Syria in 2016 (January-March)

[OUTLAW 09]

BIG ===> Russian military exercises may be cover for war against Turkey...and NATO -- see the latest evidence here http://observer.com/2016/02/mounting-evidence-putin-will-ignite-wwiii/ …

Putin and his MoD have since Crimea hinted at a possible war with NATO......

[OUTLAW 09]

The White Helmets @SyriaCivilDef
Here’s How Syria’s Regime Is Profiting From People Under Siege
http://www.buzzfeed.com/borzoudaragahi/heres-how-syrias-regime-is-profiting-from-people-under-siege?utm_term=.uoLwVgMvGD#.uoLwVgMvGD …

Using Tor M2E SA-15 Gauntlet. Could hit aerial targets up to 15 km
https://informnapalm.org/19736-21-j-omsbr-donbass/ …
pic.twitter.com/mxqEXOiXv3

Footage of the Saida field hospital in rural #Daraa, #Syria that was bombed by #Russia
http://youtu.be/KD8MmUTMJ4c

Aftermath of #Russia|n airstrikes in Tal Rifa'at, #Aleppo, #Syria
http://youtu.be/E-LYIz44rig

Note that on the map of Russian bombed #Kissin village, the school has been marked in Russian
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=34.903502&lon=36.621594&z=19&m=b … #Homs #Syria

Rebels regain control of the town of Hubar near Jabal al-Arbai’in in south rural #Aleppo, +20 Iranian lead miltias reportedly killed

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia bombarding #Teir_Maela & all the north this night
#Homs #Syria FEB 11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8z48Nvy_zA …

Destruction aftermath yesterday's #Russia airstrikes on #Saida HOSPITAL
#Daraa FEB 10 #Syria
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD8MmUTMJ4c …

SCD HERO Tariq al Kurdi, martyred while saving lives in #Daraa by the #Russia occupation airstrikes.. #Syria FEB 11

.@SyrianHNC_en General Coord. @hijab_riad: Humanitarian Situation in #Syria Must Improve
http://ow.ly/YdiQO

US: Situation in #Aleppo “Dire”, #Russia-n Airstrikes “Enabling #ISIS” in #Syria
http://ow.ly/YdieX

Russian & #Assad Regime Bombings Kill 85 Aid Workers
http://ow.ly/3z4jdj

[OUTLAW 09]

Nice nasheed in this #Ahrar vid from the Latakia mtns.
https://youtu.be/ZzAwU5tQSlg

Regime Faces Discontent from Loyalists After Officers 'Betray' Soldiers in Ambush, Massacre #Syria
http://sobsrvr.com/clEJjSjU via @observesyria

Tour of Menagh airbase & village:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHNzG47NFNk …
Captured flags imply it was held by Ahrar.

Hospitals on Turkey-Syria border overwhelmed, says @MSF.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-aleppo-idUSKCN0VJ2CE …

New " X / KH " payload on RuAF' Su-34 in Syria
Shorter than Kh-35 . New air to ground missile

Iran presented 4th generation of its Shahed-129 UCAV today (equipped with SATCOM, SAR radar and improved engine).

Iran's proxy Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada,fighting in #Iraq&#Syria,fully US-equipped(in Iraq)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61XqTmE31pU …

[OUTLAW 09]

The Saudi's and the Turks definitely know their "near enemies"...we are not far from a coming sectarian war that could have been avoided with US leadership...BUT WAIT there was none....

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.

-- Sun Tzu, The Art of War

ichael Weiss ✔ @michaeldweiss

Saudi’s decision to send troops in Syria ‘final’
http://ara.tv/66k5d via @AlArabiya_Eng

The video I posted yesterday purporting to being the transport of Saudi armored IFVs near the Jordanian border was initially claimed to be an older video and denied by a single Saudi account...but quietly and gently removed from the net....apparently not an old video and definitely Saudi IFV movements and definitely a not so subtle signal to both Russia and Iran....

Turkey's Erdogan warns patience will run out on Syria
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-erdogan-idUSKCN0VK0UC?utm_source=twitter …

MORE: Saudi Arabia has offered to broaden participation in the US-led coalition air strikes against ISIS - @AlArabiya_Eng

[OUTLAW 09]

SAA failed attack on Ghouta from their own cameras
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFADsiyGBg4 … #Damascus suburbs #Syria

Regime shelling from Qassioun mountain hits the #Jobar district of #Damascus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W7ITrL1sSM … #Syria

Hardship of life under siege conditions in #Rastan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQbLR_fCgsA …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=34.933934&lon=36.734161&z=13&m=b … #Homs #Syria

Mosque in #Kissin destroyed by #Russia's #terrorist air raid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qnkrkA369s …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=34.901401&lon=36.621466&z=15&m=b …

[OUTLAW 09]

Has someone been using wikimapia.org in order to target for the RuAF schools and other critical infrastructure........Russian marking of schools and mosques across #Syria

Unbelievable
A Russian marks Syrian #schools, #mosques & water towers on Wikimapia.
Then some get hit by the #RuAF.

Set Wikimapia language to Russian, and you'll be surprised how much of Syria is labeled in Russian...

All through syria schools and mosques have been marked in russian. I even noticed it before the russian intervention.

The last few school/mosque additions are on Latakia front lines.
http://wikimapia.org/user/tools/watchlist/?mode=history&uid=1784930&type=999 …

To keep map open, go to e.g.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=35.782728&lon=35.962565&z=17&m=b&show=/34456051/ru/ …
Мечеть, History, username, show users's edits

Marking history can be checked of 2 most prominent labelers, jrgjrg & Andrew Valdaj.

The user Jrgirg talked to pnbr who edited objects in Ukraine and caused neutrality concerns w/ eds. Both registered fall 2012

Here is the person's "work list" ... this is truly shocking.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=34.903502&lon=36.621594&z=19&m=b&show=/user/tools/watchlist/?mode=history&uid=1784930&type=7 …

KafrNaya, #Kissin, #Ratyan, #Latakia frontline villages &ISIS-held towns East of #Aleppo.
He marks them appr. a week before they get hit.

Evidence:
This is target reconnaissance for the Russian army of civilian objectives!

Schools and #mosques this monster marked last night in relation to the current pro-#Assad front in Latakia.

2 days ago, he marked the radio tower and mosque in #TallRifat.
Guess, where the bombs aimed at.

He started his work on that very small town in northern #Syria 3 years ago, marking a water tower beside a school.

I'm not saying, it's markings / air strikes 1:1.
But the time+front correlation between the marked objects and the air strikes is prominent.

Quite a lot of schools in Syria are marked on wikimapia. And they are still being added:
http://wikimapia.org/user/tools/watchlist/?mode=history&uid=1784930&type=999 …

Note that on the map of Russian bombed #Kissin village, the school has been marked in Russian
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=34.903502&lon=36.621594&z=19&m=b …
The person marked the only school of #Kissin 7 days before it got hit by a Russian jet as @RobotNickk pointed out.

In the map of fiercely attacked #Harbinafsah the schools are marked in #Russian
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=34.936599&lon=36.624030&z=17&m=b …
Are any of those schools actually bombed? If school is bombed days after added on WM... :-/

Kinsabba school in #Latakia is labeled today. Any info on Kinsabba?

Syria Airstrikes by #Russia killed a dozen children in schools of Anjarah & Maarath Al-Artik in western #Aleppo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J82adSSV3Z4 …

I see no schools marked there. We need more research to see the purpose.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia is being gradually replacing #USA as #SDF/#YPG 1st backer, thx to its air military power and anti-Turkish stance

Footage
#Assad forces shell village in #Latakia.
Not the #FSA position nearby.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuVM4_WjojU …

[OUTLAW 09]

This press conference could ignite the entire Middle East from March or April on.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2016/02/11/Spokesman-Saudi-decision-to-send-troops-in-Syria-is-final.html …

If #Iran wants to join the coalition (vs #ISIS), they must stop supporting the terrorist groups and the militias in #Iraq and in #Syria."

In other words: The #KSA regards tens of thousands of Iraqi & Lebanese pro-#Assad militants in #Syria as "terrorists".
Party time.

[OUTLAW 09]

Now finally some in the DoD is fully understanding how to play the social media info war against Russia.....should have come much sooner....

COL Steve Warren 
‏@OIRSpox
.@MOD_Russia's tweets are wrong. Furthermore their bombing is reckless and indiscriminate and their efforts are strategically short-sighted.

[OUTLAW 09]

Highly recommend the reading of this article.....from a highly respected ex three letter agency CI officer fluent in Russian....

Mounting Evidence Putin Will Ignite WWIII

By letting Putin get away with whatever he likes in Syria, Obama has created a deeply dangerous situation

‘It’s clear that there has to be some actual ‘redline’ for Mr. Obama, something that the United States cannot tolerate Russia doing – but where is it? If I don’t know, I’m sure the Kremlin doesn’t either.’

http://observer.com/2016/02/mounting-evidence-putin-will-ignite-wwiii/

2011: "Assad or we burn the country"
2013: "Assad or we burn the region"
2016: "Putin or we burn the world"

[OUTLAW 09]

Aleppo: #YPG forces attacking #Azaz right now. National hospital and Azaz peripheries under heavy attack. #Syria
pic.twitter.com/WcK1kH2Xun

What will the Turkish response now be.....? and it will be coming.....

Footage
Iranian proxy militia in #Iraq, fighting #ISIS - gangster style ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3jIdLDU5nI …

[OUTLAW 09]

New paper by @shadihamid on role of researchers in policy argues US ignored expert consensus to intervene in #Syria:
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Research/Files/Articles/2015/12/us-policy-research-failure-syria-hamid/Hamid_Syria-and-policy-research.pdf?la=en …

Martyrs, money & power: why are Shia militias growing in #Iraq?
http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=62638 …

New poll says 99% of #Iraq's Shia �� the militia. Why? Read @RenadMansour on @SyriaInCrisis:
http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=62638 …

Military sources to @Deniz_Zeyrek: #Turkey deepens military ties to #Saudi, but won't enter #Syria w/o UN resolution
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-saudi-arabia-to-hold-joint-drills-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=94999&NewsCatID=352 …

Will he, won't he? Turks ponder whether Erdogan will invade #Syria
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/02/turkey-syria-united-states-possible-military-intervention.html … by @cengizcandar for @almonitor #Turkey

Russian MoFA to study query on annulling 1921 treaty with #Turkey
http://tass.ru/en/politics/855752 …
which could, in theory, revive territorial claims

[OUTLAW 09]

What do Minsk and Munich have in common? Russians unilaterally setting the cease-fire terms to a conflict they're fighting in

Notice anything in the current failure of the Obama FP across all lines...

Russia promises to help with Syria, if West eases the #sanctions. Isn't this the worst kind of blackmail? http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160130/1033963586/russia-syria-ukraine-sanctions.html?utm_source=https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FPWJ CUV9FQn&utm_medium=short_url&utm_content=a7fE&utm_campaign=URL_shortening …

[OUTLAW 09]

US+Russia agree “pause” in hostilities in fragile Syria deal, Assad not yet signed up, fight w/ Isis/Nusra continues http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/12/world/middleeast/us-and-russia-announce-plan-for-humanitarian-aid-and-a-cease-fire-in-syria.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0 …

What the heck is that for an agreement when all know Assad does what Russia and Iran tells him to d......

"Some do lie.": #Russia FM #Lavrov responding to accusations by human rights groups that Russian bombs are hitting civilians in #Syria (NYT)

In northern Aleppo, predominantly Kurdish SDF takes advantage of regime advances to try & link up cantons:
http://syriadirect.org/news/side-campaign-in-north-aleppo-raises-fears-of-sdf-linking-kobani-to-afrin/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

RuAF target Nuaima village in #Dara hours after ceasefire agreed.
https://youtu.be/tn80Uyn5bdE
https://youtu.be/77gBScdjz6Y

For History: Last year, #FSA fought with #YPG in #Kobane.
Today, #Russia providing air-cover for #YPG to take #FSA's stronghold, #Azaz.
Truth is, if Turkey doesn't enter Syria, what's happening in Syria will enter Turkey..

Hijab must know something we don't: "We will not support any ceasefire initiative until Assad regime is removed"

Funny reaction from a civilian in Hayyan #Aleppo after a Russian airforce bomb landed nearby.
https://youtu.be/kbgU-y5mhAE

Multiple Russian airstrikes reported in Dar al-Kabira in #Homs & Na'aima in #Daraa

[OUTLAW 09]

Clashes this morning in #Daraa Balad between rebels & regime militias + heavy regime artillery shelling & rocket fire. #Syria

It seems the clashes have ended around Azaz & the national hospital & YPG have retreated. Why, no Russian air cover?
Or did the US finally realize they were being taken for a "Kurdish land grab ride"

Countless indiscriminate #Russia|n airstrikes cause nothing but destruction in Tal Rifa'at, northern #Aleppo, #Syria
http://youtu.be/0xpUa9iQobs

Syria Heavy #Russia'n airstrikes & rocket-shelling by #Assad-forces on #Daraa city & its suburbs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miT2UggNaWU …

Nursa repel IRGC/Assad militias attack on Hober village south #Aleppo and kill ~20.

NOT confirmed.....
Looks like YPG-SDF suffered major defeat in Azaz as they underestimated Rebels & relied heavily on Russia. Many of their forces killed

[OUTLAW 09]

An #ISIS guy firing his AK at an strafing Assadist combat heli
http://po.st/JT7cLi

Not bad:
#ISIS guy with accurate fire discipline with a Close miss on an Assadist Heli in Homs

He was aiming for the inherent weak point the turbines....

A new #Nusra combat vid assaulting shia hilltop CP.
Hurry before it's deleted. It has been deleted! (Added midday 12th)
https://youtu.be/4PYE08iqbBc

This same US Congressman was supporting Russian military actions inside eastern Ukraine and now again he has popped up supporting Russian aims in Syria...and he is an American???

Dana Rohrabacher: our question shouldn't be how do we get rid of Assad but how do we get rid of ISIS & these radical Islamists

Rohrabacher: was Assad ever a threat to US?
McGurk: he was a threat to our closest partners.
Rohrabacher: Assad was never a threat to us

Since Rohrabacher never served a day in Iraq he never knew the Sunni insurgency and QJBR floated into and out of Syria as their sanctuary when pressured by US forces.....just as the Shia militia's would divert back into Iran if pressured....

Assad forces torture a 14-year old boy after escaping an area they are surrounding and...
http://fb.me/5wOgXPpP6

[OUTLAW 09]

JUST another normal Russian bombing day AFTER Munich 1938 sorry 2016...."Whoever we hit in Syria is an-Nusra", a sequel series to the popular "whoever we hit in Syria is ISIS", coming soon to @RT_com.


For ASSad,#Russia airstrikes isn't enough so he sent his chopper.
#SAA helicopters dropped barrel bombs over #Teir_Maela
#Homs #Syria FEB 12

To Graphic to post....Russia is still deliberately targeting civilians even after Munich...they will never ceasefire as they have not "ceased fire in Donbas".....

BREAKING FOOTAGE
Victims of #Russia airstrikes on #alGhanto, 16 martyrs so far
#Homs #Syria FEB 12

Death toll rises to 16 martyrs in #alGhanto including #SCD HERO Member Osama alKhatib, still civilians under rubble..
#Homs #Syria FEB 12

Civilians escaping as #Russia bomb,destruction aftermath airstrikes on #alDar_alKabera
#Homs cs #Syria FEB 12

Several #Russia airstrikes on #alBab since early morning
#Aleppo cs #SYria FEB 12

Rebels shelling #SAA terrorists positions in #Daraa alBalad as heavy clashes taking place at the fronts of the area #Syria FEB 12

RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Talbiseh
#Homs #Syria FEB 12

While he showing the destruction by airstrikes,#Russia bomb again
#Naemeh #Daraa #Syria FEB 12

Moment #Russia airstrikes on #Naemeh town moments ago
#Daraa #Syria FEB 12
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77gBScdjz6Y …

SCD Rescue operation aftermath #SAA terrorists bombardment on #Bedama, earlier
#Idlib #Syria FEB 12

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Teir_Maela
#Homs #Syria FEB 12

#Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Naemeh town
#Daraa #Syria FEB 12

Dozens of civilians wounded and martyrs, victims of #Russia airstrikes targeting #alDar_alKabera
#Homs Cs #Syria FEB 12

Another Sunni mosque hit yesterday....
Al Noor Masjid totally destroyed by Russia airstrikes in Teir_Maela yesterday FEB 11..
Homs Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

Another Russian "friendly fire incident"
RUSSIA airstrikes"Mistakenly"targeting #SAA positions at #alMansheiyah neighborhood, dozens of it's terrorists wounded
#Daraa #Syria FEB 12

2 #SDF mercenaries killed by motorbike explosion at the gates of #Ein_Essa town
#Raqqa cs #Syria FEB 12

SAA & it's allies mercenaries trying to break into #alTalmoura from their positions at #alMaqalea area
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 12

Heavy clashes between Rebels and #SAA terrorists at #alManshiyah neighborhood
#Daraa alBalad #Syria FEB 12

[OUTLAW 09]

Another perfect example of the western MSM Syria reporting that is "fair and balanced".....

I just saw CNN reporter on Haleb frontlines with Hezbollah terrorists and he saying it's SAA. I don't know even why I saved CNN channel..

Appears CNN has no idea what "transnational shia jihadists are"??????

[OUTLAW 09]

Wonder if Kerry read this before Munich 1938 occurred.....

mod_russia
#SYRIA Advisers must know: Russian operation in Syria is aimed to eliminate terrorism—real and evident threat to Russia's and world security

AND in the Putin pre UNGA interview and then UNGA speech he defined "a terrorist" anyone fighting against Assad....simple as that....

[OUTLAW 09]

So it really was really a Munich 1938 with all going home "feeling good" at having a piece of paper.....

Even on paper this agreement looks like all powers simply agreed to what #Russia and regime have been doing already.
http://gu.com/p/4gjk8/stw

[OUTLAW 09]

American mercenary fighting w/ Kurdish YPG covered by RuAF is how Syria's war looks like now!https://www.facebook.com/Syrian.Revolution/videos/10156706523605727/ …
pic.twitter.com/l7TgJty4hF

Turkey's #Erdogan confirms @JunckerEU @eucopresident meeting minutes, repeats threat
pic.twitter.com/YP31zE8S1q
https://twitter.com/todayszamancom/status/698048374810001408 …

[OUTLAW 09]

So Munich 2016 was indeed Munich 1938.........the "feel good" meeting for the West.....

World powers agree cessation of hostilities... Except Russian strikes so not really?
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35556783 …
pic.twitter.com/dxYoLvguK7

Obama and Kerry are still failing badly....

RuAF target Nuaima village in #Dara hours after ceasefire agreed.
https://youtu.be/tn80Uyn5bdE https://youtu.be/77gBScdjz6Y
pic.twitter.com/WcervGTM8i

Appears both Obama and Kerry have forgotten the Minsk 2 lesson learned with the Russian attacks on Debaltseve AFTER they signed Minsk 2.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian info warfare hard at work in Syria.....

bellingcat @bellingcat
How the Russian MoD Invented a US Bombing of Aleppo
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2016/02/11/how-russian-mod-invented-a-us-bombing-of-aleppo/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian arms export source confirms 20 Pantsir-S1 air defence systems delivered to Iraq:
http://www.interfax.ru/world/494356
pic.twitter.com/VvK5Sz9UUQ

EVEN more Russian A2AD bubbles covering now virtually the entire ME area of the Russian sphere of influence and Obama/Kerry utter not a word......AT some pin t US/NATO air ops against Is will be forced to stop AND or ask permission first from the Russian MoD to bomb.

[OUTLAW 09]

U.S. Mission to OSCE ✔ @usosce
Helsinki Final Act specifically states that all pS should refrain from #propaganda for incitement to war. https://twitter.com/OSCE_RFoM/status/698057868403150848 …

Russia #Putin propaganda picks up ex-Pentagon contractors
http://aminewswire.com/stories/510662541-putin-propaganda-picks-up-ex-pentagon-contractors …
pic.twitter.com/vPLucq39DS

[OUTLAW 09]

Extreme Close Encounter:
Bulldozer (?) with Cage Armor right above trench
https://youtu.be/CXimgKYh60Q
pic.twitter.com/ltfJVse22x

[OUTLAW 09]

U.S. Mission to OSCE ✔ @usosce
Helsinki Final Act specifically states that all pS should refrain from #propaganda for incitement to war. https://twitter.com/OSCE_RFoM/status/698057868403150848 …

Russia #Putin propaganda picks up ex-Pentagon contractors
http://aminewswire.com/stories/510662541-putin-propaganda-picks-up-ex-pentagon-contractors …
pic.twitter.com/vPLucq39DS

AND yet the US wonders why they are "losing" the Russian, Iranian and IS info wars.....the tree are simply "hiring Americans for their work"....

Putin propaganda picks up ex-Pentagon contractors

Feb. 11, 2016, 10:18am by J. Michael Waller


As Washington cuts back efforts to counter Russian propaganda, the Kremlin is hiring American communications talent straight from the Pentagon.

A year ago, multilingual editors and writers ran online news websites worldwide for the Trans Regional Web Initiative - a Pentagon effort to support U.S. military efforts against Islamic extremism, Iranian subversion, Russian and Chinese aggression and other threats.

Now, with their jobs eliminated in Congress's budget wars, some of them are working for President Vladimir Putin’s publicity machine as it ramps up its operations in the United States.

Zlatko Kovach is one of them. Just blocks from the White House, the 48-year-old editor runs the Washington office of Sputnik, which styles itself as a straight news service that aspires to compete with the Associated Press and Reuters. Three of Kovach’s fellow ex-Pentagon contract workers joined him. Two have moved on, but Sputnik is actively recruiting others.

Kovach, a naturalized American citizen, doesn't see his move as unpatriotic but rather as economically justified. “Despite the big superpower relations, the media has developed in such a way as that’s the nature of the market," he said. "It isn’t harming the U.S.”

Sputnik is part of a news and information outlet known in the United States as RT, the initials of its parent entity, Russia Today, which operates under the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media in Moscow. With State Department approval, RT opened the Washington office of Sputnik last year just as civilian contractors who shaped U.S. military messaging overseas were put out of work when Congress shut down most of a $22 million program.

They practiced what used to be called psychological operations, or PSYOP, a name that was changed to something more benign-sounding in the Pentagon's alphabet soup of acronyms: MISO, for "military information support operations."

Under either name, the purpose has been, as the Pentagon puts it, to influence foreign audiences' “emotions, motives, objectives reasoning and ultimately the behavior of foreign governments, groups, and individuals in a manner favorable to the originator’s objectives.”

The Web Initiative program, begun under the George W. Bush administration in 2008, drew criticism both from opponents of such information operations as a matter of policy and supporters who wanted them to work better. A classified Government Accountability Office report in 2013, leaked to USA Today, faulted the program for a lack of co-ordination with other U.S. efforts.

Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), then the powerful Armed Services Committee chairman, led a bipartisan group of lawmakers to eliminate funding after reform efforts failed. Some elements of the Initiative remain in operation at the Pentagon's Special Operations Command.

The move by Pentagon contractors such as Kovach to the employ of the Russians is a symptom of a larger problem with national defense strategy, some observers say.

"What seems to be clear is that the anti-status quo powers in the world today - Russia, China, Iran, and the Islamic State - know the value of information warfare and invest heavily in it,” said Robert W. Reilly, a former director of the Voice of America, the federal government’s civilian international broadcasting arm.

“This is illustrated by the fact that these people" - former Pentagon contractors - "have nowhere else to go and are being picked up by Putin,” said Reilly, who served as a senior adviser for information strategy at the Defense Department following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. “I'm not trying to rationalize what they're doing, but it's a powerful illustration of who takes information warfare strategy seriously and who doesn't."

The Pentagon may have to restart some of its efforts from scratch. Citing U.S. ineffectiveness at stopping ISIS recruitment propaganda, and finding NATO allies clamoring to counter Moscow after its 2014 intervention in Ukraine, Congress authorized new Defense Department information efforts in the 2016 defense authorization bill. Leaders from Vice President Joseph Biden to Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) have called for improved information campaigns to help keep Moscow in check
.
That was too late for Kovach and others like him. A graduate of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, he speaks six languages. He worked for General Dynamics on the Pentagon contract to run the Southeast European Times, a multilingual website (setimes.com), aimed at the volatile Balkans region.

He arrived in the United States a refugee from Communist Yugoslavia and now lives in the Washington area, proud to be an American. Hawkish on defense issues, he notes that he was born on the Fourth of July.
Kovach is the only one of his colleagues who would speak on the record about why he went to work for RT/Sputnik. He said he views Sputnik as just another job in a new world of journalism. As editor for the Washington office, he said he receives no instructions about how to edit the roughly 40 articles a day his team produces.

“The nature of the game has changed,” he said. “You have media that’s shrinking. U.S. government communication efforts were being canceled. The media is evolving. There is a media space, and the question is, who’s going to fill that space? Then I had to ask, who’s offering jobs?”

[OUTLAW 09]

Appears that the US does not quite understand who they are actually supporting in Syria right now.....how can they get it so wrong and especially when supposedly the CIA is working with them.......

Hezbollah media post exclusive pics taken inside Menage airbase taken by YPG indicate the two militias coordinating.
pic.twitter.com/c9KjKLPhzS

[OUTLAW 09]

Classifying Nusra & ISIL in one group is calculated move. They know Nusra (traditional & effective enemy of ISIL) will not fight under US/RU

Day1 after the #Munich deal.
People in #Daraya celebrate #Assad's mercy! ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rSx6h4N8ro …
pic.twitter.com/oAN7syNdl2

[OUTLAW 09]

For those that do not want to believe there is an intertwining of Russian non linear warfare being conducted in eastern Ukraine and now in Syria....there is...

Echoes of Eastern Ukraine: A ceasefire in #Syria, if achieved, could freeze in place #Assad territorial gains won w critical Russian support...

EXACTLY as has the Minsk 2 agreements.....this was especially evident when Russian military forces attacked and captured Debaltseve which was to be under Ukrainian control TWO DAYS after Minsk 2 was signed BECAUSE Putin fought Merkel verbally for it in Minsk and had announced at a press reference during his Norway visit that the Russians had captured it and stated the UAF had been beaten by nothing but "truck drivers and miners".

BUT lo and behold the Russian planned attack which was to last two days ended up being a hard fought three weeks and the supposedly Putin announced surrounded and captured 2.5K UAF retrograded out of Debaltseve with minimum losses AND Russian military loses were actually high.

[OUTLAW 09]

After Flawed Munich Agreement, Air Strikes Continue
http://www.interpretermag.com/after-flawed-munich-agreement-air-strikes-continue/ …
pic.twitter.com/ylEa8W2Nxv


But the ceasefire agreement is neither immediate nor comprehensive, with the "cessation of hostilities" to commence in one week.

According to the text of the agreement:


The International Syria Support Group (ISSG) members agreed that a nationwide cessation of hostilities must be urgently implemented, and should apply to any party currently engaged in military or paramilitary hostilities against any other parties other than Daesh, Jabhat al-Nusra, or other groups designated as terrorist organizations by the United Nations Security Council. The ISSG members commit to exercise influence for an immediate and significant reduction in violence leading to the nationwide cessation of hostilities.
An ISSG task force is to be established in order to "delineate the territory held by Daesh, JaN and other groups designated as terrorist organizations by the United Nations Security Council"

The problem here is that Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN) operate alongside various other rebel groups and are spread across swathes of opposition-held territory, over much of which they do not impose exclusive control. This means that it would be extremely hard to target JaN alone without attacking other opposition groups.

It will also have to be seen how effective the task force would be in effectively monitoring and controlling Russian and regime air operations, given that both Assad and Putin have continuously lied about the nature of their targets, claiming that all air strikes have been directed against ISIS, JaN or "other terrorist groups."

