihra Ural's "Syrian Resistance" has been the main perpetrator of the horrible #Banias massacre allegedly.

Resistance crowd shocked! "But, but #Putin! S-400 and stuff!"

[OUTLAW 09]

Taken from a proAssad account.......

SAA & allies with #RuAF air cover have liberated 56 locations in 68 days during #Latakia countryside offensive

At least 4 women from the female regiment of the Syrian Republican Guards brigade were killed in an explosion in Mezze #Damascus

Assad and Putin are the men to sort things out in Syria. These places need ruthless hard-line dictators like Saddam and Gaddafi.

The anti-Assad rebels are Islamists and it was the rebels and IS who hit the Syrians with the chemical bomb prior to UN inspection

[OUTLAW 09]

#FSB Defector’s Claims about #Moscow’s Ties to #ISIS Consistent with Other Evidence.
http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.ca/2015/12/fsb-defectors-claims-about-moscows-ties.html?m=1 …
pic.twitter.com/DWn2vUTYAn

al-Nujaba Iraqi militia 23 mm gun seized by rebels in Khan Tuman south #Aleppo today.
pic.twitter.com/fY9cY1TlTs

[OUTLAW 09]

MORE on Russian info warfare trolls......

Kremlin Trolls @KremlinTrolls
How #Putin uses KGB-style “active measures”
http://www.aim.org/aim-column/how-putin-uses-kgb-style-active-measures/ …
pic.twitter.com/AfcvtBdY2b

[OUTLAW 09]

Why buy expensive Ghillie suit when a potato sac can do the job.If it's stupid but it works,it ain't stupid
FSA improvises.......

Saudi AQ-linked cleric, Abdullah al-Muhaysini injured against Iran-Russia led op in southern Aleppo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHshfEQSYqk&sns=tw …
Shk. Mhiseny of Jaish al-Fath injured again urges the rebel groups to unite against Russian & Iranian invasion.

Iraqi shia militants captured today in Khan Tuman south #Aleppo.

[OUTLAW 09]

Reference the Russian Private Military Company brigade working in Syria....

All pay is handed over to PMC Wagner subordinates ONLY after accomplishing business mission. Any reporting of misbehaving rewarded w bonus.

Depending on severity of WIA PMC Wagner pays 50K - 300K RUB (€650 - €3900). In case of KIA 3M RUB (€39000). Recovering body is not included.

PMC Wagner pay ranges fr LVL1 60K RUB (€780) to LVL5 240K RUB (€3110). LVL5 is direct combat assignments. Company cmndr 350K RUB (€4550)

[OUTLAW 09]

Strange just how history catches up with Putin.... is seems Russia/Soviet Union has been using the concept of "vacationing truck drivers/coal miners" for over 30 plus years...AND the West falls for it every time....

In the 1980s, the Soviet Union sent thousands of soldiers disguised as tourists to Syria
http://nyti.ms/1OgP9HM
pic.twitter.com/5UJoPuaGWP

[OUTLAW 09]

Damascus: 4 relief workers killed & a woman & 2 children, by Russian airstrikes on "Adalah" aid warehouse in Douma #Syria

Ajnad al-Sham claimed responsibility for the attack on bus of the Republican Guard in Damascus #Syria

Weeping for criminals. Funeral of Syrian Muqawama commander Farhan Shalan in Golan, #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian airstrike completely destroys a relief warehouse in Ashra’ai area in #Douma, #Damascus. Leaves 7 dead inc 2 children & their mother

Just pure criminal. Vid of what’s left of the Adala relief warehouse in #Douma after a Russian airstrike
http://youtu.be/cReKEKVN_yk

At least 336 attacks have been carried out on 240 medical facilities in #Syria during the conflict
http://owl.li/VZYvX

Ghouta: Rebels kill at least 15 Assad regime fighters in Al Kaziya
pic.twitter.com/NN6oKP5IbI

Damascus: Syrian Rebels destroyed a total of 3 Assad regime tanks today

Aleppo: Pro Assad sectarian shiite Iraqi fighters were humiliated in Khan Touman with some killed & some captured
pic.twitter.com/yW8D2W3CiL

[CrowBat]

At least 336 attacks have been carried out on 240 medical facilities in #Syria during the conflict
http://owl.li/VZYvX...reads as if Assadists - and now Russians too - are using CBUs with 'hospital-homing seeker heads'...

Russians might want to bolster their efforts, though: presently they're still third, right after the Daesh...

[davidbfpo]

I suppose that these weapons are just another tool in the Assadist tactical menu. From my armchair it looks like one strategic aim is to deny the opposition anything beyond basic first aid medical provision for fighters and people, so contributing to the exodus from Syria.

I have a vague recollection this happened in the Soviet period in Afghanistan.

[OUTLAW 09]

Ghouta: Assad regime fighters killed by rebels in Marj Al Sultan
https://youtu.be/oW8tG-ODqDI

UNSC #Syria Between #Idlib, #Aleppo, #Homs, #Daraya & #Douma nearly 100 people if not more were killed by Russian & Assad airstrikes today

[CrowBat]

Well, the original aim was to destroy opposition's ability to run 'normal/everyday' life (to organize own authorities, courts etc.), in order to 'show' that there is 'no alternative' to the regime.

Meanwhile, the aim is just to kill; if people then flee their homes to become refugees in Syria, even better, then that's in Russian interest. Namely, the flow of refugees into the EU is bringing all the possible xenophobes and chauvinists to the surface, and creating deep rifts between different governments.

A disunited EU = no threat for Putin's FSB-maffia that rules Russia.

********

Ah yes... and another of Putler's lies was debunked:
Fact-checking Russian MoD’s claims on ISIS’s oil business (https://citeam.org/fact-checking-russian-mod-s-claims-on-isis-s-oil-bussines/)

...Conclusion

the Russian MoD’s briefing did not present proof of Islamic State oil smuggling to Syria and Erdogan’s family’s involvement in it. Even though the smuggling does take place, its techniques and scale don’t match MoD’s claims;
contrary to MoD claims, trucks cannot be seen "passing the border without restrictions" from Syria into Turkey. The border traffic matches the situation observed prior to the conflict in Syria, and in some cases may be explained by supplies being brought to refugee camps at the border;
the MoD briefing shows only one RuAF airstrike on an ISIS oil facility (while giving a wrong location for the airstrike). All other airstrikes hit civilian facilities unrelated to oil production, refining and transporting.

Thus, the December 2 Russian MoD briefing presented a variety of unsubstantiated and, in some cases, outright false claims, presumbaly to misinform Russian and foreign audiences and paint a false image of Turkey’s policy on ISIS.

[OUTLAW 09]

A social media comment that aptly depicts the current Obama/Kerry mess in Syria and not only in Syria BUT Ukraine simply because this administration is unwilling to fully understand the Russian and Iranian UW strategy using what we have it seems years discussed here at SWJ ---non linear warfare.....

QUOTE:

If 100's ppl were dying daily in the West cuz a Muslim country was carrying out airstrikes & announced a "holy war" what would happen

THEN followed by this:

Russian airstrike completely destroys a relief warehouse in Ashra’ai area in #Douma, #Damascus. Leaves 7 dead inc 2 children & their mother

Just pure criminal. Vid of what’s left of the Adala relief warehouse in #Douma after a Russian airstrike
http://youtu.be/cReKEKVN_yk

At least 336 attacks have been carried out on 240 medical facilities in #Syria during the conflict
http://owl.li/VZYvX

While the Assad AF and the Islamic State Air Force continues to kill civilians, and bomb hospitals, churches, marketplaces, schools, critical food/water sources and critical infrastructures THE entire West starting with Obama and Kerry COMPLETELY ignores the UNSC demands to stop the bombing of civilians BUT at the same time state ...."a milestone....

This "milestone" is exactly what again as it did not address what happens to Assad and who is exactly a terrorist and it did not address the KSA Conference demands.....AND exactly where and how will elections be fairly conducted in the middle of an intense civil war.

WAIT Obama and Kerry have the solution ......."a ceasefire".....WHERE has that worked lately---they will say the Ukraine...but wait still over 50 attacks a day from Russian troops and her mercenaries AND daily UAF loses.

AND as in eastern Ukraine Obama and Kerry say nothing.......

[OUTLAW 09]

Well, the original aim was to destroy opposition's ability to run 'normal/everyday' life (to organize own authorities, courts etc.), in order to 'show' that there is 'no alternative' to the regime.

Meanwhile, the aim is just to kill; if people then flee their homes to become refugees in Syria, even better, then that's in Russian interest. Namely, the flow of refugees into the EU is bringing all the possible xenophobes and chauvinists to the surface, and creating deep rifts between different governments.

A disunited EU = no threat for Putin's FSB-maffia that rules Russia.

********

Ah yes... and another of Putler's lies was debunked:
Fact-checking Russian MoD’s claims on ISIS’s oil business (https://citeam.org/fact-checking-russian-mod-s-claims-on-isis-s-oil-bussines/)

CrowBat----Putin has defined starting with Georgia 2008 three core geo political goals for Europe and by definition extended to the ME.

1. damage and discredit NATO
2. damage and discredit the EU
2. disconnect the US fully from Europe---AND here the Obama retrenchment a la Wilson 1920 is doing Putin's own work

For the ME I would add these additional geo political goals...

1. toss the US completely out of the ME
2. establish Russian dominance in the entire ME thus controlling the Sunni Front States which in fact drive OPEC and the flow of oil prices---THIS is also an Iranian geo political goal as well
3. establish Russian military dominance over the entire Me and the complete Med.........

Putin has verbally dreamed of a "new Yalta" where the world is divided into spheres of influence--BUT the core difference to the old concept--the "influencer can do whatever they want to do within their own sphere".

Putin and his FM have not given up the dream of a unified economic zone from Portugal to the Russian Far East...naturally under Russian control.

REMEMBER this is actually why he wants a "new Yalta"--this came clearly in two of his comments yesterday;

1. we will not leave Russians under the control of Ukrainian nationalists---he shifted his language- before they were Nazi's and a junta AND
2. the US is trying to stop Russia from resurrecting a new Soviet Union.......

[OUTLAW 09]

Dozens of bodies of Pakistani & Afghani Shia fighters killed in Syria have reached Tehran this morning

Aleppo: around 50 pro Assad foreign fighters killed & 4 taken prisoner yesterday
http://www.3rabpress.com/ar/?p=38623

Latakia: Syrian Rebels repel Assad forces at Jabal Ghazala

AND the Islamic State Air Force just keeps on killing civilians AND the West says nothing.....
Aleppo: more Russian crimes this morning as their airforce strikes Manbaj injuring & maiming civilians

[OUTLAW 09]

Rebels fire multiple Grad rockets from truck on the Khan Tuman front https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFIvcb05uGs …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=36.119850&lon=37.053924&z=15&m=b …

Regime army soldiers on the run around Marj al-Sultan airbase #EastGhouta
https://www.jaishalislam.com/subject/373

Combat vid by #JaI from #Jobar
https://youtu.be/OORxRNc3zmw

A mortar Barrage on Assadist positions
https://youtu.be/KtC63m9dAYA

A mortar Team from the #IslamicFront Shells an Assadist hilltop in Latakia with 120mm
https://youtu.be/cikaD3xGlNk

[OUTLAW 09]

Maybe this partly explains Iran's expansionisn in Syria?
Scarred Riverbeds & Dead Pistachio Trees in a Parched Iran
http://nyti.ms/1ZfvZdd

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia has now declared via non linear warfare "war" on Turkey...the question is does NATO and Obama recognize it....??? not really......

Russia is seeking better 'diplomatic ties' with Kurds/Turkish opposition party.
https://twitter.com/mutludc/status/678645613718863872 …

Russia will not openly attack Turkey, as it didn't in Ukraine either. But by supplying Turkey's enemies it can start hybrid/proxy war there

With Russia sponsoring PKK Turkey may face the same kind of 'riots' that turned Maidan in Ukraine into a 'civil war' (which it was not).

That's not so surprising??? It is Russian info war are work......
@RT_com is (only one) covering the heavy clashes btwn PKK & Turkey.
https://twitter.com/DrPartizan_/status/678644925051879425 … pic.twitter.com/NrhGLwcN6X

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia has now declared via non linear warfare "war" on Turkey...the question is does NATO and Obama recognize it....??? not really......

Russia is seeking better 'diplomatic ties' with Kurds/Turkish opposition party.
https://twitter.com/mutludc/status/678645613718863872 …

Russia will not openly attack Turkey, as it didn't in Ukraine either. But by supplying Turkey's enemies it can start hybrid/proxy war there

With Russia sponsoring PKK Turkey may face the same kind of 'riots' that turned Maidan in Ukraine into a 'civil war' (which it was not).

That's not so surprising??? It is Russian info war are work......
@RT_com is (only one) covering the heavy clashes btwn PKK & Turkey.
https://twitter.com/DrPartizan_/status/678644925051879425 … pic.twitter.com/NrhGLwcN6X

As Russia supports Kurds against IS, will it play the 'Kurdish card' against Turkey? On Kurdish-Russian relations.
http://www.russia-direct.org/analysis/playing-kurdish-card-against-turkey …

[OUTLAW 09]

Incredible - Watch this badass dodge a Malyutka 9M14 ATGM in Khan Tuman, Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBN7molgq1c …
pic.twitter.com/QqZ4WUIdBa

The 2 months b4 #ParisAttacks average/day of airstrikes vs daesh was 26.61. after the attacks.. it dropped to 19.78. that's 26% less.

[OUTLAW 09]

Ah...now we know the true reasons for the Islamic State Air Force bombings in Syria.....from information sources in Ukraine who are far more in tune to Russian activities and corruption..........

#Russian army in #Syria bombs moderate opposition to secure Timchenko's Stroytransgaz & Tyazhpromeksport oil assets. https://blog.informnapalm.org/shipilov-syria/

In Russian........

AND supposedly it is not about oil.....AND is all about the IS??

[OUTLAW 09]

It does not take a rocket scientist to see that the Obama and Kerry tandem of "soft power" has basically failed both in eastern Ukraine and now in Syria. They firmly believe they can "talk their way out of a paper bag"...but reality shows us they cannot and besides a paper bag is a very bad foreign policy concept.

This administration, President and NSC are the weakest players in the WH in about now 70 years and that is saying a lot after Bush 2.

Ceasefire in Ukraine is averaging lately 50 or more attacks and UAF loses daily and that is a "ceasefire".

BUT hey we have a ..."milestone"....in Syria.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/what-happened-to-regime-change-on-syria-the-white-house-accommodates-russia/2015/12/17/62238450-a370-11e5-b53d-972e2751f433_story.html

The Post's View

On regime change in Syria, the White House capitulates to Russia

By Editorial Board December 17


RUSSIAN PLANES are still bombing Western-backed forces in Syria every day and targeting hospitals, bakeries and humanitarian corridors. Moscow is still insisting that blood-drenched dictator Bashar al-Assad remain in power indefinitely while trying to exclude opposition groups from proposed peace negotiations by claiming they are terrorists.

Nevertheless, Secretary of State John F. Kerry insisted Tuesday after meeting with Vladi#mir Putin that the Russian ruler and the Obama administration see Syria “in fundamentally the same way.” Unfortunately, that increasingly appears to be the case — and not because Mr. Putin has altered his position.

For four years, President Obama demanded the departure of Mr. Assad, who has killed hundreds of thousands of his own people with chemical weapons, “barrel bombs,” torture and other hideous acts. Yet in its zeal to come to terms with Mr. Putin, the Obama administration has been slowly retreating from that position. On Tuesday in Moscow, Mr. Kerry took another big step backward: “The United States and our partners are not seeking so-called regime change,” he said. He added that a demand by a broad opposition front that Mr. Assad step down immediately was a “non-starting position” — because the United States already agreed that Mr. Assad could stay at least for the first few months of a “transition process.”

Mr. Kerry’s rhetorical capitulation was coupled with the observation that the administration doesn’t “believe that Assad himself has the ability to be able to lead the future Syria.” But he now agrees with Mr. Putin that the country’s future leadership must be left to Syrians to work out. That’s a likely recipe for an impasse — especially as Mr. Assad is still saying he won’t even negotiate with any opponents who are armed or backed by foreign governments. At the same time, the administration’s forswearing of “regime change” sends a message to Mr. Putin and his Iranian allies: The power structure in Damascus that has granted Russia a naval base and served as a conduit for Iranian weapons to the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon can remain.

Mr. Kerry says he is trying to forge a political process that will lead to a cease-fire and eventually a political deal. The next step will be a meeting Friday in New York in which governments in the International Syria Support Group are to discuss which opposition forces will be included and which banished as terrorists. If a cease-fire could be reached — including an end to Russian and Syrian government bombing — that would be a valuable achievement, even if the political talks go nowhere. The result could be coexistence of government- and rebel-controlled zones in Syria, and a concentration of local and international firepower against the part of the country controlled by the Islamic State.

For now, however, even that looks like a long shot. Not only does the Assad regime have a record of blatantly disregarding U.N.-sponsored cease-fires, but also Russia manifestly does not see Syria as the West does, as its vicious and apparently deliberate strikes on civilian targets far from Islamic State territory show. Mr. Kerry said that he had raised those attacks with Mr. Putin, who graciously “took that under advisement.” If and when the Russian bombings cease, there will be more reason to share in Mr. Kerry’s sunny view that Russian and American views on Syria are converging.

So again the core question...the WH has a Syrian strategy right....???

Actually with this weakness group of policy makers a kindergarten graduate could probably do better simply by throwing a dart at the map.....

[OUTLAW 09]

The US has the tools to defeat the Islamic State and Russia’s propagandists, but is squandering them. http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/14/how-washington-can-win-the-information-war/ …

Nothing but DC talk as it has been the role of social media that has been pushing back as much as they could for over 20 months now and the US is just getting "into the fight"...come on......the DC talk is all that it is namely a complete farce.....

[OUTLAW 09]

Really really worth the complete reading of this article........

http://mosaicmagazine.com/response/2015/12/why-obama-cant-catch-up-with-putins-increasingly-bold-moves/

Why Obama Can't Catch Up with Putin's Increasingly Bold Moves

Blind to the motives that shape the Russian president’s strategy, the White House pursues a futile search for “common ground.”

Leon Aron

Dec. 14 2015


As conscientious chroniclers do, Michael Doran, in his painstaking examination of the Obama administration’s disastrous foreign policy toward Russia, both instructs us and provokes thoughts and questions that may exceed the intended scope of his essay. Specifically, one is drawn to ask: what caused this policy to be so dismal, so strewn with mistakes, so strikingly unable to predict Moscow’s behavior or to catch up with Vladimir Putin’s increasingly bold moves?

Between historical explanations based in theories of conspiracy and those premised on assumptions of incompetence, it’s usually prudent to plump for incompetence; or so we’re told. But a number of those advising President Obama on Russia are personally known to me to be quite competent, so that explanation won’t wash. Doran offers a different explanation, one that focuses on the beliefs of the president. Barack Obama, he writes, is ideologically wedded to a strategic understanding that is at once false, impervious to correction by reality, and unswayable by the counsel of advisers. This may well be so, but the problem may also be deeper and require elaboration.

First, a narrow amendment. Doran suggests that the 2009 “reset” with Russia was motivated by the administration’s desire to bring in Moscow as a constructive partner in confronting and containing the dangers of Sunni radicalism in the Middle East. This may be so, although it’s worth noting that by 2008 al-Qaeda had been defeated in both Iraq and Afghanistan. But there was also another and in my view more compelling reason for launching the reset: namely, President Obama’s dream of a “world without nuclear weapons,” as spelled out in his April 2009 speech in Prague two-and-a-half months after his inauguration.

Even for a president enjoying what was likely the sweetest of all political honeymoons in U.S. history, Obama couldn’t achieve his dream by means of fiat—that is, by means of a unilateral American disarmament. To advance toward his goal, he needed Russia. Hence, evidently, the intense engagement with Moscow in 2009-10 and the many “accommodations” made along the way, including cancellation of the planned deployment of missile interceptors in Poland and radars in the Czech Republic. (The former decision was conveyed to Warsaw on September 17, 2009: the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland at the dawn of World War II.) As soon as the new START treaty was signed in April 2010, the president, in the judgment of trustworthy sources, “lost interest in Russia.”

Even so, his neglect, if such it was, was certainly of a benign kind. Indeed, to an extent unmatched by any other American administration, including Richard Nixon’s at the height of détente, the Obama White House has continued to conduct a running experiment in realist diplomacy with Moscow. It is as if Obama were daily consulting the key precepts of realist doctrine: ignore a regime’s ideology and domestic behavior; do not meddle in its internal affairs; do not “preach” or “reprimand” or “advocate” anything, least of all “democracy”; respect the regime’s “national interests” and stick to negotiating on that basis—and lo!, from out of the test tube will emerge a “responsible” geopolitical “stakeholder.”

The real-world results, in the Middle East and elsewhere, are by now well known, and expertly catalogued by Michael Doran.

But why, to return to my first question, did it turn out this way?

For me, the reason appears to lie in the administration’s inability (or, more likely, unwillingness) to assess its adversary’s behavior by the method historically proved useful in accounting for and anticipating the behavior of states: proceeding from the leaders’ core beliefs, to goals, to strategy, to policy, and finally to tactical implementation.

Each of these, in the case of Vladimir Putin, has been hidden in plain view. To start with beliefs:

Russia is never wrong, but is perennially wronged by the West.

Following his favorite philosopher, Ivan Ilyin, the Russian president believes the West’s hostility to Russia to be eternal, prompted by its jealousy of Russia’s size, natural riches, and, most of all, its incorruptible soul and God-given mission to be a light among nations, a/k/a “the Third Rome” (after ancient Rome and the Byzantine empire). Hence, Western plots against Russia are relentless. While truces are possible and often tactically advantageous, genuine peace with the West is very unlikely. (This general narrative is of course familiar enough in modern history, with the enemy being variously identified as “plutocrats,” “Anglo-Saxons,” or, needless to add, Jews. It was the key trope of Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany, and continues to be a favorite of autocrats to this day.)

Next to goals and strategy:

For Russia, the end of the cold war was the equivalent of the Versailles treaty for post-World War I Germany: a crushing defeat and a source of endless humiliation and misery. Indeed, the fall of the Soviet Union was “the greatest geopolitical tragedy of the 20th century.”

Thus, the overarching strategic goal of any truly patriotic Russian leader (not idiots or traitors or both, like Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin) is to recover and repossess the political, economic, and geostrategic assets lost by the Soviet state.

This in a nutshell is the Putin Doctrine, as I dubbed it in a 2008 essay in Foreign Affairs, and the Russian leader proceeded to implement it from Day One of his first presidency in 2000. By the time he left office in 2009 for an interim period of place-holding by Dmitri Medvedev, he had largely put in place the doctrine’s domestic agenda: once again, the state had achieved ownership of or control over national politics, the media—above all, television—the commanding heights of the economy, and the courts.

After Putin’s resumption of the presidency in 2012, he turned to the doctrine’s foreign-policy aspects. Several factors influenced this shift in focus.

Continued......a long read.......

[OUTLAW 09]

Another solid article to read in full.....

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/20/putin-seducing-iraq-s-tribes.html

12.20.159:00 PM ET

Putin ‘Seducing’ Iraq’s Tribes

‘Russia is serious in fighting terrorism,’ one sheikh tells The Daily Beast, ‘unlike the U.S.’


BAGHDAD — In the last Iraq war, the U.S. military helped beat ISIS’s predecessors with the help of the Sunni tribes. Now, Russia is trying to take a page from the old American playbook, and forge its own tribal alliances.

“Russia is serious in fighting terrorism and wants to finish the war as soon as possible, unlike the U.S.,” Faisal al-Asafi, a Sunni sheikh in Iraq’s Anbar province who opposes ISIS, told The Daily Beast. “Russia has already started bombing the transmission lines of ISIS while the U.S. is watching ISIS fighters moving freely from Syria to Anbar.”

Two U.S. officials told The Daily Beast that they are seeing early signs of this Russian outreach to Sunni tribal leaders in Iraq, aimed at bolstering the minority sect’s efforts to combat ISIS militants embedded within Sunni communities.

Part of this recent charm offensive is the Kremlin’s offer to provide Sunni tribes with weapons faster than the U.S. has thus far been able to, and to do so unilaterally, bypassing the Shiite-dominated central government entirely. American-provided materiel to the tribes will continue to go through Baghdad, out of respect for Iraq’s sovereignty.

The two U.S. officials say that Russia’s tribal outreach has yet to bear fruit. “It’s in the seduction phase,” one official explained to The Daily Beast.

But these officials suspect it’s part of Vladimir Putin’s ongoing effort to undermine and curtail American influence in the Middle East, particularly when it comes to presenting himself as the more trustworthy and credible ally in counterterrorism.

Rumors have abounded for months, for instance, of Russia’s possible direct military intervention in Iraq, mirrored on its surprise aerial campaign in Syria, which began in October.

That war, ostensibly undertaken to go after ISIS targets, has instead been waged to bolster the regime of Bashar al-Assad, Russia’s client in Damascus, with the vast majority of Russia’s payload being dropped on non-ISIS targets. This week, Britain’s Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond even accused Moscow of helping ISIS to advance in Syria by targeting anti-Assad rebels who were also at war with the jihadist forces.

Iraq, though, is different. A country invaded and occupied for nearly a decade by the U.S., which also armed and trained its army and police, still has to maintain at least the appearance of loyalty to Washington. Iraqi government spokesman Sa’ad al-Hadithi told The Daily Beast that “Iraq is keen to establish balanced relations with all countries of the world and take advantage of all forms of support provided by any regional or other states regarding the war on terrorism and the challenges facing Iraq in the current war against terrorist group Daesh,” using another, pejorative term for the so-called Islamic State widely known as ISIS.

Some Iraqi officials and stakeholders, however, believe that Russia is a more honest broker than is the U.S.

“We are cooperating with Russia—as is the case with other countries in the world—in two domains,” Hadithi told The Daily Beast. “The first, armaments, in which we have contracts with Russia. From time to time, they send batches of weapons, ammunition and military supplies on quite a regular basis. The second area that has been agreed upon is the exchange of intelligence within the Quartet, which includes Iran and Syria.” The other two members are Iraq and Russia.

