Syria in 2016 (January-March)

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Naval Express.......

Russian Navy Intelligence Gathering Ship Priazove SSV201 at the south end of the Bosphorus Strait

Among the largest AGIs in #ВМФ service, #ЧФ Vishnaya class intelligence gathering ship Priazove transits Bosphorus

It was quite crowded on top decks of Priazove through the transit.

Priazove SSV201 & all Vishnya class AGI ships have a full Electronic Warfare fit plus optronic systems & datalinks

Russian Black Sea Fleet Черноморский Флот insignia on the funnel of the intelligence gathering ship Priazove SSV201

[OUTLAW 09]

Following this conflict on the internet is becoming next to impossible - at least without becoming incredibly sarcastic.

Commentary by that gang of Keystone Cops in Moscow, named something like 'Government of the Russian Federation', is cited more than often enough above. Meanwhile, Spaniards are happy to cite smiling Assad when he says “80 countries support the terrorists in Syria” (http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/02/20/inenglish/1456005883_962894.html), while that clown named Stephen Kinzer is teaching everybody The media are misleading the public on Syria (http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/02/18/the-media-are-misleading-public-syria/8YB75otYirPzUCnlwaVtcK/story.html).

I think it's about the time for some serious reality check about Syria, gentlemen. It is becoming obvious that we have completely misunderstood the situation there; at least that we have been misled. Result is that we have no clue what's going on in Syria, nor how things work in international diplomacy and media. But worst of all, we all fell for lies about Assad, Syria - and especially Russia.

1.) Assad, Russia, Iran - and Kurds of course - are all victims of an international conspiracy between the CIA, Israel, al-Qaida, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar (delete 'Israel' if you prefer, and especially should you try to draw any connections between 'Israel' and 'Kurds').

Anything else you might have read about this topic is a lie.

2.) All Syrians not siding with Assad are terrorists. Correction: all are al-Qaida, at least 'foreign armed Islamist terrorists'.

Alternativelly, we are granted the right to admit that there is only one anti-Assad fighting force in Syria, which is al-Nusra, made up of 'rebels' or 'moderates', but actually being al-Qaida.

Anything else you might have read about this topic is a lie.

3.) Anybody else - including any foreign countries, their official representatives, intelligence services, military services etc. - opposing Assad, or just saying one word against him, is a terrorist too.

4.) These foreign armed Islamist terrorists have destroyed Aleppo with their artillery and air strikes, not Assad, and even less so Russians.

Who to #### cares what happened in Homs, or all of southern Damascus? Even less so in north-western Hama. Actually: entire Syria.

Most of that was never reported on the internet and thus never happened.

Anything else you might have read about this topic is pure misinformation.

5.) Syrian Arab Army is led by Bashar al-Assad, personally. It is the only force on the ground fighting the Daesh.

Anything else you might have read about this topic is pure misinformation.

6.) But OK, Bashar al-Assad is so kind, and as a true friend he invited Russians to aid him in destroying the Daesh. Why not let them have their piece of fame too?

7.) True enough, Putler said that Assad failed to introduce reforms and thus caused the war, and one of Putler's talking heads repeated that only a few days ago. But, this doesn't matter any more, because what Putler said yesterday doesn't matter today. Moreover, Russians are bombing terrorists in Syria, especially Daesh, and all Syrians are terrorists (except those siding with Assad, of course), and thus Russians are the only ones being right there.

8.) Russian Army is now in Syria and fighting Daesh. Of course, Putler said that there are no Russian troops in Syria, and that he would never deploy Russian Army to Syria. Therefore: Russian Army is there and not there, depends on the weather, Putler's mod, and whether Russian soldiers are granted permission to sleep inside stolen...correction: tents provided by the UNHCR.

9.) MSF hospitals are militant hospitals, supported by Turkish Islamists. Therefore, they are legitimate targets for Russian bombs - dumb or not.

10.) Russian dumb bombs have precision of a JDAM because they're dropped with help of the SVP-24 nav/attack system. Indeed, SVP-24 is the core reason for effectiveness of the Russian Intergalactic Air-Space Force in Syria. This nav/attack system is a super-turbo-wunderwaffe, between others capable of switching off physical laws and weather, and transforming CBUs into iron bombs.

That means: when you see a RT-video showing a Su-34 carrying RBK-500s, don't worry. By the time that bomb kills some Syrian civilian, it's going to be transformed into a FAB-500M-62. That's why Keystone Cops can say that Russians do not use CBUs in Syria.

11.) So, the only reason why the civilian in question was killed was because he was stupid enough to put his head into the place where one of bomblets that fell off during transformation (yes, from RBK-500 to FAB-500M-62, you dumbass!) came down. The bomblet was even so kind to - just like majority of Russian CBUs - fail to detonate upon hitting that civilian. But, well... #### happens.

Ah yes - and FAB-500M-62 has the precision of the JDAM, even more so if supported by SVP-24.

13.) But nah, of course, this should not mean that Russians are bombing Syrian civilians. Their pilots would never do so. Never. Keystone Cops said so. Period.

14.) Even less should this mean that Russians are bombing hospitals. They let the Hezbollah target these with Russian-made SS-21s.

As 'learning by doing', i.e. training...

And, hand at heart, even if, why not? Go back to Rule No.2: all Syrians that are against Assad, and anybody supporting them, are al-Qaida.

Everything clear?

CrowBat ...what is your take on Stephen Kinzer.............knew him when he studied at Boston University and I am surprised that he is carried often in the Boston Globe and he has always been on the Left side of things. He is being beaten up on social media for his articles beng way out of touch with Syria and his closeness in writing to another writer....Fisk.

SWJ carried another one of his rants on supporting the Russians in Syria which I slammed and am still of the opinion he works for the overall Russian info war side of the house.....still am amazed how and where he gets his articles carried.

BUT here is the BIG BUT when he wrote the article carried by SWJ stating the US should be openly supporting Putin in Syria and then he wrote an article in 2015 stating the US should not be fighting IS.

So I still stand by my opinion...he is an agent of influence in the Russian info war side of the house ....question is only now and or for much longer......another question is paid and or unpaid?

[OUTLAW 09]

IslamicState's "Amaq News agency" claim responsible for bomb attacks in #Homs city & #Damascus Sayeda Zainab with probably nearly 100 dead

Russia Today TV claim 80 dead & 120 wounded in #IS bombing of Shiite #Damascus suburb Sayeda Zeinab

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat.....anything to this so called Assad IS agreement???????

The 2nd batch of #ISIS fighters left Hajar Aswad area in S. #Damascus y’day towards #Raqqa following truce/agreement with Assad

Also anything on this.....vague but interesting as the use of "unknown explosion" was buzzword for Israeli air strikes...but this is way out of their previous attack areas along their border....possible Turkish air strike or misguided US?

Reports of "unknown" explosions in #Latakia as well
#Syria FEB 21

CrowBat.....here is an incoming confirmation...what do you think......

Reports explosions in #Latakia were caused by a rocket that landed on a Russian forces gathering in Snobar-Jableh area near Hmaymeem airbase

Reports seems to point to a large GRAD attack of some sorts....

Div.13 #Grad launcher at night
https://youtu.be/sOvIl-HbRrs
Targeting regime positions in Breij & Mayasat in #Aleppo

[OUTLAW 09]

Moments after 4 #Isis IEDs explosions at #Saydna_Zainab
50+ killed according to #SAA media
#Damascus #Syria FEB 21

ASSad Regime media reporting 45+killed aftermath 4 #Isis IEDs explosions at #Saydna_Zainab
#Damascus #Syria FEB 21

RUSSIA Cluster Bombs in #Ayn_Jarah, killed 6 including 3 children
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 21

SAA from it's positions at #Tel_Sheikh_Yousef targeting civilians houses in #Meskin_Hanano
#Aleppo #Syria FEB 21

Syria #Hasaka Reports that #IslamicState regain Shaddadi town near #Iraq'i border after reinforced from #DeirEzzor

Liwa Mutasim rebels shooting at #ISIS positions in Harbel south of Mare'a in #Aleppo where clashes were reported
http://youtu.be/a-0KmEt_MAE

SCD Collecting #RUSSIA Cluster Bombs aftermath it's airstrikes targeting #Kafr_Naha
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 21

SCD rescued 16 wounded and 1 martyr victims of #RUSSIA CLuster Bombs on #Kafr_Naha
#aleppo cs #Syria FEB 21

Syria 3000+ #refugees fled from #Palmyra trapped in desert at #Jordan border

Footage of cluster munition use by Russian jets on the town of Bala in rural #Damascus
http://youtu.be/poCnrb-9PAg

[OUTLAW 09]

FIRST reported and videoed .....use of Russian NAPLAM which has been banned and would in fact be a "war crime".........

RUSSIA airstrikes using incendiary "gel" on #Haryatan
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 21

RUSSIA airstrikes using INCENDIARY missiles on #Haryatan
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 21
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ftt10ETLcL0 …

[OUTLAW 09]

68 #Iran'ian soldiers killed in #Syria btw 12-21 February 2016

Nour al-Din Zinki claims 47 regime forces killed, 50 “disabled” & 20 injured in west #Aleppo battle in last 24 hours

[OUTLAW 09]

Aftermath of #Russia|n airstrikes in al-Maysar district in #Aleppo, #Syria
http://youtu.be/fnLUgTgN1EI

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat.....anything to this so called Assad IS agreement???????