The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, subtly mocked the complaints of these practices during the press conference.

The Interpreter translates:

"All these months we have had a rather emotional discussion over who is carrying out strikes on the right or wrong targets. We have repeatedly offered to deal with these issues professionally. Now, with the agreement that the task group will define the areas which are held by ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra, and also other terrorist groups, we have made a very important practical step in this direction."

Lavrov also said that it was important to note that the agreement called for the full implementation of prior UN Security Council resolutions, including demands the cessation of the "flow of terrorists, militants from foreign states, the illegal oil trade and other contraband."

This has been previously been used an excuse by the Kremlin for the targeting of vital roads to the Turkish border, most notably the border town of Azaz, through which thousands of refugees are now passing to escape the fighting north of Aleppo.

It should be noted that Lavrov did not mention the UN Security Council demand actually referred to in the text of the agreement, which called for "the end of any discriminate use of weapons."

Russia has been not only conducting indiscriminate bombing of population centres, often using unguided bombs, but also using cluster bombs on a regular basis.

It was particularly strange to see US Secretary of State John Kerry, sitting next to Lavrov, describing the effects of the air campaign against Aleppo while failing to mention that the jets conducting these strikes belong not to the Assad regime, but the Russian Air Force.

Kerry said that:


"The regime of Bashar al-Assad was violating international law by trying to force surrender through starvation, and with the help of indiscriminate bombing the regime intensified its assault in Aleppo, killing civilians and forcing more than 60 thousand Syrians to flee their homes in search of refuge across the Turkish border. And it is our perception that rather than hurting Daesh, this process is in fact empowering Daesh to take advantage of the chaos."

Nor is any mention of the huge role played in the war by ground forces from Iran, which is a party to last night's agreement.

Indeed, Kerry concluded by saying reaffirming the importance of Russia to the process;


"We also agreed in the ISSG that there's no way to institute a ceasefire, effectively, and no way to produce the access we want for humanitarian assistance, without all of the ISSG members working with Russia and others in an effort to guarantee that the access is provided and that cessation of hostilities actually takes hold. To that end, we have agreed, all of us, to work with Russia in a way that deals with the political, the humanitarian and the military components of this challenge."

Meanwhile, the morning after the announcement, what can we see so far of progress towards a ceasefire?


BOMBINGS still continue all over Syria and targeting mainly FSA positions...no change there in the Russian position and neither Kerry and or Obama has any idea how to stop Russia.....

Reported video shows two barrel bombs being dropped by regime helicopters on the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Daraya this morning.

There are also reports of Russian air strikes the Aleppo, Homs and Daraa provinces:

Meanwhile Turkey's foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, said today that neither the ceasefire will hold, nor humanitarian access be secured, unless Russia ceases air strikes on opposition groups.

Other observers are equally sceptical:

[OUTLAW 09]

A long read worth completely reading as it has an excellent analysis of the intertwining of Russia and IS that the western MSM has not wanted to cover for some reason.....


https://kyleorton1991.wordpress.com/2016/02/12/russia-is-no-partner-against-the-islamic-state/

Russia is No Partner Against the Islamic State

By Kyle Orton February 12, 2016


This morning, Russia ostensibly agreed to help the U.S. impose a ceasefire in Syria within a week—on the way to a negotiated settlement. This could not work right now, even if Russia intended it to. But Russia does not. Russia’s role since intervening in Syria in late September 2015 has been to bolster the regime of Bashar al-Assad and a primary tactic in that overarching strategic aim has been the attempt to destroy all opposition to Assad that the international community could possibly deal with, and to create a binary situation where there is only the regime and jihadi-Salafist terrorists, primarily the Islamic State (IS), and secondarily—in areas where they do not threaten key regime interests—Jabhat an-Nusra (al-Qaeda). Moscow will eventually turn on IS, but in the short-term Russia has engaged in indirect coordination with IS to weaken the rebels and push them out of key strategic areas, notably in eastern Aleppo where Russia bombed rebels out of the way who had been holding IS out for years. On Tuesday, Foreign Policy reported on another aspect of this Russia-IS collaboration that aims to empower the takfiris in the short-term as part of the long-term plan, also supported by Iran, to secure the Assad regime’s longevity.

Funding Takfiris

Foreign Policy reports:

The Tuweinan gas facility, which is located roughly 60 miles southwest of the Islamic State’s de facto capital of Raqqa, is the largest such facility in Syria. It was built by Russian construction company Stroytransgaz, which is owned by billionaire Gennady Timchenko, a close associate of Putin. … The Syrian government originally awarded the contract to construct the Tuweinan facility to Stroytransgaz in 2007. The construction utilized a Syrian subcontractor, Hesco, which was owned by Russian-Syrian dual national George Haswani. …

A senior Turkish official said that after its seizure, Stroytransgaz, through its subcontractor Hesco, continued the facility’s construction with the Islamic State’s permission. He also claimed that Russian engineers have been working at the facility to complete the project.

Syrian state-run newspaper Tishreen published a report appearing to corroborate this claim. In January 2014, after the facility was captured by the Islamic State, the paper cited Syrian government sources, saying that Stroytransgaz had completed 80 percent of the project and expected to hand over the facility to the regime during the second half of the year. The article didn’t mention that the facility was under the control of the Islamic State.

According to David Butter, … who has seen a letter written by George Haswani explaining the details of the project, the facility’s first phase of production started towards the end of 2014, and it became fully operational during 2015. “Some of the natural gas goes to the Aleppo power station, which operates under the Islamic State’s protection, and the remainder is pumped to Homs and Damascus,” he said.

Abu Khalid[, a member of a rebel brigade that took over the facility in 2013,] said that Russian engineers still work at the facility, and Haswani brokered a deal with the Islamic State and the regime for mutually beneficial gas production from the facility. “IS allowed the Russian company to send engineers and crew in return for a big share in the gas and extortion money,” he said … “Employees of the Russian company were changing their shifts via a military base in Hama governorate.” …

The details of the Tuweinan deal brokered between the Islamic State and Hesco was first reported by the Syrian media collective Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently in October 2014.

Much of the DNA of this story—that Syria’s energy sector is effectively a joint enterprise of the Assad regime and IS, with a strong official Russian role in facilitation—was already known.

All the way back in March 2014 I was able to write of the regime using oil deals as one facet of its provocation (what the Russians call provokatsiya), the Moscow-perfected tactic of having your terrorist enemies do your work for you, something that has served Russian intelligence since the 1870s. By helping fund IS, Assad—and his allies in Moscow and Tehran—intended to empower IS to destroy or absorb all the other insurgents, allowing Assad present himself to the population and the world as the last line of defence. It had worked for Algeria and by the end of 2014 it appeared to be working in Syria, too.

For Tuweinan specifically, as Foreign Policy summarized:

In October 2015, the Financial Times reported that the gas produced in the plant was sent to the Islamic State-held thermal power plant in Aleppo. The deal provides [per day:] 50 megawatts of electricity for the regime, while the Islamic State receives 70 megawatts of electricity and [is able to produce] 300 barrels of condensate. The engineers who worked at the plant told the Financial Times that Hesco also sends the Islamic State roughly $50,000 every month to protect its valuable equipment [worth millions of dollars].

These cash and in-kind payments (often of specialist equipment and technicians) from Assad to IS, in exchange for oil and gas, were replicated all across the areas under the caliphate. The integration of the Assad regime and IS on energy matters was markedly increased after the fall of Tadmor and the adjacent, ancient city of Palmyra to IS in May 2015, when IS captured several gas facilities in the surrounding Homs desert.

Gas supplies ninety percent of Syria’s power grid and by the end of the summer, as The Financial Times reported, IS controlled “at least eight power plants in Syria, including three hydroelectric facilities and the country’s largest gas plant.”

The largest gas plant under IS control is in Deir Ezzor, called “Conoco” after the American company that build it, and is the one processing plant IS holds. Conoco is used by IS to produce gas canisters for domestic consumption by the population it controls and to provide fuel for a regime-controlled power station in Jandar, Homs.

IS has several times gained control of parts of the Shaer gas field, about ninety miles north-west of Palmyra, which supplies just under half of Syria’s electricity. “Marwan,” a Sunni engineering graduate who has now fled Syria, told The Financial Times that after IS took Palmyra, “many of his friends working at Hayyan, near Shaer, wanted to flee. ‘The army wouldn’t let them. They said who ever tried to run will be shot dead’.”

One of the most comprehensive attempts to put some numbers on this was undertaken by Matthew Reed of Foreign Reports in late October. Reed showed that the regime was receiving 20,000 barrels per day (BPD) of oil from an unnamed source. If IS was filling that gap from its estimated 50,000 BPD production, it meant the regime was paying forty percent of IS’s hydrocarbon income. If Reed’s estimate that IS was selling oil for between $15 and $25 per barrel is correct, then Assad was transferring between $300,000 and $500,000 to IS per day either directly in cash or in other resources needed to keep its statelet alive.

(While the oil question is important to assessing the Assad regime’s politico-military strategy, it should be noted that the oil angle of IS’s finances is overworked in general and the situation has changed and varied wildly over the last year. For example, documents from early 2015 showed that IS was making much less from oil than had been believed, though there seems to have been a recovery of sorts by late 2015.)

Nor is the Russian element to this exactly a revelation. U.S. Treasury sanctions in November blacklisted Haswani, essentially for funding terrorism as the Assad regime’s “middleman” in the hydrocarbon trade that transferred Syrian State funds to IS. European Union sanctions had already been applied to Haswani for “orchestrating millions of dollars’ worth of secret oil and gas trades between” Assad and IS.

The Treasury sanctions last fall laid bare the very strong Putin-approved Russian element in the Assad regime’s mechanisms for funding IS, from banks to companies. Those sanctions listed HESCO as a designated entity, a company that was essentially the Syrian wing of Stroytransgaz, a Russian sub-entity of the Volga Group. Both Stroytransgaz and Volga had Treasury sanctions applied in April 2014, as did their owner, Timchenko, for their close relations to the Kremlin and provision of services enabling Vladimir Putin’s criminal aggression against Ukraine.

Turkey and the Propaganda War

The recent accusations from Moscow against Turkey, that Ankara was colluding with IS in trading oil, can therefore be filed in the Freudian category.

After Turkey shot down a Russian jet that violated its airspace on November 24, Moscow increased the volume of its propaganda—already extensive—that said Ankara was in cahoots with IS.

It is true that Turkey allowed an open border for a long time to jihadi-Salafists, including those joining IS, and it is also true that to this day Turkey regards a Kurdish State on its border as a greater threat to its national security than IS. But Russia had been sending jihadi-Salafists into Syria; it was a bit rich to be complaining that Turkey had let them.

Moreover, Russia’s propaganda was on its face absurd: inter alia the Defence Ministry named the three crossings IS was supposedly smuggling oil across into Turkey; one was in Idlib miles from any IS position, one was in Iraqi Kurdistan, and the other is held by the increasingly-obviously Russia-aligned PYD/PKK.

Continued.....

[OUTLAW 09]

Presumably #TOW strike by Faylaq al Sham taking out a tank in Tal Jibbin, N. #Aleppo front.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRU0LXTB7UI …

ISSG unanimously commits to immediately facilitate full implementation of UNSC Res 2254
http://www.un.org/sg/offthecuff/index.asp?nid=4369 …

Will be interesting to see if Russia stops the indiscriminate targeting and killing of civilians as per 2254....

Sham Front using a field gun to shell enemy forces in Khirbat al-Naqus: #Ghab plain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alujnFWH2WI … http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=35.648648&lon=36.322088&z=14&m=b …

FSA mortar shells the Gerbel checkpoint west of #Harbinafsah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvRsDS77WeI …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=34.948665&lon=36.610946&z=18&m=b … southern #Hama

Mosques damaged in #Aleppo by #Assad & #Putin's air raids
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN8VVzPuVFg …

Rebel TOW missile destroys a bulldozer on the #Bashkuy front
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5R-EX5-Ke4 …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=36.324530&lon=37.121429&z=14&m=b … #Aleppo #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

In addition to IRAM rockets Assad helicopters dropped about 20 bombs on #Daraya so far today. #Damascus #Syria

Death toll of this morning's heavy #Russia|n airstrikes on the rebel-held town of Al-Ghantou, #Homs has risen to 17.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian destruction of Syria is Chechnya on steroids......

http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/russia-s-scorched-earth-policy-syria-1236303678#.dpuf

Russia’s scorched earth policy in Syria

Lara Nelson

Thursday 11 February 2016 12:38 UTC



Recent regime advances across Syria demonstrate Assad's complete dependence on Russian air strikes and foreign Shia militias

“It’s like Stalingrad. They raze entire areas. Then they send in the militias,” Yamen Ahmad, an FSA commander in Latakia, described. He was in Selma, Latakia province, leading his brigade when the regime took back the area from the opposition in January. “There is no way to resist this scorched earth policy the Russians are deploying with their strikes across Syria.”

Since Russia began its strikes in Syria on 30 September, the regime has been able to make some gains across the country. Despite declaring that their military goal was strictly to target ISIS in Syria, studies have clearly documented their strikes have the main purpose of supporting the Assad regime’s military operations on the ground against moderate opposition forces, and have done little to seriously combat ISIS.

“Russia is simply acting as the regime’s air force against our moderate forces now,” said spokesman for the FSA’s Southern Front and defected officer Major Issam Al Reis. In Aleppo, the frontline between the regime and ISIS is a de facto safe zone, while they both focus their weaponry on opposition forces. As one media activist on the ground observed in the recent battle for Aleppo: “During the north Aleppo offensive, not a single Russian bomb hit ISIS - not a single ISIS attack hit Assad's front.”

Osama Abu Zeid, a legal advisor to the Free Syrian Army, returned from Syria three days ago. He described how Russian strikes were ignoring ISIS and in fact hitting Free Syrian Army forces while they were fighting ISIS in northern Aleppo countryside. He described the frontline between ISIS and the regime as “entirely peaceful”.

There is a clear pattern in military strategy when looking at the areas of recent gains in Latakia, Daraa and Aleppo. The regime was not able to make headway until the start of heavy Russian airstrikes which then pave the way for regime forces that are now composed almost entirely of foreign militia. In the Selma offensive, Yamen Ahmad stated that 75 percent of regime forces were foreigners. When they intercepted the radio communication, the orders were coming in Persian while the general chatter between the forces was in an unrecognisable language he described as “from mid-Asia”.

Scorched earth

In the south, the regime took over the town of Sheikh Miskin, in Daraa, which had previously been held by the FSA’s Southern Front for over a year. The regime’s operation began on 16 October, 2015, however, no significant progress was made until after 28 November when Russian air strikes started in the area. Russia conducted around 800 heavy air strikes on the area until it fell on 26 January, 2016. They are operating a “scorched earth policy that no force could stand up to,” the FSA’s Southern Front spokesman Major Issam Al Reis stated.

A Russian agency posted a video titled “Dead City Sheikh Miskin” which captured the grim aftermath of the operation with the utter devastation of the city. The FSA Southern Front’s statement after the fall of Sheikh Miskin, said that this operation was “not a success story for the regime but a demonstration of how much it relies on Russia as its airforce, and foreign militia as its ground troops in order to recontrol areas of the country.” Al Reis commented: “The reality is that regime is not able to reclaim one metre of land without Russia fully destroying the area with its strikes.”

The military strategy in Selma held parallels to Sheikh Miskin. Yamen Ahmad described how the regime had been trying to take the area from the opposition for over three years. There had been over 50 battles but with little regime success, he told me. When the Russians intervened with their strikes “they burned the entire area,” he said. In 40 hours there were over 150 airstrikes, in addition to 1,500 Grad missile strikes. “There was no way to resist this fire power.”

By the end of this operation around 80 percent of buildings in the area had been damaged or destroyed. “You can barely find a building that is untouched by these strikes.” He described a similar dynamic in the operation over Al Noba mountain, Latakia province, where Russian strikes had been so heavy that “no tree had been left standing, the mountain was totally burned.” Twenty five air strikes had been dropped on a one-square-kilometre area. This was followed by cluster bombs and an unidentified weapon that burned entire areas: “everything it touched turned completely black”. Human Rights Watch issued a report this week documenting Russia’s ongoing use of “internationally banned cluster munitions” across Syria.

Aleppo is the same story. Osama Abu Zeid described the recent case of the village of Ritian in northern Aleppo countryside. The battle for this village started with eight hours of Russian air strikes, the militia (Iranian, Afghani, Lebanese Hezbollah) failed to move in to take the village so there were another 12 strikes, but again the militia’s ground operation failed, so Russia undertook another 10 airstrikes, until FSA forces withdrew and the militia were able to take the area. “Any areas are taken over solely because of the Russian strikes,” and only after “total destruction,” said Abu Zeid.

Once regained, civilians cannot return; the extent of the destruction makes the areas inhabitable: “Who wants to live in piles of rubble?” Al Reis asked me. Sheikh Miskeen is now empty. No civilians want to return as the city is completely destroyed, the same goes for Selma.

Aid agencies issued a report this week detailing that 40,000 people had been displaced from Aleppo since late January and the “number of displaced is likely to surpass 100,000” as the operation continues. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Wednesday that Russia is carrying out ethnic cleansing in Aleppo.

Militia ground forces

There is a stark contrast between the heavy Russian firepower and corresponding weakness of regime ground forces and therefore their reliance on Shia militia. It was Shia militia that recently broke the opposition siege of Nubl and Zahra in northern Aleppo. Videos were published of the foreign militia’s triumphal entry into the towns as they were greeted by the local people.

On Wednesday a video was leaked showing Hezbollah complaining that a news channel was broadcasting the Syrian army advance in southern Aleppo when it was Hezbollah forces. However, once these militias take over an area, they rarely stay to secure the area. Twenty days ago, Abu Noor was leading an operation in Al Hoor village west of Selma. Previously this area had been hit by heavy Russian air strikes. His forces prepared well for the operation, expecting a heavy defence. But when they took over the area, they only found six Syrian soldiers and their captain guarding the area. The militia which had previously been involved in the operation had moved on, leaving only a handful of Syrian soldiers to guard the area. It was revealed on pro-regime pages that the captain had even tried to flee the area in his car but found his tyres had been taken by someone needing spares.

Al Reis commented: “The nature of regime forces now is that they use foreign militia to capture an area. But these militia don’t stay to guard the area, they want to move on to areas where they can gain more spoils, take more women. They are not interested in guarding these empty ones. And there are hardly any Syrians to stay behind to do this job.”

Sustainability of advances?

The characteristic of these regime advances begs questions about their sustainability: can ground be held sustainably with such weak ground forces, just under the rain of Russian strikes? “As long as Russian planes are in the sky, they can demolish everything underneath them,” said Yaman Ahmad. But if this changes they will always be vulnerable.

“Their aim is to terrify both civilians and opposition fighters,” said Abu Zeid. The regime doesn’t have the ground forces to secure the areas so fear is now their only weapon to encourage surrender of opposition areas. This fear is useful to gain concessions within negotiations.

Despite these losses there remained optimism: “Comparing the amount of firepower Russia is using to the amount of land the regime is regaining, it would take 200 years for Russia to reclaim the whole of Syria,” said Al Reis, also pointing out that Russia’s scorched earth policy is only useful in urban areas, while they face difficulties in rural terrain.

Watching the devastation unfold

These victories are not a demonstration of regime power, but an expression of Russian brute strength reducing Syria to rubble and labelling it a regime victory.

The destruction, casualty numbers and displacement from these recent gains chimes with a well known rumour about Maher al-Assad, Bashar’s younger brother, commander of the 4th Division in Damascus: he who was rumoured to say that when his father was in power the population of Syria was eight million, and if it means reducing the population of 24 million to this number in order to crush the uprising, that’s what he would do.

Whether this comment it true or not, the reality is shaping up as such and it seems that Russian military strategy in Syria is aiding such a sentiment. Meanwhile, similar to the Russian deployment of their scorched earth policy in Stalingrad in World War II, Western powers are acting like their allies, standing by and watching the devastation unfold.

[OUTLAW 09]

Comments from the FSA Southern Front....concerning Munich....

We greet the #Munich agreement with tentative optimism. We fully support anything that moves towards full implementation of UNSCR2254

But we remain skeptical when #Russia continues even today to bomb civilians & our moderate forces while they say they target "terrorists"

We call for concerted international pressure on #Russia to adhere to this agreement. There have been too many unimplemented empty statements

We have no faith in words any longer, it’s only concrete action that will make a difference to Syrians' lives at this dark time

[OUTLAW 09]

Comments from the FSA Southern Front....concerning Munich....

We greet the #Munich agreement with tentative optimism. We fully support anything that moves towards full implementation of UNSCR2254

But we remain skeptical when #Russia continues even today to bomb civilians & our moderate forces while they say they target "terrorists"

We call for concerted international pressure on #Russia to adhere to this agreement. There have been too many unimplemented empty statements

We have no faith in words any longer, it’s only concrete action that will make a difference to Syrians' lives at this dark time

Turkish Foreign Minister: if Russia does not stop airstrikes in Syria then there's no such thing as a ceasefire

[OUTLAW 09]

FSA rebels in #Quneitra use Yugoslavian 120 mm M74 mortars vs. the regime.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtaRyLVm6LI …

Russia's "reduction of violence" in #Naemeh this morning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOVP2UeOTgE …

#Day1 after the #Munich ceasefire deal.
Russian-sponsored firework going up across #Syria!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvBgMBPTGSY …

Slat armored T-72 / Mercedes LS2624 (March 2015).
pic.twitter.com/oR6H9hcSZo

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Syria Express on the move again.....

Dvinitsa50 (Ex-Alican Deval) seems to have a new coat of paint. Rain makes it hard to tell but not flaking anymore.

Dvinitsa50 took a full 18 days to return after the last southbound pass here

[OUTLAW 09]

Michael Weiss ✔ @michaeldweiss
Before, during or after the "ceasefire"? "@GebeilyM:
AFP EXCLUSIVE: Assad vows to retake whole country, warns could 'take long time'"

BREAKING
AFP EXCLUSIVE: Syria's Assad sees risk of Saudi, Turkish intervention

AFP EXCLUSIVE: Assad says Europe must create conditions for refugees to return

Syria regime dropped leaflets on #Aleppo "...we will not stop before killed all terrorist" #Russia'n "ceasefire"
pic.twitter.com/wo551lDFwf

[OUTLAW 09]

BLUF: Putin & his Syrian minion have so little respect for Obama+Kerry they didn't even wait 24 hours to drop this.

BREAKING: AFP EXCLUSIVE: Syria's Assad vows to retake whole country, warns could 'take long time'

Russian speak for "ceasefire....you cease I fire"......

[OUTLAW 09]

BLUF: Putin & his Syrian minion have so little respect for Obama+Kerry they didn't even wait 24 hours to drop this.

BREAKING: AFP EXCLUSIVE: Syria's Assad vows to retake whole country, warns could 'take long time'

Russian speak for "ceasefire....you cease I fire"......

Eliot Higgins @EliotHiggins
You have to wonder if Putin and Lavrov was aware of President Assad's stance, or is this a surprise for them? https://twitter.com/AFP/status/698156719164256256 …

Eliot Higgins @EliotHiggins
Ceasefires are now such short lived things in Syria they end before they even start.

Actually IMO Lavrov already knew this "Assad" statement was coming as he couched his statements with..."we will need the opposition and Assad to agree as well"......WELL we know have the Assad statement...there will be no ceasefire as he is going for a total military victory.

Now that everyone realizes the so called talks in Munich had nothing to really do with a ceasefire and that the bombings will continue until Assad "end the war".....

Riad Hijab "we feel great bitterness because we have been let down... particularly the leader of this world, the USA

Syria's Assad says he will regain control over the whole country — even if it comes at 'a heavy price'
http://read.bi/20sAboG

[Azor]

From TNI (http://www.nationalinterest.org/feature/why-assads-army-has-not-defected-15190):
Four years ago, Turkey’s then prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that within in a few weeks he would be praying in Damascus’s Umayyad Mosque, as Assad was about to fall. Similarly, Israel’s most decorated soldier, former Defense Minister Ehud Barak, predicted that Assad and his military would be toppled within weeks. That was at the beginning of 2012, when there were no Iranian soldiers on the ground or Russian planes in the skies.
As another round of Geneva peace talks collapses and the world wonders what’s next for Syria, it is time to begin with the warnings of Henry Kissinger and Zbignew Brzezinski. Kissinger and Brzezinski, the most seasoned and influential U.S. policymakers on the Middle East since World War II, have gone against popular opinion#and stated that President Bashar al-Assad has more support than all the opposition groups combined.
It is no secret that the Saudis and Qataris, with full U.S. support, have tried to bribe some of Assad’s innermost circles to defect. The all-important professional military cadre of the Syrian Arab Army, however, has remained thoroughly loyal.
The Syrian Arab Army was mostly a conscript force with only about eighty thousand professionals in its ranks. At the start of the war, much was made of the “defections” of thousands of officers, but these were mere conscripts who never wanted to be in the army in the first place, and would also have done anything to escape conscription in peacetime.#The professional ranks, meanwhile,#are still very strong and religiously pluralistic. When the Syrian opposition talks about a future pluralistic Syria, they fail to realize that while they may theoretically be pluralists in Geneva, Washington and Vienna, their representatives on the ground are allied with the most sectarian terrorist groups the Middle East has ever seen.
The Syrian Arab Army has held its own for more than five years; its numbers might have been depleted, as is normal for any wartime military, but a close glance at its military reveals that its core, perhaps unexpectedly to many,#is Sunni. The current minister of defense, Fahd al-Freij, is one of the most decorated officers in Syrian military history and hails from the Sunni heartland of Hama. The two most powerful intelligence chiefs, Ali Mamlouk and Mohammad Dib Zaitoun, have remained loyal to the Syrian government—and are both Sunnis from influential families. The now-dead and dreaded strongman of Syrian intelligence, Rustom Ghazaleh, who ruled Lebanon with an iron fist, was a Sunni, and the head of the investigative branch of the political directorate, Mahmoud al-Khattib, is from an old Damascene Sunni family. Major General Ramadan Mahmoud Ramadan, commander of the Thirty-Fifth Special Forces Regiment, which is tasked with the protection of western Damascus, is another high-ranking Sunni, as is Brigadier General Jihad Mohamed Sultan, the commander of the Sixty-Fifth Brigade that guards Latakia.
The history of the Syrian Army that Hafez al-Assad built is instructive today. As president, the elder Assad#brought senior members of the Syrian Air Force into the military high command. Naji Jamil (another Sunni) served as air force chief from 1970 to 1978 and was promoted to the General Staff committee overseeing defenses on the Iraqi border. Another air force commander was Muhammad al-Khuli, who until 1993 held coveted logistical positions between Damascus and Lebanon. Other prominent officers above the rank of Brigadier in military and civil defense positions post-2000 were Sunnis, including Rustom Ghazaleh, Hazem al Khadra and Deeb Zaytoun. Since 1973, the strategic tank battalions of the Seventieth Armored Brigade, stationed near al-Kiswah near Damascus, have had rank-and-file Alawis under the command of Sunni officers.#As well, two of the most decorated officers who rose to be Chief of General Staff under Bashar al-Assad were Sunnis: Hassan Turkmani and Hikmat Shehabi.#
From the 1970s until the 1990s, the Syrian Arab Army had a mandate to stabilize Lebanon. During these years, it worked to outmaneuver both the IDF and the U.S. Marines by supporting various proxies in Lebanon. In post-Saddam Iraq, the Americans could never understand which elements of both the Sunni and Shia insurgencies were supported by Syrian military intelligence, much of this owing to the stealth with which the Syrian Army controlled various Iraqi agents dating back to the Lebanese civil war.
The Syrian Arab Army is also the only Arab army with multiple Christians serving as generals. The most famous of these was Daoud Rajha, the Greek Orthodox army chief of staff. The two most influential Lebanese Christian leaders, now on the verge of becoming the next president of Lebanon, are Michel Aoun and Suleiman Franjieh, who are also allies of the Syrian Arab Army and President Assad. Deir al-Zour is an entirely Sunni city which has held out against ISIS encirclement for two years—and is commanded by the Druze General Issam Zahreddine.
The fact remains: The moderate Syrian opposition only exists in fancy suits in Western hotel lobbies. It has little military backing on the ground. If you want to ask why Assad is still the president of Syria, the answer is not simply Russia or Iran, but the fact that his army remains resilient#and pluralistic, representing a Syria in which religion alone does not determine#who rises to the top. The military also represent as challenge against the spread of terrorism,#which is why#three of the top British generals of the last five years have openly called for the recognition that the Syrian Arab Army, loyal to President Assad, is the only force capable of defeating ISIS and Al Qaeda in the Levant.