While the Kremlin’s footprint is not particularly visible inside the Green Zone, sources in Baghdad say that Russian military, diplomatic and intelligence officers are present in the three places that count, those most vital to Iraq’s security.

The first is a location close to the Khuld Hall, where the so-called Suqor, or “Hawks,” cell operates. Here, Iraqi spies exchange intelligence with their Russian counterparts, especially any information relating to the senior leaders and commanders of ISIS. The second venue is the National Information Center, run by Lieutenant General Hussein Alasady. The Russians, sources tell The Daily Beast, keep their own major general there as a representative and liaison. Finally, Moscow has a presence within the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers building, which is the nerve center of all of Iraq’s national security operations.

Needless to add, all of these organs are thoroughly penetrated by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, which is responsible for arming and training the Hashd al-Shaabi and, to a lesser or greater degree, running Iraq’s war. Iran’s state-backed Fars media reported that Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the IRGC’s expeditionary wing, the Quds Force, was in Moscow for three days last week to meet with Vladimir Putin and “and high-ranking Russian military and security officials.” Putin evidently referred to Soleimani, who is rumored to be responsible for rescuing the Russian fighter pilot who parachuted into northwestern Syria after his jet was shot down by the Turkish Air Force last month, as “my friend Qassem.” It was Soleimani, too, who reportedly convinced Putin to intervene directly in Syria on a previous trip to Moscow.

Hakim al-Zamili is commander of the Saraya al-Salam militia within the Hashd al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization Units—Iranian-backed Shia paramilitary forces which have been responsible for the bulk of the ground war against ISIS in Iraq. They have also been accused of gross human rights violations against Sunnis—violations which the U.S. government has tried to cover up—expelling ISIS from Iraqi territory. Al-Zamili told The Daily Beast that Russia has sent “light weapons and ammunition for free” to Iraq in exchange for intelligence sharing.

“Iran, Russia, and Iraq are working closely and cooperating,” he said. And this trilateral relationship exists quite comfortably without any outside interference or ancillary partnerships. Russia has also refused to participate in Saudi Arabia’s newly-hatched “Islamic coalition” of nations dedicated to fighting jihadism. Why? “Because Iraq and Iran haven’t participated,” Zamili said.

In addition to his role as a militia leader, Zamili also heads Iraqi Parliament’s Security and Defense Committee, which recently traveled as a delegation to Moscow. A separate senior commander within the Hashd al-Shaabi described that visit for The Daily Beast.

“They talked about forming a joint intelligence operation room in Baghdad and helping the Hashd al-Shaabi on the ground.” Both sides also evidently discussed “putting pressure on the U.S.,” namely by keeping its own military footprint light or non-existent in Iraq. “That’s been clear in statements by Hashd leaders who threatened the U.S. if troops come back to Iraq,” the commander said.

Given this level of Russian penetration in Iraq’s security and military sectors, it was perhaps inevitable that the Kremlin also try to win over the Sunni tribes, long considered by analysts and regional officials to be the sine qua non for any serious campaign against ISIS.

A small number of tribesmen are currently partnering with pro-Iraqi forces, including the Hashd al-Shaabi, in an ongoing and long-delayed operation to liberate Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar, which fell to ISIS last summer. As such, Moscow has been courting the Anbari tribes most assiduously.

The Russian embassy in Baghdad is said to be coordinating this outreach program with with Iraq’s National Security Service, the Hashd al-Shaabi, and the National Committee for Implementation and Follow-up of the National Reconciliation, a body dedicated to bringing the country’s parlous factions together.

“The Russians almost always do their reach and issue invitations through a think tank that is Iraqi state-run,” said Mark Alsalih, a Sunni lobbyist in Washington and the president of the Iraq Stability and Security Program, composed of citizens and tribal sheikhs. “They reached out last summer to the president of Peace Ambassadors for Iraq, Sheikh Jamal Aldhari. The sheikh obliged and visited Moscow where he met with former and current Russian officials, mostly to hear what the Russian government’s position and intent is vis-a-vis Iraq.”

Invitations were also recently sent to the Iraqi Revolutionary Tribal Political Council, headed by Sheikh Zaidan Aljaberi, and to the Iraqi Ba’ath Party. “To the best of my knowledge,” Alsalih said, “they have not visited Moscow and the Council issued a statement rejecting Russian intervention in Iraq.”

Indeed, there’s little evidence that Russia’s outreach is working, at least not yet. U.S. officials believe “no major” Sunni tribesman have warmed to proposals of a partnership with the Kremlin.

Continued...long read........

[CrowBat]

Ah...now we know the true reasons for the Islamic State Air Force bombings in Syria.....from information sources in Ukraine who are far more in tune to Russian activities and corruption..........

#Russian army in #Syria bombs moderate opposition to secure Timchenko's Stroytransgaz & Tyazhpromeksport oil assets. https://blog.informnapalm.org/shipilov-syria/

In Russian........

AND supposedly it is not about oil.....AND is all about the IS??
This is a very interesting article, and it is making sense... BUT...

The last I recall, Stroytransgas has lost all of its bids won in Syria at earlier times, already years before 2011 (well, with exception of one project from earlier times).

For example: after years of discussions with Russian and Chinese companies (CNODC and CNPC), the Syrian Ministry of Oil and Mineral Resources announced that it had signed a MoU with Stroy to have an oil refinery and petrochemicals complex built in the Deir ez-Zor region, on 27 December 2005.

However, already on 19 May 2006 Middle East Business Intelligence (MEED) reported that the ministry had cancelled the Russian-proposed project.

MEED quoted Hassan Zainab, Deputy Oil Minister as saying that, "We signed a MoU but we decided to reject [the proposal]". Reportedly, shortly later there was another Russian company, called Credit Line, that signed a MoU for a refining/petrochemical complex at Dayr az-Zawr instead. But, such reports were never verified, although there was plenty of construction activity in that area, in 2007-2008. Read: if, then it was somebody else (but Stroy) who's got that contract.

This article is further citing the 'Arab Pipeline': I know this one as the Euro-Mashreq gas pipeline (EAM), which was planned to run for 1,200km from Egypt through Jordan and Syria to Turkey.

Back then planned to become fully operational in 2011 or 2012 (several years later than expected; the reason for delay was the re-tendering of the 62km long leg between Aleppo and Kilis, on Turkish border), this project was never realized. Namely, although Stroy signed a US$71 million contract for the construction of this section, on 14 October 2008, this contract was annulled in early 2009. MEED cited Richard Kupisz, team leader of the EAM Gas Co-operation Centre (EAMGCC) in Damascus, who said that, 'the Aleppo-Kilis phase is being re-tendered due to the fall in energy prices and Syria hoping to get a better deal through a competitive tender'. The bidding process was still 'undergoing technical evaluation' at the outbreak of the civil war - so no chance that the Stroy completed it in 2009.

I'm almost 100% sure to have read similar reports (about cancellations) of nearly all of other Story-related projects, including that North Middle Area Gas Exploitation Project and the Palmyra Gas Project, too.

So, while Stroy did complete the Homs Pipeline Project, the rest sounds like the company just bragging around with subsequent contracts - all of which were annulled. At least it's so that - while highly interesting (perhaps even 'promising') - this feature needs plenty of additional research in order to consider it as 'verified'.

Ditto in regards of this Putin ‘Seducing’ Iraq’s Tribes (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/20/putin-seducing-iraq-s-tribes.html). Namely, one of biggest problems about Arabs and Russians - and especially any combination between the two - is that they both love to talk and to make plans. Not so much to realize these.

So, when some Sheikhs there are babbling about Rusians already bombing Daesh, there's next to no chance of this being the case, becasuse Russians are barely doing so. Or if, then only sporadically and with next to no precision. Moreover, it's perfectly plausible for some Sheikh to see a CENTCOM air strike and convince himself this would be Russian, because Russians made him some promises and he convinces himself these would be truth because he wishes them (Russian promises) to be truth.

Wouldn't be the first (rather 1 millionth), and certainly not the last such case...

[Azor]

Incredible - Watch this badass dodge a Malyutka 9M14 ATGM in Khan Tuman, Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBN7molgq1c …
pic.twitter.com/QqZ4WUIdBa

Okay that guy deserves a medal and a seat in Vienna!

[OUTLAW 09]

Damascus Regime open road into Wadi Barada after closed for 130 days after agreement with the rebels (water for capital <-> aid)

Furqat al-Wusta (#FSA) destoryed a regime T-72 tank near al-Maan (northern #Hama)
https://youtu.be/DiNgfCp7160

Russia'n airstrikes on Anjarah in western #Aleppo
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.215610&lon=36.946936&z=14&m=b
…
Regime or #Russia'n airstrikes on kurdish Sheikh Maksoud neighborhood in #Aleppo after cease-fire agreement btw #FSA & #YPG

Dead Shiite militia members from #Iraq'i "Kataib #Hezbollah"
in southern #Aleppo

Aleppo Rebels hit gathering of Shiite forces with TOW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1P2ZLmAAhU …

Aleppo Rebels hit Shiite forces with Malyutka ATGM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujCndKkTIqM …

Rebels destroyed rocket launcher at southern outskirts of #Aleppo with TOW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEUash7plWQ …

[OUTLAW 09]

Damascus Regime open road into Wadi Barada after closed for 130 days after agreement with the rebels (water for capital <-> aid)

Furqat al-Wusta (#FSA) destoryed a regime T-72 tank near al-Maan (northern #Hama)
https://youtu.be/DiNgfCp7160

Russia'n airstrikes on Anjarah in western #Aleppo
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.215610&lon=36.946936&z=14&m=b
…
Regime or #Russia'n airstrikes on kurdish Sheikh Maksoud neighborhood in #Aleppo after cease-fire agreement btw #FSA & #YPG

Dead Shiite militia members from #Iraq'i "Kataib #Hezbollah"
in southern #Aleppo

Aleppo Rebels hit gathering of Shiite forces with TOW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1P2ZLmAAhU …

Aleppo Rebels hit Shiite forces with Malyutka ATGM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujCndKkTIqM …

Rebels destroyed rocket launcher at southern outskirts of #Aleppo with TOW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEUash7plWQ …

VIDEO: FSA 16th Division fire hell cannon at #SAA in northern #Aleppo,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtwbUkBEbPQ …

ISRAEL: A Hezbollah official has said that #Israel will be held accountable for the killing of Samir Qantar. - @DailySabah

VIDEO: Levant Revolutionaries Battalion hit #SAA soldier with ATGM. #Syria.

France and #Russia agreed on intelligence data exchange on #Syria, discussed a number of tools vs foreign mercenaries in #ISIS, #AlQaeda

Военный Советник ‏@miladvisor
Reports #SAA / #NDF cuts off support & logistic routes of rebels on M-5 highway #Aleppo-#Damascus

Lataminah in north rural #Hama also hit by Russian airstrikes a short while ago.

Assad helicopters dropping barrel bombs over #Moadamiya a little while ago. You can also hear an IRAM at 0:26
http://youtu.be/QdUceYuWw9M

[OUTLAW 09]

Thuwar al-Sham trying to hit a pro-Assad militia's pickup truck w/ a Malyutka missile nearly 3Km away in #Aleppo
http://youtu.be/bBN7molgq1c

Thuwar al-Sham waste an ATGM missile on pro-Assad militants in #Aleppo. One of them defintely blown to bits though
http://youtu.be/DOWk-340ss0

3rd Russian airstrike today on Houla in #Homs, #Syria http://youtu.be/r5WK1HW3Quk

Fighting between rebels & regime militias continues in the Khaldiya area in #Aleppo
http://youtu.be/xWRfVvJICyU

FSA Suqour al-Jabal using a TOW missile on a regime tank in Tal Ghazaleh, rural #Latakia,
http://youtu.be/Yo8YYMiovv0

[CrowBat]

Okay that guy deserves a medal and a seat in Vienna!
...as Khamenei's next official driver... :D

[OUTLAW 09]

Thuwar al-Sham trying to hit a pro-Assad militia's pickup truck w/ a Malyutka missile nearly 3Km away in #Aleppo
http://youtu.be/bBN7molgq1c

Thuwar al-Sham waste an ATGM missile on pro-Assad militants in #Aleppo. One of them defintely blown to bits though
http://youtu.be/DOWk-340ss0

3rd Russian airstrike today on Houla in #Homs, #Syria http://youtu.be/r5WK1HW3Quk

Fighting between rebels & regime militias continues in the Khaldiya area in #Aleppo
http://youtu.be/xWRfVvJICyU

FSA Suqour al-Jabal using a TOW missile on a regime tank in Tal Ghazaleh, rural #Latakia,
http://youtu.be/Yo8YYMiovv0

Assad helicopters continue to drop barrel bombs on Ter Ma'ala in #Homs,
http://youtu.be/WC3HnQbjpqs

Marj & Douma in E. Ghouta on fire today, reports about 25 Assad forces killed + rebels captured multiple positions despite Russian aircover

Aftermath of Assad barrel bombs targeting civilians in Nawa, #Daraa yesterday
http://youtu.be/_IDWDVIW55I

Russia'n airstrikes on Turkmen neighborhoods of #Aleppo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeExZa8gpvI …

Russian strikes are pounding Syria but Assad's troops show "few signs of being able to use this to their advantage." http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/21/russias-airstrikes-on-syria-struggle-to-spur-progress-on-the-ground …

[OUTLAW 09]

Reference the Russian Private Military Company PMC Wagner in Syria:

Now removed picture of #Russian PMC Wagner mercs in #Syria published by mistake by ANNA NEWS https://twitter.com/AbraxasSpa/status/655413210334543872 …

Biggest problem w the picture is they are too well equipped even for recently modernized #Russian Army unit.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia has apparently shipped both very early T-90s (w/o thermal) and later T-90As to #Syria. #SouthernAleppo
pic.twitter.com/QeEO614r3q

[OUTLAW 09]

Euromaidan Press @EuromaidanPress

Video | Yuri Bezmenov: Psychological Warfare Subversion & Control of Western Society (Complete)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gnpCqsXE8g …

EU Mythbusters @EUvsDisinfo
Here's a sneak peek at #DisinfoReview Week Eight that we are publishing tomorrow. Thanks for the reports, stay tuned
pic.twitter.com/fcaISOuDRh

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad and Putin's ethnic cleansing of Sunni's is fully underway .....

The south countryside of Aleppo has been emptied as thousands fled Assad-Putin-IRGC attacks targeting their villages
pic.twitter.com/QOiBVdDlFH

#Russia|n warplanes bombarded the rebel-held town of Houla in besieged N #Homs
https://youtu.be/r5WK1HW3Quk
pic.twitter.com/hNDdgKoWzJ

[OUTLAW 09]

Humor......

Russian Military denies 9 servicemen killed. Peskov: "They resigned yesterday & were on holiday in Damascus "
pic.twitter.com/jgvb5RkrJE

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian info warriors......trolls......

Kremlin Trolls @KremlinTrolls
Russian FSB/GRU active measures almost certainly involves penetrating #Twitter european HQ in #Dublin

Kremlin Trolls @KremlinTrolls
#TrollTactics: Responding to questions with questions, taking offense at being questioned or resorting to whataboutisms.

Kremlin Trolls @KremlinTrolls
#TrollTactics: Re-Tweeting pro-Kremlin journalists, while pretending to criticize their articles.

Kremlin Trolls @KremlinTrolls
#TrollTactics: Provocation
Challenge intel expert
Get rebuffed
Claim expert is deceitful to try & discredit
Play victim as diversion tactic

Kremlin Trolls @KremlinTrolls
Internet Trolls are Narcissists, Psychopaths, & Sadists, just like
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-online-secrets/201409/internet-trolls-are-narcissists-psychopaths-and-sadists …
pic.twitter.com/iI9ydn06P4

Kremlin Trolls @KremlinTrolls
VIDEO: My life as a pro-#Putin propagandist in #Russia’s secret 'troll factory'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/11656043/My-life-as-a-pro-Putin-propagandist-in-Russias-secret-troll-factory.html …

Kremlin Trolls @KremlinTrolls
#TrollTactics:
Excessively tweet flattering 'analysis' of expert/influencer articles as double-agent, if questioned, defer to cited expert.

[OUTLAW 09]

Nasrallah: "Our response to Israel was massive, we fired 3 of our shells against them then continued pouring the rest on Syrians."

Pentagon secretly passed intelligence to #Assad gov't, says #SeymourHersh

[OUTLAW 09]

There two key cornerstones to the Russian, Iranian and IS UW strategy called non linear warfare............

1. cyber warfare
2. informational warfare

Report: Iranian hackers stole dozens of U.S. power plant designs, including “mission critical” blueprints
http://buff.ly/1NHCVs6

[OUTLAW 09]

In secret recordings, former Argentine FM admits Iran behind massive 1994 terror attack
http://buff.ly/1kaY8Ct

The history behind Iran's role in creating ISIS
http://buff.ly/1IdYZhm

Report: Of 2,000 IRGC troops Iran sent to Syria, only around 700-800 remain.
http://buff.ly/1OcKKW8

Israeli officials: Iran has withdrawn most IRGC forces from Syria after suffering heavy losses
http://buff.ly/1IdRG9g

In latest sign of growing strategic ties, Jordanian pilots train in Israel
http://buff.ly/1PdsFMP

[OUTLAW 09]

Horrifying account by one GD soldier about being kidnapped by Shia militiamen and tortured. ISIS not the only enemy:
https://news.vice.com/video/retaking-ramadi-from-the-islamic-state-the-battle-for-iraq-dispatch-11 …

Footage
#RussianAirstrikes hit near rebels in #Jisr, #Idlib province.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJH-y09_0ow …
pic.twitter.com/KAiZpzfKAZ

Footage
At least 7 #RussianAirstrikes hit towns in northern #Hama province today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3CZ-iEjGSA …
pic.twitter.com/zCmWP8IyxH

Footage
S.o. dropped major bombs on #TerMaela in besieged #Homs province today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH1djccQHIU …
pic.twitter.com/BprKhXLu7d

AEJ خليل ้้้้้็็็็Ⓜ @AEJKhalil
#SCD counted 8 #Russia airstrikes so far in the last hours in #al_Houla, killing 2years old girl
#Homs #Syria Dec 21
pic.twitter.com/f5MKmMd487

[OUTLAW 09]

Charles Lister @Charles_Lister

I’m honestly speechless at the conclusions from this @RG_Centre report. Extraordinary lack of knowledge on #Syria:
pic.twitter.com/ghrwCvFBPJ

[OUTLAW 09]

http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/21/meet-the-man-showing-the-world-what-airstrikes-are-doing-to-syria/

Meet the Man Showing the World What Airstrikes Are Doing to Syria

Reid Standish

Taken from the above article........


For Jarrah, the story of the moment is Russian airstrikes and their added civilian cost. Nearly five years of civil war have already taken their toll on Syria: More than 250,000 are dead, 13.5 million people are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance, 6.6 million internally have been forced from their homes, and millions more are refugees. The last months have only made the crisis worse. According to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 120,000 people have been displaced since early October “as a result of aerial bombardment, as well as ground offensives among the parties.”

In November, Physicians for Human Rights released a report documenting how the Assad regime has systematically targeted medical workers, with Aleppo being hit disproportionately as the government’s main target. According to the same report, Russian bombs have hit at least 10 medical facilities. A report from the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented 353 civilian deaths from Syrian government and Russian airstrikes carried out in the first half of December, with at least 70 deaths attributed directly to Russian aircraft.

“A core component of the Assad regime’s strategy is to depopulate areas that are sympathetic to the rebels,” Chris Harmer, a senior naval analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, told FP. “Whether it is Assad or Russian aircraft doing the bombing is essentially a distinction without a difference. They are working towards similar goals.”

Shortly after Russia’s Syria intervention, Assad troops with support from Iranian forces and Hezbollah militias launched a ground offensive to retake Aleppo and other rebel-held areas. However, the push has not gone as hoped for Damascus and its allies. According to Harmer, the failing offensive explains the rise in civilian attacks.

“If the Syrian army can’t win on the ground, they need to depopulate the city so they can take it,” Harmer said.

For Jarrah and his small crew at ANA Press, that means more rubble, more dead bodies, and more destruction from airstrikes.

“Syrians have lost faith in the world. They see me out there and they tell me that I’m wasting my time,” Jarrah said. “I’m not naive, but I believe in the principles of what I’m doing.”

[OUTLAW 09]

http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/21/meet-the-man-showing-the-world-what-airstrikes-are-doing-to-syria/

Meet the Man Showing the World What Airstrikes Are Doing to Syria

Reid Standish

Taken from the above article........

WHY does it take MSM 81 days to finally take notice of the sheer killing that Putin is conducting with his bombing strikes that borders on genocide.....

First NYT and then this FP article and also The Independent--BUT social media has been tracking and carrying constant video footage and yet it was ignored......

[OUTLAW 09]

So again the question-- what exactly is Obama and Kerry hiding and or doing to support Iran just to get to the end of the next 13 months and save their legacies.......goes a long way in explaining the lack of a number of actions Obama and Kerry should have been conducting against Iran.......

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-12-21/iran-nuclear-deal-restricts-u-s-more-than-congress-knew?cmpid=yhoo.headline&ref=yfp

Iran Nuclear Deal Restricts U.S. More Than Congress Knew

Dec 21, 2015 2:43 PM EST
By Eli Lake & Josh Rogin


Members of Congress knew the Iran nuclear deal came with strings attached. They just didn't know how many.

When the administration presented the agreement to Congress, lawmakers were told that new sanctions on Iran would violate the deal. Now the administration is trying to sidestep a recently passed provision to tighten rules on visas for those who have visited Iran.

Since the accord was struck last summer, the U.S. emphasis on complying with its end of the deal has publicly eclipsed its efforts to pressure Iran. In that time, Iranian authorities have detained two American dual nationals and sentenced a third on what most observers say are trumped up espionage charges. Iran's military has conducted two missile tests, one of which the U.N. said violated sanctions, and engaged in a new offensive with Russia in Syria to shore up the country's dictator, Bashar al-Assad.

In the latest example of the U.S. effort to reassure Iran, the State Department is scrambling to confirm to Iran that it won't enforce new rules that would increase screening of Europeans who have visited Iran and plan to come to America. There is concern the new visa waiver provisions, included in the omnibus budget Congress passed last week, would hinder business people seeking to open up new ventures in Iran once sanctions are lifted.

U.S. officials confirmed over the weekend that Secretary of State John Kerry sent his Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif, a letter promising to use executive powers to waive the new restrictions on those who have visited Iran but are citizens of countries in the Visa Waiver Program. These officials also told us that they have told Iranian diplomats that, because they are not specific to Iran, the new visa waiver provisions do not violate the detailed sequence of steps Iran and other countries committed to taking as part of the agreement. Even so, the State Department is promising to sidestep the new rule.

At issue is a provision that would require travelers who visit certain countries -- including Iran, Sudan, Syria and Iraq -- to apply at a U.S. Embassy for a visa before coming to the U.S., even if they are from a country for which such visas would normally be waived.

House staffers who spoke with us say Iran was included for good reason, because it remains on the U.S. list of state of sponsors of terrorism for its open support for Hezbollah and Hamas. The White House did not object until the Iranian government told the administration last week that the bill would violate the nuclear agreement, according to correspondence on these negotiations shared with us.

Since 2013, when the open negotiations with Iran began, the Obama administration has repeatedly told Congress that additional sanctions on the Islamic Republic would wreck negotiations. The resulting agreement obligates the West to lift sanctions in exchange for more transparency and limitations on Iran's nuclear program. Iran and the White House seem to be interpreting "lift sanctions" more broadly than others expected.

"If the United States Congress cannot implement a more secure visa procedure for those who travel to state sponsors of terrorism like Iran, then the Iran deal ties the hands of lawmakers to a greater extent than even deal critics feared," Mark Dubowitz, the executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and an expert in Iran sanctions, told us.

Over the weekend, Zarif said in an interview with al-Monitor that Iran's inclusion on the list might violate the agreement. Zarif called the new restrictions "absurd" because no one connected to Iran was involved in the attacks in San Bernardino and Paris. He also said the provision "sends a very bad signal to the Iranians that the U.S. is bent on hostile policy toward Iran, no matter what.”

The issue is particularly sensitive for the State Department because Iran has yet to implement its side of the deal: The new transparency and limitations on the nuclear program are to begin in the coming weeks. State Department officials have said they fear more hardline elements of the regime in Tehran are trying to scuttle the deal for political advantage over President Hassan Rouhani, whose administration negotiated the accord.

In February, Iran will have parliamentary elections and elections for the powerful Guardian Council, the committee of clerics that would choose the next supreme leader of Iran after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dies. If anti-deal elements win those elections, the future of the nuclear deal will be dim.

These factors explain why Kerry has been willing to overlook Iran's own provocations while trying to mitigate what Iran sees as provocations from the U.S. Congress. They also explain why Iran seems so intent to provoke the U.S. at the moment it's supposed to implement the deal to which it just agreed.

[Azor]

1. Although there are some finer ideological disputes between pro-Al Qaeda and pro-Islamic State jihadis, Islamic State ideology is definitely Wahhabi and Salafi-informed; indeed, it is often difficult to distinguish between contemporary Wahhabism and Salafism. See here by Cole Bunzel (http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Research/Files/Papers/2015/03/ideology-of-islamic-state-bunzel/The-ideology-of-the-Islamic-State.pdf?la=en)

2. I'd prefer a truth and reconciliation commission to any "occasional retribution" if only to stop the killing and provide an incentive for a ceasefire.

3. According to Khomeini and other Shia clerics, Alawites have been recognized as Shia Muslims.

4. Sykes-Picot was one of numerous colonial-era demarcation errors. I assume you refer to the 4-month kingdom?

5. If Sunni Arabs from Iraq and Syria formed a new country corresponding to their current settlements, it would include most Syrian oil and gas resources, although it would lack access to the sea.

6. It would be easier for the Kurds to be given autonomy within the states where they now live, than to redraw borders; the same for Iraq's Sunni Arabs and Syria's Druze, Alawites and Christians. The question is how to we "Lebanize" the Middle East?