The 2nd batch of #ISIS fighters left Hajar Aswad area in S. #Damascus y’day towards #Raqqa following truce/agreement with Assad

Also anything on this.....vague but interesting as the use of "unknown explosion" was buzzword for Israeli air strikes...but this is way out of their previous attack areas along their border....possible Turkish air strike or misguided US?

Reports of "unknown" explosions in #Latakia as well
#Syria FEB 21

CrowBat.....here is an incoming confirmation...what do you think......

Reports explosions in #Latakia were caused by a rocket that landed on a Russian forces gathering in Snobar-Jableh area near Hmaymeem airbase

Reports seems to point to a large GRAD attack of some sorts....

Div.13 #Grad launcher at night
https://youtu.be/sOvIl-HbRrs
Targeting regime positions in Breij & Mayasat in #Aleppo

Apparently ISIS flag still flies high at power plant in Aleppo, don’t know what the fuss is, it was jointly run by Assad & ISIS after all :/

[OUTLAW 09]

From the inside the youth housing area in #Aleppo after it was taken from YPG
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdpM3kAhxAg&feature=share …

Assad helicopters continue to bomb Teirma'ala in #Homs, #Syria
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOgXw0VBLvg&feature=share …

People's homes destroyed by #Russia|n air strikes in #Anadan, #Aleppo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK56tf2A0NU&feature=share …

[OUTLAW 09]

Now does everyone fully understand the Russian non linear warfare hard at work.......using the core cornerstone..."weaponization of information"....

Breaking story and it concerns a serious Russian info war attempt against Germany....using Syrian refugees....

Merkel probes claims of #Putin plot to weaken her by exploiting #migrationcrisis. My story:
http://thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news....ece#pq=bDocjk …
pic.twitter.com/z8gMzFhGJA

Now it is easy to see the Russian intertwining of a two front non linear war...directly aimed at the US.......

[CrowBat]

CrowBat ...what is your take on Stephen Kinzer(?)............
I'll answer this without reading the rest of your message - in order to avoid having my answer influenced in any way.

I don't know Kinzer personally, only some of his work. That is: I foremost know his biography of Paul Kagame titled 'A Thousand Hills: Rwanda's Rebirth and the Man who Dreamed It'.

Essence of that one is PRBS 1st class: it's an obvious utterly biased propaganda piece praising Kagame as a visionary, great military commander, an exempraly hero etc. Must've been paid for either by Kigali or one of Kagame's supporters in the USA (and there are not only a 'few' of these).

The few parts of that work that are of any use are certain of Kagame's statements related to military affairs. Here I'll shamelessly admit: Adrien and me have cited 1-2 such statements in Rwandan Patriotic Front, 1990-1994 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/191029456X?*Version*=1&*entries*=0). After all, our book is detailing the military history of Rwandan Civil War (that 'culminated' in that genocide of 1994), and one can't ignore certain of Kagame's statements that are of relevance.

But, through cross-examination of statements in question with dozens of other sources (and that war is really best-ever documented African wars, and that by far), we were left without a choice but to contradict de-facto every single of his sentences we did use (and not only us: scores of academic researchers did the same in the last 15 or so years). I'm too lazy to search for them now, but I doubt that more than 2-3 of Kagame's statements from his book that eventually 'survived' our final editing of that manuscript...

In the case of this article, he's babbling so much nonsense about Syria, it's obvious he's got no trace of clue what's going on there. After my experience with his opus on Kagame, I dare concluding: he must've been paid for by Assad to write it - then not one of statements within it stands in any kind of relation to reality. Indeed, I would say it's not worth wasting even 30 seconds to read.

[CrowBat]

CrowBat.....anything to this so called Assad IS agreement???????

The 2nd batch of #ISIS fighters left Hajar Aswad area in S. #Damascus y’day towards #Raqqa following truce/agreement with AssadNothing else but what you've got (sorry, I don't have first-hand sources everywhere in Syria).


Also anything on this.....vague but interesting as the use of "unknown explosion" was buzzword for Israeli air strikes...but this is way out of their previous attack areas along their border....possible Turkish air strike or misguided US?Checking.

Mind: last time that Lattakia was hit it was Ahrar that fired a volley of BM-21s on the city, killing 7-8 civilians.

But back then, insurgents were still within the range (approx 20km). Now they're much further away.

[OUTLAW 09]

Vesti boasts of #Russia "defending its national interests" in #Syria, then shows how Russians are living.

pic.twitter.com/UC9YMuXUkY

[OUTLAW 09]

Hassan Hassan @hxhassan
The Russian campaign is fracturing some rebel groups but these are joining the big ones. Near Damascus, for example, two examples: >>>

Ajnad al-Sham, significantly, merged under Faylaq al-Rahman. Many of them also joined Jaish al-Islam. Two groups in Qaboun joined al-Nusra.

In the north, Jund al-Aqsa joined Jabhat al-Nusra, with rumours some are also joining ISIS. Not sure if these developments serve the purpose

[OUTLAW 09]

I'll answer this without reading the rest of your message - in order to avoid having my answer influenced in any way.

I don't know Kinzer personally, only some of his work. That is: I foremost know his biography of Paul Kagame titled 'A Thousand Hills: Rwanda's Rebirth and the Man who Dreamed It'.

Essence of that one is PRBS 1st class: it's an obvious utterly biased propaganda piece praising Kagame as a visionary, great military commander, an exempraly hero etc. Must've been paid for either by Kigali or one of Kagame's supporters in the USA (and there are not only a 'few' of these).

The few parts of that work that are of any use are certain of Kagame's statements related to military affairs. Here I'll shamelessly admit: Adrien and me have cited 1-2 such statements in Rwandan Patriotic Front, 1990-1994 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/191029456X?*Version*=1&*entries*=0). After all, our book is detailing the military history of Rwandan Civil War (that 'culminated' in that genocide of 1994), and one can't ignore certain of Kagame's statements that are of relevance.

But, through cross-examination of statements in question with dozens of other sources (and that war is really best-ever documented African wars, and that by far), we were left without a choice but to contradict de-facto every single of his sentences we did use (and not only us: scores of academic researchers did the same in the last 15 or so years). I'm too lazy to search for them now, but I doubt that more than 2-3 of Kagame's statements from his book that eventually 'survived' our final editing of that manuscript...

In the case of this article, he's babbling so much nonsense about Syria, it's obvious he's got no trace of clue what's going on there. After my experience with his opus on Kagame, I dare concluding: he must've been paid for by Assad to write it - then not one of statements within it stands in any kind of relation to reality. Indeed, I would say it's not worth wasting even 30 seconds to read.

So indeed a Russian info warrior.....for pay???

[OUTLAW 09]

Now does everyone fully understand the Russian non linear warfare hard at work.......using the core cornerstone..."weaponization of information"....

Breaking story and it concerns a serious Russian info war attempt against Germany....using Syrian refugees....

Merkel probes claims of #Putin plot to weaken her by exploiting #migrationcrisis. My story:
http://thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news....ece#pq=bDocjk …
pic.twitter.com/z8gMzFhGJA

Now it is easy to see the Russian intertwining of a two front non linear war...directly aimed at the US.......

In #Brandenburg, pamphlets call for "total resistance" against "invasion of foreigners" w/bomb building instructions
http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/aufruf-zum-widerstand-gegen-fluechtlin... …

Berlin convinced RU wants to damage/topple Merkel as key to common European sanctions against RU
via @Javed_Kayani
pic.twitter.com/sgVRvITmp7

[OUTLAW 09]

While interesting it does not explain then why the same Russian Generals are allowing the continued use by Assad of chemical weapons against civilians confirmed recently by the agency handling chemical weapon disarmament.

How Pentagon Geeks & Russian Generals Plotted in Secret to Take Away Assad’s WMD
http://thebea.st/1Q2BvJU

[OUTLAW 09]

War is not far away if one watches the GRU moving of intel assets into and or near Syria in the last ten days.....actually all reported by social media and US MSM has not yet picked up on them....

GRU already has SIGINT bases in+near #Syria with good coverage. Moving more GRU air+sea SIGINT assets in theater = big tell something's up

In the Indications and Warnings intel world....this is a large really red flag...

Might in fact indicate the Russians are seriously taking the not so subtle Saudi threat coupled with the very open Turkish moves....

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian info warriors searching for free lancers...
Russian website searches for "meme specialist." Must know memes & own Photoshop. Other skills/education not required
https://tjournal.ru/23516-dirty-predlozhil-rabotu-specialista-po-memam-za-150-tisyach-rublei-v-mesyac …

[OUTLAW 09]

Latakia: dozens of Assad forces killed in ambush in Kan Saba

North Division using 68mm SNEB rockets, almost certainly supplied from outside Syria
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTR99L6UixI …

Syria #Latakia Rebels retook Ard al-Wata near Kensabba

[OUTLAW 09]

War is not far away if one watches the GRU moving of intel assets into and or near Syria in the last ten days.....actually all reported by social media and US MSM has not yet picked up on them....

