Syria in 2016 (January-March)

[CrowBat]

...and if anybody is curious to read the following (and feel free to call it 'another rant'), here a reason more to think (and very hard at it!) about what are Russians actually doing in Syria...

Elijah J Mangier, one of two major English-language mouthpieces of Assadist regime that is online, attempted to explain why is Assad (and Putler too) so insistent on bombing civilians and FSyA - instead of fighting the Daesh (which is what all the West not only expects, but also thinks they are doing): For Assad defeating al-Qaeda and its allies, rather than ISIS, is a top priority: ISIS is a “marionette” (https://elijahjm.wordpress.com/2016/01/09/why-defeating-al-qaeda-and-its-allies-is-a-top-priority-for-assad-rather-than-isis-isis-is-a-marionette/)

The piece is actually typical PRBS from Assadists. However, one can't simply discard it as such and ignore it. Instead, some careful 'reading between the lines' reveals plenty of details. Just concentrate on crucial statements:

...Nonetheless, the Syrian Army’ command, and now its allies, has avoided clashing with ISIS in many occasions, when unnecessary, on several fronts. In few words, ISIS is said to be “much easier and less urgent to defeat than al-Qaeda in Syria”.
Means: yes stupids, we're NOT fighting Daesh.


...
The answer to such a strategy comes from one of the highest decision maker of the joint operations room in Damascus that includes Russia, Syria, Iran and Hezbollah Lebanon (3+1 which is different from the one in Baghdad, called 4+1 as it includes Iraq).
...
Moreover, ISIS does not exist in areas considered vital and rich like Idlib, Homs and the suburbs where the population is against the regime and supports the rebels.
...
From our side, we want to establish a demarcation line with ISIS and will refrain from carrying out large military operations against the group to spare our forces (the military engagement) for other more strategic fronts.
...

There follows plenty of outright idiotic babbling, like 'ISIS has no regional or international political horizont... no political cover up or umbrella... is no longer directly financed by any country or organization...', like 'al-Qaida in Syria' being in control of Ahrar ash-Sham, 'all the Jihadists' etc., being used by USA and allies etc. Of course, FSyA is not mentioned with a single word - as if nearly 100,000 of its combatants neither exist nor matter.

What is this all important, you might wonder?

Well, pay attention:
- Not only is this an outright - and then 'official' & 'public' - admission that Keystone Cops in Moscow are lying all the time about 'bombing Daesh' (because Elijah is, right next to al-Masdar, something like 'spokesperson' of that '3+1' HQ in Damascus). It's an admission that, 'the Daesh did not manage to integrate itself among the population in Syria' - which, dear quasi-anti-Imperialists, Neo-Nazis etc. in the West, means that it is idiotic to say 'Syrians are all terrorists'.

- It also means that Assaidsts and Russians know they are NOT bombing Daesh, and are intentionally bombing insurgent-held area because insurgents ARE integrated among the population.

- Less important, but still a matter of fact, it means that Assadists and Russians are now openly lying about attacking 'al-Qaida in Syria': the JAN was barely hit so far. What they are attacking are primarily civilians in areas controlled by the FSyA, IF and Ahrar.

Another important fact: the source in question further babbles (citate), "Officially, Russia has declared al-Qaeda, Ahrar al-sham and all the salafist jihadists as terrorists, rejecting any presence of these groups at the negotiating table. This is exactly what Mr Assad declared throughout the years of war."

This is another lie, then Assad refused to talk with anybody from the FSyA, first and foremost. He's not going to change this now, as can be seen from Putler's insistence on declaring the FSyA, IF, and AAS for 'terrorists'.

Finally, what levels of absurdity such standpoints represent can at best be read in closing statements of that piece:

...ISIS is exhausting Iran’s finance that is injected to support Syria with oil and cash to pay salaries and keep the various institutions standing and functioning. For the second time since the Iranian revolution in 1979, Iran is sending troops abroad to fight in thousands and not only a limited number of tens or hundreds of advisors.
So, if it is ISIS that is 'exhausting' Iran...which is the party that is paying practically everything that's left of the Assadist regime: then why to hell don't they fight the ISIS, but explain that it's 'no priority'?!?

[OUTLAW 09]

AND this is now another in the unceasing line of Obama successes in Syrian...BUT WAIT the DoS did bring up only twice the excessive killing of civilians by the Russian and Assad AF directly with Putin...AND the shinning success was what again....ZERO....

Toll of barrel bombs dropped by the Syrian Regime air-force in 2015
According to @snhr , @KreaseChan @TheSyriaCmpgn
pic.twitter.com/7YTVBs2Y9P

[OUTLAW 09]

UNICEF MENA @UNICEFmena

Workers at @UNICEF warehouse near #Damascus prepare nutrition&medical supplies for delivery 2 besieged area #Madaya

Aid convoys expected to leave today for Madaya where 5 people died of starvation yesterday
http://ow.ly/WSOax
pic.twitter.com/bgZqcwTALQ

A Russian airstrike has hit a school in Syria
http://ind.pn/1TP6g8c
pic.twitter.com/X6WJBQ3ktc

One of the schools #Putin thugs targeted and destroyed in #Aleppo countryside.
https://youtu.be/AXFue5ruD1M
pic.twitter.com/lSkhCLqCtu

Putin pilots continue targeting schools and civil institutes across #Aleppo countryside - @5595Sad
pic.twitter.com/OXzPUuluoA

[OUTLAW 09]

BREAKING
#WFP AID Trucks arrived in the Gates of #Madaya, but didn't enter so far inside the town
#Syria JAN 11

Surrounded by Hezbollah and the SAA and the IRC wants to see if it is safe...come on...??

Stupid #RedCross delegation in #Madaya,"inspecting" to see if is"safe" BEFORE receive @WFP AID TRUCKS
#Syria JAN11

[OUTLAW 09]

UNICEF MENA @UNICEFmena

Workers at @UNICEF warehouse near #Damascus prepare nutrition&medical supplies for delivery 2 besieged area #Madaya

Aid convoys expected to leave today for Madaya where 5 people died of starvation yesterday
http://ow.ly/WSOax
pic.twitter.com/bgZqcwTALQ

A Russian airstrike has hit a school in Syria
http://ind.pn/1TP6g8c
pic.twitter.com/X6WJBQ3ktc

One of the schools #Putin thugs targeted and destroyed in #Aleppo countryside.
https://youtu.be/AXFue5ruD1M
pic.twitter.com/lSkhCLqCtu

Putin pilots continue targeting schools and civil institutes across #Aleppo countryside - @5595Sad
pic.twitter.com/OXzPUuluoA

Russia's warplanes target schools area in the town of #Anjarah in rural #Aleppo #Syria leaving 35 dead

[OUTLAW 09]

Little girl wounded on her head w/ Shrapnel from #SAA Mortars shelling on #Saqba @SyriaCivilDef
#Syria JAN11

SAA terrorists shelling mortars on #Saqba
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 11

Unexploded "rusted" #SAA missile fell on #Harasta
E #Ghouta #Damascus cs #Syria JAN 11

SAA Helicopters dropping barrel bombs on #Teir_Maela
#Homs #Syria JAN 11
(Look the "ring" that form b4 explosion)

FSA @forsanalhaq1 (North Div) try to target #Russia warplanes in the sky of #Maarat_al_Nouman
#Idlib #Syria JAN 11

Moment #Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Sheikh_Meskin
#Daraa #Syria JAN 11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDtw-Rm1XAU …

SCD HERO Mohammed Omar, lost his life, victim of #Russia airstrikes on #Maarat_Alortiq
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 11

And the #Russia CLUSTER BOMBS don't stop..
Our HEROES #SCD collecting Cluster Bombs in Kafr_Zeta
#Hama #Syria JAN 11

Aftermath #Russia airstrikes on civilians houses of #Howr neighborhood
#ALeppo cs #SYria JAN 11

17children,1 teacher killed by #Russia in #Anjarah
#Syria JAN11
Educational Complex
https://goo.gl/nuw9i4

BREAKING
@SyriaCivilDef ENTIRE FAMILY UNDER RUBBLE AFTERMATH #RUSSIA AIRSTRIKES ON #ANJARAH
#ALEPPO CS #SYRIA JAN11

[OUTLAW 09]

Finally !
@SYRedCrescent convoy with aid arrived in #Madaya minutes ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsuN0wG_2QM …

WFP Europe @WFP_Europe
Helping #Syrians in & outside of the country is vital to avoiding a lost generation - thanks to donors such as #EU
pic.twitter.com/pbaAI5De3B

Since @MuradoRT stopped covering #Madaya after the fake #Hezbollah aid I'll pick up slack: "Crowds of hungry kids.."
pic.twitter.com/QbbJx9bMgF

UNHCRNews ‏@RefugeesMedia ·
... UNHCR Rep: 'to see so many hungry people. Its cold and raining but there is excitement because we are here with some food and blankets.'

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia's warplanes target schools area in the town of #Anjarah in rural #Aleppo #Syria leaving 35 dead

Spoke to another source in Turkey who told me the jet that bombed the #Anjarah schools today came straight from the #RuAF base in Latakia.

Don't ask me how they know but I guess you can imagine.

#Anjarah precision bomb came through the roof,floor wall&went straight into the class room.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWnTmyHCTpE …

GRAPHIC #footage
The #AnjarahSchoolMassacre:
Children tell what happened to their schools.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4P240oTILs …

Anjarah is possibly the best location to kill as many pupils as possible with a few bombs.
All 3 schools close-by.

[OUTLAW 09]

Footage
Su-24 in action over eastern #Daraa province today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a6kpW6I8l4 …
Can't ID the air force.

SheikhMaskin today: #Assad would be lost without #Putin's SU-34!! ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDtw-Rm1XAU …

Also in #KafrHamra, north of #Aleppo, Russian pilots "did their job", hitting residences.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=643HEP1mryg …

Possible use of incendiary weapons by regime in Hamouriya, rural #Damascus earlier today
https://www.facebook.com/SyriancivildefenseinDamascusCountryside1/posts/1153123048046336 …

[OUTLAW 09]

With Crimea borders & territory didn't matter, with Syria they do. Hmm.
http://m.sputniknews.com/analysis/20150930/1027753711/Russian-Perspective-in-Syria-Based-on-States-Sovereignty.html …

Russia's annexation of Crimea in March of 2014, Putin told BILD, was simply the Kremlin's way of protecting the people of Crimea from being confined within the borders imposed upon them by the US and Europe after the West claimed victory in the Cold War.

"Our soldiers have merely prevented the Ukrainian troops on Crimea from impeding the freedom of expression of the people," Putin said. "For me, it is not borders and state territories that matter, but people’s fortunes."

[OUTLAW 09]

4 martyrs aftermath #SAA airstrikes on #Howsh_alSalhiyah neighborhood
E #Ghouta #Damascus cs #Syria JAN 11

FSA digging out unexploded #Russia Cluster Missile in #al_Lataminah #Hama #Syria JAN11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZD23ytETaU …

Speaks for its self and silence from the WH........
100 days of Russian intervention:
12000 airstrikes
1730 Syrians killed including 135 children
29 hospitals destroyed

Damascus: Syrian Rebels kill more than 30 Assad fighters in Hatita Al Harj

Sartaj Hossein Khan Pakistani Shia Zainoubi brigade fighter killed by Syrian Rebels in south Aleppo

The rebels regain several areas in sudden attacks of the Eastern Ghouta
http://en.eldorar.com/node/1180

Aleppo: Syrian Rebels capture Hirsh in area of Khan Touman & kill 8 pro Assad fighters

Around 50 pro Assad fighters killed in southern Aleppo trying to advance
http://www.shahbapress.com/news/2512

Jaysh al-Islam inflicted losses to Assad militia of Eastern Ghouta
http://en.eldorar.com/node/1179

Dozens of Assad's forces killed including an officer on Sheikh Maskin front
http://en.eldorar.com/node/1178

[OUTLAW 09]

Over 100 Russian airstrikes reported on Salma vlge today coordinated with regime army attack
https://youtu.be/4Kg-roKfLZQ

I wonder if l'll ever get used to the mixture of stupidity and negligence in #Russia´s New Cold War disinfo war.

Inept Russian propagandists from @mod_russia and @SputnikInt again post air strike on grain silos. Idiots.

RussiaVsISIL strikes keep hitting #Daesh oil infrastructure - Russ.Gen.Staff http://sptnkne.ws/ay4V

Until the killing of civilians by Assad and Putin air strikes stops and the use of starvation stops..any so called progress is a total illusion......

MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
Sergey Lavrov & @JohnKerry discussed by phone range of issues, including #Syria political process & fight against IS
http://sptnkne.ws/ayA6

NOTICE nothing about that in this PR from the Russian FM today......

[OUTLAW 09]

Great pic of a RPO-A being shot in #Syria (any correction on location greatly appreciated)
pic.twitter.com/LMi5UbLum6

United Nations map of hard-to-reach and besieged areas in #Syria, via @OCHA_Syria:
https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/system/file

Russia sends massive amounts of weapons to #Hezbollah, whose main goal is the extermination of all #Jews... why is #Israel silent???
Russia supplies Islamist terrorists Hezbollah with heavy weapons
http://www.unian.info/world/1233227-russia-supplies-islamist-terrorists-hezbollah-with-heavy-weapons.html …
pic.twitter.com/oLxgvXTsWU

Impressive #RuAF Su-34 low-pass south of Latakia city
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MaicHXyoSk …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8kzjtJtDuI …

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat--thought you might like this....

ковский ‏@moscow_ghost ·
#Russia-n airforce delivered 19 strikes in support of #FSA units in south #Syria
http://tass.ru/en/world/848761
@EjmAlrai

Russian General Staff: Two terrorist field commanders killed in combat in Syria
World January 11, 17:01 UTC+3


TASS MOSCOW, January 11. /TASS/. Terrorist field commanders Bashar Mohamed al-Qatur and Mohamed Ismael have been killed in combat in Syria, Lieutenant General Sergey Rudskoy, chief of the main operations department of the Russian General Staff, told journalists on Monday. "According to available information, field commanders Bashar Mohamed al-Qatur and Mohamed Ismael were killed in combat," Rudskoy said. He added that Syrian government forces have advanced by 12-15 kilometers in the south-eastern direction, freed several settlements and reached the Nahr el-Assi River. "In the Homs province, the Syrian army freed the town of Mhin and launched an offensive in the eastern direction reaching the town of Al-Karyatein," the general said. Syrian government forces are fighting with terrorists in East Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus freeing one neighborhood after another, he continued. "Most considerable advances were made in the directions of Blalia, Nashabia and Haush Harabu," Rudskoy noted.

He also said that Syrian government forces entered the town of Sheikh Miskeen in the Daraa province. According to Rudskoy, the Russian air task force is supporting the offensive of 11 Syrian opposition detachments fighting against terrorists. "The Russian aviation is providing support to the patriotic forces struggling against international terrorists on the territory of Syria. Today our planes are delivering strikes in the interests of 11 detachments of the democratic opposition numbering over 7,000 people," the general was quoted by Rossiya-24 TV Channel as saying.

Over the past few days, the Russian air task force has delivered 19 strikes in the interests of units of the Jaysh Ahrar al-Ashaer (Army of Free Tribes) grouping that is part of the southern front of the Free Syrian Army, the Russian general said. Rudskoy also noted that the Syrian opposition forces have seized several settlements during an offensive on the "capital" of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group - Raqqa. "With support of the Russian aviation the Syrian democratic army detachments under the command of Aiman Flyat al-Ganim continue an offensive on the IS capital Raqqa and in recent days have seized the settlements of Al-Salhiya, Rjeman-Alaya, El-Kria and Hadriyat-Ain-Isa," Rudskoy said. According to the official, the Lions of the East and Kalamun formations of the Syrian opposition have advanced more than 50 km (31 miles) in their offensive on Palmyra, seizing the town of Mhasse. "In the southern direction, the Lions of the East and Kalamun formations have advanced by more than 50 km with the support of Russian aviation in their offensive on Palmyra and seized the populated areas of Zaza, Kessara and the town of Mhasse," the general was quoted as saying on the Russian Defense Ministry’s website. Rudskoy had reported the opposition’s advance on Raqqa in late December last year. He said then that the Syrian opposition detachments seized about 20 settlements and established control over a strategic dam on the Euphrates River in Al Ahmar.

The Russian General Staff reported previously that in addition to the government troops, more than 150 opposition formations were fighting in Syria. Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimocv said that the Russian Air Force was delivering daily 30-40 airstrikes in support of the opposition.

AND then this........

маяковский ‏@moscow_ghost ·
маяковский hat Elijah J. Magnier retweetet
One could argue #Madaya is a case study of a mass media manipulation based on selective information

[OUTLAW 09]

Massive artillery shelling of #Salma & new offensive by #Assad forces. Rebels try to repel the attack. #latakia
pic.twitter.com/gvEBz5ZdDC

SAA sniper in Regime-controlled #Fouah killed Ahmed Hasmous,civilian from #Binnish who was helping #UN convoy
#Idlib #Syria JAN11

And the third aid convoy came to #Madaya #Syria.

Received report from #Madaya that not all the aid convoy has entered. 4 trucks let in initially now 6 more but some still waiting outside

After wait whole day,only 4cars entered
2w/medical supply
2w/blankets"
https://www.facebook.com/LRCMadaya/photos/a.360130690723259.78989.359494844120177/958425697560419/?type=3 …
#Madaya #SYria JAN11

Madaya LCC:
3 AID trucks entered #Madaya, yet none of them w/Food,but Medical Supplies,Blankets&Water,Food still out the gate
#Syria JAN11

[OUTLAW 09]

South Aleppo is going to start again very soon. Huge reinforcements of Shia militias have arrived the frontline.

Last Chance for rebels to heavily plant #IED's and mine all roads/villages the shias will take soon.
Slow them down.

Reports Assad army & IRGC militia captured hills overlooking #Salma vlge in Akrad Mt. Putin wanted it & will get it if rebels don't act fast

Footage
Also today, Russian war planes supported #Assad forces East of #Damascus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df7L4Vo6FGI …
pic.twitter.com/e0Jb6Moc6E

This is the result of only one day ... of #RussianAirstrikes on #Douma city.
#EastGhouta
pic.twitter.com/7ynd9H4h3C

[OUTLAW 09]

Sham Legion in heavy combat near Khan Tuman, #Syria. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIGUQF7IZR8&feature=youtu.be …

Noureddine Zanki Movement fire rocket at #SAA positions near Neirab airport. #Syria
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmO4afWeSl8 …

Shuhada al-Islam Brigade ambush SAA in Darayya, #Syria. (No longer available) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EI9DuBH2nqc …

[OUTLAW 09]

Michael Weiss ‏@michaeldweiss
Because Russia hates terrorism. Russia Is Arming Hezbollah, Say Two of the Group’s Field Commanders
http://thebea.st/1PmWOVI

[OUTLAW 09]

For my previous question as to the actual Obama Syria and actually eastern Ukraine and it GOES a super long way in explaining Obama's overall lack of a strategy for anything during his seven years.....RETRENCHMENT a la Wilson 1920 nothing more nothing less than that and anyone who does not see that now clearly needs a pair of glasses......

Obama is "dissolving the U.S.'s traditional alliance system, along with the regional order"
http://huff.to/1ZhzGNz

[OUTLAW 09]

MORE civilians killed by Russian air strikes....deliberately aimed....
10 martyrs so far, victims of #Russia airstrikes on #Maarastah_alKhan village
#Aleppo CS #Syria JAN 12

Latakia: at least 10 Assad fighters killed in an ambush in Jib Al Ahmar

Ghouta: Syrian Rebels make progress & manage to push Assad forces back further in Bala
https://youtu.be/4nMbr-mWb_0

Russian info warfare...Russian Today....
After working with #Hezbollah but not actually covering the #Madaya @UN aid convoy, @MuradoRT confirms being online.

25 people killed, mostly children and woman victims of #Russia airstrikes on #Manbij
#Aleppo cs #SYria JAN12

FSA fighters found Remnants of #Russia Missiles at #Turkmen_Mount
#Latakia #SYria JAN 12

SAA helicopters dropped barrel bombs on #Darayya
#Damascus #Syria JAN 12

MORE use of cluster munitions against civilians....
Breakingnews || Two martyrs and many injuries by 8 clusters bombs (forbidden internationlly) on civilians areas in #Douma_city

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Sheikh_Meskin, more than 15 airstrikes last 30 minutes
#Daraa #Syria JAN 12

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat---can you confirm from your side or deny?

Reports #SAA mercenaries took control over #Salma, #Tartayah and #Walqurfah villages
#Latakia cs #Syria JAN 12

[OUTLAW 09]

Reference Russian info warfare.....Russia Today.....
Location @MuradoRT arrived to at Madaya before @UN arrival was known to be controlled by #Hezbollah, note the buses.
pic.twitter.com/yeEgsXOlNP

Arguably there to cover @UN's convoy, @MuradoRT showcased Hezbollah & literally filed an article before aid arrived.
pic.twitter.com/1Ix09rZg7Y

Location @MuradoRT arrived to at Madaya before @UN arrival was known to be controlled by #Hezbollah, note the buses. pic.twitter.com/yeEgsXOlNP


Many killed and injured children after alleged #RuAF airstrike on Sarmada, #Idlib. Graphic!
https://twitter.com/sakirkhader/status/686901315302219777 …

3 MARTYRS INCLUDING #SCD HERO SAMIR ALASFAR; VICTIMS OF #RUSSIA AIRSTRIKES ON #MAARAT_AL_NOUMAN
#IDLIB #SYRIA JAN 12

MORE deliberate Russian air strikes on schools and civilians......
15 MARTYRS SO FAR, MOSTLY CHILDREN DUE #RUSSIA AIRSTRIKES ON #SARMADA, SCHOOL & CIVILIANS HOUSES
#IDLIB #SYRIA JAN12

Yes 1 more school destroyed by Russians this time in #Sarmada #Idleb #Syria

PUTIN NOW TARGETING DAILY SCHOOLS, TO CLEANSE OF #SYRIA CHILDREN!
VICTIMS OF #RUSSIA AIRSTRIKES ON #SARMADA JAN 12

RUSSIA WARPLANES AIRSTRIKES TARGETING THE KINDERGARTEN OF #DEIR_ASAFYR
#DAMASCUS CS #SYRIA JAN12

BREAKING
@SyriaCivilDef RECOVER LITTLE BOY ALIVE UNDER RUBBLE DUE #RUSSIA AIRSTRIKES ON #DEIR_ASAFYR #SYRIA JAN 12

Regime forces have enter Salma and have taken parts of it,but the rebellion is still present and fighting in the town
Salma still raging with rebel inside vs assadi outside, as not the first time regimes walked into Salmas hasiko road, #Latakia

Heavy clashes reported around Jabal Akrad in #Latakia & regime forces are said to have entered Salma under heavy Russian air cover

Assad forces entered the costal rebel stronghold of Salma after a savage Russian bombardment with over 120 air strikes. #Latakia

Russian scorched earth bombardment in Salma yesterday. #Latakia #Syria
http://youtu.be/4Kg-roKfLZQ

[OUTLAW 09]

Smoke due #Russia airstrikes on #Rastan
#Homs #Syria JAN 12
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwxr3b91qEc …

SCD recover bodies of entire family under rubble victims of #Russia airstrikes on #Hardtinyn
#Aleppo #SYria JAN12

No end to Russian airstrikes on non-ISIS targets, 10s of airstrikes this AM in Hayan, Bayanoun, Ratyan, Hardtanin & Maarsta Khan in #Aleppo

[OUTLAW 09]

Lebanese Houssein Bazzi,pro-Assad/Iran/Hezbollah,wrote the Istanbul attack hours in advance
https://twitter.com/Biyikbay/status/686895683476008960 …

Apparent German jihadis warn against using home-brew crypto like Asrar al-Mujahideen: makes you target ht @theosint

Automatically Finding Weapons in Social Media Images Part 1 via @bellingcat
https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/2016/01/11/automatically-finding-weapons-in-social-media-images-part-1/ …

Russian military observers on the ground watching the battle in Sal'ma, Latakia
https://twitter.com/lummideast/status/686891066373599232 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Putin to @BILD: What? #Russia bombing #Syria civilians? You are mistaken, it's #US that bombs @MSF hospital, weddings in #Afghanistan.

NOTICE how he uses the Russian SIX Ds....here distract and deflect......

[OUTLAW 09]

Putin to @BILD: What? #Russia bombing #Syria civilians? You are mistaken, it's #US that bombs @MSF hospital, weddings in #Afghanistan.

NOTICE how he uses the Russian SIX Ds....here distract and deflect......

Someone should let Putin know much of the "alleged video evidence" comes from his own Ministry of Defence
pic.twitter.com/zHej0P9q2u

60 Minutes Depicts Russia's Air Campaign In Syria As Propaganda-Filled And Stalling
http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/60-minutes-depicts-russias-air-campaign-in-syria-as-pro-1752189243 …

Meanwhile more and more Iraqi shia militias are poured into #Syria to fight for Assad by orders of Iranian mullahs.
pic.twitter.com/jLIucacAeY

[OUTLAW 09]

Reference Russian info warfare.....Russia Today.....
Location @MuradoRT arrived to at Madaya before @UN arrival was known to be controlled by #Hezbollah, note the buses.
pic.twitter.com/yeEgsXOlNP

Arguably there to cover @UN's convoy, @MuradoRT showcased Hezbollah & literally filed an article before aid arrived.
pic.twitter.com/1Ix09rZg7Y

Location @MuradoRT arrived to at Madaya before @UN arrival was known to be controlled by #Hezbollah, note the buses. pic.twitter.com/yeEgsXOlNP


Many killed and injured children after alleged #RuAF airstrike on Sarmada, #Idlib. Graphic!
https://twitter.com/sakirkhader/status/686901315302219777 …

3 MARTYRS INCLUDING #SCD HERO SAMIR ALASFAR; VICTIMS OF #RUSSIA AIRSTRIKES ON #MAARAT_AL_NOUMAN
#IDLIB #SYRIA JAN 12

MORE deliberate Russian air strikes on schools and civilians......
15 MARTYRS SO FAR, MOSTLY CHILDREN DUE #RUSSIA AIRSTRIKES ON #SARMADA, SCHOOL & CIVILIANS HOUSES
#IDLIB #SYRIA JAN12

Yes 1 more school destroyed by Russians this time in #Sarmada #Idleb #Syria

PUTIN NOW TARGETING DAILY SCHOOLS, TO CLEANSE OF #SYRIA CHILDREN!
VICTIMS OF #RUSSIA AIRSTRIKES ON #SARMADA JAN 12

RUSSIA WARPLANES AIRSTRIKES TARGETING THE KINDERGARTEN OF #DEIR_ASAFYR
#DAMASCUS CS #SYRIA JAN12

BREAKING
@SyriaCivilDef RECOVER LITTLE BOY ALIVE UNDER RUBBLE DUE #RUSSIA AIRSTRIKES ON #DEIR_ASAFYR #SYRIA JAN 12

Regime forces have enter Salma and have taken parts of it,but the rebellion is still present and fighting in the town
Salma still raging with rebel inside vs assadi outside, as not the first time regimes walked into Salmas hasiko road, #Latakia

Heavy clashes reported around Jabal Akrad in #Latakia & regime forces are said to have entered Salma under heavy Russian air cover

Assad forces entered the costal rebel stronghold of Salma after a savage Russian bombardment with over 120 air strikes. #Latakia

Russian scorched earth bombardment in Salma yesterday. #Latakia #Syria
http://youtu.be/4Kg-roKfLZQ

BREAKING
#FSA retake control over #Salma after heavy clashes w/#SAA mercenaries exterminating 12 of it's terrorists
#Latakia #Syria JAN11

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #al_Harableh village
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 12

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Karm_al_Myassar
#Aleppo #Syria JAN 12

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Karm_al_Jazmati village
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 12

Photos of pro-Assad military equipment captured by ISIS, including IRAMs and UNHCR tents
http://justpaste.it/ganiiim1437

Interesting. Looks like an APERS IRAM with small steel balls. Spike would make sure a max damage is caused.

#ISIS/#IS militants captured today 4 Gov. (#NDF) checkpoints west of #Palmyra town after 4 days of clashes, #Syria

Several #Russia airstrikes targeting #Salma, #Turkmen_Mount, #Kurds_Mount
#Latakia #Syria JAN 12
https://amp.twimg.com/v/575bd09a-7512-4760-8a74-2e1a6a195fc0 …

BREAKING
#RUSSIA WARPLANES CARRIED OUT MORE AIRSTRIKES TARGETING A SCHOOL AT #HAYAN VILLAGE
#ALEPPO CS #SYRIA JAN12

@SyriaCivilDef COLLECTING CHILDREN BODY PIECES
#RUSSIA AIRSTRIKES ON A SCHOOL
#HAYAN #ALEPPO #SYRIA JAN12

4 martyrs victims of #Russia airstrikes targeting the Masjid at #Qazi_Askar neighborhood
#Aleppo #Syria JAN 12

SCD HERO Ayman Saeed was praying Asr in time of #Russia airstrikes on a Masjid at #Qazi_Askar
#Aleppo #Syria JAN12

Desperation.. Tears.. his son gone..
Victim #Russia airstrikes on #Maarat_Al_Nouman
#Idlib #Syria JAN 12

RFS
#Watch: Regime forces throw four barrel-bombs at once on #Daraya city.
#Damascus #Syria
https://youtu.be/RCHs5s9rBFk

Liwa Nasser martyred by 2nd #Russia airstrike while he was filming the 1st in #Maarat_al_Nouman
#Idlib #Syria JAN12

[OUTLAW 09]

AFP news agency ‏@AFP
#BREAKING Suffering in besieged town Madaya has no precedent in Syria war: UN

Aleppo: Assad regime backed by Russian airstrikes, Iranian commanders and troops, Hezbollah fighters, & Iraqi/Afghan/Pakistani militias all attacking from Khan Touman after more than 70 Russian airstrikes. There aren't any ISIS there but who's going to stop Putin?

Rebels have recaptured all ground after they briefly retreated yesterday & killed more than 70 pro Assad forces https://rfsmediaoffice.com/en/2016/01/11/25804/#.VpPcy_mLTIV …

[OUTLAW 09]

Daraa New VIDEO from #FSA Engineering Rockets Battalion. (With English Subtitles)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOQx0xBV_TI …

At least 25 people killed and 40 injured due to Ongoing #RuAF air strikes targeting city of #Manbej #Manbij today.

DeirEzZor New photo #SAA #SyrianRepublicanGuard @ Industrial Neighborhood Brigadier General Issam Zahreddine

Lattakia fighting inside #Salma are #SAA & #NDF & Suqur al-Sahra & #Iraqi #Iraq #Shiite #Shia Liwa Assad Allah al-Ghalib

Lattakia The First Scenes VIDEO of #NDF entering #Salma #SAA #SyrianArmy #NationalDefenceForces - (removed by user) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNFEJSETKeM&feature=youtu.be …

[OUTLAW 09]

First reports indicated the Russian officers were just observing....BUT....actually.....they were leading the Assad/mercenary combat troops.

Russian officers lead regime and IRGC militias ground attack on Salma village in Akrad Mount.

Russia General With #SAA #NDF Commanders watching #Salma Battle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOJo_cRtQ3U&feature=youtu.be …

#Syria #Lattakia a #Russian #Russia General is watching the #Salma Battle from a distance with #NDF Commander's

[CrowBat]

'Tovarish Polkovnik' = comrade Colonel... is there with 'certain military tasks'...

Anyway, seems that 'Soleimani's Afghan Army' - that is: Hezbollah/Iraq's Liwa Assad Allah al-Ghalibun, BPM's Liwa Suqour as-Sahra, Hezbollah/Syria's Muqawama Souri, and the 103rd Brigade RGD - has finally overrun Salma.

Everybody is talking about 'intensive support' by the Russian air force, but there are less than a handful of videos confirming any aerial bombardment of the place: seems that it was foremost Russian artillery-support, but also lack of support and ammo on the part of the Sultan Murad Division FSyA that resulted in this loss.

Namely, even the JAN is complaining about the situation... here Amir Muslim ash-Shishani is talking about less financial support, reluctance of 'strong and able mujahideen' to reinforce fiercely contested frontlines, bad Muslims etc. (in Russian):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO34TpXHLig

[OUTLAW 09]

Relations continue to worsen between Russia and Turkey as Putin steps up funding of PKK:
http://cs.is/1ISJbRs
pic.twitter.com/0Bx9HvEaqC

Russian non linear warfare hard at work in Turkey and not being said in the West......

[davidbfpo]

Relations continue to worsen between Russia and Turkey as Putin steps up funding of PKK:
http://cs.is/1ISJbRs
pic.twitter.com/0Bx9HvEaqC

Russian non linear warfare hard at work in Turkey and not being said in the West......

The bold text startled me and the actual CSIS text says:
Turkish media has reported (http://www.dailysabah.com/politics/2015/12/02/russia-delivers-arms-to-ypg-exhorts-it-to-attack-opposition-groups) that Russia is now carrying out strikes in support of the PKK-affiliated Syrian Kurdish forces known as the People’s Protection Units (YPG), and supplied them with weapons including heavy armor. While still unconfirmed, renewed Russian support for PKK-affiliated groups could solidify an autonomous Kurdish enclave in northwestern Syria. Direct Russian support for Kurdish militants in Turkey, as Moscow provided during the 1980s, would raise the stakes dramatically in Ankara’s struggle against the PKK, and curtail Ankara’s ability to project power beyond its borders.

Now whether that equates to Russian funding of the PKK is a moot point.

[OUTLAW 09]

Villages liberated by rebels are Qarah Kubri, Qara Mazra’a, al-Khirba, Bghidin & the gas plant. Next stop Dudyan hopefully. #Aleppo

UN Refugee Agency ‏@Refugees
400k people in 15 besieged sites in #Syria can't access desperately needed aid
http://trib.al/nUsNCfH

One advantage of fighting the Islamic State near Tadmur, everyone gets its own UNHCR tent!

So much for the ongoing regime offensive near Tadmur. Several checkpoints lost and the Islamic State's ATGM inventory restocked.

FSA Jaish al-Nasr take out a regime BMP with a Fagot missile in Khirbat al-Naqous, Ghab plain, #Hama
http://youtu.be/W1noUKaO8u8

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat----your take on this article....??

Important:
This confirms my analysis of #MOC betrayal:
Has Jordan Acquiesced to Assad Regime Offensive in S-Syria?
http://www.mei.edu/content/article/has-jordan-acquiesced-assad-regime-offensive-southern-syria …

SRO - This is confirming previous informations. Gulf nations as #US clearly stopped shipments toward #FSA (US and Gulf) and #IF (Gulf).