[Azor]

These are the excuses I'm hearing for why Russia is using unguided bombs in Syria:

1. Russia uses "modern systems" (computers) to drop bombs accurately at 6,000 feet

2. Somehow these bombs can be controlled by pilots so as to not explode or "reset".

3. Americans have access to this technology but the defense contractors force them to buy PGMs.

4. 250 lb bombs only have a death-serious injury radius of 28-56 meters.

Have fun with this Outlaw and CrowBat...

[OUTLAW 09]

These are the excuses I'm hearing for why Russia is using unguided bombs in Syria:

1. Russia uses "modern systems" (computers) to drop bombs accurately at 6,000 feet

2. Somehow these bombs can be controlled by pilots so as to not explode or "reset".

3. Americans have access to this technology but the defense contractors force them to buy PGMs.

4. 250 lb bombs only have a death-serious injury radius of 28-56 meters.

Have fun with this Outlaw and CrowBat...

Azor---just a few comments......as a SF VN vet who has called in both 155 and air strikes as a simple SF solider not the high tech so called JTACs and often calling for what is now called danger close which we viewed as 50m or less AND as one who often would fly with our SF FAC in a slow old bird dog I would often watch F100 and F4 bomb runs being placed into IDd bunker complexes ---they flew nothing but dumb iron bombs AND this is the main difference to the current pilots of the "Islamic State Air Force" they had a full years worth of bombing experience.

I would often experience the FAC sending them back to their base still with their bomb loads which had to be then dumped over the water----WHY the pilots as humans had good and bad days and on their bad days they could not hit the side of a barn if the barn was totally in front of them.

BUT when troops were in contact they could drop a 500er in your hip pocket.

AND that not from 6000 feet but traveling as fast as they could at tree drop levels AND not using anything but their eyes and instinct NOT computers.

If the Russian MoD truly believes their own blast radius THEN they should stand one meter outside that blast range and THEN see what happens.

When I called danger close you either had to be in a crater or totally as flat as you could make yourself.

So as is normal with all statements by the Russian MoD.....all lies.

[CrowBat]

An average traveller in Syria of, say, 2000s, would arrive in Damascus, stay there for one or few more nights, and then travel - often by car, or by bus - towards north - usually in direction of Homs. The two cities are connected by a modern highway and although Syrian 'guides' (who, by 'pure accident' of course, always had a lenghty military career that 'ended' with the rank of captain or a major behind them) could never stop wondering what's so 'fascinating' for foreign tourists to see in that orange semi-desert landscape of gravel and lavendel scrub around them, it's actually a very interesting trip already by then.

Nevertheless, it gets near-spectacular once the highway climbs up to the Homs plateau.

Reason for this is a landscape of... how shall I call it? ....'inclinned trees'....?

Namely, one of 'funny' things about Syria as a country and a landscape is that the entire area from Jishr ash-Shughour in the north to Homs in the south is 'dominated' by a strong, near-permanent north-western wind. This wind is causing all the trees to grow with an inclination of between 30 and 40 degrees.

Yup, it's slightly 'better' in the north - i.e. trees are more upright - and not so obvious in the belt of plantages of almond trees stretching in a wide belt from southern Aleppo down to eastern Homs. And yup, some of trees do not show anything of this phenomena.... but most of local vegetation looks like on the photo below (and mind: that photo was taken on a 'near-windless' day)...

...which is making me wonder: how can anybody flying combat aircraft equipped with nav/attack systems that de-facto permit no use of PGMs, and operating on basis of daily tasking orders, without any kind of FAC-help, expect to hit anything at all from altitudes from which Russians are usually operating in Syria (namely 6,000-18,000ft) with 'dumb' bombs...?

But, sigh, the use of bombs equipped with hospital-homing seekers is explaining a lot... :rolleyes:

[Azor]

Hahahahah exactly what I thought. And I did forget about Syria's winds...

Hope you guys got a kick out of that.

[CrowBat]

1. Although there are some finer ideological disputes between pro-Al Qaeda and pro-Islamic State jihadis, Islamic State ideology is definitely Wahhabi and Salafi-informed; indeed, it is often difficult to distinguish between contemporary Wahhabism and Salafism. See here by Cole Bunzel (http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Research/Files/Papers/2015/03/ideology-of-islamic-state-bunzel/The-ideology-of-the-Islamic-State.pdf?la=en)I know about such thinking and discussions.

I just do not see this being reality on the ground.

From my POV, crucial difference between the AQ and the Daesh remains the Wahhabist animosity towards any form of 'conventional political establishment'. That's why they never seriously attempted creating their own state, and are still refusign to do so although holding significant territories in specific parts of the world - contrary to the Daesh, which declared its Caliphate at earliest opportunity.


2. I'd prefer a truth and reconciliation commission to any "occasional retribution" if only to stop the killing and provide an incentive for a ceasefire.I understood your question as follows: should the insurgents win in Syria, are we to expect something like mass revenge (i.e. mass slaughter) of Alawis and other minorities?

My answer to this was: Alawis are expecting this, no doubt. But, all I expect is 'occassional retribution on personal level'.


3. According to Khomeini and other Shia clerics, Alawites have been recognized as Shia Muslims.Sure. Khamenei & IRGC Co KG GesmbH needed an excuse to cooperate already with Hafez al-Assad.


4. Sykes-Picot was one of numerous colonial-era demarcation errors. I assume you refer to the 4-month kingdom?...but a crucial one. And the 'four-month kingdom' functioned very well for about two years, until destroyed by the French, in the course of and after the Battle of Maysaloun.


5. If Sunni Arabs from Iraq and Syria formed a new country corresponding to their current settlements, it would include most Syrian oil and gas resources, although it would lack access to the sea.With Syrian Kurds already running ethnic cleansing of Sunni Arabs from 'unimportant' areas, do you seriously think they'll stop once they reach Raqqa or Dayr az-Zawr...?

And if not: can anybody say who would - or could - stop them?


6. It would be easier for the Kurds to be given autonomy within the states where they now live, than to redraw borders; the same for Iraq's Sunni Arabs and Syria's Druze, Alawites and Christians. The question is how to we "Lebanize" the Middle East?Again: I've got no problem with 're-drawing borders'.

I only want to know: once one starts re-drawing borders, where should that end?

Namely, it's not only that the Middle East 'needs' re-drawn borders, but even plenty of places in Europe would like to have some of that, not to talk about half of Africa, and large parts of Asia (say, from Kashmir to Burma and Russo-Japanese issues over Sakhalin)...

How do you want to explain up to 1 billion of people living in areas in question that re-drawing borders in the Middle East is 'OK', but in all other cases it's 'not OK'...?

[Azor]

...as a SF VN vet who has called in both 155 and air strikes as a simple SF solider not the high tech so called JTACs and often calling for what is now called danger close which we viewed as 50m or less AND as one who often would fly with our SF FAC in a slow old bird dog...

Thanks for the info. This is pretty much the only board where people know what they're talking about.

Say, didn't FACs in Bird Dogs stay into Laos and Cambodia? Well, it was the days before you could lash a Garmin to your canopy :P

[OUTLAW 09]

Thanks for the info. This is pretty much the only board where people know what they're talking about.

Say, didn't FACs in Bird Dogs stay into Laos and Cambodia? Well, it was the days before you could lash a Garmin to your canopy :P

During most of the entire time SF had CIDG camps---up to about 1972 every Company had a number usually two-to three Bird Dogs flown by AF volunteers in the ranks of CPT who had dropped bombs in anger before.

Usually the BD was based at a airstrip near one of the B Teams where the pilot and his maintenance chief also stayed.

He would handle recce for you, "find you when your map no longer helped"....support you when in contact if there was only you in contact and or he would float between contacts where he was most needed and he would often allow you to take right seat rides to get the perspective of what he was doing so you could call your strikes better and he handled your medivacs.

AND on some of my long recce's into Cambodia he was the only radio relay US voice you heard for a number of days---and when there was absolutely no strike aircraft anywhere to be gotten if you were in a serious firefight he would turn his BD into a bomber dropping grenades on his runs over you and use his WP marking rounds to provide smoke for exfils all the while taking some usually very heavy and serious ground fire.

His maintenance SGT usually spent his time on maintaining the engine and patching bullet holes--but the plane was actually quite solid.

But again---remember the Russian MoD has been lying since the Crimea and that was 20 or so months ago so why would they change for Syria....?

[OUTLAW 09]

Evidence
Russian air force Su-34 bomb multiple civilian targets north of #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n1VQLS33PE …

NOW missiles are being used against largely civilian targets---IS nowhere to be seen AND the WEST says nothing??????

Multiple #Assad/#Putin missiles hit #Rastan in besieged #Homs province.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CoDESwk3f4 …

VIDEO: Noureddine Zanki Movement shell #SAA positions near #Aleppo, #Syria.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RzYCQcsi9k …

#Russian military airforce strikes school outside #Aleppo this morning. Fighting terror by killing teachers + primary school students

Families mostly in northern Syria digging caves & tunnels to hide from Assad-Putin air attacks.

ATGM vs IRGC infantry south #Aleppo works every time.

[OUTLAW 09]

US assumptions hit the wall of Russian reality and it appears the losers again are Obama and Kerry --when will they learn that soft power has it limits especially when Putin is hardcore focused in using hard power in support of his non linear warfare being directed as a political warfare weapon against the US??

Assad, Russia & Iran obviously use UNSC resolution 2254 as legit cover to increase attacks against rebel areas in Idlib & Aleppo.

AND IS positions are nowhere to be seen where Russian bombs are falling..so the so called "terrorists" Putin is targeting is in fact civilians...THAT was not covered in the UNSC resolution----BUT heck did Kerry ever wonder just why Putin allowed the US to move the resolution forward.....so he could legally bomb civilians.....

[OUTLAW 09]

Destruction caused by Russian airstrikes in Tayba in Houla, #Homs p1
https://youtu.be/m0OsM3SYn5Y
https://youtu.be/R72NanVrbZw
https://youtu.be/V4hU_kJZgA0

Destruction caused by Russian airstrikes in Tayba in Houla, #Homs p2
https://youtu.be/57aGcUExvxc
https://youtu.be/ql1IyHK6WPo

Destruction caused by Russian airstrikes in Tayba in Houla, #Homs p3
https://youtu.be/j-w61KfUWII
https://youtu.be/huK1fuwGsu8

Mare’a Ops Rm - Faylaq al-Sham neutralising an #ISIS VBIED in Qara Kubri west of Dudiyan in N. rural #Aleppo,

Great news, after heavy clashes with #ISIS, rebels have liberated Qara Mazra’a east of Azaz city in north rural #Aleppo,
WITH minimum support and under constant Russian air strikes supporting the Islamic state.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian airstrike targeted Morek in #Hama yesterday
http://youtu.be/VenHR4mX1F8

Assad helicopters today dropping naval mines on the village of al-Zakat in north rural #Hama, #Syria
http://youtu.be/iXyXiZM9KbM

Two civilians dead this morning & several wounded including women & children due to multiple #Russia|n airstrikes in Rastan, #Homs, #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

The constant barrage of disinformation on #Syria has become a little dull tbh…e.g. the report by @RG_Centre, complete & utter nonsense..smh

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia's top secret MI-35MS helicopter caught on tape over the #Kremlin
#Moscow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEnTl_oxO8A …

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat--any comments on this posting......?

Aleppo rebels overstretched as attacks shift to defense
#Syria
http://syrianobserver.com/EN/News/30316/Aleppo_Rebels_Overstretched_Attack_Shifts_Defense …

[OUTLAW 09]

Funny how #Russia violates everybody's airspace until it gets brought down from somewhere it 'wasn't'

This map shows how much territory ISIS has lost this year http://read.bi/1NHZKw0
pic.twitter.com/1MU44i2dax

And as this article shows, it's deliberate US policy to lift oil ban to get low oil prices.
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/oil-price-fresh-11-year-lows-spelling-trouble-oil-exporters-gulf-1503557812 …
pic.twitter.com/1hWclS4uN2

At least THAT is Obama administration doing right: lift US oil export ban, so Russia will run out of money.

[OUTLAW 09]

FSA blow IRGC tank in Khan Tuman south #Aleppo TOW hit
https://youtu.be/cNf1mookOFA
pic.twitter.com/UOp3XalQ9V

[OUTLAW 09]

EU Mythbusters @EUvsDisinfo

Who is the biggest liar of the year? Find out in the latest #DisinfoReview. More on #Syria & #Ukraine. Please share
http://eepurl.com/bKInUn

[OUTLAW 09]

War of words keeps on.......BUT at least Turkey says something WHICH is far more than Obama and Kerry say.

Turkey's Davutoglu condemns Russia for strikes on Syria's Idlib
http://reut.rs/1S7zJLQ

Turkish PM condemns recent Rus attack in İdlib,says Syrian territory will not be part of Russian imperialist goals http://syria.liveuamap.com/en/2015/22-december-turkish-pm-condemns-recent-russian-attack-in …

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Tel_Hadiyah
#Aleppo CS #Syria Dec 22
pic.twitter.com/m636AMSOta

Russia airstrikes targeting #Benas village
#Aleppo CS #Syria Dec 22
pic.twitter.com/lRmVcBnezZ

[OUTLAW 09]

Effect of Russian bombing in Syria - lots of damage/casualties, little military effect
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/21/russias-airstrikes-on-syria-struggle-to-spur-progress-on-the-ground?CMP=share_btn_fb …

Wonder if Putin reads The Guardian???

[OUTLAW 09]

Damascus Airstrikes hit market of Bazyna in eastern Ghouta
-35 dead counted
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y-oNxuogTw …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=33.481926&lon=36.440556&z=16&m=b …

Aleppo #FSA took over Mazra`at Qarah from #IslamicState
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq40khMhy8Q …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.625241&lon=37.234640&z=14&m=b …

[Azor]

My answer to this was: Alawis are expecting this, no doubt. But, all I expect is 'occassional retribution on personal level'

Only by reducing or eliminating this likelihood can Iran and the Shia militias be induced to stand down.


...but a crucial one. And the 'four-month kingdom' functioned very well for about two years, until destroyed by the French, in the course of and after the Battle of Maysaloun.

Well, as with Mossadegh, Arbenz and Allende, the runway was too short to tell. As I noted, Lebanon provides an obviously flawed but instructive model for a future Syria.


With Syrian Kurds already running ethnic cleansing of Sunni Arabs from 'unimportant' areas, do you seriously think they'll stop once they reach Raqqa or Dayr az-Zawr...? And if not: can anybody say who would - or could - stop them?

I don't see the Kurds having the numbers. However, the Kurds keeping their hands out of the cookie jar would be a prerequisite to defeating the Islamic State, in addition to putting a halt to Shia cleansing as well.


Again: I've got no problem with 're-drawing borders'. I only want to know: once one starts re-drawing borders, where should that end? Namely, it's not only that the Middle East 'needs' re-drawn borders, but even plenty of places in Europe would like to have some of that, not to talk about half of Africa, and large parts of Asia (say, from Kashmir to Burma and Russo-Japanese issues over Sakhalin)... How do you want to explain up to 1 billion of people living in areas in question that re-drawing borders in the Middle East is 'OK', but in all other cases it's 'not OK'...?

I'm personally in favor of redrawing borders right and left. But the primary beneficiaries of dissolving Iraq, Lebanon, Syria (and quite possibly Jordan) as we know them would be Russia (Donbass, Narva, Crimea officially) and China (Taiwan, perhaps Malaysia and Singapore), not to mention a host of other irridentist spoilers.

Look what the so-called "Kosovo precedent" did. Nor were Kosovar Albanians even allowed to join with their brethren across the border. So all that created was another artificial state with centrifugal tendencies.

On a side note, how do you feel about the PAAMS/Aster naval air defense combo, and how would it stack up against Aegis/Standard and the S-300? Aster looks good on paper, but I've heard there are major issues. Again, I know that the true performance of Western air defense systems are as guarded as the decibels of a Virginia SSN...

[Azor]

Damascus Airstrikes hit market of Bazyna in eastern Ghouta
-35 dead counted
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y-oNxuogTw …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=33.481926&lon=36.440556&z=16&m=b …

Aleppo #FSA took over Mazra`at Qarah from #IslamicState
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq40khMhy8Q …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.625241&lon=37.234640&z=14&m=b …

Now the Russians are hiding behind: was it us or the SyAAF?

[OUTLAW 09]

Now the Russians are hiding behind: was it us or the SyAAF?

Will use the experience of eastern Ukraine when the Russians pulled this with their "vacationers" and the it ain't us drill..

If it is a Russian made tank in this case a Russia made jet, if the pilot is Russian and or trained by Russia and the jet is maintained by Russian parts and is dropping Russian made bombs.

THEN it is simple--it was Russian end of story.......

[OUTLAW 09]

Report
25 killed, 50 injured in another "#RussianAirstrike" in #EastGhouta today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws3hqJxkdI4 …
pic.twitter.com/7bxkOE7pTD

Early this year, a former top WH official secretly went to Damascus and met with leaders of the Syrian regime http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-12-22/assad-is-reaching-out-to-washington-insiders …

Footage
Aid organ. says #Russia bombed its depot in #EastGhouta today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mJES9sBQBY …

Footage
Syrian rebel once again captured #Qarah from #ISIS, despite Russian strikes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq40khMhy8Q …

[Azor]

Will use the experience of eastern Ukraine when the Russians pulled this with their "vacationers" and the it ain't us drill..

If it is a Russian made tank in this case a Russia made jet, if the pilot is Russian and or trained by Russia and the jet is maintained by Russian parts and is dropping Russian made bombs.

THEN it is simple--it was Russian end of story.......

It's more that Russians are claiming that it is often difficult to distinguish SyAAF from RuAF jets and helicopters, especially when their roundels cannot be visually confirmed...

So the reputation of the SyAAF is going to be thrown under the bus...a small price to pay for having with VVS beside you...

[OUTLAW 09]

BREAKING: Several reports of a chemical weapons attack in town of Muadamiyat al-Sham. #Syria. -
http://twitter.com/ValkryV/status/679413519096414213/video/1 …

MORE: Town is located SW of Damascus, near Darayya which has been under near constant attack by government forces.

[OUTLAW 09]

Amir Siavachi, an IRGC field commander reportedly killed in southern #Aleppo yesterday.

IRGC captain Ismail Khan Alizadeh killed by revolutionary forces in rural South Aleppo.

Assad is running out of soldiers it seems.......
The #Syria|n Regime Forcibly Recruits Civilians in Regions under its Control
http://sn4hr.org/blog/2015/12/22/15807/ …

FSA 1st Coastal Div trying to repel regime advance near Tal Ghazaleh in Jabal al-Akrad, #Latakia
http://youtu.be/zDALnkoNzV4

Assad-Putin compete with #ISIL in destroying Syria's heritage sites. Pic from Busra al-Sham castle air attacked tody

Unconfirmed.......
Reports #ISIL downed unidentified jet over Qalamoun Mount near Dair Atiya #Syria.

[OUTLAW 09]

Syrian organisation counts 1399 civilian victims among Syrians from #RussianAirstrikes, disputes SOHR figures. https://twitter.com/dorarshami/status/679441153415077889 …

FRANCE 24 English ✔ @France24_en
Amnesty accuses Russia of killing hundreds of civilians in Syria bomb raids
http://f24.my/22phUMI
pic.twitter.com/WUM5BVgPTt

'Russian air strikes killed 100s of civilians striking homes, mosques, markets & medical facilities' Amnesty says
pic.twitter.com/ZksSkwM95q

Latest @amnesty report is a #MustRead on #Syria.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/12/syria-russias-shameful-failure-to-acknowledge-civilian-killings/ …
#PutinAtWar The world knows it! pic.twitter.com/Y9XRSPopLV

.@amnesty and @hrw say #Russia commits #WarCrimes in #Syria.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/12/syria-russias-shameful-failure-to-acknowledge-civilian-killings/ …
https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/12/20/russia/syria-extensive-recent-use-cluster-munitions …

International reaction: ZERO

[OUTLAW 09]

Victims gasping for air trying to survive aftermath of #SAA Toxic Gas attack
#Moadamiyah_alsham #Syria Dec23

WARNING GRAPHIC
People bleeding from nose without any other injuries.
Probably chemical attack. #Damascus #Syria.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBipzVHTIEg …

SCD identified so far 5 martyrs aftermath of #SAA BARREL BOMB filled w/TOXIC GAS on #Moadamiyah_alsham #Syria Dec23 pic.twitter.com/fNgxUAmMP9

Breaking #Syria
Extreme regime attacks incl. possible chemical attack on Moadamiya, west #Damascus
Arabic report: pic.twitter.com/FjTQkU5qlw

BREAKING: Reports of a chemical weapons attack in town of Muadamiyat al-Sham. #Syria.
pic.twitter.com/oKiPe7gtJE

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia killed 100's of civilians in Syria & fabricated info to deflect criticism. New report
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/12/syria-russias-shameful-failure-to-acknowledge-civilian-killings/ … pic.twitter.com/TNhurMXYKx

THIS is the evidence that I am right that the entire Western political leadership has basically lost their combined way forward when it comes to the killing by Russia of hundreds of civilians......

See Russia's main argument, international community!!!
You fail(ed) so much, France, German, US & co.
pic.twitter.com/0zs6Id39ll

THIS is exactly just how bad the Obama WH global leadership has fallen to.

#BREAKING
Russian Federation Council’s Committee on Defense & Security DARES to call @amnesty report "provocation".

12 ppl killed in this toxic gas attack okayed by #UNSC resolution 2254 provided political cover for Assad, Iran & Russia to massacre Syrians

There have been 60+ small scale govt chemical attacks on frontline rebel towns/defences over last year

[CrowBat]

CrowBat--any comments on this posting......?

Aleppo rebels overstretched as attacks shift to defense
#Syria
http://syrianobserver.com/EN/News/30316/Aleppo_Rebels_Overstretched_Attack_Shifts_Defense …
...have read several such reports the last few days...

It's actually hard to say if they're really 'overstretched'. In essence, they've 'killed' two out of four prongs of regime's offensive on Idlib, NE Lattakia and Southern Aleppo: these are advances on al-Ghab Plain and in northern Lattakia.

Regime is still making some minor gains in NE Lattakia, but the FSyA has re-organized its local troops, and was meanwhile reinforced by the AAS and the JAN there, and I do not see the NDF and SSNP punching through there (at least not without renewed involvement of the Russian Army and Hezbollah, which appears to have caused about 150 KIA to these two alone).

Overall, the insurgent situation there is 'tense' but not even 'critical'.

The situation in southern Aleppo is the one to worry about, there's no doubt about this. Iranian Jihadists have concentrated no less but eight brigades of Hezbollah/Iraq there, plus at least one brigade of the 4th Armoured Division, apparently a brigade of Hezbollah/Lebanon too. That's nearly two full divisions - even by IRGC's standards. It's clear such a mass of forces is a major threat on its own, even more so considering this force avanced for nearly 20km into what is de-facto 'insurgent backyard'.

But, while IRGC-run units enjoy an advantage in firepower over insurgents in open terrain, the closer they've got to build-up areas along the M5 highway, the costlier this enterprise became. So, this offensive was stopped short of M5 highway about a week ago, and despite launching some 4-5 really massive attacks by infantry, supported even by a company of T-90s (not only the usual T-72s, that are now operated by Hezbollah/Lebanon), the IRGC and Hezbollah forces there failed to make any additional gains ever since (on the contrary, they've suffered really heavy losses in several of insurgent counterattacks).

Overall: except they haul additional brigades there (on the top of the three flown in to Syria this month, one of which was deployed in Eastern Ghouta, though), I do not see them punching through there. With very few exceptions (all from back in 2013), IRGC's commanders in Syria have not proven particularly imaginative, or even skilled: this offensive was launched on a much too wide front, and holding of all of these new frontlines is gulping too much of manpower which they simply do not have. Plus, IRGC-run unit are constantly failing to exploit opportunities (example: they're terribly slow in advancing once they've punched through one part of insurgent frontlines).

On the contrary: ex-SyAA officers running the FSyA are proving themselves much more skilled than anybody expected (makes one curious how much of Syrian military's bad reputation is actually caused by idiotic Assadists), and even the AAS and JAN are now listening to them. And also: insurgents have shown to be very quick in re-establishing their frontlines and stabilizing these if the enemy breaches through; they're patrolling, they're launching counterattacks etc. Finally, they have more reserves than usually thought (putting a huge question mark over various British assessments concluding 'there're no 70,000 moderate insurgents in Syria').

So, yes, insurgents are 'under severe pressure', no doubt about this. And these are some very hard times for them (perhaps hardest ever). But - and also thanks to hopelessly incompetent deployment of Russian airpower (which is wasting thousands of bombs to target civilians all over Aleppo, Idlib, and in Eastern Ghouta instead of providing CAS to Iranian/Iraqi Jihadists in southern Aleppo) - I do not see them as 'overstretched'.

[OUTLAW 09]

Taken from the 100% Russian government owned info war media outlet.....
"Sputnik International"........

http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20151223/1032192076/syria-assad-president-alawites-sunnis-sectarian-violence.html#ixzz3v8zdUkGh

Syrians Made Their Choice: 'Assad is Their Man for Now and Into the Future'

Middle East
13:28 23.12.2015(updated 13:46 23.12.2015)


The Obama administration might claim that the peace process in Syria could only start once Assad is gone but the Syrians want their president to stay because he is the one making every effort to prevent the country from falling apart, David Macilwain wrote for Information Clearing House.

"Syrians have already decided – Assad is their man, for now and into the future, helping to rebuild the society he has worked so hard to save from the terrorist armies of the 'Western allies.' Syrians know that their survival is because of Assad – not in spite of him," Macilwain asserted.

Western political and military leaders, as well as mass media offer a different picture. They claim that Assad and the Alawites are oppressing other religious groups in Syria. This is supposedly the main reason behind the 2011 insurgency.

Ex-Pentagon Chief Hagel Knew Ousting Assad ‘Insanely Foolish’ - Former White House Advisor
Macilwain remains unconvinced since Syria is a secular country, which was not troubled by sectarian violence prior to the war.