Kamal Alam is a Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London and a Syrian Military Analyst advising several Damascus-based family offices.

[OUTLAW 09]

Saudi bluntness is getting harder in their tone towards the US..........

Orient News English @OrientNewsEn
#Saudi FM: #ISIS can not be defeated until #Assad is defeated

pic.twitter.com/3Dx1l3m98b

More air strike impacts in #EastGhouta today.
Not clear, who bombed here.
pic.twitter.com/v4m4jfdJLt

"There will come a moment when ISIS cyber-capability will catch up with their intent." UK Intel chief #MSC2016

BREAKING: Massive war drills involving 21 countries to take place in the north of Saudi-Arabia. Codenamed: Northern Thunder.

[OUTLAW 09]

LISTEN: An expert's view on what the U.S. has done to give Russia the upper hand.
http://bit.ly/1os8ZdR
pic.twitter.com/XMGsCcFRn5

Footage
BRUTAL air strike on #Hamoryah, east of #Damascus, today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQoOf5WiS1M …
pic.twitter.com/i6awJLpgYc

Footage
Interesting "cluster container", being found in #KafrLaha (#Homs province) today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTnNuMyyQbY …
pic.twitter.com/3NJTQcpvfA

Footage
What activists say is a #Russian Su-24, bombing #Daraa city today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArTQUZZBj3Y …
pic.twitter.com/6xxEfYa0i6

[OUTLAW 09]

Massive war drills involving 21 countries to take place in the north of Saudi-Arabia. Codenamed: Northern Thunder

Remember #Saudi bankrolled Saddam for eight years to try and defeat #Iran. It will be long before Saudi backs down in #Syria

When #Iran-#Iraq war ended, #IRGC leadership largely faulted Khomeini for ceasefire. Now they see #Syria as a "once and for all" showdown

For same reason, #Iran almost encourages #Saudi challenge in #Syria. Much of Iran's leadership fought in the front lines in Iran-Iraq war

Question is if #Iran's political leadership will once again step in. If they do, political solution in #Syria possible. If not, #IRGC all in

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Syria Express on the move again.....

Dvinitsa50 (Ex-Alican Deval) seems to have a new coat of paint. Rain makes it hard to tell but not flaking anymore.

Dvinitsa50 took a full 18 days to return after the last southbound pass here

ВМФ BSF #ЧФ ropucha class LST Yamal 156 transits Bosphorus. This is Yamal's 3rd Syrian deployment in 2016
pic.twitter.com/RxTqhtn9Qu

[OUTLAW 09]

Massive war drills involving 21 countries to take place in the north of Saudi-Arabia. Codenamed: Northern Thunder

Remember #Saudi bankrolled Saddam for eight years to try and defeat #Iran. It will be long before Saudi backs down in #Syria

When #Iran-#Iraq war ended, #IRGC leadership largely faulted Khomeini for ceasefire. Now they see #Syria as a "once and for all" showdown

For same reason, #Iran almost encourages #Saudi challenge in #Syria. Much of Iran's leadership fought in the front lines in Iran-Iraq war

Question is if #Iran's political leadership will once again step in. If they do, political solution in #Syria possible. If not, #IRGC all in

When asked whether #Turkey will take action 2 reopen corridor 2 #Aleppo Davutoğlu said “Wait for the next few days & u will have the answer”

The #FSA in #Azaz asks "friendly countries" for heavy weapons to defeat #YPG and their #Russian air cover.
http://v.aa.com.tr/520289

[OUTLAW 09]

Huge amount of ShOAB-0.5s retrieved by an FSA rebel engineering battalion in Gharria
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExX4OK84WGM … pic.twitter.com/f8zKFqlU2p

With the #Munich #farce, we legitimised the ongoing hell in #Syria.
The day after...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_varYH3FBo&feature=youtu.be …

Russia'n heavy artillery (Typ Msta-B) shelling #Latakia mountains in #Syria
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6ZITE2-lIY …
regime have not

Handing #Syria to #Russia Would Inflame Jihadism Abroad
http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/17934/handing-syria-to-russia-would-inflame-jihadism-abroad …
blowback is coming one way or the other—new by @AbuJamajem
Excellent discussion by @AbuJamajem on how "Handing Syria to Russia Would Inflame Jihadism Abroad"

You don't have to like the Saudis but they are right in regard to #Assad's horrible contribution to ME chaos.

At least 170 regime army soldiers killed in massive fires inside army base in Misyaf #Hama Suburbs #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

Looks like the Russians and US decided over the heads of the HNC....

Hijab: "We refused the ceasefire proposal until Assad/IRGC are gone" Americans & Russians announced something else.

US state dept implied Ahrar & Islam Army have been added to the "terrorist list" at Russia's behest @Ayei_Eloheichem

This was not mentioned during the US/Russian/UN press conference...

[OUTLAW 09]

BREAKING: Saudi FM says objective is removal of Assad in #Syria and "we will achieve it" - @AlArabiya_Eng

Al Arabiya English

Friday, 12 February 2016

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Friday the removal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was vital to defeat ISIS.

The objective is to remove Assad and “we will achieve it,” Jubeir said as he spoke from the Munich Security Conference.

Jubeir said Assad was responsible for the creation of ISIS by turning Syria into a “fertile ground” for its militants, in which the foreign minister described them as “psychopaths.”

Jubeir made the remarks after holding a bilateral meeting with his Russian counterpart Serge Lavrov.


VIDEO: Why is #Saudi crucial in the fight against #ISIS in #Syria?
http://ara.tv/zw2ks

BREAKING Saudi FM says ISIS does not represent Islam, it is as Muslim as the KKK affiliates itself with Christianity

U.S. sees Saudi Arabia and UAE providing commandos for #Syria
http://ara.tv/7mewc

BREAKING Saudi FM says kingdom acted in Yemen to prevent takeover by a radical militia, has no intention to expand its territory

BREAKING Saudi FM says Saudi Arabia and allies acted in Yemen to protect legitimate government

NOW the KSA operation is taking shape....
Asiri: Anti-terror Islamic Coalition to Have “Operational Dimension” in 2 Months
http://ow.ly/YfTAt

[OUTLAW 09]

FSA target a groups of IRGC militants north #Aleppo with TOW missile and 23 mm gun.
https://youtu.be/eY8LkkEvp7Y
pic.twitter.com/NYux386nIu

[OUTLAW 09]

SDF command issued a statement calling on all #Syria true freedom forces to join them to fight against the regime and Daesh.

In same time, #SDF coalition is still pressuring on islamists forces in and around #Menagh in N-#Aleppo as negociating for #Azaz

some regime rockets were fired on #SDF positions near Dayr Jamal. Regime fearing of a complete #SDF takeover of border

More and more shia jihadis are stationned between #Aleppo and #Afrin canton as no #SAA presence. Tension to rise more and more

Yesterday, heavy clashes erupted between regime militias and #SDF on southern #Sheikh_Maqsud edges in #Aleppo. Some wounded

FSA forces of #Sheikh_Maqsud, #Ashrafiyeh (#Aleppo), now under Jaysh al-Thuwar, participated to clashes alongside #YPG / #YPJ

Some #SDF (Jaysh al-Thuwar) are already integrated inside coalitions in N-#Homs pockets, as in #Houla region alonside #FSA

[OUTLAW 09]

RFS
Death of 20 Members of Regime Militias in Northern Aleppo Countryside
http://bit.ly/1WhJEhB

Actually an interesting comment......shows the intertwining of Assad with IS and Putin......
FSA legal advisor @oabozayd: frontline between #daesh & regime in #Aleppo is "entirely peaceful":
http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/russia-s-scorched-earth-policy-syria-1236303678#.dpuf …

Breaking : 6 #Assad mercenaries killed in Daraa after a battle with Free Syrian Army

Syria Rebels manufacture their own mortar shells, boots & uniforms.
From this JaI video:
https://youtu.be/YImhH2NKVQI

FSA Southern Front spox Al Reis:“#Russia is simply acting as the regime’s airforce against our moderate forces now" http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/russia-s-scorched-earth-policy-syria-1236303678#.dpuf …

12/2/16. 35+ air strikes targeted the Homs countryside by Ru & SAA helos. 17 killed, incl Ussama Alkhateeb SCD volunteer. #ceasefire now

[OUTLAW 09]

Issam Al Reis ‏@south_front_sy
Foreign Shia militia used in #Syria as #Russia's ground forces. But they are still too weak:
http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/russia-s-scorched-earth-policy-syria-1236303678#.dpuf …

Syrian Coalition Condemns #YPG Attack on #Azaz National Hospital in #Aleppo #Syria
http://ow.ly/YgoTr

[OUTLAW 09]

Footage shows a mosque bombed in Hayyan, Syria, are these Russia's guided bombs?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFZTRMQKIz4 …

[OUTLAW 09]

TURKEY: PM says “Wait for next few days & you will have an answer” when asked if Turkey will take action in Syria.
http://www.todayszaman.com/diplomacy_davutoglu-signals-turkish-action-after-fall-of-aleppo-corridor_412162.html …


Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has implied that Turkey will take action after the capture of the town of Azez in Syria, a strategic corridor between Aleppo and Turkey for rebel groups, by Syrian regime troops backed by Russian airstrikes.

Speaking to reporters en route to Turkey from the Netherlands, Davutoğlu said that he had told German Chancellor Angela Merkel of the need to stop Russia in Syria in order to prevent further influxes of refugees to Turkey and Europe from the region, the Hürriyet daily reported on Friday. When asked whether Turkey will take action to reopen the corridor to Aleppo, Davutoğlu said, “Wait for the next few days and you will have the answer,” daily Hürriyet reported on Friday.

An offensive by Syrian forces, Hezbollah and Shiite militias directed by Iran and backed by Russian bombing raids has reversed opposition gains on the ground and encircled rebels inside Aleppo. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Thursday that the number of refugees fleeing to Turkish border might reach 600,000 if airs strikes continue.

Davutoğlu also criticized the US for not listing the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) as a terrorist organization. He argued that the People's Protection Units (YPG), the armed wing of the PYD, supplies arms to the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). “When US Vice President Joe Biden came [to Turkey in late January], we showed him everything on a map for five hours. We shared everything about which routes are used by the YPG to carry weapons to Turkey. We expect [the US to show] sensitivity [about the issue]. We cannot see the YPG as legitimate just because it is fighting against the [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] ISIL,” Hürriyet quoted Davutoğlu as saying.

The YPG has been a reliable ally in the fight against the ISIL on the ground and has benefited from the US arms supply on several occasions. Both the US and the EU share Turkey's view of the PKK and see it as a terrorist organization. However, under US law, the PYD is not considered a terrorist group and US officials repeatedly said that their cooperation with the PYD against ISIL will continue.

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria ceasefire la #Ukraine
http://mashable.com/2016/02/12/putin-russia-ukraine-syria-ceasefire/?utm_cid=mash-com-Tw-main-link#wBHNIj4WBkqF

[OUTLAW 09]

"Chechnya’s ISIS problem”, by @yaffaesque: http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/chechnyas-isis-problem … pic.twitter.com/nJBrq5Jgr7

[OUTLAW 09]

Jaysh al-Islam sniper destroys regime army technical in #Aleppo.
https://www.jaishalislam.com/video/show/22/251/ …

JN sending Mujahideen from Wilayat Hama to Reef Aleppo

JN mujahideen carried out an Inghimasi Operation on Al Ghasibiyan in Homs province. The mujahideen killed scores

Rebels report receiving large amounts of Grad missiles from foreign backers in recent days.
http://news.trust.org/item/20160212191310-2k8fm …

Activists: #Assad army sniper killed a mother & her kids tried to escape besieged Zibdeen #EastGhouta

Pro-Regime forces taking another blow with second #TOW strike ear #Tannurah, N. #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMeBRF5DF7s …

[OUTLAW 09]

BREAKING: Saudi FM says objective is removal of Assad in #Syria and "we will achieve it" - @AlArabiya_Eng

VIDEO: Why is #Saudi crucial in the fight against #ISIS in #Syria?
http://ara.tv/zw2ks

BREAKING Saudi FM says ISIS does not represent Islam, it is as Muslim as the KKK affiliates itself with Christianity

U.S. sees Saudi Arabia and UAE providing commandos for #Syria
http://ara.tv/7mewc

BREAKING Saudi FM says kingdom acted in Yemen to prevent takeover by a radical militia, has no intention to expand its territory

BREAKING Saudi FM says Saudi Arabia and allies acted in Yemen to protect legitimate government

NOW the KSA operation is taking shape....
Asiri: Anti-terror Islamic Coalition to Have “Operational Dimension” in 2 Months
http://ow.ly/YfTAt

While Assad, with assistance from Putin and Khamenei boasted Assad will fight to the end and virtually dared KSA/Turkey to intervene.........AND many in the West assumed it would take two or more months...with this move and the two fully equipped and manned armored brigades sitting now on the Jordanian border Putin had better not miscalculate now.......

UPDATE: Ankara says Turkey and Saudi Arabia could launch joint ground operation in #Syria - @AFP

Royal Saudi Air Force F-15 Eagles arrive at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey.

💥20 #Saudi jets arrived/ joined the coalition force at #Incirlik base #Turkey

[OUTLAW 09]

After four years of Obama stating Assad must go and Kerry's badly done Munich 1938 ceasefire DOES anyone really believe these two any more....?

John Kerry: Hezbollah militia and the Iraqi militias will be targeted in case they do not respect the ceasefire

Putin certainly does not......

Let's see after the Obama red line and the Kerry statements on starvation and the Russian bombing achieved nothing why does he say this now when there is no creditability behind his own words....

Forgot...they both need CYA in order to prove they said at least something.

[OUTLAW 09]

Those "transnational shia jihadists" just keep on getting killed in Syria......

New sr. IRGC officer Mohamad Ali Qarbani killed in north #Aleppo fighting for #Assad. @shamnews

[OUTLAW 09]

Another indicator of just how close the Russian sigint voice intercept works with their CAS.....

RuAF bomb land nearby Nabaa news reporter in Daraa south Syria.
https://youtu.be/PO-tUb4e-Wc

[OUTLAW 09]

Ter Maela in Homs is also under attack.
Same for Western Gariyah in Daraa province (video).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqF9jgs1yTE …

News
Pro-#Assad forces started their assault on #Uraymah, using heavy artillery and helicopters.

Day2 after #Munich
#Talbiseh in #Homs province this morning.
Same horror as every day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BXbu57hS24 …

#Day1 after the #Munich agreement brought 41 civilians killed by #Putin and #Assad, acc. to the LCC.
#Syria

Real number is higher!
These 13 civilians, 3 of them babies, died due to the siege and air strikes in #Douma yday.

[OUTLAW 09]

BreakingNews
There were several #Russian airstrikes on #Azaz and neighbouring towns over the last 60 minutes.
Very unusual for this time.

My contact tells my Russian jets hit the S-W outskirts of #Azaz, possibly paving the way for tomorrow's second YPG push on the city.

THIS is the Turkish trigger that is about to fall as they have signaled multiple times to both the US and Putin Azaz is their "red line" and they have a full armored division up tight and close to the border crossing point nearest Azaz......

[OUTLAW 09]

New wave of #Russia'n airstrikes today on rebel held northern #Homs towns & villages

New wave of #Russia'n airstrikes today on rebel hold northern #Aleppo suburbs, town & villages
Regime dropping barrel bombs

BUT WAIT.......yesterday this from Russian PM in Munich.......
Russia's prime minister Medwedew: #EU close to "Migration collapse"
& "We bomb for it in #Syria"

The Russian "game"...they allowed the opening of a YPG political office in Moscow and have been shipping weapons to the Kurds in the hopes they attack the FSA, AND they provide the YPG CAS .....BUT WAIT here is the Russian reality that the Kurds better wake up to and quickly before the Turkish Army crosses the border at Azaz......

Russia prime minister Medwedew: "We must receive unified #Syria'n state"
So no kurdish #Rojava …

#Aleppo Heavy clashes now btw rebels & YPG in Sheikh Maksoud
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.237178&lon=37.154431&z=15&m=b

BUT WAIT...YPG in their press comments yesterday stated they are fighting together with FSA to defend Maksoud...??????

Aleppo Rebels hit group of #Assad-forces south of Al-Zahraa..TOW hit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMeBRF5DF7s …

Several #ISIS fighters killed by Jaish al-Islam in Hajar al-Aswad south of #Damascus
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.329302&lon=37.003927&z=14&m=b …

[OUTLAW 09]

Hraytan & Anadan were also reportedly targeted by #Russia|n airstrikes today. #Aleppo

At least 50 people killed inc. 22 children & 5 women in #Russian airstrikes only in #Anadan in north rural #Aleppo in the last 2 weeks

[OUTLAW 09]

DAY TWO after Munich 1938....."peace in our time"....

#SAA terrorists at #Zahiyah_Mount & #Burj_alQasb shelling mortars on #Qarouj, #Qarah & #alBayda villages
#Latakia #Syria FEB 13

#RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Masqan village
#Aleppo cs #SYria FEB 13

#RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Qabr_alEnglizi area
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 13

#RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #alJeeza town
#Daraa cs #Syria FEB 13

#RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Asia area, between #Anadan & #Kafr_Hamra
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 13

#RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Anadan city
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 13

SAA terrorists helicopters dropped barrel bombs over #Teir_Maela
#Homs cs #Syria FEB 13

SAA terrorists shelling mortars on #alGhariyah
#Daraa cs #SYria FEB 13

Rebels said that the new Grad Rockets (arrived y'day FEB 12) will have as the 1st 'destination' the #Hmaimin airbase.
#Latakia #Syria

FSA shelling mortars targeting #SAA terrorists positions in #Daraa #Syria FEB 13

[OUTLAW 09]

DAY TWO after Munich 1938.....

#SAA terrorists at #Zahiyah_Mount & #Burj_alQasb shelling mortars on #Qarouj, #Qarah & #alBayda villages
#Latakia #Syria FEB 13

#RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Masqan village
#Aleppo cs #SYria FEB 13

#RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Qabr_alEnglizi area
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 13

#RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #alJeeza town
#Daraa cs #Syria FEB 13

#RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Asia area, between #Anadan & #Kafr_Hamra
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 13

#RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Anadan city
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 13

SAA terrorists helicopters dropped barrel bombs over #Teir_Maela
#Homs cs #Syria FEB 13

SAA terrorists shelling mortars on #alGhariyah
#Daraa cs #SYria FEB 13

Rebels said that the new Grad Rockets (arrived y'day FEB 12) will have as the 1st 'destination' the #Hmaimin airbase.
#Latakia #Syria

FSA shelling mortars targeting #SAA terrorists positions in #Daraa #Syria FEB 13


#RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #alRamaliyah village
#Hama cs #Syria FEB 13

#RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Hayan town
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 13

#RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting the Carrefour building of #Kafr_Hamra
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 13

#RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Khan_alAsal
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 13

RUSSIA airstrikes on #Turkmen_Mount. #Kurds_Mount and outskirts plus #SAA terrorists shelling Grad Rockets
#Latakia #Syria FEB 13

Earlier this morning, #Russia carried out airstrikes on #alDar_alKarbera, #Zafarana & #alGhanto
#Homs cs #Syria FEB 13

#RUSSIA warplanes carried out several airstrikes on #Tel_Refaat
#Aleppo cs #SYria FEB 13

Rebels took control of #alKhazana checkpoint nearby #alGhasbiyah village,seizing 1 Tank & exterminating 15 #SAA
#Homs cs #Syria FEB 13

Rebels control of #alRamaliyah farms seizing Pickup w/MachineGun & several weapons/ammunition,15+ #SAA exterminated
#Hama cs #Syria FEB 13

Not less than 15.000 families are trapped in #Jordan - #Daraa Border

[OUTLAW 09]

49 Martyrs
[8 Fighters 4 children, 4 women 3 tortured]
17 Homs
14 Aleppo
5 Daraa
3 Damascus
1 Idlib
1 Hama
#Syria FEB 12

[OUTLAW 09]

49 Martyrs
[8 Fighters 4 children, 4 women 3 tortured]
17 Homs
14 Aleppo
5 Daraa
3 Damascus
1 Idlib
1 Hama
#Syria FEB 12

Turkey builds her case for invasion......
Turkish foreign minister says Russia targeting schools, hospitals in #Syria
http://uatoday.tv/politics/turkey-russia-590352.html …
pic.twitter.com/w5IpAIDGiu

[OUTLAW 09]

In the "perfect Russian world" of their propaganda WHERE "everyone else is at fault" and Russia is totally innocent....I guess the Russian FM could be correct...in his statement today in Munich.....

Lavrov : "Nobody likes us, everybody hates us, I think we'll go eat worms" #MSC2016

[OUTLAW 09]

Sadly some truth in this humor........

We're not bombing civilians in Syria. We're bombing the hospitals that contain them.

Day after Kremlin signs "cease fire" in #Syria, Russian bombers strike schools/hospitals in Aleppo region, killing 16 civilians
Via @afneil

WHEN all else fails.... standard Russian argument......"but it ain't us"....hard at work on the propaganda front.....

Russian PM: West has Re-Started Cold War
http://bit.ly/1RyuGnZ
pic.twitter.com/sb1ARvUim5

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia is attempting to get results on the ground BEFORE Turkey and KSA can enter which is coming and they know it.....

THIS is serious......wonder what the western response will be after their so called "successful Munich 1938"......

DAY TWO after Munich 1938 and this just came in via social media...and that is a seriously bad indicator for civilians on the ground......

Local activists: The largest #RuAF squadron since the Russian intervention in #Syria of over 20 jets spotted over Idlib headed to Aleppo.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia is attempting to get results on the ground BEFORE Turkey and KSA can enter which is coming and they know it.....

THIS is serious......wonder what the western response will be after their so called "successful Munich 1938"......

DAY TWO after Munich 1938 and this just came in via social media...and that is a seriously bad indicator for civilians on the ground......

Local activists: The largest #RuAF squadron since the Russian intervention in #Syria of over 20 jets spotted over Idlib headed to Aleppo.

#Lavrov clearly saying they'll continue attacking terrorists willfully confusing #IS with all armed opposition. Dangerous. #MSC2016

[OUTLAW 09]

IS Kerry and Obama ready for the coming political fallout over the blatantly failed Munich 1938...there is not even a ceasefire anywhere to be seen, there is no humanitarian aid being delivered as Kerry spoke of AND Russia is attempting to literally flatten Aleppo and Azaz.....

Rebel areas in N. #Aleppo, #Syria today are witnessing the fiercest airstrikes by at least 20 #Russia|n jets; dozens of airstrikes reported

I cannot even keep up the incoming social media air strike reports and civilians loses...it is that bad.....

An utter failure of whatever the so called Obama ME FP is....basically there is none.....

[OUTLAW 09]

IS Kerry and Obama ready for the coming political fallout over the blatantly failed Munich 1938...there is not even a ceasefire anywhere to be seen, there is no humanitarian aid being delivered as Kerry spoke of AND Russia is attempting to literally flatten Aleppo and Azaz.....

Rebel areas in N. #Aleppo, #Syria today are witnessing the fiercest airstrikes by at least 20 #Russia|n jets; dozens of airstrikes reported

I cannot even keep up the incoming social media air strike reports and civilians loses...it is that bad.....

An utter failure of whatever the so called Obama ME FP is....basically there is none.....

Assad and IRGC militias reportedly took Tamurah village north #Aleppo after heavy air attacks. #RussianCeasefire
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=36.315402&lon=37.008648&z=13&m=b&show=/25600866/Tamurah&search=aleppo …

What the heck is this........he cannot be so naïve
Lavrov complains that too many people here in Munich trying to convince #Russia to stop bombing. #MSC2016

[OUTLAW 09]

AND this proves just how bad Kerry and company FP has gotten and yet he does not seem to realize it....

Kerry today: "coming weeks critical to peace process."
Kerry few days ago: "coming days are critical"

Kerry's comments are just designed to follow the direction the wind is blowing the flag.....and yet he somehow thinks no one is tracking his comments

[OUTLAW 09]

bellingcat @bellingcat

Expanding a bit on @CITeam_en's report, looks like 3 Msta-B barrels visible in this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uISHvV6V0Nc …
pic.twitter.com/2USrRQrDOP

Children living under siege in #Daraya telling stories about daily shelling they live with.
https://youtu.be/SicRkNDIFJg

Reports are coming that at least 4 RuAF jets targeting FSA held Tall Rifaat village north #Aleppo.

Putin & allies expected to escalate specially in Aleppo before possible ceasefire implemented or Saudi/Turkish ground intervention in Syria.

Footage
BRUTAL air strike on #Hamoryah, east of #Damascus, today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQoOf5WiS1M …

[OUTLAW 09]

Turkey's answer is now being received in Syria and Russia has not said a thing yet via their massive propaganda....

After Russia's power show & massive air campaign on rural #Aleppo today, Turkish artillery pounding Russia's new allies & drawing red lines.

Pro-AKP "Yeni Şafak" reports "howitzers and heavy weapons" are used "to stop terrorists with Russian support from encircling Azaz".

Breaking
Pro-Turkish government media reports, Turkish artillery also hits "YPG-held #Sijaraz, 500 m from #Azaz".

Türkish artillery hitting YPG controlled areas of Azez, Maarnaz, Sicaraz, Minag, Malikiye, Keştear
http://www.yenisafak.com/en/news/turkish-troops-begin-to-hit-ypg-targets-in-azaz-town-2411302 …

[OUTLAW 09]

The video I posted a few days ago on the Syrian thread depicted the IFVs for two Saudi armored brigades being moved near the Jordanian border and the Russians laughed it off......

NOW this..Kuwaiti flights are now going into Turkey with unmarked flight numbers ....some Turkish rumors indicate MANPADs for the FSA...

The US no longer has any influence in the ME and that is what Obama has been saying he wanted is it not???

Kuwaiti Air Force @Boeing C-17 Globemaster, no identification tracking, in final approach to IST Ataturk 5/23runway

Accepting bets on what's inside, A/S weapons for KSA's F-15? SAM systems?

[OUTLAW 09]

RuAF airstrike on Tel Refaat in #Aleppo countryside, 25 airstrikes so far

TOW hit....Rebels destroyed vehicle of Shiite forces (#Iraq'i Nujaba militia) in southern #Aleppo town of al Eis

YPG counting on a settlement with Assad & autonomy for Syria’s Kurds more likely with Russia's support after lost hope US will go this far.

YPG militia picked a side as Assad & Russia ally attacking #FSA held territories during Assad & IRGC offensive on north #Aleppo corridor.

[OUTLAW 09]

BreakingNews
#YPG forces attack rebels inside #Ayn_Daqnah right now.
#Aleppo #Syria

Footage
Several children injured in #Russian evening cluster bomb attack on #Rastan/B]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpDAHLbF40M …

[B]Footage
The #FSA destroys a Shiite forces jeep in Al-Eis, S-W of #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN3TL7pCPys …

Distance between Kilis an Menagh is 24 kilometers.
So I guess, Turkey uses 155 mm T-155 Fırtına guns.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian state media is not yet on it.
Surprising for them for sure.
Such news make them most furious.