GRU already has SIGINT bases in+near #Syria with good coverage. Moving more GRU air+sea SIGINT assets in theater = big tell something's up

In the Indications and Warnings intel world....this is a large really red flag...

Might in fact indicate the Russians are seriously taking the not so subtle Saudi threat coupled with the very open Turkish moves....

Ex. Northern Thunder, report of Israel to allow MANPADS for rebels, Russia sending big SIGINT platforms, now this... https://twitter.com/AlArabiya_Eng/status/701474838733574147 …

BREAKING Lebanon's March 14 Alliance reaffirms support for Saudi Arabia and GCC states

BREAKING Lebanon's March 14 Alliance calls on Hezbollah to withdraw forces fighting in Syria

BREAKING Lebanon's March 14 Alliance says Hezbollah responsible for threatening economic stability

Bahrain adopts steps to counter #Iran ‘interference’
http://ara.tv/rgz3z

[OUTLAW 09]

Humor......

MSF says they're considering putting up #ISIS flags at their #hospitals to avoid #Russia's #airstrikes
pic.twitter.com/VA81h39gDD

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Naval Express.......

Russian Navy Intelligence Gathering Ship Priazove SSV201 at the south end of the Bosphorus Strait

Among the largest AGIs in #ВМФ service, #ЧФ Vishnaya class intelligence gathering ship Priazove transits Bosphorus

It was quite crowded on top decks of Priazove through the transit.

Priazove SSV201 & all Vishnya class AGI ships have a full Electronic Warfare fit plus optronic systems & datalinks

Russian Black Sea Fleet Черноморский Флот insignia on the funnel of the intelligence gathering ship Priazove SSV201

VIDEO:
Project 864 #ВМФ #ЧФ Vishnaya class intelligence collection ship Priazove SSV201 transits Bosphorus
https://youtu.be/IHgyMwmMBgc

[OUTLAW 09]

ShOAB-0,5M frag submunitions ( "0,5M" marking visible on the bomblet).

Never previously seen until RuAF started their bombing in Syria.....

7 killed inc 3 children & 2 women & 10s injured in a #Russia|n cluster munition attack in Anjara, west rural #Aleppo

[OUTLAW 09]

First a dictator bans all criticism from the people. Then from his inner circle. Then from himself. That is when he's at his most dangerous.

[OUTLAW 09]

BreakingReport
Clashes between #FSA + allies and #YPG + allies at the entrance of #TallRifat.
#Aleppo #Syria

Update
There are also reports of fighting near #Azaz now.
Both sides claim, the other side attacks as far as I see.
We will have to wait.

Also reports of Russian attacks on #Anadan & #AlBab, but on a much smaller scale than during the last weeks.
#YPG/pro-#Assad pushes stopped.

Footage
A Russian jet targeted #Huraytan N of #Aleppo with incendiary bombs today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ftt10ETLcL0 …

Footage
Panic among civilians after Russian air strike on #Anjarah.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cUHhh_O6VQ …
#Aleppo #Syria

Now 3 air strikes by #Russia reported on #Huraytan.

BreakingReport
4 more terror attacks in
#Damascus city after some 10 earlier ones in #Homs and #Aleppo provinces today.

[OUTLAW 09]

GermanForeignOffice
‏@GermanyDiplo
FM #Steinmeier: Important that we have come closer to an agreement in principle between the US + Russia about a #Syria #ceasefire.

GermanForeignOffice ‏@GermanyDiplo

FM #Steinmeier cont.: But nothing has been won yet. It's all the more important now to use this newly opened "window of opportunity".

[OUTLAW 09]

GermanForeignOffice
‏@GermanyDiplo
FM #Steinmeier: Important that we have come closer to an agreement in principle between the US + Russia about a #Syria #ceasefire.

GermanForeignOffice ‏@GermanyDiplo

FM #Steinmeier cont.: But nothing has been won yet. It's all the more important now to use this newly opened "window of opportunity".

I thought, we had a ceasefire agreement 9 days ago?! ...agreed between Kerry and the Russian FM

[CrowBat]

So indeed a Russian info warrior.....for pay???That's my impression.

Namely, my standpoint is that one shouldn't publish such loads of nonsense even for outright truckloads of bucks. It's discrediting irecoverably. Obviously, he must have 'plenty of good reasons' to think differently.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia is "engaged in a major #cyber espionage campaign targeting #Syrian opposition groups"
http://goo.gl/dSXeh0

Aleppo rebels with captured #YPG/#SDF fighters: "take em and treat em at Mhmd Fehmi," says one.

[OUTLAW 09]

That's my impression.

Namely, my standpoint is that one shouldn't publish such loads of nonsense even for outright truckloads of bucks. It's discrediting irecoverably. Obviously, he must have 'plenty of good reasons' to think differently.

Social media thinks so to.......

1st @stephenkinzer shills for Iran under pretext of no war w/Iran, now he backs Iran/Assad/Russia's war
http://bit.ly/1PV0YF9 @BostonGlobe

[OUTLAW 09]

Reports rebels destroyed 2 vehicles with TOW missiles in Ayn Qantara near Kinsabba & a regime tank with tank fire in Kinsabba
If true one of the rare tank-on-tank hits in this war.
Tanks mostly used as self propelled arty for shelling CP's.

Rebels regain control of the village of Ard al-Wata overlooking Kinsabba in Jabal al-Akrad, rural #Latakia, #Syria

FSA Suqour al-Jabal on the front lines with #ISIS held Ghazal in north rural #Aleppo, #Syria
http://youtu.be/QGnLqbD5jGU

Russia is using Tochka missiles in Syria. But now they can not blame it's the enemy's Tochka as they did in Ukraine.

Liwa Mutasim rebels shooting at #ISIS positions in Harbel south of Mare'a in #Aleppo where clashes were reported
http://youtu.be/a-0KmEt_MAE

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat......heads up

Charles Lister ‏@Charles_Lister

Interesting:
US Government Counter-Terrorism Center (NCTC) linked the PKK & PYD in 2014, but that’s now removed:

[OUTLAW 09]

Middle East Monitor ‏@MiddleEastMnt
US inaction led to Russian interference in Syria, claims former NATO commander
https://shar.es/14VLRg

Deraa: Rebels progress southwards in the "Triangle of death" with at least 50 Assad forces killed

Latakia: dozens of Assad forces killed in ambush in Kan Saba

Hasakeh: ISIS retake Al Azawi from YPG

Hassan Hassan ‏@hxhassan
From Tal Abyad to Sinjar to Shaddadi, ISIS has been losing to Kurds without much resistance. Why is that? http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/sudden-retreats-dont-mean-that-isil-is-defeated … my latest

US reins in its allies Turkey & KSA from military action in Syria | But it never restrains Iran & Russia |
http://on.ft.com/1Oismeb

[OUTLAW 09]

Ahwaz militias target IRGC training camp -
http://beyondthelevant.com/2016/02/21/ahwaz-militias-target-yemen-syria-and-iraq-irgc-training-camps/ …

Amnesty International slams the Kremlin, says Russia committing "war crimes" in Syria
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/12/syria-russias-shameful-failure-to-acknowledge-civilian-killings/ …
pic.twitter.com/n4hr5dtRGm

[CrowBat]

CrowBat......heads up

Charles Lister ‏@Charles_Lister

Interesting:
US Government Counter-Terrorism Center (NCTC) linked the PKK & PYD in 2014, but that’s now removed:
...reminds me of this with F-15s striking Daesh in Libya: everybody knows about it - but US taxpayers...

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian currently uses two terms in their info war..."near abroad" and "far abroad" when they work their info war "narratives"......right now the "near abroad" meaning Russians living in Russia are being bombarded daily with the following......

Anchor on Russian TV news last night: "The world is a hair's breadth from a big war...", blames US, Turkey, EU

The goal of the "near abroad" is to create "an altered state of reality"...

Core question is ...is this an attempt to "weaponized" the Russian population for a true war?????

[OUTLAW 09]

Talk of upcoming FSA rebel alliance in #Idlib - expected to tie closely to #Aleppo ops, incl. those reinforcing defence of Azaz via #Turkey.


I appear to be not the only one stating the Obama WH is "standing by"...even a former member of his staff is saying the same thing.....

Ouch..........

“Kerry is now fully dependent on Putin, the Supreme Ruler of Iran and Assad to achieve any US objective in Syria”………Fred Hof…….”You are generally not treated with respect when you have so few cards to play”…..

This is the direct result of "standing by".......

BUT WAIT both Obama and Kerry "played" the Kurdish card that in the end "burnt them" and totally either forgot or worse ignored the Syrian Arab Sunni card......FSA who is for over two years in direct fighting daily with IS.

[OUTLAW 09]

YPG forces from inside #SheikhMaqsoud attack rebel-held areas East and West of the district since several days.

6 civilians killed, around 20 injured, in rebel mortar shelling of Kurdish quarter #SheikhMaqsoud in #Aleppo city.

Update
Lots of reports,lots of propaganda - especially from pro-YPG activists.
"YPG entered Azaz", "Turkey just lies, we didn't enter" etc.