"Until the stirring up of sectarian tensions by the foreign fomenters of the armed insurgency many Syrians didn't even know, or care about their neighbors' religious affiliation — much as in the secular democracies of the West," he explained.

Macilwain offers another example to support the idea that Assad is not the problem:

"Emphasizing the secular character of Syrian society, and quite contrary to the pervasive western fairy tales, the religious affiliations of both government and army members broadly reflect that of the community as a whole, with a majority being Sunni Muslim. And apart from leading a government which is not 'Alawite,' President Assad has led by example – his wife Asma is a Sunni Muslim too."

This could well explain why the Syrians voted for Assad at the first multicandidate presidential election in the country's history, which was held in June 2014. This could also explain why the West does not want Assad to take part in the UN-supervised free and fair presidential poll.

The upcoming election is part of a peace plan outlined in a recently-adopted UN Security Council resolution. It is expected to take place after all stakeholders secure a ceasefire in the war-torn country.

[CrowBat]

Only by reducing or eliminating this likelihood can Iran and the Shia militias be induced to stand down.Nope. Sorry, but this is simply wrong.

IRGC's Jihadists - whether 'genuine' Iranians, or Hezbollah/Iraq - have absolutely nothing to do in Syria. They're no 'equalizers', but worse in regards of sectarianism than Assad: contrary to average Syrians, Shi'a Jihadists are not used to live next-door to such a colourful mix of ethnic and religious groups, like Syrian are. They're not there to 'protect' anybody, but with the aim of speading Khamenei's ideology of Shi'a statehood controlling the Fertile Crescent, to maintain that 'bridge to Hezbollah' etc., and their presence is actually counteproductive for the future of not only Alawites, but also any other minorities that have sided with Assadists.

Indeed, I would go as far as to say: the more of them get there, the more Syrians they kill, the worse it's going to be - for Alawites - once this brawl is over.


Well, as with Mossadegh, Arbenz and Allende, the runway was too short to tell. As I noted, Lebanon provides an obviously flawed but instructive model for a future Syria.Actually, the 'runway' was perfectly long enough to show that it did work. As mentioned above: even the Jewish Agency was signing contracts with that state. Such things are not happening without reasons.

Don't get me wrong now (because of the following title), but read it here: Arabs & Israel for Beginners (http://www.amazon.com/Arabs-Israel-Beginners-Ron-David/dp/1934389161/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450872298&sr=8-1&keywords=arabs+israel+for+beginners) - and you'll see what I'm talking about.


I don't see the Kurds having the numbers. However, the Kurds keeping their hands out of the cookie jar would be a prerequisite to defeating the Islamic State, in addition to putting a halt to Shia cleansing as well.This is long since only about foreign support (i.e. 'not about numbers'), and that's what Kurds are meanwhile getting more than enough.


I'm personally in favor of redrawing borders right and left....I don't mind it. But again: once one starts... where's the end?


On a side note, how do you feel about the PAAMS/Aster naval air defense combo, and how would it stack up against Aegis/Standard and the S-300?No idea, really. I know a little bit about Aegis, but generally, I've got very little clue about any weapons systems not used in combat in the Middle East and Africa of the last, say, 40 years.

[OUTLAW 09]

Keep in mind the @amnesty report documented SIX Russian massacres with 200 civilian deaths.
Real number is MUCH higher as we know.

Russian logic: we did not target civilians in Syria, because otherwise international community would have said so...

Heavy humor.......
Lavrov: '#Amnesty & HRW are #CIA-backed organizations which hate #Russia, dead people on #Syria videos are actors'

Eliot Higgins ‏@EliotHiggins
Amnesty's new report agrees with @bellingcat's assessment Russia lied about bombing a mosque https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/12/syria-russias-shameful-failure-to-acknowledge-civilian-killings/
…

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia killed 100's of civilians in Syria & fabricated info to deflect criticism. New report
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/12/syria-russias-shameful-failure-to-acknowledge-civilian-killings/ … pic.twitter.com/TNhurMXYKx

THIS is the evidence that I am right that the entire Western political leadership has basically lost their combined way forward when it comes to the killing by Russia of hundreds of civilians......

See Russia's main argument, international community!!!
You fail(ed) so much, France, German, US & co.
pic.twitter.com/0zs6Id39ll

THIS is exactly just how bad the Obama WH global leadership has fallen to.

#BREAKING
Russian Federation Council’s Committee on Defense & Security DARES to call @amnesty report "provocation".

12 ppl killed in this toxic gas attack okayed by #UNSC resolution 2254 provided political cover for Assad, Iran & Russia to massacre Syrians

Developing: Reports - 10 killed, 30+ wounded in chemical attack on #Damascus suburb
http://eaworldview.com/2015/12/syria-developing-another-regime-chemical-attack-near-damascus/ …
Sarin was the chemical used in this attack.....

There have been 60+ small scale govt chemical attacks on frontline rebel towns/defences over last year

IN addition to use of chemical weapons and WP on civilian targets......
Russia should stop defending the use of banned cluster munitions.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/12/23/cluster-munitions-year-contradictions …

BUT WAIT both cluster munitions and WP were used against the Ukrainian Armed Forces/civilians AND the WEST said nothing......

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian MoD wishful thinking and a lot of Russian Orthodox prayers.....

T-90 in south #Aleppo managed to neutralise TOW? Propaganda.

The TOW is optically wire guided thus unaffected by what the Russians mount for anti TOW devices outside of the add on retro armor packs....but some TOW missile versions have a tandem warhead to defeat even that.

BUT the FSA has not reported any fired TOWs against T90s (outside of a T72 that had the longer T90 barrel but was hard to ID at the long distance of the video which made an ID hard)that had been hit in the engine area a completely self destructed.

SO again Russian propaganda........

[OUTLAW 09]

Reference the Russian Private military Company Wagner in Syria....

Some speculate recent spike of Lukoil jet trips to Iran is testimony of transfer of PMC assets to the region / assignment / etc

[CrowBat]

Taken from the 100% Russian government owned info war media outlet.....
"Sputnik International"........

http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20151223/1032192076/syria-assad-president-alawites-sunnis-sectarian-violence.html#ixzz3v8zdUkGh

Syrians Made Their Choice: 'Assad is Their Man for Now and Into the Future'


The Obama administration might claim that the peace process in Syria could only start once Assad is gone but the Syrians want their president to stay because he is the one making every effort to prevent the country from falling apart, David Macilwain wrote for Information Clearing House.

"Syrians have already decided – Assad is their man, blahblahlblah...
...and a simple fact is: neither Macilwain nor anybody else (including me) can know - precisely because Assad is an oppressive dictator that has never permitted any kind of free and fair elections to be held in Syria. Period.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia killed 100's of civilians in Syria & fabricated info to deflect criticism. New report
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/12/syria-russias-shameful-failure-to-acknowledge-civilian-killings/ … pic.twitter.com/TNhurMXYKx

THIS is the evidence that I am right that the entire Western political leadership has basically lost their combined way forward when it comes to the killing by Russia of hundreds of civilians......

See Russia's main argument, international community!!!
You fail(ed) so much, France, German, US & co.
pic.twitter.com/0zs6Id39ll

THIS is exactly just how bad the Obama WH global leadership has fallen to.

#BREAKING
Russian Federation Council’s Committee on Defense & Security DARES to call @amnesty report "provocation".

12 ppl killed in this toxic gas attack okayed by #UNSC resolution 2254 provided political cover for Assad, Iran & Russia to massacre Syrians

Developing: Reports - 10 killed, 30+ wounded in chemical attack on #Damascus suburb
http://eaworldview.com/2015/12/syria-developing-another-regime-chemical-attack-near-damascus/ …
Sarin was the chemical used in this attack.....

There have been 60+ small scale govt chemical attacks on frontline rebel towns/defences over last year

IN addition to use of chemical weapons and WP on civilian targets......
Russia should stop defending the use of banned cluster munitions.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/12/23/cluster-munitions-year-contradictions …

BUT WAIT both cluster munitions and WP were used against the Ukrainian Armed Forces/civilians AND the WEST said nothing......

[OUTLAW 09]

Another new serial at Hmeymim - Su-34 "24 Red":

[OUTLAW 09]

Confirms that the FSA is sharing their weapons support to the Syrian jihadi led side and the jihadi is listening to the FSA.....has been reported several times in the last two months since Putin engaged into Syria......

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/12/turkistan-islamic-party-claims-using-us-made-anti-tank-missile-in-northwest-syria.php


The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), an al Qaeda-linked Uighur jihadist group, has posted a photo to social media claiming its fighters recently used at least one US-made TOW anti-tank missile against Syrian regime forces in northwestern Syria. This photo is part of a wider release from the strategic Al Ghab plain in northern Hama province.

The photo above was released on one of the TIP’s official Twitter accounts with an English caption saying, “The Turkistani mujahideen brothers deliver a strong response to the Nusayri [derogatory term referring to the Assad regime] army by the Russians.” However, it is unclear if the jihadist group is actually using the American-made missile. It is entirely possible that a TOW-supplied rebel group belonging to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) was operating alongside the TIP at the time of the photo. While many jihadist groups, including al Qaeda’s official branch in the country, operate in the Al Ghab plain, several FSA groups operate alongside these forces against the Assad regime and its allies.

If the missile was operated by an FSA group, this would offer more evidence that TOW-supplied rebel groups continue to support jihadist operations in the country.


Notice the slant of the article--I would have expected more The Long War which has been a stable reporting platform from Iraq and AFG.

[OUTLAW 09]

IslamicState carried out 4 attacks with vehicle bombs on regime positions in #DeirEzzor city- heavy street clashes since morning

View to #Rastan #Hospital in northern #Homs
oldest static frontline in #Syria war
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8OzbZzpyVc …

SYRIA: ’No future’ for Kurdish forces in Syria, says lawmaker close to Assad
ttp://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/22122015 …

[OUTLAW 09]

VIDEO: Amazing drone footage shows destruction in Jobar, #Damascus #Syria - @RT_com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJtrBg8TQaM …

NOTICE that the Russian info warfare media outlet Russian today releases this without comment but the underlying unsaid narrative is "see what the terrorists have done to Syria AND Assad is trying to save it......

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian non linear warfare at work..........

Turkish Kurds are capitalizing on Ankara-Moscow crisis: Co-leader of HDP Demirtas is in Moscow to meet with Lavrov

Main Russia Propaganda Medium has map saying "REBEL targets destroyed", instead of #ISIS.
https://twitter.com/ReggaeMortis1/status/679637694188785664 …

Now the Putin truth comes out via Russian info war nedia......

Main Russia Propaganda Medium has map saying "REBEL targets destroyed", instead of #ISIS.
https://twitter.com/ReggaeMortis1/st...37694188785664 …

Notice the not so subtle narrative shift by the Russians after the UNSC resolution was passed.....

[OUTLAW 09]

https://www.commentarymagazine.com/foreign-policy/europe/russia/putin-appeasement-consensus-trump-obama/

The Putin Appeasement Consensus

Jonathan S. Tobin / Dec. 22, 2015


In the last few days, Donald Trump has been bitterly criticized for his bizarre defense of Russia President Vladimir Putin. We may have thought we’d heard everything in a crazy political year, but having a Republican presidential candidate speak of that authoritarian thug as being morally equivalent to the United States was something so outrageous that it should have been unthinkable for even a Trump.

That Trump would claim in television interviews that America also kills journalists or that nobody has proved that Putin kills people (surely a surprising notion to the people of Chechnya or Ukraine) was disgraceful, but it is actually consistent with the things he has been saying about Russia throughout the campaign. Even as responsible thinkers, as well as some of his more thoughtful rivals, are forced to once again condemn the GOP frontrunner, it’s just as important to acknowledge that he isn’t the only one who is soft on the man who would be Tsar. What’s really interesting about Trump’s statements is that it shows once again that he is far more in tune with President Obama and Hillary Clinton’s ideas about foreign policy than the consensus of the Republican Party he wants to lead.

Trump’s bouquet sent to Putin after he was reportedly praised by the Russian seemed to reflect the egotistic billionaire’s always-fragile sense of self-worth when he issued a statement boasting about how flattered he was to be, “so nicely complimented by a man so highly respected within his own country and beyond.” But while the ensuing kerfuffle about his defense of Putin became an issue in and of itself, the real problem has been his willingness to appease Russia’s desires to reconstitute the old Tsarist and Soviet empires. Trump has stated all along that he had no problem with Putin’s insertion of his forces into the Syrian civil war. Nor has he recognized the inherent threat to European democracy that is posed by the Russian invasion of Crimea, its war in eastern Ukraine or its threats against the Baltic states. In Trump’s view, Putin has always been a fellow tough guy with whom he could do business rather than a man whose main foreign policy goal has been to thwart the U.S. and undermine its security.

That’s a curious frame of reference for someone whose presidential candidacy has been based a sense of grievance against the outside world and the desire to “make America great again.” Though Trump and his admirers have an almost religious faith in his ability to make miraculous deals, his approach to Russia is invariably one in which he gives away the store to the Russians on all of their key demands in Europe and the Middle East in exchange for nothing that is real of any value.

Yet the most astonishing element of that stance isn’t just that it is the antithesis of making America great but that it is very much in tune with the policy the Obama administration has been pursuing with Russia throughout the last seven years.

What is Trump’s belief in his ability to make a bargain with Putin other than a recycled version of Hillary Clinton’s comical “reset” of relations with Russia? But, of course, it goes far beyond that. Obama sought to appease Russia by not defending Eastern European democracies such as the Czech Republic and Poland and refusing to aid a beleaguered Ukraine. Rather than keep Russia out of the Middle East, he has tacitly welcomed it and the result are travesties like the Syrian peace deal he has agreed to that won’t bring peace but does ensure that Russia and Iran will be able to protect the Assad regime while doing little to stop ISIS.

Though he spoke of turning back the oceans rather than making America great, the conceit of Barack Obama’s foreign policy has also been the function of a belief in his own greatness. Obama believed his personality was so magnetic, his intentions were so noble and his historic stature so immense that hostile nations like Russia and Iran would drop their hostility and do business with his America. The collapse of American foreign policy on his watch as the U.S. has alienated allies and earned the contempt of its enemies was not just a function of bad decisions and feckless policies but of the mistaken faith that one man’s magical personality could fix what was wrong with the nation’s problems. If Obama’s self-conceit and unwillingness to admit error has earned him the contempt of conservatives, what should they think about a candidate that has a similar point of view about himself?

It has been pointed out often enough in the past few months that, outside of his stance on immigration, Trump’s stands are curiously closer to those of liberal Democrats than of the conservative Republicans whose votes he seeks. But on no issue is that more true than that of Russia. Whereas most Republicans now think back about the 2012 presidential campaign where Obama poured scorn on Mitt Romney’s correct labeling of Russia as a geostrategic threat as a tragic reminder of how disastrous the president’s reelection has proved to be, Trump seems to be offering us a third term of the same foreign policy. That a plurality of those calling themselves Republicans should be so enraged with their party’s failings and so charmed by Trump as to make him the party’s presidential frontrunner is an act of colossal and inexplicable cognitive dissonance.

[OUTLAW 09]

#Russia's Ministry of Defense: "Turkey admits the downing of SU-24 was pre-planned."
This will be news to #Turkey.
pic.twitter.com/bsT0rsUqzW

Source: http://ria.ru/world/20151223/1347648825.html …

Humor...........
Poll: Have #Russia's Missiles of Peace or #Assad's Barrel Bombs of Love ever killed a civilian?

[OUTLAW 09]

"Don't believe your lying eyes, trust us!" - says #Russia's Ministry of Defense. What cluster bombs? They have none!
https://twitter.com/ReggaeMortis1/status/679703515615375360 …

Courtesy to @APulkki,@ReggaeMortis1 in no effort reminding #Russian MOD use of RBK-500 CBU. https://twitter.com/APulkki/status/679692389158641664 …
pic.twitter.com/6c0xFGEd9i

And the crowning glory of #Russia's denials:
They don't even have cluster bombs everyone saw them using in #Syria!
pic.twitter.com/zYjOHSX5Md

Russia's Ministry of Defense: Amnesty should name its whistleblowers!
(The Kremlin wants to send them some tea).
pic.twitter.com/IRMWOYuXJX

Sputnik's interns post more of #Russia's lame propaganda:
"Reports on civilian deaths in #Syria are a provocation!"
pic.twitter.com/mrrfGIQWWM

[OUTLAW 09]

RuAF airstrike on a fuel tanker column in #Aleppo located
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTg9Uv94-Yg … pic.twitter.com/4N4fAcqjdJ
pic.twitter.com/tjYcCDWmgf

Source: http://novosti.dn.ua/details/266361/

RuAF airstrike on Jihadist training camp in #Idlib located
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k0PX19Q14s … … pic.twitter.com/7UuJlgmj2z

Reports regime army and shia militia backed by RuAF took al-Nuba Mount in #Latakia countryside for the second time in one week.

[OUTLAW 09]

Reference Russian info warfare trolls........

Kremlin Trolls @KremlinTrolls
When fired intern w/ no knowledge of region or languages is exposed, #KremlinTrolls complain of “divided community”
pic.twitter.com/0LTPKfas3R

Massive LiveJournal #KremlinTrolls Network Pushes Pro-#Kremlin Narratives.
https://globalvoices.org/2015/12/22/...in-narratives/ …

Kremlin Trolls ‏@KremlinTrolls
#KremlinTrolls scream "harassment" when they're outed. Real harassment is what they do to #Putin opposition.

Kremlin Trolls ‏@KremlinTrolls
#KremlinTrolls can't keep their story straight - they have families everywhere & speak/dont speak various languages

[OUTLAW 09]

Reference Russian info warfare trolls........

Kremlin Trolls @KremlinTrolls
When fired intern w/ no knowledge of region or languages is exposed, #KremlinTrolls complain of “divided community”
pic.twitter.com/0LTPKfas3R

Massive LiveJournal #KremlinTrolls Network Pushes Pro-#Kremlin Narratives.
https://globalvoices.org/2015/12/22/...in-narratives/ …

Kremlin Trolls ‏@KremlinTrolls
#KremlinTrolls scream "harassment" when they're outed. Real harassment is what they do to #Putin opposition.

Kremlin Trolls ‏@KremlinTrolls
#KremlinTrolls can't keep their story straight - they have families everywhere & speak/dont speak various languages

Russia trying to make fetch happen with the #FakeAI hashtag aimed against Amnesty International's new report. https://twitter.com/mod_russia/status/679734443465113601 …

Минобороны России 
‏@mod_russia #FAKEAI Amnesty International, reveal who and when provided you with this so-called data or it will be done by the Rus MoD itself

Минобороны России ‏@mod_russia ·
#SYRIA Representatives of respectful mass media, do not put at risk your reputation by publishing fakes provided by anonymous sources

Минобороны России ‏@mod_russia
#FAKEAI Having published the brief Western Media missed hypothetic rhetoric's and gave everything as facts

Минобороны России ‏@mod_russia ·
#SYRIA #FAKEAI Briefing is made in a well-known style: same clichés and fakes, referring's to impersonal sources and no evidence

Минобороны России ‏@mod_russia · 28m28 minutes ago
#SYRIA #FAKEAI Rusian Defence Ministry made deep research on briefing of the non-governmental organization Amnesty International

[OUTLAW 09]

Humor.......
Amnesty: #Russia's own #SantaClaus uses fighter jets to drop clusters of presents for civilians in #Syria #FAKEAI
pic.twitter.com/Bp81fqfdXW

Anonymous expert: Amnesty's report is obviously 146% fake as the investigation wasn't done by #Russia #FAKEAI
pic.twitter.com/zXg1zLijlX

MoD: #Media risks its reputation by publishing fakes from sources like "Carlos the Air Traffic Controller" #FAKEAI
pic.twitter.com/qWFm7pMmPJ

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia trying to make fetch happen with the #FakeAI hashtag aimed against Amnesty International's new report. https://twitter.com/mod_russia/status/679734443465113601 …

Минобороны России 
‏@mod_russia #FAKEAI Amnesty International, reveal who and when provided you with this so-called data or it will be done by the Rus MoD itself

Минобороны России ‏@mod_russia ·
#SYRIA Representatives of respectful mass media, do not put at risk your reputation by publishing fakes provided by anonymous sources

Минобороны России ‏@mod_russia
#FAKEAI Having published the brief Western Media missed hypothetic rhetoric's and gave everything as facts

Минобороны России ‏@mod_russia ·
#SYRIA #FAKEAI Briefing is made in a well-known style: same clichés and fakes, referring's to impersonal sources and no evidence

Минобороны России ‏@mod_russia · 28m28 minutes ago
#SYRIA #FAKEAI Rusian Defence Ministry made deep research on briefing of the non-governmental organization Amnesty International


Eliot Higgins @EliotHiggins
The fact is that for the @mod_russia lying about killing civilians is just day to day business, they're just not very good at it

Eliot Higgins @EliotHiggins
In this example they lied about the date of aerial footage they showed off in their daily briefing #fakeAI https://twitter.com/mod_russia/status/679734210165346304 …

bellingcat @bellingcat
If the @mod_russia wants to keep lying, we're happy to keep fact checking them #fakeAI


Russia's Ministry of Defense should be saying this to notorious Russian media (if it wasn't operating as its arm).
pic.twitter.com/UOvto2mSuy

Eliot Higgins @EliotHiggins
The @mod_russia's attempt to popularise the #fakeAI hashtag to attack Amnesty International appears to have backfired (unsurprisingly)

[OUTLAW 09]

Unconfirmed reports Jabhat al-Nusra stormed a position of al-Sarout group accused of having links with #ISIL in Ghanto #Homs.

Rebels still not using masses of #IED's to slow the shia push S-Aleppo. Refuse to learn from #ISIS that stopped the same Iraqi shia this way

->@LizSly on #Putin's campaign to depopulate rebel areas by Terror:
Russian airstrikes force a halt to aid in Syria
http://wpo.st/jSGz0

Since Russia intervened on SEPT 30, well over 100,000 Syrians have been displaced. Moscow continuing Assad/Iran's expulsion policy

Impressions from #Nusra's trenches in Latakia mtns.
https://youtu.be/7MYfdiAvKnQ

In #Syria this year ...
- 50,000 civilians killed
- 1m people driven out
- 2-3 million displaced internally
... overwhelmingly by Assad/Iran

Assad's cultural vandalism gets less attention than IS's: his helicopters attack a Roman amphitheater in Deraa.
http://mme.cm/HNAW00

[OUTLAW 09]

Humor........

MoD posts video of locals celebrating #Russia's airstrike which Amnesty says "killed civilians" in #Syria #FAKEAI
pic.twitter.com/fdMtAKJOgG

[OUTLAW 09]

Eliot Higgins @EliotHiggins
The fact is that for the @mod_russia lying about killing civilians is just day to day business, they're just not very good at it

Eliot Higgins @EliotHiggins
In this example they lied about the date of aerial footage they showed off in their daily briefing #fakeAI https://twitter.com/mod_russia/status/679734210165346304 …

bellingcat @bellingcat
If the @mod_russia wants to keep lying, we're happy to keep fact checking them #fakeAI


Russia's Ministry of Defense should be saying this to notorious Russian media (if it wasn't operating as its arm).
pic.twitter.com/UOvto2mSuy

Eliot Higgins @EliotHiggins
The @mod_russia's attempt to popularise the #fakeAI hashtag to attack Amnesty International appears to have backfired (unsurprisingly)


That's why #Russia conceals markings on its bombers in #Syria — plausible deniability. "It wasn't us. Not our bombs"
pic.twitter.com/vmcX8zQ7df

[CrowBat]

That's why #Russia conceals markings on its bombers in #Syria — plausible deniability. "It wasn't us. Not our bombs"
pic.twitter.com/vmcX8zQ7dfWhat Russians are doing in Syria has actually nothing in common with description 'military' any more - but in this case I can't but conclude that Higgins is simply wrong.

Yes, the first batches of Su-24s, Su-25s, Su-30s and Su-34s deployed in Syria have had their national markings overpainted.

But, meanwhile, at least national markings and most of service titles have been re-applied.

So, no 'plausible deniability': the HQ 58th Army knows exactly what are they doing (in cooperation with Ba'ath Party HQ in Damascus) to Syrian civilians.

I wouldn't be surprised if it's their pilots that have no clue what are they actually 'bombing', though.

[OUTLAW 09]

In post-modernist news, Russian foreign minister says Russia and Taliban share the goal of defeating the ISIS. http://www.rbc.ru/politics/23/12/2015/567aaa449a7947cbeb18e6c6 …

Jihadists were doing this in Bosnia 20+ years ago, just like in #Syria+Iraq now. The MSM hid this reality from you.
pic.twitter.com/4F8TCpEUtC

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia warplanes carried out airstirkes targeting #Muller Factory in #al_Rashdin #Aleppo #Syria Dec 23

The newly formed Islamic State Air Force using Russian pilots struck with bombs a center of a major IS training camp today.........or so the Russian MoD claimed but we know they are lying on just about anything....

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes on Women's Obstetric Hospital in #Huraytan #Aleppo #Syria Dec 23

SCD trying to extinguish fire of Women's Obstetric Hospital due #Russia airstrikes
#Huraytan #Aleppo #Syria Dec 23

Smoke due #SAA airstrikes on al-Ghantu town #Homs
http://syria.liveuamap.com/en/2015/23-december-smoke-due-saa-airstrikes-on-alghantu-town-homs …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA6GDbTwMno …

[OUTLAW 09]

Chechen Center @ChechenCenter

Dmitri Volkogonov said the Rus military's bombardment of Grozny killed 35,000 civl, incl 5,000children
pic.twitter.com/cUPfCbwuwA

Not the first time Russia kills civilians by the hundreds------ask the Ukrainians

[OUTLAW 09]

Aleppo: Heavy clashes btw #IS and Rebels currently near #Mare

If ISIS had done the chemical attack in Damascus's Moadamiyeh yesterday the whole world would have been screaming for action.