Tweets on #TurkishIntervention north of #Aleppo
I talked to contacts in #Kilis and #Azaz.
Both confirm Turkish artillery fire on the YPG

Artillery attack was audible in Kilis and Azaz.
It lasted from 4pm to 6pm.
Azaz citizens and refugees said to celebrated the strikes

Both contacts think, new phase started, not short-lived.
Azaz contact says hopes for Turkish defence vs. YPG and Russian air strikes.

[OUTLAW 09]

Pro-#YPG sources say Turkish artillery is hitting #Maranaz between #Menagh and #Azaz.


Footage
Heavy Iranian-led forces capture #Tamurah.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDaHnmx5p-s …

Footage
Russian jets started bombing Al-Ghantu shortly ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykas3RYqJSU …
#Homs #Syria

Soccer game on an #Idlib school yard interrupted.
4 #Russian Su-34 on their way to #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLkWCnmcq8k …

A market in #Saraqib.
Everyone looks up into the air.
People know what will happen soon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vnk-Uc1WVQQ …

#BREAKING
The #Russian terrorists did it again!
Air strike on fire fighters in #Huraytan after killing 5 civilians.

[OUTLAW 09]

#BREAKING
UNPRECEDENTED RUSSIAN TERROR ATTACKS ON #ALEPPO PROV. TODAY
WHOLE TOWNS DESTROYED
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdC8hoZ91Qc …

First footage from #Huraytan.
Russian precision bomb kills 5 civilians in a mini bus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeyqqQBG4Ks …

Footage
A Russian jet (prob. Su-34) bombed the rebel resupply line in Om Elmiathin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjHkDIhxUx8 …

News
A single #Russian Su-34 dropped several bombs on Western Garyiah today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdxDCyzTyzA …

GRAPHIC
Footage
Dead child from air strikes on #Rastan in #Homs province this morning.
graphic!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJBAxxnticw …

First #footage:
Two Su-25 on their way to #Aleppo over #Idlib province.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMxvk47iuVA …

[OUTLAW 09]

Shelling continues from Turkey, average 2 shells in minute. Targets Kurdish positions in Maarnaz West Azaz & Mennegh - Eyewitnesses

Assad-forces take over Tamurah in NW #Aleppo outskirts supported by 100+ #Russia'n airstrikes
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.315056&lon=36.996117&z=14&m=b …

[OUTLAW 09]

What the heck is this.......for four years Obama states Assad must go...THEN he caves along with Kerry in order to agree with Assad and Putin NOW after massive Russia air strikes after Munich 1938 we get the Obama Kerry shift back four years..........

John Kerry to Orient News: No peace in #Syria with Assad there
http://youtu.be/bqDsFuFPs5Q

[OUTLAW 09]

Northern Division takes out a militia pick-up with a #TOW in Al-Eis, S. #Aleppo. #Syria.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzcgUvGejDc … pic.twitter.com/5vbGFm6VfY

A new peace deal for Syria effectively gives Russia and Assad 'a license to kill' http://read.bi/20sPb67
pic.twitter.com/wIYRxAcRCe

CIT (en) @CITeam_en
Instagram pic taken 8 hours ago at Turkey-Syria border, note low-loader for heavy vehicles (howitzer?) on the left.
pic.twitter.com/gZDZhZVugE

Eliot Higgins @EliotHiggins
Supposedly the Turkish artillery positions firing at the SDF and YPG, anyone geolocated it yet?
https://youtu.be/MU7BnKfI9AM

[OUTLAW 09]

MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
#Lavrov: There is no need to demonize Assad or other people, except, maybe, the terrorists operating in #Syria
http://sptnkne.ws/aCuk

What the heck does this mean when Assad is a proven genocidal dictator and can in fact be charged for war crimes in his use of chemical weapons on his own population, drops barrel bombs and uses starvation.

NOT sure Lavrov even understands what world he currently is in...some might say he has been smoking something and it is not vodka.....

BUT WAIT...maybe he is tried of being accused of the deliberate targeted killing of civilians by the RuAF......

[OUTLAW 09]

Turkey's answer is now being received in Syria and Russia has not said a thing yet via their massive propaganda....

After Russia's power show & massive air campaign on rural #Aleppo today, Turkish artillery pounding Russia's new allies & drawing red lines.

Pro-AKP "Yeni Şafak" reports "howitzers and heavy weapons" are used "to stop terrorists with Russian support from encircling Azaz".

Breaking
Pro-Turkish government media reports, Turkish artillery also hits "YPG-held #Sijaraz, 500 m from #Azaz".

Trkish artillery hitting YPG controlled areas of Azez, Maarnaz, Sicaraz, Minag, Malikiye, Keştear
http://www.yenisafak.com/en/news/turkish-troops-begin-to-hit-ypg-targets-in-azaz-town-2411302

Turkish AF is now on full alert and their armor units which moved into the border region several weeks ago are rumored to be even closer to the edge of Syrian border.....their mine clearance units were moved there as well when the armor units moved in....

[OUTLAW 09]

While Assad, with assistance from Putin and Khamenei boasted Assad will fight to the end and virtually dared KSA/Turkey to intervene.........AND many in the West assumed it would take two or more months...with this move and the two fully equipped and manned armored brigades sitting now on the Jordanian border Putin had better not miscalculate now.......

UPDATE: Ankara says Turkey and Saudi Arabia could launch joint ground operation in #Syria - @AFP

Royal Saudi Air Force F-15 Eagles arrive at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey.

💥20 #Saudi jets arrived/ joined the coalition force at #Incirlik base #Turkey

THIS was a total miscalculation on the part of Putin and his GRU targeteers........and actually hardened the Saudi's into their decision to go for it with or without the US.....

@aaronstein1 Russian strike that killed Zahran Alloush was more significant. Hit Saudis took personally in a way Moscow didn't understand

Saudi AF is fully combat ready.....
Saudi military spokesman: #Saudi warplanes with crews have been fully deployed in #Turkey’s Incirlik airbase

[OUTLAW 09]

BREAKING Turkish officials to media: YPG hit Turkish base in Akabaglar, then we responded within the engag. rules

The news everyone missed: Turkey hit regime positions across the border near Hatay in response to regime shelling

Turkeys ROEs - for now - dont prevent US jets from giving CAS to SDF/YPG East of the Euphrates/At Tishreen Dam.

Unconfirmed Report: Mortars have hit the area controlled by #Turkish Akcabaglar gendarme HQ, in #Kilis province of #Turkey.

[OUTLAW 09]

Finally the US recognizes they have been falsely supporting the YPG.......
BREAKING US urges YPG not to take advantage of a confused situation by seizing new territory in Northern Aleppo: US State Department

This is typical US...the Turks warned the US to choose Turkey or YPG..then the US allowed YPG to take even more Arab territory AND then the US allowed the Russians to provide CAS including their own CAS fighting basically along side Hezbollah troops

AND now wants the Turks to stop their artillery....

Reports now of renewed Turkish artillery shelling of YPG positions around Azaz in north rural #Aleppo, #Syria

BREAKING Turkish PM Davutoglu: #YPG have to remove its forces form Northern Aleppo corridor. They have to withdraw its forces from Azaz.

BREAKING: @AFP confirm that Turkish artillery has targeted #SAA positions in northern Syria.

Interesting to see if Saudi joins Turkey in this effort to re-open the Marea corridor. KSA's stated deployment is only against IS so far.

[OUTLAW 09]

Perfect example of just how badly the Us MSM understands what is ongoing in Syria and one has to ask the question do they actually support Assad and Putin's killing of civilians by total indiscriminate bombing.....which has caused "the terrible plight of ordinary Syrians".....


NYT editorial board on Putin: “Whatever his reasons, he now appears to be showing some sympathy for the terrible plight of ordinary Syrians”

NOTICE they did not pick this story up and run with it......

Russia's new Syrian strategy: ethnic cleansing.
http://bit.ly/211hLxt

[OUTLAW 09]

Cant wait for the first clear #TOW #ATGM on T 90
https://youtu.be/qu5jaqIF7eU

A second shia car is hit by #TOW #ATGM in S-Aleppo
https://youtu.be/qzcgUvGejDc

Shia technical destroyed by #TOW #ATGM in S-Aleppo
https://youtu.be/EN3TL7pCPys

[davidbfpo]

I think not! Via Charles Lister on Twitter.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CbH1xEAWcAIGgGU.png:large

[OUTLAW 09]

I think not! Via Charles Lister on Twitter.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CbH1xEAWcAIGgGU.png:large

If one filters out the color coded lines....an interesting number of profiles start confirming a lot of what is being posted here...

The anti Assad opposition is largely and still remains Syrian with little to no jihadist influence...contrary to what is being said in the Obama WH....

Then look at the JaN (AQ) lines they are focused also largely on Assad and his transnational shia jihadi's......and surprisingly they attack IS as much as FSA does.

But then take a look at who the "transnational shia jihadists" are attacking.

Interesting points not included on the left side of the chart are Russia and Iran....and I am not sure exactly why there is a (JaN) AQ line to the USAF as they have been dodging US and Russian bombs as frequently as has FSA even during their led attacks on IS front linesand one might conclude they are just defending themselves.

Also reference the USAF and US led coalition...who are they targeting?...as suddenly in the past days both the USAF and the RuAF were providing CAS to the YPG as they fought FSA.

[OUTLAW 09]

Exactly as it is shut out now in Minsk 2....

Russia’s grip on Syria tightens as brittle ceasefire deal leaves US out in the cold
https://lnkd.in/ea4aB8J

[OUTLAW 09]

Maybe it takes a massive regional and global escalation to finally and properly address the Syrian war.

TurkishEmbassyDC 
‏@TurkishEmbassy
Turkish PM: We will retaliate against any belligerent move of the YPG on our border. YPG must withdraw from Azaz and the surrounding areas.

Turkish PM says Ankara will reverse "every step" of the PYD/PKK aggression against rebels in Azaz corridor.
http://gu.com/p/4gkpk/stw #Syria

NOTICE the US DoS statement directed straight at the YPG...stop your advances....

THEIR response is as follows......

More Russian airstriks reported on rebels positions in Azaz north Aleppo today in support of the YPG Kurdish militia attack on the city.

[OUTLAW 09]

Horrifying footage of Russian air strikes on the town of Tal Rifaat in rural Aleppo. #Syria
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH70E2PZONk …

[OUTLAW 09]

Maybe it takes a massive regional and global escalation to finally and properly address the Syrian war.

TurkishEmbassyDC 
‏@TurkishEmbassy
Turkish PM: We will retaliate against any belligerent move of the YPG on our border. YPG must withdraw from Azaz and the surrounding areas.

Turkish PM says Ankara will reverse "every step" of the PYD/PKK aggression against rebels in Azaz corridor.
http://gu.com/p/4gkpk/stw #Syria

NOTICE the US DoS statement directed straight at the YPG...stop your advances....

THEIR response is as follows......

More Russian airstriks reported on rebels positions in Azaz north Aleppo today in support of the YPG Kurdish militia attack on the city.

Russia-backed separatists in DNR in talks to host Syrian Kurdish embassy in Donetsk
http://www.gazeta.ru/politics/2016/02/12_a_8071685.shtml …

After opening their main office in Moscow....this week...

Steimeier questions Iraqi #Kurds about the use of weapons supplied by #Germany,warns them agnst indep. referendum https://twitter.com/dw_ukrainian/status/698760803550420992 …

الخالدي @khalidi_4_sham
Breaking: what appears like Drones coming from Turkish airspace entered reef Aleppo presumably to find YPG targets 4 artillery

الخالدي @khalidi_4_sham
Breaking: Turkey has reportedly carried out its first airstrike targeting reef North Aleppo YPG

[OUTLAW 09]

This is now the near perfect storm that the Obama WH has created themselves by never really wanting to create a long term US strategic vison for their FP in both the ME and Europe.......that even considers the use of force if necessary to accomplish their "soft power goals"....

We have urged Syrian Kurdish & other forces affiliated with YPG not to take advantage of a confused situation by seizing new territory.

Hassan Hassan
‏@hxhassan

By visiting YPG commanders as they were advancing west of the Euphrates despite a previous US-Turkish understanding

The PYD & its armed wing the YPG, is in all respects possible, an integral component of the PKK and KCK.
Naive to claim anything else.

Exactly why the Turks told the US.....make a choice Turkey and NATO or the PKK......

[OUTLAW 09]

Rebels re-gain control over #alAlia village as #Turkey shelled targeting #SAA terrorists positions in the area
#Latakia #Syria FEB 14

Huge explosion in #alSaan village, killing a number of #NDF terrorists in eastern #Hama cs #Syria FEB 14

The 9th #Russia airstrikes so far on #Aazaz and it's surroundings
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 14

RUSSIA airstrikes on #Hirbnafsah town
#Hama cs #Syria FEB 14

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia-backed separatists in DNR in talks to host Syrian Kurdish embassy in Donetsk
http://www.gazeta.ru/politics/2016/02/12_a_8071685.shtml …

After opening their main office in Moscow....this week...

Steimeier questions Iraqi #Kurds about the use of weapons supplied by #Germany,warns them agnst indep. referendum https://twitter.com/dw_ukrainian/status/698760803550420992 …

الخالدي @khalidi_4_sham
Breaking: what appears like Drones coming from Turkish airspace entered reef Aleppo presumably to find YPG targets 4 artillery

الخالدي @khalidi_4_sham
Breaking: Turkey has reportedly carried out its first airstrike targeting reef North Aleppo YPG

100s of #Turkey Army Soldiers positioned in #Jarabulus border
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 14

Turkey warplane carried out airstrikes for the 1st time targeting #SDF militias locations in north #Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 14

AND the Russian S400s....seem to be non operational at this time....and Russia has remained silent.....

Washington: Asked Turkey to stop the bombardment of #NDF militias & #SAA inside #Syria FEB 14
NOW this particular comment if confirmed does not make any sense whatsoever....UNLESS they are protecting Putin and Assad and have written off FSA.....

[OUTLAW 09]

This is now the near perfect storm that the Obama WH has created themselves by never really wanting to create a long term US strategic vison for their FP in both the ME and Europe.......that even considers the use of force if necessary to accomplish their "soft power goals"....

We have urged Syrian Kurdish & other forces affiliated with YPG not to take advantage of a confused situation by seizing new territory.

Hassan Hassan
‏@hxhassan

By visiting YPG commanders as they were advancing west of the Euphrates despite a previous US-Turkish understanding

The PYD & its armed wing the YPG, is in all respects possible, an integral component of the PKK and KCK.
Naive to claim anything else.

Exactly why the Turks told the US.....make a choice Turkey and NATO or the PKK......

When the YPG retook Kobane it was with massive USAF CAS AND a very strong contingent from FSA....and NOW they are attacking FSA with Russian CAS and next to Hezbollah.....

AND their agenda is not....an independent Kurdish state at the cost to FSA and the Syrians

[OUTLAW 09]

You can hear entire Syria on his voice..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A3Txexv5R0 …
#alGhanto massacre FEB 12 #Homs #Syria

Destruction of School, ER & houses aftermath #Russia airstrikes on #Maart_alArteeq
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 14

35+ #SAA & it's militias exterminated by #Turkey Army shelling their positions in #Aleppo cs and #Lattakia cs y'day FEB 13 #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

You can hear entire Syria on his voice..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A3Txexv5R0 …
#alGhanto massacre FEB 12 #Homs #Syria

Destruction of School, ER & houses aftermath #Russia airstrikes on #Maart_alArteeq
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 14

35+ #SAA & it's militias exterminated by #Turkey Army shelling their positions in #Aleppo cs and #Lattakia cs y'day FEB 13 #Syria

Russia ordered #SAA & it's foreigner militias terrorisrs to recover all #Syria - #Turkey border area at "any cost".

NOW confirmed...thus the Turkish military moves....and move to come.
Informed regime source: #Russia has decided to close all Syrian-Turkish border crossings by force.

[OUTLAW 09]

Rebels repel #SAA attempt to break into #Kafarta village, exterminating 8 of it's terrorists earlier
#Latakia #Syria FEB 14

#RUssia airstrikes on #Anadan, #Tamoura & #Asia area moments ago..
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 14

SAA shelled Grad Rockets on Khan_Touman earlier morning as heavy clashes take place
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 14

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Alma town earlier morning
#Daraa #Syria FEB 14

76 Martyrs
[12 Fighters 7 women 6 children]
29 Aleppo
13 Damascus
10 Daraa
5 Latakia
4 Homs
2 DeirEzzor
1 Hama
#Syria FEB 13

Suqour Al-Jabal and Sultan Murad are sending reinforcements to Tal Rifaat

[OUTLAW 09]

This is now the near perfect storm that the Obama WH has created themselves by never really wanting to create a long term US strategic vison for their FP in both the ME and Europe.......that even considers the use of force if necessary to accomplish their "soft power goals"....

We have urged Syrian Kurdish & other forces affiliated with YPG not to take advantage of a confused situation by seizing new territory.

Hassan Hassan
‏@hxhassan

By visiting YPG commanders as they were advancing west of the Euphrates despite a previous US-Turkish understanding

The PYD & its armed wing the YPG, is in all respects possible, an integral component of the PKK and KCK.
Naive to claim anything else.

Exactly why the Turks told the US.....make a choice Turkey and NATO or the PKK......

Erdogan: "My prayer in Umayyad Masjid and my visit to the tomb of
ṢalaḥadDin Ayyyob is closer God willing.."

We are not in an sectarian war yet........?

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria Rebels destroyed 2 #IS picups & killed 16 terrorists in desert of eastern #Qalamoun (Dabaa area)

Syria burns and yet Obama talks Ukraine....
Putin, Obama discussed #Minsk agreements on #Ukraine
http://liveuamap.com/en/2016/14-february-putin-obama-discussed-minsk-agreements-on-ukraine … via @AlArabiya_Eng

Not sure why he even calls as Kerry stated at MSC2016 that Minsk had to e fully implemented which means the complete withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine and the restoration of the border control to Ukraine.

That has not happened so why talk?

BUT then later.....
BREAKING: Kremlin says Putin and Obama agree to strengthen diplomatic & other cooperation to implement Munich Syria statement - @CNNTURK_ENG

So exactly what does the mean in Syrian speak...we are only on DAY THREE of Munich 1938 and Russia is still bombing, Assad stated he will fight for the entire control of Syrian, Russian states it will close the Syrian Turkish border and the Kurds "forgot" who armed and supported them in their switching to Russian proxy status and now are being shelled and hit by Turkish air strikes because they are openly taking Arab territory.

Oh...and that humanitarian aid that Kerry so highly talked before and during Munich 1938 was about to be delivered because Russia "agreed" to it.......
Fighting and bombing continues. @RefugeesChief says still no green light for aid trucks waiting at border to Syria. #MSC2016

WHAT else can go wrong with Munich 1938....not much really as it was doomed from the beginning.

[OUTLAW 09]

The following three core geo political goals are at the heart of the current Russian non linear war against the West especially the US and they have never changed.....

1. damage and discredit NATO
2. damage and discredit EU
3. totally disconnect the US from both the EU and the ME.

these will never change for Putin...surprising many in DC seem to not "get it"....and think "talking" will convince Putin to abandon them....

Vladimir Putin wants to destroy Nato: the Syria war may offer him the chance | via @Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/12155879/Vladimir-Putin-wants-to-destroy-Nato-the-Syria-war-may-offer-him-the-chance.html …

If one goes back to Crimea and all Putin and his FM statements since then coupled with key statements coming out of their Duma....they want a war with NATO.....as they feel NATO is now at the weakest it has ever been and they are totally correct.

Why ...right now even the UAF is stronger militarily than eight of the current NATO members are.

[OUTLAW 09]

Well the Turks just keep on shelling AND Obama talks to Putin instead of Putin calling him....it is all about "perceptions"....Obama never seems to "get it"...

WHY has he not called Turkey.....maybe because he choose YPG over Turkey and NATO.

Turkish Army shells northern #Syria for the second day on Sunday

#Turkey military shelled positions of #YPG & allies in northern #Aleppo for second day; SOHR: two fighters killed #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

Well the Turks just keep on shelling AND Obama talks to Putin instead of Putin calling him....it is all about "perceptions"....Obama never seems to "get it"...

WHY has he not called Turkey.....maybe because he choose YPG over Turkey and NATO.

Turkish Army shells northern #Syria for the second day on Sunday

#Turkey military shelled positions of #YPG & allies in northern #Aleppo for second day; SOHR: two fighters killed #Syria

Just in the last ten days......
Syria Map of #Russia'n airstrikes in Northern #Aleppo shows they only bomb Rebels -not #IS

[OUTLAW 09]

NOW we fully understand just why the Russians openly complained about the Turks cancelling the Russian requested "Open Sky" flight..

The entire Turkish 2nd Army is now "parked" up close and tight to the Syrian/Iraqi border and outside of the Russian AF there is not a strong enough transnational shia jihadi force inside Syria strong enough to resist it.....and Turkish army movements to reinforce the 2nd Army move into a deep defensive position behind them.

Intelligence Agencies: #YPG coordinating & helping #Assad take #Aleppo. @Arabi21News
http://bit.ly/1ofhqcL

BREAKING: Kurdish PYD militia says it will not evacuate Aleppo airbase and will confront Turkish intervention

Turkish social media response.......
We will send more bombs then... We have a good stockpile ��

[OUTLAW 09]

An amazing shot with anti-material rifle by #JaI #sniper taking out #Assad 14,5 mm technical.

Hassan Hassan ‏@hxhassan
Ahrar al-Sham assassinates Isis's general sharia official in northern Homs countryside, a Yemeni, along with his Syrian deputy.

Hama: Rebels destroy Assad regime fuel tank inside Alzlakiat checkpoint.

The FSA Urban Guerrillas
http://youtu.be/f6QQ4kizqrc

[OUTLAW 09]

What a brutal way to find out the Russians have basically stabbed you in the back and were using you all the time against your major supporter the US...and now you must dodge Turks shells and bombs........

Russia'n Deputy Foreign Minister Gennadij Gatilow reject "#Rojava" plan of #Kurd-State on #Syria'n ground

After allowing YPG to open an office in Moscow, calling for them to participate in Geneva and then supplying them weapons and Russian CAS against the FSA...then the Russians walk.........typical for their non linear warfare........

[OUTLAW 09]

Turkish political tone aimed at the Us is getting rougher.......

TurkishEmbassy
Turkish PM:TR is determined to take any measure to protect its border, the refugees, the moderate opposition and to prevent an ethnic massacre

Basically doing what the Obama and Kerry ME strategy should have been doing all along....

[OUTLAW 09]

What a wimp of a Obama WH......now they are even recycling their "old statements" and that takes absolutely no intellectual effort.....

In 2014 Obama stated concerning the heavy fighting after the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine.....

"we will judge Putin on his actions not his words".....

NOW 2016......

US Wants to See #Russia’s Commitment to Ceasefire Translated into “Concrete Actions” #Syria
http://ow.ly/YhZ20

[OUTLAW 09]

Well worth reading by an author who knows this area well and knows the IS well......

Hassan Hassan ‏@hxhassan
On how the changing dynamics in Aleppo might favour ISIS & Jabhat al-Nusra
my new article for The Observer @guardian

http://gu.com/p/4gknj/stw

[OUTLAW 09]

Turkish political tone aimed at the Us is getting rougher.......

TurkishEmbassy
Turkish PM:TR is determined to take any measure to protect its border, the refugees, the moderate opposition and to prevent an ethnic massacre

Basically doing what the Obama and Kerry ME strategy should have been doing all along....

Saleh Muslim (#PYD): "We will stand against any Turkish intervention in #Syria"
but #Iran and #Russia are welcomed

Syria 15 #Russia'n airstrikes hit Tal Rifaat in northern #Aleppo today
to pave kurdish militia way into city
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.472236&lon=37.097225&z=14&m=b …

[OUTLAW 09]

DAY THREE of seven days of Russian air strikes.....THAT Obama and Kerry fully and without reserve allowed Putin to do just as with Debaltseve in Minsk 2.

Syria Heavy #Russia'n airstrikes on northern #Aleppo suburbs (Anadan)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUG-dRGu8XA …

Heavy #Russia'n airstrikes on northern #Aleppo suburbs (Huraytan)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaiXuetBpdA …

Names of an entire Bedouin family that were killed by #Russia|n airstrikes in al-Hrak, #Daraa today

Syria Airstrikes on #Damascus suburb #Douma
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEMvYoWyvJY …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-4gLxAwU5A …

Russia bombing Talbiseh town in northern #Homs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCHwe_NopWA …

A dozen dead residents after #Russia'n airstrikes on Karm al-Qaterji district in #Aleppo city http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.201361&lon=37.182605&z=16&m=b …

More Russian fighter jets en route to their targets in #Aleppo province today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anDn3VLS1pY …

[OUTLAW 09]

Aleppo Clashes bet. rebels & Russian backed YPG in Tal Rafa’at & Turkey continues shelling YPG in Deir Jamal, Maranaz, Menagh & its airbase

Reports that Turkey at the same time is shelling #ISIS positions in Qara Kubri & al-Ra’ai & its vicinity in north rural #Aleppo

After expelling #ISIS from al-Tal & Wadi Barada, JaI rebels kill 16 ISIS fighters in attack on #ISIS rear positions in Daba’a, E. #Qalamoun

Fighting around TelRifat between Kurdish YPG/SDF &rebels. Many groups on rebel side so I prepared this list. @akhbar
A total of over 15 Syrian anti Assad groups are fighting toe to toe with YPG who is getting Russian CAS support and support from Hezbollah...FSA side getting active Turkish 155mm artillery support which sometimes is averaging two shells per minute which is what is called rapid max fire rate.

More reports of Turkish AF loitering in the area...still no Russian S400 threats being registered and or they have been blinded by Turkish jammers in the border areas.

[OUTLAW 09]

Strange..it has taken two full days for the Russian propaganda media to figure out what the narrative should be for the Russians back home as the polling there does not reflect that the Russians want a war in Syria....

News(?!)
Russian propaganda channel: "SAA fires artillery into #Turkey".
http://lifenews.ru/news/185132

So they talk about artillery exchanges and not about the Turk AF in their bombing of YPG and Hezbollah troops....

[OUTLAW 09]

Aleppo Clashes bet. rebels & Russian backed YPG in Tal Rafa’at & Turkey continues shelling YPG in Deir Jamal, Maranaz, Menagh & its airbase

Reports that Turkey at the same time is shelling #ISIS positions in Qara Kubri & al-Ra’ai & its vicinity in north rural #Aleppo

After expelling #ISIS from al-Tal & Wadi Barada, JaI rebels kill 16 ISIS fighters in attack on #ISIS rear positions in Daba’a, E. #Qalamoun

Fighting around TelRifat between Kurdish YPG/SDF &rebels. Many groups on rebel side so I prepared this list. @akhbar
A total of over 15 Syrian anti Assad groups are fighting toe to toe with YPG who is getting Russian CAS support and support from Hezbollah...FSA side getting active Turkish 155mm artillery support which sometimes is averaging two shells per minute which is what is called rapid max fire rate.

More reports of Turkish AF loitering in the area...still no Russian S400 threats being registered and or they have been blinded by Turkish jammers in the border areas.

Hilarious:
Jaysh al-Thuwar accuses all anti-SDF #FSA groups of being "Turkish gangs .. murdering the Syrian people"

Thuwar is the Sunni Arab excuse that is used to depict SDF that the US is supporting as being "moderate Syrians" but have at every twist and turn actually attacked FSA groups on their march to Aleppo.

And the YPG uses Thuwar to "prove" they are proSunni Arab....not anti Arab which they are...