A sniper at work
https://youtu.be/jbiF2HDyzyQ

2nd #ATGM (AT-3 Sagger) vs. a Group of Assadists with WIA/KIA evac.
(warhead 2 small)
https://youtu.be/kXs7ck9gtJs

[OUTLAW 09]

Max Boot ‏@MaxBoot ·
Obama claims credit for avoiding wars. Yet his troop drawdown reignited war in Iraq while hands off policy allowed Syria war to worsen......

Sad to see Obama citing US approach to Syria as a "smarter approach." Syria is Obama's greatest foreign policy failure.

Guess all that Obamam messaging has worked for the last five years in Syria..if it did not sure why so many civilians are still bein killed....???

[OUTLAW 09]

First #TOW #ATGM this year (for me?)
Seems vs, Soldiers/Transport?
https://youtu.be/3MzY5ajs360

160 martyrs 12 children
59 #Aleppo
57 #Idlib
25 #Damascus
7 #DeirEzzor
7 #Homs
5 #Daraa
#Syria JAN 12

Aftermath footages of all three locations show, #Russia hit civilian-only targets, against all rules of war.

Putin knows:
Bombing civilians once (e.g. in Kunduz) is a media scandal.
But bombing civ. every day is the best way to silence media on it.

This is no criticism towards media.
It is the way media / public attention works and the simple method to exploit this mechanism

Aftermath of the #MaaratNuman attack where terrorists hit an ambulance among many targets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGEtFkwhxuI …

Footage
Giant cloud after Russian air strike on town in rural #Damascus (E of it).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqsSYCpZgf4 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Rescue workers dig out body from under the rubble after the attack in Sarmadā.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UesZs1YwphE …

Footage
Rebels target pro-#Assad forces in #KhanTuman (S of #Aleppo) with the AT-4 Sagger.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjJS8hGRWqw …

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat----your take on this article....??

Important:
This confirms my analysis of #MOC betrayal:
Has Jordan Acquiesced to Assad Regime Offensive in S-Syria?
http://www.mei.edu/content/article/has-jordan-acquiesced-assad-regime-offensive-southern-syria …

SRO - This is confirming previous informations. Gulf nations as #US clearly stopped shipments toward #FSA (US and Gulf) and #IF (Gulf).


CrowBat......is he correct....??

News
The is the end for rebels in #Latakia province.
After #Salma, all will fall quickly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJbswvgb3bA …

[OUTLAW 09]

SNHR: 8 victims including 4 children & 2 women died in suspected Russian warplanes missiles fired on Al Bab in Aleppo, Jan 12

Syrian rebel factions refuse to take part in Geneva negotiations unless the lifting of the blockades and airstrikes

Aleppo: Syrian Rebels capture Al Khalgati from ISIS

Aleppo: ISIS bomb kills dozens of Assad forces in Aisha.

Aleppo: Syrian Rebels take 2 villages from Assad forces in Khan Touman http://fb.me/7DeZ2L0kb

Aleppo: heavy clashes between Syrian Rebels and Assads foreign fighters in Rashideen & Khan Touman

Russian high-ranking officers on the ground overseeing the offensive in Salma. They feel safe even at close distance https://twitter.com/Majdi__M/status/686967065903763457 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Really worth reading especially in light of the Iranian deep fighting inside Syria with Hezbollah, their own IRGC, 30 Iraqi Shia militias and Shia mercenaries from 12 different countries ie AFG and Cambodia etc....

"Obama thinks there’s a deal with Tehran, but...it’s a deal to someday maybe have an actual deal": US intel official http://observer.com/2016/01/obamas-persian-debacle-saber-rattling-in-the... …

Obama’s Persian Debacle: Saber Rattling in the Gulf

Dusting off the nuclear 'Sunni bomb' amid Iran's navy maneuvers

By John R. Schindler • 01/13/16 1:20pm


WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 12: President Barack Obama waves at the conclusion of his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill January 12, 2016 in Washington, D.C. In his final State of the Union, President Obama reflected on the past seven years in office and spoke on topics including climate change, gun control, immigration and income inequality. (Photo by Evan Vucci - Pool/Getty Images)
President Barack Obama waves at the conclusion of his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill January 12, 2016 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Evan Vucci – Pool/Getty Images)

Yesterday, only hours before President Barack Obama was to deliver his final State of the Union address to the nation, over in the Persian Gulf, Iran seized two small boats belonging to the U.S. Navy. Ten of our sailors spent the night in Iranian custody. They have been released already, as Tehran promised, but the sting of international humiliation will take longer to dissipate.

The timing of Iran’s seizure is difficult to miss. Not only did this cast a distinct pall over Mr. Obama’s address – particularly since the president, who never tires of touting his nuclear deal with the revolutionary regime in Iran, failed to mention the ten American sailors in Iranian hands last night – but it happened only days before onerous international sanctions are set to be lifted off the mullahs in Tehran.

That, of course, is the prize Iran needs to rebuild its damaged economy, which has suffered badly at the hands of UN sanctions placed on the country for its longstanding rogue conduct, particularly regarding its nuclear program. While the Obama administration has insisted that Tehran is keeping its side of the nuclear deal, there are many doubters, especially in Western intelligence circles.

‘Obama thinks there’s a deal with Tehran,’ explained a senior U.S. intelligence official to me recently, ‘but it’s more accurate to say we have a deal to someday maybe have an actual deal.’

Skeptics have been bolstered by repeated Iranian actions since the deal was signed in Geneva last summer following years of negotiations, egged on by repeated secret pleadings by Mr. Obama to the mullahs. However, recent ballistic missile tests by the regime are believed by many inside the Beltway to be a violation of our agreement, while some in the know assess that there really is no deal at all.

“Obama thinks there’s a deal with Tehran,” explained a senior U.S. intelligence official to me recently, “but it’s more accurate to say we have a deal to someday maybe have an actual deal.” Few American intelligence officers who are acquainted with Iranian deception programs regarding their nuclear program are optimistic about the deal having the stated effect of seriously deterring Iran’s atomic ambitions for very long.

Moreover, if Mr. Obama expected lifting sanctions on Tehran would encourage more conciliatory behavior from the mullahs, he was sadly mistaken. Iranian relations with Saudi Arabia have taken a dramatic turn for the worse in recent weeks. The Islamic Cold War that has dragged on between Riyadh and Tehran since 1979, when the revolutionary regime took power, is melting down and may get hot, based on current indications. The breaking of diplomatic relations between them is an unmistakably bad sign. A major regional war is a distinct possibility, given rising tensions on many fronts: Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and across the Gulf, where Saudis, Iranians, and their various proxies wage war increasingly openly.

Just how bad things have gotten in the Gulf is made plain by Pakistan’s recent statement that it would back the Saudis militarily if things get out of hand with Iran, their mutual foe. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, both majority-Sunni, have their disagreements but are united in their fear of Iranian – that is, Shia – dominance in the Gulf region. Particularly worrying is the view of many in the spy business that Pakistan would quickly send a nuclear weapon to Riyadh if needed to deter Tehran.

It’s a poorly guarded secret that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, which came to fruition in 1998 with a successful nuclear bomb test, was partly funded by the Saudis, who wanted a Sunni Bomb. In exchange, Islamabad will come to Riyadh’s aid, even nuclear aid, in an hour of crisis. “If Tehran announces on a Monday that it has a nuke, the Saudis will ‘suddenly’ have one by Wednesday,” explained a Pentagon nuclear expert.

Just as worrisome is the reality of nuclear ties between Tehran and Pyongyang, which just conducted another major atomic weapons test to showcase its power. Iranian scientists have observed previous North Korean nuclear tests and a big question now facing the U.S. Intelligence Community is: Did any Iranians participate in the test last week? It’s an alarming fact that Iran can get a nuclear weapon at any time from a single IL-76 cargo flight from North Korea – which may, or may not, be detected by Western intelligence.

Into this unraveling mess stumbled two U.S. Navy small craft yesterday. Such missions take place nearly every day, where Iranian and Western – often American – warships play cat and mouse games in the waterways of what Tehran ceaselessly reminds the world is the Persian Gulf. According to press reports, the boats experienced mechanical trouble and wound up on Farsi Island, in the middle of the Gulf. That island just happens to have a base operated by the naval force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, the notorious Pasdaran.

The Pasdaran are infamous for their support for terrorism across the Middle East and beyond and have played a large role in Iraq and Syria of late, but they also possess naval forces that compensate for their lack of major vessels with impressive acumen with small boats that are fast and well-armed. They employ them aggressively, and Pasdaran craft regularly confront Western naval vessels they believe are getting close to their turf.

How exactly our boats wound up in Iranian hands remains something of a mystery so far. Reports of navigational errors need investigation and the possibility of Iran spoofing our GPS cannot be ruled out. Regrettably, the notion that both boats suffered mechanical breakdowns is only too plausible.

They are called Riverine Command Boats by the Navy, which has used them for operations in shallow waters for nearly a decade. They are actually Swedish in origin and, while they are very fast, able to achieve 40 knots, and are well armed for their size, they function poorly in the Persian Gulf. Designed for the chilly Baltic Sea, the RCB frequently overheats in the hot climate and its high-performance engines shut down with alarming frequency. Not for nothing do pairs of RCBs go out on missions in the Persian Gulf with tow lines – to bring the other boat back home if, perhaps when, it breaks down.

It’s therefore a good question why the Fifth Fleet, our Navy outfit in the Gulf, headquartered in Bahrain, sent such unreliable vessels into dangerous waters yesterday. This needs to be answered, particularly in light of previous cases of Pasdaran ambushes against Western naval vessels, namely an incident with the British frigate Cornwall in 2007 plus an incident with the Australian frigate Adelaide in 2004. Vigilance ought to have been in order yesterday but apparently was not.

The good news is that our ten sailors have been returned unharmed – Tehran naturally insisted the sole female sailor in the group be covered in hijab for the cameras, for political effect — and we’ve gotten our RCBs back too. However, it should be expected that not everything has been returned by Iran, such as the sophisticated electronics gear such boats carry. That will be of high interest to the Pasdaran and their friends abroad.

The White House has been at pains to play down the incident, which is singularly off-message with how Mr. Obama paints his relations with his partners in Tehran. Secretary of State John Kerry actually thanked the Iranians for their “help” in returning the sailors without further incident, which does nothing to diminish fears that Mr. Obama will tolerate Iranian misdeeds of any kind, so desperate is he to preserve his showpiece nuclear deal with the mullahs.

Regrettably, the regime’s military and security policy is dictated not by the relatively polite diplomats of the Iranian foreign ministry, rather by the revolutionary hotheads of the Pasdaran, many of whom actively seek confrontation with “the Great Satan.” Hence deals cut with Tehran will apply only as far as the Revolutionary Guard deems them to be in Iran’s interest. In the case of nuclear matters, that isn’t very far at all.

For years, Obama has insisted that Tehran can be a good-faith partner in diplomacy. Indeed, the president has staked his whole foreign policy legacy on this assumption. His grand bargain with the revolutionary regime, which will begin its reintegration into decent global society, is so important to Mr. Obama that he has wrecked our relations with close allies like Saudi Arabia and Israel to achieve it.

Continue.......

[OUTLAW 09]

Sputnik TR reporter: ISIS positions being hit by Turkish mortars from Turkey while ISIS clashing w FSA in N.Aleppo. https://twitter.com/hikmetdurgun/status/687381587760119808 …

Turkey's new base in #Qatar is part of #NATO's changing military presence in the #Gulf https://twitter.com/SonerCagaptay/status/687378887127465985 …

How to tell someone is fighting #Assad's loyalists in a video? Spot the stolen @Refugees material used by fighters.

Faylaq al-Sham troops fighting #ISIL north #Aleppo. At least they don't have to worry about #RuAF..oh wait..

Rebels fighting IRGC and Assad militias in southern Syria with Pepsi-bombs - @hhhhwwwwkrd @putintintin1

[OUTLAW 09]

Really worth reading especially in light of the Iranian deep fighting inside Syria with Hezbollah, their own IRGC, 30 Iraqi Shia militias and Shia mercenaries from 12 different countries ie AFG and Cambodia etc....

"Obama thinks there’s a deal with Tehran, but...it’s a deal to someday maybe have an actual deal": US intel official http://observer.com/2016/01/obamas-persian-debacle-saber-rattling-in-the... …

Obama’s Persian Debacle: Saber Rattling in the Gulf

Dusting off the nuclear 'Sunni bomb' amid Iran's navy maneuvers

By John R. Schindler • 01/13/16 1:20pm

This President in his drive to "save his legacy" appears to truly not understand Iranian non linear warfare and INFO warfare YET he has a messaging strategy for IS as his newest plans.....does this makes sense to anyone outside of DC?????

Iran released a video showing a US Navy sailor apologizing — and scored a massive propaganda victory in the process http://www.businessinsider.com/iran-video-us-sailor-apology-2016-1 …

NOW Iranian info warfare kicks into full gear and Obama "talks" about messaging....just who advises this President in DC.....????

After the release of #USSailors, a poster is going viral through #IRGC accounts with a quote from #Iran's leader
https://twitter.com/IranTalks/status/687229398551007232

[OUTLAW 09]

Breaking_news

Majid karbat-khani...an iranian general is now a prisoner in the rebels' hands in the southern countryside of Aleppo

So much for that moderation Obama was hoping for in Syria from the Iranians....seems that messaging with not stop the IRGC, Hezbollah, the 30 odd Iraqi Shia militias and the Shia mercenaries from 12 countries...from killing Syrian Sunni's.......

[OUTLAW 09]

Aftermath #Russia airstrikes targeting #Bab_Qinnasrin village
Old #Aleppo #Syria JAN 13
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kodc0LPMNV0 …

FSA #Faylaq_al_Rahman storming #SAA terrorists position at #Balla
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN13
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrCmpqBWC48 …

Moment #Russia airstrikes on #Hazza town
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 13
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUSFM9TrJvM …

[OUTLAW 09]

Absolutely no stopping of Russian air strikes on schools and now kindergartens....EVEN after their conversation today....Obama has absolutely no influence any longer in eastern Ukraine and or Syria.

Devastation caused by the deadly Russian #terrorist attack on a school in the Zebdiyeh district of #Aleppo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xskt66i6e88 …

Children victims of #Russia airstrikes targeting a #KINDERGARTEN in #Zebdiya
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN13

3 children killed,20+wounded due #Russia airstrike on #KINDERGARTEN at #Zebdiya neighborhood
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN13

[OUTLAW 09]

More raving successes of the Obama Syrian strategy that needs no messaging....

5 School destroyed in 3 days by Russia airstrikes with innocents lives inside and around it, keep turning your blind eye to Syria.

[OUTLAW 09]

So out of the Obama WH all we have heard is that he is highly successful in Syria and it is just the American population and the World that does not fully understand that so they want more messaging.....so in reality is this messaging any different than the Putin propaganda fed his civil society daily??

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-catastrophic-potential-of-obamas-gloomy-worldview/2016/01/13/c71a8fb6-ba0e-11e5-829c-26ffb874a18d_story.html

Opinions

Obama reveals his foreign policy fatalism


In his final State of the Union address, President Obama returned to the optimism that he personified in his first campaign — but applied it only to America.

For the rest of the world, Obama was pessimistic, even fatalistic. It is as though the only way he can process his failure in Syria, and the vast humanitarian catastrophe still unfolding there, is to convince himself that failure was inevitable and will be repeated many times.

“The Middle East is going through a transformation that will play out for a generation, rooted in conflicts that date back millennia,” Obama said.

And “instability will continue for decades in many parts of the world — in the Middle East, in Afghanistan, parts of Pakistan, in parts of Central America, in Africa, and Asia.”

Why would a president ask Americans to assume that the problems of Central America, say, are intractable and inevitable? Of the region’s seven small nations (total population: 42 million), some, such as Costa Rica, have been enviably stable for decades. Others, it’s true, have problems: gang violence in El Salvador; corrupt, pseudo-leftist, Venezuela-fueled authoritarianism in Nicaragua.
 
But Mexico, with far more entrenched challenges, has in 20 years moved from an apparently hopeless case to a lower-middle-class nation grappling with its still serious problems by means of a multiparty democracy — and attracting more returning migrants than it sends north. Why would we assume that El Salvador or Honduras can’t accomplish as much?

If Obama wants to think in decades, why not look back to South Korea, which not so many decades ago was an impoverished military dictatorship that development experts generally despaired of? Or Estonia, three decades ago a similarly impoverished captive of the Soviet Union?

Today, both are prospering democracies. And as unlikely as their successes might have seemed decades ago, no U.S. president would have written them off. On the contrary, it was the U.S. commitment to a peaceful democratic future for both their regions, on opposite sides of the globe, by presidents as different as Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, that paved the way for their success.

Why would Obama set his sights lower for Afghanistan or Africa?

Age-old conflicts are a reliable default excuse. Yes, Shiite-Sunni strife dates back centuries. But “ancient hatreds” exist everywhere, from Northern Ireland to South Carolina to Alsace-Lorraine. Whether they are managed or explode is the result of political choices. It is not a matter of destiny.

The late diplomat Richard Holbrooke, in his memoir on negotiating an end to the Balkan war, recalls Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger declaring in 1992, “Until the Bosnians, Serbs and Croats decide to stop killing each other, there is nothing the outside world can do about it.”

The excuse then, too, was a theory of “ancient hatreds,” Holbrooke wrote, 100,000 deaths later.

“Those who invoked it were, for the most part, trying to excuse their own reluctance or inability to deal with the problems in the region,” he wrote. “Yugoslavia’s tragedy was not foreordained. It was the product of bad, even criminal political leaders. . . . Once they realized that the United States, at the height of its global influence, was disengaged, they proceeded rapidly on their descent into hell.”

Obama’s confusion about Syria is evident and understandable. Four years ago his senior advisers supported a modest intervention to forestall a civil war that might spin out of control, spreading beyond Syria’s borders and fostering extremism.

The president rejected their counsel, and the results are more dire than anyone could have imagined: Hundreds of thousands dead. Millions displaced. The entire continent of Europe strained by refu#gee flows and terrorism. Children starving to death.

In his end-of-year news conference last month, Obama seemed to acknowledge the disaster when he defended his Libya intervention by saying that, without it, “we could have had another Syria.”

But in an almost surreal moment Tuesday night, he pointed to Syria as an example of his “smarter approach, a patient and disciplined strategy that uses every element of our national power.”

“That’s our approach to conflicts like Syria, where we’re partnering with local forces and leading international efforts to help that broken society pursue a lasting peace,” the president said.

It is sad enough that the United States, having pledged after Rwanda to “never again” allow such a humanitarian catastrophe, stands aside while a nation is destroyed. It would compound the damage if the country allows itself to be convinced that this is the best we can do.

[OUTLAW 09]

This President is still running from non linear warfare and it's two key cornerstones 1) cyber warfare and 2)information warfare.

AND in all of his statements and alluded statements he somehow just does not get it and virtually all of the statements coming out of this WH is nothing more than statements to cover the next 1 months so he does not have to make a single decision...he is simply tossing the serious problems in the FP to the next President just as did Wilson in 1920.....

US cyber official warns of more attacks on industrial control systems http://read.bi/1Os4p5z pic.twitter.com/EpGg6FJteX

[davidbfpo]

Outlaw09,

I understand your criticism of the Obama presidency, but wonder was there a realistic and practical option when Syria descended into violence, after the initial peaceful opposition protests and the draconian state response.

From the cited WaPo article:
Obama’s confusion about Syria is evident and understandable. Four years ago his senior advisers supported a modest intervention to forestall a civil war that might spin out of control, spreading beyond Syria’s borders and fostering extremism.

IIRC SWC debated external intervention, notably a "no fly zone" and "safe havens" for refugees inside Syria. At the time Syrian apparently had a air defence system that would be dangerous; although the IDF had repeatedly shown it was not a great obstacle.

What the hell is a 'modest' intervention?

Then again SWC debated intervention after the use of chemical weapons in a Damascus suburb.

A bigger objection then IRRC and even more today IMHO is how does the USA and a "willing" coalition intervene in the brutality and complexity of a civil war, with so many external influences, let alone the presence of presumably hostile "boots on the ground"?

Syria today is wrecked, as the many videos you post clearly show. A village or town is captured, every building is wrecked and rarely are civilians left. A few hundred miles away Libya has slid into mayhem, after a limited "modest" intervention, without many Western "boots" and I suspect that has dampened any political will in Europe to try again.

Is this sadness our responsibility? No.

[OUTLAW 09]

This President is still running from non linear warfare and it's two key cornerstones 1) cyber warfare and 2)information warfare.

AND in all of his statements and alluded statements he somehow just does not get it and virtually all of the statements coming out of this WH is nothing more than statements to cover the next 1 months so he does not have to make a single decision...he is simply tossing the serious problems in the FP to the next President just as did Wilson in 1920.....

US cyber official warns of more attacks on industrial control systems http://read.bi/1Os4p5z pic.twitter.com/EpGg6FJteX

[OUTLAW 09]

MORE of that roaring success that the Obama WH thinks they need more messaging on...actually think they wish that these "successes" would simply disappear.

WHEN your only foreign policy is one of "let the regional players figure it out" as we cannot help anyone but ourselves THEN you get the following roaring successes that definitely defies "any amount of messaging".....BUT in some aspects Obama is only following Putin's lead of "it ain't us it's those others".........

BTW---none of the Russian AF air strikes reported this morning are anywhere close to a IS position AND yet Obama, Kerry and Putin would have you believe that all the currently being killed civilians, the schools and kindergartens being struck by the RuAF are in fact IS fighters and IS positions.

AND yet the Obama WH wonders why the KSA is striking out on their own...in less than eight years Obama has virtually destroyed the last 70 years of US ME FP....that is actually a major record.

NOT a single Obama and Kerry comment on the sheer numbers of killed civilians and the deliberate targeting of schools and kindergartens by the RuAF...AND a deliberate policy of starvation as a battlefield tactic......how can that be from a country that always claims the "moral high ground"?????

Again I will repeat what I have stated here many times...this is the worst President, DoS and NSC in the last 70 years and the coming years are going to be extremely painful for the incoming new President....


SAA helicopters dropped barrel bombs on #Teir_Maela
#Homs #Syria JAN 14

SAA shelling using Fozdika targeting #Ghranattah village
#Homs #Syria JAN 14

Interim education ministry closes all schools in #Idlib for a week due to them being targeted by Russian airstrikes

Little boy Ghassan Mohammad Khalil, killed by #Russia airstrikes on #Nawah town yesterday JAN 13
#Daraa #Syria

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Deir_Fardis village
#Homs #Syria JAN 14

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Tallaf village
#Homs #Syria JAN 14

SAA helicopters dropped barrel bombs on #Hirbnafsah village
#Hama cs #Syria JAN 14

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #al_Bab city
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 14

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #al_Bab city
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 14

SCD extinguish fire of civilian building in #Erbeen due #SAA shelling, only material damage.
#Damascus #Syria JAN14

ICRC Syria 
‏@ICRC_sy We are on our way again to #Madaya #Foua #Kefraya with more desperately needed aid w/ @SYRedCrescent @UNOCHA

What really happened in Madaya and how Russian state media lied: Article with @JulianRoepcke soon at @BILD.

Wounded and starved Syrians in Madaya are not evacuated, doctor from inside told me, calls @RT_com report a "farce." people" approach to FP...

[CrowBat]

CrowBat......is he correct....??

News
The is the end for rebels in #Latakia province.
After #Salma, all will fall quickly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJbswvgb3bA …
It's really not easy to say, then some things just do not add up.

Namely, the FSyA, AAS, and the JAN should have at least as many combatants in NE Lattakia as the IRGC, SSNP, Hezbollah, and RGD (plus NDF) have. Except for 3,000 of the Sultan Murad Division (FSyA), there are also about 1000 from Jabhat ash-Shamiya (AAS), about 200 from Furqat Asifat al-Hazzm (AAS) and another 500 from Liwa al-Haqq (AAS), then up to 3000 from the JAN, 500 from Katyb Osman Ghazi fee Jabal Turkmen (FSyA),
and about 2000 from the 13th Division (FSyA).

These have been reinforced by about 2000 of the Northern Division FSyA (ex 101 Division and Liwa Fursan al-Haqq), re-deployed from Azaz corridor few days ago.

In comparison, the two units that assaulted Salma - Liwa Assad Allah al-Ghalib (Hezbollah/Iraq) and Liwa Suqour as-Sahra (BPM) - have 2000 troops in total at most. Other units - like 103rd Brigade RGD, Liwa Dir as-Sahel (RGD/NDF), Liwa Nusr az-Zawbaa (SSNP), and Muqwama as-Syria (TSR), were grossly depleted during earlier fighting and had to be re-deployed to 'less hot' parts of the frontline there, lately.

So, '1 on 1', the loss of Salma makes no sense on its own - even if one takes into calculation all of Russian artillery bombardment of the last week or so (VKS' aerial bombardment remains as hopelessly ineffective as it was).

But, what does make sense is the disappearance of TOW-videos (only two were published in the last two weeks). This appears to indicate a stop of their supply. In turn, this would mean that insurgents are short on supply of ammo too. JAN is meanwhile complaining about this too. Considering proximity of the Turkish border, this is nothing short of surprising - and certainly NOT related to ('ineffective', as mentioned above) Russian bombardment.

So, reasons must be of different nature, then - and although this has happened so often before - whenever insurgents are under pressure, less aid is flowing into Syria. At earlier times, there was only one reason for this: US pressure upon donnors. Considering 'news' from Jordan (another article you've linked/posted here), it seems it's 'that factor' again...

[CrowBat]

BTW, this is the 'news from Jordan' I've mentioned above:


CrowBat----your take on this article....??

Important:
This confirms my analysis of #MOC betrayal:
Has Jordan Acquiesced to Assad Regime Offensive in S-Syria?
http://www.mei.edu/content/article/has-jordan-acquiesced-assad-regime-offensive-southern-syria …
Namely, and while I'll openly admit I haven't followed developments in Jordan and the southern front of Syria as closely the last year or so, at earlier times it was so that in a hyperbole, the situation there at earlier times was such that 'nobody could tie his shoelaces without US permission'.

From that POV, commentary of various Jordanian experts etc. could've been considered mere 'ambient sounds'.

But, if it's now really so that Jordan is 'independently' (from the USA) making deals with Russians and Assadists... well, then the 'US factor' is not there any more.

That would be a good explanation for the apparent drain in the flow of supplies for insurgents in Syria...

[CrowBat]

Outlaw09,

I understand your criticism of the Obama presidency, but wonder was there a realistic and practical option when Syria descended into violence, after the initial peaceful opposition protests and the draconian state response.Yes, there certainly was. Whether '10 bombs or cruise missiles', or at least an aerial blockade of Syria, back in September 2013 could've stopped this mass slaughter, and made US foreign policy a credible factor on the international scene again.

Of course, back then nobody could even dream about such repercussions of doing nothing like emergence of the Daesh. Instead, everybody would've complained about 'supporting al-Qaida' and similar rubbish. But...sigh... anything would've been better than the mess that came into being ever since (including the emergence of the Daesh).


IIRC SWC debated external intervention, notably a "no fly zone" and "safe havens" for refugees inside Syria. At the time Syrian apparently had a air defence system that would be dangerous; although the IDF had repeatedly shown it was not a great obstacle.
Actually, intel on Assadist air defences was not only hopelessly outdated (approx of same quality like that about Qaddaffi's air defences in 2011, which resulted in several hundred of million of taxpayer's money being squandered to demolish rusty SA-2, SA-3, and SA-5 sites), but also massively exaggerated by the US military, because Pentagon was of the opinion that it does not want to go 'supporting al-Qaida' in Syria.

In fact, Assadist air defences were in a bigger disarray back in 2013 than they are nowadays, and would've been no problem to overrun.

Nowadays they're better concentrated, have two years of experience on their new tools, and are Russian supported too. I.e. a 'no go' case.


What the hell is a 'modest' intervention?An aerial blockade, for example. It would not even need any kind of authorization from the UN for countries like Turkey, Iraq (back then still quasi-US-controlled), Jordan to run one - especially not if supported by Saudis and CO.


A bigger objection then IRRC and even more today IMHO is how does the USA and a "willing" coalition intervene in the brutality and complexity of a civil war, with so many external influences, let alone the presence of presumably hostile "boots on the ground"?Neither the USA nor anybody else in the West is seriously interested in getting involved in Syria any more. Therefore, there's no 'coalition of willing'.


Syria today is wrecked, as the many videos you post clearly show. A village or town is captured, every building is wrecked and rarely are civilians left. A few hundred miles away Libya has slid into mayhem, after a limited "modest" intervention, without many Western "boots" and I suspect that has dampened any political will in Europe to try again.Again: using the NATO-led intervention in Libya as some sort of excuse ala 'but if we do that in Syria it's gonna turn Libya all over again' is gross ignorance of facts.

Fact is that Libyan intervention was (despite all of its mistakes and flaws) a major military success. Fact is that it enabled Libyans to start making decisions on their own. Fact is that in first local elections there, Islamists were so heavily defeated, that they were on a brink of disappearance.

Sad fact is, however, that subsequently the West did nothing (and this is where provisional Libyan authorities are to blame, then it was them who turned down a UN offer for deployment of a stabilisation force, [thanks for a reminder, Rex!]) to prevent Qatar and (to a lesser degree) Turkey from screwing up everything they only could screw up in Libya. Fact is that especially Qatar imposed Islamists upon locals de-facto on gun-point.

Fact is that then a US citizen appeared to launch a military coup and was supported in this action by the military regime that coupped itself to power in Egypt - in turn provoking a civil war before locals ever had an opportunity to sort out things on their own (and peacefully).

All of that has absolutely nothing to do with NATO intervention. And especially: it means anything else but that whenever some f...g dictator in the Middle East is removed, it's 'automatically so' that extremists are taking over.

I'm very sorry to express it that way, David, but can't hold myself back because it's making me so mad: no matter how widespread, such thinking...this sort of urban legends... is actually primitivism based on ignorance of facts.

[davidbfpo]

Cited in part:
I'm very sorry to express it that way, David, but can't hold myself back because it's making me so mad: no matter how widespread, such thinking...this sort of urban legends... is actually primitivism based on ignorance of facts.

No problem with me! SWC is for arguments, information and more.:)

[OUTLAW 09]

Wonder how the Russian MoD would explain this......????

A truck with Russian GRADs exploded in occupied Donbas,
Arab-language documentation found.
https://twitter.com/ZIK_IA/status/687671859685371904 …

[OUTLAW 09]

What the heck does this mean.....?????
Clarification: Training and ammo provided to Syrian Arab Coalition leaders only.
https://twitter.com/OIRSpox/status/687359534508183553 …

So is Russia no playing non linear warfare against Turkey.......??
Turkish prime minister: 'Secret actors' are behind the Istanbul terror attack http://www.businessinsider.com/turkey-istanbul-terror-attack-secret-actors-2016-1 …
pic.twitter.com/5uBKDnloxY

Wonder how the Russian MoD would explain this......????

A truck with Russian GRADs exploded in occupied Donbas,
Arab-language documentation found.
https://twitter.com/ZIK_IA/status/687671859685371904 …

Activists: Russia produces Grad P portable MLRS in occupied Donbas to arm terrorists
http://www.unian.info/war/1236508-activists-russia-produces-grad-p-portable-mlrs-in-occupied-donbas-to-arm-terrorists.html … pic.twitter.com/vW4FnldH7l

WHO & UNICEF appealing to all parties in #Syria to immediately lift sièges that block humanitarian aid to civilians.
http://tinyurl.com/jn2bhsy

[OUTLAW 09]

Outlaw09,

I understand your criticism of the Obama presidency, but wonder was there a realistic and practical option when Syria descended into violence, after the initial peaceful opposition protests and the draconian state response.

From the cited WaPo article:

IIRC SWC debated external intervention, notably a "no fly zone" and "safe havens" for refugees inside Syria. At the time Syrian apparently had a air defence system that would be dangerous; although the IDF had repeatedly shown it was not a great obstacle.

What the hell is a 'modest' intervention?

Then again SWC debated intervention after the use of chemical weapons in a Damascus suburb.

A bigger objection then IRRC and even more today IMHO is how does the USA and a "willing" coalition intervene in the brutality and complexity of a civil war, with so many external influences, let alone the presence of presumably hostile "boots on the ground"?

Syria today is wrecked, as the many videos you post clearly show. A village or town is captured, every building is wrecked and rarely are civilians left. A few hundred miles away Libya has slid into mayhem, after a limited "modest" intervention, without many Western "boots" and I suspect that has dampened any political will in Europe to try again.

Is this sadness our responsibility? No.

David...you bring up an interesting point----I tracked closely the Libyan "adventure" as I was involved in the actual targeting process prior to the US turning over the "air war" to NATO at the urging of Obama ie Obama basically told DoD to hand off and the US continued to provide strike AC, air refueling and intel and what is not so well know US hunter killer drone teams that roamed all over Libyan air space.

WHAT is also not well known is that Gaddaffi sat on 30,000 tons of mustard gas and chemical gas components and never made a move to use them and kept them under tight control even in the deepest fighting.

BUT overall outwardly NATO ran everything----we the US need to fully understand what motivated in the first place to even move on Libya---many say it was the French that pressured Obama.

Secondly, I could actually list four major opportunities the US had under Obama to have moved into the Syrian adventure at minimum cost to the US that would have avoided where we are now. Remember I often point out that the ME runs on concept of "perception" a highly underrated concept in US international relations as we like to be logical rational actors.

We the West wonder just how Syrian groups drifted into radicalism....if you start out with an Arab Spring awakening, then the dictator strikes back using every know form of violence and nothing comes from the West then it is a natural progression that a civil society takes....it becomes more radical and if still nothing comes from the West then the radicalization becomes stronger.

I am actually amazed that the entire country has not gone over to IS in the face of the massive air strikes on civilians and children by Russia and the continued starvation as a weapon system by both Assad and Putin....speaks to the resolve of the Syrian people to not go over to IS.

Obama started initially supporting via weapons and munitions via the CIA and if that had continued especially the TOWs Assad would be on the ropes now even with Russian help.

IMHO Obama has made a number of interesting moves in both eastern Ukraine and now in Syria.

THERE has been a number of articles starting in mid 2014 that the West had to find for Putin an exit ramp/strategy in order to "save face"---this was the reasoning by the Germans that led to Minsk 2..... THERE has now be a series of similar articles popping up that the West must give Putin an exit ramp in Syria if in fact he is losing in "order to save face" and to avoid a collapsing Russia in the event that Putin fails in Syria.

THE only problem for the West has been---give Putin an exit ramp just motivates him to move forward with his three geo political core goals;
1. damage and discredit NATO
2. damage and discredit the EU
3. totally disconnect the US from both Europe and now the ME

WHY because he spins the face saving as "victories".....

The interesting question is now---is in fact Obama by limiting weapons and munitions to the anti Assad forces basically throwing Syria under the bus just as he did in eastern Ukraine in order to curry favor with Putin.