Syria: regime targeted a @SyriaCivilDef ambulance in al-Nashabiyah (#Ghouta) today, killing & wounding aid workers

28 Killed in #Assad's forces and #ISIS Shelling on #DeirEzzor
http://ow.ly/WgQNu

Syria-n Coalition Calls for Measures under Ch.VII Following #Chemical Attack on #Mouadamiya
http://ow.ly/Whom7

Norway's Foreign Ministry Concerned about #Russia’s Military Buildup in #Syria
http://ow.ly/Wh0qN

Chemical Attack by #Assad on #Mouadamiya a Blatant Violation of #UNSC Resolutions
http://ow.ly/WgS59

Syria's former prime minister Riad Hijab (now head v opposition negotiations): the time isn't right for negotiations
http://www.orient-news.net/ar/news_show/97727/%D8%AA%D8%B5%D8%B1%D8%AD%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%AA%D8%B5%D8%B9%D9%8A%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%88%D9%82%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A-%D8%BA%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D9%85%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A8-%D9%84%D9%84%D9%85%D9%81%D8%A7%D9%88%D8%B6%D8%A7%D 8%AA …

[CrowBat]

Confirms that the FSA is sharing their weapons support to the Syrian jihadi led side and the jihadi is listening to the FSA.....has been reported several times in the last two months since Putin engaged into Syria......

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/12/turkistan-islamic-party-claims-using-us-made-anti-tank-missile-in-northwest-syria.php

Notice the slant of the article--I would have expected more The Long War which has been a stable reporting platform from Iraq and AFG.
The author in question is reporting about something he's got no clue about.

No Syrian insurgent group has ever hidden their cooperation with the JAN, and various groups putting their logos on videos taken by other groups is absolutely nothing new in this war.

What he fails to understand, though, is that there is an extremely small group of FSyA units provided with TOWs - and these have to not only document every single firing on a video, but also return empty launch tubes.

Nobody is providing any kind of TOWs to any kind of 'Jihadist' groups in Syria: not only not to some TIP, but not even the JAN. The JAN has got a few through capturing them from the former Harakat Hazzm - and even then proved so incompetent that it had to use a captured gunner too, to fire some of these 'on behalf of the JAN'.

But, agit-prop-BS of the kind, 'Syrians are all Jihadists' remains so 'popular' between all possible wannabes, xenophobes, quasi-Anti-Imperialists, and whatever other sort... that they might do better to go to Moscow and apply for a job at the RT...

[OUTLAW 09]

South Aleppo: Syrian Rebels destroy T-55 belonging to pro Assad forces another TOW hit....at a range of 3.5kms.

Deir Ezzor: ISIS capture Sana'a from Assad regime

Aleppo: Syrian Rebels liberate 6 villages today around Tishreen from ISIS

[CrowBat]

After spending most of the last two days analysing and searching for any kind of serious and independent evidence... I cannot but conclude: while everybody is babbling about anything possible in regards of Syria, about terrorists, Islamists, Turkish interests, Russian interests, Iranian interests, and whatever other sort of nonsense actually related to sports and cooking...

...nobody pays attention at the fact that nobody, really nobody, can provide clear, irrefutable and independent evidence that Russians are running a military campaign with clear, military objectives, i.e. that they are running a concentrated, dedicated, and serious military campaign aimed at any kind of military or para-military forces in Syria.

How comes...?

[OUTLAW 09]

#Assad is ready to participate in dialogue in Geneva without foreign interference. -FM Walid
http://news.yahoo.com/syria-ready-enter-geneva-peace-talks-foreign-minister-070928842.html …

NOTE:---do not think that unless he is gone the Sunni Front States and the anti Assad forces will even think about it.....

2015 say hello to the empty talks of 2013. "Syria ready to enter Geneva peace talks" repeated.
https://www.rt.com/news/syria-fm-geneva-opposition-510/ …

Russia MoD now attacking Amnesty, ignoring the fact it has been caught out lying about killing civilians repeatedly https://twitter.com/mod_russia/status/679734443465113601 …

Bad day for Putin fanboys posting vids of cool Russian cluster bombs on YouTube: apparently, they are all fakes now.
pic.twitter.com/ywD6pzkOzj

C'est la fête des tenues exotiques chez les russes
Russia' SoF in Syria
pic.twitter.com/T7LeHq7IyP

Footage
Russian Su-24 bombs villages in #Idlib province.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgZpRDUQaqg …
pic.twitter.com/CBhIBu1fX4

Another #RussianAirstrike on a fuel convoy for the suffering population in #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKZWw91mdu0 …
pic.twitter.com/ywJuHaoXn9

Footage
The #RuAF targets rebels - not "#ISIS" as they lie - in #Idlib province.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkTG3-1WK3g …
pic.twitter.com/o1ZiUP0iJI

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad's killers attacked #SheikhMaskin yesterday, murdering civilians.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijdR8BVroXM …
pic.twitter.com/RBmRwYwh67

Footage
Ahrar al-Sham fights #ISIS in #Herbel north of #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWLg6ZGE-H4 …
pic.twitter.com/Q1IR0T4hUH

Regime Forces Step Up Attacks on Northern Homs for Sixth Consecutive Day #Syria
http://sobsrvr.com/IfRnPt4T

[OUTLAW 09]

Damascus: Assad regime shuts down Qadm to make way for convoys of foreign fighters towards south Damascus
http://fb.me/4nzsVIxxE

[OUTLAW 09]

MORE from Russia's 100% owned Russian info warfare media outlet Sputnik International........notice the twitter hash tags....

Sputnik 
‏@SputnikInt Results of intra-Syrian talks must be brought to #referendum
http://sptnkne.ws/atDr
#SyriaVote #Syria

NOTE: this is the same tactic dictated by Russia in the Minsk 2 agreements.
BUT who is going to be able to vote if the civil war is still ongoing and that logically would include areas under Is control.......

Russian aerial support for #Syria is 'impossible to underestimate'
http://sptnkne.ws/atDh

US reportedly continues to supply #weapons to #AlQaeda through Syria's #FSA
http://sptnkne.ws/atBV

Sputnik ‏@SputnikInt
Why's @amnesty interested in #Syria, but said nothing about cluster bombs in Ukraine?
http://sptnkne.ws/at4f

NOTE: Sputnik seems to have forgotten that AI did in fact report the UAFs use of cluster munitions.......

[OUTLAW 09]

MORE from Russia's 100% owned Russian info warfare media outlet Sputnik International........notice the twitter hash tags....

Sputnik 
‏@SputnikInt Results of intra-Syrian talks must be brought to #referendum
http://sptnkne.ws/atDr
#SyriaVote #Syria

NOTE: this is the same tactic dictated by Russia in the Minsk 2 agreements.
BUT who is going to be able to vote if the civil war is still ongoing and that logically would include areas under Is control.......

Russian aerial support for #Syria is 'impossible to underestimate'
http://sptnkne.ws/atDh

US reportedly continues to supply #weapons to #AlQaeda through Syria's #FSA
http://sptnkne.ws/atBV

Sputnik ‏@SputnikInt
Why's @amnesty interested in #Syria, but said nothing about cluster bombs in Ukraine?
http://sptnkne.ws/at4f

NOTE: Sputnik seems to have forgotten that AI did in fact report the UAFs use of cluster munitions.......


Sputnik 
‏@SputnikInt #UN can't confirm watchdog's claims of 'Civilian Deaths' in Russian strikes
http://sptnkne.ws/at8w #SyrianConflict

[OUTLAW 09]

Fighting in #Syria Gives Russia Chance to Test Weapons, Doctrine
http://mil-com.me/1UWDGTb

Артём Гришанов - Русская буря / Russian storm / War in Syria (English su... https://youtu.be/oCv7a5rdSyI с помощью

[OUTLAW 09]

http://euromaidanpress.com/2015/12/24/87172/#arvlbdata

Putin: The West wants to prevent reconstruction of the USSR


2015/12/24 • News, Political News, Russia


The position of our Western partners, European and American ones, is not connected with protecting Ukraine’s interests, but with an attempt to prevent the reconstruction of the Soviet Union. – Vladimir Putin

On 20 December, a documentary entitled “The World Order” was released on the Russia 1 channel. An almost two-hour long geopolitical narrative is based on Putin’s interview to Vladimir Solovyev, combined with sketches on different issues of world politics, starting from the 911 terrorist attack to Ukraine’s EuroMaidan revolution.

“Considering Ukraine and former Soviet Union area, I am sure that the position of our Western partners, European and American ones, is not connected with protecting Ukraine’s interests, but with an attempt to prevent the reconstruction of the Soviet Union. And no one wants to believe us, that we do not have a goal to reconstruct the Soviet Union,” Russia’s president said during the interview with Solovyev.

Due to him, the West can’t sleep because it fears Russian and Ukrainian economies unitiand and becoming stronger.

“But even the hypothetical possibility of joining the efforts within the framework of current economical integrational processes which would without doubt make both Russia and Ukraine a more competitive in the world economy… even the hypothetical possibility of it doesn’t let our partners sleep well.”

Putin seemed so concerned about the faith of Ukrainian citizens, he even showed regrets that the upcoming visa free regime with the EU will allow Ukrainians migrate to work as nannies, gardeners, and construction workers.

“I think the main task is to not to let this unification happen… An absolute deindustrialization of Ukraine is happening. And what are they receiving instead? Maybe, they will give the right of visa free entrance to Europe. Maybe they will, maybe not. But this isn’t even a work permit, these aren’t work visas. Even if it were work visas, as for whom? Nannies, gardeners and construction workers? Is it the destiny of such a great country and an awesome nation as Ukrainians? Of course not!”

Other thesises of Putin’s interview were:
•Terrorism can be defeated, but all countries should unite for that
•Europe has refused to have an independent external politics
•Russia is threatened by American tactical nuclear weapon in Europe
•We need to fight the spread of nuclear weapon and stereotypes of the Cold War
•Democratic values can’t be forced by “color revolutions”
•Russia conducts honest and coherent politics in solving Syrian crisis
•Coup d’etat can’t make life in the country better
•Turks are a friendly nation to Russia

[OUTLAW 09]

http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.de/2015/12/putin-again-uses-film-to-describe-world.html

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Putin Again Uses a Film to Describe ‘World Order’ He Wants

Paul Goble


Staunton, December 23 – For the third time, Vladimir Putin has used a documentary film to outline his ideas about Russia and the world, first in “Crimea. The Road Home,” then in “The President” and now in “The World Order,” a film that lacks the revelations of the first and the dramatic threats of the latter but that nonetheless merits close attention, Kseniya Kirillova says.

The San Francisco-based Novy Region-2 commentator suggests that this time around, Putin has advanced five main ideas, which both individually and collectively show “the illusions and goals of the Kremlin dictator” (nr2.com.ua/blogs/Ksenija_Kirillova/Miroporyadok-po-putinski-113864.html).

First of all, Kirillova says, “the main idea of the film is old to the point of banality: the Americans violate international norms, organize the export of ‘color revolutions,’ and in general sow chaos and death across the earth.”

But there is one curious nuance: This theme is stressed not by Putin, who nonetheless must have approved the film and thus this message, but by the narrator. The Kremlin leader presents himself as some who is quite ready to assist the West and especially Europe in correcting what the film sees as Washington’s mistakes.

Second, the film offers the parallel message that Moscow believes in can work with ‘particular European leaders” and also with “the population of Western countries ‘over the heads’ of their governments,” exactly the same message Soviet propagandists delivered and one that also recalls the past that Moscow wants to work with Europe against America.

Third, Putin simultaneously insisted that he has no plans to restore the Soviet Union but that the Soviet Union was Russia, given that it defended “the geopolitical interests of Russia” albeit under a different name. Thus, in a clumsy way, Kirillova says, “Putin again confirmed his old thesis that Russia is the USSR.”

Fourth, the Kremlin leader used the film to issue yet another implicit nuclear threat to the West by suggesting that “Russia will perfect its nuclear weapons” and that “the nuclear triade lies at the foundation of our security policy.”

And fifth, in the film, Putin delivered “two messages” about Ukraine: On the one hand, he said, “the countries of the West certainly already regret that they supported the turnover in governments.” And on the other, he indicated by complaining that Kyiv’s policies were determined by the US that he has no intention of pulling back from his adventures in Ukraine.

Summing up the film, Kirillova says that its content show that the negotiations Putin has been conducting with Western leaders in recent weeks have in no way changed his positions but rather confirmed his earlier views. Consequently, he wants to continue to “participate in the negotiation process” not so much as an equal but as the one who proposes “a new world order".

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Syrian Express is on the move again......

Minsk 127, FLOT's Baltic Fleet 71st Landing Ship Brigade is crossing the Bosphorus northbound

71st Order of the Red Star Landing Ship Brigade's Polish Built Ropucha Class Large Landing Ship Minsk 127

Minsk 127 has a darker color than BSF ships of the same class, recently came to help the #SyrianExpress shipments

Foggy wintermorning #SyriaExpress : #ВМФ #Бф BF Korolev 130 transits southbound Bosphorus

2015 #SyriaExpress Winner: #Бф Korolev 130, #ЧФ Novocherkassk 142, #ЧФ Kunikov 158 tie for the top spot,10tours each

[OUTLAW 09]

Reference Russian info warfare trolls........

My latest for RuNet Echo, using Python scraping to uncover over 8000 pro-Kremlin LiveJournal trolls h/t @pato_reilly https://globalvoices.org/2015/12/22/massive-livejournal-troll-network-pushes-pro-kremlin-narratives/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKZWw91mdu0[/url] …
pic.twitter.com/ywJuHaoXn9


These fuel tanks supply hospitals, bakeries and generators for people who haven't left the country yet

[OUTLAW 09]

Reference Russian non linear warfare against Turkey.........

Turkish PM accuses pro-Kurdish party head of treason over Russia comments
http://reut.rs/1Jxa4F6
pic.twitter.com/qbdEkOoFaq

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria'n refugees on drug fields in Beqaa Valley/#Lebanon -controlled by #Hezbollah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funding_of_Hezbollah …

Reports: #Russia deployed anti-aircraft syst. on regime hold #Qamishli airport in easten #Syria -to secure weapon supply for PKK in #Turkey?

Hezbollah financial problem seems solves. Salaries have been paid, with delay, this month.

Who is providing dud MILAN missiles........must be old stocks and that might be from the Germans.......

ZSU-23-4 targeted by Milan ATGM west of Ter Maela. Missile failed to explode.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srefxovaCGc&feature=youtu.be …

Not surprising. Syrian Milan ATGMs are old, were poorly stored before their capture & poorly stored after.

Still, missile kinetic force is enough to send the Shilka back to the maintenance.

Aleppo Rebels positions near Khan Tuman targeted by cluster munitions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26vE2NfAi40 …

AND the Russian MoD states it "ain't us"............
Syria 1 Su-24M, 3 Su-25SMs (27,30,21) with 4 FAB-500 M62 HE bombs each taking off from Humaymim AB. Via @RT_com

[OUTLAW 09]

IMHO he is either so seriously injured or outright dead but the Iranians are afraid to call him killed.......there is an increasing number of older photos and outdated videos starting to show up in an attempt to create the illusion that he is still in the fight...together with even the faked recent report he was in Moscow by "official" sources which was quickly rejected by the Russians......

Undated pic of Qassem Soleimani. Reported lightly/severely injured / killed in Syria.

We need to start referring to Soleimani as the "Hidden General".........

[OUTLAW 09]

Not only does Russia attack civilians, they tend to go for 2nd run after some time, to hit the rescuers too. https://twitter.com/AEJKhalil/status/680014265504428032 …

Little angel victim of #Russia airstrikes on #Ehras,she was inside the car w/ her parents..
#Aleppo cs #Syria Dec 24
pic.twitter.com/i6GVHdFQj3

AND for those SWJ readers who do not believe that the Russians are openly and willingly killing civilians with cluster munitions.......

Remnants of #Russia Cluster Bombs on #Ehras
#Aleppo cs #Syria Dec 24 #PT pic.twitter.com/E75NvuAlpW

AND not a single comment on this by the US Nobel Peace Prize winner........

If @mod_russia wants to deny using cluster bombs maybe tell idiot @RT_com reporters not to film them on their jets https://twitter.com/MuradoRT/status/652082802582781952 …

[CrowBat]

Fighting in #Syria Gives Russia Chance to Test Weapons, Doctrine
http://mil-com.me/1UWDGTbSuch analysis is 'all nice and fine', but actually based on nothing more but guessing and supposition of the author.

Namley, there is no irrefutable and independent evidence that Russians are running a military campaign with clear military objectives, i.e. that they are running a concentrated, dedicated, and serious military campaign aimed at any kind of military or para-military forces in Syria.

90% of their air strikes do not even support 'regime troops' on the ground, they're missing so often, and so many of their bombs fail to detonate, that they're de-facto 'spraying and praying' - no matter where aiming. One can't call their operations anything else but 'air show with attempted fire-power demonstration'.

BTW, if the CENTCOM has stopped its air strikes over Syria, then the author of that 'analysis' would also have to explain how comes that CENTCOM is reporting air strikes (http://www.centcom.mil/en/news/articles/dec.-23-military-strikes-continue-cgainst-isil-terrorists-in-syria-and-iraq) on Daesh in Azaz-corridor (directly north of Aleppo), from the night of 22 to 23 December:


* Near Al Hawl, two strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL building, an ISIL vehicle, four ISIL fighting positions, and an ISIL rocket system.
* Near Al Hasakah, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.
* Near Manbij, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed three ISIL fighting positions.
* Near Mar’a, two strikes destroyed two ISIL heavy machine guns and two ISIL mortar systems.
* Near Ar Raqqah, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.

Overall, the author simply bunched few media reports together, never checked them, and then drew his own conclusions, based on... well, actually nothing at all (except some prejudice and supposition).

***********

EDIT: Below 'evidence' supporting statement by Keystone Cops-gang in Moscow (they call themselves 'Ministry of Defence') that 'Russians are not deploying CBUs in Syria: a Su-34 captured on RT video at Hmemmem AB, while rolling by loaded with RBK-500 CBUs...

[OUTLAW 09]

AND the Russian MoD just keeps on lying and lying and lying AND yet Obama persists in trying to "reset"......

Footage
This is what Russia tries to sell us as "#ISIS oil".
Hit #AidConvoys in #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC4efjLe3I0 … pic.twitter.com/tcfVdpZ2Rx

And in Aleppo Russia hit convoy say it's "ISIS oil", but no oil
https://twitter.com/lummideast/status/680040875871842304 …

Syria: At least 20 killed in multiple #Russia|n airstrikes on the rebel-held village of Hamouriyah, Eastern Ghouta.
pic.twitter.com/ecA1xG7nz8

[OUTLAW 09]

The ME has always been about perception to the point that it is actually now a war of perception.......

Boy did Obama and Kerry totally misread their own "perceptions".......

US "covert com#mu#ni#cations" with Asad regime "may have fed his sense of le#git#imacy and im#punity"
http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-pursued-secret-contacts-with-assad-regime-for-years-1450917657 …

[OUTLAW 09]

RuAF used ShOAB 0.5 bomblets against truck convoy north of Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwtLax67P1A …

Footage
Another #RussianAirstrike on #Christmas killed 11 civilians in #Jisr - Orient News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrGdZtMgduc …

Christmas in #Aleppo:
A "#RussianAirstrike" (- locals) devastated another neighbourhood.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCn6647VtIk …

Footage
Russian airstrike hits near rebel interview at Marj al-Sultan military base
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9RBSeWmnfI …

Footage
The #FSA hits pro-#Assad troops in #Latakia province with the Konkurs ATGM.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d2iiiQFnDM …

[OUTLAW 09]

AND the Russian MoD just keeps on lying and lying and lying AND yet Obama persists in trying to "reset"......

Footage
This is what Russia tries to sell us as "#ISIS oil".
Hit #AidConvoys in #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC4efjLe3I0 … pic.twitter.com/tcfVdpZ2Rx

And in Aleppo Russia hit convoy say it's "ISIS oil", but no oil
https://twitter.com/lummideast/status/680040875871842304 …

Syria: At least 20 killed in multiple #Russia|n airstrikes on the rebel-held village of Hamouriyah, Eastern Ghouta.
pic.twitter.com/ecA1xG7nz8

Footage
Killed drivers/civilians from Russian attacks on aid convoy ("#ISIS oil").
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWzV6mXw0c0 …

Footage
This is what Russia tries to sell us as "#ISIS oil".
Hit #AidConvoys in #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC4efjLe3I0 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Difference btwn Russian war in Ukraine and Syria is: in UA RU COVERTLY bombed civilians blaming UA. In Syria RU OPENLY bombs them: #silence.

Huge fire at Hospital targeted by #Russia airstrikes
#Aazaz #Syria Dec24
by brother Mustafa Syr

[OUTLAW 09]

Reference Russian info warfare..........

Mark Galeotti @MarkGaleotti
Depressing, interesting piece about #Russia propaganda's Western pseudo-experts from @Alexey__Kovalev https://twitter.com/ru_maximonline/status/680111993026686976 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Putin info warriors doing everything possible to push back on Russian killing of civilians......

"US guilty of genocide": Kremln supports anti-Maidan festivl with links 2 German far right
http://khpg.org - http://go.shr.lc/1J7IJP3

[OUTLAW 09]

Putin's MoD is still trying desperately to spin their cluster bombing of an organized and recognized humanitarian aid convoy AS an IS "oil convoy".....

Footage
The Russian regime further documents its crimes in #Syria, bombing aid convoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzYHp2KiD6c …
pic.twitter.com/7aIAcv37Kd

[OUTLAW 09]

Aleppo: Reports about a big #JN offensive north of the city around Bashkoy.
pic.twitter.com/SxYleYLe2K

Russia is still trying to deflect from their bombings of aid convoys by calling them oil tankers.......

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
Increase of the number of oil trucks near the Turkish port #Dortyol by up to 920 is observed
pic.twitter.com/3odbpOciJj

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
#SYRIA Significant decrease in number of tanker trucks at the “Western” route at the direction Reyhanli – Iskanderun
pic.twitter.com/6q7nyjnPtn

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
#SYRIA Despite changings of routes, Turkey remains the destination point of oil trafficking

RUSSIA is spending why to much time patting themselves on the back for their so called precision bombings that seem to be killing far more civilians and aid trucks than IS fighters......

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
#SYRIA Terrorists changing logistics scheme laying new crude oil trafficking routes to escape Rus strikes
pic.twitter.com/VnsWVzCZIo

Putin is not admitting that a majority of the oil remains inside Syria and is sold to Assad.......AND it is being processed by two Russian owned oil refineries....

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
#SYRIA #VIDEO Elimination of terrorists' vehicles, which are transporting oil products

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
#SYRIA For last week, Russian #AerospaceForces destroyed 37 oil production facilities and 17 columns of tanker trucks

In this frame grab from @mod_russia. You can see this civilian vehicle laden with not-oil burning.
pic.twitter.com/Z6W8KhCkWt

[OUTLAW 09]

Saudi linked Jaish Al Islam leader, Zahran Alloush reportedly killed in a Russian airstrike in Eastern Ghouta
pic.twitter.com/LPKnQmId5x

Hamza Bayraqdar,#Jai spokesperson, in addition to Alloush's deputy & head of chiefs of staff, martyred by #Russia
pic.twitter.com/ETaPCGSMwS

Merry Christmas. Russia just killed head of the militia that was almost singularly keeping ISIS out of Damascus. https://twitter.com/AJENews/status/680422000393908224 …

Reports Zahran Alloush has been killed in an airstrike in Damascus. @thedailybeast interview with him here: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/15/the-rebel-commander-of-damascus.html …

Hassan Hassan @hxhassan
Jaish al-Islam was without a doubt one of the very earliest to systematically fight ISIS & its cells, in DeZ & southern Syria.

Fact: Assad & Russian attack rebels with everything they got but make cease-fire agreement with #ISIL groups in #Damascus suburbs.

Zahran Alloush's death stands as one of the most significant opposition losses of the revolution. Airstrike targeted leadership meeting.

Reportedly, Jaish al-Islam leadership meeting targeted by RuAF was held in air defense base in Autaya #EastGhouta.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=33.539123&lon=36.454332&z=16&m=b …

[OUTLAW 09]

FSA successfully using TOWs as precision weapons hunting shia militia
south #Aleppo.
https://youtu.be/xqaC5C-Ofic
pic.twitter.com/wWgG66aBO8

It seems rebels & Jihadi groups have chosen to chose their battles instead of being in defensive position in their war vs Assad & shia militias.

Jabhat al-Nusra says they took Afghan barrier and al-Saro area around Baskuy north #Aleppo so far.
https://twitter.com/JnHlb10/status/680423263005229056 …

Assault on regime army & shia militia positions in Bashkuy, Handarat & Duwayr al-Zeyton north #Aleppo started with Nusra VBIED attack.

Drone and GoPro footage in Jabhat al-Nusra new promotional video #Aleppo.
https://youtu.be/NbgJ4QdPeBo pic.twitter.com/cK06wesoIx

The moment RuAF attack al-Latamenah & Latmeen villages north #Hama.
https://youtu.be/hCTgm0v62rY
https://youtu.be/M5gTaSUxHWM pic.twitter.com/Jfun9kKdw8

[OUTLAW 09]

Putin air force continue targeting aid convoys north #Aleppo this time with cluster-munition
https://youtu.be/zwtLax67P1A

A Shilka is taken out by #ATGM
https://youtu.be/JnqGR7quxsc

[OUTLAW 09]

Massive cyber attacks on #Turkey since days- probably by #Russia

Nice report on FSA Jaish al-Izz anti-tank ops in rural #Hama, #Syria http://youtu.be/jalEyAqODaI

FSA Suqour al-Jabal targets a regime ops-room with a TOW missile in Hmeira, south Rural #Aleppo
http://youtu.be/ut-uMQPRweM

Meanwhile Nusra has been capturing positions from pro-Assad forces in Duwair al-Zaitoun, Handarat & Bashkoi in #Aleppo

[OUTLAW 09]

Saudi linked Jaish Al Islam leader, Zahran Alloush reportedly killed in a Russian airstrike in Eastern Ghouta
pic.twitter.com/LPKnQmId5x

Hamza Bayraqdar,#Jai spokesperson, in addition to Alloush's deputy & head of chiefs of staff, martyred by #Russia
pic.twitter.com/ETaPCGSMwS

Merry Christmas. Russia just killed head of the militia that was almost singularly keeping ISIS out of Damascus. https://twitter.com/AJENews/status/680422000393908224 …

Reports Zahran Alloush has been killed in an airstrike in Damascus. @thedailybeast interview with him here: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/15/the-rebel-commander-of-damascus.html …

Hassan Hassan @hxhassan
Jaish al-Islam was without a doubt one of the very earliest to systematically fight ISIS & its cells, in DeZ & southern Syria.