[OUTLAW 09]

Aleppo Clashes bet. rebels & Russian backed YPG in Tal Rafa’at & Turkey continues shelling YPG in Deir Jamal, Maranaz, Menagh & its airbase

Reports that Turkey at the same time is shelling #ISIS positions in Qara Kubri & al-Ra’ai & its vicinity in north rural #Aleppo

After expelling #ISIS from al-Tal & Wadi Barada, JaI rebels kill 16 ISIS fighters in attack on #ISIS rear positions in Daba’a, E. #Qalamoun

Fighting around TelRifat between Kurdish YPG/SDF &rebels. Many groups on rebel side so I prepared this list. @akhbar
A total of over 15 Syrian anti Assad groups are fighting toe to toe with YPG who is getting Russian CAS support and support from Hezbollah...FSA side getting active Turkish 155mm artillery support which sometimes is averaging two shells per minute which is what is called rapid max fire rate.

More reports of Turkish AF loitering in the area...still no Russian S400 threats being registered and or they have been blinded by Turkish jammers in the border areas.

Azaz is a red line for Turkey -> Davutoğlu: YPG does not represent Kurds nor Syrians, must immediately leave Azaz &its surroundings. @akhbar

[OUTLAW 09]

IMHO Putin's AF is slowing down their strikes in and around Aleppo today as they are as thoroughly confused as is Obama about the ground reality right now.

BOTH so called superpowers were fully caught off guard with the Turkish moves which totally surprises me as the Turks have been clearly and concisely stating their red line....MAYBE the superpowers just do not believe the regional players also have "red lines" that the KSA defined "as a threat to their national security" and THAT they are fully capable to defending that red line if need be.

Syrian government says Turkish shelling of Syrian territory is "direct Turkish support for terrorist groups"-state TV - @LBCI_News_EN

CNN Trk ENG
‏@CNNTURK_ENG
#BREAKING Turkish mil. sources say Turkey retaliated against fire from YPG positions, shelling to continue as long as TR comes under fire

BREAKING: PYD/YPG rejects Turkish demand for evacuation of Menagh airbase, says they will confront any intervention by Turkey - @CNNTURK_ENG

YPG refutes Turkish claims: We havent fired a single bullet against the Turkish state - @4rj1n

BREAKING: Turkish army targeting more villages in Efrn canton including the village of Maryameen.

SYRIA: Jabhat al-Nusra fighter claims that al-Nusra has no presence on any #YPG frontlines in northern #Aleppo.

Abu Saeed al-Halabi
‏@Saeed_alHalabi1
To be clear, Nusra has NO presence at YPG/IS frontlines in N-Aleppo. Nusra forces sent to reinforce frontlines south of Nubl & Zahraa only.

Non stop artillery now in action from the Turkish side...10 batteries are in full fire and no letup since this morning.

Maybe the Russian AF is shying away from Aleppo due to the incoming artillery that plays havoc with bomb runs....

BREAKING: Saudi Foreign Minister:"Russia will fail in protecting Bashar al-Assad" - @ZeinakhodrAljaz

[OUTLAW 09]

IMHO Putin's AF is slowing down their strikes in and around Aleppo today as they are as thoroughly confused as is Obama about the ground reality right now.

BOTH so called superpowers were fully caught off guard with the Turkish moves which totally surprises me as the Turks have been clearly and concisely stating their red line....MAYBE the superpowers just do not believe the regional players also have "red lines" that the KSA defined "as a threat to their national security" and THAT they are fully capable to defending that red line if need be.

Syrian government says Turkish shelling of Syrian territory is "direct Turkish support for terrorist groups"-state TV - @LBCI_News_EN

CNN Trk ENG
‏@CNNTURK_ENG
#BREAKING Turkish mil. sources say Turkey retaliated against fire from YPG positions, shelling to continue as long as TR comes under fire

BREAKING: PYD/YPG rejects Turkish demand for evacuation of Menagh airbase, says they will confront any intervention by Turkey - @CNNTURK_ENG

YPG refutes Turkish claims: We havent fired a single bullet against the Turkish state - @4rj1n

BREAKING: Turkish army targeting more villages in Efrn canton including the village of Maryameen.

SYRIA: Jabhat al-Nusra fighter claims that al-Nusra has no presence on any #YPG frontlines in northern #Aleppo.

Abu Saeed al-Halabi
‏@Saeed_alHalabi1
To be clear, Nusra has NO presence at YPG/IS frontlines in N-Aleppo. Nusra forces sent to reinforce frontlines south of Nubl & Zahraa only.

Non stop artillery now in action from the Turkish side...10 batteries are in full fire and no letup since this morning.

Maybe the Russian AF is shying away from Aleppo due to the incoming artillery that plays havoc with bomb runs....

BREAKING: Saudi Foreign Minister:"Russia will fail in protecting Bashar al-Assad" - @ZeinakhodrAljaz

BUT WAIT...YPG, Hezbollah, the shia mercenary army SAA and the Russian AF ALL claim they are attacking IS and JaN in Aleppo.....BUT no active IS positions anywhere in and around Aleppo are being attacked by them and JaN is not present in the Aleppo area.....BUT hey IS/JaN are being attacked.

[OUTLAW 09]

Continued....DAY THREE of the seven days allowed the RuAF to continue bombing Syrian civilian by the Munich 1938 agreements...

SAA warplane flying over #Damascus
#Syria FEB 14
https://youtu.be/u2yveOh5t-Q

SCD continue to rescue families under rubble victims of #Russia airstrikes on #alQatarji #Aleppo #Syria FEB 14

SCD Rescue operation aftermath #SAA airstrikes on #Housh_Nasri neighborhood
E #Ghouta #Damascus cs #Syria FEB 15

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Housh_Nasri neighborhood
E #Ghouta #Damascus cs #Syria FEB 15

Russia mercenaries terrorists "journalists" "celebrating" #Valentines day in #SAA area
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 14

Russia warplane flying over #Sheikh_Meskin..
#Daraa #Syria FEB 14

SCD Searching for victims aftermath #Russia airstrikes on #alZabdiyah neighbrohood
#Aleppo #Syria FEB 14

RUSSIA warplane flying over #Daraa CS
#Syria FEB 14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO_6HtFq7cU …

RUSSIA airstrikes with Cluster Bombs on #Deir_Hafir
#Aleppo #Syria FEB 14

SAA airstrikes on #Harasta
#Damascus #Syria FEB 14

#RUSSIA airstrikes on #alAnsari neighborhood
#Aleppo #Syria FEB 14

#RUSSIA airstrikes on #alZabdiyah neighbrohood
#Aleppo #Syria FEB 14

#RUSSIA airstrikes on #Shikh_Khader neighbrohood
#Aleppo #Syria FEB 14

#RUSSIA airstrikes on #alAnsari neighborhood
#Aleppo #Syria FEB 14

#RUSSIA airstrikes on #alZabdiyah neighbrohood
#Aleppo #Syria FEB 14

#RUSSIA airstrikes on #Shikh_Khader neighbrohood
#Aleppo #Syria FEB 14

FOOTAGE
#SAA dropping 4 Barrel Bombs at once & fall in front of media activist in #Darayya

#RUSSIA airstrikes on #Kafr_Hamrah now
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEb 14

Unidentified warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #alOmar oil fields in #DeirEzzor #Syria FEB 14

#SAA airstrikes on #Douma now
E #Ghouta #Damascus cs #Syria FEB 14

RUssia airstrikes on #alHarak moments ago
#Daraa cs #Syria FEB 14

#RUSSIA airstrikes targeting #Tel_Masibin now
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 14

#RUSSIA airstrikes on #Kafr_Naha now
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 14
https://youtu.be/QlTtV0Mthbg

Destruction aftermath #Russia airstrikes on #Kissim village
#Houla #Homs #Syria FEB 14
https://youtu.be/DxW-F3zEAeo

[OUTLAW 09]

Saudi FM Jobair: "Saudi Special Forces will be part of the International Coalition’s ground forces"

Commander of Aerial Defense Base of #Iran Army: If Syrian government asks Iran's support for air defense,we will help them with full-length.transnational shia jihadi's based in Iran really want to get into this fight.....

[OUTLAW 09]

JaN can effectively threaten YPG and now they ever so "gently" reminding YPG of that fact of life......

Abu Saeed al-Halabi
‏@Saeed_alHalabi1
Till now fighting Assad is a priority. But if YPG keeps attacking our brothers in N-Aleppo, we might activate the Nusra/YPG Atmah frontline.

[OUTLAW 09]

Another side effect of "standing by"..."namely unintended consequences"....

al Baghdadi has got to be counting his great luck right now......after his not getting constantly bombed by Assad and Putin........

He must be very confused watching reports of anti-IS forces shelling anti-IS forces after anti-IS forces advanced against anti-IS forces with the US and Russia CAS supporting those anti-IS forces.....attacking anti-IS forces.......make sense to anyone other than myself????

When Russia and the US are finally finished IS will be the strongest anti-IS force in Syria and the ME.

Now that is truly "power politics".....

[OUTLAW 09]

Interesting comments from a Jordanian commenter.....but 20 hours old and before the Turks entered the fight...

Some #FSA forces, under #US, #Jordan and #KSA support, will be part of a ground campaign against #IS terrorist sect

New #Syria'n Army to play an important role in eastern #Syria to indicate first airstrikes targets as to be the "umbrella force" to incorporate all men who want to fight to liberate #Deir_Ezzor governorate from #IS terrorist sect. This is so strategic

#US / #KSA / #Turkey plan clearly to take back all east and north #IS terrorist sect areas to give them to #FSA linked forces Rebellion

Without #IS on the ground, no more #Russia argument to strike in #Syria (as striking rebellion) as most of country in rebels hands

In these conditions, #Assad regime won't be anymore "the game player" in negotiations. But opposition again...

By destroying #IS sect in north and east #Syria, #KSA and #Turkey as #US will also push #Assad regime out of negotiations

Will be interesting to see if this takes place....

[OUTLAW 09]

UNCONFIRMED to say the least.....but commenter has been steady and accurate in the past with his comments

#BREAKING
100s Soldiers of #Jordan Army with armored vehicles moving towards #Syria border FEB 14

[OUTLAW 09]

Second SCUD fired at KSA in one week.....by Shia rebels.....not the normal weapons so called rebels know how to man and fire without IRGC "help".

Saudi Arabia says it intercepted a Scud missile from Yemen fired by Iran backed rebels
http://www.france24.com/en/20160214-sa

[OUTLAW 09]

Heavy Clashes between YPG and Rebel forces in Western Neighborhoods of Tal Rifaat

Kobane scenario is repeating in #Azaz except that ISIS=YPG and Kurds=Rebels. Aleppo

Funny that the media don't say what #YPG did to the rebels in the last days and that they captured villages from the rebels.

Funny that the media don't say what #YPG did to the rebels in the last days and that they captured villages from the rebels.

Russian Orthodox Church has already declared the Russian involvement as a "Holy War" and has blessed the AF and all their weapons before they left Russia.......

Russian troops, Unknown location, Syria, September 30th. It's captioned "God protect you, and your new friends"
pic.twitter.com/vD60dMw2MJ

[CrowBat]

Strange..it has taken two full days for the Russian propaganda media to figure out what the narrative should be for the Russians back home as the polling there does not reflect that the Russians want a war in Syria....Well, see it from the practical side:

- there are 47 different Kurdish languages, and locals can't agree which one is official; so they've had to translate from one (or more) of these to Arabic to report this further...

- and the 'regime' side first had to translate all such reports from IRGC's language - which is Farsi - to Arabic, and then to Russian and English...

Such problems happen when there's 'Syrian Arab Army' fighting against Syrian popul... erm, sorry: 'armed foreign extremist terrorists'... :rolleyes:

[CrowBat]

BTW... don't know if this was already posted here (lacked time to follow this thread the last week or so), but if not:
Why doesn’t Obama seem to listen to Syria experts? (http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/markaz/posts/2016/02/10-obama-syria-policy-experts-hamid)

U.S. policy toward Syria is a fascinating, if depressing, case study. Many of my friends and colleagues who work on Syria—nearly all of them, in fact—have been baffled by President Obama’s approach to the Syrian conflict.
...

Inelasticity is helpful in understanding Obama’s policies on the Middle East, and particularly on Syria, for similar reasons. Administration officials aren’t oblivious to what’s happening in Syria; it’s more that the facts on the ground—even though they’ve changed rapidly and repeatedly over the past five years—seem to have no real effect on the basic contours of our Syria policy. This would seem surprising, since the president has styled himself a post-ideological technocrat who’s simply interested in “what works.”
...

It’s the product of a deeply held conviction that the use of American power in Syria will only make matters worse. This ideological thrust of U.S. policy helps explain why Obama has been remarkably dismissive toward the critics of his Syria policy, describing alternative proposals as “mumbo-jumbo.”
...

And, to be sure, counterfactuals are challenging and, by definition, speculative. But we can judge empirically what U.S. policy has actually been for the past five years, and we can judge whether or not it’s been successful. On this, senior U.S. officials have very little to say, except to present false choices, as Secretary of State John Kerry did when he suggested that doing more, as a humanitarian tragedy unfolds in Aleppo, would require going “to war with Russia.”
...

That President Obama has been unwilling to question his original assumptions on Syria, despite a rapidly evolving—and worsening—context, suggests an insularity and ideological rigidity rare among recent presidents.
...

President Bill Clinton, after falling under the sway of the “ancient hatreds” thesis, managed to shift American policy as the Bosnian genocide unfolded, but it required him to come to terms with his own role in looking away amidst the slaughter. Some, today, are sounding similar notes. The moral urgency is undeniable. As Michael Ignatieff and Leon Wieseltier (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-era-of-us-abdication-on-syria-must-end/2016/02/09/55226716-ce96-11e5-88cd-753e80cd29ad_story.html) write, we may very well end up being “complicit in crimes of war,” and that “if we do not do everything we can to put a stop to the suffering that is the defining and most damaging abomination of our time, Aleppo will be a stain on our conscience forever.”
...

That said, similar is valid for all of the various EU-babblers - though they're even less likely to ever admit it than Americans...

[OUTLAW 09]

Turkish artillery continues to maintain a high rate of fire into YPG positions in Syria..........

Turkey shelling in northern Syria kills 29 PYD militia, local commander says
http://www.dailysabah.com/syrian-crisis/2016/02/14/turkey-shelling-in-northern-syria-kills-29-pyd-militia-local-commander-says …

Syrian Foreign Ministry claims 12 pickup trucks equipped with machine guns crossed the Syrian-Turkish border and entered #Syria

Report coming from SANA. They claim it's Turkish military. Highly unlikely.

'The Ministry noted that pickups were accompanied with 100 gunmen, some of them r believed 2 be Turkish soldiers and mercenaries'

IMHO these are former SAA officer who defected to turkey and it had been mentioned by the Turkish government they were heading back into Syria with their own combat units....

Kind of a Syrian reinvasion.....by Syrians....

[OUTLAW 09]

Turkish artillery continues to maintain a high rate of fire into YPG positions in Syria..........

Turkey shelling in northern Syria kills 29 PYD militia, local commander says
http://www.dailysabah.com/syrian-crisis/2016/02/14/turkey-shelling-in-northern-syria-kills-29-pyd-militia-local-commander-says …

Syrian Foreign Ministry claims 12 pickup trucks equipped with machine guns crossed the Syrian-Turkish border and entered #Syria

Report coming from SANA. They claim it's Turkish military. Highly unlikely.

'The Ministry noted that pickups were accompanied with 100 gunmen, some of them r believed 2 be Turkish soldiers and mercenaries'

IMHO these are former SAA officer who defected to turkey and it had been mentioned by the Turkish government they were heading back into Syria with their own combat units....

Kind of a Syrian reinvasion.....by Syrians....

Well the Obama creditability is really high these days..Putin did not pay any attention it seems....
Key phrase for Putin: "At the USA’s initiative, ...Putin had a telephone conversation with President of the United States Barack Obama."
The perception in Russian media is that Putin is the stronger and Obama came as the weakling.....because "he called first"...and only Putin can solved the world's problems.....

Obama to Putin: Stop bombing moderate Syrian opposition
http://read.bi/212G79W
pic.twitter.com/MLNF0JnUdJ

Russian media (sourcing Damascus) saying Turkish troops entering Syria
https://twitter.com/vedomosti/status/698898876598595584 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Footage
Clear view on Russian Su-25 bombing Al-Lataminah at the #Hama front.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6QIPRKAlqI … pic.twitter.com/hHvzzgkRVr

Reports that YPG/SDF forces have now taken Ayn Daqnah, despite #Turkey’s shelling #Syria -
pic.twitter.com/5ARFRDES7M

BreakingNews #YPG forces captured Ayn Daqnah after 24 hours of serious clashes with Syrian rebels.#Syria
pic.twitter.com/BDc6Zf2e8l

News #Turkey strengthens its border patrols to #Syria (expecting a reply to their strikes)
10 F-16 patrolled simultaneously today.

Russian air strikes also heavily bombing targets in TelRifaat today. Opposition says YPG/SDF coordinating with Russia. YPG/SDF deny

CNN Türk ENG @CNNTURK_ENG
#BREAKING France calls on Turkey to halt bombardment of Kurdish zones in Syria
pic.twitter.com/qxuFk7lzQi
NOTICE France does not equally demand Russia stop killing civilians....AND
While accepting Kurdish forces run over Syrian rebel groups w/#Russia and capture towns under opposition control ...

[OUTLAW 09]

Putin following #Ukraine tactic in #Syria: stretching diplomatic process while continuing military action. Will only deal when he's won.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian air defenses in Latakia aren't what they're made to be
https://www.reddit.com/r/syriancivilwar/comments/45r9ul/busting_some_myths_about_s400_in_latakia/ …

Syria: VIDEO: #SAA/#NDF BM-27 Uragan firing on rebel positions in #Latakia.
https://www.facebook.com/norhan.alseed/videos/912111628907266/ …
pic.twitter.com/e19z5iHVMp

McCain says Obama made 3 mistakes in Syria:
-withdrawing all troops from Iraq
-rejecting advice to arm FSA
-letting Assad cross "red line"

#Turkish artillery on #Aleppo is of good use, however TSK shelling #Lattakia positions is extremely effective. #Turkey has all high ground.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian naval units on the Syrian Express today.......

ВМФ Natya class minesweeper BSF #ЧФ Kovrovets transits southbound Bosph...
https://youtu.be/Mdd7U3cqFps

FLOT's brand new Kalibr capable Buyan-M Class corvette Zelenyy Dol crossed the Bosphorus southbound for the 1st time
https://youtu.be/s6Ua9SA-Zb0

Aluminum hull BSF #ЧФ minesweeper/ASW Kovrovets 913 escorts the new #ВМФ missile corvette Zeleny Dol to the Med

Natya class Kovrovets 913 is a fleet minesweeper with a limited ASW capability & can serve as anti-submarine escort

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia and Iran are changing the politics of the ME ...historical actually....

This is significant: public handshake between Israeli Def Min Yaalon & Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal
pic.twitter.com/NP759fiZEB

[OUTLAW 09]

Turkish artillery continues to maintain a high rate of fire into YPG positions in Syria..........

Turkey shelling in northern Syria kills 29 PYD militia, local commander says
http://www.dailysabah.com/syrian-crisis/2016/02/14/turkey-shelling-in-northern-syria-kills-29-pyd-militia-local-commander-says …

Syrian Foreign Ministry claims 12 pickup trucks equipped with machine guns crossed the Syrian-Turkish border and entered #Syria

Report coming from SANA. They claim it's Turkish military. Highly unlikely.

'The Ministry noted that pickups were accompanied with 100 gunmen, some of them r believed 2 be Turkish soldiers and mercenaries'

IMHO these are former SAA officer who defected to turkey and it had been mentioned by the Turkish government they were heading back into Syria with their own combat units....

Kind of a Syrian reinvasion.....by Syrians....

YPG militia attack Ayn Daqnah north Tal Rifaat with RuAF CAS. Reports 400 Faylaq al-Sham passing thru Turkey to help
pic.twitter.com/CKCBl169sh

YPG is now attacking the Southern Entrance of Azaz

Aleppo : 350 Rebel fighters with light and heavy weapons reached Tall Rifaat arriving from Idlib through #Turkey (via @syriahr)

[OUTLAW 09]

Turkish artillery strikes reported against pro-regime positions in Attera.

Second time in past 24 hours that Turkey strikes Syrian army in Latakia. This is quite unprecedented #Turkey #Syria

Unconfirmed: Turkey Armed Forces: 10 F16 warplanes flying near Turkish-Syrian borders to support forces fighting PYD

Allegedly a Turkish Special Forces soldier has been captured in Ayn Daqna
https://twitter.com/Zana_Azadi3_/status/698934412684234754 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Turkish artillery strikes reported against pro-regime positions in Attera.

Second time in past 24 hours that Turkey strikes Syrian army in Latakia. This is quite unprecedented #Turkey #Syria

Turkish artillery on #Aleppo is of good use, however TSK shelling #Lattakia positions is extremely effective. #Turkey has all high ground.

Unconfirmed: Turkey Armed Forces: 10 F16 warplanes flying near Turkish-Syrian borders to support forces fighting PYD

Medvedev: "Syria would be in chaos if #Assad is ousted now". We don't want to disturb the prosperity & peace of Syria now do we!?

"Prosperity and peace"...?????

[OUTLAW 09]

NATO ordered #Russia to dismantle it's s400 missiles in #Syria FEB 14

VIDEO: Egyptian soldiers arriving at King Saud Air base to participate in Northern Storm - @FaisalbinFarhan

BREAKING: Turkish PM tells Germany’s Merkel: #Turkey will continue to respond to Kurdish militia attacks in #Syria - @AlArabiya_Eng

ISRAEL: Russia has allegedly given #Hezbollah advanced radar systems capable of locking onto Israeli aircraft.
http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/diplomacy-defense/102838-160214-hezbollah-s-new-threat-shooting-down-israeli-fighter-jets …

Breaking
"We will help Syria w/all our strength, if the Syrian government invites us to do that."
- #Iran's #AirForce chief Farzad Esmaeili

We are slowing inching to a full scale regional war that both Russia and especially Iran wants as payback for the 80-88 war.

Both Obama and Kerry not have a clue how on to stop it....as it would now require force he does not want to ever use.......

[OUTLAW 09]

Footage
#Nusra posts a lot of videos from S-W of #Aleppo.
None of N of the #Zahraa belt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeYREQPWDc8 …

So the #Assad regime in #Damascus regards #YPG troops as pro-regime forces ... SANA calls YGP SAA units.

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad regime's former attorney general in Tadmur / Palmyra city says Assad and ISIS are in collaboration
http://aa.com.tr/en/turkey/ex-syria-official-tells-of-collusion-between-assad-russia-daesh/521025 …

Pictures
After some severe "Russian missile strikes" from fighter jets on #Douma today.
pic.twitter.com/ATnnGVtOK8

[OUTLAW 09]

Tones from the Islamic Arab States is getting higher and stronger....

Qatar Foreign Minister: Sending an "Arab Islamic" ground force is an urgent need which can't be delayed

Reports Turkish tanks entered 5 KMs inside Syria as the YPG Kurdish militia backed by RuAF prepare to attack Azaz & Tal Riaat north #Aleppo.

[OUTLAW 09]

FSA Central Div blow IRGC technical with TOW missile in Tamurah village north #Aleppo.
https://youtu.be/QGmuD9BAT1g

Daraya
#Syrian_regime targeted the city more than 30 explosive barrels for today .

[OUTLAW 09]

Tones from the Islamic Arab States is getting higher and stronger....

Qatar Foreign Minister: Sending an "Arab Islamic" ground force is an urgent need which can't be delayed

Reports Turkish tanks entered 5 KMs inside Syria as the YPG Kurdish militia backed by RuAF prepare to attack Azaz & Tal Riaat north #Aleppo.

Reports are not clear as to whether they are still there or it was just a brief cross over...

Unconfirmed reports unidentified Army fighting Kurdish militias in surrounding #Aazaz
#Aleppo cs #Syria

BreakingNews Unidentified Commandos/Infantry group is now fighting #YPG militants along #Syria|n rebels around #Azaz..

FLASH
TR Army Forces
Intensify Striking PKK-YPG-SDF Terrorist Positions around Azaz.
After T-155 Storm Howitzers, Tanks started 2 Fire too

[OUTLAW 09]

NATO ordered #Russia to dismantle it's s400 missiles in #Syria FEB 14

VIDEO: Egyptian soldiers arriving at King Saud Air base to participate in Northern Storm - @FaisalbinFarhan

BREAKING: Turkish PM tells Germany’s Merkel: #Turkey will continue to respond to Kurdish militia attacks in #Syria - @AlArabiya_Eng

ISRAEL: Russia has allegedly given #Hezbollah advanced radar systems capable of locking onto Israeli aircraft.
http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/diplomacy-defense/102838-160214-hezbollah-s-new-threat-shooting-down-israeli-fighter-jets …

Breaking
"We will help Syria w/all our strength, if the Syrian government invites us to do that."
- #Iran's #AirForce chief Farzad Esmaeili

We are slowing inching to a full scale regional war that both Russia and especially Iran wants as payback for the 80-88 war.

Both Obama and Kerry not have a clue how on to stop it....as it would now require force he does not want to ever use.......

Royal Air Force of Oman CASA C-295 lands at King Saud Air Base — Exercise #NorthThunder

Units from different forces starting to arrive at King Khalid Military City, Hafr Albatin — Exercise #NorthThunder

This is not just some small exercise based on these Kuwaiti tank numbers...
VIDEO: Column of tanks heading from #Kuwait to #Saudi, will take part in Northern Storm - @kwt0nline

[OUTLAW 09]

Situation N #Aleppo cs so far;
#alTalmoura & Quarries, #Tel_alKharab -enemy
#alKharab, #Hayan, #Bayanoun & #Anadan - Rebels
#Syria FEB 14

[OUTLAW 09]

FSA Mountain Hawks Brigade | targeting a regime car [location unclear]:
https://youtu.be/nSnTjtoZhkY

Turkey vows not to be in ‘defensive position’ over Syria [/B
]http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/Default.aspx?pageID=517&nID=95168&NewsCatID=338 …
[B]
Special forces and experienced Syrian Military Defectors have entered Azaz and are now fighting on the fronts there against YPG aggressors

Cluster Bombs found in #Jisr_alShghour yesterday FEB 14
#Idlib #Syria

General mobilization calls in Azaz mosques earlier today in light of advances of YPG and its allies.

[OUTLAW 09]

Glad to see, German leftist "Antifa" seems starting to realise, #Putinism has nothing to do with their aims.
Pro-Russians are rightists.

Footage
German leftists protest pro-#Russian /anti-German /anti-refugee demo in Nuremberg.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ew4ZnefJYE …

[OUTLAW 09]

1 Turkish soldier was killed in clashes with an "armed group" near Yayladagi on Sunday evening.

Today the Syria condemned Turkey for attacking and killing Syrians...."hey we are the only ones that can our people"...NOTICE Turkey called those they attacks as "terrorists" so was not the Syrian government attacking them as well....BUT WAIT they were Kurds and Hezbollah.....and they are "not terrorists" and they were being provided CAS by Russia.

Syria North #Aleppo #Azaz A'zaz corridor map #Ayn_Daqnah #Kaljibrin #Tall_Rifat Feb. 15
http://edmaps.com/html/syrian_civil_war_in_maps.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

1 Turkish soldier was killed in clashes with an "armed group" near Yayladagi on Sunday evening.

Today the Syria condemned Turkey for attacking and killing Syrians...."hey we are the only ones that can our people"...NOTICE Turkey called those they attacks as "terrorists" so was not the Syrian government attacking them as well....BUT WAIT they were Kurds and Hezbollah.....and they are "not terrorists" and they were being provided CAS by Russia.

Syria North #Aleppo #Azaz A'zaz corridor map #Ayn_Daqnah #Kaljibrin #Tall_Rifat Feb. 15
http://edmaps.com/html/syrian_civil_war_in_maps.html …

AND from the corner of "our moderate Iranians today"...what a great "win" in that so called Iran Deal.