THAT is my major critique of Obama....there is simply no foreign policy in either eastern Ukraine nor Syria.

If one honestly looks at the numerous Obama and Kerry statements over the last four years...they keep talking about the need for the regional players to step up and resolve their problems and it is not the responsibility of the Us to solve their problems.

The problem here is in the ME there needs to be an adult in the room as the Sunni Shia dispute has reached a point of no return and is short of a major war---so much for wanting to have the regional players resolve their issues....

Obama moved into retrenchment of US power basically before there was a fundamental structure in place that would allow for that retrenchment to occur in a safe fashion...so in fact Obama crashed 70 years of US FP in the Me with absolutely no safety net for anyone.

BTW---if in fact Obama four years ago had sided with the Syrians opposing Assad and continued that assistance to the FSA---he would have had his "boots on the ground" meaning arm the Syrians and allow them to fight and that is exactly what the anti Assad forces have been saying for four years. the FSA has repeatedly stated first Assad and then we will totally focus on IS.

These anti Assad forces are the solution for fighting IS as well ---with the cost to the US being weapons, munitions and air support..so what do we now have---the SDF (Kurds) basically capturing Arab territory and committing crimes against those civilians in those towns.

[OUTLAW 09]

Yes, there certainly was. Whether '10 bombs or cruise missiles', or at least an aerial blockade of Syria, back in September 2013 could've stopped this mass slaughter, and made US foreign policy a credible factor on the international scene again.

Of course, back then nobody could even dream about such repercussions of doing nothing like emergence of the Daesh. Instead, everybody would've complained about 'supporting al-Qaida' and similar rubbish. But...sigh... anything would've been better than the mess that came into being ever since (including the emergence of the Daesh).


Actually, intel on Assadist air defences was not only hopelessly outdated (approx of same quality like that about Qaddaffi's air defences in 2011, which resulted in several hundred of million of taxpayer's money being squandered to demolish rusty SA-2, SA-3, and SA-5 sites), but also massively exaggerated by the US military, because Pentagon was of the opinion that it does not want to go 'supporting al-Qaida' in Syria.

In fact, Assadist air defences were in a bigger disarray back in 2013 than they are nowadays, and would've been no problem to overrun.

Nowadays they're better concentrated, have two years of experience on their new tools, and are Russian supported too. I.e. a 'no go' case.

An aerial blockade, for example. It would not even need any kind of authorization from the UN for countries like Turkey, Iraq (back then still quasi-US-controlled), Jordan to run one - especially not if supported by Saudis and CO.

Neither the USA nor anybody else in the West is seriously interested in getting involved in Syria any more. Therefore, there's no 'coalition of willing'.

Again: using the NATO-led intervention in Libya as some sort of excuse ala 'but if we do that in Syria it's gonna turn Libya all over again' is gross ignorance of facts.

Fact is that Libyan intervention was (despite all of its mistakes and flaws) a major military success. Fact is that it enabled Libyans to start making decisions on their own. Fact is that in first local elections there, Islamists were so heavily defeated, that they were on a brink of disappearance.

Sad fact is, however, that subsequently the West did nothing (and this is where provisional Libyan authorities are to blame, then it was them who turned down a UN offer for deployment of a stabilisation force, [thanks for a reminder, Rex!]) to prevent Qatar and (to a lesser degree) Turkey from screwing up everything they only could screw up in Libya. Fact is that especially Qatar imposed Islamists upon locals de-facto on gun-point.

Fact is that then a US citizen appeared to launch a military coup and was supported in this action by the military regime that coupped itself to power in Egypt - in turn provoking a civil war before locals ever had an opportunity to sort out things on their own (and peacefully).

All of that has absolutely nothing to do with NATO intervention. And especially: it means anything else but that whenever some f...g dictator in the Middle East is removed, it's 'automatically so' that extremists are taking over.

I'm very sorry to express it that way, David, but can't hold myself back because it's making me so mad: no matter how widespread, such thinking...this sort of urban legends... is actually primitivism based on ignorance of facts.

David...you stumbled upon something that Obama, Kerry and the entire western MSM has missed....the complete similarities of eastern Ukraine and Syria especially on Russian military tactics.

Syria today is wrecked, as the many videos you post clearly show. A village or town is captured, every building is wrecked and rarely are civilians left. A few hundred miles away Libya has slid into mayhem, after a limited "modest" intervention, without many Western "boots" and I suspect that has dampened any political will in Europe to try again.

If you look at every single village and or town that was captured in eastern Ukraine the Russians basically shelled them into the ground.....AND continued that shelling of critical civilian and industrial infrastructure UNTIL today ........during the pre invasion days before the Russian Army invaded eastern Ukraine they physically shelled the Ukraine via their artillery and GRAD units FROM physical locations inside Russia---confirmed by social media open source analysis via bellingcat.

Putin's military strategy is to punish the offending civil society first the Ukrainians and now the Syrians ----by upping the massive damage he is literally attempting to bomb them into negotiations that favor Assad and in the case of eastern Ukraine to force the Ukrainians to negotiate with the separatists....

Again we at SWJ have moved on from the topic non linear warfare but it is alive and well and expanding......

[OUTLAW 09]

While this is from the Ukrainian thread it applies to the mindset of Russian mercenary operations in non linear warfare and one can expect to see something similar to this developing in Syria.....

https://informnapalm.org/en/jan11-troy-donbas/

Ultimatum of the ‘Sieged Troy’: We Know How to Burn Rostov’

By alexander | on 01/11/2016


Carrying out intelligence operations in order to disclose Russian career servicemen guilty of taking part in the war in Ukraine, InformNapalm volunteers have established effective OSINT process as well as organized deep reconnaissance including cooperation with insiders.

Today the militants from the ‘sieged’ ‘Troy’ armed formation contacted us via email and leaked some ‘confidential information’ in return for informational support of their ultimatum.

“«<…> All our actions have been targeted at the fight with theft of DPR’s funds and assets; we’ve been always against the corruption and nepotism which is common in the ranks of DPR’s army. We are against the moral decay of the army, drug abuse, drug trafficking, arms trafficking and protection racketeering. In your recent article about GRU officer Aziz Banyshev, you wrote that Donbas was a zone of interest of GRU and FSB clans, which controlled the drug, arms and organ trafficking. That is true, but we, the people of Donbas, want to put things right in our republic. We are sieged by the Russian FSB forces. We know that the authorities of GRU and FSB monitor your web resource. Thus, we offer you to announce our straight-out ultimatum ‘door-to-door’: Bros from GRU, we have fought together with you all the time and now you decided to disarm us and mop up?! We have a lot of data on a secret flash drive, which is far more serious than the well-known “Dremov’s flash drive”. Besides your dirty laundry, this information includes also data on some secrete infrastructure objects in Rostov Oblast like military warehouses, ammunition, fuel and chemical depots. Our people are ready to carry out subversion of hazardous facilities in case if the siege of ‘Troy’ spetsnaz detachment is continued or our positions are stormed. We do not want to fight with you, but we need some order. To confirm the seriousness of our words, we have prepared a table with data about numerous objects that can be destroyed at any time in the case of non-fulfillment of our ultimatum <…>”.

The letter indeed had an excel file attached. We have carefully checked it for possible viruses and studied the contents of the file. It contains the information about hazardous facilities and warehouses with large volumes of chlorine, fuel, explosives, etc. The preliminary check of the information showed a high degree of accuracy. We didn’t have much time to investigate it in detail, so we publish the file for public use, to ensure that it can be studied by specialists.

Here you can see a couple of screenshots of the most interesting (in our opinion) objects.

Regarding the ‘Troy’ special forces detachment, whose representatives state that this operation is being conducted by the GRU servicemen: with high degree of confidence we can assume that the besiegement involves soldiers of the 346th or 24th special forces brigade of GRU. The servicemen from these brigades have been mentioned in several our investigations of the events in Donbas. Servicemen from of the 22nd and 10th special forces brigade have been registered in Luhansk region, they may be involved in mopping up operations there as well. Soldiers from the 2nd special forces brigade of GRU were seen in Mariupol area.

As you may recall, on May 16, two wounded Russian soldiers were captured near the Shchastya town. These were servicemen from the 3rd brigade: captain Erofeyev, and sergeant Aleksandrov. We were one of the first who reported about this fact.

[OUTLAW 09]

Outlaw09,

I understand your criticism of the Obama presidency, but wonder was there a realistic and practical option when Syria descended into violence, after the initial peaceful opposition protests and the draconian state response.

From the cited WaPo article:

IIRC SWC debated external intervention, notably a "no fly zone" and "safe havens" for refugees inside Syria. At the time Syrian apparently had a air defence system that would be dangerous; although the IDF had repeatedly shown it was not a great obstacle.

What the hell is a 'modest' intervention?

Then again SWC debated intervention after the use of chemical weapons in a Damascus suburb.

A bigger objection then IRRC and even more today IMHO is how does the USA and a "willing" coalition intervene in the brutality and complexity of a civil war, with so many external influences, let alone the presence of presumably hostile "boots on the ground"?

Syria today is wrecked, as the many videos you post clearly show. A village or town is captured, every building is wrecked and rarely are civilians left. A few hundred miles away Libya has slid into mayhem, after a limited "modest" intervention, without many Western "boots" and I suspect that has dampened any political will in Europe to try again.

Is this sadness our responsibility? No.

David.....here is one of the core reasons I rant about the total lack of an Obama FP in Syria...Obama has had at least four occasions where he could have taken the high ground to set the core "perception" that Assad had to be removed and that the US sided with those that wanted a complete removal of Assad and then being allowed to develop the way they the Syrian civil society wanted to develop...BUT nothing.

The first was the red line on the use of chemical weapons against civilian--- basically a war crime where Obama could have easily gone to the UNSC and then made his air strikes which would have indicated to both Assad, Iran and Putin that he Obama knew how to carry a big stick, the second through fourth time has been the constant violations of three critical UNSC resolutions pertaining to the bombing of civilians and to the use of starvation as a weapon system in complete violation of international humanitarian laws.

BTW--Putin and Russia also supported those same three UNSC resolutions putting them on record as supporting the non bombing of civilians and the non use of starvation.

BUT instead of hauling Putin in front of the court of world opinion Obama does nothing absolutely nothing..........

THE WORLD’S SHAME
@BILD explains the starving hell of #Madaya
#Assad's & #RT's lies busted!
http://www.bild.de/politik/ausland/syrien-krise/hell-of-madaya-44151008.bild.html …

There are also questions, the @UN @WFP and @ICRC / @SYRedCrescent have to answer.
Although we know, why they had to play the game ... #Assad

We will accuse international aid organisations of willingly/of necessity taking part in the #Assad/#Russian propaganda.
ARTICLE IN ENGLISH SOON!!

This article includes major revelation that the "300 rescued people from #Madaya" from Monday are indeed #ASSAD Baath party family members!

Syrian activists accuse U.N. of ‘complicity’ in blockades
http://wapo.st/1ZmWP1l?tid=ss_tw …

[OUTLAW 09]

Syrian rebels (here from Ahrar al-Sham) overran an Iraqi militia position near #KhanTuman S-W of #Aleppo.

BreakingFootage (graphic)
Syrian rebels prove recapture of parts of #KhanTuman.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9OA7LQ9bII …

Footage
Rebels hit #Assad "Zell" truck in #Latakia with ATGM, totally destroy it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiYBB4QBHxo …

Footage
Just the daily #RussianAirstrikes on civilians in #EastGhouta.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNCMsuLPKFQ …

Footage
The daily horror in #TerMaela (besieged #Homs province).
#Assad Mi-24 drops bombs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MWx4yM9uD0 …

News
Turkish-backed #FSA brigades liberated #Baghidin and #Khalfatli along the Syrian-Turkish border from #ISIS.

[OUTLAW 09]

As war rages in #Syria, both #Israel and Hezbollah keep their eyes on the #Golan Heights
http://newsweekme.com/blurred-future by @Nour_Samaha via @tob_la

Assyrians & Kurds clash for first time in #Syria http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/assyrians-kurds-qamishli-160112165041894.html …
PKK-linked SDF lashes out at Assad-linked Gozarto—by Diana al-Rifai

As UN confirms famine in #Madaya, Hezbollah goes full Gaddafi
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idUSKCN0UP0VM20160113 …
http://www.almanar.com.lb/adetails.php?eid=1394424 …

[OUTLAW 09]

RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Abu_alDuhur village
#IDlib #Syria JAN 14

VIDEO: SAA destroy car (possible VBIED) with ATGM in Salma, #Syria.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8S7qT-HM6A …

VIDEO: Army of Mujahedeen fire rockets at 'Iranian militias' in Khan Tuman. #Syria.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_z57XutpBw …

VIDEO: FSA 1st Coastal Division hit truck in Salma, #Syria with Konkurs ATGM.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiYBB4QBHxo …

Iraqi shia militants killed y'day by rebels near Khan Tuman south #Aleppo.
http://twitter.com/Ahrar_lens/status/687589469105614852/photo/1
pic.twitter.com/nSoMjH8C0r

[OUTLAW 09]

This twitter account has been posting countless reports of Shia terrorists being "refugees" in Europe........

EU Militia Watch
@EU_MilitiaWatch

[OUTLAW 09]

Deraa: Assad regime general Ali Suleiman killed in Sheikh Maskin

Aleppo: Iranian revolutionary guards commander Saeed Sayah Al Taheri killed by Syrian Rebels

See 3 videos in this link. Shows 2 recently captured pro Assad foreign fighters & deaths
http://fb.me/4yzuy1pZl

Rebel factions refused international pressure, to waive Syrian Revolution constants
http://en.eldorar.com/node/1209

Syrian Rebels advance in Southern Aleppo
http://en.eldorar.com/node/1210

[OUTLAW 09]

Iran's Revolutionary Guard acknowledged that 200,000 of its fighters in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan & Pakistan
http://huff.to/1W9TS3U

So bluster on the part of the IRGC....OR reality finally admitted to by Iran......so now with the Iran Deal Iran will acquire 100B USD to just keep expanding their "revolutionary Islam" started by Khomeini.....

So can Obama now finally admit his Syrian strategy is just a bluff nothing more than an attempt to run out the 13 month clock....

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat---posted by our favorite proAssad account today...can you confirm??

Russia Mi-8AMTSH,W/ EW systems Vitebsk anti aircraft missiles at #Latakia Hmeimim taking part of attacks n #Syria
pic.twitter.com/sFVNqltjec

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia published the text of the agreement with Damascus on the deployment of Russian jets to Syria.
http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/Document/View/

The agreement was signed on August 26, 2015, and allows Russia to stay in Syria for an unlimited period of time

Shia Jihadist with a T-90 in south #Aleppo, #Syria.
pic.twitter.com/QNIr5ap1UZ

[OUTLAW 09]

David.....here is one of the core reasons I rant about the total lack of an Obama FP in Syria...Obama has had at least four occasions where he could have taken the high ground to set the core "perception" that Assad had to be removed and that the US sided with those that wanted a complete removal of Assad and then being allowed to develop the way they the Syrian civil society wanted to develop...BUT nothing.

The first was the red line on the use of chemical weapons against civilian--- basically a war crime where Obama could have easily gone to the UNSC and then made his air strikes which would have indicated to both Assad, Iran and Putin that he Obama knew how to carry a big stick, the second through fourth time has been the constant violations of three critical UNSC resolutions pertaining to the bombing of civilians and to the use of starvation as a weapon system in complete violation of international humanitarian laws.

BTW--Putin and Russia also supported those same three UNSC resolutions putting them on record as supporting the non bombing of civilians and the non use of starvation.

BUT instead of hauling Putin in front of the court of world opinion Obama does nothing absolutely nothing..........

THE WORLD’S SHAME
@BILD explains the starving hell of #Madaya
#Assad's & #RT's lies busted!
http://www.bild.de/politik/ausland/syrien-krise/hell-of-madaya-44151008.bild.html …

There are also questions, the @UN @WFP and @ICRC / @SYRedCrescent have to answer.
Although we know, why they had to play the game ... #Assad

We will accuse international aid organisations of willingly/of necessity taking part in the #Assad/#Russian propaganda.
ARTICLE IN ENGLISH SOON!!

This article includes major revelation that the "300 rescued people from #Madaya" from Monday are indeed #ASSAD Baath party family members!

Syrian activists accuse U.N. of ‘complicity’ in blockades
http://wapo.st/1ZmWP1l?tid=ss_tw …

UN brokered ceasefires in Syria are "commonly known in rebel areas as 'surrender or starve' agreements" https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/syrian-activists-accuse-un-of-not-pushing-assad-on-humanitarian-aid/2016/01/14/0e0ea76a-bad0-11e5-85cd-5ad59bc19432_story.html …

[TheCurmudgeon]

The first was the red line on the use of chemical weapons against civilian--- basically a war crime where Obama could have easily gone to the UNSC and then made his air strikes which would have indicated to both Assad, Iran and Putin that he Obama knew how to carry a big stick, the second through fourth time has been the constant violations of three critical UNSC resolutions pertaining to the bombing of civilians and to the use of starvation as a weapon system in complete violation of international humanitarian laws.

…

OUTLAW, I don't think a UNSC resolution on Assad was ever a realistic possibility. Russia would have vetoed it.

Obama made a huge mistake with both declaring a Red Line. That was not a move he should have made unless he was willing to act militarily regardless of the UNSC. His Law School buddies could have found a way to justify it under international humanitarian law.

I have less of a problem with Obama because he was not elected to be a wartime President. He was the opposite. He doesn't trust the Military, and he shouldn't. It is not like we have had a great track record of the six years since we started. Plus, the Military doesn't know how to speak civilian.

That said, I think his foreign policy sucks, he is a horrible leader, and an isolationist. That was not such a bad thing for most areas. It was a horrible combination for Syria.

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria 70,000 students out of school as ‘#Russia|n bombardment’ prompts #Idlib and #Aleppo closures

RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Zarbah town
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 14

[OUTLAW 09]

33 #Syria rebel grps refuse to join peace talks w/o humanitarian provisions (free aid flow & stop civilian attacks)

Up from 26 from yesterday.....

Obama has a serious problem on his hands now as these groups are demanding the implementation of the three UNSC resolutions as a pre condition to peace talks....

[OUTLAW 09]

18+*
Plenty of dead Shia Iraqi invaders in this #Nusra vid from S-Aleppo #KhanTouman.
https://youtu.be/0IyB7pRB9AQ

Syria Unpublished imagery shows that the sizable reserve of armor held at Aleppo Airport over last 2 years has all moved out to front lines

Madaya is just one of 15 areas under medieval siege across Syria. Here's Douma's story:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11817406/I-saw-death-everywhere.-Some-bodies-were-never-recognised-as-their-entire-family-had-died..html … and
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/12087223/Syrias-schools-feel-blast-of-Russia-war-planes.html ….

[OUTLAW 09]

BREAKING
#SAA & #HEZBOLLAH refused to let the #UN AID convoy enter #Madaya,the last 7trucks which are loaded w/Flour
#Damascus #Syria JAN14

[OUTLAW 09]

Geolocation of yesterday SANA video from South #Salma, courtesy Timmi Allen from @bellingcat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMAQX7YIHjo …
pic.twitter.com/7CQHr3Ym64

[OUTLAW 09]

Reports from Russia-occupied #Crimea airport: 15 military trucks with soldiers and 2 aircraft on a runaway.
#Syria
https://twitter.com/otvalitetrolli/status/687723985358950400 …

Kerry Thanks Iran for Resolving the Crisis It Created - Bloomberg View
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2016-01-14/kerry-thanks-iran-for-resolving-the-crisis-it-created …

[OUTLAW 09]

This twitter account has been posting countless reports of Shia terrorists being "refugees" in Europe........

EU Militia Watch
@EU_MilitiaWatch


Ashrf Alhlo allegedly murdered civilian Ahmed al-Qahwaji. Now in #Frankfurt.
https://unfetteredfreedom.wordpress.com/2015/10/03/list-of-shabiha-posing-as-refugees-in-europe/ …

An unusual high number of former Shia militia from Iraq and Syrian have turned up in Germany and yet everyone worries about IS.....

[OUTLAW 09]

But
OUTLAW, I don't think a UNSC resolution on Assad was ever a realistic possibility. Russia would have vetoed it.

Obama made a huge mistake with both declaring a Red Line. That was not a move he should have made unless he was willing to act militarily regardless of the UNSC. His Law School buddies could have found a way to justify it under international humanitarian law.

I have less of a problem with Obama because he was not elected to be a wartime President. He was the opposite. He doesn't trust the Military, and he shouldn't. It is not like we have had a great track record of the six years since we started. Plus, the Military doesn't know how to speak civilian.

That said, I think his foreign policy sucks, he is a horrible leader, and an isolationist. That was not such a bad thing for most areas. It was a horrible combination for Syria.

TC---BUT forcing the Russian UNSC ambassador to formally veto his RuAF actions that have been thoroughly documented via video, HWR and AI especially on the use of cluster munitions would massively counter the equally massive Russia pushback propaganda on their deliberate targeting of civilians and especially lately children and schools.....

We have seen similar Russian military attacks against civilians in eastern Ukraine but there they use GRADs instead of aircraft because of the potential of actually being shot down by UAF AD systems---- missing in Syria because the West refuses to allow MANPADs into Syria......

So in effect the US is complicit in the killing of civilians as well as is Putin....until Obama stands up and says something...silence conveys being complicit.

[CrowBat]

Cited in part:

No problem with me! SWC is for arguments, information and more.:)
Thanks for your understanding and sorry for my fury: earlier today I run into that Assad fan-boy Ivan Sidorenko on one of 'kiddy military forums' in the USA.

As usually, he babbled about 'SAA and NDF' doing this and that, and everybody 'listened sillently': was no problem then nobody there knows what's up in Syria, so a character like him can behave around like a god of some sort.

I simply asked him why is he not calling a spade a spade, and clearly naming what kind of 'SAA and NDF' are fighting and where. I illustrated my question with few of photos he's posted on his own Twitter account, showing Hezbollah/Iraq, IRGC-QF, and similar Shi'a Jihadists.

Amazingly enough: there was no reply, but 10 minutes later I was banned me from a place I used to frequent for more than 10 years...

That's how such and similar characters are dealing with any kind of 'opposition'.

...and it happened on the same day editor of a certain (and quite-well-known) international daily told me, he can't publish my article about all the farces and illusions related to the SDF, because he'd already published one article of mine the last month, and has to keep his 'usual reporters' busy...

So, when I then hear - and that from somebody like you - that nonsense about 'regime change in Libya only brought extremists into control', my blood is boiling...

Anyway... Here some 'regime change' - and then first hand: first free elections were held the last weekend in Eastern Ghouta. The IF and similar 'militant' groups have lost (and heavily), civilian groups have won. Video report (in Arabic), here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEIK1wpOUfM

So, it's not the IF that won, not the JAN, not the Rahman Corps, not even the FSyA... but non-religious 'technocrats'. And that in one of most conservative corners of Syria, besieged since two years, half-starved, and where regime and Russians are instigating daily massacres - and that so much so, one would expect even kids, cats and dogs there to become extremist Islamists.

...but not a word about this is going to be published anwhere in our glorious media.

Would love to see somebody telling me that Syrians are all terrorists and Islam is incompatible with democracy...

[CrowBat]

BTW, Faylaq ash-Sham and Sultan Murad Brigade FSyA have continued their offensive in northern Aleppo province, along the Turkish border by capturing Baghidin and Khalfatli today.

...this operation is run with full support of Turkish Army's artillery (which which claims to have killed over 200 Daesh (http://bigstory.ap.org/article/c630e17f93ec46a087b84c3c86fe5779/pm-says-turkish-artillery-attacked-positions-iraq-Syria)).

With this the FSyA is now facing the Daesh's 'spiritual heartland': Dabiq (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dabiq#In_Islamic_eschatology).

No surprise then, the Daesh resistance to that advance is growing, while that against BPM's advance from Kweres on al-Bab (about 50km south of Turkish border) is collapsing... :rolleyes:

[OUTLAW 09]

Reference Syrian Express........

Typical Russian criminal shell company being used but before the Ukraine not even known to be a Russian shell company.....

A company managed from Geneva financed the purchase of 2 #SyriaExpress ships in #Crimea , in violation of Swiss Law
http://www.rts.ch/info/suisse/7358434-le-pont-maritime-russe-vers-la-syrie-finance-depuis-la-suisse.html …

Dost (Friend) is the first of 4 vessels in it's class, commissioned 2 years ago, brought heli capability to CG ships crossed southbound today

[OUTLAW 09]

Thanks for your understanding and sorry for my fury: earlier today I run into that Assad fan-boy Ivan Sidorenko on one of 'kiddy military forums' in the USA.

As usually, he babbled about 'SAA and NDF' doing this and that, and everybody 'listened sillently': was no problem then nobody there knows what's up in Syria, so a character like him can behave around like a god of some sort.

I simply asked him why is he not calling a spade a spade, and clearly naming what kind of 'SAA and NDF' are fighting and where. I illustrated my question with few of photos he's posted on his own Twitter account, showing Hezbollah/Iraq, IRGC-QF, and similar Shi'a Jihadists.

Amazingly enough: there was no reply, but 10 minutes later I was banned me from a place I used to frequent for more than 10 years...

That's how such and similar characters are dealing with any kind of 'opposition'.

...and it happened on the same day editor of a certain (and quite-well-known) international daily told me, he can't publish my article about all the farces and illusions related to the SDF, because he'd already published one article of mine the last month, and has to keep his 'usual reporters' busy...

So, when I then hear - and that from somebody like you - that nonsense about 'regime change in Libya only brought extremists into control', my blood is boiling...

Anyway... Here some 'regime change' - and then first hand: first free elections were held the last weekend in Eastern Ghouta. The IF and similar 'militant' groups have lost (and heavily), civilian groups have won. Video report (in Arabic), here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEIK1wpOUfM

So, it's not the IF that won, not the JAN, not the Rahman Corps, not even the FSyA... but non-religious 'technocrats'. And that in one of most conservative corners of Syria, besieged since two years, half-starved, and where regime and Russians are instigating daily massacres - and that so much so, one would expect even kids, cats and dogs there to become extremist Islamists.

...but not a word about this is going to be published anwhere in our glorious media.

Would love to see somebody telling me that Syrians are all terrorists and Islam is incompatible with democracy...

CrowBat........ah the power of info warfare ie Assad and or Iranian take your pick.

That is why I have been hammering away on an article on the blog side that states Obama totally feels that we the US public do not get his Syrian strategy ie he just needs more messaging and another one on how he is going to counter IS info warfare with a super big government agency.

Info warfare is highly effective and the US is "playing at it" and it is not in the least serious about countering it.

While the US "just talks" the EU is up and running......and a new info warfare center was created via NATO in the Baltics.....

EU Mythbusters @EUvsDisinfo
Who is still alive according to proKremlin media? Read the latest #DisinfoReview to find out
http://eepurl.com/bMAv5P

BTW---very well done and it educates as well.......

[OUTLAW 09]

Landmines planted by Assad army around its CPs south #Hama removed by #FSA.
pic.twitter.com/iUGF8k3lkz

31 martyrs including 3 children
13 #Aleppo
7 #Daraa
4 #Damascus
4 #Hama
3 #Idlib
1 #Homs.
#Syria JAN 14

[OUTLAW 09]

For those SWJ readers who still do not believe the IS cyber warfare abilities.....

http://www.krebsonsecurity.com/

Dec 15

2016 Reality: Lazy Authentication Still the Norm


My PayPal account was hacked on Christmas Eve. The perpetrator tried to further stir up trouble by sending my PayPal funds to a hacker gang tied to the jihadist militant group ISIS. Although the intruder failed to siphon any funds, the successful takeover of the account speaks volumes about why most organizations — including many financial institutions — remain woefully behind the times in authenticating their customers and staying ahead of identity thieves.

On Christmas Eve morning, I received an email from PayPal stating that an email address had been added to my account. I immediately logged into my account from a pristine computer, changed the password, switched my email address back to to the primary contact address, and deleted the rogue email account.

I then called PayPal and asked how the perpetrator had gotten in, and was there anything else they could do to prevent this from happening again? The customer service person at PayPal said the attacker had simply logged in with my username and password, and that I had done everything I could in response to the attack. The representative assured me they would monitor the account for suspicious activity, and that I should rest easy.

Twenty minutes later I was outside exercising in the unseasonably warm weather when I stopped briefly to check email again: Sure enough, the very same rogue email address had been added back to my account. But by the time I got back home to a computer, my email address had been removed and my password had been changed. So much for PayPal’s supposed “monitoring;” the company couldn’t even spot the same fraudulent email address when it was added a second time.

PayPal locked the account shortly after the assailant allegedly tried to send my money to the email account of the late Junaid Hussain, a 17-year-old member of the hacktivist group Team Poison Hussain — who used the nickname “TriCk” and is believed to have been a prominent ISIS propagandist online — was reportedly killed in a U.S.-led drone strike earlier this year in Raqqa, Syria. No doubt, the attempted transfer was a bid to further complicate matters for me by associating my account with known terrorists.

In my second call to PayPal, I insisted on speaking with a supervisor. That person was able to tell me that, as I suspected, my (very long and complex) password was never really compromised. The attacker had merely called in to PayPal’s customer support, pretended to be me and was able to reset my password by providing nothing more than the last four digits of my Social Security number and the last four numbers of an old credit card account. Let’s leave aside for a moment the reality that all of this static information about Brian Krebs has been posted online by various miscreants over the years (and probably remains online): Any company that authenticates customers with nothing more than static identifiers — address, SSN, DOB, phone number, credit card number, etc. — is vulnerable to these takeover attempts.

This almost certainly includes all of the companies that supply utilities to your residence, your bank or credit union, and a host of other companies. They’re vulnerable because those static identifiers about you are no longer secret and are available for sale in the underground.

I asked the PayPal supervisor why the company couldn’t simply verify my identity by sending a text message to my phone, or a special signal to a PayPal mobile app? After all, PayPal has had the same mobile number of mine on file for years (the attacker also deleted that number from my profile as well). The supervisor explained that the company didn’t have any mobile authentication technologies, and that in order to regain access to the funds in my account I had to send the company a photocopied or scanned copy of my driver’s license.

Nevermind that it was PayPal’s lack of any modern authentication methods that led to this mess. Also, let’s forget for the moment that there are a half-dozen services online that let customers create fake but realistic looking scans of all types of documents, including utility bills, passports, driver’s licenses, bank statements, etc. This is the ultimate and most sophisticated customer authentication system that PayPal has: Send us a copy of your driver’s license.

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad friend , accused of smuggling explosives, planning terror, is released in #Lebanon . Sign of times
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/jailed-lebanese-minister-samaha-released-bail-160114112105296.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=DTN+Libya+News …

Yet agn: it's no surprise a convicted terrorist plotting 2 start a civil war gets out of jail in Lebanon, when a terror grp rules Lebanon.

Syria: The looming #battle of the #Azaz corridor
http://www.thearabweekly.com/?id=3346

[OUTLAW 09]

Reference the current Assad and Putin starvation campaign against Sunni civilians.......

The UN's Ban Ki Moon on the starvation of Madaya in Syria: "I would say they are being held hostage–but it is even worse. Hostages get fed"

[OUTLAW 09]

Appears that Obama has a much more serious messaging problem than he wants the US civil society to believe and in fact supports the perception that the US has retrenched from the Arab world in favor of Iran and Putin in Syria....

ALL the kings men are not going to put that cracked egg back together and that includes the perceived need for more "messaging".....

Here's the latest sign of how bad things have gotten between the US and its Arab allies

Armin Rosen


President Barack Obama met Jordanian king Abdullah II for five minutes in the VIP lounge at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on January 13th.

Jordan is one of the US's top Middle East allies, a member of the anti-ISIS coalition, host of some 633,000 Syrian refugees, a lynchpin in Israeli-Palestinian relations, the recipient of $1 billion a year in US aid, and a generally moderating and stabilizing force in a combusting region.

In the past, a meeting between a US president and a Jordanian king would include a potentially lengthy closed-door session followed by a joint press conference and a photo op, as occurred during the king's December 2014 visit to the US.

This time — at a moment when Jordan would appear to be an especially critical US partner — the leaders didn't even meet long enough to give off the impression of having had a substantive or productive interaction.

It's unclear exactly why the White House is treating Abdullah this way. The official American explanation is that Obama's schedule is full, as Abdullah's visit coincided with the president's final State of the Union address along with a trip to Nebraska pegged to the speech.

But that only raises the question of why the president's schedule couldn't be altered to accommodate a leader so relevant to so many US interests — and someone who has taken on a certain personal risk over the years in allying so closely with the United States.

Regardless of the actual reason for the short meeting, the US's relations with its Arab allies are now historically strained.

Although none of the Arab states officially opposed the Iran nuclear deal, it's now clear that many of them are convinced it will empower an enemy state and usher in a period of US-Iranian detente at their own expense.

The Arab Gulf states have long believed that the US is at odds with them over the conflict in Syria and have suspected that Washington doesn't actually want to see the overthrow of the Assad regime.

The US had higher level contacts with Iran than Saudi Arabia during this month's crisis sparked by Saudi Arabia's execution of a leading Shi'ite cleric, with Secretary of State John Kerry reaching out to Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif before contacting his Saudi counterparts.

And over the past year, some of the US's Arab allies in the Middle East have been acting as if they don't expect to receive further serious US's diplomatic backing, as when Saudi Arabia organized an Arab coalition against the Iranian-supported Houthi rebels in Yemen.

It's unclear if Obama was uninterested in meeting Abdullah, honestly believing his trip to Nebraska was a higher priority — or if relations between the US and one of its most trusted Arab partners have turned into an afterthought in the administration's mind.

But if the Arab states and the US really are in the midst of a strategic divergence, that would actually enhance the importance of someone like Abdullah, who is in a position to minimize any potential fallout of such a fundamental change in American policy.

Certainly a high-profile meeting between Abdullah and Obama could have pushed back against this narrative of Washington angling away from its traditional Arab regional partners.

Instead, the brief, perfunctory meeting raises the question of how bad relations have really gotten.

[OUTLAW 09]

Aleppo: Assad regime General leading 25 men captured in Khan Touman
Syrian Rebels capture Khan Touman completely...video interview...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYx-pAzU66c …

First let's look at pro Assad foreign fighters killed in Khan Touman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsBQpvwloc8 …

Aleppo: Iranian militiamen killed after Rebels captured Hersh

Homs: Rebels still repelling Assad regime as always
http://fb.me/4a1rY7nxl

ISIS has advanced from Al-Bayarat to the Al-Sha'ar Gas Fields. Western Syria's power supply is in danger:

[OUTLAW 09]

Appears now that the US supported and backed SDF is a Russian military unit getting Russian air support, fighting along side Assad forces against the Syrian anti Assad forces.......how is that possible?????