VIDEO: #FSA Division 13 fire large Grad barrage at #SAA positions in
Al Burayj, #Syria.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOvIl-HbRrs …

Claims #ISIS has sent over 300 fighters from DeirDzzor to join battles in Shadadi & Markada in rural #Hasakah

[OUTLAW 09]

Turkish or Obama pressure..........????

Syria’s Kurdish National Council (KNC) has issued a call on the PYD/YPG to cease its attacks on opposition forces [in #Aleppo].

BUT counterbalanced by this.............

SDF spox says they have captured 2400 km2 from IS in Khabur campaign, civilians already returning http://hawarnews.com/qsd-%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%B1%D9%86%D8%A7-2400-%D9%83%D9%852-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%BA%D8%B6%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%B1/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

IMAGE: The Zaatari Syrian refugee camp in Jordan, now equivalent to being the country's fourth largest city.
pic.twitter.com/gmyOFMtkOK

[OUTLAW 09]

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

#ВМФ BSF #ЧФ ropucha class LST Yamal 156 completes 3rd Syrian deployment in 2016 & transits northbound Bosphorus pic.twitter.com/Zw1Kg3MQhm

10 day round trip

[OUTLAW 09]

Mujahideen led by Jund Al Aqsa captured 3 checkpoints in Al tawila village and Al Qar3 hill in Khanasser road They opened a front along the Hama-Safira corridor with a surprise raid.

A #TOW #ATGM hits a heavy MG position in Aleppo theatre
https://youtu.be/C0_fJrGX26g

Latakia: Syrian Rebels recapture Ard Al Watna in Jabal al Akrad & destroy a tank & 2 vehicles in Ayn Qantara

Assad regime casualties in Latakia, Marj & Daraya today total to 4 t72's, 3 vehicles & 68 soldiers
http://fb.me/U67NXRN2

Saqr Mahdi Al-Hussein sectarian Shia Iraqi Brigade Commander killed in Sayeda Zeinab bombing in Damascus

Hasakeh: huge truck bomb exploded at Dabsha village #الدبشة during PYD rally in the rural West. many casualties

YPG waging a campaign of arrests in the town of Ain Arous in the city of Tal Abyad

8 ex-regime Kurdish officers kidnapped by #PYD in #Syria since 16/4/2013

[OUTLAW 09]

Destruction aftermath #RUSSIA airstrikes on #alFirdaous neighborhood earlier this morning
#Aleppo #Syria FEB 22

Russian SS21s flying all over the place it seems....
RUSSIA Tochka Missile landed in #Marea earlier this morning
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

Rebels control over 4 #SAA Checkpoints at #alTawiyalla village & #Tel_Aqarea at #alKhanasser Road area
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

Rebels control over #Tel_Aqarea after heavy clashes w/#SAA terrorists & on-going battle now at #alKhanasser fronts
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

[OUTLAW 09]

Turkish or Obama pressure..........????

Syria’s Kurdish National Council (KNC) has issued a call on the PYD/YPG to cease its attacks on opposition forces [in #Aleppo].

BUT counterbalanced by this.............

SDF spox says they have captured 2400 km2 from IS in Khabur campaign, civilians already returning http://hawarnews.com/qsd-%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%B1%D9%86%D8%A7-2400-%D9%83%D9%852-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%BA%D8%B6%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%B1/ …

US_Coalition carried out airstrikes targeting #PKK positions at #Ayn_Essa village
#Raqqa #Syria FEB 22

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia warplanes carried out more than 10 airstrikes so far targeting #Sheikh_Essa
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

[OUTLAW 09]

Right now,there are clashes of rebels and YPG forces in Ayn Daqnah.Rebels try to recapture the village near Menagh.

Multiple explosions reported in the coast side of #Latakia
#Syeia FEB 22

The 5 explosions reported was due Rebels targeted #Russia'n ammunition & weapons warehouse
#Latakia #Syria FEB 22

Reports of #Russia airstrikes targeting #alKhanaser with " toxic gas"
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia warplanes carried out more than 10 airstrikes so far targeting #Sheikh_Essa
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

Family of 6 members trapped under rubble aftermath #Russia airstrikes targeting #Sheikh_Essa
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

[CrowBat]

The following feature is a brilliant summary of what happened in Syria the last two months, and something that caused something like, 'don't tell me I didn't tell you' moment...

America picked the wrong allies against the Islamic State (https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/commentaryanalysis/566626-the-mission-of-destroying-isis)


Over the last six weeks the regime of Bashar al-Assad—which by this point means in most areas Iranian-run ground forces and Russian air power—have made territorial gains in northern Syria that threaten the existence of the armed opposition in the area. This threat has been compounded by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and allies, which have also drawn on Russian airstrikes to attack the rebellion in the same areas. The US-led coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) has made the PYD its main proxy inside Syria—the only force that can call in coalition airstrikes. This policy was obviously flawed...
...

On January 12, an important rebel stronghold in north-eastern Latakia, on the Syrian coast, fell to an ideologically diverse pro-Assad coalition: the Syrian Arab Army, the National Defence Force (the largely-Alawite, Iran-built sectarian militia that has overshadowed the SAA), Mihrac Ural's al-Muqawama as-Suriya (ostensibly Communist), the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (the irredentist outfit descended from, as its party symbol attests, European fascism), and Iraqi Shiite jihadists under the control of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The Latakia offensive was heavily directed by Russian military advisers and possibly included Russian troops. The offensive was carried into Aleppo, where the IRGC-led pro-Assad forces, backed by Russian airstrikes, set their sights on the narrow corridor in the north of the province around Marea and Azaz that kept supplies coming in from Turkey to the rebel enclave in eastern Aleppo city that rules over more than half-a-million people.
...

The rebels had been struggling to hold the Azaz corridor since the second week of Russia's intervention, which began on September 30, when Moscow killed hundreds of rebels in Aleppo, clearing the way for ISIS to sweep into areas the rebels had held them out of for years. ISIS's territorial advances in Aleppo in October 2015 were the largest since their capture of Ramadi and Palmyra five months earlier. This brought the pro-Assad and ISIS frontlines into contact; they made no move against one-another as the Assadists advanced on Azaz.

Meanwhile, the PYD was bearing down on the rebellion from the east. On January 2, the PYD pushed the rebels out of Tanab, a demarcation point between the PYD-held Efrin canton and the rebel-held corridor. The PYD claimed to have defeated Jabhat al-Nusra (al-Qaeda in Syria). The rebels were in fact al-Jabhat al-Shamiya (The Levant Front), Ahrar al-Sham, and three Free Syrian Army (FSA)-branded groups: The First Regiment, Division 13, and Division 16. The PYD would often use the Nusra pretext when attacking rebels, where they didn't outright deny their involvement and claim it was an intra-Arab...

...

Those with an agenda include the US State Department. After saving the Kurdish city of Kobane in northern Syria went from non-strategic to imperative in the space of two weeks in October 2014, the US fell into an alliance with the PYD, which became the only force in Syria able to call in US airstrikes. By the summer of 2015, the Obama administration preferred the PYD over its own trained rebel groups. The terrorism laws thus have to be circumvented—in this case, by flat denial. Just last week, the State Department said it remains "very firm" in opposing the PKK, but continues to regard the PYD as an asset.
...

Despite the denials, the PYD/YPG's own fighters don't make a secret of their organization's subservience to the PKK's command structure. When the US's envoy to the anti-ISIS coalition, Brett McGurk, journeyed to Kobane he met with one of the PYD's founders, Polat Can, who just happens to be a veteran officer of the PKK. In late January 2016, with Turkey and the PKK back at war, an English-speaking foreign fighter for the YPG was featured in a video calling for more foreign volunteers to either join the YPG or at least carry out terrorist attacks against Turkey. The YPG does not just take orders from the PKK's leadership in the Qandil Mountains, however. The extent of the PKK's dominance over the YPG can be seen in the YPG's self-reported casualty figures: between January 2013 and January 2016, half of the Kurds killed fighting for the YPG came from Turkey.
...

In a masterly piece of maskirovka, the Russians announced their agreement to a ceasefire on Friday, which contained a loophole for continued strikes on terrorists big enough to permit Russia to bomb anyone they liked...

...

One view is that this is bad negotiating; another view—already prevalent in Syria—is that this is deliberate. If the US allows the destruction of the moderate rebels and lets the pro-Assad coalition make this a binary choice—the dictator or the terrorists—as they have wanted to all along, it won't matter if the US deliberately ran out the clock on those it claimed to be supporting or is engaged in post-facto rationalization. Everyone saw the US's pro-Iran tilt, symbolized most acutely by not punishing Assad for the chemical weapons attack, and every Sunni will believe it was a conspiracy—as ISIS has continuously told them.

The pro-regime coalition crushing the rebels in Aleppo City—either killing them or driving them from the battlefield—will not just be a propaganda (i.e. recruitment) victory for ISIS, but will open an immediate military opportunity. The spearheading of the offensive by foreign Shiite militias strongly indicates that the regime's chronic shortage of manpower is getting no better, so while an aerially-delivered and ground-supported round of massacre and expulsion is possible, actually holding new terrain is likely to prove impossible. If the pro-regime forces clear the rebels from Aleppo, it will be ISIS that fills the vacuum.
...