Khamenei.ir
‏@khamenei_ir
All problems root in arrogant powers at the top of which is US and the Zionist regime is epitome of evil.

[OUTLAW 09]

Not surprising. #JN isn't there but #YPG uses their existence as pretext for the anti-FSA-offensive in north #Aleppo

Since 5 days,Shiite militias are not advancing anymore towards the north.
#Putin's plan is clear: Provoke Turkey by giving it all to the YPG

Charles Lister ‏@Charles_Lister
#Syria’s opposition captured Tel Rifaat from #ISIS in Jan '14, killing deputy leader Haji Bakr.
Now Kurdish YPG is taking it for itself.

Northern #Latakia province today
#Russian Mil Mi-24 make the difference in the #Assad push.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9AaFRDyeTU&feature=youtu.be …

News
64 civilians were killed across #Syria on Saturday
95% of them by #Putin and #Assad
- Local Coordination Com.

There are several reports of Turkish war planes taking off in the direction of #Syria and #Iraq this evening.
Nothing confirmed yet.
Here is one source:
http://www.haberturk.com/gundem/haber/1195584-diyarbakirda-cok-sayida-savas-ucagi-havalandi …

[OUTLAW 09]

German public opinion is starting to recognize and realize the US FP is Syria is "laughable" and virtually nonexistent.....reporting from the normally conservative BILD news media is extremely accurate and fast now...

In GE.....

Trkisches Eingreifen in Syrien wre "der Supergau".
Aber Russland sollen wir weiter bomben lassen.

Translated...the intervention of Turkey into Syria was a "Supergau" BUT we will allow Russia to keep right on bombing BECAUSE that is what I and Kerry agreed with Putin to continue doing......

"Ethnische Suberung von sunnitischen Arabern geht im Norden Syriens voran. Kurden helfen mittlerweile mit."
the "ethnic cleansing" of Sunni Arabs continues in northern Syria and NOW the Kurds are helping.

BUT WAIT the US supports the Kurds with funding, weapons and training SO is the US complicit in this "ethnic cleansing"...appears so....BECAUSE they are doing nothing to "verbally warning" the Kurds to refrain from taking Arab territory....

This is just how bad the Obama FP has gotten...supporting "ethnic cleansing"....

[OUTLAW 09]

Footage
Russian air strikes on #Anadan today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o545guyiH-w …

[OUTLAW 09]

DAY FOUR of the seven days of Russian bombing of civilians that Obama allowed Putin to continue doing in their talks yesterday....as per Russia media....

The 60th airstrike on #alKaljibrin village
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 15

#RUSSIA airstrikes on #alRakaya village
#Idlib cs #Syria FEB 15

#SAA shelling with heavy artillery targeting #alZara town
#Daraa cs #Syria FEB 15

#RUSSIA airstrikes on #Hamedeiyah village
#Idlib #Syria FEB 15

#SyriaCharity Children's Hospital in #Aazaz BOMBED by #Russia airstrikes moments ago
Aleppo FEB 15

#RUSSIA airstrikes on #alBureij neighborhood
#Aleppo city #Syria FEB 15

#Russia airstrikes on #Marea
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 15

AND the RuAF is not supporting the Kurds with CAS
Russia airstrikes on #Aazaz now..
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 15


#Russia airstrikes on #alLataminah moments ago
#Hama cs #SYria FEB 15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5T-M1MJsFY …

Russia airstrikes on #Hirbnafsah town now..
#Hama cs #Syria FEB 15

[OUTLAW 09]

NOTHING like Egypt hedging their bets on who will "win".....not wanting to be on the "wrong side"......take weapons from the Russians and funding from the KSA AND send their troops to KSA for the pan Muslim large military exercise....

EGYPT FM: "We will not allow military intervention in Syria and it's security and we support Russia in the eradication of terrorism"

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian officials here their PM NEVER stop lying and hope the West does not pickup on it.......

WHAT about that unlimited and unrestricted Russian SOFA signed with Syria in August 2015....that fully indicates THEY are STAYING forever......

Russian PM says military won't stay in #Syria for ever - Reuters
http://reut.rs/1REKzcI

Russian info war never stops trying to influence western leaders and their civil societies.....

[OUTLAW 09]

VIDEO: Syrian air force drop leaflets calling for rebels to lay down arms and surrender.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-XL3FQDVwE …

WHAT a waste of paper as they will not lay down their arms and or quite fighting.....

News
Turkish Defence Minister Yilmaz: #Turkey will bomb #YPG/#SDF until they withdraw behind the #Menagh air base line.

He also says, J. Biden and A. Merkel were informed in telephone calls on Sunday, the attacks would continue "as long as YPG forms a threat".

At least 10 Russian airstriks targeted areas around national hospital at Azaz western entrance as YPG Kurdish militia trying to advance.

Even more evidence Russian CAS is in direct support to the YPG...THIS even Biden must know from his morning intel briefings...if not we are all in trouble....

Further direct cooperation between #YPG and #Russia.
You can't do such air strikes without spotters on the ground.

[OUTLAW 09]

Hassan Hassan ‏@hxhassan
Assad isn't making gains everywhere in Syria, it's been on the retreat in Deir Ezzor despite Russian firepower
http://deirezzor24.net/?p=3960

ANOTHER Russian lie laid to rest....repeated a number of times on Russian propaganda media that he was coming to see Putin just as "Obama had to call Putin"......

Hassan Hassan ‏@hxhassan
Riyadh denies earlier reports that King Salman is to visit Moscow next month, no scheduled visits
http://v.aa.com.tr/521134

[OUTLAW 09]

Really really worth reading......

Hassan Hassan
‏@hxhassan
Many missed the point behind Saudi Arabia's announcement to send troops to Syria & why the US isn't too enthused http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/americas-policies-are-failing-its-regional-allies …

BUT WAIT...the US DoD SecDef roundly and publicly denounced KSA for their lack of support recently when he was in KSA......NOW they are moving and the US is running for cover..how is that possible and the SecDef is strangely silent these days....

Comment that came in as a response to this article is telling as it fly's completely by the issue.....namely had the US taken any form of action four years ago the Syrian's themselves would in a better position to handle their own problems ie Assad and then IS and then national reconciliation.

AGAIN this comment proves no one seems to understand who has exactly been fighting IS....certainly not Assad and even less Putin....regardless of their constant stream of statements that they are.....

There is a fine line between war and assisting a civil society in their time of need and then backing out.....and then providing assistance and advice when needed...allowing that civil society to make their own way forward regardless of how it turns out.....but to sit and allow ethnic cleansing, starvation and genocide to occur is telling for the current US leadership.....

C. John Davis ‏@jdtv10  Manhattan, NY
@hxhassan We've been down that road before. The National gets it wrong. USA can't change the value's of the region by force only they can.


If anyone has been paying attention to comments being constantly made by a long time SWJ commenter Robert Jones....he has been saying this for years....help, assist, advise and back out and allow them to move forward on their own....as it is correctly their own destiny and we the US must get use to the path they choose....as they must answer to their children not the US.....

[OUTLAW 09]

A week ago, D Syrian White Helmets, a search-and-rescue volunteer corps, counted 900 airstrikes in Aleppo’s in a single 24-hour period.

There is no ISIS in Aleppo City, but Syrian and Russian warplanes have nevertheless been pulverizing it round-the-clock

Syrian opposition leader pleads for end to Assad bombing cities, besieging civilians, executing prisoners. #MSC2016

[OUTLAW 09]

A week ago, D Syrian White Helmets, a search-and-rescue volunteer corps, counted 900 airstrikes in Aleppo’s in a single 24-hour period.

There is no ISIS in Aleppo City, but Syrian and Russian warplanes have nevertheless been pulverizing it round-the-clock

Syrian opposition leader pleads for end to Assad bombing cities, besieging civilians, executing prisoners. #MSC2016

When US puts its historical allies during the critical turns on the same level wth newborn militias,it means th regnal compass has 2 b reset

This is definitely the "perception" now of the US actions in Syria and it is massively damaging any creditability the US has left in the ME.....

Russian non linear warfare winning on two war fronts as we debate here at SWJ....

FROM Turkey today...the toughest comments ever directed against a sitting US President......

Daily Sabah editorial board: "this is a point of no return, the time for tough talk has come to an end" http://www.dailysabah.com/editorial/2016/02/15/turkey-and-syria-less-talk-more-action …

Feels like Turkish govt is not happy with US policies in Syria: "administration of US President Barack Obama is unwilling or unable to lead"

AND Turkey has the largest and strongest military inside NATO and YET Obama and Kerry and Putin now fully support the Kurdish YPG which is tied completely to the already US named terrorist group PKK......

[OUTLAW 09]

Turkish self-propelled howitzers firing rounds across the border at #YPG positions near Azaz, northern #Syria.
pic.twitter.com/A1NG2qtx8F

VIDEO: Reported Russian airstrike on @MSF hospital in #Idlib #Syria -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7kU3W87tmM …

@EliotHiggins @MSF_uk 2 airstrikes on it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7kU3W87tmM …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp5FT7dZSnM …

APPEARS some US MSM is starting to "get it" in what is ongoing in Syrian right now....BETTER late than never....

Roger Cohen ✔ @NYTimesCohen
A mini world war rages in the fields of Aleppo
http://wapo.st/1Tk5TFB?tid=ss_tw …

Aleppo | Azaz Maternity/Children Hospital is now out of service due to #RuAF bombardment pic.twitter.com/gcYEIC7f3u

[OUTLAW 09]

Turkish self-propelled howitzers firing rounds across the border at #YPG positions near Azaz, northern #Syria.
pic.twitter.com/A1NG2qtx8F

VIDEO: Reported Russian airstrike on @MSF hospital in #Idlib #Syria -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7kU3W87tmM …

@EliotHiggins @MSF_uk 2 airstrikes on it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7kU3W87tmM …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp5FT7dZSnM …

APPEARS some US MSM is starting to "get it" in what is ongoing in Syrian right now....BETTER late than never....

Roger Cohen ✔ @NYTimesCohen
A mini world war rages in the fields of Aleppo
http://wapo.st/1Tk5TFB?tid=ss_tw …

Aleppo | Azaz Maternity/Children Hospital is now out of service due to #RuAF bombardment pic.twitter.com/gcYEIC7f3u

Never a truer statement has been made on social media concerning the current Russian activities in the world.....shame western MSM has not pickup on it....as well as western leaders ie Obama....

"slow burning Russian tragedy of 20th century. A great power mired in a self-destructive downward spiral of historical complexes, hurt pride
"..what this great power could achieve if it could bring its enormous talent, grit, and ingenuity to produce something useful.”

BUT until it their internal courage kicks in to address the utter failure of Communism and just how their oligarchs acquired control of the entire economy...nothing will happen and they will be lashing out forever....

MSC2016:
"Medvedev peppered his act w/ careful infusions of rhetorical lament & regret.. all of the mistakes had been made by others– none by Russia"

[OUTLAW 09]

3 Ambulances destroyed&material damage in #SyriaCharity Children's Hospital #Aazaz #Syria FEB15
PH by bro Abu alJoud
pic.twitter.com/AOGhCoz2CW

[OUTLAW 09]

UNCONFIRMED appears Russia is taking substantial Russian military loses in KIAs/WIAs........is their Spetsnaz taking higher loses as they attempt to save now the transnational shia jihadists which have been stopped at a number of their attack points by the FSA and Turkish shellings.
In the last few days ....appears the FSA has been able to "stabilize several front lines" in last three days in the face of massive and intensive Russian air strikes.

[unconfirmed] @bigananass Feb14 at 10:30eet Rostov hospital admitted KIA&WIA, delivered from #Syria...

[OUTLAW 09]

a la Minsk 2 all over again and Kerry/Obama did not see that one coming....

Russia to continue air strikes around Aleppo even if ceasefire is agreed: Interfax
http://reut.rs/20yzk5Z

MTV English News ‏@MTVEnglishNews
MSF Denounces 'Deliberate Attack' against Hospital: Statement
http://bit.ly/20VtYqO

Breaking news: At least 14 dead as missiles hit hospital and school sheltering refugees in Azaz, Syria, medics and residents say
Our special needs center for children in Tel Rifaat, Aleppo struck by cluster-bombs. The town and center is empty.
The videos coming out of this attack are to brutal and way to graphic to link to....

At least 10 Russian airstriks targeted areas around national hospital at Azaz western entrance as YPG Kurdish militia trying to advance.

One of the Russian cluster munitions missile...
Russian missile landed in the fields outside Azaz north #Aleppo.

Turkish PM is on a "truth roll now".....calling a spade a spade...and the US is totally silent as always....

Turkey PM: YPG should be part of Assad representatives in peace talks not the opposition.

[OUTLAW 09]

a la Minsk 2 all over again and Kerry/Obama did not see that one coming....

Russia to continue air strikes around Aleppo even if ceasefire is agreed: Interfax
http://reut.rs/20yzk5Z

MTV English News ‏@MTVEnglishNews
MSF Denounces 'Deliberate Attack' against Hospital: Statement
http://bit.ly/20VtYqO

Breaking news: At least 14 dead as missiles hit hospital and school sheltering refugees in Azaz, Syria, medics and residents say

Turkish PM is on a "truth roll now".....calling a spade a spade...and the US is totally silent as always....

Turkey PM: YPG should be part of Assad representatives in peace talks not the opposition.



CNN Trk ENG ‏@CNNTURK_ENG
#BREAKING Turkish PM says if #YPG does not withdraw from Menagh base, it will be rendered unusable

Turkish speak for they will simply bomb it and challenge the RuAF to stop them.....

BREAKING Turkish PM Davutoğlu speaks en route to Ukraine, says "Turkey will not allow Azaz fall"

Turkey non stop artillery shelling now on #YPG positions in northern #Aleppo #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

FSA have launched offensive on #Assad Militants positions at Al-Bureij SW of Sheikh Najjar #Aleppo, while they are attacking Layarmoun

Russian air strikes on ......
Update
Children's Hospital #Aazaz
MSF Hospital #Maarat_alNouman
School #Aourom_alKubra
School #alKajibrin
School #Kafr_Dael
#Syria FEB15

RUSSIA airstrikes nearby School in #Kafr_Dael village, dozens of children wounded
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB15

SCD rescued 4martyrs so far from under rubble victims of #Russia airstrikes on #MSF Hospital
#Idlib #Syria FEB15

SCD rescue victims of #SAA shelling #Russia Cluster Bombs on #Douma
#Damascus cs #Syria FEB 15

Can you imagine #Russia bombing this baby incubator room?
#SyriaCharity Children's Hospital
#Aazaz #Syria FEB 15

One of them is here, you can see, under rubble. Victim of #Russia terrorists.

SCD - #Russia airstrikes targeting the busy Road of #Aazaz w/ Cluster Bombs, 4 martyrs
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 15

THERE is nothing but graphic videos today on the effects of the Russian air strikes and cluster munitions strikes on women and children, schools and hospitals...will not post them....
Obama and Kerry and the entire UNSC remain super silent it seems......

[OUTLAW 09]

If any SWJ reader is wondering...yes a nation state even a superpower can in face be called a "terrorist" if it's actions use terror......

Turkey PM accuses #Russia of acting as a "terrorist organization" #Syria - AFP

[OUTLAW 09]

There is the hint of a major regional war in the air today......

BREAKING: Turkish Foreign Ministry says Turkish security post on Syrian border attacked, retaliation shots fired - @DailyStarLeb

Russia says #Turkey helps 'jihadis, mercenaries' penetrate #Syria - @Jerusalem_Post

BREAKING: Russian Foreign Ministry says seriously concerned by #Turkey's aggressive actions against #Syria - @DailyStarLeb

BUT WAIT RuAF continues to kill Syrian civilians by the hundreds weekly and tens daily....

BREAKING: Turkish PM: PKK in #Turkey and PYD in #Syria are pawns of #Russia - @DailySabah

BREAKING: #Turkey will not allow YPG to capture Syrian town of Azaz, cross west of Euphrates: PM Davutoğlu - @DailySabah

[OUTLAW 09]

There is the hint of a major regional war in the air today......

BREAKING: Turkish Foreign Ministry says Turkish security post on Syrian border attacked, retaliation shots fired - @DailyStarLeb

Russia says #Turkey helps 'jihadis, mercenaries' penetrate #Syria - @Jerusalem_Post

BREAKING: Russian Foreign Ministry says seriously concerned by #Turkey's aggressive actions against #Syria - @DailyStarLeb

BUT WAIT RuAF continues to kill Syrian civilians by the hundreds weekly and tens daily....

VIDEO: @SyriaCivilDef recovers bodies from the rubble of a @MSF supported hospital in #Idlib #Syria - @RamiSafadi93
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvlQaehBybk …

AND Russia is not a "terrorist" as well....appears to fulfill the UN definition....as an aggressor nation state just as it is in eastern Ukraine....

[OUTLAW 09]

Eliot Higgins ‏@EliotHiggins
Footage that shows the jet that attacked the MSF hospital today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3TJ0k0fZOk …

What a picture ...
Man prays at Russian-destroyed mosque north of #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gKIkt6Gabg …

Saving victims in the @MSF hospital is a dangerous task.
@SyriaCivilDef heroes do the work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc84fvJwaD4 …

It seems #KafrNaya was handed over by #Assad's Shiite militias to #YPG / #SDF.
#Putin's plan to draw in #Turkey.

[OUTLAW 09]

BREAKING
Graphic footage.
A Russian "cluster bomb" hit waiting aid trucks in #Azaz.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYE-pDQBYfY …

News
Aftermath of a ballistic missile attack on the #Azaz women's and children's hospital.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g1I7GUSP-c …

BreakingNew
@MSF confirms destruction of its hospital in #MaaratAlNuman.
Double precision strike -> #Russian hit.

Dozens killed by #Russia & the day isn’t over yet; Airstrikes in Anadan, Tal Rifa’at, Khan al-Asal, Oram, Kafrnaha, Daraa, etc….

In just 1 day, #Russia has bombed a school sheltering IDPs, a children’s hospital, a field hospital, an MSF hospital & several aid trucks

Maaret Anuman's Watan Hospital also targeted by Russia today, killing/injuring dozens,including medical staff
pic.twitter.com/bHG5sxA6vx

Black humor for today......but it is actually close to the Russian mindset...as to who are terrorists in Syria.
Russia's MoD denies bombing a hospital in #Syria, says it was a secret #Daesh #oil storage facility
pic.twitter.com/KZBgj83zDn

[OUTLAW 09]

BREAKING
Graphic footage.
A Russian "cluster bomb" hit waiting aid trucks in #Azaz.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYE-pDQBYfY …

News
Aftermath of a ballistic missile attack on the #Azaz women's and children's hospital.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g1I7GUSP-c …

BreakingNew
@MSF confirms destruction of its hospital in #MaaratAlNuman.
Double precision strike -> #Russian hit.

Dozens killed by #Russia & the day isn’t over yet; Airstrikes in Anadan, Tal Rifa’at, Khan al-Asal, Oram, Kafrnaha, Daraa, etc….

In just 1 day, #Russia has bombed a school sheltering IDPs, a children’s hospital, a field hospital, an MSF hospital & several aid trucks

Maaret Anuman's Watan Hospital also targeted by Russia today, killing/injuring dozens,including medical staff
pic.twitter.com/bHG5sxA6vx

Black humor for today......but it is actually close to the Russian mindset...as to who are terrorists in Syria.
Russia's MoD denies bombing a hospital in #Syria, says it was a secret #Daesh #oil storage facility
pic.twitter.com/KZBgj83zDn

It's scapegoat time again on Russian TV as anchor says that Europe's mission is to "subdue Russia, scare her, warn her off & accuse her".

[OUTLAW 09]

Regime helicopters dropped several barrel bombs on Anadan. Anadan &Hayyan will be regime next target after capturing Tannourah village &hill

Path of Russian BMP IFV
1st Port of Novorossiysk, #Russia
2nd Assad regime camp at Palmyra
3rd In the hands of #ISIS
pic.twitter.com/aK1UPb0PNr

Airstrikes hit Kafr Naha in western Aleppo. The town became heavily populated after the exodus from Aleppo city and its northern countryside

Ypg/#SDF take Kafr Khasher and Kafr Naya towns, but have been repelled from advancing in Tal Rifaat.
pic.twitter.com/7bBUEUSzpF

John Schindler @20committee
I notice the people who hyperventilate about every single US drone strike are pretty quiet as Russians keep bombing hospitals killing staff,women,children.

[OUTLAW 09]

Turkish PM is on a info war roll today against the Russians........

Davutoglu: RF invaded Georgia, Ukraine, Syria. Azerbaijan is under threat
http://liveuamap.com/en/2016/15-february-davutoglu-rf-invaded-georgia-ukraine-syria-azerbaijan … via @EuropeanPravda

PKK continue their attacks on rebels at the perimeters of Azaz and Tal Rifaat and attempt to cut the road between the 2 towns at Kaljibrin

Turkish PM: "Russia should know that the Soviet era has ended" and it should not use UNSC card for its "adventures" http://liveuamap.com/en/2016/15-february-turkish-pm-speaks-in-ukraine-saying-russia-should …

[OUTLAW 09]

John Schindler @20committee
I notice the people who hyperventilate about every single US drone strike are pretty quiet as Russians keep bombing hospitals killing staff,women,children.


From one of the best social media open source analysts on the net these days...
Eliot Higgins @EliotHiggins

Playlist of 12 videos from the MSF hospital bombing, including two added in the last few minutes
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...4zhbqlzd--tqG5 …

[OUTLAW 09]

"Russian ballistic missiles pave the way for YPG ground invasion against little incubator-bound terrorists in Azaz"

Russian official response to their massive killing of hospital staff, women and children with their air strikes on schools and two hospitals.....

MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
#Gatilov: Much in Syria depends on Turkey. But its position is not constructive. It has its own agenda in the region http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160215/1034775060/russia-syria-airstrikes-ceasefire.html#ixzz40Em50yHO …

Russia agenda is the unlimited killing of civilians and the total destruction of hospitals, schools and Sunni mosques....anywhere they can bomb them...and Russia is not a "terrorist state"....they are far worse in some ways than is IS....

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad propaganda leaflets dropped in EastGhouta
- You're surrounded, army is coming
- Do u want ur country destroyed

Appears SDF/YPG is taking a beating in their attacks....
Dozens of dead so called "Syrian democratic forces" returning. Supporters saying "martyrs" over & over

During Jan, #Russian/Regime strikes killed 596 Syrians inc 118 children & wounded 1,834. Indiscriminate targeting must stop. @SyriaCivilDef

Russia conducted 2000+ airstrikes the past 15 days on northern #Aleppo

Syria'n Regime & #Russia destroyed 15 hospitals from the #NGO "Doctors without Borders" so far

Same procedure as every day: #Russian jet attacks @SyriaCivilDef rescuers near @MSF hospital ruins.

Aleppo Video from Ayn Daqnah battle (from the fake #FSA)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9FTNNx4J5M …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.525226&lon=37.078600&z=14&m=b …
Field hospital today in western suburb of #Aleppo /Yaqid al Adas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCOl01O0Z6s …

Unusual to say the least in NATO timing....at US insistence is what is being rumored.....
NATO withdrawn its Patriots from #Turkey border short before #Russia'n intervention in #Syria
Today several Tochka missiles hit border area

Russia conducted another airstrike on school in Urem al-Kubra /western #Aleppo suburb
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.148306&lon=36.948051&z=15&m=b …
No pictures so far

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad propaganda leaflets dropped in EastGhouta
- You're surrounded, army is coming
- Do u want ur country destroyed

Appears SDF/YPG is taking a beating in their attacks....
Dozens of dead so called "Syrian democratic forces" returning. Supporters saying "martyrs" over & over

During Jan, #Russian/Regime strikes killed 596 Syrians inc 118 children & wounded 1,834. Indiscriminate targeting must stop. @SyriaCivilDef

Russia conducted 2000+ airstrikes the past 15 days on northern #Aleppo

Syria'n Regime & #Russia destroyed 15 hospitals from the #NGO "Doctors without Borders" so far

Same procedure as every day: #Russian jet attacks @SyriaCivilDef rescuers near @MSF hospital ruins.

Aleppo Video from Ayn Daqnah battle (from the fake #FSA)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9FTNNx4J5M …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.525226&lon=37.078600&z=14&m=b …
Field hospital today in western suburb of #Aleppo /Yaqid al Adas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCOl01O0Z6s …

Unusual to say the least in NATO timing....at US insistence is what is being rumored.....
NATO withdrawn its Patriots from #Turkey border short before #Russia'n intervention in #Syria
Today several Tochka missiles hit border area

Russia conducted another airstrike on school in Urem al-Kubra /western #Aleppo suburb
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.148306&lon=36.948051&z=15&m=b …
No pictures so far

Roman Burko
‏@newsburko
Crews of the #Russian Air Forces Group in #Syria. #Infographics for Military Tribunal
https://informnapalm.org/en/feb14-syria-pilots/ …

Fourth hospital being hit now.....

Reports of new #Russia airstrikes targeting another Hospital field in #Idlib cs
#Syria FEB 15

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian AF runs wild after getting their approval from Obama's phone call to Putin..yes Russian media stated Obama was OK with Russia continuing their air strikes.....

HAVE not seen the US DoS spokesperson push back on this Russian version...

#SAA airstrikes targeting #Tel_Frazah
#Damascus cs #Syria FEB 15

#SAA airstrikes targeting #Bethlehem
#Damascus cs #Syria FEB 15

#SAA airstrikes targeting #alNashabiyah
#Damascus cs #Syria FEB 15

#SAA airstrikes targeting #Zamalka
#Damascus cs #Syria FEB 15

#SAA airstrikes targeting #Hamouriyah
#Damascus cs #Syria FEB 15

#SAA helicopters dropped barrel bombs over #Almal village
#Daraa cs #Syria FEB 15

#RUSSIA airstrikes targeting #Sheikh_Ali village
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 15

#RUSSIA airstrikes on #Maarath_Alortiq
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 15

Russia airstrikes on #Abu_alZuhur village
#Idlib cs #Syria FEB 15

[OUTLAW 09]

Breaking #Analysis #Map
"Turkish artillery shelling" of #YPG-captured #DayrJamal, 23 km south of the border.
Source video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9OJY__r4gY …

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian attack jets videoed bombing this hospital BUT then their 100% Russian owned propaganda media outlet Sputnik turns it into an "unknown shelling attack"....

Russian propaganda @SputnikInt simply turns #AirStrikes into "shelling".
Suddenly no one can say, who is behind it.

BUT WAIT......
Oh, that's good!
Russian state news agency reports on MSF hospital massacre, but quotes MSF staff, blaming #Assad.

Another perfect example of the totally uniformed western MSM in this case the US CNN....
Oh @fpleitgenCNN...
#Russian army-only equipment & @Refugees tents behind you, you talk about the "Syrian Army"...

Holy shxxxxt, CNN visits "regime" in Palymra. All the filmed equipment is Russian - BTR-82A, T-90A, artillery carrier

Even CNN is not getting it right....basically passes on the "Russian narrative" and never questions anything....bad, really bad journalism....

[OUTLAW 09]

WarCrime!
Russian Su-34 in #ClusterBomb attack on densely populated area north of #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXoIy3IKEso&feature=youtu.be …

Turkish PM keeps up today his drumbeat of verbal attacks on Russian actions in Syria...

Turkish Prime Minister:
>>If #Russia continues to behave like a terror organisation, we will treat it like this.<<

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian attack jets videoed bombing this hospital BUT then their 100% Russian owned propaganda media outlet Sputnik turns it into an "unknown shelling attack"....

Russian propaganda @SputnikInt simply turns #AirStrikes into "shelling".
Suddenly no one can say, who is behind it.

BUT WAIT......
Oh, that's good!
Russian state news agency reports on MSF hospital massacre, but quotes MSF staff, blaming #Assad.