10,5k #SDF troops fight terrorists alongside #SyrianArmy & their numbers grow by the day
http://sptnkne.ws/azWa


Over 10,000 opposition members are fighting Daes terrorists alongside the Syrain Armed Forces, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation stated on Friday.

More than 10,500 members of the Syrian Democratic Forces are fighting today against the Daesh terrorists (ISIL/ISIS) alongside the Syrian armed forces, chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Sergei Rudskoy said.

"Troops of the Syrian Democratic Forces alongside the Syrian Army have been playing an increasing role in the fight against terrorism. Currently, the total number of these units are 10,500 strong," he said.

According to him, over the past few days, opposition groups led by Ayman Al-Ghanim Flyat advanced eight kilometers in the direction of Raqqa, which is considered the "capital" of Daesh terrorists.

One of the "main strongholds" of the Daesh terrorists, a town in the province of Latakia Salma, was liberated with the assistance of the opposition units, the Lt.-Gen. told reporters.

"Three towns, including terrorists' stronghold and the capital of the mountain Latakia was liberated with the assistance of the opposition unit 'Desert Falcons'," Rudskoy said.

The Syrian army with the assistance of the opposition forces has regained control over 10 towns in the province of Hama, the chief of the Russian Genera Staff said.

"At least 24 armed militans who fought alongside terrorists surrendered to the Syrian government forces near the town of Jarjisa [Hama province]," Rudskoy said.

The Syrian government forces backed by opposition units have also reclaimed control over 7 towns near Kweiris military airflied.

Moreover, the Syrian opposition provided the Russian Armed Forces with information about every fifth terrorist target, Rudskoy noted.

"Over the past five months we have established cooperation with the troops of the patriotic opposition. They provide the command of the Russian aviation group with information about terrorist targets in combat zones. After checking the information, the Russian Air Forces conduct airstrikes. Today, the opposition provides us with information about every fifth target," Rudskoy said.

The Russian operation in Syria forced terrorists to operate under less than ideal conditions, such as fuel, ammunition and food shortages, the statement said.

[OUTLAW 09]

Notice the heavy handed Russian info warfare propaganda....if the Russians believed their own propaganda they put out THEN why has not Putin applied pressure on Assad to allow humanitarian aid into besieged towns and villages totaling over 400,000 civilians.....????

NOT unit there was a seriously massive social media push on the use of starvation by both Assad and now the Russians DID the UN finally step in and start a limited aid relief program.....BUT ONLY after social media engaged.

MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
It is essential that all parties to the Syrian conflict, and countries that have influence on them, assist in humanitarian aid distribution


BTW ---until even today the US has not said a single word concerning the use of starvation and the Assad regime and now Putin regime stopping of any aid to besieged Sunni areas.....

[OUTLAW 09]

Appears the 31 anti Assad groups demand that before any negotiations begin Russia and Assad adhere to the passed UNSC resolutions to stop bombing of civilians and to allow humanitarian relief to arrive.

NOW Russia is trying to push back on that very clear message.....problem is Russia actually supported those UNSC resolutions that the anti Assad forces demand be implemented....

MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
We emphasise the need to launch an inclusive intra-Syrian negotiation process free of any preconditions

NOTICE how Russia elegantly sidesteps the three UNSC resolutions concerning the stopping of bombing of civilians and to allow humanitarian aid relief to be allowed in....NOTICE how Russia uses the US supported resolution.....?

MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
Any intra-Syrian talks should be based on the Geneva Communique, International #Syria Support Group agreements, & @UN SC Resolution No.2254

[OUTLAW 09]

This is a perfect example of just how poorly thought through any so called Obama strategy....strategy on anything is.....while he is claiming his Syrian strategy is working and just needs a tad more messaging ie say from DoS and DoD the Russians basically concluded a Status of Forces Agreement SOFA for their remaining FOREVER in Syria...

I had posted the announcement and actual document a few days ago on the Syrian thread........AND NOW MSM is picking it up.

So exactly how is there going to be pray tell any long term peace settlement especially from the side of the anti Assad forces and the Sunni Front States that "allows" Russia to maintain that SOFA????????

Putin has an interesting and unique ability to view any agreement even a PowerPoint presentation as a legally binding document FOREVER and I cannot see Russia simply packing everything up and heading home......notice that even with a 40 year basing agreement for the Black Sea Fleet Putin still invaded and annexed Crimea....

Syria Pact Puts No Time Limit on Russia Campaign, Document Shows
Ilya Arkhipov,
Bloomberg


Russia’s military is operating in Syria without a time limit under an accord between the two governments, which also agreed to a one-year notice period for either side to terminate the pact, according to the text of the deal dated Aug. 26 and published Thursday.

The document also states that Russia bears no responsibility for any damage it causes during the operation and that the Syrian government will have to settle any disputes against the Russian aviation group from third parties, according to the agreement, signed in Damascus last year and now published by the Kremlin.

Russian personnel have diplomatic immunity under the deal and Syrian authorities can’t enter their base without the permission of its Russian commander. They are also not allowed to inspect Russian shipments into the country or search Russian planes, it says.

President Vladimir Putin launched the air campaign on Sept. 30 and doubled the fleet of warplanes involved in bombing missions to about 70 in November. Russian bombers made more than 5,500 sorties since the strikes began, according to the Defense Ministry in Moscow.

SO now exactly just what is the US messaging going to be with this specific development......basically ends any US involvement in Syria...SO I guess Obama was correct.....his strategy of doing nothing is actually working.

[OUTLAW 09]

Source: http://spioenkop.blogspot.fr/2013/11/russian-contractors-in-syria_16.html

Yallasouriya 4:12 pm on November 16, 2013

Russian contractors in #Syria


Additional evidence of Russian contractors operating in Syria has emerged. According to an article published on the news site fontanka.ru, a private military company named Slavonic Corps indeed operated in Syria, but was actually disbanded after a single failed operation. The following story was told to fontanka.ru by former Slavonic Corps contractors which operated in Syria.

By the beginning of October the Slavonic Corps had 267 men in Syria, organized in two companies and based in Lattakia.

The plan was to deploy to Deir ez-Zor to ‘guard’ the oil fields there, which are of viral importance for the survival of Assad, although they were hinted that ‘guard duty’ may involve actual fighting.

The contractors received 37mm M1939 Anti-Aircraft Guns and 120mm 120-PM-43 mortars, and were supposed to receive four T-72’s and several BMP’s. However, what they actually got from the Syrian high command were old T-62’s and BMP-1’s that couldn’t even drive on their own power. So when they finally headed for Deir ez-Zor on the 15th of October, it was on guntrucks and technicals, without any heavy armour support.

They made a stop at T4 Airbase for two days, the following photo was taken there.

A very rare photo of a SyAAF Su-24 bomber, with Slavonic Corps contractors posing in front of it.

On 18th October, they were sent to As Sukhnah because Syrian Arab Army and National Defense Force troops were engaged in heavy fighting here. In a brief engagement near As Sukhnah the Slavonic Corps suffered six WIA’s (Wounded in Action) and had to retreat. During the retreat, one of the contractors, Aleksei Malyuta, lost his ID.This marked the end of the Russian contractors in Syria, at least for the time being. In the end of October Slavonic Corps was effectively disbanded and their personnel was flown back to Russia in two charter flights.

While fighting near As Sukhnah, they broke the main principle of Slavonic Corps Limited:

”The Company’s activities are in strict correspondence to Russian law and to the law of those countries where the Company protects Russian companies’ interests. Our principle – we never participate in armed conflicts as mercenaries and never consult entities, groups or individuals having even a slightest relation to terrorist organizations. Further we never take part in events related to overthrow of governments, violating human rights of civilian population and in any other actions violating International Law and Conventions.” [1]

Slavonic Corps Limited used to consist of veterans which served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Eastern Africa, Tajikistan, Northern Caucasus, Serbia and other countries.[2] Many of the contractors are likely to have served in the Second Chechen War, fighting Chechens and other foreign Mujahideen they also encountered while fighting near Sukhna.

It is important to note that according to fontanka.ru the Slavonic Corps leadership was detained by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) upon returning to Russia and charged with recruiting mercenaries. Apparently sending Russian contractors to Syria actually is not a policy supported by the Russian Government at the moment.


Russian non linear warfare hard at work and where was the Obama Syrian strategy at that time.....in the Iran Deal....????

[OUTLAW 09]

Another article on the same Russian mercenary group mentioned above......

http://www.interpretermag.com/the-last-battle-of-the-slavonic-corps/

Yallasouriya 8:29 am on November 17, 2013

The story of the Russian mercenaries who went to war against Syrian rebels.


A Syrian rebel group claims that it has ambushed and killed a group of Russian mercenaries who may have been working for a Chinese security contractor. The jihadist fighters from an Al Qaeda affiliate “Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS)” claim to have killed the mercenaries in a battle near Homs. At least one of the mercenaries, however, has been videotaped alive and well, and living back in Russia.

The large and well-respected St. Petersburg newspaper, Fontanka, has published an article, translation by The Interpreter, entitled “St. Petersburg Sends Contractors to Syria.” It details the investigation that uncovered the existence of Russian mercenaries defending sensitive installations important to the Assad government in Syria. The contractors appear to have been recruited in St. Petersburg by a company based in Hong Kong.

We also know that the mercenaries appear to have been operating in As-Sukhnah, east of Palmyra, on the road between Deir Ez Zor and Homs. Jihadists have long wanted to capture the town, and nearby Palmyra, because securing this road would link their forces from the east to the west. The Assad regime, on the other hand, has had difficulty sparing the resources to defend the position, as it is far away from the major cities which are heavily embattled. According to the initial investigation by Fontanka, the mission of the mercenaries was to secure key regime assets, away from the front lines, in order for Assad forces to concentrate on removing “bandits” in other areas. However, it appears that the oil fields that the Russians were supposed to be guarding were in rebel control, and the team was really tasked with getting them back.

The following translation is an update from Fontanka. It says that one of the key players in the military contracting company is a reservist officer in the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), lieutenant colonel Vyacheslav Kalashnikov. The FSB, therefore, were aware on some level that the Moran Security Group was sending Russian mercenaries to Syria to fight for Assad. However, the mercenary group was shut down and several mercenaries were arrested upon their return to Russia. A major Russian contractor says that this was not an FSB mission, but a mission designed to look like an FSB mission. The insinuation is that a pro-rebel group hired the Russians in order to lead them into a trap, kill them, and show their bodies on television.

All of the pictures on the original Fontanka article were also posted in the one we already translated. Instead, these pictures of the Russian mercenaries were posted on a Russian social network (except the one that states it was from Fontanka). – Ed.

[OUTLAW 09]

Third article on the above Russian mercenary contractor in Syrian in 2013....with a series of interesting questions.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-miller/the-insane-story-of-russi_b_4317729.html

The Insane Story of Russian Mercenaries Fighting for the Syrian Regime

Posted: 11/21/2013 12:47 pm EST Updated: 01/25/2014 4:01 pm EST



It's a story fit for a Hollywood summer blockbuster. A group of roughneck mercenaries are recruited by a private military contractor to guard some expensive assets in a conflict zone. Thinking that their mission was cleared with their own government (these black ops always are), the mercs are told to leave all identifying documents and military gear behind (because the enemy's spies never sleep) and get on a plane. Upon landing in the warzone, however, nothing is as it seems. Their employers may or may not be who the mercenaries thought they were. They're not sure what their mission is, but it seems that their mission is far more dangerous than they've been told. Furthermore, their weapons and equipment are sub-par, because the nicest gear has been confiscated by the local military. Soon, the soldiers of fortune are ambushed, the chain of command is confused, and when the group starts to take hits from an overwhelming force of religious zealots, the mercenaries flee. In their chaotic retreat, precious identifying documents (which were not supposed to be taken into the warzone, but were anyway) fall into enemy hands. Barely escaping with their lives, the mercenaries finally make it home. But upon arrival, their angry employers refuse to pay them and their own government arrests their leaders.

But this is not a movie script. This actually happened in September and October, when 267 Russian mercenaries, the "Slavonic Corps," were hired to fight against Syrian rebels between Homs and Deir Ez Zor. Their employer told them that the mission had been cleared by the Russian Federal Security Services (FSB) and they were initially under the impression that the Syrian president, Bashar al Assad, was hiring them to protect oil assets. Upon arrival in Syria, the mercenaries were told that their employers were private individuals, not the Syrian government, and the weapons they were told they'd be given, including T-72 tanks, were replaced by antiquated tanks that didn't run, and by makeshift armored vehicles with machine guns. Also, they soon learned that instead of guarding oil fields, they were supposed to be recapturing them from jihadists. The mission fell apart during the first sign of combat, and the Russians fled the warzone. When they touched down in Russia, however, the same FSB that they thought had OK'd the plan in the first place denied any knowledge of the operation and arrested two of the businessmen responsible for the operation.

It's easy to dismiss this story as a great read (and it really is) but a rather insignificant chapter in a complicated civil war. But there are a few details in the story that should give us all cause for concern. For instance, the head of the Slavonic Crops was a commander in the FSB reserve. New York University professor Mark Galeotti has studied the way the Russian security apparatus operates. In an interview for The Interpreter on the topic, he told me that private military contractors would need to clear all such operations with the FSB, which would mean that the FSB has placed Syria on the list of nations where foreign operations were approved. Galeotti went even further. When asked whether he thought there were more Russian mercenaries fighting for the Assad government inside Syria, he said that this was "likely," and it's not just mercenaries who are helping Assad:


"I anticipate that 'mercenary' is merely a cover story for Russian soldier or spook, just as the "Russian engineers" working on Syrian air defense systems are going to be military."

There is significant reason to believe that the FSB knew about the mission. But as Thursday's story in Foreign Policy explains, the Russian government had good reason to clip the mercenaries' wings:

It's not hard to surmise why the FSB would have turned on a company it may have given tacit support to send men into Syria. The mercenaries performed poorly in the field, and proof of their illicit activity had been plastered all over the Internet, so not tossing Gusev and Sidorov in the clink might have caused the kind of scandal that even an unembarrassable Kremlin would want to avoid. Moscow has been outspoken in its criticism of U.S. and Arab arms transfers to Syria's rebels, even as its own state arms export company dispatches more and more sophisticated hardware to Assad, according to the State Department's Robert Ford, the U.S. ambassador to Syria. The Kremlin is also trying to ensure that the imperiled Geneva II peace conference takes place in December, just in time for the regime to be in a much-strengthened negotiating position after a series of tactical gains on the battlefield.

Foreign fighters in Syria are nothing new. Jihadists and volunteers from across the Islamic world have come to Syria by the hundreds, and from Iraq by the thousands, to fight against the Syrian government. Hezbollah foot soldiers and Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps officers have helped Assad turn the tide. Thousands of Iraqi Shiites have been ushered into Syria with the help of Iran to help prop up the Assad regime.

But all of those cases are different. Iran is under heavy economic sanctions by the United States and the EU. So are Hezbollah fighters. So, in a sense, the internationally community at large is not condoning these actions. Other foreign fighters moving into the country may have financial backing, but those ties have never been linked directly to a government or major business. On the other hand, the Russian government is supposed to be officiating a peace deal between the Assad regime and the Syrian rebels. Furthermore, as the investigation published in Foreign Policy proves, the Moran Security Group, the company behind sending the Slavonic Corps to Syria, is 50% owned by another company, Neova Holdings Ltd., which is based in the British Virgin Islands. Not only has the Caribbean territory passed its own sanctions against Syria, but so has the UK. This means that a company registered in British territory is responsible for sending mercenaries to support a government that the British, the United States, and the European Union would like to see go.

The Russian government almost assuredly knew about these mercenaries. Are there more companies like the Slavonic Corps, or was this the first disastrous test of the idea to send Russian mercenaries to Syria? Is the company responsible for sending them using Western money and resources to support the Assad regime? We don't know (yet). But if the Russians are increasing military support for the Assad regime now that the threat of American force has been taken off the table, it could have significant implications for the negotiations, led by Russia, that are supposed to bring an end to the bloodiest chapter of the Arab uprisings.


From a Ukrainian commenter today......remember than one, some claimed that Slavonics training in Rostov before departing to Syria, scarce info though at that time

BTW----Slavonics is alleged to be fully operating right now in eastern Ukraine so the "failure" in Syria does not seem to bother the FSB....

Allegedly they were also involved directly in the takeover of Crimea.....

Wagner is Slavonic which was the Syria-brand name from Moran... first pic is from Slavonics in 2013

Maybe. And possibly the pic is not of the Wagner group. The info is VERY scarce.

BTW--Wagner is the Russia PDC now in Syria.......the so called initial failure was not in performance on the battlefield BUT that they were not paid by the FSB for their services at all.....typical even now in Donbas

[OUTLAW 09]

Daraa Rebels retook several positions in northern & eastern parts of Shayk Maskin city
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=32.827385&lon=36.158409&z=14&m=b …

[OUTLAW 09]

Third article on the above Russian mercenary contractor in Syrian in 2013....with a series of interesting questions.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-miller/the-insane-story-of-russi_b_4317729.html

The Insane Story of Russian Mercenaries Fighting for the Syrian Regime

Posted: 11/21/2013 12:47 pm EST Updated: 01/25/2014 4:01 pm EST



From a Ukrainian commenter today......remember than one, some claimed that Slavonics training in Rostov before departing to Syria, scarce info though at that time

BTW----Slavonics is alleged to be fully operating right now in eastern Ukraine so the "failure" in Syria does not seem to bother the FSB....

Allegedly they were also involved directly in the takeover of Crimea.....

Wagner is Slavonic which was the Syria-brand name from Moran... first pic is from Slavonics in 2013

Maybe. And possibly the pic is not of the Wagner group. The info is VERY scarce.

BTW--Wagner is the Russia PDC now in Syria.......the so called initial failure was not in performance on the battlefield BUT that they were not paid by the FSB for their services at all.....typical even now in Donbas

Private Russian military Wagner group was created 2013 by Surkov to help Assad.
Today Nuland is meeting Surkov. LOL

Wagner's group, who was killed in DNR, operated in Donbas and then in Syria.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/up-to-nine-russian-contractors-die-in-syria-experts-say-1450467757 …

Russian private military group leader - Wagner - killed in DNR.

[OUTLAW 09]

EU Militia Watch @EU_MilitiaWatch

E.U ALERT :

Heads up , report states he's an Explosive Expert from Assad's regime & now in Germany .
pic.twitter.com/2bY7YMLPvB

[OUTLAW 09]

RuAF to deploy KA-52 helicopters w/ Vitebsk EW.Vitebsk already deployed in Syria v @cencio4
http://theaviationist.com/2016/01/15/russia-to-deploy-ka-52-attack-helicopters-to-syria-to-protect-latakia-air-base/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter …
pic.twitter.com/PBiKryCE7C

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria #Damascus 16 year old boy died today in the hands of #UN-doctor team in #Madaya
~30 people dead from starvation since December

Russia'n cargo plane dropped aid (4 media campaign) into #DeirEzZor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch5gBHhnx2I&feature=youtu.be …
#Putin- use the airbase in the city outskirts!

Israel And Russia Are Coordinating In Syria, But Is The Kremlin Arming Hezbollah?
http://bit.ly/1J5Ex2J
pic.twitter.com/rOI1FedrQJ

BREAKING #EXCLUSIVE
IN THIS VERY MOMENT, I FINALLY RECEIVED THE EMAIL FROM @ICRC, I WAITED FOR.
#Assad/#RT LIED!
pic.twitter.com/xRRkzr1M6D

Syria Rebels attack #IS in Dodian /northern #Aleppo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U4PN7LIdkU …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.633214&lon=37.288435&z=15&m=b …

Daraa Rebels retook several positions in northern & eastern parts of Shayk Maskin city
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=32.827385&lon=36.158409&z=14&m=b …

[OUTLAW 09]

How Assad Is Using Sieges and Hunger to Grab More of the 'Useful Syria' https://news.vice.com/article/how-assad-is-using-sieges-and-hunger-to-grab-more-of-the-useful-syria … another good read by @AbuJamajem

Seeing reports that Russian jets targeted an Assad checkpoint in Lahaya, north rural #Hama by mistake today

Several killed & over a dozen wounded in multiple Assad cluster munitions attack on the #Damascus suburb of #Douma today

Syria #Germany NTV report on Assad thugs in Europe hiding between #Refugees

Daraa Unified Evacuation Office created Alarm Siren Tower to Alert civilians about aircraft
#Syria JAN 15

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Taos village nearby #Deir_Hafir town
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 15

Private Joker ‏@pfc_joker
The transport, IL-76MD RA-76634, has been reflagged as a SyAAF aircraft for some reason:

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian info warfare hard at work.........
Russian humanitarian aid program fo Syrian cities BUT drop only into one and wow the airfield is next to the so called besieged town.....

RT video showing a RuAF IL-76 loaded up for the "humanitarian airdrop" in Deir ez-Zaur:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROJIBu3axik …

BREAKING FOOTAGE
Seconds aftermath #Russia airstrikes on #Sukari
#Aleppo #Syria JAN15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha6DdR-4v6A …

Drone flying over #Daraa
#Syria JAN 15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efFzF45JbFw …

Smoke due #SAA shelling on #Hirbnafsah
#Hama cs #Syria JAN 15
https://youtu.be/9P7ZMy2Ia_E?t=24s …

Moment #SAA helicopters dropped barrel bombs on #Hirbnafsah village
#Hama cs #Syria JAN 15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P7ZMy2Ia_E …

Moment #SAA dropped barrel bombs on #Kessen village
#Homs #Syria JAN 15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qztE58hBkT4 …

Russia warplanes flying over #Kafr_Laha, #Houla
#Homs #SYria JAN 15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dz8igVNtwI …

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian AF is deliberately air striking civilians......

FULL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PbCjilz7Ag …
Moment #SAA shell targeted the Masjid of #Deir_Asafir FULL OF PEOPLE
#Damscus cs #Syria JAN15

3 martyrs due #SAA shelling on #Hamouriyah
1-Hosam alLaajouz
2-Abdul Aziz Homsi
3-Abu Hatem alKhatib
#Syria JAN15

Civilians houses and their shops destroyed by #SAA shelling on #Hamouriyah
#Syria JAN 15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6rP9WPbbYo …

Smoke due #Russia airstrikes on #JObar neighrborhood
#Damascus #Syria JAN 15

SAA dropping barrel bombs on #Teir_Maela
#Homs #Syria JAN 15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39l4GYq1nlQ …

[OUTLAW 09]

Putin`s warcrimes in #Syria.12.01.2016 were killed 70 civilians by #Russia`n AirForce.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6ZumEk6kCY …

In defense of propagandizing #Assad & #Hezbollah's war crimes in a positive light, @MuradoRT furiously circles jugs.

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Turkmen_Mount
#Latakia #SYria JAN 15

Smokes due #Russia airstrikes targeting the DAM in the outskirts of #Sheikh_Meskin
#Daraa #SYria JAN 15

RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Aqrab village
#Homs #Syria JAN 15

RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Taldou village
#Homs #Syria JAN 15

RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Taldou village
#Homs #Syria JAN 15

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Palmyra
#Homs cs #Syria JAN 15

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Palmyra
#Homs cs #Syria JAN 15

Russia warplanes carried out the 2nd airstrikes on #Lahaya village
#Hama cs #Syria JAN 15

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Morek village
#Hama cs #Syria JAN 15

SAA shelling Grad Rockets targeting #Hirbnafsah town
#Hama cs #Syria JAN 15

SAA helicopters dropped barrel bombs over #Kessen village
#Homs #Syria JAN 15

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Gharz
#Daraa #Syria JAN 15

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Mayer town
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 15

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Jisr_al_Shghour
#Idlib #Syria JAN 15

[OUTLAW 09]

Putin is rapidly approaching a critical decision point...continue fighting a two front war and or a total collapse of his economy similar to 1989....

Breaking: Brent #oil trading around $28 a barrel (!!) via @JavierBlas2
pic.twitter.com/i6qWPwXd85

Dow sinks 400+ points in global equity rout as oil’s plunge past $30 sends markets reeling
http://bloom.bg/1USKb8Z
pic.twitter.com/UcD3ZQgoe5

Russia's retirees protest cancellation of free public transpo, but #Putin's priorities are in #Syria and #Ukraine.
pic.twitter.com/vUiysYpwtN

We have lost": Sberbank of Russia's CEO calls Russia "downshifter state"
http://www.unian.info/politics/1237754-we-have-lost-sberbank-of-russias-ceo-calls-russia-downshifter-state.html …
pic.twitter.com/ffaAjp4E6d

[OUTLAW 09]

Notice the UK is calling a spade a spade but nothing whatsoever from Obama and company......

Britain accuses #Russia of deliberately bombing rescue workers, schools, hospitals in #Syria
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/12102306/Britain-accuses-Russia-of-deliberately-bombing-rescue-workers-in-Syria.html … pic.twitter.com/EHPV8ARJGP

[OUTLAW 09]

Let me get this straight: regime says "no siege, rebels starve people, all can leave" and only 378 left #Madaya? https://twitter.com/linaarabii/status/687406704112340992 …

ICRC contradicts regime claims about #Madaya evacuations. @MuradoRT just spread a regime stunt.
pic.twitter.com/BPQlAbDoKs

EU Militia Watch @EU_MilitiaWatch
Heads up Germany , here we see the explosives expert with Syria's U.N representative
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bashar_Jaafari …
pic.twitter.com/f7AWlJjKaN

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria: UN is rightfully investigating Assad's starvation of Madaya civilians as a war crime.
http://bit.ly/1nm8CkH
pic.twitter.com/9ZrS8kbnuw

Civilian Casualties Reported After Russian Jets Conduct Strikes Across Syria Today
http://www.interpretermag.com/russia-announces-humanitarian-operation-in-syria-not-for-madaya-but-deir-ez-zor/#11905 …
pic.twitter.com/PxcEu64y2v

[OUTLAW 09]

Urgent call by the @UNOCHA's dep. spox @JensLaerke re #Madaya and other besieged areas in #Syria
(via email to me)
pic.twitter.com/wQzs3ITFgA

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria #Damascus 16 year old boy died today in the hands of #UN-doctor team in #Madaya
~30 people dead from starvation since December

Russia'n cargo plane dropped aid (4 media campaign) into #DeirEzZor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch5gBHhnx2I&feature=youtu.be …
#Putin- use the airbase in the city outskirts!

Israel And Russia Are Coordinating In Syria, But Is The Kremlin Arming Hezbollah?
http://bit.ly/1J5Ex2J
pic.twitter.com/rOI1FedrQJ

BREAKING #EXCLUSIVE
IN THIS VERY MOMENT, I FINALLY RECEIVED THE EMAIL FROM @ICRC, I WAITED FOR.
#Assad/#RT LIED!
pic.twitter.com/xRRkzr1M6D

Syria Rebels attack #IS in Dodian /northern #Aleppo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U4PN7LIdkU …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.633214&lon=37.288435&z=15&m=b …

Daraa Rebels retook several positions in northern & eastern parts of Shayk Maskin city
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=32.827385&lon=36.158409&z=14&m=b …

Remember those 100s of residents filmed by @RT_com leaving Madaya & claiming ISIS was there? They were actors. http://www.bild.de/politik/ausland/syrien-krise/hell-of-madaya-4Remember those 100s of residents filmed by @RT_com leaving Madaya & claiming ISIS was there? They were actors. http://www.bild.de/politik/ausland/syrien-krise/hell-of-madaya-44151008.bild.html …4151008.bild.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

Watch @mod_russia say @Amnesty lies, question @SoccerMouaz's existence & promote @CNN news:
https://youtu.be/gfRimNXJyt8

[OUTLAW 09]

Appears that the Russian AF is getting a tad touchy about being accused of killing civilians which they are by the countless videos being released BY those being bombed....

Russian Embassy, USA @RusEmbUSA
No civilian casualties of #RussiaVsISIL strikes, we have stricter rules than #Pentagon -
http://sptnkne.ws/azVT
pic.twitter.com/qexbi45fc3


Russian warplanes hit only verified terrorist targets in Syria after checking the information via various channels, the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman emphasized on Friday.

"I emphasize that the strikes by our air group in Syria on terrorist targets are carried out only after data [on terrorist targets] is verified through several channels. Strikes are not carried out in case of risk for lives of civilians," Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.

According to Konashenkov, this is one of the main differences between the Russian anti-terrorist campaign in Syria and that of the US-led coalition as the Pentagon may approve a decision to carry out airstrikes in an area if the number of civilian casualties does not exceed 50 people.

"As we say, feel the difference. Our aviation does not even plan airstrikes if there is a possibility of civilian casualties," Konashenkov said.

Russia may start to publish data on airstrikes carried out by the US-led coalition in Syria to avoid speculations.

"If our collaugues remain silent about the results of their [US-led coalition] strikes in Syria, we'll have to inform the public of these facts ourselves. If someone still doesn't get that — too bad," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj.-Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Friday.


Michael Weiss ✔ @michaeldweiss
Russia accused of deliberately targeting civilians in Syria
http://gu.com/p/4fpca/stw

[OUTLAW 09]

Claims of Russian arms transfers to Hezbollah worry Israel
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4753347,00.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

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

FLOT's Ropucha Class LLS (BDK) Minsk 127 crossing the Bosphorus northbound, returning from Syria.
pic.twitter.com/GiY2ZRskAK

Minsk arrived Istanbul painfully slow, 5 knots average for the last few days but seemed quite quick on the strait.
pic.twitter.com/JBRu44tMD0

[OUTLAW 09]

Appears that the Russian AF is getting a tad touchy about being accused of killing civilians which they are by the countless videos being released BY those being bombed....

Russian Embassy, USA @RusEmbUSA
No civilian casualties of #RussiaVsISIL strikes, we have stricter rules than #Pentagon -
http://sptnkne.ws/azVT
pic.twitter.com/qexbi45fc3

Michael Weiss ✔ @michaeldweiss
Russia accused of deliberately targeting civilians in Syria
http://gu.com/p/4fpca/stw

Humor......

Russian MOD "No civilian casualties in #RussiaVsISIL. It's not like in Chechnya where we've killed 160,000 of them" pic.twitter.com/ASmW1O7STB

[OUTLAW 09]

Putin is slowly facing a single point of failure moment.....continue a two front war or the utter collapse of the Russian economy a la 1998......

"What? It's over?!!!" Tabloid MK on how the lifeblood of Russia's economy - oil - is drying up as oil price falls.
pic.twitter.com/zNCUXZ2DwC

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia Air force too brittle for brinkmanship http://www.ponarseurasia.org/memo/russian-air-power-too-brittle-brinksmanship …

Russian info warrior troll at work........
"I have a family" -@TheDaneChris So did those killed with chemical weapons whose reports you lie about.
pic.twitter.com/tPQVlyCNES

Twitter is precious. We got a new Sarin origin 'truther'. Hilarious.
https://twitter.com/thedanechris/status/688130314909036546 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Footage
Due to (always-used) extremely stupid tactics in urban warfare, rebel in #SheikhMaskin gets head-shot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gnEaybOmgU …

News
Pro-#Assad force advanced more than half-way from #Kweires air base to #alBab, taking #Arran from #ISIS.
pic.twitter.com/COqipOle7m

Extremely worrying reports coming from #Syria
#Assad/#Iran/#Russian push S-W of #Aleppo was only prelude to big one N-W of it starting soon.

Footage
Russian Il-20 Coot spying on Syrians over #Idlib province today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ox0EQMxZ2E …

[OUTLAW 09]

FSA,13 &16 Division,Jabha Al-Shamiyah,Ahrar Al-Jabal,Ahrar Al-Sham repelled a second SDF(YPG) & JAT attempt to occupy Al-Alqamiyeh and road

Rebels blow regime army BMP with ATGM near Zara village north #Hama -
https://youtu.be/chPHcFFM3ig

Rebels take out regime army AA gun position with B9 in #Aleppo.
https://youtu.be/glufXMxiVG8

Rebel ATGM (type ?) destroys a Shilka AA tank in the #Harbinafsah area https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F7Tv8RIU0Q … http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=34.939141&lon=36.622925&z=13&m=b … southern #Hama #Syria

Assad & Putin/Iran can use rape, CW, starvation, torture, barrel bombs etc & negotiate to stop doing so if opposition accept their terms

AND they continue the above ALL the while demanding no preconditions....

Since Russia & US trying so hard to get on same page for Geneva, how about joint op to airdrop aid to ALL besieged areas in Syria?

BUT WAIT that violates the Putin demands for no preconditions......

[OUTLAW 09]

Notice again yesterday that the Obama WH appears to not want to take any success credit for this particular Syrian strategy....there is an old IR concept that if a nation state knows of civilian atrocities and yet remains quiet about it ie the Bosnian War that nation state is just a complicit as the country carrying out the atrocities.......

Right now Obama, Kerry, his NSC and the US Ambassador to the UNSC who was very verbal initially during the early stages of the Russian invasion into eastern Ukraine AND who was reigned in by Obama has been surprisingly silent now.......

UNICEF documenting Assad war crimes in Madaya. Case closed. pro Assad liars claimed they don't starve children...

Since the Serbian concentration camps in #Trnopolje in #Bosnia back in 1995 I haven't seen this. #Madaya #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

Hama: Assad regime war criminal Hafith Jalkhi killed by Syrian Rebels

Aleppo: Syrian rebel group Nur Al Din captured dozens of ISIS fighters a while ago

@UN @wfp food aid is being sold in Regime loyalists stores while nearby civilians slowly starve to death. #Syria

This should be evidence to any Muslim who thinks they can live peacefully under the rule of shias..

Car bomb explosion at #alHamawi supermarket in #Alarman neighrborhood nearby #alZahra
#Homs #Syria JAN 15

Initial reports of 20+ killed,several wounded due Car Explosion at #Abdulrahman Bakery, #Alarman
#Homs #Syria JAN 16

[OUTLAW 09]

Huge fire smoke aftermath #Russia airstrikes on between #Hardtin and #Maarasat_Khan villages
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN16 pic.twitter.com/kusHkvXOgH

Analysis #Map
No frontline change in southern #SheikhMaskin since 2 weeks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeE-c7EZrrU …
#Daraa #Syria pic.twitter.com/r272Ug6rjd

ISIS attack on 137th brigade in Deir ez zor with clashes continuing around it

BreakingNews
#ISIS has captured the famous Fourat al-Sham Hotel near the provincial town center of Deir al-Zoor.
pic.twitter.com/6A4TAL7iFl

Much of this #IS offensive is being overly exaggerated, the only serious advance they have made is at Jabal Tharda (like always) #DeirEzzor

Footage
#Russia is bombing rebel / #Aleppo civilian fuel convoys once again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QCnBvWqDpU …
pic.twitter.com/xutSfskxPS

If confirmed, that would be the second SAA division commander killed in a year.
https://twitter.com/Paradoxy13/status/688327746951446528 …

Breaking
Intense spying activity by the #RuAF Il-20 Coot over #Aleppo and #Idlib now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SRqgDQr25w … pic.twitter.com/oSJVmPej5n

[OUTLAW 09]

Two comments on just why the Obama Syrian strategy is simply not working and no amount of "messaging" is going to rescue it from the failure it already is and is getting worse....