Fact: Assad & Russian attack rebels with everything they got but make cease-fire agreement with #ISIL groups in #Damascus suburbs.

Zahran Alloush's death stands as one of the most significant opposition losses of the revolution. Airstrike targeted leadership meeting.

Reportedly, Jaish al-Islam leadership meeting targeted by RuAF was held in air defense base in Autaya #EastGhouta.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=33.539123&lon=36.454332&z=16&m=b …

Hassan Hassan ‏@hxhassan
The regime never combated ISIS cells near Damascus. Mostly Jaish al-Islam that dedicated resources to monitoring, tracking & dismantling it

Hassan Hassan ‏@hxhassan
ISIS cells in Yarmouk, Hajar al-Aswad etc were allowed to operate with impunity, sometimes even benefiting from humanitarian aid.

Hassan Hassan ‏@hxhassan · 2h2 hours ago
Zahran Aloush's death could have a ripple effect for Damascus & southern Syria. Certainly good news for competing forces, esp. jihadists.

Regime is striking deal with Nusra and IS in Yarmouk, and Russia kills leader of their most prominent enemy besides Aknaf. No coincidence.

Russia’s message to Syrians is clear: we came to protect Assad and not fight Daesh, no third option

[OUTLAW 09]

The children's hospital run by a charity that was bombed by Russian jets today in Azaz, #Aleppo
http://youtu.be/s7KSAwAT_rk

Another airstrike in Sheikh Miskin, #Daraa in southern #Syria. Unknown if by Russian or Assad jets.
http://youtu.be/6k29sWkgSsE

[OUTLAW 09]

So now according to #Assad media, #UN are arranging deals with #ISIS on behalf of regime, yet both still talking about defeating terrorism

While the whole world fights Daesh Assad’s regime officially facilitates their relocation from one place to another, outstanding cooperation

Government officials don’t tell @AFP that some #ISIS fighters have already been transported to Bir Qasab in Dumair

Gov't official tells @AFP they will be transported to Raqa & Marea. Second phase will see government institutions reopen in the districts.

SYRIA: Some 4,000 people, half of them jihadist fighters, will exit three southern Damascus suburbs tomorrow as part of new ceasefire deal

UN rep in Damascus denies the UN is involved in any way. No comment yet from ICRC.

"4,000 fighters and civilians, including members of Al-Nusra & IS, will leave" Yarmuk, Qadam, Hajar al-Aswad Saturday, gov't official says

[OUTLAW 09]

Breaking
#Russia attacked the @SyriaCharity #ChildrenHospital in #Azaz on #Christmas Day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7KSAwAT_rk …

First day of #Christmas in #Aleppo.
Father and brother mourn victim of Russian "present".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkNqp-DGIM8 …

The same attack from the ground.
Connection to #ISIS: ZERO.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwtLax67P1A …

Seem the target was a fuel tank on the other side of the road.
But the @SyriaCharity facility was also damaged.

To those, still unsure:
There is NOT A SINGLE "ISIS oil truck" on the picture, #Russia presents as evidence.

This is regular border traffic between Iraq and Turkey as well as - mostly - free goods transport between Syria and Turkey.
Yep. Some fuel.

Footage
Syrian rebels in besieged #TerMaela use MILAN to hit #Assad ZSU-23-4.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PVlgsLetAI …

RuAF drone over Bab al-Hawa border crossing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH9oB1YChHs …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=36.228714&lon=36.695731&z=16&m=b&search=bab%20al%20hawa …

[OUTLAW 09]

Iran is still hiding "the Hidden General" serious injuries and or his death......this re just released via semi official Iranian media sources.

Iraq Qassem Soleimani next to a MN-2 Ground Control Station ( GCS), eastern Anbar.

Not a recent pic. Badr 4th brig. leader, Abu Habib Al Sakini, KIA in Fallujah last July, stands in front of Soleimani.

[OUTLAW 09]

Hassan Hassan ‏@hxhassan
The regime never combated ISIS cells near Damascus. Mostly Jaish al-Islam that dedicated resources to monitoring, tracking & dismantling it

Hassan Hassan ‏@hxhassan
ISIS cells in Yarmouk, Hajar al-Aswad etc were allowed to operate with impunity, sometimes even benefiting from humanitarian aid.

Hassan Hassan ‏@hxhassan · 2h2 hours ago
Zahran Aloush's death could have a ripple effect for Damascus & southern Syria. Certainly good news for competing forces, esp. jihadists.

Regime is striking deal with Nusra and IS in Yarmouk, and Russia kills leader of their most prominent enemy besides Aknaf. No coincidence.

Russia’s message to Syrians is clear: we came to protect Assad and not fight Daesh, no third option

ISIS assess the celebration of joy in #DeirEzzor, cause Leader of Jaish al-Islam #Zahran_Alloush by a #Russian raid

People posting this video (and pictures) claiming it's Zahran Alloush body should know that it's not him
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0O64rh4IRk …

It's a Jaysh Al-Islam commander who looks like Zahran Alloush and was killed in "Allah Ghaleb" battles in Ghouta.

[OUTLAW 09]

Well worth reading the complete article......

Yes, Iranian intelligence (VEVAK+Pasdaran) supports Salafi terrorists. In many places. Here's yet another example: http://20committee.com/2014/10/24/irans-secret-new-balkan-spy-terror-offensive/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

UNCONFIRMED reports #JN took Bashkoy north of #Aleppo.
pic.twitter.com/AFQ6D6YsXP

[OUTLAW 09]

Kremlin Trolls @KremlinTrolls

The Kremlin's Troll Army
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/08/the-kremlins-troll-army/375932/ … @TheAtlantic
pic.twitter.com/wAVC9ZpMep

Kremlin Trolls @KremlinTrolls
Hello @Support, our ac is being targeted by #KremlinTrolls, including ac
https://twitter.com/_belka_strelka
Pls investigate.
pic.twitter.com/lCXIWkiDkR

[OUTLAW 09]

Michael Weiss ✔ @michaeldweiss

Regime cuts deals with Isis. If only Putin knew...
https://twitter.com/ejmalrai/status/680448552032727041 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Massive cyber attacks on #Turkey since days- probably by #Russia


Turkish Internet servers reeling under huge cyber attack


Turkish Internet servers are suffering a powerful cyber attack, slowing banking services and fanning fears that it could be a politically motivated attack from abroad. Nic.tr, a non-governmental organisation that administers addresses for websites using the "tr" domain, said Thursday that the attack appeared to be from "organised sources" outside Turkey. Some newspapers said it could have originated in Russia, citing fraught bilateral relations since the downing by Turkey of a Russian fighter jet last month on the Syrian border.
AFP

[CrowBat]

UNCONFIRMED reports #JN took Bashkoy north of #Aleppo.
pic.twitter.com/AFQ6D6YsXP
This is meanwhile confirmed, and it wasn't only JAN. That is: Boshkoy is one prong of this offensive; FSyA is running the other.

Sounds like there are going to be more photos and videos of overrun and smashed HQs of Liwa az-Zanobioun...

'Fun factor': Russians were spraying the entire area with bombs, the last two days, just not one hit any of insurgent positions.

[CrowBat]

ISIS assess the celebration of joy in #DeirEzzor, cause Leader of Jaish al-Islam #Zahran_Alloush by a #Russian raid

People posting this video (and pictures) claiming it's Zahran Alloush body should know that it's not him
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0O64rh4IRk …

It's a Jaysh Al-Islam commander who looks like Zahran Alloush and was killed in "Allah Ghaleb" battles in Ghouta.
Sadly, it was Aloush... and one of rare occassions in which Russian bombs did hit after all...

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia & Iran support Assad attacks on civilians because they find ISIS existence convenient
http://bit.ly/1VdOsEI
pic.twitter.com/sbovRxkLdX

More than 50 Assads regular forces surrendered themselves to Turkish authorities as they defected.

Daily Mail Online ✔ @MailOnline
Ex-KGB agent claims Putin planted holiday jet bomb to justify waging war on Syria
http://dailym.ai/1J8B6rL

How Assad learnt from the Russian destruction of Chechnya
https://twitter.com/sarabiany/status/680494394903031809 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Hassan Hassan @hxhassan

Here it is -- Jaish al-Islam's video statement on the killing of Sheikh Zahran Aloush & appointment of new leader
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyS3QMQZy3w&feature=youtu.be …

[OUTLAW 09]

Kremlin Trolls @KremlinTrolls

The Kremlin's Troll Army
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/08/the-kremlins-troll-army/375932/ … @TheAtlantic
pic.twitter.com/wAVC9ZpMep

Kremlin Trolls @KremlinTrolls
Hello @Support, our ac is being targeted by #KremlinTrolls, including ac
https://twitter.com/_belka_strelka
Pls investigate.
pic.twitter.com/lCXIWkiDkR

Kremlin Trolls @KremlinTrolls

New spying powers will be used to bring cyberbullies & online trolls to justice
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3373981/Theresa-says-new-spying-powers-used-bring-cyberbullies-online-trolls-justice.html …
pic.twitter.com/JSQg0HKYsR

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian helicopter attacking Tair Ma'la village north #Homs.
https://youtu.be/rqNY0TtIS0M

FSA blow shia militia 23 mm gun south #Aleppo with TOW.
https://youtu.be/W1CZgn8HF8Y

From Bashkuy battlefield north #Aleppo.
https://youtu.be/W1CZgn8HF8Y

FSA blow shia militia Zil truck with TOW south #Aleppo.

Crashed enemy rockets in the area around liberated Jebal al-Noba
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42plJzLCinw …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=35.690520&lon=36.066399&z=15&m=b …

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian helicopter attacking Tair Ma'la village north #Homs.
https://youtu.be/rqNY0TtIS0M

FSA blow shia militia 23 mm gun south #Aleppo with TOW.
https://youtu.be/W1CZgn8HF8Y

From Bashkuy battlefield north #Aleppo.
https://youtu.be/W1CZgn8HF8Y

FSA blow shia militia Zil truck with TOW south #Aleppo.

Crashed enemy rockets in the area around liberated Jebal al-Noba
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42plJzLCinw …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=35.690520&lon=36.066399&z=15&m=b …

Young Alawii defected from #ASSad dirty regime and joined the Rebels in Aleppo cs #Syria
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZctVVbNzpG4 …

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Nahashabiyah village
#Latakia #Syria Dec 26

SAA shelling with Grad Rockets targeting #Abdin village
#Idlib #Syria Dec 26

The Moment an #Assad mercenary loses his cigarette and likely his life after getting sniped:
https://youtu.be/u1jl6Qsm2bM

97 civilians on Thursday were massacred by Russian forces. Are the ppl in the west speaking up? Nope...
http://en.eldorar.com/node/1043

Aleppo: Rebels capture Afghan silos, Al Saro area in Bashkoy, buildings in Handarat and killed dozens of Iranian and Afghan militiamen

Aleppo: Syrian opposition forces capture Dewayr Zeitoun & many parts of Kamin

Iranian revolutionary guard commander Mohammad Ali khâni killed in Aleppo #Syria

Aleppo: More than 17 Assad & allied forces killed by opposition forces in Deir Zeytoun, Handarat & Bashkoy

[OUTLAW 09]

My recent interview with zahran Alloush, ISIS's number 1 enemy. He was assassinated today by Russia https://twitter.com/michaeldweiss/status/680424667660722176 …

So now will the Russians collect the bounty Is had placed on Alloush???????

A #BMP with #Nusra storm troops Speeds ahead of an #MBT in their #Bashkuy assault.
https://youtu.be/siPDv1EdWL0

The Moment #Nusra started an assault on #Baskoy.
Shia offensive is planned there.
https://youtu.be/W1CZgn8HF8Y

And a 23mm gun is destroyed by Div13 #TOW #ATGM in S-Aleppo, gunner does not escape.
https://youtu.be/CgnRDnR4dQI

[CrowBat]

The following is the list of IRGC's or IRGC-run units identified (with help of OSINT) as deployed on different battlefields around Syria (though mostly in southern Aleppo):

4th Division Badhr Force: CO Jassim Mossavi; at least 1,000 infantry, deployed in southern Aleppo since mid-November
Liwa Assadollah: arrived in Hama in period 15-20 December, no reliable details available; probably underway to southern Aleppo
Liwa ‘Friends of Syrian Martyrs’: at least 1,000 Hezbollah/Iraq, motorized infantry (equipped with jeeps and Iranian-made TOWs), southern Aleppo
Liwa Fatimioun: about 2,000 Afghan Hazaras; infantry, deployed in Sheikh Najjar Industrial City (NE Aleppo)
Liwa Hashd ash-Sha'abi: new unit, deployed to Hama AB in early December; planned deployment area unknown, but likely to become southern Aleppo.
Liwa al-Haydareyen: about 2000 IRGC regulars and Basiji; southern Aleppo
Liwa al-Qahira: about 1000 Hezbollah/Iraq; motorized infantry; southern Aleppo since mid-November (green flags)
Liwa Zainabioun: about 2000 Pakistani Shi’a; infantry, operational area unknown
Liwa Zulfiqar: no details available, but present in southern Aleppo
Katayb Harakat an-Nujaba: about 2000 Hezbollah/Iraq; mechanized unit equipped with T-55s and BMP-1s; southern Aleppo (red flags)
Katayb Hezbollah: about 2000 Hezbollah/Iraq; mechanized unit equipped with T-72s and BMP-1s; southern Aleppo (yellow flags)
Saraya al-Ghabun: appears to be a 'special forces' (i.e. SWAT) asset

Overall, this is a concentration of at least 24,000, possibly up to 30,000 IRGC/IRGC-QF and Hezbollah/Iraq troops. Some of new units are necessary to replace losses, while others are necessary in order to occupy positions along overextended frontlines.

Gauging by new arrivals in November and December, the IRGC is raising and training at least three new 'brigades' (each up to 2,000 combatants) in Iraq a month. At least it's hauling as many to Syria.

Primary mean used to re-deploy all these forces to Syria are Russian Il-76 transports (at least 2-3 of which are carrying Syrian flags), and three C-130E/H Hercules transports of the IRIAF.

Except for Hezbollah/Iraq, the IRGC-QF in Syria is in control of a growing number of Hezbollah/Syria units. Three of these have been identified so far: all are nominally part of 'NDF', but actually Hezbollah/Syria:
- Liwa Imam al-Bakir: about 2,000 motorized infantry; deployment area used to be Kweres AB; now probably in southern Aleppo
- Liwa Imam al-Hussein: no other details available (except that it is active in southern Aleppo)
- Liwa Imam Ali (?): no other details available

The IRGC is de-facto in charge of the combined BPM, SSNP, and PFLP-GC efforts in Kweres area too - although, at least 'on the paper', the command nodes in question are either part of the militias in question, or at least reported as 'Syrian Arab Army'. The units deployed there are as follows:
- Desert Hawks Brigade (including units named as 'Cheetah Force', 'Tiger Force', 'Assad/Lion Force' etc.): BPM militia of about 2,000 light infantry designated as 'special forces', Kweres AB
- Another 'special forces brigade' reportedly running an 'offensive' west of Damascus, in cooperation with Hezbollah/Lebanon, as of 20-26 December

PFLP-GC
- Liwa al-Qods al-Filistini: (PFLP-QF), about 500 Palestinians of PFLP-GC; considered 'commando' outfit, Kweres AB

That said, and curiously enough, Hezbollah/Lebanon is meanwhile primarily cooperating with Russians and Assadists, and then foremost in NE Lattakia and N Hama. Usually, they have three brigades (if at all, cited as the 301st, 302nd, and 303rd) in Syria, each with about 2,000 troops, one now including armour (such like T-72TURMS-S and BMP-2s of the former Republican Guards). There might be more but it seems they're frequently rotated in an out of Syria as necessary. Since October, it seems that two of these have something like 'permanent presence': one in northern Hama early on, now in NE Lattakia; another is in Eastern Ghouta.

[OUTLAW 09]

A 57mm gun in Akrad Mtns is destroyed by #TOW #ATGM
https://youtu.be/rCOOWTH33d8

Damascus. East #Gouta. Destruction of regime tank another TOW hit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTdECjA6HsU …
pic.twitter.com/Em674hpB72

Reports #ISIS has captured new positions around #DeirEzzor military airbase.

Al-Bab is a big town, #Assad forces failed to take Deir Hafir over the last weeks.

3 Iranians #IRGC Rouhollah Talebi, Hamidreza Assadollahi, Mohamadreza Alikhani killed in southern Aleppo, Syria.
pic.twitter.com/gt0OONnWl6

Funeral of 16 #NDF from #NublZahraa martyred @ Bashkoy yesterday, at the Military Academy in #Aleppo
pic.twitter.com/Qdyb0Sd3ia

[OUTLAW 09]

Seems a batch of HJ-8 ATGMs reached rebels in eastern Ghouta/#Damascus probably from southern #Syria
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTdECjA6HsU …

After #SDF reached Tishrin dam now #Assad-forces advance towards Al-Bab - seems run about control of eastern #Aleppo province begins

IS-car bomb hit #Assad-forces near Kwers airbase in eastern rural #Aleppo

Jaish al-Islam continue to track down #ISIS, several killed in the #Daba'a area in #Qalamoun, #Syria
http://youtu.be/ELH_t7HiTdg

Hours after JaI cmdr Zahran Aloush was killed, JaI carries out an op in #Jobar, #Damascus killing 28 regime forces

More than 100 Regime's soldiers killed by Syrian Rebels in the last 24h, especially in #Damascus and #Aleppo. #Syria

What’s It’s Like to Have Russian Jets Bomb the Crap Out of Your Town - The Daily Beast
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/26/what-s-it-s-like-to-have-russian-jets-bomb-the-crap-out-of-your-town.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia is officially pushing the 'Turkey-Sarin' fairytale now.

Turkish ‘traitor’ MP’s revelations on sarin transfers must be probed, reported to UNSC – Moscow —
RT News
https://www.rt.com/news/327122-syria-sarin-isis-investigation/#.Vn6fCfQXdPs.twitter …

[OUTLAW 09]

Seems a batch of HJ-8 ATGMs reached rebels in eastern Ghouta/#Damascus probably from southern #Syria
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTdECjA6HsU …

After #SDF reached Tishrin dam now #Assad-forces advance towards Al-Bab - seems run about control of eastern #Aleppo province begins

IS-car bomb hit #Assad-forces near Kwers airbase in eastern rural #Aleppo

Jaish al-Islam continue to track down #ISIS, several killed in the #Daba'a area in #Qalamoun, #Syria
http://youtu.be/ELH_t7HiTdg

Hours after JaI cmdr Zahran Aloush was killed, JaI carries out an op in #Jobar, #Damascus killing 28 regime forces

More than 100 Regime's soldiers killed by Syrian Rebels in the last 24h, especially in #Damascus and #Aleppo. #Syria

What’s It’s Like to Have Russian Jets Bomb the Crap Out of Your Town - The Daily Beast
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/26/what-s-it-s-like-to-have-russian-jets-bomb-the-crap-out-of-your-town.html …

Some #FSA fighters walked on the other side of the Euphrates (near Tishreen Dam). First time since two years...

[OUTLAW 09]

Ex-Nusra leader Saleh al-Hamawi says He has never been so impressed w anyone's hatred of Shia & Alawites as Alloush

JN/AQ mourns the death of Zahran Alloush. Odd cause Alloush was/is presented as an effective anti-JN/AQ.

Geolocated reported position of Zahran Alloush & other leaders targeted yesterday.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=33.527244&lon=36.404276&z=19&search=Latitude%20%3A%2033.529444%20%7C%20Longitud e%20%3A%2036.408056 …

Based on metadata formatting, Russian drone filmed the attack. My money is on #RuAF.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1MjdK8B3IA …

.@aron_ld on Zahran Alloush and what his death means for the Damascus-area rebellion:
http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/death-of-zahran-alloush-by-aron-lund/ …

"In retaliation 2the killing of #ZahranAloush #JaishIslam attacks main #Damascus power plant..."

Breaking: Jaish_al_Islam appoints #Abu_Hammam_Bouwaidani to replace #Zahran_Aloush.

[OUTLAW 09]

The idea that Iran can be a constructive partner on Syria has been wishful thinking for more than 4 years now.
pic.twitter.com/tuO2eSXf7d

When Assad/Russia/Iran say they're willing to talk to opposition, they don't mean it. How is this not clear by now?
pic.twitter.com/e7nsSNJZDD

today with Jaish al-Islam spokesman Hamza Birqadar who is alive & well. #JaI #Syria
pic.twitter.com/m3RBI6YDBP

[OUTLAW 09]

I've said it before. A Hezbollah-Israel war may be closer than most people think.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/if-hezbollah-attacks-go-to-war-with-lebanon-former-national-security-adviser-urges/ …

The Anadan @SyriaCivilDef, hit today in bombing. Not close to ANY other facility/building. Hard to see how not deliberate targeting

Anadan @SyriaCivilDef and local medical clinic hit today in bombing. Utterly shameful. 4 days after UNSC agreed 2 stop, speaks to intent

Russian warplanes hit two hospitals in Aleppo's Azaz. Our civil defense team was on the ground to put out the fire.

Aftermath of Assad's rockets on civilian homes in Jubeilah, old #Aleppo, #Syria. Man says y target us no rebels here
http://youtu.be/iuzC70OW500

Second video of this Chinese TOW hit......
Faylaq al-Rahman using an HJ-8 ATGM on an Assad tank in the Marj area in eastern Ghouta, #Damascus, #Syria
http://youtu.be/n-6UUj9Apfc

[OUTLAW 09]

According to #ASSad's huyilo #Putin, these two hospitals #Russia bombed y'day Dec25,are #isis OIL stockpile.

8 reported dead & more than 10 wounded in yet another Russian airstrike today on a school in Jarjnaz, #Idlib, #Syria

Iran's FM Zarif flared up over Jordan's Terror List includes Hezbollah, Revolutionary Guards: source
http://goo.gl/djCHGb

How Assad learnt from the Russian destruction of Chechnya
Here is a good primer from a couple of years back:
https://sarabiany.wordpress.com/2013/04/22/assad-guided-by-russian-lessons-from-chechnya/ …

Russian propagandists "congratulate Russian pilots for bombing ISIS," even though over 80% of their strikes miss IS.
pic.twitter.com/r36wx7Qfll

[OUTLAW 09]

Winter falls upon 4 million Syrian Refugees
http://dld.bz/dKMxk

UNHCR races against time to give vital aid for winter Donate here #Syria http://dld.bz/ecs4y= @UNHCR Website

Russian air strikes in Syria's Aleppo hit hospital
http://dld.bz/efnTg

Christmas day - Air strikes continue on Aleppo city
http://dld.bz/efpZg

Stop the criminal bombers of Syrian civilians join the campaign @ #stopthebombs
http://dld.bz/dXB2V
Syria and Isis reach deal to end Yarmouk camp siege
http://dld.bz/efnPR

Palestinians in Syria desperately need Yarmouk truce
http://aje.io/z3d6

Evacuation of IS group fighters from Damascus ‘delayed’
http://ow.ly/WkCBK

A new alliance in the fight against Islamic State Radio report from the front line
http://dld.bz/dZJF9

Russian jets target mosque, kill five in Syria's Aleppo
http://dld.bz/efnPP

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian jets devastated another civilian neighbourhood in #Hraytan, north of #Aleppo, today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqH7jP_BFtI …

Footage
Russian air force Su-24 during its attack on civilians in #Idlib province today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwK5BoQUhD8 …

Footage
Aftermath of the #Russian attack on a chicken and textile market in #Aleppo today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZZppyA9Rz4 …

Footage
Aftermath of the Russian attack on the #school of #Jarjnaz today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T38S-hS3FBE …
#Idlib #Syria

Also #Inkhil was hit by #Russian planes.
Russia is also taking over in the south, it seems.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2gLQuE02y0 …

Footage
One of the hotspots of RussianAirstrikes in the province was #SheikhMaskin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLPAIxCnRA0 …

Footage
Two Russian Su-34 flying attacks in #Daraa province today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUoXaOmFgTI …

Multiple #Assad / #Putin air - and artillery strikes hit towns in northern #Hama province today.
pic.twitter.com/GOmQryp1eb

Footage shows destroyed #Nusra tanks and apcs after failed assault on #Bashkuy, north of #Aleppo, yesterday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsmnZYf1zt4 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian jets devastated another civilian neighbourhood in #Hraytan, north of #Aleppo, today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqH7jP_BFtI …

Footage
Russian air force Su-24 during its attack on civilians in #Idlib province today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwK5BoQUhD8 …

Footage
Aftermath of the #Russian attack on a chicken and textile market in #Aleppo today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZZppyA9Rz4 …

Footage
Aftermath of the Russian attack on the #school of #Jarjnaz today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T38S-hS3FBE …
#Idlib #Syria

Also #Inkhil was hit by #Russian planes.
Russia is also taking over in the south, it seems.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2gLQuE02y0 …

Footage
One of the hotspots of RussianAirstrikes in the province was #SheikhMaskin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLPAIxCnRA0 …

Footage
Two Russian Su-34 flying attacks in #Daraa province today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUoXaOmFgTI …

Multiple #Assad / #Putin air - and artillery strikes hit towns in northern #Hama province today.
pic.twitter.com/GOmQryp1eb

Footage shows destroyed #Nusra tanks and apcs after failed assault on #Bashkuy, north of #Aleppo, yesterday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsmnZYf1zt4 …

Russian MoD published video on YouTube showing Tor-M2U firing while on the move.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhtFNrkMP2M …

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian jets devastated another civilian neighbourhood in #Hraytan, north of #Aleppo, today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqH7jP_BFtI …

Footage
Russian air force Su-24 during its attack on civilians in #Idlib province today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwK5BoQUhD8 …

Footage
Aftermath of the #Russian attack on a chicken and textile market in #Aleppo today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZZppyA9Rz4 …

Footage
Aftermath of the Russian attack on the #school of #Jarjnaz today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T38S-hS3FBE …
#Idlib #Syria

Also #Inkhil was hit by #Russian planes.
Russia is also taking over in the south, it seems.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2gLQuE02y0 …

Footage
One of the hotspots of RussianAirstrikes in the province was #SheikhMaskin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLPAIxCnRA0 …

Footage
Two Russian Su-34 flying attacks in #Daraa province today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUoXaOmFgTI …

Multiple #Assad / #Putin air - and artillery strikes hit towns in northern #Hama province today.
pic.twitter.com/GOmQryp1eb

Footage shows destroyed #Nusra tanks and apcs after failed assault on #Bashkuy, north of #Aleppo, yesterday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsmnZYf1zt4 …

Picture
Victims of today's air strikes (by #Assad's and #Putin's air forces) in #Douma city.
pic.twitter.com/gxyMleUPJQ

[OUTLAW 09]

IsraelBreaking
Syrian media reporting at least 7 Hezbollah affiliated sites targeted short time ago by Israeli jets in Qalamoun, Syria. More info later.