Grim as this was looking for the rebellion, it was looking a lot worse once the PYD started its own offensive—also supported by Russian airstrikes.
...

It was always likeliest that the next PYD target would be Marea, a Homs-like symbol of the revolution, the first town in Aleppo to rebel and the hometown of Abdul Qader Saleh, the charismatic military leader of Liwa al-Tawhid, the most powerful rebel group in Aleppo Province until the regime killed Saleh in November 2013. Already by Monday evening, the PYD—via Jaysh al-Thuwar—was signalling its intent to move on Marea, demanding the withdrawal of Nusra, despite Nusra having no presence in Marea...
...

More than one analyst noted during the contest for Tel Rifaat that the town has a special significance in Syria's recent history, as the base of Samir al-Khlifawi, better known as Haji Bakr, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's deputy, who planned and orchestrated the formation of ISIS's statelet. Al-Khlifawi did not live to see his plan come to fruition with the caliphate declaration in June 2014: he was killed by Syrian rebels when they went on the offensive against ISIS in January 2014. That it was the rebels who eliminated the strategic head of ISIS was very telling.
...

Still, contrast this with the PKK, which in nearly a year-and-a-half, backed by extensive US airstrikes, has been able to expel ISIS from less than one province-worth of territory—they held Kobane and took parts of southern Hasaka and Sinjar (after fifteen months). These are Kurdish zones, peripheral to ISIS. The PYD's ethno-territorial limitation is not unreasonable: they have little interest in expending blood outside Kurdish areas and will be regarded as sectarian occupiers, opening space for ISIS, if they try.
...

The PYD repeatedly claimed it was fighting jihadist-Salafists in the Azaz corridor. At one point the PYD paraded a Nusra commander they had captured. In fact it was Ismail al-Naddaf, commander of Liwa al-Fatah, a nationalist group unconnected to Nusra. One of Nusra's own fighters eventually admitted that Nusra was uninvolved in the clashes with the PYD—Nusra withdrew from this area last summer. Nusra has, as a strategic policy, wound itself into the military opposition, offering specialist military capabilities and tried to make rebels reliant on it. Nusra also tries to foster co-dependency with rebel-sympathetic populations. This gives Nusra a longevity ISIS does not have, and makes preventing Nusra embedding itself within opposition dynamics one of the coalition's most urgent tasks, given how difficult it will be to untangle Nusra later on. Thus, attacking Nusra-dependent rebels is likely not the best policy: empowering them so they no longer need Nusra is. But, regardless, the PYD is attacking moderate rebels who are not entangled with Nusra, some of them backed by the Islamist-allergic CIA. Not only is the PYD directly attacking non-Nusra-associated rebels, making them more likely to become dependent on Nusra, but the PYD's aggression is politically helping Nusra by pushing insurgents to prioritize unity over moderation. Nine rebel groups, some CIA-supported, have already declared that during this crisis they will be led by Ahrar al-Sham, a close battlefield ally of Nusra's.
...


Ahem... perhaps I should add a note: mind, this wasn't written by me (I've got no contacts to NOW, nor could phrase it this eloquently).

[CrowBat]

...ah, and BTW: supply links for the IRGC/Assadist/Russian military conglomerate in Aleppo area remain cut off since nearly a week.

Sounds like whatever is left of the Jund has got its link to the Daesh, after all.

[CrowBat]

...sorry, that map was actually 'obsolete'... well, kind of: below the newest one (30 min or so old).

Jund has not yet punched through, but is 'very close'.

Can only repeat the old one: 'congratulations Oblabla'...

[OUTLAW 09]

100.000+ civilians trapped inside the besieged #alWaer, they are suffering porverty & bad health conditions due #Assad Regime siege on the neighborhood, dozens of young people have been arrested trying to go out from the neighborhood as #ASSad Regime checkpoints increased arrouding #alWaer Homs #Syria FEB 22

Drone over #Aleppo cs
#Syria FEB 22

Several #Russia airstrikes on #Jisr_alShghour(#Bedama #Najiyeh #Aubiyn #Kinda #alBarnas & #Aliyamd villages)
#Idlib cs #Syria FEB 22

Dozens of #SAA exterminated after their 3 vehicles exploded at #alSalamiyah Road
#Hama cs #Syria FEB 22

Russian airstrikes on #Atman town
#Daraa cs #Syria FEB 22

#RUSSIA airstrikes targeting #Qabassin
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

#SAA barrel bombs over #Anadan
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

RUSSIA airstrikes targeting #alBazaa
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

SAA helicopters dropping barrel bombs over #Haryatan
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

#RUSSIA Cluster Bombs airstrikes on #Haryatan
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

#RUSSIA airstrikes on #alBab now
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

Now 2 #RUSSIA warplanes flying over #Idlib cs...
#Syria FEB 22

Our heroes #SCD digging ditches in civilians houses to try protect from #RUSSIA airstrikes
#Hama cs #Syria FEB 22

[OUTLAW 09]

100.000+ civilians trapped inside the besieged #alWaer, they are suffering porverty & bad health conditions due #Assad Regime siege on the neighborhood, dozens of young people have been arrested trying to go out from the neighborhood as #ASSad Regime checkpoints increased arrouding #alWaer Homs #Syria FEB 22

Drone over #Aleppo cs
#Syria FEB 22

Several #Russia airstrikes on #Jisr_alShghour(#Bedama #Najiyeh #Aubiyn #Kinda #alBarnas & #Aliyamd villages)
#Idlib cs #Syria FEB 22

Dozens of #SAA exterminated after their 3 vehicles exploded at #alSalamiyah Road
#Hama cs #Syria FEB 22

Russian airstrikes on #Atman town
#Daraa cs #Syria FEB 22

#RUSSIA airstrikes targeting #Qabassin
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

#SAA barrel bombs over #Anadan
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

RUSSIA airstrikes targeting #alBazaa
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

SAA helicopters dropping barrel bombs over #Haryatan
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

#RUSSIA Cluster Bombs airstrikes on #Haryatan
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

#RUSSIA airstrikes on #alBab now
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

Now 2 #RUSSIA warplanes flying over #Idlib cs...
#Syria FEB 22

Our heroes #SCD digging ditches in civilians houses to try protect from #RUSSIA airstrikes
#Hama cs #Syria FEB 22

Rebels destroyed #SAA vehicle loaded with ammunition, exterminating a number of it's terrorists at #Bashkoy fronts
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

[OUTLAW 09]

#RUSSIA airstrikes on #Anadan as well after #SAA barrel bombs on the same area
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

#RUSSIA airstrikes yesterday FEB 21 night targeting #alNouman village in #alBab resulted 12 martyrs, including children
#Aleppo cs #Syria

#SAA helicopters dropped barrel bombs over #Anadan
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

RUSSIA airstrikes targeting #Marbaiyah village at #Kurds_Mount
#Latakia #Syria FEB 22

As if #RUSSIA cluster bombs aren't enough, #SAA dropping barrel bombs on outskirts of #Hayan as well
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

RUSSIA airstrikes on #Tel_Masibin
#Aleppo #Syria FEB 22

[OUTLAW 09]

#RUSSIA airstrikes on #Anadan as well after #SAA barrel bombs on the same area
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

#RUSSIA airstrikes yesterday FEB 21 night targeting #alNouman village in #alBab resulted 12 martyrs, including children
#Aleppo cs #Syria

#SAA helicopters dropped barrel bombs over #Anadan
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

RUSSIA airstrikes targeting #Marbaiyah village at #Kurds_Mount
#Latakia #Syria FEB 22

As if #RUSSIA cluster bombs aren't enough, #SAA dropping barrel bombs on outskirts of #Hayan as well
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

RUSSIA airstrikes on #Tel_Masibin
#Aleppo #Syria FEB 22

Skies of Douma are closing.. It means no airstrikes for now..
#Damascus cs #Syria FEB 22

[OUTLAW 09]

Dozens of Assad forces killed Salama/Ithriya road by ISIS IED's, 3 bus loads of Assad forces killed

ISIS capture 3 points in Resal Al Nafl on the Aleppo/Ithriya road

Death toll of Seyeda Zainab ISIS bombings has risen to 120, the deadliest since the outbreak of the conflict in #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

Reference the CrowBat posted IS/JUND attack map


Simultaneous attack from Jund al-Aqsa and #IS cut the #Aleppo supply road North of #Khanasir

IS control Rasm al Nafl, Shalala barrier, Ar Rahid, Ruwayhib, Rasm Hamad, Al Qara and Al Hawaz. Also prob. control Hamam S of Khanasir

Jund al-Aqsa control Minaya, Burj al Zarur, Rasm al Kurrih

Now #ISIS are launching mortar shells against rebels in Mare'a, north rural #Aleppo

[OUTLAW 09]

Never mentioned in the western MSM......

On Assad forcing Palestinian refugees to join its militias in #Syria
https://smo-sy.com/2016/02/21/32778/ …

Just as Iran forces Afghan refugees to fight in Syria.....not a single difference between Assad and Khamenei........