Another perfect example of the totally uniformed western MSM in this case the US CNN....
Oh @fpleitgenCNN...
#Russian army-only equipment & @Refugees tents behind you, you talk about the "Syrian Army"...

Holy shxxxxt, CNN visits "regime" in Palymra. All the filmed equipment is Russian - BTR-82A, T-90A, artillery carrier

Even CNN is not getting it right....basically passes on the "Russian narrative" and never questions anything....bad, really bad journalism....

CNN did not even know that the UNHCR tents being used by the SAA were stolen from the UN and militarily used instead of getting them to starving Syrians and or IDPs they have created.....

UNHCR tents are used by regime allies troops in Syria
http://syria.liveuamap.com/en/2016/15-february-unhcr-tents-are-used-by-regime-allies-troops …

AMAZING that CNN did not recognize they were filming a pure Russian military unit involved in forward fighting THAT Putin claimed he would not be doing.......the KEY they did not see...why because they have never been involved in the eastern Ukraine...

KEY:
Gorka suits

[OUTLAW 09]

SOHR: Ankara is helping rebels bypass SAA's Efrin-Aleppo line & move troops from Idleb to Azaz via #Turkey
http://www.syriahr.com/?p=155909

What a barrel bomb raid by the Syrian government looks like from the ground
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGvDL9r46Sw … from Darayya

Intense spread of Russian cluster bombs on Hraytan neighborhood this evening
https://youtu.be/CXoIy3IKEso

[OUTLAW 09]

SOHR: Ankara is helping rebels bypass SAA's Efrin-Aleppo line & move troops from Idleb to Azaz via #Turkey
http://www.syriahr.com/?p=155909

What a barrel bomb raid by the Syrian government looks like from the ground
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGvDL9r46Sw … from Darayya

Intense spread of Russian cluster bombs on Hraytan neighborhood this evening
https://youtu.be/CXoIy3IKEso

AND Obama......???
Merkel now supports a no fly zone in Syria.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian attack jets videoed bombing this hospital BUT then their 100% Russian owned propaganda media outlet Sputnik turns it into an "unknown shelling attack"....

Russian propaganda @SputnikInt simply turns #AirStrikes into "shelling".
Suddenly no one can say, who is behind it.

BUT WAIT......
Oh, that's good!
Russian state news agency reports on MSF hospital massacre, but quotes MSF staff, blaming #Assad.

Another perfect example of the totally uniformed western MSM in this case the US CNN....
Oh @fpleitgenCNN...
#Russian army-only equipment & @Refugees tents behind you, you talk about the "Syrian Army"...

Holy shxxxxt, CNN visits "regime" in Palymra. All the filmed equipment is Russian - BTR-82A, T-90A, artillery carrier

Even CNN is not getting it right....basically passes on the "Russian narrative" and never questions anything....bad, really bad journalism....

There we go. #Syria / #Russia starting their propaganda campaign framing #US for the #Idlib

Reuters: Local TV reports Syrian ambassador to Russia says attack on Mdecins Sans Frontires hospital was carried out by the U.S. coalition

BUT WAIT...Russian Sputnik stated it was a "shelling".....

[OUTLAW 09]

Official #SDF account also names their north #Aleppo enemies #JN. Good for PR but not correct.

Reports Ehras also taken by #YPG militia now have lines with #ISIL. Do you think they will attack ISIL or #FSA next?

Tall Rifaat & Mare doesn't have much chance against YPG/Assad. Azaz is different. Hope civis evacuated before Russians start burn everything

FSA and Ahrar al-Sham should consider retreating to #Azaz while still can and fortify the city from the S/SW. Apparently aid is not coming.

[OUTLAW 09]

WHAT the heck is this statement??????

Russia DepFM Gatilov: Assad could have prevented the escalation if he had taken democratic reforms in time
https://www.rt.com/news/332477-assad-democratic-reforms-violence/#.VsHyTgc9Jh8.twitter …

BUYERS remorse......????

[OUTLAW 09]

Official #SDF account also names their north #Aleppo enemies #JN. Good for PR but not correct.

Reports Ehras also taken by #YPG militia now have lines with #ISIL. Do you think they will attack ISIL or #FSA next?

Tall Rifaat & Mare doesn't have much chance against YPG/Assad. Azaz is different. Hope civis evacuated before Russians start burn everything

FSA and Ahrar al-Sham should consider retreating to #Azaz while still can and fortify the city from the S/SW. Apparently aid is not coming.

Looks like a leader in the US supported SDF has decided he was fighting his own Syrian opposition and not "terrorists" as he has been told by the US CIA.

A leader in the so called SDF defects & joins Rebels
http://eldorar.com/node/94710

[OUTLAW 09]

As we debate or not debate whether Obama is in a "standing by mode"...after the massive Russian air strikes against schools, hospitals and civilians today and not a single word out of this WH..I have come to another take on the Obama FP for the ME.......

He is not "standing by" WHY because Obama really does not care thus is not even involved in any decision making and is simply allowing this war to run it's course....quite simple actually...taking no action is at least "a strategy of sorts"......a bad one but one could at least call it a "strategy.....he is simply going through the motions to make it another 12 months so that his legacy is....."he got into no wars"

Turkey has clearly, concisely and often in the last two days declared their "red line" to be Azaz and if there is to be a true regional war...Turkey has thrown down the glove over Azaz.....seriously do not think both Russia and the US believe them.....but it is about to be tested.......they are so wrong right now and the next 72 hours is going to become both interesting and down right dangerous for the ME and a disaster for the US FP in the ME..BUT WAIT we do not have a FP in the ME.....

Things are about to go ballistic in a very short timeframe....

Faylaq al Sham group is on the vetted TOW approved list and is fighting in Tal Rifaat against the SDF, main recipient of US support in Syria

The CIA & CENTCOM have each empowered armed groups that directly oppose the other’s reasons for being on the ground. = Sheer hubris.

It really cannot be said enough how catastrophic the policy disconnect between (1) CIA (2) CENTCOM & (3) Obama Admin has been on Syria.

Totally bizarre seeing U.S vetted & supported Jabhat al-Shamiya & Faylaq al-Sham being attacked by U.S vetted & supported SDF in N. Aleppo.

[OUTLAW 09]

Aleppo: Tell Rifaat now full under #YPG control, offensive towards #Marea will start soon. #Azaz
pic.twitter.com/yDBC4JtyPt

Marea next, then battle for #Azaz to start with Kurds attacking from 3 sides.

SDF spokesman tells us "Turkey artillery shelling has not and will not stop our advance to Azaz" #Syria

UN says 5 medical facilities attacked in Syria (@AP). Shocking way to "soften" the rebel defenses before a ground assault

Yet another top Kremlin mouthpiece mentions "global war"...hmmm.
https://twitter.com/orthodox_rus/s

[OUTLAW 09]

Aleppo: Tell Rifaat now full under #YPG control, offensive towards #Marea will start soon. #Azaz
pic.twitter.com/yDBC4JtyPt

Marea next, then battle for #Azaz to start with Kurds attacking from 3 sides.

SDF spokesman tells us "Turkey artillery shelling has not and will not stop our advance to Azaz" #Syria

UN says 5 medical facilities attacked in Syria (@AP). Shocking way to "soften" the rebel defenses before a ground assault

Yet another top Kremlin mouthpiece mentions "global war"...hmmm.
https://twitter.com/orthodox_rus/s

Merkel tells @StZ_NEWS she supports "a type of no-fly zone" in #Syria, says Russian military complicating matters.
http://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/inhalt.interview-mit-angela-merkel-ich-bin-zutiefst-ueberzeugt-dass-der-kurs-der-richtige-ist.26a48554-9bb3-40bd-a1dc-cc6fda1ea437.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

Current anti Assad forces fighting in and around Azaz..not a single member of JaN and or IS...so again just why is the YPG and the US supported SDF attacking the moderate opposition other than to actually support Assad....

BETTER question is why cannot the US rein them in after their first warning to not advance any further...BUT WAIt that was just words from the DoS ....actions would have been required to actually stop them and Obama is all about "no actions"....

Big news out of Aleppo from today, all opposition operations in #Aleppo will be done under Hashem al-Sheikh’s leadership (i.e. not a merger). Groups are:

Ahrar al-Sham
Tajamu Fastaqm Kama Umrat
Liwa Suqor al-Jebel
Kataib Nour al-Din alZinki
16th Division
101st Brigade
1st Regiment
Sultan Murad

[OUTLAW 09]

FSA's 13th Division continues to receive new 122mm Grad rockets - these were launched last night at Zahra & Nubl:

Second #TOW in succession striking infantry in Ara, #Latakia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut5lNcWwZ9A …

Ammo car blown up by 1st Coastal Division #TOW near Ara, Jebal Al Akrad, #Latakia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahYbAxRnHhU …

Rebels ATGM blow Assad army position in Ma'an #Hama.
https://youtu.be/mxf4s3C9ffE

Hezbollah proxy Liwa al-Sayyida Ruqayya recruits Syria's Shia. Lots of fascist iconography. https://www.facebook.com/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D9%88%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%B9%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9-1668194670086933/?fref=pb&hc_location=profile_browser …

"Mini world war" near Aleppo: Russians, Iraqis, Lebanese, Iranians, Kurds, rebels backed by US & Saudi, Turkey, ISIS https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/a-mini-world-war-rages-in-the-fields-of-aleppo/2016/02/14/d2dfff02-d340-11e5-a65b-587e721fb231_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_syria720p%3Ahomepage%2Fstory …

[OUTLAW 09]

BREAKING
RuAF Tu-214R flies toward #Syria (Hmeimim?)#Russia #ELINT #SIGINT #COMINT
via @AlRFORCEFREAK & @galandecZP
pic.twitter.com/05K3aGnduE

That new Tu-214R ended up over Syria. Flew direct from factory.

Wondering what "wide area effect" means, watch this stark video of a cluster munition attack from Syria. https://twitter.com/sakirkhader/status/699283499317116929 …

Russia acknowledges #Assad's role as magnet for Jihadists. No need for a real Syrian government? https://twitter.com/artwendeley/status/699273861033041920 …

[OUTLAW 09]

http://www.businessinsider.de/syria-turkey-ypg-kurds-azaz-2016-2?r=US&IR=T

One of the Obama administration's biggest gambles in Syria is completely backfiring

Natasha Bertrand


Turkey's prime minister said on Monday that Ankara will not allow the strategic city of Azaz in northern Syria to fall to Kurdish YPG forces, promising the "harshest reaction" if the Kurds did not retreat.

His comments come two days after Turkish artillery began firing on YPG positions in northern Syria from Turkey's southern border, targeting the strategic Menagh airbase near Azaz that the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) had reportedly captured from Islamist rebel groups days earlier.

"The YPG will immediately withdraw from Azaz and the surrounding area and will not go close to it again," Turkey's prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, told reporters on Saturday. He added that Turkey would make Menagh "unusable" if the SDF did not withdraw.

Syrian Kurdish members of the SDF are allegedly affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, a Kurdish political party deemed a terrorist organization by Turkey.

In assaulting Menagh — which lies six miles south of Azaz — the Kurds defied previous US requests to not coordinate with the Russians, who have been targeting rebels in the area in an effort to retake Aleppo.

"US has previously put pressure on YPG to not cooperate with RuAF east of Efrin," Aaron Stein, a Turkey expert and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said Saturday on Twitter.

"They did not listen."

Even so, Washington apparently asked Turkey to hold its fire against the US-backed Kurdish forces on Monday. The request was reportedly met with "astonishment" by Turkish officials ''because they put US ally Turkey and a terrorist organization in the same equation," Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic told reporters on Monday.

Though the Afrin division of the YPG does not have as much contact with the US as YPG forces in Kobani and Jazira, YPG forces further west now appear to be actively coordinating with the Russians to re-capture territory taken by Syrian rebels fighting forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. That complicates Washington's insistence that supporting the YPG-dominated SDF is key to defeating ISIS.

It also means that the gamble the US has made to support the Kurdish-dominated SDF at the cost of alienating Turkey — a NATO ally — is backfiring in a big way. Turkey is shelling Kurdish-held positions in the north, and SDF fighters are attacking Syrian rebel groups backed by the US.

"Totally bizarre seeing US-vetted & supported [rebel groups] Jabhat al-Shamiya & Faylaq al-Sham being attacked by US vetted & supported SDF" in northern Syria, said Syria expert Charles Lister, a resident fellow at the Middle East Institute, on Twitter.

He added: "It really cannot be said enough how catastrophic the policy disconnect between (1) CIA (2) CENTCOM & (3) Obama Admin has been on Syria. The CIA & CENTCOM have each empowered armed groups that directly oppose the other’s reasons for being on the ground."

The CIA has quietly been working with Saudi Arabia to vet and supply "moderate" rebel groups battling government forces in Syria — including Jabhat al-Shamiya and Faylaq al-Sham — with TOW anti-tank missiles. The Pentagon, meanwhile, was tasked with empowering the SDF after its first attempt at building a rebel force to combat ISIS in Syria failed.

The government offensive near Azaz, aimed at severing Turkey's supply line to rebels near Aleppo, has brought pro-regime forces to within 15 miles of the Turkish border, Reuters reported on Monday.

"Absent a ground incursion, or deft diplomacy, I don't see how Turkey can prevent [the] YPG from taking control of Azaz corridor," Stein wrote on Twitter.

"If YPG takes Tel Rifat, can then put pressure on Azaz from West and South. Turkey will be forced to respond. May move fighters from Idlib," Stein added.

By Monday morning, the YPG-dominated SDF had reportedly seized 70% of Tel Rifat, which lies just south of Azaz and north of Aleppo.

Significantly, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — a staunch opponent of the Russia-backed Assad — signaled last week that Turkey would be prepared to intervene in Syria if asked by its coalition partners.

"We don't want to fall into the same mistake in Syria as in Iraq," Erdogan told reporters on Sunday, according to the Turkish daily newspaper Hurriyet. "If ... Turkey was present in Iraq, the country would have never have fallen into its current situation."

He added: "It's important to see the horizon. What's going on in Syria can only go on for so long. At some point it has to change."


Russia bombs hospitals & schools, denies casualties, blames others. Exporting blame is a Kremlin specialty.
ttp://www.politico.eu/article/russian-syrian-forces-suspected-in-airstrike-on-hospital/ …

BUT WAIT..Russia media stated that in the Obama call to Putin Obama agreed to the continued bombings.....

In Azaz district, home to 300,000 people, there were 9 functioning hospitals 10 days ago. Today there are just 4 says @MSF

Syria #Aleppo After fall of Tal Rifaat kurdish #YPG/#SDF advance on #Azaz at #Turkey border & not into #IslamicState territory

[OUTLAW 09]

Support in Russia for Syria strikes drops double digits to 59 percent
http://read.bi/1QDSPof
pic.twitter.com/g47f5i0TDr

ANADOLU AGENCY (ENG) ✔ @anadoluagency
#Russia helping #Daesh's flow of oil and gas to #Assad-controlled areas, Qassim remarks
http://bit.ly/1U1vaDS
pic.twitter.com/BKmIko1k83

[OUTLAW 09]

Does the US really think anyone is listening to them.....??

US urges #Russia, #Turkey to avoid 'escalation' over #Syria: State Dept @AFP
http://news.yahoo.com/us-urges-russia-turkey-avoid-escalation-over-syria-165331980.html?soc_src=mediacontentsharebuttons&soc_trk=tw …

[CrowBat]

...
Faylaq al Sham group is on the vetted TOW approved list and is fighting in Tal Rifaat against the SDF, main recipient of US support in Syria

The CIA & CENTCOM have each empowered armed groups that directly oppose the other’s reasons for being on the ground. = Sheer hubris.

It really cannot be said enough how catastrophic the policy disconnect between (1) CIA (2) CENTCOM & (3) Obama Admin has been on Syria.

Totally bizarre seeing U.S vetted & supported Jabhat al-Shamiya & Faylaq al-Sham being attacked by U.S vetted & supported SDF in N. Aleppo.
[/B]... I've realized this already back in late November, when this 'SDF' farce for the first time assaulted positions of the FSyA west of Azaz...

After all of this time, it's still leaving me at lack of words.

...after five years of monitoring this war, sorry but all I can do about that idiot in the White House - and all of his friends in the EU - is to puke on all of them.

You know: Russians and their Assadist and IRGC friends are big idiots. No doubt about this. They are such big idiots they let the CNN go to the frontline and video Russian Army T-90s and BTR-80s, together with Russian Army troops - in a bivouac consisting of tents with UNHCR-inscriptions...

...but, sigh, most primitive and worst Russian chauvinists would never come to such IDIOTIC ideas like what Oblabla arranged and produced in Syria.

SHAME on them all.

[OUTLAW 09]

Intriguing - Jaish al-Thuwar is offering not to attack Marea in exchange for Nusra withdrawal.

(There’s no Nusra in Marea)

Breaking:
#Putin promises to stop bombing hospitals & schools
if #ISIS fully withdraws from Idlib and Aleppo City.

Syria: 4 hospitals hit by #Russia on Mon - 2 backed by UNICEF, one by MSF, one by French charity
http://eaworldview.com/2016/02/syria-daily-rebel-defenses-collapsing-in-northern-aleppo/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

At least 20 #Russia|n airstrikes in #Daraa so far this AM

Multiple #Russia|n airstrikes reported across #Daraa this morning (Kafrnasej, Busra al-Sham, Jasem, Dael, Nawa, Saida, Kafrshams & others)

Friendly fire or subtle warning.....you choose....
@SMO_SYRIA claims Assad PM Wael al-Halqi's sister was injured in a Russian airstrike that hit his house in Jasem, #Daraa, #Syria

Heavy clashes between rebels & Russian backed YPG fighters (or Kurdish NDF as regime refers to them) in the Hellok area in #Aleppo city

More footage of the aftermath of the #Russia|n attack on the children's hospital in #Azaz, #Aleppo, #Syria yesterday
http://youtu.be/P9Weewoxdxw

Jaish al-Yarmouk & others launch battle to liberate positions in death triangle (Damascus - Quneitra - Daraa) #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

Army of Islam
‏@Islamarmy_eng2
Documentary“Allah Ghalib”Scenes from inside of the Asad regime’s General Staff building are shown for the first time
https://youtu.be/y4yq62kE-Ow

Chemical decontamination, head of chemistry, air defence, artillery & ballistics, Branch 217, 291, everyone is here

For the first time in history we're able to see some of the tunnels we've always heard about, kilometers of these under Damascus

[OUTLAW 09]

News
96 civilians were killed across #Syria by #Assad, #Putin and their allies on Monday.

Brilliant analysis of why #Germany is in denial over failure of its #Russia policy
http://warontherocks.com/2016/02/germany-and-russia-berlins-deadly-self-delusions/ …

BreakingNews
#YPG forces and their Arab allies took Shaykh Isa, acc. to rebel sources.
#Aleppo #Syria

While we look at the ethnic cleansing in the north, daily massacres cont. in #EastGhouta.
11 killed in #Douma yday.

[OUTLAW 09]

Turkey military resumes shelling positions of YPG & its allies inside #Syria
Aleppo Rebels retook entire Hellok city district & expelled #JaT/#YPG (#SDF)
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.231414&lon=37.171834&z=17&m=b …

Russia strikes have killed more civilians (1,500+) than #Assad regime’s Sarin attack in Ghouta (1,429).
Yet we give it a free hand.

Expect now more #Russia'n airstrikes with cluster bombs
- also on #Aleppo city center
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXoIy3IKEso …

[OUTLAW 09]

#Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #alBarah village, causalities reported
#Idlib cs #Syria FEB 16

#RUSSIA airstrikes targeting #alMasharah city
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 16

3#TURKEY Army shelling #YPG Gangs positions in the surroundings of #Aazaz
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 16

#SAA dropped 5 barrel bombs so far only in #alAqraba town
#Daraa #Syria FEB 16

Rebels repel #YPG Gangs attempt to storm #alHalk & #Bostan_alBasha, exterminating & capturing a number of them
#Aleppo #Syria FEB 16

#SCD paving ways in the #Ein_Ghazal #IDP Camp
#Latakia #Syria - #Turkey border FEB 16

SAA helicopters dropped barrel bombs over #Almal town
#Daraa #Syria FEB 16

Heavy clashes between Rebels & #SAA terrorists in #Tel_Kroum fronts
#Quneitra #Syria FEB 16

Heavy clashes between Rebels & #SAA terrorists at #alShalaf village
#Kurds_Mount #Latakia #Syria FEB 16

TURKEY Renewed it's shelling targeting #YPG gangs positions in #Tel_Refaat & #Efrin
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 16

#SAA shelling mortars targeting #alGhanto
#Homs #Syria FEB 16

Reports of #RUSSIA "Helicopters" shelling #Ayn_alBaydah town
#Latakia cs #Syria FEB 16

#RUSSIA airstrikes on #Kafr_Zeta
#Hama cs #Syria FEB 16

RUSSIA airstrikes on #Khan_Sheykhoun
#Idlib #Syria FEB 16

SAA terrorists barrel bombs on #Darayya, 8 barrel bombs so far since earlier this morning

RUSSIA airstrikes on #Tel_Antar village
#Daraa #Syria FEB 16

#SAA dropping barrel bombs over #Teir_Maela
#Homs #Syria FEB 16

3 martyrs so far, father & his 2 children, displaced from #Inkhil, killed by #Russia airstrikes on #Jassem town
#Daraa #Syria FEB 16

[B]Boy Jalal, 10 years old, killed by #Kurdish gangs shelling from #Sheikh_Maqsoud targeting #Sheikh_Fares neighborhood
#Aleppo #Syria FEB 16

#SAA terrorists shelling heavy artillery targeting #alHara town
#Daraa #Syria FEb 16

#RUSSIA airstrikes targeting #Kafr_Nasij village
#Daraa #Syria fEB 16

[OUTLAW 09]

IS Russia escalating it's use of weapons against civilians that are considered war crime violations..ie the use of cluster munitions on civilian populated towns and villages AND NOW thermobaric bombs....

Kafrzita
#Criminal_Russian warplanes bombarded the city this morning with thermobaric munitions. #Syria

Chechnya all over again where Russian killed through their attacks 165,000 civilians and virtually destroyed all major cities...

SCD continue rescue operation y'day FEB 15 #Russia airstrikes on #MSF #Hospital
#Idlib #Syria FEB 16

[OUTLAW 09]

#Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #alBarah village, causalities reported
#Idlib cs #Syria FEB 16

#RUSSIA airstrikes targeting #alMasharah city
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 16

3#TURKEY Army shelling #YPG Gangs positions in the surroundings of #Aazaz
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 16

#SAA dropped 5 barrel bombs so far only in #alAqraba town
#Daraa #Syria FEB 16

Rebels repel #YPG Gangs attempt to storm #alHalk & #Bostan_alBasha, exterminating & capturing a number of them
#Aleppo #Syria FEB 16

#SCD paving ways in the #Ein_Ghazal #IDP Camp
#Latakia #Syria - #Turkey border FEB 16

SAA helicopters dropped barrel bombs over #Almal town
#Daraa #Syria FEB 16

Heavy clashes between Rebels & #SAA terrorists in #Tel_Kroum fronts
#Quneitra #Syria FEB 16

Heavy clashes between Rebels & #SAA terrorists at #alShalaf village
#Kurds_Mount #Latakia #Syria FEB 16

TURKEY Renewed it's shelling targeting #YPG gangs positions in #Tel_Refaat & #Efrin
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 16

#SAA shelling mortars targeting #alGhanto
#Homs #Syria FEB 16

Reports of #RUSSIA "Helicopters" shelling #Ayn_alBaydah town
#Latakia cs #Syria FEB 16

#RUSSIA airstrikes on #Kafr_Zeta
#Hama cs #Syria FEB 16

RUSSIA airstrikes on #Khan_Sheykhoun
#Idlib #Syria FEB 16

SAA terrorists barrel bombs on #Darayya, 8 barrel bombs so far since earlier this morning

RUSSIA airstrikes on #Tel_Antar village
#Daraa #Syria FEB 16

#SAA dropping barrel bombs over #Teir_Maela
#Homs #Syria FEB 16

3 martyrs so far, father & his 2 children, displaced from #Inkhil, killed by #Russia airstrikes on #Jassem town
#Daraa #Syria FEB 16

[B]Boy Jalal, 10 years old, killed by #Kurdish gangs shelling from #Sheikh_Maqsoud targeting #Sheikh_Fares neighborhood
#Aleppo #Syria FEB 16

#SAA terrorists shelling heavy artillery targeting #alHara town
#Daraa #Syria FEb 16

#RUSSIA airstrikes targeting #Kafr_Nasij village
#Daraa #Syria fEB 16

#RUSSIA airstrikes on #Jassem town
#Daraa #Syria FEB 16

#SAA airstrikes on #alMarj area
E #Ghouta #Damascus cs #SYria FEB 16

#RUSSIA airstrikes targeting #Nawa city
#Daraa #SYria FEB 16

#SAA terrorists helicopters dropping barrel bombs on #Teir_Maela
#Homs #Syria FEB 16

#SAA shelling #Masharah, #Um_Batnah and #Mamtinah villages
#Quneitra #Syria FEB 16

Russia airstrikes targeting a Backery and killed 15 workers including 3 women in #alShaddadi, southern #Hassaka cs #Syria FEB 16

RUSSIA airstrieks targeting #Dael town
#Daraa #Syria FEB 16

Yesterday I filmed in Maar Numan, Syria. The Doctors Without Borders hospital was bombed by a "Double Tap" air...
http://fb.me/7RsQyJaHh

Syrian activist is signing off due to low battery 3% and failing after this list..

[OUTLAW 09]

Why would Russian and KSA agree to a production freeze which basically states they will still produce at the levels they currently are producing at AS the Iranian oil is now coming online at a value of 22USD per barrel...

With low demands, high supply levels which are not going away and Iranian oil coming online the following had to be the natural result WHICH actually harms Russia as the KSA oil to produce costs 3USD and the Russian is alleged to be 17USD but in reality it is 34USD.

Cannot see the sense on this Russian move unless they are so desperate to show they can work in the international community in order to get the sanctions lifted at any cost.....puzzlement on this Russian move...

Shock Russia-Saudi oil deal sends oil and FTSE 100 plunging http://tgr.ph/qFdAhk pic.twitter.com/V6cSP02gqJ

[OUTLAW 09]

Wow...even Assad is doing the Russian "whoa is me drill"......

#Assad: war against #Syria began 30yrs ago on satellite tv, made worse by the internet, enemies in media http://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/news/2016/02/16/629754-asad-nevozmozhno …

[OUTLAW 09]

IS Russia escalating it's use of weapons against civilians that are considered war crime violations..ie the use of cluster munitions on civilian populated towns and villages AND NOW thermobaric bombs....

Kafrzita
#Criminal_Russian warplanes bombarded the city this morning with thermobaric munitions. #Syria

Chechnya all over again where Russian killed through their attacks 165,000 civilians and virtually destroyed all major cities...

SCD continue rescue operation y'day FEB 15 #Russia airstrikes on #MSF #Hospital
#Idlib #Syria FEB 16

Russia testing all of its new weapons in #Syria
https://twitter.com/MarkGaleotti/status/699495681883574272 …
THIS one was raced from the manufacturer to Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad says his definition of a ceasefire is to continue fighting
http://in.reuters.com/article/mideast-crisis-syria-assad-idINKCN0VP08V …



Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Monday any ceasefire did not mean each side had to stop using weapons, and nobody was capable of securing the conditions for one within a week.

"Regarding a ceasefire, a halt to operations, if it happened, it doesn't mean that each party will stop using weapons," Assad said in Damascus in televised comments.

"A ceasefire means in the first place halting the terrorists from strengthening their positions. Movement of weapons, equipment or terrorists, or fortification of positions, will not be allowed," he said.