AND the S400s???????

BreakingNews Sorces: Huge explosions shaking #Hezbollah positions in west #Qalamoun after #Israel|i jets conducted multiple strikes #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

Breaking: Regime cuts last road to #Damascus suburb, threatens war on 45k civilians unless rebels surrender. #Syria https://www.facebook.com/kenanrahmani/posts/4017458952576 …

Russia's Assassination of #JaishIslam Commanders Aimed at Thwarting Peace Talks
http://ow.ly/WkGwr

Russia’s aggression on #Syria only serves to boost #terrorism and foster #ISIS
http://ow.ly/WkH6Z

Calls on Supreme Negotiations Cmte to Discuss Repercussions of #Zahran_Alloush Assassination
http://ow.ly/WkAwA

The @SyrianCoalition calls on UN Sec. Council to condemn Zahran Alloush killing & to convene an emergency meeting:

[OUTLAW 09]

Amnesty International Responds to #Russia’s Denial of Committing #WarCrimes in #Syria
http://ow.ly/WjQ53

[OUTLAW 09]

VIDEO: SDF fighters shoot at fleeing ISIS vehicles near Tishrin Dam, #Syria.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsAgyRl0d8c …

SYRIA: Evacuation/relocation of rebels in #Yarmouk camp on hold partially due to al-Islam leader’s death - @BBCWorld
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35182306?ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbc_breaking&ns_source=twitter&ns_linkname=news_central …

[OUTLAW 09]

MORE from Russian propaganda .....Sputnik International.......

Sputnik ‏@SputnikInt ·
#Obama 'reaps the fruits' of his disrespect for Vladimir #Putin
http://sptnkne.ws/auxM

Sputnik ‏@SputnikInt ·
Russia creates secretive new #missile for #IskanderM system
http://sptnkne.ws/auyq

3 #Daesh command centers and column of trucks were destroyed by #SyrianArmy airstrikes
http://sptnkne.ws/auzH

Sputnik ‏@SputnikInt ·
Common ground: #Daesh forces Russia and the West to unite against #terrorism
http://sptnkne.ws/au2q

Sputnik ‏@SputnikInt
Turkish police have 'primitive understanding' of how to maintain #security
http://sptnkne.ws/auuQ

[OUTLAW 09]

Reports from @SyriaCivilDef (which provides rescue and aid to injured civs in #Syria) that their HQ in #Aleppo was bombed, some casualties

[CrowBat]

Breaking: Regime cuts last road to #Damascus suburb, threatens war on 45k civilians unless rebels surrender. #Syria https://www.facebook.com/kenanrahmani/posts/4017458952576 …
So, even the IRGC-negotiated cease-fires are null and void now; leave or we shall kill you.

Makes one wonder: where are all the regime-fans that were declaring such cease-fires for 'national reconciliation process'?

Perhaps they could add also that this is showing how promising is the future of Christians, Druze and other minorities under Assadist regime...

[OUTLAW 09]

One very BIG and FAT Russian lie if there ever was one that can be fact checked almost daily complete with video footage and civilian death counts.

"Russian warplanes never hit civilian targets in Syria."
-General Viktor Bondarenko, chief of Russian Air Force
pic.twitter.com/WOO7ok110M

HERE is the single most important point in this particular killing civilians debate....

This core question now has to be asked about Obama and his entire NSC team...the West has valid evidence since 2011 of Assad's genocidal program against the Sunni civil population and his use of and now repeated use of chemical weapons on that society, we now see Putin doing the same exact genocidal moves using cluster munitions deliberately against civilian targets, firing tactical missiles into residential area, using thermobaric and WP weapons on civilian areas and deliberate air strikes against churches, schools, market places, deliberately targeting civil defense rescue teams, attacking food supplies/aid convoys and critical civilian
infrastructure THAT absolutely has nothing to do with attacking Islamic State---HIS stated reason for being in Syria.

NOW take this simple single word.......

com-plic-it

adjective

choosing to be involved in an illegal or questionable act, especially with others; having complicity.

IF Obama and his NSC truly knows the depths of the Assad and Putin air strikes against civilians AND they know from their daily intel briefings, and if they have fully read the AI/HRW reports on the use of cluster munitions on civilians, if they know of the Assad and Putin strategy to use starvation as a tactical weapon against the Sunni civil society as a whole.....creating a massive humanitarian disaster........YET SAY and or DO NOTHING......

IS not Obama and his entire NSC "complicit" in the Assad and Putin genocide being conducted inside Syria against the Sunni civil society???

IF the US is actually THEN "complicit" cannot Obama and his entire NSC THEN be charged with genocide/crimes against humanity at the Hague just as others that sit on the UNSC WHO equally cannot argue they "DID NOT KNOW" and DID NOTHING to stop it???? Especially since it is the UNSC that stated ALL cease bombing of civilians immediately.....???

Has the US in the last eight years totally lost "it's own moral compass" in the current Obama "retrenchment"???

[CrowBat]

...to a certain degree Bondarenko is right:
- Russians do not 'target' civilians: they drop their bombs in general direction of 'target', then the wind does the rest...

- Russians are missing so often, that one can't talk about 'aiming'; and

- so many of their bombs are failing to detonate, that

...overall, they're 'next to never' hitting Syrian civilians.

This might sound sarcastic, but it's really so: good the VKS is performing this 'precisely', otherwise there would be 10-fold more casualties between civilians...

[OUTLAW 09]

Perfect example of the complicity of Obama and Putin in the genocide being conducted against the Sunni civil society in Syria...AND YET not a single word is lost by Obama on the current wave of chemical attacks.....this week a major sarin attack occurred and not a single Obama word and yet he issued a red line statement......

NOW another possible sarin attack just being reported one minute ago......

AND the comments from the US are exactly WHAT again......

Reports of a new Assad poison gas attack on #Jobar a little while ago, casualties reported. #Damascus #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

Article by @AlArabiya_Eng
"Zahran Alloush: Top rebel’s death in Syria reshuffles the decks"
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/features/2015/12/27/Top-rebel-s-death-in-Syria-reshuffles-deck-ahead-of-talks.html … pic.twitter.com/s4MFDa5dXA

The anti Assad forces must now fully realize that Putin in his game to completely destroy them and unless they unite they will be individually destroyed THUS leaving IS and Assad as the choices for the Syrian civil society.......

[OUTLAW 09]

One very BIG and FAT Russian lie if there ever was one that can be fact checked almost daily complete with video footage and civilian death counts.

"Russian warplanes never hit civilian targets in Syria."
-General Viktor Bondarenko, chief of Russian Air Force
pic.twitter.com/WOO7ok110M

HERE is the single most important point in this particular killing civilians debate....

This core question now has to be asked about Obama and his entire NSC team...the West has valid evidence since 2011 of Assad's genocidal program against the Sunni civil population and his use of and now repeated use of chemical weapons on that society, we now see Putin doing the same exact genocidal moves using cluster munitions deliberately against civilian targets, firing tactical missiles into residential area, using thermobaric and WP weapons on civilian areas and deliberate air strikes against churches, schools, market places, deliberately targeting civil defense rescue teams, attacking food supplies/aid convoys and critical civilian
infrastructure THAT absolutely has nothing to do with attacking Islamic State---HIS stated reason for being in Syria.

NOW take this simple single word.......

com-plic-it

adjective

choosing to be involved in an illegal or questionable act, especially with others; having complicity.

IF Obama and his NSC truly knows the depths of the Assad and Putin air strikes against civilians AND they know from their daily intel briefings, and if they have fully read the AI/HRW reports on the use of cluster munitions on civilians, if they know of the Assad and Putin strategy to use starvation as a tactical weapon against the Sunni civil society as a whole.....creating a massive humanitarian disaster........YET SAY and or DO NOTHING......

IS not Obama and his entire NSC "complicit" in the Assad and Putin genocide being conducted inside Syria against the Sunni civil society???

IF the US is actually THEN "complicit" cannot Obama and his entire NSC THEN be charged with genocide/crimes against humanity at the Hague just as others that sit on the UNSC WHO equally cannot argue they "DID NOT KNOW" and DID NOTHING to stop it???? Especially since it is the UNSC that stated ALL cease bombing of civilians immediately.....???

Has the US in the last eight years totally lost "it's own moral compass" in the current Obama "retrenchment"???


Fact: @amnesty, @hrw, @MSF, @SyriaCivilDef & thousands others are lying.
Only #Russia is right and provoked.

[OUTLAW 09]

6 civilians were killed in Talaf village in rural Homs after the regime dropped barrel bombs on a school. #Syria

S400s......
Sources for the videos -
Factory footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=252XnBPHq60 …
Syria footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSTPahY7XjQ …

The S-400 deployed at Hmeymim air base in Syria showing the same format.
pic.twitter.com/0EZleDOGMI

[OUTLAW 09]

Perfect example of the complicity of Obama and Putin in the genocide being conducted against the Sunni civil society in Syria...AND YET not a single word is lost by Obama on the current wave of chemical attacks.....this week a major sarin attack occurred and not a single Obama word and yet he issued a red line statement......

NOW another possible sarin attack just being reported one minute ago......

AND the comments from the US are exactly WHAT again......

Reports of a new Assad poison gas attack on #Jobar a little while ago, casualties reported. #Damascus #Syria

Sir martyr aftermath #SAA Toxic Gas attack on #Jobar neighborhood
#Damascus #SYria Dec 27
PH: JobarMedical FB
pic.twitter.com/aBUndpUqOT

[OUTLAW 09]

AN average day in the Assad and Putin genocidal war being conducted against civilians and anti Assad forces NOT IS......

Destruction aftermath #Russia airstrikes on #Tulafeh village
#Aleppo cs #Syria Dec 27
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMJsxt9Fd68 …

Coalition warplanes carried out airstrikes on #DeirEzzor
#Syria Dec 27

Moment of #SAA airstrikes on #Erbeen
#Damascus cs #Syria Dec 27
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7n3keNFhS4 …

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #al_Tamanah village
#Idlib #Syria Dec 27

3 martyrs victims of #SAA shelling mortars on #al_Lataminah
#Hama #Syria Dec 27

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Palmyra
#Homs #Syria Dec 27

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting the area of #alCastello road
#Aleppo cs #Syria Dec 27

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Karm_alBayk village
#Aleppo cs #Syria Dec 27

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Beny_Zaid village
#Aleppo cs #Syria Dec 27

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Marj area

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes on the area of western #Ghariyah

SAA dropped leaflets:"This is the end of dirty money,back to God,best sinners are who retreat"
#Ghouta #Syria Dec27
#Daraa cs #Syria Dec 27
E #Ghouta #Damascus cs #Syria Dec 27

SCD @SyriaCivilDef Searching for victims aftermath #SAA airstrikes on #Hamouriyah
#Damascus cs #Syria Dec 27

Smoke and chaos aftermath #SAA airstrikes on #Hamouriyah
#Damascus cs #Syria Dec 27

Smoke, destruction & causalities aftermath #SAA airstrikes on #Erbeen
#SCD rush to rescue operation
#Syria Dec 27

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Hamouriyah
#Damascus cs #Syria

SAA helicopter dropped barrel bombs on #alMakramiyah village
#Homs cs #Syria Dec 27

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes on the Road of #Kiheel & #Sayda area
#Daraa #Syria Dec 27

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Erbeen
#Damascus cs #Syria Dec 27

SAA shelling with Grad Rockets targeting #Yadoudeh neighborhood
#Daraa #Syria Dec 27

SAA helicopter flying over #alJedor village
#Daraa #Syria Dec 27

Coalition warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Alsawam village
#Aleppo cs #Syria Dec 27

I don't know but is "smelling fire", coalition and Russia flying next to each other.. RuAF on Rebel held, and CoAF on da3sh

Activists reporting 4 warplanes flying together over North #Aleppo, identifying as #Coalition warplanes
#Syria Dec 27

Coalition warplanes carried out airstrikes on #al_Bab
#Aleppo #Syria Dec 27

Reports #Coalition warplanes carried out airstrikes on #al_Ankawi
#Hama #Syria Dec 27

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Khan_Touman
#Aleppo cs #Syria Dec 27

SAA shelling with havy artillery targeting #Inkhil village
#Daraa #Syria Dec 27

5 martyrs so far aftermath #SAA barrel bombs in #al_Houla
#Homs #Syria Dec 27

3 Martyrs including a 8 years old child due #SAA Barrel bombs on #Talaf village
#Hama cs #Syria Dec 27

Death toll rises to 6 martyrs aftermath #SAA Barrel Bombs on #Talaf village
#Hama #SYria Dec 27

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Kafr_Zeta
#Hama #Syria Dec 27

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia is targeting rebel leaders who participated in #Riyadh Not just #Alloush
http://en.etilaf.org/all-news/news/russia-s-assassination-of-rebel-commanders-is-deliberate-targeting-of-the-syrian-revolution.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

AN average day in the Assad and Putin genocidal war being conducted against civilians and anti Assad forces NOT IS......

Destruction aftermath #Russia airstrikes on #Tulafeh village
#Aleppo cs #Syria Dec 27
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMJsxt9Fd68 …

Coalition warplanes carried out airstrikes on #DeirEzzor
#Syria Dec 27

Moment of #SAA airstrikes on #Erbeen
#Damascus cs #Syria Dec 27
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7n3keNFhS4 …

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #al_Tamanah village
#Idlib #Syria Dec 27

3 martyrs victims of #SAA shelling mortars on #al_Lataminah
#Hama #Syria Dec 27

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Palmyra
#Homs #Syria Dec 27

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting the area of #alCastello road
#Aleppo cs #Syria Dec 27

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Karm_alBayk village
#Aleppo cs #Syria Dec 27

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Beny_Zaid village
#Aleppo cs #Syria Dec 27

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Marj area

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes on the area of western #Ghariyah

SAA dropped leaflets:"This is the end of dirty money,back to God,best sinners are who retreat"
#Ghouta #Syria Dec27
#Daraa cs #Syria Dec 27
E #Ghouta #Damascus cs #Syria Dec 27

SCD @SyriaCivilDef Searching for victims aftermath #SAA airstrikes on #Hamouriyah
#Damascus cs #Syria Dec 27

Smoke and chaos aftermath #SAA airstrikes on #Hamouriyah
#Damascus cs #Syria Dec 27

Smoke, destruction & causalities aftermath #SAA airstrikes on #Erbeen
#SCD rush to rescue operation
#Syria Dec 27

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Hamouriyah
#Damascus cs #Syria

SAA helicopter dropped barrel bombs on #alMakramiyah village
#Homs cs #Syria Dec 27

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes on the Road of #Kiheel & #Sayda area
#Daraa #Syria Dec 27

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Erbeen
#Damascus cs #Syria Dec 27

SAA shelling with Grad Rockets targeting #Yadoudeh neighborhood
#Daraa #Syria Dec 27

SAA helicopter flying over #alJedor village
#Daraa #Syria Dec 27

Coalition warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Alsawam village
#Aleppo cs #Syria Dec 27

I don't know but is "smelling fire", coalition and Russia flying next to each other.. RuAF on Rebel held, and CoAF on da3sh

Activists reporting 4 warplanes flying together over North #Aleppo, identifying as #Coalition warplanes
#Syria Dec 27

Coalition warplanes carried out airstrikes on #al_Bab
#Aleppo #Syria Dec 27

Reports #Coalition warplanes carried out airstrikes on #al_Ankawi
#Hama #Syria Dec 27

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Khan_Touman
#Aleppo cs #Syria Dec 27

SAA shelling with havy artillery targeting #Inkhil village
#Daraa #Syria Dec 27

5 martyrs so far aftermath #SAA barrel bombs in #al_Houla
#Homs #Syria Dec 27

3 Martyrs including a 8 years old child due #SAA Barrel bombs on #Talaf village
#Hama cs #Syria Dec 27

Death toll rises to 6 martyrs aftermath #SAA Barrel Bombs on #Talaf village
#Hama #SYria Dec 27

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Kafr_Zeta
#Hama #Syria Dec 27

More than 4 #Russia airstrikes caught on camera
#alCastello road #Aleppo cs #Syria Dec 27
https://youtu.be/880_Fw8OnEU

According to #Putin this is a "#isis Oil warehouse" and need to be bombed.
Mini Gas shop in #Aazaz #Aleppo Dec 27

Smoke due 2nd #SAA airstrikes on #Kiheel village, causalities reported
#Daraa #Syria Dec 27

Smoke due #Russia airstrikes on #al_Lataminah
#Hama #SYria Dec 27
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoMEXHW5MwE …

Destruction aftermath #SAA barrel bombs on #Teir_Maela
#Homs #Syria Dec 27
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKd4QsSspRE …

civilian wounded in aftermath #SAA airstrikes on #Hamouriyah
#Damascus cs #Syria Dec 27

[CrowBat]

Russia is targeting rebel leaders who participated in #Riyadh Not just #Alloush
http://en.etilaf.org/all-news/news/russia-s-assassination-of-rebel-commanders-is-deliberate-targeting-of-the-syrian-revolution.html …
Can somebody pinch me, please...?

...after three months of spraying and praying, there's now the first indication of Russians doing something that might make sense after all?

...at least from military POV... although even this with 'decapitating' strikes is at least 'controversial', if not 'proven wrong already long ago'...

[OUTLAW 09]

Hezbollah leader says Israel should brace for retaliation over Qantar's death
http://reut.rs/1NRAgMB

[OUTLAW 09]

Strange Russian naval underwater activities....AND the Syrian Express movements...

Now the unanswered question is; WTH was Smetlivy doing in full-stop for days (weeks?) near TR-RO-RU internet cables

ВМФ #ЧФ BSF Smetlivvy 810 returns to BlackSea exactly 100 days after her Mediterranean deployment

Smetlivy contributed generously to the heavily polluted air of #Istanbul.. just like before
https://twitter.com/alperboler/status/645106180814209024 …

Smetlivy has a hatch to release a variable depth sonar & spent a long time near fiberoptic cable lines in Aegean hmm

FLOT's Kashin Class Destroyer Smetlivy 810 crossing the bosphorus northbound.(The one that fired at Tr fishing boat)

FLOT's recently added cargo ship Vologda-50 (Ex-Dadali) southbound. Another ex-commercial Kyzyl crossed north in tow

Heavy shuttling to and fro is hard on these old vessels. They don't seem to be long term investments. Kyzyl was lucky that MB31 was there.

[OUTLAW 09]

Senior Jaish al-Islam political leader denies reports of withdrawal from [Riyadh-agreed] negotiation platform:
https://twitter.com/sfean_alhmwi/status/681078201351843844 …

Syria More footage on the drone that crashed in Al Mallah yesterday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh13ZayYWEQ …
pic.twitter.com/ykh1IhuzVf

Parachute & markings points to AB-3. But drone seems quite large w/ 1 air scoop. Shahed 129

[OUTLAW 09]

http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.de/2015/12/putin-views-russia-itself-only-as-means.html

Friday, December 25, 2015

Putin Views Russia Itself Only as a Means to Create a New World Order, Illarionov Says

Paul Goble


Staunton, December 25 – Vladimir Putin views Russia not as an end in itself but rather as a means to create a new world order, a view that means he is quite prepared to sacrifice the well-being of Russians in the pursuit of his vision of a new Yalta, according to Moscow commentator Andrey Illarionov.

For the Kremlin leader, Russia itself ranks no more than second in his hierarchy of values; and thus, “it is not important [to him] what happens inside the country” but only how the country’s resources can be deployed for his geopolitical goals (echo.msk.ru/guests/2160/ and apostrophe.com.ua/news/world/2015-12-25/eks-sovetnik-putina-rasskazal-o-ego-stremlenii-ustanovit-novyiy-miroporyadok/45460).

Unfortunately for Putin and his plans, Illarionov continues, this resource is ever smaller: The Russian economy now ranks eighth or ninth in the world and is getting smaller. Its demographic resources are contracting, and its “scientific-technical resources” are declining as well.

Indeed, the only resource that is growing is Russia’s military, and consequently, that is the one Putin is relying upon, the Moscow economist says.

It is far from clear whether with such limited resources, Putin has any hope of achieving the establishment of a new world order of “the Yalta-2 type,” one in which Moscow would have equal weight with “the largest power of the world today, the United States” in making decisions about all issues.

But Putin believes it is possible, and he is ready to sacrifice “everything else – Russia, the economy, society, and people” – to that end. Indeed, for the Kremlin leader, these are all “petty questions” that he will ignore in pursuit of “a certain parity, a certain appearance of parity” on some issues with the United States.

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria: Stories Behind Photos of Killed Detainees - Caesar Photos’ Victims Identified
https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/12/16/syria-stories-behind-photos-killed-detainees …
pic.twitter.com/nQMZsTHgzk

[OUTLAW 09]

You have to "love" Russian propaganda.......

Sputnik 
‏@SputnikInt Love thy enemy? US plot to evacuate top #jihadis from #Ramadi uncovered
http://sptnkne.ws/au94

Sputnik ‏@SputnikInt ·
#Obama is 'hopelessly out of touch' on #Daesh
http://sptnkne.ws/auBV

Sputnik ‏@SputnikInt ·
New kids on the block: #SaudiCoalition to 'stall joint anti-#Daesh effort'
http://sptnkne.ws/auBz

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad army new propaganda leaflets in Jihadi-American flavour dropped on rebel-held #EastGhouta #Damascus -
pic.twitter.com/ls8uyu3r2P

Posted from a well known Syrian troll propaganda account......
Russia and the USA agreed on the new Syrian Prime Minster and to allow Assad to run for Presidency if he wishes too
http://www.alraimedia.com/ar/article/special-reports/2015/12/27/645546/nr/syria …

[CrowBat]

Sputnik ‏@SputnikInt ·
#Obama is 'hopelessly out of touch' on #Daesh
http://sptnkne.ws/auBV
Not that Russians would be doing any better, of course, so they're the wrong to complain: but, can't really say they're wrong in this regards...

[OUTLAW 09]

Jeish al-Fateh calls for mobilization of the entire Muslim nation – men and funds – to halt the "Safavid project."

Mohammed Ali Kharita.
Another person who dies of starvation in the Assad besieged town of #Madaya, #Zabadani, #Syria

Is it ever too late? Reports 10 Assad forces have defected to the opposition in Sahl al-Ghab, west rural #Hama, #Syria

Exported "Forpost" or Israeli IAI Searcher Mk II. "Don't touch" written on wing
http://m.censor.net.ua/photo_news/337036/kadry_sborki_sbitogo_na_donbasse_rossiyiskogo_besp ilotnika_forpost_na_uralskom_zavode_po_zakazu_mino borony …
Russian drone that was downed last night by Nour al-Din Zinki in the Malah area in #Aleppo, #Syria

Reports are that the Israeli airstrikes targeted a #Hezbollah weapons convoy in western #Qalamoun, #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

S300/400s............
Markings on the crashed one clearly point to the 5V55 missile. pic.twitter.com/zddNgpW9Um

Markings on an S-300 system missile which crashed in Zabaykalsky Krai last year.
pic.twitter.com/2NoZOyNkIr

[OUTLAW 09]

That touchy moment of RuMOD when people accepted #FAKEAI challenge.
Stay tuned! #Syria
https://twitter.com/ReggaeMortis1/status/681179190977294337 …
pic.twitter.com/jIhboEv2HE

Baghdadi pushes House of Islam vs House of War narrative described in #unholyterror
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/12/baghdadi-claims-infidel-nations-are-afraid-of-final-war.php?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter …

first time su25 are filmed using unguided rockets in syria?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygXSRgOdT-k …

Man offers his car for 15 kilos of rice or 5 kilos of milk in Madaya west Damascus. Town is under tough regime siege
pic.twitter.com/lfB9sZYJCz

ISIS stormed Tahtouh district in #DeirEzzor, advancing seriously towards the main entrance of the airport. #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

http://gulfnews.com/opinion/thinkers/us-russia-cooperation-crucial-in-syria-1.1643239

US-Russia cooperation crucial in Syria

While Putin must engage more seriously in global efforts to launch a political transition, America should have no illusions about probability of success

By Michael McFaul, Special to Gulf News

Published: 16:49 December 24, 2015
Gulf News


Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to intervene in Syria marked a major turning point in Russian foreign policy in 2015. Over the last 15 years, Putin has increasingly relied on the use of military power to achieve his domestic and foreign-policy objectives, starting with the invasion of Chechnya in 1999, then of Georgia in 2008 and then of Ukraine in 2014. Putin’s Syria gambit was the logical, if dramatic, next step in Russia’s increasingly aggressive foreign policy.

Syria, however, is supposed to be different from these previous interventions. While Putin correctly calculated that most of the world would condemn his military actions in Chechnya, Georgia and Ukraine, he hopes for solidarity and support from the international community for his actions in Syria.

Pro-Kremlin commentators point to United States Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent trip to Moscow as proof that military intervention to fight terrorism in Syria has ended Russia’s international isolation and generated new respect for its standing as a responsible global power. Russia is back, so the argument goes, because the world needs Russia.