[OUTLAW 09]

Footage
Rebel troops from the Levant Front in control of #Marea.
No "Nusra" in the town.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCSwWViJBqs …

Footage
An #Assad helicopter drops 4 bombs on #Huraytan, north of #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGC4e_5jv7w …

IDP camp in #Latakia is moved closer to the Turkish border to avoid artillery/air strikes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdXOTpzzRAo …

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat...this is he second mention today of the use of poisonous gas alleged to have been dropped by the Russians.....have you heard anything and or what could the Russians be dropping....

IS & Jund al Aqsa cut off regimes #Aleppo supply road north & south of #Khanaser Reports 60 airstrikes & poison gases used 2 counter

[OUTLAW 09]

That's my impression.

Namely, my standpoint is that one shouldn't publish such loads of nonsense even for outright truckloads of bucks. It's discrediting irecoverably. Obviously, he must have 'plenty of good reasons' to think differently.

It is now interesting to see who beats the next drum .....and it seems to be coming from the Left side of spectrum........also via the Globe which is interesting in itself....

Mark Ruffalo
‏@MarkRuffalo
We need JOURNALISM not PROPAGANDA. The media are misleading the public on Syria
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/02/18/the-media-are-misleading-public-syria/8YB75otYirPzUCnlwaVtcK/story.html?event=event25?event=event25 … via BostonGlobe

The problem with Ruffalo is that he probably cannot even define the word "propaganda" nor does he fully understand the Russian weaponization of information which he is indirectly actually supporting.

Answer from social media today..........
Sara Hussein ‏@sarahussein
@MarkRuffalo @BostonGlobe hey, I'm a journalist covering Syria. Let me know if you'd like to know why that column is so full of inaccuracies.

[OUTLAW 09]

Ceasefire deal in Syria possibly announced tonight. Problematic issues still are Assad fate & calling everyone Nusra to justify air attacks.

Ceasefire will not hold unless IRGC & allies including Hezbollah presence in Syria is ended or possibly constrained to loyalist areas.

Footage
Syrian rebel tank fires at #YPG position in #Aleppo's Sheikh Maqsoud district.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6kQFcNj1G8 …

SYRIA: #ISIS claims to have cut the only government supply route to #Aleppo

The cut off of the supply route (#Hama-#Aleppo) propably not sustained -but congestions at gas stations in regime parts of #Aleppo

BREAKING: Many reports that #ISIS is attacking regime supply lines at Khanaser. Some reports indicate they are trying to encircling the city

VIDEO: FSA Northern Division shells YPG held areas in #Aleppo with mortars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDennphEQgA …

[OUTLAW 09]

Fighting Kurdish militia in Syria is 'legitimate defence': Erdogan
http://ow.ly/YBisx

Al Arabiya English
‏@AlArabiya_Eng
#BREAKING U.S.-Russia draft calls for Syria ceasefire to start Feb. 27, would exclude ISIS and Nusra front -western diplomatic sources
News value and implications: 0

So the Russians got their 3 weeks of bombing after all...

Coming intensified #Russia attack (+ U.S. tacit support) = greater rebel reliance on Qaeda. Moscow feature, not bug.
http://bit.ly/1SNsI4G

This will be interesting. #Azaz is not a 'Nusra front', so the ceasefire would apply there.

Syria #Hasakah Step news Agency says #SDF #QSD Withdrew from #Shaddadi due to #ISIS #ISIL #Daesh Car Bombings & Attacks.

Hasakah Step News Agency Says Dozens of #SDF #QSD #YPG #Kurdish Fighters are now prisoners of #ISIS & brought to #Raqqa

More than 20 Russian air strikes on Shaikh Isa village near Maare' in rural Aleppo as a cover for continued YPG attempts to invade the area.

[OUTLAW 09]

Hassan Hassan ‏@hxhassan
As I said yesterday, this is the 2nd time Khanasir route is cut since Oct. But it goes to show regime constraints: http://www.syriadeeply.org/articles/2016/02/9687/expert-view-significance-aleppo/ …

Cessation of hostilities deal agreed, to begin on Sat.
https://twitter.com/search?q=cessation%20of%20hostilities&src=typd …

In this Q&A I discuss implications
http://www.syriadeeply.org/articles/2016/02/9687/expert-view-significance-aleppo/ …

[CrowBat]

[B]CrowBat...this is he second mention today of the use of poisonous gas alleged to have been dropped by the Russians.....have you heard anything and or what could the Russians be dropping....
...let's say it this way: there are BPM troops there, the Ba'ath HQ in Damascus is issuing orders for both deployment of Assadist fighter-bombers and chemical weapons...

...and... well, I've been told that air strikes flown in that area are, 'not flown by Russians'.

[OUTLAW 09]

Syrian Coalition UN @SyriaUN

OUT NOW: Commission of Inquiry report on #Syria exposes rampant war crimes by Assad regime, demands accountability
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoISyria/A-HRC-31-68.pdf …

UN: ISIS and the Assad regime are committing crimes against humanity in Syria
http://read.bi/1XIpA9d
pic.twitter.com/uIpyz7JNY5

YPG is right next to the IS front lines and yet they insist in fighting FSA.......one US Proxy claiming they attack IS but goes other places to attack another US Proxy...how strange is that????

#Map
Our "best hope vs. #ISIS" is only meters away from their strongholds north of #Aleppo.
Still,NO SINGLE ATTACK.
pic.twitter.com/Lp5OD9yICU

Destruction of civilians houses aftermath #Russia airstrikes on #Sheikh_Essa, near #Marea
#aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22a pic.twitter.com/2Do7rTG46Q

Exclusive. Rebels (#FSA & Islam army) captured 20 locations in 5 days offensive against #ISIS in E.Qalamoun #Syria
pic.twitter.com/PhSO6FqkTl

[OUTLAW 09]

...let's say it this way: there are BPM troops there, the Ba'ath HQ in Damascus is issuing orders for both deployment of Assadist fighter-bombers and chemical weapons...

...and... well, I've been told that air strikes flown in that area are, 'not flown by Russians'.

OK so who is then flying there....???

[OUTLAW 09]

Syrian Coalition UN @SyriaUN

OUT NOW: Commission of Inquiry report on #Syria exposes rampant war crimes by Assad regime, demands accountability
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoISyria/A-HRC-31-68.pdf …

UN: ISIS and the Assad regime are committing crimes against humanity in Syria
http://read.bi/1XIpA9d
pic.twitter.com/uIpyz7JNY5

YPG is right next to the IS front lines and yet they insist in fighting FSA.......one US Proxy claiming they attack IS but goes other places to attack another US Proxy...how strange is that????

#Map
Our "best hope vs. #ISIS" is only meters away from their strongholds north of #Aleppo.
Still,NO SINGLE ATTACK.
pic.twitter.com/Lp5OD9yICU

Destruction of civilians houses aftermath #Russia airstrikes on #Sheikh_Essa, near #Marea
#aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22a pic.twitter.com/2Do7rTG46Q

Exclusive. Rebels (#FSA & Islam army) captured 20 locations in 5 days offensive against #ISIS in E.Qalamoun #Syria
pic.twitter.com/PhSO6FqkTl

Amnesty International reports #Russia has committed war crimes in #Syria and destroyed 27 schools as well as 27 medical centers in 4 months.

Russia's barely coherent defense that it didn't bomb hospitals in Syria — via @Bellingcat
http://read.bi/219OB2J
pic.twitter.com/Meh2MemWKO

[OUTLAW 09]

Kerry may have gotten a so called ceasefire BUT

U.S. & #Russia agree to #Syria ceasefire (except #Russia's definition of a "ceasefire" was and is being demonstrated in #Ukraine)http://ti.me/1Q5YsMh

NOTICE while the Russians and US name only Sunni terrorist groups ie IS and AQ...both somehow forgot the Shia side of which the US has named a few that are fighting in Syria terrorists.....

At least 30 IRGC linked shia terrorist militias are involved in Syria's war are of course not negotiable for Lavrov.
pic.twitter.com/XHDLmSDHWV

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia played America for a fool for the second time this month & achieved new diplomatic victory left Turkey & Saudi looking flat-footed.

At some point one has to wonder when the Turks and Saudi's will wake up and realize the US does not care about them or the ME????

Although both the Turks and KSA have not taken their plans off the table as the Saudi exercise ends on 10 Mar and Turkish AF has been active over Syria..

[OUTLAW 09]

Footage
Heavy clashes in #Aleppo between Syrian rebels and the #YPG.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFfQabUrVeU …
#Syria pic.twitter.com/NuKtHK7yid

Footage
Russian Su-24 fly over #Idlib towards #Aleppo province.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_H3B8HkEzg …
pic.twitter.com/3t1jrnlklJ

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia played America for a fool for the second time this month & achieved new diplomatic victory left Turkey & Saudi looking flat-footed.

At some point one has to wonder when the Turks and Saudi's will wake up and realize the US does not care about them or the ME????

Although both the Turks and KSA have not taken their plans off the table as the Saudi exercise ends on 10 Mar and Turkish AF has been active over Syria..