Example one---the SecDef complained via social media that the allies are not sending more SF troops into Syria to fight IS.....INTERESTING in that the Syrian anti Assad forces numbering well over 80,000 have repeatedly indicated their willingness to fight IS After Assad is kicked out...Obama, Kerry and the SecDef all know this...so why not simply provide all available resources to the FSA and other anti Assad forces already on the ground and already fighting IS....THUS no further need for allied boots on the round.

BUT WAIT...Obama has this Iran Deal thing and 90% of the Assad forces are Iranian backed Iraqi Shia militia, Hezbollah, IRGC and Shia mercenaries from 12 Shia countries......THUS he cannot do anything that "rocks the Iranian boat".....simple as that.....

Example Two --the massive Russian killing of civilians via their uncontrolled and inaccurate and non precise air strikes, the continued use of Assad barrel bombs, AND the use of STARVATION by both Assad and Putin as a battlefield tactic is in full violation of international humanitarian law and the law of land warfare.

BUT WAIT did not Obama state that Assad can stay in power until March 2017 and he needs the Russians......so any formal and public complaint by the US will never happen at least under Obama as President.

THEN we have the role of the UN in the use of STARVATION as a battlefield tactic.......

REMEMBER there has been three valid UNSC passed resolutions stating that the bombing of civilians should stop and humanitarian aid must start...EVEN Russia signed off on these three resolutions.

SO now the truly interesting international relations and legal question---is if the US ie Obama has been physically informed by the US IC of the massive targeted and deliberate killing by Putin of Syrian civilians ie genocide AND he fully knows of the use of STARVATION as a battlefield tactic does he not have the moral leadership requirement to formally say something in the UNSC OTHERWISE is he not complicit in genocide and the use of starvation ie both war crimes??????

Remember silence in the face of knowledge of ongoing genocide and starvation is not a excuse to ignore them.

Exclusive: The U.N. Knew for Months That Madaya Was Starving

So why did it wait until January to provide humanitarian aid to suffering Syrians?

By Roy Gutman
January 15, 2016


ISTANBUL — Until the beginning of this month, Madaya was an obscure town in southwestern Syria, overshadowed by nearby Zabadani, where opposition rebels had fought a fierce battle against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and more recently Hezbollah. But today, as international relief convoys arrive with food and medicine to lift a starvation siege, Madaya has become the focal point of Syrian aid workers’ anger at the United Nations, who accuse the international body of giving higher priority to its relationship with Damascus than to the fate of Madaya’s beleaguered residents.

Madaya was the worst off of all the besieged towns in Syria, relief workers say. As early as October, locals in the town had been raising alarms about the dire humanitarian situation there. At least six children and 17 adults starved to death in December, and hundreds more risked starvation.

U.N. officials knew this — but until shocking images of starving infants started circulating and news media sounded the alarm, it remained silent, reserving alarm for an unpublished internal memo.

The “Flash Update” issued on Jan. 6 by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which negotiates aid deliveries, spoke of “desperate conditions,” including “severe malnutrition reported across the community,” and said there was an “urgent need” for humanitarian assistance. In October, community leaders reported some 1,000 cases of malnutrition in children under the age of 1, it said.

But the general public could not have known this, because OCHA classified the bulletin as “Internal, Not for Quotation.” OCHA had no immediate comment on why the update, leaked to Foreign Policy, wasn’t published.

The U.N.’s months-long silence on the starvation in Madaya is one of the reasons for the disquiet roiling the community of international and Syrian relief officials. Another is its oft-repeated claim that no one siege is that important but that all should be lifted, a goal that appears beyond reach. When Yacoub el-Hillo, the U.N.’s humanitarian coordinator for Syria, addressed reporters on Jan. 12, a day after leading the first convoy into the town, he described Madaya residents as “a people that are desperate; a people that are cold; a people that are hungry; a people that have almost lost hope” — but he blamed no one in particular for this state of affairs and made no mention of the Lebanese paramilitary group Hezbollah, which in fact is maintaining the siege against Syrian civilians in Madaya.

Instead, he swung into a familiar U.N. litany: The siege of rebel-held Madaya was just like the sieges mounted by the Islamic State or Syrian rebels against government-held regions.

“I am quite comfortable in saying that is the same in any of these settings where siege is being used as a tactic of war,” he told reporters on Jan. 12. This included Fuaa and Kefraya, besieged government-held towns in Idlib province, which also received food deliveries from the U.N. World Food Program, International Red Cross, and Syrian Arab Red Crescent this week at the same time as Madaya.

But Madaya is different from Fuaa and Kefraya. In Madaya, food prices have hit astronomical levels with rice costing a staggering $256 per kilogram, according to information collected by the Syrian American Medical Society. The siege in the two Idlib towns apparently was a lot looser: In Fuaa and Kefraya, rice cost $1.25 per kilogram prior to this week’s deliveries, while tomatoes cost under a dollar, and potatoes about 50 cents each, according to residents there who were in direct communication with besieged residents in Zabadani. Unlike Madaya, where the siege was enforced by snipers and landmines, some goods could apparently still reach the two Idlib villages.

No fruits or vegetables, by contrast, were available in Madaya, where residents have been reduced to subsisting on soup made of boiled grass and at most a fraction of a cup of rice daily.

“We used to have one cup of rice a day; now one cup is enough for four people,” said Ebrahem, 26, a computer engineer in Madaya, who lives with his parents and an older sister. He asked to be identified only by his first name.

“We eat leaves. We eat some flowers. Grass soup tastes great,” he told FP over Skype. “But in winter there [are] no leaves or grass.” As for fruits and vegetables, “we forgot them entirely.” He said everyone in his family has lost 45 pounds.

The U.N.’s handling of this crisis has prompted outrage from Syrian medical and rescue workers, who accuse the international body of kowtowing to Assad’s regime. In an open letter published on Jan. 13, 112 Syrian humanitarian workers from besieged areas accused the United Nations of “chasing permission you do not even need” from the Assad regime in light of two U.N. Security Council resolutions demanding that humanitarian assistance flow freely, which should have given aid officials all the authorization they needed. The failure to more aggressively address the plight of starving Syrians, the letter said, had transformed the United Nations from “a symbol of hope into a symbol of complicity.”

U.N. officials in Damascus “are either too close to the regime or too scared of having their visas revoked by the same powers that are besieging us,” the letter said.

Continued....

The letter was circulated by the Syria Campaign, a nongovernmental organization that launched a “Break the Sieges” media push earlier this week.

International relief officials wouldn’t speak on the record, but more than a few agree with the content of the letter. “Given the magnitude of the humanitarian catastrophe, we have got to be much more ambitious than what we’ve been,” said one senior official at the International Red Cross.

OCHA said in a statement to FP on Jan. 15 that its priority was achieving a broader agreement to lift sieges all around Syria. “Bringing in convoys of humanitarian assistance immediately to all besieged and hard-to-reach areas is essential, but the priority and the solution is to lift the sieges.”

Some of the U.N.’s failures are self-evident. Hillo acknowledged last week that the U.N. had obtained assent from Damascus for only one-tenth of its requests to send convoys of food and medical supplies in 2015.

But some failures are subtler. There’s tension within the international relief community over OCHA’s method of determining which areas are besieged and which are “hard to reach” — a determination that carries weight because a siege that deprives civilians of the goods they need for survival can be prosecuted as a war crime. The U.N. designates Fuaa and Kefraya, where there were no reported deaths from starvation, as besieged towns and Madaya, where there were, as “hard to reach.”

Continued....

[I]International aid officials have also criticized the U.N.’s pattern of playing down the besieged rebel-led areas and giving top billing to besieged government-held areas. For instance, in a Jan. 7 statement that presaged the aid delivery, Hillo began by expressing concern for the “plight of nearly 400,000 people” besieged by different parties in Deir Ezzor, a city in eastern Syria; Daraya, a town just west of Damascus; Fuaa and Kefraya; and parts of Eastern Ghouta in rural Damascus.

Continued.....

[OUTLAW 09]

Two comments on just why the Obama Syrian strategy is simply not working and no amount of "messaging" is going to rescue it from the failure it already is and is getting worse....

Example one---the SecDef complained via social media that the allies are not sending more SF troops into Syria to fight IS.....INTERESTING in that the Syrian anti Assad forces numbering well over 80,000 have repeatedly indicated their willingness to fight IS After Assad is kicked out...Obama, Kerry and the SecDef all know this...so why not simply provide all available resources to the FSA and other anti Assad forces already on the ground and already fighting IS....THUS no further need for allied boots on the round.

BUT WAIT...Obama has this Iran Deal thing and 90% of the Assad forces are Iranian backed Iraqi Shia militia, Hezbollah, IRGC and Shia mercenaries from 12 Shia countries......THUS he cannot do anything that "rocks the Iranian boat".....simple as that.....

Example Two --the massive Russian killing of civilians via their uncontrolled and inaccurate and non precise air strikes, the continued use of Assad barrel bombs, AND the use of STARVATION by both Assad and Putin as a battlefield tactic is in full violation of international humanitarian law and the law of land warfare.

BUT WAIT did not Obama state that Assad can stay in power until March 2017 and he needs the Russians......so any formal and public complaint by the US will never happen at least under Obama as President.

THEN we have the role of the UN in the use of STARVATION as a battlefield tactic.......

REMEMBER there has been three valid UNSC passed resolutions stating that the bombing of civilians should stop and humanitarian aid must start...EVEN Russia signed off on these three resolutions.

SO now the truly interesting international relations and legal question---is if the US ie Obama has been physically informed by the US IC of the massive targeted and deliberate killing by Putin of Syrian civilians ie genocide AND he fully knows of the use of STARVATION as a battlefield tactic does he not have the moral leadership requirement to formally say something in the UNSC OTHERWISE is he not complicit in genocide and the use of starvation ie both war crimes??????

Remember silence in the face of knowledge of ongoing genocide and starvation is not a excuse to ignore them.

Exclusive: The U.N. Knew for Months That Madaya Was Starving

So why did it wait until January to provide humanitarian aid to suffering Syrians?

By Roy Gutman
January 15, 2016

BTW---REMEMBER it was social media that carried the fight to get aid into the besieged town not a single western MSM NOR western leader.

WHY is that??

[OUTLAW 09]

Another highly successful Syrian strategy day for the Obama WH and another day that anti Assad forces are fighting IS with no support from the West---and the US supported SDF seems to be just marking time doing basically nothing.

YET Obama and company claim there is no one fighting IS worth supporting inside Syria.......and the US SecDef demands more allied SF troops....does that make sense.....?????

#SAA shelling #Russia Cluster Bombs on #Douma
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 16

Remnants of #Russia Cluster Bombs used by #SAA killed a child
#Douma #Syria JAN 16 PT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIs35O0P6i0 …

SAA shelling using #Russia Cluster Bombs killed a child nearby the School of #Douma
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 16

4 martyrs victims of #Russia airstrikes targeting road between #Hardtin and #Maarasat_Khan villages
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 16

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Ayash village
#DeirEzzor #Syria JAN 16

#SAA helicopters dropped barrel bombs on #Teir_Maela
#Homs #Syria JAN 15

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Bayanoun town
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 16

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Ratyan village
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 16

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Hayan village
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 16

62 martyrs; 7 children 2women 2 TORTURED
30 Damascus
10 Aleppo
5 DeirEzzor
5 Idlib
5 Homs
5 Hama
2 Daraa
Syria JAN15

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Tel_Jabin town
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 16

SAA mercenaries Tank shelling targeted #Aqrab town
#Hama cs #Syria JAN 16

Heavy clashes between Rebels and #SAA mercenaries at #alDardaghan & #alDurra villages
#Latakia #Syria JAN 16

[OUTLAW 09]

NOTICE the Iranian info warfare.......hard at work....notice he mentioned the word Muslim nations....but he does not address Iranian terrorism inside an Arab Sunni country...Syria.

Javad Zarif ✔ @JZarif
#ImplementationDay, it’s now time for all—especially Muslim nations—to join hands and rid the world of violent extremism. Iran is ready.

So is the Iranian FM ready to remove the 30 different Iraqi Shia militias, the IRGC, Hezbollah units and Shia mercenaries from 12 countries FROM Syria....THAT would be ridding the world of violent extremism.....

So does that Obama WH info war strategy against the IS APPLY to Iran and Russia....??

OR since the Iran Deal is Iran now "off limits".....as Obama seriously believes they are a "moderating force for good"....???

[davidbfpo]

"Stranger than fiction", the media outlet, not the content. No it is true and IIRC ret'd General Tim Flynn, who retired from the DIA, has previously spoken to Russian outlets - RT?

Link:http://rbth.com/international/2016/01/14/michael-flynn-we-are-heading-for-a-big-war_559171

[OUTLAW 09]

What we are seeing in say the entire ME or even eastern Ukraine......of the Obama retrenchment policy..........is wrapped up in this quote.....

Everything we say, everything we do, and everything we fail to say or do will have its impact in other lands."

--Dwight D. Eisenhower

Yes the US cannot be the entire world's policeman, but currently there is no other adult in the room that I can see.....and the Obama WH has largely ignored the above quote.....actually runs from the quote as being an adult sometimes calls the use of force.

The ME rises and falls on "perception" and right now Obama project no "perception" other than the standard Putin concept..."it ain't us"..."it's someone else fault".

[OUTLAW 09]

Breaking ISIS gain control over Camp Sa'iqah, the radio tower and al-Mahruqat hill west of #DeirEzzor city.

#Breaking
73 #SAA soldiers killed by #IS in Baghiliyah, NW of the #DeirEzzor, acccording to pro SAA sources. #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat-----can you confirm this.......?

No idea if this video is reliable but Badr is flooding south Aleppo right now.

SyAAF have carried out 100+ air raids today on: Biyanoon, Haradatin, Al-Tamora, Hayan, Rityan and Tel Rifaat in north #Aleppo countryside

Seems #Iran and #Russia are indeed going to attack and try to capture #Aleppo. Will they give it back to #Assad?

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia Today continues their lying on the stealing of UN food by Assad and then giving it to their troops and or simply selling it........

Russia's complicity in crimes of #Syrian regime goes beyond military. Media is as important. See @MuradoRT's lies.

[OUTLAW 09]

Appears that TOWs from various sources are reappearing on the battlefield....

FSA exterminated 10 #SAA mercenaries terrorists by TOW missile targeting their checkpoint at #Maan fronts
#Hama cs #Syria JAN16

Syrian info warfare trolls......
I considered @TheArabSource reliable non sensationalist pro #SAA source. New author @TheDaneChris decided to turn it into a propaganda blog.

Another distortion by @TheDaneChris on @TheArabSource. Simsek didn't say anything about #Germany attacking #Syria.
https://twitter.com/thearabsource/status/688389246667759616 …

Footage
Syrian rebels fire at - and miss - Iranian drone over #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_iKLp1QHtM …

These fell on #Douma today.
Locals say "cluster bombs", but I don't know.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3QsefqghlU …

Several children died in the attack ...
Rescuers now speak of 10 killed.
R.I.P
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdty0mBnmfY …

Crowded with killers and their surveillance: The sky over #SheikhMaskin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CcL6rcg4qE …

News
7 civilians killed, 10+ injured in another heinous #RussianAirstrike on #Aleppo city
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGQVbXL_PWs …

Map
The #FSA retook Qizil Mazra'ah after #ISIS took it in large suicide bombing raid yday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K9qv313xHE …

1 martyr and more than 25 injured by 7 clusters bombing by Assad's forces on #Douma_city today

SAA helicopters dropped barrel bombs on #Kafr_Naha village
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 16

FSA & Faylaq al-Sham continue advancing against #ISIL north #Aleppo.

4 martyrs including 1child, victims of #Russia airstrikes targeting a Bus Station of #Manbij
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN16

Aftermath #Russia bombardment on #Tallaf village northern #Homs countryside..
https://www.facebook.com/stepnewsagencysy/videos/vb.388260717975883/709957819139503/?type=2&theater&notif_t=notify_me_page …

Aftermath #Russia airstrikes on popular market of #Sukari
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 16

Death toll rises 10 martyrs,#Russia airstrikes on #Sukari
#Syria JAN16

SAA shelling mortars targeting a market at #Ain_Terma, 3 martyrs and dozens wounded
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 16

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Marj area
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 16

SCD extinguishing fire aftermath #Russia airstrikes on #Kafr_Dariyan village
#Idlib cs #Syria JAN 16

Hell aftermath #Russia airstrikes on #Sukari neighborhood
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 16
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsMJb9tDf_U&feature=youtu.be&a …

2 people killed including a child victims of #Russia airstrikes on #alTamour village
#Aleppo cs #SYria JAN 16

SCD extinguish fire on family cars&trucks aftermath #Russia airstrikes on road of #Hardtin
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN16

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Kafr_Dariyan village
#Idlib cs #Syria JAN 16




[OUTLAW 09]

SAA mercenary terrorist General Major "Ahmed Alaweda" exterminated by Rebels in #Sheikh_Meskin
#Daraa #Syria JAN16

Isis leader Amer alShouk captured by Rebels during the clashes in north #Aleppo
#Syria JAN 16

[OUTLAW 09]

Appears that TOWs from various sources are reappearing on the battlefield....

FSA exterminated 10 #SAA mercenaries terrorists by TOW missile targeting their checkpoint at #Maan fronts
#Hama cs #Syria JAN16

Syrian info warfare trolls......
I considered @TheArabSource reliable non sensationalist pro #SAA source. New author @TheDaneChris decided to turn it into a propaganda blog.

Another distortion by @TheDaneChris on @TheArabSource. Simsek didn't say anything about #Germany attacking #Syria. https://twitter.com/thearabsource/status/688389246667759616 …

Footage
Syrian rebels fire at - and miss - Iranian drone over #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_iKLp1QHtM …

These fell on #Douma today.
Locals say "cluster bombs", but I don't know.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3QsefqghlU …

Several children died in the attack ...
Rescuers now speak of 10 killed.
R.I.P
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdty0mBnmfY …

Crowded with killers and their surveillance: The sky over #SheikhMaskin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CcL6rcg4qE …

News
7 civilians killed, 10+ injured in another heinous #RussianAirstrike on #Aleppo city
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGQVbXL_PWs …

Map
The #FSA retook Qizil Mazra'ah after #ISIS took it in large suicide bombing raid yday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K9qv313xHE …

1 martyr and more than 25 injured by 7 clusters bombing by Assad's forces on #Douma_city today

SAA helicopters dropped barrel bombs on #Kafr_Naha village
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 16

FSA & Faylaq al-Sham continue advancing against #ISIL north #Aleppo.

4 martyrs including 1child, victims of #Russia airstrikes targeting a Bus Station of #Manbij
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN16

Aftermath #Russia bombardment on #Tallaf village northern #Homs countryside..
https://www.facebook.com/stepnewsagencysy/videos/vb.388260717975883/709957819139503/?type=2&theater&notif_t=notify_me_page …

Aftermath #Russia airstrikes on popular market of #Sukari
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 16

Death toll rises 10 martyrs,#Russia airstrikes on #Sukari
#Syria JAN16

SAA shelling mortars targeting a market at #Ain_Terma, 3 martyrs and dozens wounded
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 16

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Marj area
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 16

SCD extinguishing fire aftermath #Russia airstrikes on #Kafr_Dariyan village
#Idlib cs #Syria JAN 16

Hell aftermath #Russia airstrikes on #Sukari neighborhood
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 16
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsMJb9tDf_U&feature=youtu.be&a …

2 people killed including a child victims of #Russia airstrikes on #alTamour village
#Aleppo cs #SYria JAN 16

SCD extinguish fire on family cars&trucks aftermath #Russia airstrikes on road of #Hardtin
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN16

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Kafr_Dariyan village
#Idlib cs #Syria JAN 16


6 martyrs and several wounded victims of #Russia airstrikes on popular market of #Sukari
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 16

[OUTLAW 09]

GRAPHIC......

Who are the "moderate" fighters in #Syria as opposed to Islamist rebels? Shia Jihadists from #Iraq maybe? No?
pic.twitter.com/12ILmtQlfD

[OUTLAW 09]

SAA mercenary terrorist General Major "Ahmed Alaweda" exterminated by Rebels in #Sheikh_Meskin
#Daraa #Syria JAN16

Isis leader Amer alShouk captured by Rebels during the clashes in north #Aleppo
#Syria JAN 16

Head of Assad’s 9th Div in southern #Syria Maj Gen Ahmad al-Oqda confirmed killed in Sheikh Miskin battles in #Daraa
pic.twitter.com/aLSllRlSHT

[OUTLAW 09]

GRAPHIC......

Who are the "moderate" fighters in #Syria as opposed to Islamist rebels? Shia Jihadists from #Iraq maybe? No?
pic.twitter.com/12ILmtQlfD

Footage
#FSA after defeating #ISIS in Qizil Mazra'ah.
Only dumbs would call them "jihadis"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYfLnZIpij0 …
pic.twitter.com/7otmYifMPd

Isis leader Amer alShouk captured by Rebels during the clashes in north #Aleppo
#Syria JAN 16

Turns out the guy is 'Amer Al-Shouk an #IS commander
pic.twitter.com/zb93vdcdHv

[OUTLAW 09]

Also a very familiar 3M15 engine of the 3-O-8 Nerpa (photo by Ameer Prince: https://www.facebook.com/Douma.Revolution.2011/posts/973689742711941 …).
pic.twitter.com/lVb1fa8ISz

More unexploded 3-O-10 submunitions from 240-mm rocket-assisted cargo mortar shell 3-O-8 "Nerpa" found in Douma. https://twitter.com/Paradoxy13/status/688319760422014978 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria Airstrikes by #Russia killed 13 residents in Faylun south of #Idlib city today

Syria 25 people dead after #Russia'n airstrikes on #Raqqa city today

More reports of Assad forces defecting to #ISIS in #DeirEzzor today, this time from Brigade 137.

Syria Lots of #Russia'n airstrikes on Al-Baghiliyah at western entrance of #DeirEzzor after #Assad-forces expelled by #IS offensive today

Syria Regime shifting 300+ #NDF-forces from #Hasaka toward #DeirEzzor city after #IS advanced on several fronlines today

Were Russian Combat Robots Used in Syria? via @bellingcat
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2016/01/15/did-russia-deploy-a-combat-robot-in-syria/ …

Reference Russian so called aid airdrop........
Geolocation of yesterday aid drop
https://www.google.ru/maps/@35.3253599,40.1136042,407m/data=!3m1!1e3 …
pic.twitter.com/85s7QQutxe

[OUTLAW 09]

There we go again. Russia targeting supplies instead of military targets.
https://twitter.com/Abduhark/status/688412599705300992 …

Russian airstrikes targeted trucks loaded with goods in northern Aleppo
pic.twitter.com/O6TdQlTnpv

US to remove CEO of #Iran @mahanair from @Interpol watch list. @USTreasury accused him of smuggling arms to #Syria. http://1.usa.gov/1nq114m

[OUTLAW 09]

Well worth reading the entire article...had to be shortened....

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/01/free-syrian-army-leade...

FSA Adviser: IS cannot be eliminated without us

The Free Syrian Army emerged in late July 2011 after a number of officers defected from the Syrian army in protest against President Bashar al-Assad’s use of military force to suppress peaceful protests that had erupted March 18 that year in Daraa to demand his ouster and shortly thereafter spread across the country. Numerous formations and armed factions in northern and southern Syria now operate under FSA's umbrella, which espouses a national rhetoric and first raised the revolutionary flag with three stars. The FSA is currently fighting on two major fronts: against Assad and his allies, and against the Islamic State. On Jan. 10 via Skype, Al-Monitor interviewed Osama Abu Zeid, the FSA's legal adviser, who discussed the army's current situation, relations with the United States and Russia and views on Syria's future.

Author Mohammed al-Khatieb

Posted January 15, 2016

TranslatorCynthia Milan


The text of the interview follows:

Al-Monitor: Who comprises the FSA? In which areas does it operate? Which factions does it include?

Abu Zeid: The FSA is deployed from Syria’s south to its north. It is mostly present in Daraa and Quneitra, represented by the Southern Front, and in the capital, Damascus, the FSA is positioned in the Jobar neighborhood, one of the most contested areas. Al-Rahman Corps and the Shuhada al-Islam Brigade [Martyrs of Islam Brigade], which are also part of the FSA, are stationed in western and eastern Ghouta. In northern Syria, the FSA is significantly present in Aleppo, represented by Thuwar al-Sham, al-Sham Front and Sultan Murad Brigade. [The FSA-affiliated] Jaish al-Nasr [Victory Army], the Glory Army and the Central Division are stationed in Hama’s countryside, while the largest number of FSA fighters deployed on the coast is represented by the 1st and 2nd Coastal Squads and the 10th Brigade.

The FSA consists of many factions, which are all participating in the tireless efforts to establish a military council, alongside moderate Islamic factions led by Jaish al-Islam, which recently started to issue joint statements with the FSA under the banner of the revolution. I would like to note that the absence of a unified FSA leadership is not due to any internal reason. Rather, it is due to supporters’ policies, which exploit our need for weapons.

Al-Monitor: The FSA has recently returned to the forefront. Its role re-emerged in the battles in Latakia, Hama and Aleppo. How do you explain the timing of the resurgence?

Abu Zeid: The true face of the Syrian revolution is the one that returned to the fore after the Russian aggression. Russia is known to be in disputes with the European Union and the United States. Thus when Russia enters any region, the media is bound to focus on it. When the focus is on Syria, it is only normal for the public to take notice when revolutionaries are fighting a global force, like Iran and Russia, and the thousands of foreign fighters in addition standing their ground against IS.

The FSA has not changed since the outbreak of the revolution, and we will fight anyone who stands in the way of Syrian demands, whether in the name of religion, such as IS, or under a secular banner, such as Russia, both of which have come to destroy the Syrian revolution under false slogans.

Al-Monitor: Turkey announced its desire in September 2014 to create a safe zone in northern Syria. What is hindering the establishment of this zone? Would it stop the flow of refugees leaving Syria?

Abu Zeid: The one hindering the establishment of this safe zone is none other than the US. This is not just an allegation. Rather, repeated statements were issued in this respect, [including] by Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, who said on July 1, 2015, that at that moment, the US did not see a need for the establishment of a safe zone in Syria.

Meanwhile, the regime’s air force dropped dozens of barrel bombs on Aleppo and Darayya, and the killing of civilians led to daily waves of displacement. Indeed, if a safe zone were established, more than 70% of the people heading to Europe by sea would change their minds. Syrians are not thrilled about the suicide journey to Europe, but they are in search of a safe haven. If such a zone is established, many Syrians will return to this region. We are people who love their country, and we have our culture and our own professions.

The only reason Syrians are migrating is that for four years now, we have been killed by the deadly weapons of Assad’s regime, and we have lost hope of being saved by the international community.

Al-Monitor: In December 2015, the FSA made significant progress against IS near the Turkish border in northern Aleppo. Can we link this progress to the safe zone? Do you think it might be established soon?

Abu Zeid: The FSA has been fighting IS since before 2014, even before anyone in the world ever thought of fighting this organization. Our fight against IS in the northern countryside of Aleppo and in other areas is independent of any international plan. We will continue our battle whether there is a safe zone or not. As a matter of fact, we do not feel that a safe zone is a viable option, at least at the current stage.

Al-Monitor: Why did the Pentagon’s project to train and equip Syrian opposition groups to fight IS fail?

Abu Zeid: Simply because we are independent and responsible toward our people to the extent that we can say no, even to the US, which sought through this program to make us fight IS only and to forget the criminal called Bashar al-Assad, who has killed more than 300,000 Syrians over the past years, displaced 10 million and is still detaining more than half a million Syrians.

Although the US gave us some support, we refused its offer and confirmed that this program would fail, and it ultimately did, since it is a US project that does not meet the aspirations of the Syrians. We have a Syrian project to combat all forms of terrorism, including IS and Assad, and we accept any offer of help.

IS cannot be eliminated without the FSA. We have a history of struggle against all of those who killed Syrians. Therefore, no one can question the FSA’s objectives when it fights IS, because its project is purely Syrian, and it aims to protect Syrians rather than serve other agendas.

Al-Monitor: How do you perceive US policies in the region?

Abu Zeid: The US is gradually moving from a neutral position toward being a partner in crime as it allows Assad and his allies to kill Syrians. Scary massacres are being committed against Syrians, who have been left to starve to death under siege in the city of Madaya and [killed] by chemical weapons. Syrians are paying a high price as a result of the US policy failure in Iraq and its weakness in the Middle East in general.

It is not required that the US send fighters on the ground. This is not what we want. What we want is for Assad to be prevented from targeting civilians and for the [supporters] of the Syrian revolution [i.e. Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia] to be allowed to provide rebels with qualitative weapons. The US supports the Syrian Democratic Forces, which include al-Sanadid Army, one of the regime's militias. We, however, do not trust these forces, and they not surprisingly getting weapons that are hundreds of times more numerous than the weapons received by the FSA.

Al-Monitor: The FSA factions supported the decisions from the Riyadh conference, which brought together the Syrian opposition on Dec. 10, 2015. Do you think it is possible to reach a political solution with the regime? What is the solution, in your opinion? What system are you trying to recreate in the new Syria?

Abu Zeid: As rebels, we believe that Assad and his allies will not contribute to any solution that will ultimately lead to the departure of Assad and his clique. The assassination of Jaish al-Islam commander Zahran Alloush — a former member of the negotiating body that supported a political solution — is clear evidence that the Russians are not seeking a political solution. The FSA is making every effort toward a political solution based on the Geneva I communique regarding the formation of a transitional governing body, the departure of Assad and his clique, the dismantling of the security establishment and the restructuring of the military establishment. These points cannot be disregarded.

As far as the regime is concerned, the Syrian people will determine its shape in the new Syria. Our sole current mission is to topple the Assad regime. When the revolution achieves its objectives, it will form a committee to draft a constitution and present it to the people. Only the people, not us or anyone else, will have the final say on the form of government.

Al-Monitor: The FSA receives support from several countries in the region, and you are accused of being influenced by foreign countries. What do you say to such allegations?

Abu Zeid: My response is part of this interview. We refused to take part in the US training project, and the US is the biggest power in the world, which confirms that the FSA is independent. The withholding of sophisticated arms such as anti-aircraft [weaponry] is evidence that there are a lot of concessions that we declined to make.

Why haven’t we until this day had arms airdrops for the FSA, like the ones received by the regime forces? This is simply because the FSA does not believe in the same [things] as the international forces, but it shares the same [hopes] as the Syrian people. We advocate any proposal or solution that advances the interests of the Syrian people.

Continued.........

[OUTLAW 09]

The Obama administration is not as good as Putin is in using info warfare on the US population.....

Confirmed: Iran's four paths to a nuclear weapon are verifiably cut off. This is what American leadership can do.

Somehow this statement overlooks the simple verified fact that Iran has fully tested a intermediate range ballistic missile fully capable of carrying a nuclear and or chemical warhead in full violation of the UNSC sanctions AND the Obama WH held back on the required further sanctions in exchange for US Iranian prisoners which the WH has always claimed they would not negotiate with terrorists.

So now that it has been in fact implemented as US FP are all US citizens anywhere in the world "fair game"...?

Secondly if one really analyzes the Iran Deal the so called four paths to a nuclear weapon are really time limited to 10 max 15 years...after that nothing stops them AND the required verification process is so backend loaded that the Iranians can virtually stop the IAEA from every truly verifying.......time will tell if this agreement was a true agreement or just a charade for a place in history ie his own legacy.....

NOTICE --this is the ground reality today in Syria and Obama has no strategy yet he wants us to believe he actually has one....

Statement: 15 #FSA Groups condemn Russian air attacks killed 17 troops fighting #Assad and #ISIL north #Aleppo.
pic.twitter.com/lXCUTItMSJ

Obama complains that we cannot successfully fight IS BUT there are actual Syrian boots on the ground carrying out that fight daily but this administration is so tangled up in the definition of a "moderate" they cannot see it.

[OUTLAW 09]

Social media pushing back on the Russian info warfare media outlet Russia Today for their fake stories from Syria........

Unbelievable ...
@MuradoRT accuse ME of lying while @RT_com busts his own lies with the #Madaya interviews.
pic.twitter.com/xr4aITyWLc

[CrowBat]

....concluding our exchanges about why Oblabla's 'foreign policy' in Syria is such a failure, and as a 'dot on i' of following commentary by Outlaw:


...BTW---if in fact Obama four years ago had sided with the Syrians opposing Assad and continued that assistance to the FSA---he would have had his "boots on the ground" meaning arm the Syrians and allow them to fight and that is exactly what the anti Assad forces have been saying for four years. the FSA has repeatedly stated first Assad and then we will totally focus on IS.

These anti Assad forces are the solution for fighting IS as well ---with the cost to the US being weapons, munitions and air support..so what do we now have---the SDF (Kurds) basically capturing Arab territory and committing crimes against those civilians in those towns.That was exactly what I said already back then, and what I still say; and, it's the same what the FSyA says too:

FSA adviser: IS cannot be eliminated without us (http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/01/free-syrian-army-leader-regime-russia.html#)

...Al-Monitor: Turkey announced its desire in September 2014 to create a safe zone in northern Syria. What is hindering the establishment of this zone? Would it stop the flow of refugees leaving Syria?

Abu Zeid: The one hindering the establishment of this safe zone is none other than the US. This is not just an allegation. Rather, repeated statements were issued in this respect, [including] by Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, who said on July 1, 2015, that at that moment, the US did not see a need for the establishment of a safe zone in Syria.
...

Indeed, if a safe zone were established, more than 70% of the people heading to Europe by sea would change their minds. Syrians are not thrilled about the suicide journey to Europe, but they are in search of a safe haven. If such a zone is established, many Syrians will return to this region. We are people who love their country, and we have our culture and our own professions.

The only reason Syrians are migrating is that for four years now, we have been killed by the deadly weapons of Assad’s regime, and we have lost hope of being saved by the international community.
...

Al-Monitor: Why did the Pentagon’s project to train and equip Syrian opposition groups to fight IS fail?

Abu Zeid: Simply because we are independent and responsible toward our people to the extent that we can say no, even to the US, which sought through this program to make us fight IS only and to forget the criminal called Bashar al-Assad, who has killed more than 300,000 Syrians over the past years, displaced 10 million and is still detaining more than half a million Syrians.

Although the US gave us some support, we refused its offer and confirmed that this program would fail, and it ultimately did, since it is a US project that does not meet the aspirations of the Syrians. We have a Syrian project to combat all forms of terrorism, including IS and Assad, and we accept any offer of help.