Such conclusions are premature, though. In the long run, Russia could become a partner in the global fight against terrorism. And, in principle, the US, the European Union and countries around the world should welcome Russian cooperation in this mission. In practice, however, several key short-term issues must be resolved before the long-term goal of cooperation with Russia can be achieved.

First, Russia, which has intervened to defend its long-time client, Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, must stop bombing Syrian opposition forces supported by the US and its coalition, and start fighting Daesh (the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) instead. In the first weeks of the Russian bombing campaign, the strategy was obvious: Eliminate all third parties in the civil war and thereby force the world to choose between the lesser of two evils — Al Assad or Daesh. More recently, Russian bombers have begun to attack a few Daesh targets, but the Kremlin’s air campaign remains focused on other opposition forces. To be a partner with the West, Russia must change its bombing targets dramatically and permanently.

Second, Putin must engage more seriously in the international efforts to launch a political transition process in Syria. Al Assad cannot stay. He could serve in an interim, transitional role, as some dictators have done in other transitions from authoritarian rule. But he cannot remain in power for the simple reason that his presence only drives more volunteers to the Daesh cause. Al Assad’s regime has killed more people in Syria than all other groups combined. He rarely attacks Daesh terrorists, focusing his military efforts instead on other insurgents. He is not, therefore, a useful ally in the fight against terrorism.

Moreover, the vast majority of victims of Syrian government military operations are civilians, not terrorists. According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, Al Assad killed 181,557 civilians between March 2011 and November 2015, while Daesh murdered 1,777 civilians during the same period. If the objective in Syria is to stop the civil war, Al Assad should be no one’s idea of a peacemaker. As a demonstration of Russia’s influence over the regime, Putin should first pressure Al Assad to stop killing civilians. If Putin cannot achieve this objective, there is no reason to believe that he can deliver Al Assad or his generals to the negotiating table.

Third, Russia must change its bombing methods. Too many civilians are dying. These types of attacks by Russia generate more inspiring footage for terrorist channels on YouTube — exactly what Daesh wants.

Fourth, Russian media must stop accusing the US of supporting Daesh. How can the US join forces with a country that makes such false claims and portrays America as the enemy?

Fifth, Putin needs to stop the flow of fighters from Russia into Syria. Even Russian estimates suggest that by September 2015, some 2,400 Russian citizens had joined Daesh.

Finally, to be a useful partner in Syria, Russia must stop expecting concessions from the US on Ukraine. Such linkage will never work.

To enable cooperation with Russia, the US and its allies also must make some adjustments — as well as some commitments. First, moderate opposition groups receiving money and weapons from the US should not be compelled to fight only Daesh. Rather, they should be able to define their own military strategies, including a focus on fighting Al Assad’s forces as a means of pressuring the regime to negotiate. They cannot be expected to fight Daesh when Al Assad is attacking them.

Second, US officials must press the Kremlin to get serious about pushing for a political transition, ultimately including free and fair elections. The US and the rest of the world cannot be tempted into believing in the false promise of autocratic stability. Al Assad’s dictatorship has produced only death, displacement and instability over the last four years. There is no reason to expect that his regime could produce stability in the future.

Third, American leaders must be crystal clear about segregating US support for Ukraine and cooperation with Russia in Syria. Sending ambiguous signals serves no purpose.

Finally, US leaders must remain realistic about the weak prospects for successful cooperation. Russia’s bombing campaign has changed little on the ground, and its pledges to support a political transition are not new. Two previous international peacemaking efforts in which Russia participated (Geneva I and Geneva II) ended in failure.

In the year ahead, the US should seek an alliance with Russia to defeat Daesh; but it should do so with no illusions about the probability of success — and real concerns about the cost of failure.

— Project Syndicate, 2015

Michael McFaul, US ambassador to the Russian Federation from 2012 to 2014, is professor of Political Science, Hoover Institution fellow and director of the Freeman Spogli Institute at Stanford University.


RussiaLies
Vesti & RIA Novosti publish #fake report by notorious Iranian FARS, accusing U.S. of evacuating ISIS.
pic.twitter.com/qsqSU6wo8T

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia recklessly kills a Syrian rebel leader who could have negotiated truce. Moscow's march of folly continues.
http://nyti.ms/1TkAe3t

Kafranbel echoes other secular #Syria oppositionists: Russia's killing Zahran Alloush removes a major foe of IS.
https://youtu.be/VXMhHMZHgAQ

The new leader of Jaysh al-Islam faction Issam Buweidani is a silent but a very hard-working military commander

He led most of Jaysh al-Islam operations in rural Damascus since late 2011. He prefers to work away from the spotlight

[JWing]

Good overview of YPG/PKK fight in Syria and situation in north overall. Here's link to video (http://musingsoniraq.blogspot.com/2015/12/jamestown-video-kurdish-periphery-from.html).

[OUTLAW 09]

A couple of regime videos from the Eastern Homs frontline:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zAZyyTsXSU …

RBK-500 SHOAB-0.5 cluster bomb at Russian base in Syria, in Al-Latamneh, Hama, and in Ukraine's aviation museum.
pic.twitter.com/ATXkmmZ7a7

[OUTLAW 09]

Exclusive Military landing in Sykol Village in the night in #Raqqa north countryside by Unknown armed group #Syria
pic.twitter.com/t5x3hCNte5

Raqqa Warplanes targeted a Checkpoint for #ISIS in #Tabqha near AL-Fourat Dam with Machine guns

Yesterday / #Raqqa Drone Strike targeted a car for #ISIS near #Ratla village in #Raqqa countryside at 7:00 pm

Raqqa 3 Airstrikes by Warplanes targeted #Kabsh village in Raqqa Countryside we think it targeted a Military convoy for #ISIS

Drone strike targeted a car near AL Moassa Hospital In AL-Thakna area inside it 3 #ISIS fighters #Syria #ISIL

[CrowBat]

first time su25 are filmed using unguided rockets in syria?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygXSRgOdT-k …
Erm... the aircraft is actually an Assadist Su-22.

OK, then scratch even the two reported VKS Su-25 CAS missions in that area today (would be something like 'only 2 out of another 90 sorties')... :rolleyes:

[davidbfpo]

A 'long read' in the New Statesman by Sir John Jenkins, a recently retired British diplomat; which I thought I had posted when published on the 6th December. The full title is: No one knows what they're doing in Syria - but standing back is not an option - followed by - Ultimately this is a question about the world in which we want to live:http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2015/12/no-one-knows-what-theyre-doing-syria-standing-back-not-option

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia to expand sanctions against Turkey — deputy PM
http://www.unian.info/world/1224298-russia-to-expand-sanctions-against-turkey-deputy-pm.html …
pic.twitter.com/fxAPx3irhE

Pro-regime IRGC commander Qasim Taimoori has been killed in #Syria, making him the 36th IRGC commander killed there in the past month.

At least 32 killed, 90 wounded in bomb blasts in Syria's Homs: monitoring group
http://reut.rs/1OomfVX

Good to see many anti #Assad tweeps reporting the terror attack against civilians in #Homs. Terror is terror no matter who the victims are.

RuAF Special Flight Squadron #RA64058 RSD45 from Riyadh http://fr24.com/RSD45/8626c1b
Putin's special syria envoy mideast tour - landing now in tehran. After day in Riyadh

Fascinating deep-dive by @Borzou looking behind-the-scenes at Iran and Hezbollah's support for the Assad regime: http://www.buzzfeed.com/borzoudaragahi/inside-irans-bold-unprecedented-intervention-in-syria#.giN2000gJ …

[OUTLAW 09]

Lots of Airstrikes after #IS advance into Tahtuh neighborhood close to the #DeirEzzor airbase
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=35.313304&lon=40.163355&z=16&m=b …

8 suffocation cases in total following a chlorine gas attack by Assad’s forces on #Jobar in #Damascus yesterday...NOT a single report by western MSM.... today

Reference the shot down of the Israeli UAV sold to the Russian MoD......
Our (Russian) army have/had two Israel made samples for not cold temperature conditions (like in Syria)

Aleppo: Syrian Rebels destroy Assad regime tank around Burna

New IRGC commander lol. Who is this guy Sean Connery?
http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/ncri-statements/terrorism-fundamentalism/19701 …

[OUTLAW 09]

The Southern Front is in deep sleep mode due to slavishly following #MOC.
A Regime Offensive on Sheikh Maskeen will be launched soon, part of a wider Offensive, Southern Front must act before it is too late

CORE question...WHY is the US and Jordan holding back the Southern Front Army when they are urgently needed????

Remains of what looks like a regime launched BM-27 9M27K cluster munitions rocket in Kafrnaboudeh, #Hama, #Syria
http://youtu.be/YTW3sWhV_70

YPG,Jaysh Al-Thuwar in Efrin broke the truce and took Malikia and cut the major rebel supply-line to Aleppo city
Russians & Americans compete in handing over #Aleppo & suburbs to Kurds, Assad army & shia militias. Turkey reaction: blah blah blah

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian marines returned from Syria to occupied Sevastopol
http://syria.liveuamap.com/en/2015/28-december-russian-marines-returned-from-syria-to-occupied …
pic.twitter.com/RxKK7cD4rL via @mod_russia

MORE civilians are killed by the "Islamic State air Force"......
10 civilians killed from Assad airstrikes on Douma & Zibdin

[OUTLAW 09]

IF the US had an information warfare program THEY might actually turn this around and ask the same question of Putin........sadly it does not.......so this goes unanswered.....

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
Russian Defence Ministry appeals #US to fight #ISIS actually but not verbally
http://on.fb.me/1PsFVxj

Last time I checked the Russian supplied/supported "Islamic state Air Force" appears to be not bombing anything titled "Islamic State"....

[OUTLAW 09]

If you're not reading @ajaltamimi on Syria then you're doing it wrong. Here's a nice little piece on hoax IS docs.
http://www.aymennjawad.org/2015/12/guide-to-islamic-state-document-hoaxes#.Vn8w5yW1hV8.twitter …

Smoke due #Russia airstrikes on #Erbeen, casualties reported
#Damascus cs #SYria Dec 28
pic.twitter.com/aaGeau7qYX

MORE killed civilians by Assad and Putin and the total inaction of the West.....
SCD - Little boy victim of #SAA shelling on civilians houses,6 killed,30+wounded
#Zabidin #Damascus cs #Syria Dec28
Death toll rises to 6 martyrs aftermath #SAA shelling STS Missiles on #Zabidin
E #Ghouta #Damascus cs #Syria Dec 28

Daraa Governorate Council statement denounces kidnapping of it's Chairman Dr.Yaaqoub Ammar in #Mazarib
#Syria Dec28

SCD warn the children,how to protect themselves in case of explosions..
#Hama #Syria Dec28
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWRTEMPoV0w …

[OUTLAW 09]

SAA barrel bombs on #Teir_Maela
#Homs #SYria Dec 28
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr_2kX2B0hQ …

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Nawa city
#Daraa #SYria Dec28
(Helping #ASSad to divide Daraa.)

Russia airstrikes on #Kansab village, #Kurds_Mount, causing a massacre
#Latakia #SYria Dec28

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Salma village
#Latakia #Syria Dec 28

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Tel_Refaat, resulting 2 martyrs
#ALeppo #Syria Dec 28

After 2years detained,Sir Mohammed Abdullah died today tortured to death in #ASSad RegimePrison
#Aleppo #Syria Dec28

SAA shelling with heavy artilley the city of #Nawa & surrounding areas
#Daraa #Syria Dec 28

SAA mercenaries in #Skaka & #Dara city of #Swaida target the surroundings of the liberated Brigade 52 in #Hrak city
#Darayya #Syria Dec 28

[OUTLAW 09]

SO now it appears the US is directly supporting both the Kurds, IS and Russia.......??

Kurds militia & #ISIL attack north #Aleppo rebel held corridor with Turkey pushing to A'zaz. Russ provide air cover.
pic.twitter.com/K7XwUsBGIh

[OUTLAW 09]

A 'long read' in the New Statesman by Sir John Jenkins, a recently retired British diplomat; which I thought I had posted when published on the 6th December. The full title is: No one knows what they're doing in Syria - but standing back is not an option - followed by - Ultimately this is a question about the world in which we want to live:http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2015/12/no-one-knows-what-theyre-doing-syria-standing-back-not-option


SO now it appears the US is directly supporting both the Kurds, IS and Russia.......??

Kurds militia & #ISIL attack north #Aleppo rebel held corridor with Turkey pushing to A'zaz. Russ provide air cover.
pic.twitter.com/K7XwUsBGIh

Appears that even a Boy Scout Troop might have a better plan......

[OUTLAW 09]

Seem to be 4 TELs at Hmeymim now. (Vid from Dec 24th)
pic.twitter.com/MGbntLlhCA

Acquisition & engagement radars also shown off in the video.
pic.twitter.com/JpdY3VIHTv
was homing radar/command post seen there?

Killing of civilians continues by the "Islamic State Air Force"....
Bombs in Syria's Homs kill 32, wound 90: monitoring group
http://www.unian.info/world/1224581-bombs-in-syrias-homs-kill-32-wound-90-monitoring-group.html …
pic.twitter.com/fgjHAlyHQo

Alienating #Tatarstan would be a big mistake for #Moscow: Volga #Tatar #nationalism can cause #separatism in #Russia
pic.twitter.com/fTCimu6iaL

Footage
Syrian rebels shot down a large drone over #Handarat north of #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjFBE0q2Q7E …
#Syria pic.twitter.com/ujxP3LJK7M

Footage
Heavy air-dropped bombs hit #Douma today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDXkjeoRY9c …

[OUTLAW 09]

4000 #IS militants & their families will be transferred from Hajr Al-Aswad & Qadam in south #Damascus to #Raqqa as part of UN/Assad/IS agreement

As part of the agreement, areas that were under #IS control will be handed over to the #SAA

Zabadani transfer underway: 126 from Zabadani to Beirut then Turkey, while 336 from #Fuaa & #Kefraya to Turkey then Beirut then to Damascus
This concerns the wounded fighters and civilians.

[OUTLAW 09]

VALID question........
Are their any Arab forces in the #SDF that captured the #Tishreen dam or only #YPG?!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jZmJitYAPs …
pic.twitter.com/9pc29xGoFG

IF only YPG THEN Obama has a mess on his hands......

Footage
#SDF forces after the capture of the #Tishreen dam in #Raqqa province.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS8cg-Mns_E …
#Syria pic.twitter.com/i9gBIr7tJ3

U.S. sees bearable costs, key goals met for Russia in Syria so far
http://www.unian.info/world/1224700-us-sees-bearable-costs-key-goals-met-for-russia-in-syria-so-far.html …
pic.twitter.com/eJceTFWgjx

Through in-caliphate pricing data and exclusively declassified US briefs, @iraqoilreport has the skinny on IS oil http://www.iraqoilreport.com/news/armed-intel-u-s-strikes-curtail-oil-sector-17473/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

Well worth reading the entire analysis, but also note this: the role of the YPG
http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=62363 …

Does anyone have an explanation for this???? AND we wonder why we have a mess....??

Wow, the State Department unironically listed "Bringing peace, security to Syria" as one of their 2015 achievements
pic.twitter.com/ozQfFzo4hh

Wonder what then what all the killing of Syrian civilians is all about..."bringing peace and security"...think not....??

[OUTLAW 09]

#Russian MOD made up couple of #FSA fraction who they now officially support in #Syria.
https://twitter.com/ReggaeMortis1/status/681506736163962880 … pic.twitter.com/ibvRx7N2AF

Targeted killing of Zahran Alloush shows how Russia is backing Syrian rebels into a corner
http://www.businessinsider.com/zahran-alloush-death-assad-2015-12 …

Michael Weiss ✔ @michaeldweiss
The Politics of the Turkish Military Presence near Mosul
Moshe Dayan Center | TA University | Israel
http://www.dayan.org/tel-aviv-notes-vol-9-no-22-december-28-2015#.VoFrASmHDXc.twitter …

[OUTLAW 09]

Buses transporting wounded evacuated from al-Fu'a in #Idlib has arrived at Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey.
pic.twitter.com/DQby07Bpem

Arbin/Irbin today.
Heavy airstrikes, reported by Russian/regime, depending on the source.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5QI609041g …
pic.twitter.com/xiAmPNVLAx

Footage
Multiple #RussianAirstrikes on civilians in and around #Irbin E of #Damascus today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbYFil6oL0o …
pic.twitter.com/axYVljT0c7

Footage
Russian jets also hit #SheikhMaskin again today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6mxMsiSBRk …
pic.twitter.com/1spWGpU7qh

Footage
Also today multiple #RussianAirstrikes hit towns in northern #Hama.
pic.twitter.com/BhVzYXUA7V

Russian airstrikes against rebels in north rural #Aleppo have paid off as Ghazal, Qara Kubri & Dudyan have sadly fallen to #ISIS, again.

Footage
Residential houses on fire after #Assad/#Putin air strikes in #Irbin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CAbEpwk6Sk …
#Syria pic.twitter.com/wK6TKxOl9U

[OUTLAW 09]

#Russian MOD made up couple of #FSA fraction who they now officially support in #Syria.
https://twitter.com/ReggaeMortis1/status/681506736163962880 … pic.twitter.com/ibvRx7N2AF

Targeted killing of Zahran Alloush shows how Russia is backing Syrian rebels into a corner
http://www.businessinsider.com/zahran-alloush-death-assad-2015-12 …

Michael Weiss ✔ @michaeldweiss
The Politics of the Turkish Military Presence near Mosul
Moshe Dayan Center | TA University | Israel
http://www.dayan.org/tel-aviv-notes-vol-9-no-22-december-28-2015#.VoFrASmHDXc.twitter …

So Russian military spox just claimed providing air support to US-backed SDF
https://youtu.be/6GlH2thv76s?t=101 …
pic.twitter.com/k9d31OBgPb

[OUTLAW 09]

#BreakingNews #Israel Channel 10: Information suggest #IAF struck #Russia|n weapons cargo convoy heading to #Hezbollah in #Qalamoun #Syria

Hey world!
#Russia says, the #Assad army has captured #Tishreen dam in #Raqqa from #ISIS.
Any comment?!
pic.twitter.com/dtTwtAzOln

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
#SYRIA As a result, strategic object, dam over the Euphrates in al-Akhmar, has been taken under control of the Syrian army

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
#SYRIA Rus MoD joining efforts of all forces, which are interested in liberating Syria from international terrorists

Russian MoD is reaching deeply for the truth it appears......

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
#SYRIA Supported by Russian aviation, Syrian Democratic Army are conducting offensive on #Raqqah, ISIS capital
BUT WAIT since when is the FSA an international terror group...???


Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
#SYRIA Russian aircraft performed 17 strikes on #ISIS objects in interests of #DesertLions & “Qalamoun”, which are in offensive on Palmyra

BUT WAIT...was it not the IDF AF that struck in Qalamoun a Russian weapons convoy...???

[OUTLAW 09]

Turkey PM Ahmet Davutoglu says he would not look positively on 'hostile forces' west of Euphrates - @Reuters via @Breaking

Jabhat al-Nusra reinforcements to battle regime army & shia militia attacking Shaikh Miskeen in #Dara.
pic.twitter.com/R6Q18WBvq6

AND the Southern Front Army stands still.....wonder why????

Reports of Russ helicopters landed in Efrin during last 24 hrs carrying soldiers & weapons to help YPG take Azaz & al-Salama border crossing

[OUTLAW 09]

Vladimir Putin's Syria envoy secretly met with top Israeli officials to discuss an agreement to end the war in Syria
http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/96996-151227-russian-envoy-visited-israel-for-secret-syria-talks …

Putin's envoy also visited Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Baghdad and Amman. Some people on Twitter were following his flights on Flightradar

There are rumors that an agreement on Assad has been reached between Russia and the US, Putin's envoy may be trying to rally support for it

Reportedly he should've visited Riyadh as well, but that meeting got cancelled after Zahran Aloush had been killed

BUT WAIT...Russian media he ahd in fact visited Riyadh.....seems to have been a lie....

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia continues testing newest weapons in Syria. Platforma-M & Argo combat robots took part in recent Latakia ops

[OUTLAW 09]

Seems regime assault on Shayk Maskin city in southern #Syria failed - several tanks destroyed & 30+ dead #Assad-forces incl the commander

Aleppo: Syrian Rebels kill Assad Colonel Hassan Ismail Qabili from in Jableh

Latakia: Tel Ghazala is under complete rebel control after fierce battles

The plane carrying Syrian Rebels of Zabadani has just departed from Beirut en route to Turkey

7 pro Assad killed by a rebel IED Al Saliqibiyah

Syrian Rebels recapture crucial positions in Al Marj
http://eldorar.com/node/93045

[OUTLAW 09]

Hezbollah deputy hilarious & hypocritical claim: Saudi are trying to take over Syria/Iraq/Yemen
http://bit.ly/1Iz5Ylc

Deraa: more than 45 air raids & Assad regime still not able to advance in Sheikh Maskin despite pro Assad propaganda

Hezbollah fighter Khalil Hassan killed in Aleppo

50 killed & 200 injured in pro Assad area of Zahra in Homs. ISIS were the culprits
http://ln.is/www.youtube.com/PZRoe …

Ahmed Nakkari military and Security Committee member & Director of network news killed in Homs Zahra carbomb explosion

[OUTLAW 09]

Erdogan: Assad only controls 14% of Syria
http://goo.gl/UqmGmX

Deraa: Rebels shell Assad Sakaka checkpoint in retaliation of Assad regime shelling civilians
https://www.jaishalislam.com/video/show/23/196/ …

Hezbollah fighter Mohammed Abbas Sulayman killed in Aleppo & arrived by to Baalbek today

Deraa: 2 Assad forces tank destroyed in Sheikh Maskin

Deraa: Rebels destroy building in sheikh Maskin used by Assad forces & kill 6 soldiers

[OUTLAW 09]

Reports Russian airstrikes targeted the town of al-Dana east of the border with Turkey near Bab al-Hawa crossing in northern #Idlib,

Tal Rifa'at, #Aleppo today - Painful glimpse of the daily suffering inflicted on our children by Russian airstrikes.
http://youtu.be/fJ_miUQOB4M

FSA Jaysh al-Nasr targeting enemy forces in the Jebel al-Turkmen region in northern #Latakia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMng8HYh7DM

PR-officer of "Horan Martyrs Brigades" claim 150 #Assad-forces/#Hezbollah
killed during the Shayk Maskin-assault

[OUTLAW 09]

http://observer.com/2015/12/the-highs-and-lows-of-u-s-national-security-in-2015-a-year-end-review/

The Highs and Lows of U.S. National Security in 2015: A Year-End Review
How “we suck at everything” became the mantra of D.C.

By John R. Schindler • 12/28/15 2:36pm


Continued..........

This was the year Mr. Obama semi-resolved our differences with Vladimir Putin by giving Russia’s president whatever he wants. While sanctions on Russia remain in place, thanks to its 2014 aggression in Ukraine, Mr. Obama has done nothing substantive to help Kyiv, while deterring Russian moves in Eastern Europe remains more a Pentagon PowerPoint aspiration than detectable American policy. That Mr. Obama views Mr Putin as a partner, not a rival, much less an enemy, despite barrages of increasingly vulgar indications from the Kremlin that Enemy Number One is exactly how Moscow views us, was evidenced by his letting Mr. Putin have a free hand in Syria this year. In truth, Mr. Obama outsourced our Syria policy to the Kremlin way back in the summer of 2013, when he disregarded his own “redline” there, so permitting Mr. Putin to do whatever he likes in Syria—for instance deploying an expeditionary force that claims to be fighting ISIS but whose obvious intent is propping up the Assad regime, which Mr. Obama claims to want to be rid of—at least is consistent. Of course, if Mr. Obama planned to just let Mr. Putin do whatever he wants in Syria, the civil war could have ended over two years ago, saving tens if not hundreds of thousands of innocent lives. But the White House doesn’t seem too concerned about any of that, and it’s so ardent to play nice with Mr. Putin that it quashed a tiny State Department effort to counter noxious Russian propaganda aimed at the West. Say what you want about sucking up to Mr. Putin, at least it’s an ethos.

[OUTLAW 09]

http://observer.com/2015/12/the-highs-and-lows-of-u-s-national-security-in-2015-a-year-end-review/

The Highs and Lows of U.S. National Security in 2015: A Year-End Review
How “we suck at everything” became the mantra of D.C.

By John R. Schindler • 12/28/15 2:36pm

Must Read: US National Security Year-End Review by @20committee http://observer.com/2015/12/the-highs-and-lows-of-u-s-national-security-in-2015-a-year-end-review/ … great piece on @Snowden
pic.twitter.com/sN2AgTHpUm

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria air & artillery strikes rebel hold Zorba town in southern #Aleppo now
Seems the #Iran lead Shiite-militias prepare the next push

VIDEO: Footage of ISIS attack on Turkish military base in northern Iraq - @53rk051v4rm3n1https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68anht44lKc&feature=youtu.be …

For now, no more #SDF advances west to Tishreen housings (on #Euphrates western side). Still few coalition airstrikes in the area.

According to Turkish Analyst,the danger isn't if YPG control Manbij,the Real Danger is if the YPG controls both Manbij and Jarablus

Sources are indicating from Turkish Analyst that If SDF advances north of Manbij,that Turkey will fully intervene against the SDF

ISIS is sending reinforcements to Tishreen Village to stop SDF-YPG advance towards Manbij,amid heavy clashes in the village

[OUTLAW 09]

Strike that killed Syrian rebel chief complicates peace talks push: U.S.
http://reut.rs/1JFUBTq
pic.twitter.com/5y7IAqxiwh

THAT was the direct intent of the Russian strike........AND yet Putin claims he is working towards a peace settlement

So now the US is supporting direct attacks by their Kurdish supported troops on anti Assad forces just as does the Russian AF---any difference now between Putin and Obama ......

Jeish al-Thuwar acknowledged yesterday that it attacked rebels after rebels failed to withdraw from several towns.
pic.twitter.com/fMUNmWo0Gs

Since al Thuwar has been on this offensive accussed by anti Assad forces of outright killing of civilians in towns they took over and thus a so called truce between the two groups was suppose to be worked out....apparently not followed by the US....or worse they are not able to control Thuwar......