The Kerry announced ceasefire is already a farce as it gave Putin another full week of bombings that Kerry stated in the first Munich 1938 had to stop and Russia is in full violation of not fufilling UNSC 2254.....which also stated the bombings of civilians had to stop......

[OUTLAW 09]

Noureddine Zanki movement fires large rocket at the Municipal Palace in #Aleppo, possibly hitting civilians.
pic.twitter.com/oGKKIlZMWU

ISIS kills 140 people in Syria as Assad tells refugees to come home
http://www.newsweek.com/syria-islamic-state-homs-damascus-bombings-428915 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Fight or Flight: America’s Choice in the Middle East
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/middle-east/2016-02-16/fight-or-flight …
on the historic chaos and danger of the U.S. "muddling through"

Well worth the reading...have to register to get access......


Fight or Flight

America’s Choice in the Middle East
By Kenneth M. Pollack



The modern Middle East has rarely been tranquil, but it has never been this bad. Full-blown civil wars rage in Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Yemen. Nascent conflicts simmer in Egypt, South Sudan, and Turkey. Various forms of spillover from these civil wars threaten the stability of Algeria, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia. Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia have risen to new heights, raising the specter of a regionwide religious war. Israel and the Palestinians have experienced a resurgence of low-level violence. Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates have weathered the storm so far, but even they are terrified of what is going on around them. Not since the Mongol invasions of the thirteenth century has the Middle East seen so much chaos.

Moreover, it is unlikely to abate anytime soon. No matter how many times Americans insist that the people of the Middle East will come to their senses and resolve their differences if left to their own devices, they never do. Absent external involvement, the region’s leaders consistently opt for strategies that exacerbate conflict and feed perpetual instability. Civil wars are particularly stubborn problems, and without decisive outside intervention, they usually last decades. The Congolese civil war is entering its 22nd year, the Peruvian its 36th, and the Afghan its 37th. There is no reason to expect the Middle East’s conflicts to burn out on their own either.

Continued.......

[OUTLAW 09]

Kremlin Troll site quoting nutbar conspiracy weirdo = BREAKING NEWS....welcome to 2016

http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/did-russia-just-threaten-turkey-nuclear-weapons/ri12936?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=socialnetwork …

Great example of Russian info warfare hard at work......



Did Russia Just Threaten Turkey With Nuclear Weapons?

The US investigative journalist Robert Parry has made an astonishing claim - and one that has gone completely unnoticed.

He is reporting that the Russian government has warned Erdogan that Russia is prepared to use tactical nuclear weapons to defend its Syrian strike force from Turkish attack.

Parry’s exact words are as follows:


“A source close to Russian President Vladimir Putin told me that the Russians have warned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Moscow is prepared to use tactical nuclear weapons if necessary to save their troops in the face of a Turkish-Saudi onslaught.

Since Turkey is a member of NATO, any such conflict could quickly escalate into a full-scale nuclear confrontation.”

Generally I would be skeptical of such a story from an anonymous source. However Parry is a journalist of the highest reliability and integrity so there can be no doubt he actually has been told this by a real source.

Of course it is possible the source is making the story up, or that he is not as close to Putin as Parry believes.

However on 11th February 2016 Russia’s Security Council held a meeting the public report of which is unusually terse, whilst on the same day the Russian military reported to Putin about a series of military exercises arranged at short notice in their southern military district, which look like they were intended to prepare the Russian military for rapid action at short notice against Turkey should the need arise.

If a warning really was given it might have been given either on that day or possibly on the day after, to coincide with the military exercises whose meaning in that case would not be lost on either the US or the Turks.

The meeting of the Security Council (whose importance I discussed here) would in that case have been convened to discuss and authorise it.

The fact Obama telephoned Putin a day later on 14th February 2016 might also be connected to the warning, if it really was given.

Both the Turks and the Russians would surely have informed the US of such a warning. It would be entirely understandable in that case that the US President would want to discuss it with the Russian President. In fact it would be astonishing if he did not want to.

If it was the warning Obama and Putin discussed, then that might explain why the US and the Russians are giving such completely different accounts of the conversation.

Neither side would want to make the warning public - something which would escalate the crisis to stratospheric levels - and each would want to concoct a cover story to hide what was really discussed, which given the circumstances and the urgency they might be unlikely to coordinate with each other. That might explain why the accounts of the conversation differ so much.

Against that it must be said that it is by no means unusual for Russian and Western governments to publish radically different accounts of conversations Russian and Western leaders have with each other.

All this it should be stressed is speculation, though as is apparent it is consistent with some of the diplomatic and military moves.

If such a warning really was given it would not be the first time the US or Russia have threatened to use nuclear weapons.

The US for example warned Saddam Hussein in 1990 that it was ready to retaliate with nuclear weapons if he used chemical weapons against their troops in the First Gulf War.

However a threat to use nuclear weapons is one that is never made lightly. If it really was made it shows how fraught the situation in Syria has become.

If the Russians really did make such a threat then it would be a further reason why the US and its European allies would be urging Erdogan to act with restraint, and would be counselling him against plunging into a war with the Russians in Syria.

I had already guessed this was the case (see here and here) and in the same article in which he reports the Russian threat Parry discusses this issue extensively.

Confirmation that the Western powers are warning Erdogan against an invasion of Syria has now also come from the Financial Times (see “Turkey and Saudi Arabia consider Syria intervention”, Financial Times, 18th February 2016):


“The US is seeking to rein in its allies Turkey and Saudi Arabia from military action in Syria if a ceasefire planned for today in the bloody civil war fails.

Despite mounting regional frustration over Washington’s allegedly passive stance on the five-year-old conflict the Obama administration and other western powers are worried that direct military interventions could lead to an escalation of the conflict and a dangerous clash with Russia.

“Are they going to deploy troops there? Not if we can help it,” said one senior Nato diplomat.””

Each day now provides further news of advances by the Syrian army and its allies in northern Syria.

The very latest information is that the last major rebel held town in Latakia province has been recaptured by the Syrian army, and that the Syrian army is just a few kilometres away from the city of Idlib.

Slowly but surely the trap around the jihadi rebels in Aleppo is closing.

Meanwhile - whether because of warnings from Moscow or Washington or for some other reason - the Turks and the Saudis have so far not matched their rhetoric with action.

The much discussed Saudi aircraft deployment to the US airbase at Incirlik has turned out to be much smaller than initially reported, and may not actually have taken place.

The Turks are publicly sticking to their position that they will not send their troops into Syria unilaterally - which could be taken to mean they will not invade Syria unless they have US agreement and unless the US contributes ground troops to the invasion force.

Turkish action so far has been limited to cross-border shelling of Kurdish forces near Azaz and demands the Kurds stay away from Azaz, which is near the Turkish border and which the Turks say they want to make part of a buffer zone.

Even these moves have been too much for some of Turkey’s NATO allies, provoking criticism by some NATO states of Turkey for its shelling of the Kurds, though claims the UN Security Council has passed a Resolution condemning Turkey’s actions are untrue.

Interestingly the Western powers seem reluctant to endorse Turkey’s claims the Kurds of Iraq and Syria - as opposed to the Kurds of Turkey - were behind Wednesday’s terrorist attack on a military convoy in Ankara (see this discussion here), whilst Turkey’s response to the attack was to bomb Kurdish targets in Iraq rather than in Syria.

The situation is still very tense and it is premature to say that the crisis - if one exists - is past.

Whether because of Russian threats to use nuclear weapons or because of calls of restraint from the West and possibly from his own military or for some other reason, the signs for the moment however point to Erdogan backing off.

With every day that passes without a Turkish ground invasion the prospects of it happening grow less. The next few weeks should decide the issue.

[OUTLAW 09]

Being a cat owner.....well worth watching....

Watch the moment a refugee family is reunited with the cat they lost in Greece
http://i100.io/ijVzAvC
pic.twitter.com/YDGOy4qeNL

[OUTLAW 09]

Tablet story on #Assad regime war criminals in #Europe & why we shouldn't be ignoring them:
http://goo.gl/PYv54N

[OUTLAW 09]

Kerry may have gotten a so called ceasefire BUT

U.S. & #Russia agree to #Syria ceasefire (except #Russia's definition of a "ceasefire" was and is being demonstrated in #Ukraine)
http://ti.me/1Q5YsMh

NOTICE while the Russians and US name only Sunni terrorist groups ie IS and AQ...both somehow forgot the Shia side of which the US has named a few that are fighting in Syria terrorists.....

At least 30 IRGC linked shia terrorist militias are involved in Syria's war are of course not negotiable for Lavrov.
pic.twitter.com/XHDLmSDHWV

Obama's call with #Putin. Unusual to be so explicit that "at the Kremlin's request".

[OUTLAW 09]

Putin made #Syria ceasefire announcement as v earnest national TV address. Test= tomorrow's targets on ground
pic.twitter.com/sTy0gcbN87

During ceasefire we have lost #Debaltseve, in #Syria they will loose #Aleppo...

Putin: "finally, a real chance to end years of bloodshed and violence" in #Syria, Russia will ensure Assad holds.
http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/51376 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Social media thinks so to.......