IS cannot be eliminated without the FSA. We have a history of struggle against all of those who killed Syrians. Therefore, no one can question the FSA’s objectives when it fights IS, because its project is purely Syrian, and it aims to protect Syrians rather than serve other agendas.
Al-Monitor: How do you perceive US policies in the region?

Abu Zeid: The US is gradually moving from a neutral position toward being a partner in crime as it allows Assad and his allies to kill Syrians. Scary massacres are being committed against Syrians, who have been left to starve to death under siege in the city of Madaya and [killed] by chemical weapons. Syrians are paying a high price as a result of the US policy failure in Iraq and its weakness in the Middle East in general.

It is not required that the US send fighters on the ground. This is not what we want. What we want is for Assad to be prevented from targeting civilians and for the [supporters] of the Syrian revolution [i.e. Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia] to be allowed to provide rebels with qualitative weapons. The US supports the Syrian Democratic Forces, which include al-Sanadid Army, one of the regime's militias. We, however, do not trust these forces, and they not surprisingly getting weapons that are hundreds of times more numerous than the weapons received by the FSA.

Al-Monitor: The FSA receives support from several countries in the region, and you are accused of being influenced by foreign countries. What do you say to such allegations?

Abu Zeid: My response is part of this interview. We refused to take part in the US training project, and the US is the biggest power in the world, which confirms that the FSA is independent. The withholding of sophisticated arms such as anti-aircraft [weaponry] is evidence that there are a lot of concessions that we declined to make.

Why haven’t we until this day had arms airdrops for the FSA, like the ones received by the regime forces? This is simply because the FSA does not believe in the same [things] as the international forces, but it shares the same [hopes] as the Syrian people. We advocate any proposal or solution that advances the interests of the Syrian people.

Al-Monitor: About three months have passed since the beginning of Russia’s military intervention in Syria. It seems that the Russian airstrikes have been concentrated on the opposition-controlled areas. How has this affected you?

Abu Zeid: True. The airstrikes held off the advance of the FSA in favor of IS. The Russians' almost daily airstrikes targeted our locations on the demarcation line in Aleppo's northern countryside in the towns of Marea, Jarez and Ihras, among others. However, the greatest impact of the Russian raids was the destruction of the infrastructure of the liberated areas and the killing of larger numbers of civilians, causing waves of displacement, as was the case in Aleppo's southern countryside and the northern Hama countryside.

Al-Monitor: In the first military operation by the Syrian regime in the wake of the Russian intervention, a violent attack was waged in northern Hama without making any progress. However, the regime took over large and strategic areas in the southern countryside of Aleppo. How do you interpret that? Are you able to hold off the regime with your weapons?

Abu Zeid: The difference between Aleppo and Hama is simple. In Hama, we are fighting against the regime and its allies on a single front, while in Aleppo there are three fronts [IS, Kurdish militias and the regime and its allies]. Nevertheless, our retreat favoring the regime in southern Aleppo was not because of direct confrontation, but because of the heavy shelling and shooting.

The regime and the militias fighting alongside it have a renewable supply of human resources, bringing in mercenaries from outside Syria — from Iraq, Lebanon, Iran and Afghanistan and recently from Africa. The balance of weaponry is tilted in favor of the regime, which has the sophisticated Russian air force at its side in addition to advanced armored vehicles. Some are made in the US and are from Iraqi militias fighting us in Syria, such as the Hezbollah al-Nujaba movement and the [Brigade] of Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas, among others. As for us, on the other hand, the most advanced weapons we have are TOW missiles, available in limited quantities. We also confront different enemies, each with a different and particular tactic in fighting. I can objectively affirm, however, that the military balance is indeed tipped in favor of the regime, but the confrontations are in our favor because of our faith in the cause we are sacrificing for.

Al-Monitor: In several television interviews, you have rejected working with Russia. The chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia, Valery Vasilevich Gerasimov, said, however, on Dec. 14, 2015, that Russia is providing air cover to some of the FSA groups. Is this true? Did you change your position?

Abu Zeid: I personally refused to meet with the Russian president's special representative for the Middle East, Mikhail Bogdanov, in Geneva about two months ago. Perhaps, in the eyes of Russia, Assad is the commander of the Syrian revolution. Russia’s declaration that it supports the FSA is ridiculous as all facts prove the contrary. Russian airstrikes are ongoing around the clock, targeting our sites and locations. Our position is clear: We will not coordinate or cooperate with Russia.

With other words: 'doors are still open', USA could still start cooperating with the FSyA; this would be perfectly possible to do without any 'boots on the ground too' - but Oblabla refuses to do so because he's more interested in such short-sighted ideas like leaving behind the legacy of his rule and lifting sanctions against Iran.

...and that's why Syrians are sold out to IRGC and Russian thugs...

[CrowBat]

Appears now that the US supported and backed SDF is a Russian military unit getting Russian air support, fighting along side Assad forces against the Syrian anti Assad forces.......how is that possible?????

10,5k #SDF troops fight terrorists alongside #SyrianArmy & their numbers grow by the day
http://sptnkne.ws/azWa
This is simply science-fiction: there is no such force fighting 'on Russian side'. The SDF is a US-creation, and quasi fighting for US (though foremost Kurdish) interests.

The fact that somebody like Chief-of-Staff of Keystone Cops in Moscow is babbling about '24 terrorists that surrendered in Hama' (actually: 12 surrendered, the rest withdrew) is showing how desperate for any kind of success-stories they are.

[CrowBat]

CrowBat-----can you confirm this.......?

No idea if this video is reliable but Badr is flooding south Aleppo right now.

SyAAF have carried out 100+ air raids today on: Biyanoon, Haradatin, Al-Tamora, Hayan, Rityan and Tel Rifaat in north #Aleppo countryside

Seems #Iran and #Russia are indeed going to attack and try to capture #Aleppo. Will they give it back to #Assad?
I doubt this. Even with help of all the Shi'a jihadists the IRGC is hauling to syria, they clearly can't take the city. The latest insurgent counteroffensive on Khan Touman has clearly shown how vulnerable and overextended are regime positions in this part of Syria.

What they can try is to reach al-Bab (NE of Aleppo) and then encircle the Daesh east of Aleppo, though. This is a very realistic aim, especially because the Daesh is still so preoccuppied with Dayr az-Zawr and defending Dabiq from the FSyA.

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria Rebels expelled #IS from Yani Yaban in northern #Aleppo
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.617284&lon=37.266440&z=15&m=b …

Reports of 300+ dead #Assad-forces & loyal residents in #DeirEzzor
after #IS overrun western outskirts
http://www.dp-news.com/pages/detail.aspx?articleid=185618#ixzz3xS44m6jA …

Number of victims after #IS raid on regime hold villages west of #DeirEzzor city rise up to 400 people. ~100 #Assad-forces killed---confirmed via regime sources....

Syria Failed attempt by Shiite militias to advance in southern outskirts of #Aleppo today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_dPXZZ7YJw …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.114234&lon=37.038946&z=14&m=b …

Airstrikes by #Russia killed 13 residents in Faylun south of #Idlib city today

[OUTLAW 09]

How much longer can Putin maintain a two front war....with oil at under 30 and still sinking AND then this cost just for the eastern Ukraine....

BILD calculates Russia is spending c.79 million euros/month on salaries, pensions in Donestsk & Lugansk

THIS does not count the troop salaries and military supplies that also total over 5M USD per day.....

The estimated costs for Syria must be running in the 8M-9M USD per day.

[OUTLAW 09]

IS recent gains in W. DeirEzzor (green color)
https://twitter.com/IraqSyriaMaps/status/688672354394836993 …

Pro #Assad accounts spreading the news of a big SAA counter offensive and that they recaptured the territory they lost before

#SAA warplanes flying over #Zamalka area
#Damascus cs #SYria JAN 17
pic.twitter.com/uy2XPZfXSH

Rebels declare full control of #Dodiyan village after heavy clashes with Isis terrorists at fronts of north Aleppo countryside
#Syria JAN17

[OUTLAW 09]

Just another day in the highly successful Obama WH Syrian strategy....they will not need any messaging here as the message is clear...not a single IS position hit and NOT a single IS position being overrun by US supported troops...actually the US supported troops are not doing much of anything lately WHILE FSA carries the fight to IS........

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Maar_Dibsah village
#Idlib cs #Syria JAN 17

Isis is delivering their possitions to #QSD
East of Syria without fight

Statement by Yarmouk Army states that Harakat Muthana had blocked reinforcements from reaching Sheikh Miskin

Rebels destroyed #SAA Tank & Pickup w/ Machine Gun exterminating a number of it's mercenaries at #Hirbnafsah fronts
#Hama cs #Syria JAN17

SAA helicopters dropped barrel bombs over #Teir_Maela
#Homs cs #Syria JAN 17

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Alaamariyah neighborhood
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 17

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Sheikh_Saaed village
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 17

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Tisiyah village, eastern #Daraa cs #Syria JAN 17

SAA Tank shelling targeting #Tel_Dahab area (#Houla)
#Homs cs #SYria JAN 17

SAA Tank shelling targeting #Kafr_Laha town (#Houla)
#Homs cs #SYria JAN 17

SAA helicopters dropped barrel bombs on #alGhariyah town, western #Daraa #Syria JAN 17

SAA shelling from their positions at #Qasioun_Mount targeting #Ain_Terma resulting casualities among civilians
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 17

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Hirbnafsah town
#Hama cs #Syria JAN 17

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Hazarama town
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 17

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #alBahariyah town
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 17

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #alNashabiyah town
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 17

SAA shelling mortar from their positions at 4th Div in the Mountains area targeting #Darayya
#Damascus #Syria JAN17

SAA shelling with heavy artillery from their positions at #alMadhiyeh_Mount targeting #Keswe city
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 17

SAA helicopters dropped barrel bombs on #Darayya
#Damascus #SYria JAN 17

Arahar_alSham targeted #SAA mercenaries positions with heavy artillery at #Nabl & #Zahra fronts
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 17

Kids eat snacks, playing as adults search for victims of #Russia airstrikes on #alMaghayir
#Aleppo cs #SYria JAN17

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #alSukari neighborhood
#Aleppo cs #SYria JAN 17

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Bani_Zayd neighborhood
#Aleppo cs #SYria JAN 17

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #alMaghayir neighborhood
#Aleppo cs #SYria JAN 17

FSA #Thuwar_alSham published exterminated foreigners mercenaries in STRN #Aleppo CS JAN16
gone 2hell 4ASSad.

Aid convoy hit yesterday was carrying UN aid...
Seems to be #UN cover..
#Russia airstrikes on AID trucks y'day JAN16 at #Hardtin village
#Aleppo cs #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

Rebels destroy 2 regime tanks on the #Harbinafsah front
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyyWUXpKjso …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=34.945754&lon=36.633654&z=14&m=b … southern #Hama #Syria

Assad-held Deir Ezzor is now 60% in ISIS hands after bloody assault
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/abducts-least-400-civilians-east-syria-after-major-offensive-monitor-847723894 …
pic.twitter.com/5RdCrc6jCr

Syria #IS-tanks shelling #Assad-forces in Euphrates hotel in #DeirEzzor
-water & phone lines for the city cut off
pic.twitter.com/Dcd8DOItGm

[OUTLAW 09]

Notice nothing about this is being discussed by the new Obama Syrian strategy...namely the Syrian Arab Army basically defending Assad and being supported by Putin is really just a Shia mercenary militia army.....

BUT nothing about that makes it to the US MSM nor is being discussed by the WH....meaning at some point this new Syrian strategy must address the Iranian support to terrorists......

AT what point will Obama be willing to address the massive Shia militia forces, IRGC forces and Hezbollah forces that are inside Syria fighting for a non Sunni dictator ALL because Iran wants and urgently needs to maintain a land corridor to their Hezbollah troops on Lebanon.....

How much do mercenaries fighting for #Assad get paid per month?
SAA & NDF ~ $80
Afghanis & Iraqis ~ $1000
Hezbollah, Iranian & Russ ~ $2000

AND this does not include Russia mercenaries being recruited in eastern Ukraine to fight in Syria......

[OUTLAW 09]

Notice nothing about this is being discussed by the new Obama Syrian strategy...namely the Syrian Arab Army basically defending Assad and being supported by Putin is really just a Shia mercenary militia army.....

BUT nothing about that makes it to the US MSM nor is being discussed by the WH....meaning at some point this new Syrian strategy must address the Iranian support to terrorists......

AT what point will Obama be willing to address the massive Shia militia forces, IRGC forces and Hezbollah forces that are inside Syria fighting for a non Sunni dictator ALL because Iran wants and urgently needs to maintain a land corridor to their Hezbollah troops on Lebanon.....

How much do mercenaries fighting for #Assad get paid per month?
SAA & NDF ~ $80
Afghanis & Iraqis ~ $1000
Hezbollah, Iranian & Russ ~ $2000

AND this does not include Russia mercenaries being recruited in eastern Ukraine to fight in Syria......

This just might help the Obama WH refocus their so called non existent eastern Ukraine and Syrian strategies because as far as I can see they "ain't working".

QUOTE:
All the business of war, and indeed all the business of life,
is to endeavor to find out what you don't know by what you do
D. of Wellington

[OUTLAW 09]

Just another day in the highly successful Obama WH Syrian strategy....they will not need any messaging here as the message is clear...not a single IS position hit and NOT a single IS position being overrun by US supported troops...actually the US supported troops are not doing much of anything lately WHILE FSA carries the fight to IS........

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Maar_Dibsah village
#Idlib cs #Syria JAN 17

Isis is delivering their possitions to #QSD
East of Syria without fight

Statement by Yarmouk Army states that Harakat Muthana had blocked reinforcements from reaching Sheikh Miskin

Rebels destroyed #SAA Tank & Pickup w/ Machine Gun exterminating a number of it's mercenaries at #Hirbnafsah fronts
#Hama cs #Syria JAN17

SAA helicopters dropped barrel bombs over #Teir_Maela
#Homs cs #Syria JAN 17

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Alaamariyah neighborhood
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 17

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Sheikh_Saaed village
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 17

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Tisiyah village, eastern #Daraa cs #Syria JAN 17

SAA Tank shelling targeting #Tel_Dahab area (#Houla)
#Homs cs #SYria JAN 17

SAA Tank shelling targeting #Kafr_Laha town (#Houla)
#Homs cs #SYria JAN 17

SAA helicopters dropped barrel bombs on #alGhariyah town, western #Daraa #Syria JAN 17

SAA shelling from their positions at #Qasioun_Mount targeting #Ain_Terma resulting casualities among civilians
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 17

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Hirbnafsah town
#Hama cs #Syria JAN 17

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Hazarama town
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 17

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #alBahariyah town
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 17

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #alNashabiyah town
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 17

SAA shelling mortar from their positions at 4th Div in the Mountains area targeting #Darayya
#Damascus #Syria JAN17

SAA shelling with heavy artillery from their positions at #alMadhiyeh_Mount targeting #Keswe city
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 17

SAA helicopters dropped barrel bombs on #Darayya
#Damascus #SYria JAN 17

Arahar_alSham targeted #SAA mercenaries positions with heavy artillery at #Nabl & #Zahra fronts
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 17

Kids eat snacks, playing as adults search for victims of #Russia airstrikes on #alMaghayir
#Aleppo cs #SYria JAN17

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #alSukari neighborhood
#Aleppo cs #SYria JAN 17

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Bani_Zayd neighborhood
#Aleppo cs #SYria JAN 17

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #alMaghayir neighborhood
#Aleppo cs #SYria JAN 17

FSA #Thuwar_alSham published exterminated foreigners mercenaries in STRN #Aleppo CS JAN16
gone 2hell 4ASSad.

Aid convoy hit yesterday was carrying UN aid...
Seems to be #UN cover..
#Russia airstrikes on AID trucks y'day JAN16 at #Hardtin village
#Aleppo cs #Syria

So if this is in fact confirmed then the question becomes IS the US now sharing air space and the same targets as the Russian AF...namely NOT hitting IS over northern Aleppo.... but attacking all anti Assad forces ie the FSA.....

Maybe this is the new Syrian strategy that needs the messaging.......???

A rare video. USAF F-15 Eagle fighter over Northern Aleppo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sYaaGAXG0U …

Meanwhile #Russia keeps bombing #rebel towns and supply lines north of #Aleppo.
Not #ISIS.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9K1pN4gW2g …
pic.twitter.com/8szsimOepg

Footage
Turkish-backed #FSA wins more territory against #ISIS north of #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byJC-HdOmHY …
pic.twitter.com/Bw7mQBedVt

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria Da'ish engaging an SAA tank north of Kweirs AFB with a 9M113M Konkurs #ATGM showing the launch from inside a building
pic.twitter.com/KQH5LtZubn

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat.....can you confirm who and or what is in the town struck by the US F-15 in northern Aleppo????????

F-15 confirmed via video of US air strike......

Moment of #USA airstrikes on #alHaras town
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 17
https://youtu.be/8sYaaGAXG0U
pic.twitter.com/KnEGAFBQhX

BreakingNews
US war planes bomb areas north of #Aleppo. Activists say rebel front.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sYaaGAXG0U …
pic.twitter.com/fp4G4JeP2w

But as you can see, the #US F-15 might also be bombing the #ISIS frontline, if activists are just 500 meters wrong in their perception.

[OUTLAW 09]

IUCA @IUCAnalysts
#Map #Syria. Situation after SAA offensive towards al-Bab city.
http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/5a47/hg7xp2t5rtt2h5tzg.jpg …
(Warning - 8mb)
pic.twitter.com/mY7ubAA0uR

Map #Syria. Situation along the #Mare'a line after FSA groups launch an offensive.
HD - http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/0a0b/p7snq28761698lgzg.jpg …
pic.twitter.com/0iTGx29dHe

Footage
Russian airstrikes on #Saraqib today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkgtQsa4ekk …
pic.twitter.com/W8o6mue9Ru

Footage
Fuel trucks hit by #Russia yesterday north of #Aleppo.
100% unrelated to #ISIS.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPCvCwtDcrM …
pic.twitter.com/u6kBjIM8A5

[OUTLAW 09]

Will Putin continue to fight a two front war.........???
"Moment of Truth": Russian TV's news review leads on economic woes: "We're hoping for the best, preparing for worst'
pic.twitter.com/VTw2TdkE1n

Really........???
Russia's Energy Minister tells Russian TV that low oil prices gives Russia "the chance to diversify its economy"
pic.twitter.com/M2lkvIMizK

State Bank Chief (German Gref, Sberbank) Calls #Russia Loser Country "Stone Age did not end"
http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-sberbank-chief-gref-loser-country/27491521.html …
pic.twitter.com/uxXoH3II5i

[OUTLAW 09]

Under the sanctions, Iran took over 4 Arab capitals: Baghdad, Damascus, Beriut and San'aa. Imagine the situation after lifting the sanctions

JN repelling Shiite militias attack on Khan Touman:
https://archive.org/details/archivesyria_khantoman12 …

Although Obama denied #FSA TOW systems, rebels still fight using Soviet ATGMs & recoilless guns SPG-9
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-5o0fZphaw …

To put it another way: #Syria rebels, helped by Turkey, just rolled back gains IS made after Russia bombed the rebels out of IS's way.

Russia has killed more than 1,382 civilians in Syria in markets, schools & mosques.

Ghouta: this is why Friday prayers have been cancelled. Russian planes target Deir Assafir Mosque

[OUTLAW 09]

Game changer?" Russian TV compares the taking of Salma by Assad's army to the Red Army's victory in Stalingrad
pic.twitter.com/tLhXO3fsqM

[OUTLAW 09]

Warning: @KremlinTrolls may be false flag account. Sows discord/distrust among colleagues. Reminds of Stasi tactics against GDR's dissidents

[OUTLAW 09]

RuAF airstrike on a column of trucks near Kafr Nasih, N. Aleppo
https://youtu.be/6GlH2thv76s http://wikimapia.org/#lat=36.429561&lon=37.128382&z=17&m=b …
pic.twitter.com/NmIRFFXW8A

"How Traders, the SAA & Militias Make Money Off Sieges in #Syria explained by @Erikasolomon
http://on.ft.com/1OvO8g1
pic.twitter.com/6tpKNL0CxB

Dispatch from Mara' Syria
"FSA fighter: Putin says he is bombing ISIS, it's a lie, he is bombing us"
https://twitter.com/lummideast/status/688806787890438144 …

AND supposedly there are "no boots on the ground capable of fighting IS"...???

Heavy Clashes between Mare' Operation Room and ISIS at Herbel,Jarez,Dudyan fronts,almost All N.Aleppo fronts

FSA major operation underway against IS and Assad forces AND at the same time dodging Russian air strikes.....AND there are "no boots on the ground"...????

[OUTLAW 09]

Reports a massive #ISIS VBIED just hit #Assad's army Brigade 137 followed by a large attack now in #DeirEzzor..

[davidbfpo]

Outlaw09 is a critic, even harsh, of President Obama's NSC, so I was interested - as a non-American observer - to read this short critique of the NSC:http://breakingdefense.com/2016/01/national-security-council-fractured-advice-conflicting-messages/

[CrowBat]

CrowBat.....can you confirm who and or what is in the town struck by the US F-15 in northern Aleppo????????

F-15 confirmed via video of US air strike......

Moment of #USA airstrikes on #alHaras town
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 17
https://youtu.be/8sYaaGAXG0U
pic.twitter.com/KnEGAFBQhX

BreakingNews
US war planes bomb areas north of #Aleppo. Activists say rebel front.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sYaaGAXG0U …
pic.twitter.com/fp4G4JeP2w

But as you can see, the #US F-15 might also be bombing the #ISIS frontline, if activists are just 500 meters wrong in their perception.
The USAF is bombing Daesh in Mare'a area - on the eastern side of Azaz corridor and in support of FSyA - since several days (five strikes on 15 and one on 16 January in total).

This F-15E (from 48th FW) passed by minutes after a Russian air strike on positions of the Suqour al-Jabal of the FSyA, which should've killed nine insurgents and enabled the YPG to capture four chepoints west of Azaz.

All of this happened after YPG fans (https://twitter.com/AzadiRojava/status/688316109162983424) reported that Oblabla ordered the YPG to stop attacking Azaz corridor. So, I guess, the crew was ordered to take a closer look (with help of LANTRIN pod) at what's going on on the ground.

[OUTLAW 09]

#Assad refused @WFP air drops to the besieged city of Deir Ezzor before #Putin's own info war filmed show: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/middleeast/article4667759.ece …

Appears even Clinton does not get non linear warfare......

Hillary Clinton's relationship with #Putin is "interesting," she'd consider another "reset"
http://mashable.com/2016/01/17/hilla.../#KnpHjW.TOSqP …
pic.twitter.com/l9CFLjmxhv

.@HillaryClinton: I could do a reset with Russia, depends what we get for it… Relationship with Putin: It’s one of respect. #DemDebate

Clinton doesn't think Iranian troops in Syria is a good idea. But they're already there and Obama admin says they won't interfere.

Michael Weiss ✔ @michaeldweiss
Russia has violated Reagan-era nuke deals; it is now arming Taliban in Afghanistan. Putin did not "come back". He was there when you were.

[OUTLAW 09]

Putin is getting really close to the butter or guns decision.......

Asian shares skid to 2011 levels as oil slump intensifies
http://reut.rs/1ncZ8s5
pic.twitter.com/o5ydgj6qYj

[OUTLAW 09]

Infographical depiction of the most recent territorial shifts in
Deir al-Zoor.

Purple represents #ISIS annexation.
pic.twitter.com/JpbtT8zXQ3

[OUTLAW 09]

Appears that this is the Obama Syrian strategy........allowing the IRGC, Hezbollah, 30 Iraqi Shia militias and a Shia mercenary army from 12 countries to remain in and fight against basically a 70% Sunni populated Arab nation.

Taken from the debate last night ---by Clinton......

Clinton doesn't think Iranian troops in Syria is a good idea. But they're already there and Obama admin says they won't interfere.

[OUTLAW 09]

Deraa: Syrian Rebels carry out a successful ambush on Assad forces, claims large number killed
http://fb.me/6Vl6LGwNC

Pro Assad account acknowledges Assad regime general Samer Amin Ali killed

Northwest Deir Ezzor: ISIS capture Ayyash from Assad forces & its weapons warehouses & advancing rapidly

He's right. Despite us hating ISIS & what they stand for, everybody needs to get their facts straight --they did not kidnap 400 yesterday nor execute anyone.

SCD @SyriaCivilDef rescue operation aftermath #SAA shelling STS missiles on #Firdaous y'day JAN 17
#Aleppo #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

Civilians killed by highly precise Russian air strikes....

60 martyrs 6 children 5 women
13Aleppo
11DeirEzzor
9Raqqa
8Damascus
7Daraa
5Hama
3Idlib
2Latakia
2Homs
#Syria JAN17

[Azor]

Thanks for your understanding and sorry for my fury: earlier today I run into that Assad fan-boy Ivan Sidorenko on one of 'kiddy military forums' in the USA.

As usually, he babbled about 'SAA and NDF' doing this and that, and everybody 'listened sillently': was no problem then nobody there knows what's up in Syria, so a character like him can behave around like a god of some sort.

I simply asked him why is he not calling a spade a spade, and clearly naming what kind of 'SAA and NDF' are fighting and where. I illustrated my question with few of photos he's posted on his own Twitter account, showing Hezbollah/Iraq, IRGC-QF, and similar Shi'a Jihadists.

Amazingly enough: there was no reply, but 10 minutes later I was banned me from a place I used to frequent for more than 10 years...

That's how such and similar characters are dealing with any kind of 'opposition'.

...and it happened on the same day editor of a certain (and quite-well-known) international daily told me, he can't publish my article about all the farces and illusions related to the SDF, because he'd already published one article of mine the last month, and has to keep his 'usual reporters' busy...

So, when I then hear - and that from somebody like you - that nonsense about 'regime change in Libya only brought extremists into control', my blood is boiling...

Anyway... Here some 'regime change' - and then first hand: first free elections were held the last weekend in Eastern Ghouta. The IF and similar 'militant' groups have lost (and heavily), civilian groups have won. Video report (in Arabic), here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEIK1wpOUfM

So, it's not the IF that won, not the JAN, not the Rahman Corps, not even the FSyA... but non-religious 'technocrats'. And that in one of most conservative corners of Syria, besieged since two years, half-starved, and where regime and Russians are instigating daily massacres - and that so much so, one would expect even kids, cats and dogs there to become extremist Islamists.

...but not a word about this is going to be published anwhere in our glorious media.

Would love to see somebody telling me that Syrians are all terrorists and Islam is incompatible with democracy...

Sidorenko has his own YouTube channel highlighting pro-Assad feats. Interesting that SANA doesn't mind showing footage of dead "rebels" stripped and piled in ditches...

[OUTLAW 09]

Outlaw09 is a critic, even harsh, of President Obama's NSC, so I was interested - as a non-American observer - to read this short critique of the NSC:http://breakingdefense.com/2016/01/national-security-council-fractured-advice-conflicting-messages/

David ...my somewhat critical and harsh comments of the Obama NSC and especially of Obama have to do with a number of things.

1. in the past a truly fully functioning and thorough NSC is there to develop a number of options for the national command authority to take on multiple global events if needed.

2. in the past a truly functioning NSC would have been composed by personnel who have had some deep expertise in whatever their individual fields are and would have had extensive experience in the area of military strategy, international relations and global affairs and their expertise would range from politics to economics.

3. in the past some members of the NSC would have been ex military with combat experience and on and on and on.

BUT what does this NSC bring to the table...ABSOLUTELY nothing of the sort...in fact we now have on record two former SecDef's basically complaining that this NSC is naïve, uninformed and basically do nothing but hold meetings and listen to each other talk.

BTW--then on top of their critique we had the senior most DoD Russian expert who has had a solid understanding of Putin's actions stand up and simply quit because her opinions were not even being heard inside the NSC and she is a fluent Russian linguist as opposed to virtually no one on the NSC.

In over the last 40 or so years I have not seen such an example by a senior DoD official who had the expertise she had.

In the past the NSC was usually what we would term a "strategic think tank/critical thinkers" for a president and they were used as a sounding board for strategies that they or the president developed.

BUT what do we have today...not a single viable strategy has come out of this president and the entire 700 person NSC much less the DoS.

Seriously challenge any SWJ reader to define exactly what there is for a FP if they believe there are any strategies.

Obama's biggest problem is that he received actually the Nobel Peace Prize for really what I am not sure as he had actually to that point done nothing remarkable that would have in reality earned him the award compared to say other previous winners.

Obama came into office with virtually no international relations experience...actually none to speak of as he was a junior Senator while in Congress and his only real overseas trip was his pushing for disarmament funds to continue the disarmament of the Ukraine after a visit there WHICH might as we have seen for over 18 months "colored his view of the Ukraine".

Obama's next failure came when he delivered a major for the ME-- political speech in Egypt that to me and many in the ME signaled the start of the "Arab spring".

BUT what was his response to the "Arab Spring"...virtual silence and the ME swam as to what the US was trying to signal....just check the wavering back and forth over Egypt......then his attempt to ram down the throats of the Israeli's a two state peace settlement.

THIS is just the ME...let's see his response to the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine.

BOTH he and his NSC dallied for days over just what to call the fact that 8K Russian Army troops and their armor had rolled into the Ukraine....remember the use of the word "incursion" vs the really correct term "invasion".

THEN he dodged back and forth over "defensive weapon" deliveries ie the TOW when the UAF was facing over 500 tanks...remember the Obama and NSC argument..."we do not want to agitate Russia into further escalations"....heck Russia has escalated four distinct times AND the US has not shipped a single "defensive weapon"........then the Obama and NSC messaging that the TOW could possibly be used as a "offensive weapon" WHICH truly reflected their non knowledge of anti tank weapons.

Even Obama and the entire US IC knew that the UAf would never invade Russia as they were at first a rag tag armed group trying to survive the Russian invasion BUT lately they can match Russia tank for tank, artillery/GRADS on the same equal footing and from their fighting moral they are way over the standard Russian army.

THEN look at the Obama and NSC arguments concerning counter battery radar deliveries...the same exact argument which was used for the TOWs and yet the UAF was getting shelled massively via Russian GRADs BY the hundreds.

THEN in 2014 ...we have that famous Obama press statement ...."we will judge Putin on his actions not his words".....so again Putin slams the door in the face of the US in eastern Ukraine and now Syria AND yet do we see any Obama response.....nothing.....

ALL the while the drumbeat from DoS, NSC and Obama was ...eastern Ukraine cannot be won militarily...BUT WAIT, the Ukraine has massively reformed itself and built one of the strongest armies in central Europe and for that matter even inside NATO and have fought the Russian Army to a standstill and allowed no further terrain loses ALL the while being forced by Obama and Nuland to commit to unilateral appeasement moves without a single Russia returned favor AND now even Russia is pushing for a political settlement AND Obama and Nuland are refusing to push Putin to fulfill even a single point of the six major military points inside Minsk 2.

Notice Nuland spent last week spent a full day in conversations with her Russian counterpart who was actually the instigator of the Ukraine invasion ALL without the Ukraine being present AND there has been no apparent diplomatic "outbrief" about those conversations with the Ukraine as a common courtesy.

THEN as an not so subtle move Obama reigned in his own UNSC Ambassador Powers who aggressively pushed the Russians in the UNSC on Ukrainian issues and who actually has a strong opinion on genocide being committed inside Syria...for over six months she has said nothing publicly about the Ukraine or genocide inside Syrian......remarkable actually.

THEN onto Syria with virtually the same argument he used in Donbas being now twisted for Syria...it cannot be won militarily and I am not going to but US boots on the ground........and there is no one inside Syria capable for fighting IS....remember the still ongoing Obama, NSC and DoS debate as to who is and or is not a "moderate" ALL the while simply forgetting that the Syrian "Spring" started out peacefully and as Assad brutalized it and the West did nothing the Syrians themselves became more radical which is the natural progression of an opposed majority.

BUT in reality we do have "Syrian boots on the ground" willing and capable of fighting Is which in fact they are doing daily WITHOUT a single comment out of Obama, his NSC and the DoS at the same time applying pressure to the Sunni Front States to cut back on their support to the FSA and other anti Assad forces.

WHY is the next interesting question....he did not want to confront Iran and he is attempting to "save Putin's face and provide him an exit ramp" both out of the Ukraine as well as Syria.....BUT what he and his entire NSC have failed to see is that once you give Putin an inch he interpreters it as a major victory rams it back into Obama's face and just keeps on taking whatever opportunity he can---he does not see anything Obama offers as "face saving nor an exit ramp"....

This Wellington quote fits this current Obama, NSC and DoS like a glove....
All the business of war, and indeed all the business of life,
is to endeavor to find out what you don't know by what you do
D. of Wellington

In some aspect and this is worth a Ph.D thesis.....has the US education system at the university levels to include the famous ones ie Harvard...are they just producing non risk takers, non critical thinkers and basically yes people.

Obama claims that he believes that the US can no longer be the worlds policeperson...and to a degree he is correct after the US drove two wars that should have never happened.....and he feels.....if you pay attention to a number of his interviews and the same message is being carried by Kerry.."it is up to the regional powers to resolve their disputes not for the US to get involved.'

THIS is a great IR theory but until Obama, his NSC and his DoS put into place an IR structure and concept that all the regional players fully understand meaning at what point will the US step back in when the regional players cannot resolve their disputes...only then can one retrench out of a region.

BUT this is my main accusation about the Obama FP....he is retrenching deeper and faster THAN did Wilson in 1920.

He and Nuland have shown an interesting ability to demand from regional players ie the Ukraine,anti Assad forces, KSA and Turkey that they conduct unilateral appeasement moves towards say Putin, Iran and or Assad WITH nothing in exchange.

My constant question has been ...why??? Basically Obama is a closet peacenik unwilling to use force when it is necessary BECAUSE he wants a legacy that counters that image.....one of no wars and the non use of force.

AND Putin plays this card to the hilt...AND he fully understands just how to use forces.

Obama and his NSC would have fit better into the US of the 1920s not the Us of 2016.

[OUTLAW 09]

SyrCoalition EU Representative urges international community to end siege tactics, hold #Assad regime to account

Another #IRGC commander killed in #Syria #العراق #سوريا #إيران #السعودية
http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/terrorism-fundamentalism/19806 …

"Let me die but save my sister"
A Syrian girl pulled alive from rubble after helicopter bombing on Ter Maaleh, Homs
pic.twitter.com/LjGqJAixaN

Nearly 94% of the 12,000 sorties the #Russia-n air force has so far flown in #Syria targeted civilians & #FSA,
http://ow.ly/X9meo

Counteroffensive going well so far as rebels regained control of Tal Zaitoun, Tal Ablaq & Madrasat Atira in Jabal Turkman, #Latakia

Mount Bayt Ablaq capture confirmed by #FSA accounts.
Unconfirmed reports rebels captured Mount Zahiya, Mount Bayet Ablaq and Mount Atera so far in Turkman Mount #Latakia countryside.