World powers agreed in Munich on Friday to a "cessation of hostilities", scheduled to start a week later, but Syrian army offensives across the country, backed by Russian air strikes, continue unabated.

He said that there were many questions before a ceasefire could happen, including defining who is a terrorist, adding that as far as the state is concerned, anyone who carried a weapon against it was a terrorist.

"There can't be a ceasefire without a goal or a time. So far they say they want a ceasefire within a week. Who is capable of gathering all these conditions and requirements within a week? Nobody," Assad said.

"Who will talk to the terrorists? If a terrorist group rejects the ceasefire, who will hold it to account?"

If the terms of ceasefire are agreed, operations must be stopped with the aim of improving the security situation in order to reach local reconciliation agreements with rebels, he said.

Local reconciliation agreements are widely seen as a way for the state to pacify areas on its terms.

Assad also said that any political transition in the country must be subject to the existing Syrian constitution.

"Any transitional process, regardless of what it is, must be subject to the current constitution," he said, adding the suggestion of having "a transitional governing body" was a departure from the constitution.

"We can only stop working with the current constitution if we agree, in dialogue, to a new one that the Syrians vote on," he said.


One is often amazed on just how close the Assad terms are to those pushed by Lavrov in Geneva......AND just how close they are to the exact actions Russia currently takes towards their non implementation of Minsk 2 where they constantly tell the world "they are in full compliance"...guess at least they believe they are in compliance....

BUT more importantly we NOW see the exact definition of what a "Syrian terrorists is or is not" BTW the same exact terms used by Putin in his UNGA speech and pre UNGA press interview...

AND that is exactly why he is bombing the entire Syrian Sunni population into the ground just as he did in Chechnya......

EVEN more importantly.... that is exactly why the Russian propaganda, the Russian FM and Putin state "they are not killing civilians...they are killing terrorists".....

[OUTLAW 09]

Turkey is building the legal framework for their incursion into Aleppo...slowly and steadily.

First they statement on Azaz and now Aleppo......

CNN Trk ENG @CNNTURK_ENG

#LIVE Turkish PM: Rregime called on its "big brother" Russia to complete massacre, people of Aleppo are resisting
pic.twitter.com/5TOxVbYWQU

Turkey PM @Ahmet_Davutoglu says #Aleppo residents cheer for Turkish military artillery fire targeting #PYD positions

It will be around the use of the words...ethnic cleansing, the YPG a declared terrorist grouping of Kurds, and the Russian deliberate killing of Sunni civilians......

AND they are cleaning up their local security issues giving them more freedom of movement in their decisions....Putin must thank himself for pushing the ME Sunni's ever closer to Israel...

[OUTLAW 09]

Turkey is building the legal framework for their incursion into Aleppo...slowly and steadily.

First they statement on Azaz and now Aleppo......

CNN Trk ENG @CNNTURK_ENG

#LIVE Turkish PM: Rregime called on its "big brother" Russia to complete massacre, people of Aleppo are resisting
pic.twitter.com/5TOxVbYWQU

Turkey PM @Ahmet_Davutoglu says #Aleppo residents cheer for Turkish military artillery fire targeting #PYD positions

It will be around the use of the words...ethnic cleansing, the YPG a declared terrorist grouping of Kurds, and the Russian deliberate killing of Sunni civilians......

AND they are cleaning up their local security issues giving them more freedom of movement in their decisions....Putin must thank himself for pushing the ME Sunni's ever closer to Israel...

Turkey is setting the stage for pulling the NATO Article 5 trigger which they actually can....and there is nothing the US can do.....Obama will have a choice...fish or cut bait on whether he has ever fully supported NATO....

#Breaking: #Syria situation now is a direct threat to our national security: Turkish PM

THIS after the open warning directed at Obama recently by the Saudi's..."our national security is more important than world peace"....

[OUTLAW 09]

The drumbeats of a major sectarian war in Syria is being evidently missed by the Obama and Kerry "standing by".....

As I indicated before about 72 hours is just about all the time that is left before Turkey makes a move into Syria.....probably using the Putin excuse of "their all vacationers and retirees, truck drivers and or miners AND oh by the way they "borrowed their tanks for the vacation".

Turkey's motto will be ..."we are saving our fellow Sunni's from being slaughtered by a genocidal dictator and a Russian who is not Arab nor Sunni and whose own ROC has declared "a Holy War" on the Sunni".

With the horrific air strikes being provided daily especially those from yesterday by Putin THAT reason will hold water tightly in the UNSC.....as there are three UNSC resolutions that Putin signed that he is blatantly ignoring.

Turkey is setting the stage for pulling the NATO Article 5 trigger which they actually can as they announced ..."their national security is being threatened by Assad and Putin" ..that is the NATO speak for Art. 5....and there is nothing the US can do.....

Obama will have a choice...fish or cut bait on whether he has ever fully supported NATO...or go down in history as a do nothing president when the ME and Europe unraveled during his presidency especially when he had multiple opportunities to rein this development in but ignored them due to his constant talk and no actions.

#Breaking: #Syria situation now is a direct threat to our national security: Turkish PM

THIS after the open warning directed at Obama recently by the Saudi's..."our national security is more important than world peace"....

[OUTLAW 09]

aaaaaaaaaand the reappearance of the one and only "self propelled" 12,7mm DShK (ДШК) Dushka heavy machine gun
pic.twitter.com/YXrxgEIFnA

[OUTLAW 09]

The drumbeats of a major sectarian war in Syria is being evidently missed by the Obama and Kerry "standing by".....

As I indicated before about 72 hours is just about all the time that is left before Turkey makes a move into Syria.....probably using the Putin excuse of "their all vacationers and retirees, truck drivers and or miners AND oh by the way they "borrowed their tanks for the vacation".

Turkey's motto will be ..."we are saving our fellow Sunni's from being slaughtered by a genocidal dictator and a Russian who is not Arab nor Sunni and whose own ROC has declared "a Holy War" on the Sunni".

With the horrific air strikes being provided daily especially those from yesterday by Putin THAT reason will hold water tightly in the UNSC.....as there are three UNSC resolutions that Putin signed that he is blatantly ignoring.

Turkey is setting the stage for pulling the NATO Article 5 trigger which they actually can as they announced ..."their national security is being threatened by Assad and Putin" ..that is the NATO speak for Art. 5....and there is nothing the US can do.....

Obama will have a choice...fish or cut bait on whether he has ever fully supported NATO...or go down in history as a do nothing president when the ME and Europe unraveled during his presidency especially when he had multiple opportunities to rein this development in but ignored them due to his constant talk and no actions.

#Breaking: #Syria situation now is a direct threat to our national security: Turkish PM

THIS after the open warning directed at Obama recently by the Saudi's..."our national security is more important than world peace"....

EVEN Merkel sees it coming.......

Merkel not ready for military confrontation. Clear from her interview:#NoFlyZone only if Assad & oposition agree

[OUTLAW 09]

Turkey is setting the stage for pulling the NATO Article 5 trigger which they actually can....and there is nothing the US can do.....Obama will have a choice...fish or cut bait on whether he has ever fully supported NATO....

#Breaking: #Syria situation now is a direct threat to our national security: Turkish PM

THIS after the open warning directed at Obama recently by the Saudi's..."our national security is more important than world peace"....

I will now lower my time estimate to the 48-52 hour ranges......
Here is the Turkish version of the word "slaughter"

BREAKING: Turkey's PM says Russian airstrikes in Syria are 'barbaric'

AND Obama and Kerry are fully asleep at the wheel as there is not a single comment coming out of DC this morning US time........wonder why the US DIA/CIA Indications and Warnings teams are not already scrambling for an immediate briefing?????

The Turkish PM is now in is motivating the Turkish nationalismmmmmmmmmm.

Turkish PM calls Syrian groups YPG, PYD ‘hired soldiers of Russia’
pic.twitter.com/Az8d80Jvq7

Davutoglu says the groups do not represent Kurdish people

Geez..now he is calling out Obama directly...have never seen in over 60 years a regional player call out the US like this..embarrassing to say the least.....

.@Ahmet_Davutoglu tells US to stop talking with timid statements against Russia, asks Wash. to be more couregeous http://turkey.liveuamap.com/en/2016/16-february-turkey-pm-ahmetdavutoglu-tells-us-to-stop-talking …

[OUTLAW 09]

In eastern Ukraine when confronted with Russian violations of Minsk 2 their refrain is always ..."it ain't us"....appears to be carried over now to Syria.......

Even though caught on video tape they still say ..."it ain't us"....just as they state when caught shooting down MH17....."it ain't us"......

Russia rejects #Syria war crimes claim over hospital attacks
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-35586886 …

Problem is the entire western MSM and ALL western leaders simply "enable this behavior"........by not saying a single word or printing a single article......

[OUTLAW 09]

All opposition groups in Mare agree to withdraw to 'Sandaf'. Only one local group to stay known as 'Abu Walid group'

All opposition groups in Mare agree to withdraw to 'Sandaf'. Only one local group to stay known as 'Abu Walid group'

The EU amazes sometimes...
Incredible that @eu_eeas statement on Russia + Assad airstrikes on hospitals today mentions neither Russia or Assad pic.twitter.com/g973NEmPCm

[OUTLAW 09]

The Turkish army artillery pos., active since several days, is located just 400 meters from #YPG-ruled #Syria.

SYRIA: Reports that the city of Mare in northern #Syria has reached an agreement with #SDF to hand over city with no fighting -

BREAKING: Turkish official says they are discussing ground operation with coalition in #Syria, does not want unilateral operation - Reuters

SDF/#YPG also saying that some #FSA brigades have joined the SDF after they took Tel Rifaat #Syria.......not confirmed by anyone on the FSA side

Farce as they could have just as easily passed through FSA lines and not directly attacked along with Russian CAS.

SDF/#YPG is negotiating with FSA rebels to take Mare without a fight, which allows them to get to #ISIS frontline

German recon jets over Syria are regularly shadowed by Russian warplanes.
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/syrien-einsatz-russische-jets-verfolgen-deutsche-tornados-a-1077555.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

In eastern Ukraine when confronted with Russian violations of Minsk 2 their refrain is always ..."it ain't us"....appears to be carried over now to Syria.......

Even though caught on video tape they still say ..."it ain't us"....just as they state when caught shooting down MH17....."it ain't us"......

Russia rejects #Syria war crimes claim over hospital attacks
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-35586886 …

Problem is the entire western MSM and ALL western leaders simply "enable this behavior"........by not saying a single word or printing a single article......

Well even in the face of actual video footage of Russian jest doing the bombings they still refuse to accept responsibility......

Unicef says its "appalled" attacks on medical facilities in #Syria, which included two it supported -- one was a child/maternity hospital.

[OUTLAW 09]

Maybe the Russians can now use their precision bomb weapons better...probably not though....as dumb bombs always remain dumb bombs....

RuAF send spec. ops. plane Tu-214R 'RA-64511' to #Syria to counter new developments in region
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajw1970/8758063757/?ytcheck=1 …

Iraq Iranian Shahed 123 crashed near al Qayyarah has a PhaseOne IQ180 camera (80 Megapix) +43k $. Via @CTstudies

[OUTLAW 09]

This must be true because the US absolutely stated nothing. Info war round goes to Russians on this........

Peskov: '#Russia didn´t bomb the #Idlib @MSF hospital, #Syria told us it was the #US.'
http://tass.ru/en/politics/857027 …


MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/. The Kremlin has dismissed as unacceptable the allegations the Russian air group in Syria has destroyed a hospital in Syria.

"We are strongly against such claims, the more so, since each time those who come up with such charges prove unable to somehow confirm their groundless accusations," Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

Asked for a comment regarding reports a hospital in Syria’s Idlib province had been bombed, as well as claims the Russian air group was responsible, Peskov invited everybody to rely "on the root source first and foremost." "In this particular case the representatives of Syrian authorities are the root source," he said.

Peskov recalled that Syria’s ambassador to Russia, Riyadh Haddad, said on Tuesday the hospital in Idlib province was destroyed by the Americans, and not the Russian air group.

He added that "the representatives of the Syrian authorities earlier in the day made a number of statements on that score to declare their opinion as to who may have been behind the bombings." Peskov refrained from further explanations.

Earlier, the international organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) claimed that at least seven people died and eight of its staff members went missing at a hospital near the city of Maarrat el-Nu’man, Idlib Province. The organization speculated that either Russian planes or Syrian government troops might have been responsible for the attack on the hospital.


When the US does not actively push back on the "Russian narrative" immediately then the "perception" sticks......even in the face of the blatant lie...silence is all one hears from the US.

[OUTLAW 09]

Well with a lot more fact checking and some "help" from social media open sources analysts wow CNN corrected itself in the face of massive critic......

With a bit a fact checking @fpleitgenCNN had found that north #Aleppo offensive wasn't the 'Syrian military'.

Well done, @fpleitgenCNN! You found new friends being embedded with the army of a terror regime.

Russian Embassy, USA
‏@RusEmbUSA
Good story by @fpleitgenCNN demonstrating how #Syria|n army fights terrorists on multiple fronts, and succeeds @CNNI
http://cnn.it/1Tka2rz

WHAT CNN stumbled into was in fact a fully active and engaged in the front line fighting Russian unit complete with the latest Russian combat vehicles not being driven by the Assad SAA.....

Embarrassing mistake by a MSM.....

[OUTLAW 09]

Well with a lot more fact checking and some "help" from social media open sources analysts wow CNN corrected itself in the face of massive critic......

With a bit a fact checking @fpleitgenCNN had found that north #Aleppo offensive wasn't the 'Syrian military'.

Well done, @fpleitgenCNN! You found new friends being embedded with the army of a terror regime.

Russian Embassy, USA
‏@RusEmbUSA
Good story by @fpleitgenCNN demonstrating how #Syria|n army fights terrorists on multiple fronts, and succeeds @CNNI
http://cnn.it/1Tka2rz

WHAT CNN stumbled into was in fact a fully active and engaged in the front line fighting Russian unit complete with the latest Russian combat vehicles not being driven by the Assad SAA.....

Embarrassing mistake by a MSM.....

BUT THEN CNN just keeps on making mistakes in their reporting........

Frederik Pleitgen 
‏@fpleitgenCNN
Syrian Hospitals in Crossfire as Battlefield Grows More Chaotic
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/16/world/middleeast/syria-hospital-airstrike-doctors-without-borders.html?mwrsm=Twitter …

1. he misses the fact that one of the hospitals was miles from the front
2. he mentions absolutely none of the totals of hospitals and field hospitals hit by the RuAF in the last month

Just to begin with and yet he is a "qualified reporter" of a MSM.....producing "fair and balanced information"???

[OUTLAW 09]

Interesting comment from 15hours ago....

Confirmed: #Turkey carries out both artillery and AIR STRIKES (2) against #Syria - Syrian ambassador in #Russia (S-400 was in range.)

[OUTLAW 09]

http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/americas-policies-are-failing-...

America’s policies are failing its regional allies

Hassan Hassan

February 14, 2016 Updated: February 15, 2016 04:09 PM


Last week, there were reported hints that Saudi Arabia, under certain circumstances, could send troops to Syria to fight against ISIL. The suggestion follows months of calls by western officials for Sunni Arab countries to deploy forces to fight the extremist group.

In November, for instance, US secretary of defence Ashton Carter told The Atlantic about advice he had fiven to the Gulf states that they should be involved on the ground, rather than from the air: “I’ve said the same things to them: ‘Guys, you come and complain to us but you’re not in the game. You have to get in the game’.”

But on Wednesday last week, Mr Carter did not seem so keen on the idea. He said: “I just want to emphasise there are lots of different ways that Saudi Arabia and Bahrain can contribute. One of them is on the ground – and we’ll definitely be discussing that – but there are lots of other ways as well.”

The United States sees any talk of Saudi Arabia sending in ground troops as an attempt to force its own hands in Syria.

According to The Wall Street Journal, US officials have complained that suggestions of Gulf states sending troops to Syria were aimed at pressuring president Barack Obama to be more assertive in Syria.

Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have announced closer military coordination, through the southern Incirlik airbase and a wider Saudi-Turkish strategic coordination council to combat ISIL. But Turkey is also worried about the expansion of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).

The Turkish military has shelled Syrian regime and YPG bases in Azaz, a town in northern Aleppo province that is seen as the centre of gravity for almost all parties involved the conflict.

ISIL sees Azaz as a gateway to the return of areas it lost in early 2014. The YPG considers Azaz fundamental to its expansionist project to link its cantons in northern Syria, while Turkey has frequently made it clear that it would not tolerate such moves.

The Syrian regime and Russia view Azaz and adjacent areas as central to their strategy of severing rebel supply lines to Turkey. And the United States has called on Turkey to de-escalate hostilities against the YPG, which has proved an effective ally for the US against ISIL.

So, a messy situation is only becoming messier. But Washington bears most of the blame for the uncomfortable situation in which it now finds itself.

In July, disagreements between Ankara and Washington reached a high point when the former wanted to establish an “ISIL-free zone” that would run from Azaz to Jarablus, clearly to disrupt the YPG’s moves.

The US finally resolved the issue by securing a promise from YPG commanders, and their political umbrella Democratic Union Party, not to advance west of the Euphrates river. Turkey scrapped its plan, and allowed the US-led coalition to use the Incirlik airbase to fight ISIL.

Four months later, in late November, the YPG violated its promise and tried to advance in northern Aleppo amid rumours that it was coordinating with the Russians in Syria. The US did not pressure the YPG to keep its side of the bargain and focus on ISIL in northeastern Syria. Worse, the special presidential envoy for the global coalition to counter ISIL, Brett McGurk, visited YPG commanders, who have direct links to the Turkish PKK, a group designated as a terrorist organisation by both the US and Turkey.

On Saturday, Mr McGurk tweeted that the administration “urged Syrian Kurdish and other forces affiliated with YPG not to take advantage of a confused situation by seizing new territory”, while also urging Turkey to cease artillery fire on Kurdish positions in Azaz.

The US knows that Turkey views the YPG in the same light as it does ISIL. Both of them are a national security threat, but the YPG’s self-rule project near Turkey’s southern borders presents a more pressing threat for Ankara, partly because the Kurds’ nationalist project could be a more sustainable effort internationally and morally.

The point it that the current crisis is connected to America’s inconsistent policies regarding Syria. Tactical gains, such as working with the YPG to expel ISIL from some areas – gains that project an appearance of progress and success – have become preferable to a wider strategy with long-term returns. Eventually, this has led to a worsening situation for America’s regional allies.

The same mistake is being made with the pursuit of progress, any progress, on the botched peace process, while neglecting the deteriorating situation on the ground.

For regional countries, there is a lesson to be learnt from acquiescing to half-baked US plans or fragile promises.

The increasing assertiveness displayed by Saudi Arabia and Turkey is a good example of how countries in this region should prioritise their own interests. The US administration’s policies have neither achieved the envisioned outcome nor pursued the interests of its allies.


A brutal assessment of the effects of the Obama WH...simply "standing by"...while the church burns down...OR in the case of Syria until the Sunni mosque is destroyed by the RuAF.......

The following is a perfect example of this failed US FP by Obama.....

Earlier today:
US-backed FSA rebels destroyed a US-backed YPG pick-up truck using a US-made TOW anti-tank missile outside Tel Rifaat.

[OUTLAW 09]

Posted this earlier today...but it is interesting so posted it again for those that missed it......

In capturing Tel Kurdi from regime forces in Sept ’15, Jaish al-Islam discovered a huge military bunker complex:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDMV6PRPlos …

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat ...what do you think about this development...Turks crossing and or all bluff.....?

Using US funding, supplies, weapons and training....and US Obama support....

The Kurds are carving out a new reality in northern Syria—by @martinchulov via @TheGuardian
http://read.bi/1Qjs740
pic.twitter.com/goHHckv0LH

Interesting leaked msgs btw YPG linked Jaysh al-Thuwar & a commander in FSA Mare Ops Room to handover Mare w/o fight
https://youtu.be/GUOZ4lwv1RE

Friendly conversation btw two men with history negotiating the deal. JaT guy "time is not right to work against YPG, they have support now".

QUESTION did he mean Russian and or US....????

YPG linked Jaysh al-Thuwar says two #RuAF airstrikes targeted Kafrnaya taken from #FSA recently in north #Aleppo.

YPG linked Jaysh al-Thuwar says two #RuAF airstrikes targeted Kafrnaya taken from #FSA recently in north #Aleppo.

[OUTLAW 09]

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/saudi-arabia-embarks-massive-military-drill-2500-warplanes-20000-tanks-1543841

No wonder the Russians rushed yesterday their newest and not even tested high end recon jet into the ME to watch it.

2.5K Aircraft, 200K tanks and IFVs and 350K troops....not even NATO nor Russia together can field that many....end of story.



Saudi Arabia has commenced a massive military drill in which 20 nations are participating. The move comes amid ongoing deadly conflicts in the Middle East.

More than 2,500 warplanes, 20,000 tanks and 450 helicopters will be part of the exercise. Riyadh has billed the manoeuvre as "the largest and most important" drill ever staged in the region.

Up to 350,000 troops from various Gulf nations, and other allies such as Pakistan, Jordan, Chad and Sudan will take part in the drill, the Saudi Press Agency said. The exercises would involve ground, naval and air forces personnel.

Termed "The Northern Thunder", the drill will continue for 18 days. The aim of the exercise is to send the message that Saudi Arabia and its allies "stand united in confronting all challenges and preserving peace and stability in the region". Neither the US nor any Western nation is part of the event.

"It will serve to boost fighting capabilities, exchange information, benefit from experiences and expertise and enhance coordination between the participating countries," said Saudi Arabia's Brigadier General Ahmed al-Assiri.

Riyadh, an oil powerhouse in the region, has been dramatically increasing its military offensive in the conflict zone in recent years. The Sunni kingdom has pounded Houthi rebels in Yemen – who are allegedly backed by Riyadh's regional rival, Iran. In a surprise announcement, Riyadh said the kingdom is deploying warplanes in Turkey as well, to step up its efforts against Islamic State (Isis) militants.

"The Saudi kingdom now has a presence at the İncirlik base in Turkey. Saudi warplanes are present with their crews to intensify aerial operations along with missions launched from bases in Saudi Arabia," Al Assiri earlier told the pan-Arab Al Arabiya television before the start of the military drill.

Both Turkey and Saudi Arabia have also lobbied for a ground operation in Syria to uproot President Bashar al-Assad's regime. In return, Damascus has also warned any incursion into Syrian territories will have serious repercussions in the entire region.

NOTICE both Obama and his SecDef Carter has been extremely quiet....With the private /Obama Turkish agreement over the YPG being broken with their attacks on Aleppo......can the USAF remain in Incirlik?

[davidbfpo]

Outlaw09,

The cited source (IBT) refers to:
MMore than 2,500 warplanes, 20,000 tanks and 450 helicopters will be part of the exercise. Riyadh has billed the manoeuvre as "the largest and most important" drill ever staged in the region. Up to 350,000 troops from various Gulf nations, and other allies such as Pakistan, Jordan, Chad and Sudan will take part in the drill, the Saudi Press Agency said.

Someone has been exaggerating, too much time in the sun? Yes all the nations may have such numbers, but to move them the Saudi's northern border would require months - akin to the original 'Desert Storm'. I suppose 'up to' means there is clarity over the numbers.

[OUTLAW 09]

Outlaw09,

The cited source (IBT) refers to:

Someone has been exaggerating, too much time in the sun? Yes all the nations may have such numbers, but to move them the Saudi's northern border would require months - akin to the original 'Desert Storm'. I suppose 'up to' means there is clarity over the numbers.

David....actually IMO the numbers are correct....suspecting there will be an invasion force of say 60K and roughly 500 armored vehicles and artillery working in the desert with about 500-800 aircraft physically exercising.

The rest will be "virtual" as the Saudi's and number of the other ME militaries have had virtual SIMS for a number of years and have exercised often using it.

In the National Training Center in Ft. Irwin we have been training Saudi armored Bde staffs in this method for years.....and around the use of attacking armored forces in long sprints across the desert. Also remember the KSA has a rather high depth of US defense contractors actually working for the KSA military that are able to put it all together and pull it off.

What is far more interesting is the subtle pressure it applies now to Russia as what would be fielded by an Arab Sunni Army into Syria will easily overrun the shia militias and SAA remaining armor forces which are tired after four solid months of constant fighting as their manpower is slowly disappearing.

That calculation was not made by Putin before he arrived in Syria

Russia does not have enough ADs and fighters in theater to handle the sheer Arab AF numbers so Putin will have a serious choice to make....war or compromise...as all his forces sit in Europe and he does not have the lift abilities to move hundreds of troops and tanks into Syria...as the Syrian Express is at max freight levels right now and it takes a round trip of 10-14 days depending on ship type....besides he is currently engaged in a minor/major offensive in Ukraine and must keep the supplies flowing there or greatly throttle it back as this minor/major offensive has triggered the 49th so called Russian humanitarian convoy which is usually a munitions run and new combat equipment and carrying KIAs back.

What is really interesting is that the planning for this must date back for at least a year or so and that is confirmed by the sudden speed of those participating in the actual ground exercise all arriving shortly after the exercise was announced.....and if one has seen the only tow videos of the movement of armored vehicles with one going into Saudi from Kuwait and the other a Saudi convoy headed towards Jordan... it is huge.

I think the Russians are truly seriously concerned as their latest super ISR recce jet was flown yesterday directly from the manufacturer straight to Syria without even field tests....

Coupled with the sudden RSAF F15Cs showing up in Turkey combat ready within hours of arrival and they are already flying familiarization flights...that takes a certain amount of lead time.

In some aspects if the Turks kick the US out of their airfield due to their broken promises that they gave the Turks about the YPG not advancing...the Saudi's I think are there to replace the US....that would then free up the Turks to fly ground attack missions if not it gives the RuAF more to think about.

What is more than interesting is the fact that the Turks flew air strikes directly in the face of Russian S400s and nothing occurred...suspect the Turks jammed them as they moved their newest jammers up to the forward edge months ago and directly across from the S400s.

This will get interesting in just about 50 or so hours.....

[OUTLAW 09]

The Kurds have earned themselves one heck of an opponent in the US as they completely went off the reservation after the US funded them, trained them and armed them...do not expect the US to now seriously support their being seated in Geneva if Geneva ever happens which I seriously doubt it will.

They will have earned the hatred of the Syrian rebels and Sunni's in general and what is interesting is that it was the FSA that carried a bulk of the Kobane fighting not the Kurds...and this is their payback???

Long term with an angry Turkey on one side and an angry Sunni population on the other.....not sure Assad or Russia can protect them.....

Hours before YPG attack on al-Huluk, Assad airforce dropped leaflets: "you have 4 hrs to run or will be terminated".

[OUTLAW 09]

Even under immense Russian air cover, Iranian led cannon fodder Shia militias are still unable to advance into Anadan, #Aleppo

Despite being bombed dozens of times everyday, rebels take new positions in NW #Daraya. Reports +20 Assad forces killed since last night

Even the big mosque in Kafrzita was targeted by Assad helicopters today. #Hama #Syria
http://youtu.be/sGUL2bS2k4g

Assad helicopters bombing residential areas in Kafrzita, north rural #Hama, #Syria
http://youtu.be/7GA3ue1U_N8

Additionally more than 10 Assad/Russian supported YPG fighters have been captured by the rebels in Hellok, #Aleppo

Russian/Assad backed YPG have reportedly suffered heavy losses even though they had Russian air cover & Assad artillery support in offensive

Rebels take control of multiple positions in #Aleppo from Russian/Assad backed YPG (Hellok, Bustan Basha, Masakin Ayn Tall & Farah hospital)
Pro-#YPG desperate propaganda non-stop
Now:"#JN in #Aazaz burn alive 3 Kurds"
#Iraq-2007 Lol
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=cd8_1368478672 …

The center of #TallRifat from a pro-#YPG/#SDF camera team.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4DlnwnHKxo …
#Aleppo #Syria