Originally a Russian troll working the Donbas now fully working the Syrian front as a proAssad account.....
Seems @leithfadel continues to lie his @TheArabSource readers. This time about #DeirEzzor:
http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/syrian-air-force-destroys-strategic-bridge-in-deir-ezzor/ …

SandStorm hit #DairEzzon east #Syria. Last time we've seen similar storm #Assad army lost an airbase in one night.
IS-reinforcements arrived at #DeirEzzor city -try to storm Heart Hospital & western Jura neighborhood -no airstrikes bc sandstorm

Reports suggest a 2nd #ISIS assault on Deir ez Zour is taking place tonight, possibly advancing more than the first attack 36hrs ago. #

[OUTLAW 09]

David ...my somewhat critical and harsh comments of the Obama NSC and especially of Obama have to do with a number of things.

1. in the past a truly fully functioning and thorough NSC is there to develop a number of options for the national command authority to take on multiple global events if needed.

2. in the past a truly functioning NSC would have been composed by personnel who have had some deep expertise in whatever their individual fields are and would have had extensive experience in the area of military strategy, international relations and global affairs and their expertise would range from politics to economics.

3. in the past some members of the NSC would have been ex military with combat experience and on and on and on.

BUT what does this NSC bring to the table...ABSOLUTELY nothing of the sort...in fact we now have on record two former SecDef's basically complaining that this NSC is nave, uninformed and basically do nothing but hold meetings and listen to each other talk.

BTW--then on top of their critique we had the senior most DoD Russian expert who has had a solid understanding of Putin's actions stand up and simply quit because her opinions were not even being heard inside the NSC and she is a fluent Russian linguist as opposed to virtually no one on the NSC.

In over the last 40 or so years I have not seen such an example by a senior DoD official who had the expertise she had.

In the past the NSC was usually what we would term a "strategic think tank/critical thinkers" for a president and they were used as a sounding board for strategies that they or the president developed.

BUT what do we have today...not a single viable strategy has come out of this president and the entire 700 person NSC much less the DoS.

Seriously challenge any SWJ reader to define exactly what there is for a FP if they believe there are any strategies.

Obama's biggest problem is that he received actually the Nobel Peace Prize for really what I am not sure as he had actually to that point done nothing remarkable that would have in reality earned him the award compared to say other previous winners.

Obama came into office with virtually no international relations experience...actually none to speak of as he was a junior Senator while in Congress and his only real overseas trip was his pushing for disarmament funds to continue the disarmament of the Ukraine after a visit there WHICH might as we have seen for over 18 months "colored his view of the Ukraine".

Obama's next failure came when he delivered a major for the ME-- political speech in Egypt that to me and many in the ME signaled the start of the "Arab spring".

BUT what was his response to the "Arab Spring"...virtual silence and the ME swam as to what the US was trying to signal....just check the wavering back and forth over Egypt......then his attempt to ram down the throats of the Israeli's a two state peace settlement.

THIS is just the ME...let's see his response to the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine.

BOTH he and his NSC dallied for days over just what to call the fact that 8K Russian Army troops and their armor had rolled into the Ukraine....remember the use of the word "incursion" vs the really correct term "invasion".

THEN he dodged back and forth over "defensive weapon" deliveries ie the TOW when the UAF was facing over 500 tanks...remember the Obama and NSC argument..."we do not want to agitate Russia into further escalations"....heck Russia has escalated four distinct times AND the US has not shipped a single "defensive weapon"........then the Obama and NSC messaging that the TOW could possibly be used as a "offensive weapon" WHICH truly reflected their non knowledge of anti tank weapons.

Even Obama and the entire US IC knew that the UAf would never invade Russia as they were at first a rag tag armed group trying to survive the Russian invasion BUT lately they can match Russia tank for tank, artillery/GRADS on the same equal footing and from their fighting moral they are way over the standard Russian army.

THEN look at the Obama and NSC arguments concerning counter battery radar deliveries...the same exact argument which was used for the TOWs and yet the UAF was getting shelled massively via Russian GRADs BY the hundreds.

THEN in 2014 ...we have that famous Obama press statement ...."we will judge Putin on his actions not his words".....so again Putin slams the door in the face of the US in eastern Ukraine and now Syria AND yet do we see any Obama response.....nothing.....

ALL the while the drumbeat from DoS, NSC and Obama was ...eastern Ukraine cannot be won militarily...BUT WAIT, the Ukraine has massively reformed itself and built one of the strongest armies in central Europe and for that matter even inside NATO and have fought the Russian Army to a standstill and allowed no further terrain loses ALL the while being forced by Obama and Nuland to commit to unilateral appeasement moves without a single Russia returned favor AND now even Russia is pushing for a political settlement AND Obama and Nuland are refusing to push Putin to fulfill even a single point of the six major military points inside Minsk 2.

Notice Nuland spent last week spent a full day in conversations with her Russian counterpart who was actually the instigator of the Ukraine invasion ALL without the Ukraine being present AND there has been no apparent diplomatic "outbrief" about those conversations with the Ukraine as a common courtesy.

THEN as an not so subtle move Obama reigned in his own UNSC Ambassador Powers who aggressively pushed the Russians in the UNSC on Ukrainian issues and who actually has a strong opinion on genocide being committed inside Syria...for over six months she has said nothing publicly about the Ukraine or genocide inside Syrian......remarkable actually.

THEN onto Syria with virtually the same argument he used in Donbas being now twisted for Syria...it cannot be won militarily and I am not going to but US boots on the ground........and there is no one inside Syria capable for fighting IS....remember the still ongoing Obama, NSC and DoS debate as to who is and or is not a "moderate" ALL the while simply forgetting that the Syrian "Spring" started out peacefully and as Assad brutalized it and the West did nothing the Syrians themselves became more radical which is the natural progression of an opposed majority.

BUT in reality we do have "Syrian boots on the ground" willing and capable of fighting Is which in fact they are doing daily WITHOUT a single comment out of Obama, his NSC and the DoS at the same time applying pressure to the Sunni Front States to cut back on their support to the FSA and other anti Assad forces.

WHY is the next interesting question....he did not want to confront Iran and he is attempting to "save Putin's face and provide him an exit ramp" both out of the Ukraine as well as Syria.....BUT what he and his entire NSC have failed to see is that once you give Putin an inch he interpreters it as a major victory rams it back into Obama's face and just keeps on taking whatever opportunity he can---he does not see anything Obama offers as "face saving nor an exit ramp"....

This Wellington quote fits this current Obama, NSC and DoS like a glove....
All the business of war, and indeed all the business of life,
is to endeavor to find out what you don't know by what you do
D. of Wellington

OR this from SWJ
“Everything we say, everything we do, and everything we fail to say or do will have its impact in other lands."
--Dwight D. Eisenhower

In some aspect and this is worth a Ph.D thesis.....has the US education system at the university levels to include the famous ones ie Harvard...are they just producing non risk takers, non critical thinkers and basically yes people.

Obama claims that he believes that the US can no longer be the worlds policeperson...and to a degree he is correct after the US drove two wars that should have never happened.....and he feels.....if you pay attention to a number of his interviews and the same message is being carried by Kerry.."it is up to the regional powers to resolve their disputes not for the US to get involved.'

THIS is a great IR theory but until Obama, his NSC and his DoS put into place an IR structure and concept that all the regional players fully understand meaning at what point will the US step back in when the regional players cannot resolve their disputes...only then can one retrench out of a region.

BUT this is my main accusation about the Obama FP....he is retrenching deeper and faster THAN did Wilson in 1920.

He and Nuland have shown an interesting ability to demand from regional players ie the Ukraine,anti Assad forces, KSA and Turkey that they conduct unilateral appeasement moves towards say Putin, Iran and or Assad WITH nothing in exchange.

My constant question has been ...why??? Basically Obama is a closet peacenik unwilling to use force when it is necessary BECAUSE he wants a legacy that counters that image.....one of no wars and the non use of force.

AND Putin plays this card to the hilt...AND he fully understands just how to use forces.

Obama and his NSC would have fit better into the US of the 1920s not the Us of 2016.

Do I need to say anything more than this.....??

Two of the Iranians pardoned by Obama run the airline most favored for smuggling by the IRGC Quds Force http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2016-01-17/prisoner-swap-may-help-iran-arm-assad

[OUTLAW 09]

Clashes reported between SDF forces & #ISIS this AM near Abu Qalqal south of Manbij as Russian airstrikes pound Manbij itself. #Aleppo

Assad IRAM rocket lands in a local market in al-Fardos district in #Aleppo, at least 7 dead & 10s wounded, entire families under rubble

Footage
Rebels give food 2 displaced families during the anti-#ISIS offensive N of #Aleppo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82NfGIuQAfU …

(Not really) #News
#Assad's and #Putin's airstrikes against the Syrian population continue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Hvt8WX1XvQ …

UPDATE— Turkish military determines points Katyusha rockets were launched into school in Kilis, retaliates with fire
http://sabahdai.ly/bXjoTP

4 injured by #ISIL Katyusha rockets targeted a school in Kilis south Turkey near Syria's borders.

Many regime army soldiers especially ones picked from checkpoints waiting for a chance to defect
This with disputes in Shia militias over pay again opens up the question whether Russia will need own ground troops

[OUTLAW 09]

Putin's worst nightmare about to happen...butter and or guns but not both..Can he continued his two front war and if so just how much longer......??

@MoscowTimes Russia Considers Suspending Loans to Other Countries
http://tmt-go.ru/556181

Well worth reading this site.....
Russia's Central Bank is lying about its reserves, here's what the math says
https://ninajobe.wordpress.com/2016/...-reserve-scam/ …
pic.twitter.com/jgDiLob2hM

Worried about sub-$20 crude? Some sellers are already there
http://reut.rs/1U6B0l2

Russian 2016 budget was built on 50USD oil and now redone at 40USD per barrel......this will in effect cause the replay of 1989...just a matter of time--- about two months if oil continues downward.....

A bulk of the Russian oil is "sour" thus those prices on the current market are in the 12-14USD ranges BUT Russia is still trying to get the Brent pricing......which many buyers are actually avoiding in exchange of Mexican oil.

[OUTLAW 09]

#ISIS's offensive in #DeirEzzor looks different when you check recent @mod_russia strikes:
http://wikimapia.org/27063089/Fuel-Storage-Facility …
pic.twitter.com/tnF43EbOY5

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia gets rich off of both Sunni and Shia these days......

Russia is preparing an arms deal for Saudi Arabia worth $10bn: air defense systems (Iskander-E, S400) & jets
http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2895208

[OUTLAW 09]

SyrCoalition EU Representative urges international community to end siege tactics, hold #Assad regime to account

Another #IRGC commander killed in #Syria #العراق #سوريا #إيران #السعودية
http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/terrorism-fundamentalism/19806 …

"Let me die but save my sister"
A Syrian girl pulled alive from rubble after helicopter bombing on Ter Maaleh, Homs
pic.twitter.com/LjGqJAixaN

Nearly 94% of the 12,000 sorties the #Russia-n air force has so far flown in #Syria targeted civilians & #FSA,
http://ow.ly/X9meo

Counteroffensive going well so far as rebels regained control of Tal Zaitoun, Tal Ablaq & Madrasat Atira in Jabal Turkman, #Latakia

Mount Bayt Ablaq capture confirmed by #FSA accounts.
Unconfirmed reports rebels captured Mount Zahiya, Mount Bayet Ablaq and Mount Atera so far in Turkman Mount #Latakia countryside.

Originally a Russian troll working the Donbas now fully working the Syrian front as a proAssad account.....
Seems @leithfadel continues to lie his @TheArabSource readers. This time about #DeirEzzor:
http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/syrian-air-force-destroys-strategic-bridge-in-deir-ezzor/ …

SandStorm hit #DairEzzon east #Syria. Last time we've seen similar storm #Assad army lost an airbase in one night.
IS-reinforcements arrived at #DeirEzzor city -try to storm Heart Hospital & western Jura neighborhood -no airstrikes bc sandstorm

Reports suggest a 2nd #ISIS assault on Deir ez Zour is taking place tonight, possibly advancing more than the first attack 36hrs ago. #

Control of #DeirEzor entire city by #ISIS would B huge strategic victory,bigger than #Raqqa, it would B much more difficult 2 attack #Syria

Syria #IS claim seized "anti aircraft rockets, 1 main battle tank, 1 BMP & a Shilka tank" in western outskirts of #DeirEzzor

Syria #DeirEzzor #SAA lost a Brigade General & a lieutenant during battle yd. Also reports Issam Zahreddine wounded pic.twitter.com/tWS7Owyvs0

[OUTLAW 09]

Footage
Syrian #FSA artillery keeps pounding pro-#Assad forces in #SheikhMaskin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCkg_veKhy4 …
pic.twitter.com/g0Fl8n5dN3

[OUTLAW 09]

Syrian Express on the move again...........

ВМФ cargo ship, Сф NF Yauza completed Bosphorus transit at 7:00aGMT; at current speed she’ll arrive #Tartus 21/1/15

Yauza’s courtesy Turkish flag is the first we have observed since December 4th

Bosphorus snow storm makes home-like weather conditions for Murmansk based Северный флот Northern Fleet’s Yauza.

Mongolia flag Maestro IMO8810700 moves around the high seas of Med&theBlackSea.AIS data confusing, includes Baniyas

Suspicious ship if there is one:
Tripoli-bound Mongolian flag LPG tanker Maestro transits southbound Bosphorus

[OUTLAW 09]

Tensions been brewing for while btwn Yarmouk Army (FSA) & jihadist Harakat Muthanna in the south: now out in public

Russia & US to meet 20/1 to finalize #Syria delegations; DSA refuses joint bloc with Riyadh groups http://www.hawarnews.com/%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%88%D8%AF-%D9%88%D9%81%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B6-%D9%84%D8%A7-%D9%8A%D8%B9%D9%83%D8%B3-%D8%AA%D8%B7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84 … Ar. by Jihad Roj

The Die Is Cast: The #Kurds Cross the Euphrates
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/the-die-is-cast-the-kurds-cross-the-euphrates … by @FabriceBalanche

[OUTLAW 09]

Katuysha rockets are no joke. If they keep coming across the border, something will have to be done - http://news.yahoo.com/least-one-killed-shelling-near-turkish-school-syrian-091349748.html …

Iranian info warfare hard at work...........

How interesting. Leader of PODEMOS even has his phone paid for by HispanTV, Spanish wing of #Iran's Press TV.
http://goo.gl/kSBTWA

More roaring successes of that Obama WH Syrian strategy that just needs a little more messaging....in this case alot more messaging to explain.....

A must read article.......

The Syrian Intifada

The Iranian Nuclear Deal and North Korea

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on January 18, 2016
https://kyleorton1991.wordpress.com/2016/01/18/the-iranian-nuclear-deal-...

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria Rebels took over Touma village in #Latakia mountains
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=35.707771&lon=36.184759&z=14&m=b …

Syria #IS seized 3 tanks, 4 BMPs, Shilka, manpads & ammo during offensive in #DeirEzzor outskirts & establish supply line along Euphrates

DeirEzzor: #IslamicState take control of "fire & missile battalion" inside brigade 137 base
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=35.320378&lon=40.030231&z=14&m=b … …

Reports: #SAA Major General Mohammed Kaddour & Airport commander Brigadier Issam Zahreddine have left #DeirEzzor

Seems Basatin al-Nahr & Heart Hospital of #DeirEzzor now in hands of
#IslamicState
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=35.353986&lon=40.127306&z=16&m=b …

Syrian Rebels recapture several positions in Aleppo, Latakia & Hama because whether conditions were poor for airstrikes

Homs: Most important figures of NDF in Homs captured http://fb.me/7i29d5kyC

Hezbollah forces killed recently in Syria
http://en.eldorar.com/node/1242

I think you can clearly see from the last retweets that Assad propagandists claiming regime "captured all lost ground" have LIED

Pro Assad propagandists claim regime "retook all ground" in Deir Ezzor, truth is they didn't & ISIS captured more

Assads NDF were ambushed by rebels in Jabal Turkman today with no support from Russian jets due to weather conditions

[OUTLAW 09]

SAA helicopters dropped barrel bombs on #Teir_Maela
#Homs #Syria JAN 18
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAv-sBcjQBo

Murabiteen on #Salma front say assadis exaggerating their advances alot, misinformation.

Syria regime airstrike on #Moadamiyeh in #Damascus province today

2 civilians killed by road side bomb planted in #Hamidiyah village
#Idlib cs #Syria JAN 18

USA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting a #isis car bomb at #Sawda village
#Hassakah #Syria JAN 18

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Palmyra
#Homs #Syria JAN 18

TOWs back in the fight it appears.....
Rebels destroyed #SAA tank at #Turkmen_Mount fronts
#Latakia #Syria JAN 18

Rebels destroyed #SAA tank at #Marj area fronts
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 18

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat...anything from your sources on this...??????

Unconfirmed reports the helicopterw/ Suhail Hassan was shot down at #Ayishah village nearby #Kwaires aibase
#ALeppo cs #Syria JAN 18

BREAKING
Reports #SAA helicopter shot down nearby #Kwaires Airbase, Suhail Hassan (Tiger) was inside that helicopter.
#Aleppo #Syria JAN 18

[OUTLAW 09]

BREAKING
Reports #SAA helicopter shut down nearby #Kwaires Airbase, Suhail Hassan (Tiger) was inside that helicopter.
#Aleppo #Syria JAN 18

ANOTHER TOW hit........
Rebels destroyed #SAA Tank outskirts of #alBairalAhmar fronts
#Latakia cs #SYria JAN 18

AND another TOW hit........
FSA destroyed #SAA Cannon in the fronts of #Harbnafsah
#Hama cs #Syria JAN 18

SAA mercenary Brigadier Gn. "Samer Amin" from #Tartous exterminated during clashes w/#Isis
#DeirEzzor #Syria JAN18

SAA Tank shelling from their positions at #Izra targeting #Dael area
#Daraa #Syria JAN 18

SAA shelling with STS missiles targeting #alDraij town
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 18

SAA helicopters dropped barrel bombs on #Darayya
#Damascus #Syria JAN 18

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Um_Sharshouh village
#Homs #Syria JAN 18

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #alFarhanaiyah village, northern #Homs #Syria JAN 18

FSA #SultanMurad ask civilians living between #Azaz & #Jarabulus leave area for their safety
#Aleppo #Syria JAN 18

7th barrel bomb (FAB) attack of the day on Moadamiyah in the SW #Damascus suburbs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Hvt8WX1XvQ …

[OUTLAW 09]

UN, Assad and Putin playing games again with starvation.......

BREAKING
#UN & it's delegation partners POSTPONE the entry of more AID & Fuel to #Madaya(Which supposed to be today)
#Damascus #Syria JAN18

[OUTLAW 09]

IRAN: To cover up defeats in #Syria, #IRGC chief claims has 200,000 militias in the region #العراق #سوريا #السعودية

Tehran interests in #Lebanon, #Iraq and #Syria, bypassing state institutions with alternatives such as militias

[OUTLAW 09]

RPGs work as well against T72s.......
Ghouta: Syrian Rebels destroy Assad regime T-72

Rebel ATGM (type ?) hits a regime tank near Sheikh Miskin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh2U_jA9ulo …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=32.835679&lon=36.155577&z=14&m=b …

After facing criticism for abandoning #Latakia front, al-Nusra, Ahrar al-Sham, Jabhat al-Sham & other groups have begun a counter-offensive.

An #Ahrar Training vid from N-Homs
https://youtu.be/FLSlV_i2iCM

Footage
Syrian rebels shell #Aleppo airport - main hub for Iranian military support.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b977VoBjt88 …

SYRIA: Reports of limited Russian airstrikes in the area of Deir Ezzor. ISIS have recently made several gains under cover of a sand storm.

[OUTLAW 09]

SYRIA: Syria's foreign ministry says they have the right to respond to Turkish violations of Syrian sovereignty.
http://sana.sy/en/?p=66814

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat...anything on your side on this development......??

250 Russian army members arrived today in Qamishli airport and moved to a regime base in Hasaka city
https://twitter.com/Step_Agency/status/689160394032689152 …

Correction.....The force was based at Tarteb regiment base in Qamishli near the Turkish border

Regime held a reconciliation meeting to solve the dispute between the Assyrian Sutoor and the Kurdish YPG in Hasaka

ALSO anything further on this.....the Russian MoD first announced he died in Russian, then he died in Lebanon which was odd to begin with and never mentioned his wounding then this a few days ago.......

A Lebanese newspaper claims Igor Sergun died in Beirut where he was being treated for bullet wounds

Unconfirmed reports published Monday suggest that the head of Russia's secretive military intelligence service, who died last week, was injured in Syria and later died of his wounds in a Lebanese hospital.

The Al-Diyar newspaper, which is considered to be close to the Syrian regime, said that Igor Sergun was transferred to the American Hospital in Beirut for the removal of bullets from his chest but did not survive the surgery.

Russia denies the claim and says that Sergun died in Moscow.

President Vladimir Putin said in a statement on January 4 that Sergun was "a true officer, an experienced and competent commander, a person of great courage and a true patriot."

Sergun died on January 3, the defense ministry said at the time without disclosing the cause of his death. He headed Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) since 2011, and landed on the US and EU sanctions lists over Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014.

http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/98789-160111-reports-that-russian-spy-chief-was-killed-in-syria-contrary-to-moscow-s-claims

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria Rebels took over Touma village in #Latakia mountains
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=35.707771&lon=36.184759&z=14&m=b …

Syria #IS seized 3 tanks, 4 BMPs, Shilka, manpads & ammo during offensive in #DeirEzzor outskirts & establish supply line along Euphrates

DeirEzzor: #IslamicState take control of "fire & missile battalion" inside brigade 137 base
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=35.320378&lon=40.030231&z=14&m=b … …

Reports: #SAA Major General Mohammed Kaddour & Airport commander Brigadier Issam Zahreddine have left #DeirEzzor

Seems Basatin al-Nahr & Heart Hospital of #DeirEzzor now in hands of
#IslamicState
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=35.353986&lon=40.127306&z=16&m=b …

Syrian Rebels recapture several positions in Aleppo, Latakia & Hama because whether conditions were poor for airstrikes

Homs: Most important figures of NDF in Homs captured http://fb.me/7i29d5kyC

Hezbollah forces killed recently in Syria
http://en.eldorar.com/node/1242

I think you can clearly see from the last retweets that Assad propagandists claiming regime "captured all lost ground" have LIED

Pro Assad propagandists claim regime "retook all ground" in Deir Ezzor, truth is they didn't & ISIS captured more

Assads NDF were ambushed by rebels in Jabal Turkman today with no support from Russian jets due to weather conditions

Deirezzor contains huge weapons depots near Ayash village. The depots were established since the days of hostility with Saddam's regime.

[OUTLAW 09]

Interesting comment by Medvedev if true...???

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Saturday (16.1.2016) that Russia is fighting for its national interests in Syria, not for President Bashar al-Assad.

"Of course we are not fighting for specific leaders, we are defending our national interests, on the one hand," Medvedev said in an interview to air on state television.

"And secondly, we have a request from the lawful authorities (of Syria). That is the basis we are working on," he said, quoted on the government website

[OUTLAW 09]

Some might see a little humor in this Russian info warfare Sputnik media article......maybe the Russians also did not get the new Obama Syrian strategy or maybe they just mssed the "messaging"...maybe on the next Obama Putin telephone call Obama could explain it to Putin......

http://sputniknews.com/analysis/20160118/1033332882/europe-russia-relati...

Thinking Straight: US, Europe Should Ally With Russia, Not Antagonize It
Sputnik/ Vladimir Sergeev

Opinion
19:47 18.01.2016(updated 19:50 18.01.2016)


Europe could help the US and Russia to resolve their differences and join forces against radical Islamists.

Europe should help the US to realize that Russia isnt an enemy but an obvious ally in the battle against radical Islamists, according to Italian daily Il Giornale.

"The US fought against Saddam Hussein, Qaddafi and Assad only to realize that toppled secular regimes are being replaced with Islamists," the newspaper points out.
Furthermore, some Arab states that the US attempted to recruit to deal with this new menace actually ended up funding the Islamists instead of fighting them.

But instead of addressing the threat, the Western governments kept antagonizing Russia, their 'most obvious ally', Il Giornale remarks. The US imposed sanctions against Russia and coerced other European states to back this campaign, effectively alienating the country which has always been a political and cultural part of Europe.

Instead of continuing to cater to all of the US' 'whims', the European nations should put an end to the climate of mistrust in its relations with Russia, and form 'a united front of friendship and trust,' the newspaper claims. In order to do so, Europe should revoke the anti-Russian sanctions, provide assistance in the Russian-Ukrainian dialogue, and help Ukraine adopt a new constitution that would grant greater autonomy to the countrys regions.

"Lets all work together to restore peace between the US, Europe and Russia," Il Giornale concludes.

In 2014, the European Union, the United States and their allies imposed a series of economic sanctions against Russian nationals and key spheres of the country's economy accusing Moscow of meddling in Ukraine's internal affairs and escalating a military crisis in the country.

Russia has denied playing any role in the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, warning that the Western sanctions were counterproductive.

BUT WAIT..98% of all Russian air strikes are hitting the FSA not the Islamic State...so what are the Russians trying to say in this article.....that the IS SHOULD BE left alone........????

[OUTLAW 09]

Video of peshmerga turning back IS attack in south Kirkuk today Is there a US spotter in the video?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCVbuUK9dYE …

Yes there is........

[OUTLAW 09]

SYRIA
#IslamicState/#ISIS Released Video Shows Gov. Soldiers Who Surrendered To #ISIS In N. Of #Kuweiris Airport.
pic.twitter.com/nBD0KeBCdc

Latakia: Rebels capture Ta'ouma in Jabal Al Akrad with dozens of Assad forces killed

Syria #IS-statement claim 50 #Assad-forces killed today in #DeirEzzor

[CrowBat]

CrowBat...anything on your side on this development......??

250 Russian army members arrived today in Qamishli airport and moved to a regime base in Hasaka city
https://twitter.com/Step_Agency/status/689160394032689152 …AFAIK, they're mixing members of that Gozarto Defence Force (Assyrians) for 'Russians'.

GDF has (or had) a contingent (so-called '120th Brigade') deployed from Qamishli with Russian aircraft to Homs, where they're fighting Daesh.

Perhaps this contingent was returned to Qamishli because of recent series of clashes between the GDF and 'non-sectarian' and 'secular' YPG...

...and another 'great moment' in this freak show: interviews with 'terrorists' that survived a 'highly precise' Russian air strike on a poultry farm near Zorbeh, in southern Aleppo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42kdF6LSBGU

[CrowBat]

RPGs work as well against T72s.......
Ghouta: Syrian Rebels destroy Assad regime T-72

Rebel ATGM (type ?) hits a regime tank near Sheikh Miskin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh2U_jA9ulo …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=32.835679&lon=36.155577&z=14&m=b … It's a Chinese-made 'Improved Malyutka' (tandem warhead).


SYRIA: Reports of limited Russian airstrikes in the area of Deir Ezzor. ISIS have recently made several gains under cover of a sand storm.
There were no Russian air strikes on Dayr az-Zawr area the last few days: the one video that showed any combat aircraft operating there was showing an Assadist Su-24 (and trust me, it's really 'Assadist': I drew an colour profile of 'his' aircraft for one of pilots, about a year ago).

...and today: well, nobody is flying in sand storms, 'not even' the USAF.

[OUTLAW 09]

Outlaw09 is a critic, even harsh, of President Obama's NSC, so I was interested - as a non-American observer - to read this short critique of the NSC:http://breakingdefense.com/2016/01/national-security-council-fractured-advice-conflicting-messages/

While I am not a fan of FOX this article is along my complaints of the Obama Administration and his NSC......and why I hammer away on the WaPo article on why Obama "thinks we just not get his Syrian strategy".....we need just a little more messaging...BUT more Twitter is not going to replace the need for a understandable clear and concise strategic strategy.....


As the Obama administration celebrates what it claims is a great victory for its nuclear diplomacy with Iran, many Americans are scratching their heads and wondering how we got to this point given the many examples of Iranian bad faith and belligerent behavior since the nuclear deal was announced last July. For example...

· Because the IAEA declared that Iran met the requirements to roll back its nuclear program to what the nuclear deal calls “Implementation Day,” it will receive approximately $150 billion in sanctions relief even through Iran is still designated by the United States as a state sponsor of terror and was listed in a June 2015 State Department report as the world’s leading terrorist state.

· Over the last six months, Iran increased its support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah, its terrorist proxy.

· Iran is threatening Saudi Arabia by backing a Shiite insurgency in Yemen. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states broke off diplomatic relations with Iran this month after the Saudi embassy and a consulate in Iran were ransacked.

· Iran tested ballistic missiles in October and November even though President Obama and Secretary Kerry said last July that under the deal Tehran would abide by U.N. Security Council resolutions for eight years calling on it to halt its missile program. (The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Iran for the missile tests yesterday but Foundation for Defense and Democracy Executive Director Mark Dubowitz called them "symbolic and ineffective.")

· Iran fired rockets last month near a U.S. aircraft carrier. It also detained and humiliated 10 U.S. Navy sailors last week.

At the same time, few Americans understand that Iran keeps its nuclear infrastructure under the nuclear deal and will be allowed to expand it.

· Iran will continue enriching uranium under the nuclear deal with 5,000 uranium centrifuges and will be developing more advanced centrifuges while the deal is in effect. This will occur even though when Barack Obama became president, his administration supported the Bush administration’s effort to stop the spread of uranium enrichment technology and strengthened a nuclear technology sharing agreement with the UAE which required it to not to pursue this technology.

· Although Iran agreed to remove the core of a plutonium-producing heavy water-reactor, it will be rebuilt and redesigned with Chinese assistance. While the redesigned reactor will produce less plutonium, it also will help Iran to master this technology.

· Although President Obama and Secretary Kerry said Iran sent all of its enriched uranium out of the country, they failed to mention that this was a swap for an equivalent amount of uranium ore that can be converted into enriched uranium in a few months.

· President Obama said last July that the issue of Iran’s past nuclear weapons work would be addressed. The IAEA issued a report on this issue in December that said Iran failed to fully cooperate and provided some answers to investigators that were false. The report also said Iran engaged in nuclear weapons research until 2009. Despite this report, the United States voted with other IAEA members last month to close the IAEA’s file on this issue.

· Although nuclear deal has weak verification provisions, the Iranian parliament made them even weaker last October when it ratified an amended version of the deal containing new language on dismantling Israel’s nuclear weapons program, requiring that sanctions under the agreement be cancelled and not suspended, forbidding IAEA inspections of military installations, and barring IAEA interviews of Iranian military officers and scientists.

And then there is the issue of the “swap” of five American hostages for seven Iranian criminals held in U.S. prisons and the removal of 14 other Iranian criminal and terrorists from the INTERPOL wanted list. As objectionable as this sounds, President Obama and Secretary Kerry failed to mention that Oman paid Iran $500,000 ransom each for the release of the Americans and that several were brutally mistreated while incarcerated. At least two other innocent Americans plus a U.S. green card holder are still being by Iran.

Given these factors, how can the Obama administration claim Iran has complied with the nuclear agreement?

How can it justify providing over $150 billion in sanctions relief that Tehran is likely to spend on terrorism and destabilizing the Middle East?

How can the United States reward a state that used Americans as hostages to advance its policy goals?

How can Obama officials say this nuclear deal is a great diplomatic success?

The answer to these questions is this: because the Obama administration wanted a legacy nuclear agreement with Iran so badly they made any concession necessary to get one.

When Iranian officials refused to give up their uranium enrichment program, the U.S. said they could keep it.

When Iran balked on including restrictions on ballistic missile tests in the agreement, they were removed.

To get around Tehran’s refusal to answer questions about its past nuclear weapons work, this issue was moved into a secret side deal between the IAEA and Iran.

The Obama administration also took Iran’s sponsorship of terror and its meddling in the Middle East off the table. The deal drops U.N. and EU sanctions on Iranian terrorist individuals and entities. Even worse, the U.S. encouraged Iran to play a more active role in Iraq which is driving tensions between the Shiite government and Iraqi Sunnis.

The Iran nuclear agreement is national security fraud. It will not stop or slow Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.

The deal’s weak verification provision will not detect Iranian cheating.

Seeing itself as the big winner in the nuclear deal, Iran probably will be emboldened to expand its efforts to destabilize its neighbors and sponsorship of terrorism using the estimated $150 billion in sanctions relief it won in the deal.

How did Iran reach the nuclear deal’s Implementation Day? Because the Obama administration rigged the game by setting the bar so low that Iranian compliance was assured.

That’s how desperate President Obama was to get his legacy nuclear deal with Iran.

That’s what led to a disastrous agreement that will may do enormous damage to international security for decades to come

[CrowBat]

CrowBat...anything from your sources on this...??????

Unconfirmed reports the helicopterw/ Suhail Hassan was shot down at #Ayishah village nearby #Kwaires aibase
#ALeppo cs #Syria JAN 18

BREAKING
Reports #SAA helicopter shot down nearby #Kwaires Airbase, Suhail Hassan (Tiger) was inside that helicopter.
#Aleppo #Syria JAN 18
There are plenty of such 'reports' circling the internet but nothing firm. Also, sorry: got no sources there, so can't confirm or deny this.

Certain is only: regime is as silent as a grave. Means: not even in denial.

So, I would say we've got to wait and see...

[CrowBat]

...re. Dayr az-Zawr...

The Daesh offensive there seems to have really hurt the regime badly.

The Deirezzor24 (http://en.deirezzor24.net/isis-makes-more-gains-in-deir-ezzor-and-a-sandstorm-sweeps-across-the-province/) (one of most reliable local sources), reports that the Daesh not only captured but still controls al-Bughayliya, despite regime counterattack. They have also captured - and are still holding - al-Jazeera Private University, Ayash arms depots, Sayqa Base (where Daesh shot this series of photos of captured equipment and dead NDF ([url=http://justpaste.it/tlidh), making it clear they've captured 3 T-72s, 4 BPMs, and a Shilka), Radar and Radio Hills, all NW of the city.

There are rumours (https://twitter.com/alfurat2freedom/status/689000524889325569) that in the captured SAM site, the Daesh should have captured at least three 'anti-aircraft missiles', maybe more (some guess '20-50').

Yesterday, the Daesh should've brought in reinforcements and last evening - amid a sand-storm - assaulted the Heart Hospital and western Jura district, plus Basatin al-Nahr district, thus reaching the northern entry to the air base. Their artillery began shelling regime positions around Hotel al-Furat, west of Dayr az-Zawr.

Contrary to reports by regime-fans that 'Russians returned to the skies' over Dayr az-Zawr, it is still only the Assadist Su-24s that are operating there (see photo attached below; note sand + brown camo on top surfaces, as applied only on Assadist Su-24M2s). Three days ago they massacred several families in al-Bughayliya instead of hitting Daesh there (see report cited below); yesterday, they attempted to hit the Daesh north of the Base 137. Results are unclear...

For their part, Russians are heavily bombing villages west of Dayr az-Zawr.... ('makes sense' to Moscow, I guess...:rolleyes:)

There are more rumours from regime-fans (https://www.facebook.com/alfurat222freedom2/posts/1018186268244543) reporting the death of Maj Gen Essam Zahreddine (Druze CO of the 104th Brigade RGD), in addition to (confirmed) death of Brig Gen Samir Amen Ali etc., other regime-fans report (https://twitter.com/alfurat2freedom/status/689049464162619392) Zahreddine 'has been hit' and was evacuated out of the city, together with Maj Gen Mohammed Kadour (https://twitter.com/sayed_ridha/status/689124375371489280).

...well, whatever... essence of all of this is that the Daesh has de-facto destroyed most of regime's presence in northern outskirts of Dayr az-Zawr with this operation; that with all the losses of some of top commanders, and with the loss of one of its major ammo storage areas, the garrison there is unlikely to hold out for very much longer. Unsurprisingly, there are already rumours that Russians might deploy at least a battalion from their VDV brigade there. I don't consider this very likely, though: Daesh simply has no priority for Russians.

Finally, the Deirezzor24 (http://en.deirezzor24.net/isis-still-controls-al-bughayliya-and-no-evidence-that-the-group-perpetrated-a-massacre-against-civilians-in-the-town/) has earlier denied any kind of mass-slaughter of civilians by the Daesh - as reported by regime-fans. Instead, they specify:

The number of civilians who have fallen martyrs in the ongoing clashes in the western countryside of Deir Ezzor is twelve, and to be more precise they were martyred by a deadly regime airstrike on the town of al Bughayliya yesterday, DeirEzzor24 correspondent in the western countryside of Deir Ezzor added.

Those executed by ISIS in the town of al Bughyaliya yesterday were only Assad forces along with the National Defense militiamen (NDF), after the group had captured them in the town, and their number does not exceed 15 elements. On other hand, many civilians have fled to the village of Ayash in rural Deir Ezzor amid heavy clashes in the town of al Bughayliya.

[OUTLAW 09]

Iran sanctions: Middle East stock markets crash as Tehran enters oil war
http://www.unian.info/economics/1239082-iran-sanctions-middle-east-stock-markets-crash-as-tehran-enters-oil-war.html …
pic.twitter.com/5uySeL3n6i

The IEA Sees Risk of a World Drowning in Oil
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-19/iea-says-oil-rout-could-deepen-as-market-drowns-in-oversupply …
pic.twitter.com/5i0jfARBCT

IEA: Iran's oil inventory is brimming and it's ready to cut deals, adding to a 1.5-m barrel-a-day oversupply. In short--yes oil can go lower

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria #Hama #IS blow up HQ of #Assad-forces on road Salamiyah to Sabburah with truck bomb

SOHR: Since start of #DeirEzzor offensive, #SAA have lost 120 soldiers, 40 of them were executed, #IS has lost 70, 28 were suicide bombers

Syria diplomacy as Geneva talks approach: "there is still no agreement on who, if anyone, will show up." http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/19/world/middleeast/dispute-over-oppositions-seat-at-table-threatens-to-push-back-syria-peace-talks.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news …

Syria #DeirEzzor: #IS now try to storm Euphrates hotel ruin -after tanks & vehicle bombs destroyed it fully
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=35.360767&lon=40.105435&z=18&m=h …

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria #DeirEzzor: Map of remaining area under regime control after #IS offensive
pic.twitter.com/L67ZPOUCRf

Syria Intense #Russia'n airstrikes on #DeirEzzor city & rural villages

Rumors about #Russia'n ground-forces transfer to stop #IslamicState -advance in #DeirEzzor /eastern #Syria

The only reason Assad regime has held out for so long in Deir Ezzor is cuz they have 2 heavily fortified military bases & airbase in addition to that they have a lot of weapons in those bases & air support. If Deir Ezzor falls though, Russia will be exposed basically what I'm saying is Assad is screwed & this will be a great humiliation to him & his Russian allies

I'm not going to link ISIS media proganda but let me just say Assad forces took a HUGE beating in Deir Ezzor not only has ISIS taken more than 15km of territory but there's also a sandstorm meaning there will be no air support

540 displaced families in #Taldahab
420 in #kfrlaha
330 in #Taldow
230 in #AlBurg
#AlHoula N rural of #Homs

Mass graves are needed..
#Saraqeb #Idlib #Syria JAN 18
#SCD

Syrian rebels in besieged #Homs province resist #Assad since years.
With those rifles ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE2cWus5-wg …

#ISIS counteroffensive S-W of #Doudyan in last 24h.Turkish-backed rebels still too weak to hold ground.

Footage
Syrian rebels in #Latakia with newly delivered RAK-12 rocket launcher.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evS6GrfFnvw …

Image allegedly shows Turkish mine clearing vehicles near the Turkey/Syria border. - @ValkryV

SYRIA: #Turkey has begun clearing mines along Turkish/Syrian border near ISIS-held #Jarabulus
https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/NewsReports/566505-turkey-clearing-isis-mines-along-syria-border …

SYRIA: #YPG dismisses 4 fighters after being charged with damaging civilian housing.
http://hawarnews.com/ypg-%D9%8A%D9%82%D8%B7%D8%B9-%D8%B9%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%82%D8%AA%D9%87-%D8%A8%D9%804-%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%87/ …

VIDEO: Ahrar al-Sham destroy 23mm gun in the Hama countryside, #Syria.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYaIr6N17vk&feature=youtu.be …

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria #IS claim taken the last remaining barrier at western entrance of #DeirEzzor city
-probably Euphrates hotel or Jura roundabout

Aric Toler @AricToler
Shout out to NewsRU for citing my @bellingcat report of "Likely no robots used in Syria" as "Robots used in Syria!"
http://www.newsru.com/world/18jan2016/rurobotsinsyria.html …

More dubious reports of Russian combat robots being used in Syria. Have any of these been seen anywhere in Syria?
pic.twitter.com/n5cV6G3pv4

Syria Russian Orlan-10 over Sheikh Maskin, Daraa.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeFa4j1bJGY …
pic.twitter.com/HUDOA61fvl

[OUTLAW 09]

Syrian government delegation at peace talks will be led by same guy who said this last week:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/19/world/middleeast/dispute-over-oppositions-seat-at-table-threatens-to-push-back-syria-peace-talks.html … pic.twitter.com/qaKbC2VDIq

THERE is no starvation in Syria........

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian MoD got caught in their own lying......

SYRIA Humanitarian operation on delivering products and articles of 1st necessity to regions blocked by terrorists is continued
NOTICE the Russian MoD says nothing about villages, and towns besieged by Assad.....

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
SYRIA Thus, more than 40 tons of humanitarian cargos were projected to Deir ez-Zor and other blocked regions yesterday

NOT so sure what the Russian dropped yesterday due to the massive sandstorm, heavy rain and fog........AND Deir ez Zor has been heavily attacked by IS since yesterday and largely in their hands...SO what did Russia drop?????????

NO one was flying anything anywhere yesterday and largely again today......

[OUTLAW 09]

Yes ladies and gents, @muradort doctored the #RedCross spokesperson's statement because it didn't fit his narrative.
#RT just cut 7 sec out.

SNHR: at least 6 victims including a girl died in suspected Russian warplanes shelling on Al Boulail in Deir Ez-Zour, Jan 19.

Syria #IslamicState cut off water supply for entire #Aleppo city
(via Euphrates river channel)

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria Big explosion inside #Russia'n Humaimam airbase in #Latakia
-unknown reason-

[OUTLAW 09]

IF one looks at the total lack of any comment of the Obama WH concerning the heavy loses of civilians being killed by Russian air strikes, the total lack of any comment on the use of starvation as a battlefield tactic, the slowing and or total stopping of weapons, supplies AND TOWs to the FSA in order to force them to compromise with Assad, the total back down from their 4 year demands that Assad must go.....AND not a single comment by the Iranian use of Iraqi Shia militia, IRGC troops, Hezbollah and the Shia mercenaries they have imported.....

BUT then this pops up indicating that all of the above is the joint Obama Putin Syrian strategy......

Hassan Hassan ‏@hxhassan
Of course, this will go nowhere & facts on the ground won't be changed much. What matters to Russia is to stop support for the rebels inside

Hassan Hassan
‏@hxhassan The danger here is that the US isn't opposed to the Russia plan, of restructuring the opposition/delegation, inclusion "loyalist opposition"

So the alignments on Syria are clear. The WH is in the same camp as Russia and Iran. Not in the camp of US allies France, KSA, Turkey.

Hassan Hassan ‏@hxhassan
The UN is even annoyed ppl bring up humanitarian issues as that districts, may spoil, the "political process". A cynical game par excellence

Hassan Hassan ‏@hxhassan
The US, and de Mistura's team, are happy to make it seem there is progress even if it's a false one, there is a clear rush for that.

De Mestora has the duty to form the opposition negotiating team, and he will pick the nominated figures from Riyadh meeting.

Hassan Hassan ‏@hxhassan
If the plan re Syria's peace talks goes as Russia wishes, this will mark a big change in the conflict's foreign management. Dangerous moment

[OUTLAW 09]

Outlaw09 is a critic, even harsh, of President Obama's NSC, so I was interested - as a non-American observer - to read this short critique of the NSC:http://breakingdefense.com/2016/01/national-security-council-fractured-advice-conflicting-messages/

David.......this is an interesting six minutes and worth listening to.......

Appears that the Obama WH has more than a messaging problem on Syrian especially where Iran is heavily engaged in Syria with their IRGC, Hezbollah and Iraqi Shia militias....

This interview w/Obama's 1st SECDEF Bob Gates is worth 6 mins of your time. He calls it straight. And he's spot-on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT72MGPpJ1E&feature=youtu.be …

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat.......here is something for especially you......

Footage
#RuAF Su-24 drops unguided Russian OFAB-250 bombs from many km over #Syria.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4iCRnPBo18 …
pic.twitter.com/mGFFDA82Kz

Curvature of the Earth: Check
Dumb bombs: Check
Dubious claims: Check

RT Verified account 
‏@RT_com Russia kills 60 ISIS militants in Deir ez-Zor, where hundreds of civilians massacred
http://on.rt.com/727a

Reality on the ground.....hundreds not massacred......

[OUTLAW 09]

Wonder if this has gone unnoticed or is it a deliberate move on the part of the Obama WH to truly ignore the reality on the ground in Syria....think so.

Rif Damascus Governorate Council estimate number of ppl under #Assad & Hezb siege in #Madaya & #EastGhouta of 480k! https://twitter.com/Channel4News/status/688135192737787904 …

REMEMBER Iran is Hezbollah AND Hezbollah is Iran AND Iran needs a land corridor via Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon.......

[OUTLAW 09]

Hama countryside..
#Syria JAN 19
Rain = No airstrikes = Smiles

alTal neighborhood..
Rain = No airstrikes.. al7amdulillah
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 19

The rain is going away, it means the warplanes will be back..
alFateh Masjid St. #Aleppo #Syria JAN 19

SAA Mercenary Brigadier Gn. Aziz Ahmed Saker exterminated by #FSA in #Sheikh_Meskin
#Daraa #Syria JAN 19

Destruction of civilians houses due #SAA bombardment in #Masraba
#Damascus cs #Syria JAN 19

6 martyrs including 2 children victims of #Russia airstrikes on #DeirEzzor
#Syria JAN 19

Footage
#FreeSyria media from an attempted rebel counteroffensive in #Latakia province.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFUC0AmrSWY …

After serious study, Russia has produced a list of 15 dissidents able to represent Syrian rebels at the peace talks.
pic.twitter.com/AWPlPfINRK

Twitter hit by sporadic outages in many parts of the globe:
http://reut.rs/1Pe7ICZ
pic.twitter.com/Y9d43VlFB9

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria Big explosion inside #Russia'n Humaimam airbase in #Latakia
-unknown reason-

ASSad Regime "confirms" killing of a number of #Russia mercenaries in an explosion at #Hmaimam airbase yesterday JAN 18
#Latakia #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

That raving successful Syrian strategy was what again.......????

Russia-Syria mil treaty resembles the Soviet-Baltic "pacts" of 1939. Important read by @MollyMcKew
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/details-of-moscows-deal-with-syr... …

When I posted on the Syrian thread the Russian SOFA documents I indicated this was the new Russian FP for the ME........

Details of Moscow’s Deal with Syria Reveal Extent of Russian Dominance
Analysis: New documents suggest Russia is in the Middle East to stay

[OUTLAW 09]

Hama: 8 pro Assad fighters killed trying to advance & regime repelled

Hama: Assad repelled trying to advance to Banafsah
http://fb.me/76jwqV9F5

Sahl Ghab: Assad regime conducting airstrikes overt Sarmaniyah & Al Ziyarah while Deir Ezzor falls

Ahrar al-Sham Movement swap 1 Hezbollah fighter for 6 civilians (4 of whom were women)
http://en.eldorar.com/node/1249

[OUTLAW 09]

AFAIK, they're mixing members of that Gozarto Defence Force (Assyrians) for 'Russians'.

GDF has (or had) a contingent (so-called '120th Brigade') deployed from Qamishli with Russian aircraft to Homs, where they're fighting Daesh.

Perhaps this contingent was returned to Qamishli because of recent series of clashes between the GDF and 'non-sectarian' and 'secular' YPG...

...and another 'great moment' in this freak show: interviews with 'terrorists' that survived a 'highly precise' Russian air strike on a poultry farm near Zorbeh, in southern Aleppo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42kdF6LSBGU

Qamishli: reports that Russian troops reached the airbase
http://fb.me/2r2neSMwL

[CrowBat]

CrowBat.......here is something for especially you......

Footage
#RuAF Su-24 drops unguided Russian OFAB-250 bombs from many km over #Syria.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4iCRnPBo18 …
pic.twitter.com/mGFFDA82Kz

Curvature of the Earth: Check
Dumb bombs: Check
Dubious claims: Check

RT Verified account 
‏@RT_com Russia kills 60 ISIS militants in Deir ez-Zor, where hundreds of civilians massacred
http://on.rt.com/727a

Reality on the ground.....hundreds not massacred......
This is like watching videos of Mao Zedong's speeches about extraordinary success of Chinese farmers, from 1958 (when 40 million of Chinese died of famine)...


Qamishli: reports that Russian troops reached the airbase
http://fb.me/2r2neSMwL
Photos - or it didn't happen. There are photos (or videos) of everything going on in Syria. Just not of 'Russians in Qamishli'...?

BTW SOHR (http://www.syriahr.com/?p=151411) reports it's the USA who have extended Rimeilan airport in Qamishli. They started the story that Russians are there too.

I guess, they all mean this airstrip: http://wikimapia.org/34195924/Rimelan-Air-Base-under-construction

US activity there was reported first time in December - https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/NewsReports/566329-us-preparing-airbase-in-northeast-syria-reports - and again the last week: https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/NewsReports/566487-us-reportedly-considering-training-base-in-northeast-syria

[OUTLAW 09]

Finally the UN makes an anti Assad decision in the name of humanity....the UN urgently needs to check the political views of their employees based though in Damascus........

The @UN has given approval to nations to carry out air drops over besieged Syrian towns without #Assad's permission: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/12108990/Air-drop-food-to-starving-Syrians-UN-tells-Britain.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

RussianEmbassyBrunei ✔ @RusEmbBrunei

#Russian and #Malaysian companies signed agreement on #drone production in #Miri, Malaysia
http://www.bt.com.bn/news-asia/2016/01/20/miri-be-hub-development-drone-technology …
pic.twitter.com/Xt0wWUq0DN

[OUTLAW 09]

Daraa Rebels captured 5 #Assad-forces in Shayk Maskin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYTgUw4EMOY&feature=youtu.be …

Ahrar al Sham embarrass Russian media by exposing their lies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42kdF6LSBGU&feature=youtu.be …

Latakia: 2 former Assad regime fighters defected & surrendered themselves to Turkish forces
http://fb.me/7YkVGCe7t

4 Hezbollah fighters killed in Syria recently

The United Nations officially declared 50,000 Iraqis were killed in two years, majority at the hands of the Iraqi army

Deir Ezzor: Assad regime General executed 3 NDF members after refusing orders to go to the front line against ISIS in Salamah checkpoint

Assad Brig. Gen. Aziz Ahmad Sakr killed by Syrian Rebels in Deraa Sheikh Maskin. He's from Alawite town of Saqr in Qardaha

Iranian revolutionary guard commander Mohammad Aynanlo killed in Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian air strikes kill 40 Syrians – Ukraine intel
http://www.unian.info/world/1241471-russian-air-strikes-kill-40-syrians-ukraine-intel.html …
pic.twitter.com/t9t8JBvr2u

[OUTLAW 09]

Lavrov's handshake with Nuland at 19 second mark is just amazing.
https://twitter.com/mfa_russia/status/689799099478990849 …

From this last June.......when six RuAF crashed and or exploded over four months due to poor maintenance and bad fuel
Moscow Times: Video emerges of Russian Tu-95 Bear strategic bomber exploding
http://uatoday.tv/news/moscow-times-video-emerges-of-russian-tu-95-bear-strategic-bomber-exploding-574924.html …

Islamic State captured another 2K12 Kub surface-to-air missile
http://defence-blog.com/news/islamic-state-captured-another-2k12-kub-surface-to-air-missile.html …
pic.twitter.com/ZMlZGfmk03

Syria: Many IS militants were killed as Ahrār ash-Shām fighters repelled attacks on Sheikh Rih & Al-Bal, n-#Aleppo.

Wage arrears at TASS news agency detected. Cracks in the propaganda wall?
https://meduza.io/news/2016/01/20/v-tasse-nachali-zaderzhivat-zarplatu …

[OUTLAW 09]

Leaves little doubt that there are stockpiles of PMN antipersonnel mines in Syria
https://twitter.com/oryxspioenkop/status/689781320755601408 …

Syria New supplies parachuted by #Russia'n cargo plane into #DeirEzzor city- also helicopters landing on airbase

ISIS captures arms, including SAMs and ATGMs, from the regime military in Deirezzor.
pic.twitter.com/g2rVfAXFpW

Here's more from radio hill in Deir Ez-Zor.
https://m.imgur.com/a/8OAuS

Syria Interview: Fact and Fiction Over ISIS “Massacre of Civilians” in Deir ez-Zor | EA WorldView
http://eaworldview.com/2016/01/syria-interview-fact-and-fiction-over-isis-massacre-of-civilians-in-deir-ez-zor/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

Come on someone here at SWJ convince me with a logical argument that this President, his NSC and DoS Kerry really "get it" meaning do they fully understand UW ie non linear warfare AND do they under the concept of "perception" in the ME.

While nations are proposing airdrops to help besieged starving civilians in Syria, can u guess who is objecting? http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/20/world/middleeast/airdrops-called-too-risky-a-way-to-help-starving-syrians.html …

Apparently the Obama administration doesn't want to send humanitarian airdrops into Syria as they "may end up with extremists" WTH is this???????

I know some are pretending Assad is a saviour but this is the truth-Deir Ezzor Civilians Besieged by Both ISIS+Assad http://eaworldview.com/2016/01/syria-feature-deir-ez-zors-civilians-besieged-by-islamic-state/ …

Do they fully understand just how the entire Syrian civil population has become "radicalized" in almost five years of genocide, chemical weapons used on them, starvation as a battlefield tactic AND now dodging highly inaccurate Russian deliberate air strikes on civilians.....

Just how can DC believe a civil society will not radicalize under that pressure...IMHO I am totally amazed they have not gone fully over to IS.

[CrowBat]

Islamic State captured another 2K12 Kub surface-to-air missile
http://defence-blog.com/news/islamic-state-captured-another-2k12-kub-surface-to-air-missile.html …
pic.twitter.com/ZMlZGfmk03
...the regime also lost two three intact T-72s, four BMPs etc. there.

...plus two intact T-55s, captured by FSyA insurgents near al-Hour village, on Jebel Akrad (NE Lattakia), today.

Makes one wonder: where are all the possible talkingheads now to explain that the regime is 'supplying arms to terrorists and extremists'...

[OUTLAW 09]

FREE_SYRIAN_ARMY captured Assad army officer with 14 soldiers in #Lattakia this morning

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Tadeef town
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 20

Rebels storming #SAA mercenaries positions at #alMansoura & #alJadedeh fronts
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 20

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Housan village, western #DeirEzzor countryside
#Syria JAN 20

[OUTLAW 09]

Effects of the Iran Deal.....how is that Obama Syrian strategy going for the Sunni's in the ME.......

Hassan Hassan ‏@hxhassan
Unbelievably gory images coming out of Diyala, Iraq. Beheading & burning ppl alive at the hands of pro-govt militias.
Zero media coverage!

[OUTLAW 09]

Head of IRGC boasts about Iranian sponsored Basij-like military forces in Syria, Iraq and Libya (!).
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941030000680 …

Initially reported a few days ago and the figure he quoted was 200,000

[OUTLAW 09]

...the regime also lost two three intact T-72s, four BMPs etc. there.

...plus two intact T-55s, captured by FSyA insurgents near al-Hour village, on Jebel Akrad (NE Lattakia), today.

Makes one wonder: where are all the possible talkingheads now to explain that the regime is 'supplying arms to terrorists and extremists'...

Another BMP-1 captured along with one 23mm ZU-23 and GAZ-66 trucks. pic.twitter.com/mYlTigGqzC

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat...thought you might like this "disjointed statement...????

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia

#SYRIA Near Jebel al-Akrad (Latakia province), Russian AF made 4 strikes against disjoined groups of retreating militants

[OUTLAW 09]

US 'takes control' of Rmeilan airfield in Syria
http://aje.io/wkp7
ic.twitter.com/rtSZb454n1

[OUTLAW 09]

In some aspects the KSA oil war with Putin and the US might in fact rescue the lack of an Obama Syrian strategy as well as resolve eastern Ukraine and Crimea.....

Putin is seriously about two weeks away from an existential question for his continued Russian leadership......."guns and or butter and it cannot be now both at the same time"....maybe Putin needs to read up on LBJs handling of that same question.

Oil drops below $27
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-19/oil-trades-near-12-yea... … …
pic.twitter.com/gEufic3euO

Oil industry insiders now say the bottom is at 16 USD ....remember the last Russian total collapse occurred at 34USD.......and that was also driven by the KSA.

[OUTLAW 09]

Another roaring success story of the Obama Syrian strategy THAT indeed does need some messaging......MIGHT in fact explain why the US suddenly halted the advances of the SDF....

Is #Turkey set to intervene in northern #Syria? Kurdish advances may leave them no choice.
http://www.levantinegroup.com/#!Is-Turkey-planning-to-intervene-in-northern-Syria/c21xo/569ea5580cf2ca1e5ff743f0 …

Obama is awful close to crossing the true red line of Turkey and Turkey will respond unlike Obama.

Those remote controlled mine clearance vehicles directly offloaded on the Syrian/Turkish border might have been the "indicator".....AND US MSM simply ignored it....

IRAQ: Satellite images show evidence of deliberate mass destruction in Peshmerga-controlled Arab villages.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/01/northern-iraq-satellite-images-back-up-evidence-of-deliberate-mass-destruction-in-peshmerga-controlled-arab-villages/ …

SYRIA: Turkey "cannot accept" Russian demand that Kurds join opposition group at talks scheduled for next week
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/12108971/Syria-peace-talks-on-point-of-collapse-over-Kurds.html …

Forced Displacement, Deliberate Destruction in Northern #Iraq
https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde14/3229/2016/en … 46-page @amnesty report on Kurds destroying Arab towns

[OUTLAW 09]

VIDEO: #FSA use grenades in assault on #SAA position in Sheikh Miskeen, #Syria.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDrsgAoNQAk …

Counteroffensive in #Latakia countryside continues. Rebels take new positions and #Assad militias heavy losses.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia reportedly plans new airbase next to the US one in #Syria's northeast
https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/NewsReports/566513-russia-considering-airbase-in-syrias-qamishli-monitor …

NOW

Published: 20/01/2016 12:24 PM

Russia considering airbase in Syria’s Qamishli:


The SOHR said Russian officers and engineers have conducted studies on the civilian airport in northeastern Syria.

BEIRUT – Russia has reportedly been studying the feasibility of converting the civilian international airport in northeast Syria into an airbase for its expanding aerial operations on behalf of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Tuesday night cited activists as saying that in recent days they spotted Russian officers and engineers arriving at the airport in the Hasakeh city of Qamishli, where both Kurdish and regime security forces maintain an uneasy power-sharing agreement.

Russian officials were conducting studies on the airport with the aim of bolstering its defenses and expanding the facility so that it can be used by Russian fighter jets and cargo planes, the monitoring NGO added.

Meanwhile, the activist Local Coordination Committees claimed that a delegation of Russian troops had flown into Qamishli International Airport.

“One hundred Russian soldiers, including ten officers of different ranks, arrived Monday morning at Qamishli airport on a special Syrian military aircraft,” the network of local activist groups reported overnight Tuesday.

The group added that the Russian military delegation proceeded to deploy to the nearby Regiment 154 base, which serves as a defensive line for the airport and is equipped with radars, anti-aircraft guns as well as artillery batteries.

LCC also quoted its sources saying that Russian intelligence officers visited Qamishli to meet with both Kurdish and regime security officials to discuss the Russian military presence.

While the LCC said no information was leaked on what operations the Russian would be conducting, the activist group’s sources did assert that the Russians would deploy only in regime-controlled areas of Qamishli, and not areas managed by the Kurds.

Kurdish internal security forces (Asayesh) control large swathes of Qamishli and its surrounding eastern and western outskirts, while pro-regime forces maintain a presence in the center of the city, as well as the nearby airport and Regiment 154 bases to the south.

The Syrian regime has kept up public appearances of maintaining control over the northeastern Syrian region, even as the Kurds have moved increasingly toward autonomy amid tense non-aggression agreements with the remaining pro-Assad forces.

In January 2014, Kurdish authorities declared the formation of three self-ruled cantons (Cizire, Afrin and Kobane) under the Democratic Self-Rule Administration of Rojava, which has been dominated by the Democratic Union party (PYD) and its People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia forces.

The political reorganization was not recognized by the Syrian regime; however, it has become a de-facto reality, especially since pro-government forces withdrew from most Kurdish-populated regions in 2012, with the exception of Qamishli and the provincial capital Hasakeh 75 kilometers to the south.

Syria’s Kurds have been militarily ascendant in the past year rolling back ISIS in the Hasakeh province as well as in the Kobane region.

[OUTLAW 09]

Brig. Gen. Asaad al-Zoubi reportedly elected head of the Riyadh bloc's opposition delegation in Geneva; George Sabra is his deputy.

Islam Army's Mohammed Alloush is also on the team, which would be far more representative of fighters on the ground than in Geneva II.

[OUTLAW 09]

IS the Islamic State running low on fighters..........???

Syria Rebels killed 20 #IS members during their failed assault on villages in northern #Aleppo -all under 18 years

Names of the martyrs, victims of #Russia airstrikes on #Hazano village
#Idlib #Syria JAN 20
(Entire family killed)

People under rubble aftermath #Russia airstrikes on #Hazano killing 8 including 4 children
#Idlib #Syria JAN 20

Rebels targeted w/ mortars #SAA terrorists 26th Division exterminating a number of it's mercenaries in #Teir_Maela
#Homs cs #Syria jAN 20

Reports; 40+ #SAA terrorists exterminated due explosion at their ammunition depot of #Um_Haratyn village nearby #alWaer
#Homs #Syria JAN 20

Huge explosion at #SAA Ammunition warehouse in #Um_Haratyn village nearby #alWaer neighborhood
#Homs #Syria JAN 20

FSA First Coastal Division liberating al-Hawr village
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juNC7d9165w …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=35.712354&lon=36.135557&z=16&m=b … #Latakia #Syria

Eastern countryside:
#Russian planes drop cluster bombs on AL-Hasinya village in rural #DeirEzzor, civilian injuries reported

General Habib Ali Habib from Bustan Al-Hamam killed in clashes b/w #ISIS & Assad-regime forces

Rebels Counter-offensive in Rural #Latakia Gains Ground
http://ow.ly/XjEJZ

[OUTLAW 09]

Geolocated RU-airstrike in Hayyan 27.10.2015 #Syria https://www.google.ru/maps/@36.3253995,37.0592326,206m/data=!3m1!1e3 …
video https://youtu.be/mJ3Sw3uMB_4?t=110 …

Rebels destroy #SAA bus loaded with shabihas terrorists & weapons nearby #Khan_Touman front
#Aleppo cs #Syria JAN 20

[OUTLAW 09]

Effects of the Iran Deal.....how is that Obama Syrian strategy going for the Sunni's in the ME.......

Hassan Hassan ‏@hxhassan
Unbelievably gory images coming out of Diyala, Iraq. Beheading & burning ppl alive at the hands of pro-govt militias.
Zero media coverage!


Reportedly, UN Mission in Baghdad receives a request from Sunni officials/politicians to intervene in Diyala.

NOTICE again zero media coverage nor a single comment by Obama and company.

NOTICE also no movement even by the Iraqi government......

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat...what do you think of this development.....????

Another indication that #Obama has surrendered #Syria to #Putin, doubtless believing it will appease #Putin's aggression.

Important: #FSA in #Daraa ordered to stop fighting #Assad by MOC.........

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/NewsReports/566514-daraa-rebels-ordered-to-stop-fighting-syria-regime-report

Daraa rebels ordered to stop fighting Syria regime

The Amman-based Military Operations Center (MOC) directed Southern Front factions to focus their efforts against Al-Nusra Front.


BEIRUT – The Amman-based Military Operations Center (MOC) that helps coordinate rebel operations in southern Syria has ordered Free Syrian Army-affiliated factions to stop attacking regime forces and instead focus their efforts against the Nusra Front, according to a Lebanese daily.

Al-Akhbar reported that the MOC informed the commanders of several Southern Front coalition fighting forces—including the Omari Brigades, Youth of Sunnah Brigade, and Yarmouk Army— of the new strategy during a meeting January 8 in Amman.

“The goal of the meeting was to inform the armed groups of MOC’s new direction, the schedule for the coming period, and the types of support that [foreign backers] would provide the militants through the operations room,” security sources told the pro-Damascus newspaper in an article published Wednesday morning.

The sources added that the FSA-linked groups were told by Jordanian, US and British intelligence officials to “stop operations against the Syrian army and avoid periphery battles,” in reference to intermittent rounds of fighting between the rebels and ISIS-affiliated groups in southern Syria.

Instead, the Southern Front factions present in the Amman meeting—as well as the allied Army of Free Tribes group backed by Jordan—were instructed to concentrate on fighting both the Al-Nusra Front and Islamic Muthana Movement, which is close to the Al-Qaeda affiliate.

“The decision to liquidate the jihadists in the south has been taken,” the newspaper’s sources claimed.

The Amman meeting, as depicted by Al-Akbhar, would serve as the final blow to the Southern Front’s increasingly struggling efforts to fight regime forces in the Daraa Province.

The FSA-linked coalition had notched a series of stunning successes against government troops in the spring of 2015, however its campaigns ground down in the summer after the failure of the “Southern Storm” offensive to seize the provincial capital Daraa.

Reports began to emerge in September that the MOC had scaled back its support for the coalition, while rebels started complaining about a lack of assistance as their military successes dried up.

MOC promises new aid for new mission

Al-Akhbar claimed that the foreign powers operating the MOC promised rebels renewed aid in return for them agreeing to change tracks and launch a major campaign against Nusra.

“Each faction that joins the campaign will receive five tanks with full training for their crews as well as other incentives related to salaries and armament,” sources told the pro-Hezbollah daily.

The rebel leader present in the Amman meeting all agreed to the MOC’s new plan, except the Youth of Sunnah Brigade chief, who eventually consented following further guarantees of support.

According to Al-Akhbar, the rebels were also promised training in a US-prepared base that will be staffed by military experts from Britain, Jordan and other Western states.

Russia-Jordan rapprochement

The MOC’s alleged decision comes within the context of “warming ties” between Amman and Moscow following Russia’s aerial intervention on behalf of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

On October 23, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced in Vienna that his country and Amman had agreed to coordinate military actions in Syria with a “special working mechanism” based in the Jordanian capital.

A month later, Jordanian King Abdullah II met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Russian capital during a visit in which he said that the “only way of finding a political solution in Syria is with the strong role that both [Putin] and Russia play.”

Jordan was also tasked in November by Washington and Moscow with formulating a list of terrorist groups in the war-torn country that would be the target of mutually agreed upon airstrikes by the rival powers currently intervening in the conflict.

An unnamed source in the FSA’s Southern Front told Alaraby Aljadeed that coordination between would not bode well for rebels in the Daraa province.

"The Southern Front have been aware that the Jordanian authorities are in contact with Russia and possibly the Assad regime to coordinate some issues. But the [implementation[ of these contracts may signal the start of a new phase, which could have negative implications,” he said in an interview with the London-based newspaper.

In a further sign that Jordan was shifting stances regarding the course of fighting in Daraa, Syrian National Security Bureau chief Ali Mamlouk allegedly recently visited Amman to discuss the border region.

Al-Quds al-Arabi reported November that Mamlouk had met with high-ranking officials in Amman during his “important and secret” trip to discuss potential security issues.

The newspaper did not go into detail on what specific matters the Bashar al-Assad regime’s pointman broached, however it said they were related “by necessity” to southern Syria.


And now #MOC demand #Nusra alone to be targeted, essentially bailing out #ISIS #LSY in the south.
#MOC= supporting #Assad & #ISIS.

Note that the #MOC & #SouthernFront leave #ISIS 5th column #LSY anlone & prosper since months, only fought by #Nusra
http://mme.cm/XRAW00

[OUTLAW 09]

On the #TOW #ATGM programm: Authors didn't even notice cut of TOW.
The CIA’s Syria Program and the Perils of Proxies
http://thebea.st/1P1ZlIN

Ahrar #ATGM took out the 14,5mm gun truck along with the 23mm gun truck hit before
https://youtu.be/TY2TjGum89M

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria #IS control Gate in western suburb of #DeirEzzor
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=35.389894&lon=40.082792&z=19&m=h …
pic.twitter.com/9BCf5n6VeI

[OUTLAW 09]

Julia Davis @JuliaDavisNews
#Russia says terrorist orgs can't participate in #Syria deal, while continuing to demand that #Ukraine negotiate w/ RF-funded terrorist orgs