1st @stephenkinzer shills for Iran under pretext of no war w/Iran, now he backs Iran/Assad/Russia's war
http://bit.ly/1PV0YF9 @BostonGlobe

More from social media today........

Iyad El-Baghdadi @iyad_elbaghdadi

That @BostonGlobe would publish such a piece is just scandalous. It belongs on conspiracy blogs, not on reputable media.


21 Feb
Iyad El-Baghdadi @iyad_elbaghdadi

Yes @stephenkinzer, the brave journalists and media activists who gave their life are nothing but propagandists.
https://twitter.com/stephenkinzer/status/700513648934916096 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Regime airforce drop leaflets on vlgs recently taken by YPG linked Jaysh al-Thuwar demanding surrender within 24 hrs
pic.twitter.com/NNqTdjmnWD

Is Russia 'Weaponizing Refugees' To Advance Its Geopolitical Goals? http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-weaponizing-syrian-refugees-geopolitical-goals/27562604.html … via @RFERL

The new #Syria ceasefire agreement looks a lot like the old #Syria ceasefire agreement(s).

This is because they are exactly the same. Since 2012. New parties to conflict, but exactly the same otherwise.

Seems #Aleppo Thermal Power Plant is badly damaged -no power
for a long time
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.174327&lon=37.439260&z=16&m=b …

Syria Heavy clashes btw #FSA & #YPG continues in NW #Aleppo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFfQabUrVeU …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff1JKMtzYbQ …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.235741&lon=37.140591&z=16&m=b …

[OUTLAW 09]

Reports of a massive #ISIS attack against YPG/SDF in al-Hol in eastern #Hasaka where #ISIS is said to be advancing

That’s a first, reports of clashes between Jabhat al-Akrad & Jaish al-Thuwar in Afrin, north rural #Aleppo

Heavy clashes continue between rebels & the YPG/SDF around Sheikh Maqsoud in #Aleppo

FSA Sultan Murad Brigade fighting the #PKK in the #Ashrafiyeh district of #Aleppo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff1JKMtzYbQ …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=36.228108&lon=37.142758&z=16&m=b …

[OUTLAW 09]

Michael Weiss ‏@michaeldweiss

Russia disturbed by Turkish-Israeli rapprochement, report says
http://www.todayszaman.com/diplomacy_russia-disturbed-by-turkish-israeli-rapprochement-report-says_412805.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

Turkey will welcome any ceasefire agreement that can end the flow of refugees and prevent the Kurds from linking Efrin with Kobane

Al Arabiya English ✔ @AlArabiya_Eng
#BREAKING Turkey welcomes Syria ceasefire, wants to see end to Russia
bombardments that kill civilians, says deputy PM

Aleppo fronts are mostly quiet,as most #SAA #IRGC forces head towards #Khanaser to fend off #ISIS.Rebels r not moving a finger,as predicted


The ceasefire implies that
1-the foreign Shia militias will remain in Syria
2-Assad regime future is not on the table for discussion
3- Regime has the right to take ISIS territory (40% of Syria)
4- Regime can attack rebel areas (because of Nusra) but rebels can't retaliate

A Larger offensive by the mujahideen targeting the Sheikh Maqdood area in Aleppo has reportedly Begun

The YPG has clearly overestimated itself and is in danger of losing its recent gains

[OUTLAW 09]

Tablet story on #Assad regime war criminals in #Europe & why we shouldn't be ignoring them:
http://goo.gl/PYv54N

Iran terrorist Mitaq Abaowi who killed civilians for Assad in #Damascus now posing as #Syria'n Refugee in #Germany

[OUTLAW 09]

Putin made #Syria ceasefire announcement as v earnest national TV address. Test= tomorrow's targets on ground
pic.twitter.com/sTy0gcbN87

During ceasefire we have lost #Debaltseve, in #Syria they will loose #Aleppo...

Putin: "finally, a real chance to end years of bloodshed and violence" in #Syria, Russia will ensure Assad holds.
http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/51376 …

AND just what the heck is this WHEN nothing is being stated about electios in the so called cease fire......

Meanwhile Assad is calling for parliamentary election on April.
https://twitter.com/skynewsarabia_b/status/701861943599042562 …

What the heck is this statement out of Iran.........

Amir Taheri
‏@AmirTaheri4
TEHRAN- #ZARIF today: Even if ceasefire is agreed in #Syria, operations to cleanse the country from terrorists will continue.

Kerry and Putin have an answer for this......??????

Seems Iran & Hizbollah will still fight FSA & opposition since they are the groups that Iran sees as terrorists.

Iran FM says Ahrar al-Sham included in list of terrorist groups for #Syria ceasefire....and quietly JaI as well as FSA.......

Syrian ceasefire seems likely to involve less ceasing fire, and more arguments about whether Russia is bombing Nusra or other rebels

London isn't optimistic about a ceasefire in Syria unless Moscow and Damascus change behavior.

[OUTLAW 09]

I think this CIA operations officer is speculating.
http://youtu.be/qt3trHKqdiM

Moderator's Note

This subject, whether Saudi Arabia has nuclear weapons, is on a separate thread. Not here thank you. See:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?t=546&page=4

[OUTLAW 09]

Obama is hoping for Iranian moderation....think again.......

Ayatollah #Khatami: No one can change our system's behavior through elections. In #Islam election is renewal of pledge to #Supreme #Leader.

Was not much of a moderation for 100B USDs.

[OUTLAW 09]

AND just what the heck is this WHEN nothing is being stated about electios in the so called cease fire......

Meanwhile Assad is calling for parliamentary election on April.
https://twitter.com/skynewsarabia_b/status/701861943599042562 …

What the heck is this statement out of Iran.........

Amir Taheri
‏@AmirTaheri4
TEHRAN- #ZARIF today: Even if ceasefire is agreed in #Syria, operations to cleanse the country from terrorists will continue.

Kerry and Putin have an answer for this......??????

Seems Iran & Hizbollah will still fight FSA & opposition since they are the groups that Iran sees as terrorists.

Iran FM says Ahrar al-Sham included in list of terrorist groups for #Syria ceasefire....and quietly JaI as well as FSA.......

Syrian ceasefire seems likely to involve less ceasing fire, and more arguments about whether Russia is bombing Nusra or other rebels

London isn't optimistic about a ceasefire in Syria unless Moscow and Damascus change behavior.

First Kerry and Obama with great fanfare announce the coming ceasefire BUT...-

Obama and Kerry get "fooled again and again and again"........

Just how in the heck is one suppose to have elections in all of Syria unless only held in Assad held areas.....DOES IS get a chance to to elect Assad as well since they control about 40 percent of Syria????

AND what about all the Syrian refugees and IDPs..they are not to vote and that is called by the US "fair elections"...not really just another Crimea Referendum......

Al Arabiya English 
‏@AlArabiya_Eng
#BREAKING Syria's Assad calls parliamentary election on April 13

[CrowBat]

Kremlin Troll site quoting nutbar conspiracy weirdo = BREAKING NEWS....welcome to 2016

http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/did-russia-just-threaten-turkey-nuclear-weapons/ri12936?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=socialnetwork …

Great example of Russian info warfare hard at work......
Pay attention at the Saudi Arabia thread, Outlaw: guess, you're going to find the context interesting.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia'n night airstrikes on Jandoul RB & Bani Zaid to stop #FSA advance on #YPG hold Shiekh Maqsud in #Aleppo

Rebels (#FSA) captured Khirbet Butamiah, recaptured air-defense barrier and clashes for Tell Rishah intersection

Worth watching as this German blogger starting monitoring Syria three years ago and then shifted to Ukraine monitoring and now is a political editor by BILD a MSM German media outlet.

From #Debaltseve 2 #Aleppo,
from #Minsk 2 #Munich.
My assessment on @HromadskeTV in ENG/UKR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU6kPE_rJaI&t=7m43s …

Russia tasty looking but poisoned apple:
Excluding #Nusra means 80% of all rebel groups opposing it as they have some sort of ties w/ them.

Syria #Quneitra #Daraa #Ghouta Alwiya Al-Furqan will not ACCEPT the ceasefire because it EXCLUDES #JabhatalNusra

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad ethnically CLEANSED the country.
There is NO WAY,elex could be IN ANY WAY "democratic" as long as people didn't return & he is there!

I will post my comments on this development later today as I am waiting to see if a couple of things fall into place this morning after the Assad election announcement ..especially any responses to this from Russian or Iranian sides.

I have questioned in the past when Russian entered Syria who is really the proxy in Syria...the Iranians and or Russia???

If certain things fall into place today after the Assad election announcement I will show exactly how Putin was "played" by Iranian non linear warfare AND in fact Russia is actually the proxy for Iran in Syria.....and how non linear warfare allows for that to actually function.

[OUTLAW 09]

US Spox Mark Toner: ''We believe YPG is not affiliated w PKK..'' -

A cutout would try plausible deniability. PYD doesn't pretend not to be PKK: http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/the-ypg-pkk-connection …

[OUTLAW 09]

AFP news agency 
‏@AFP
#BREAKING Russia will do "whatever necessary" to ensure Damascus observes ceasefire, Putin says

BUT WAIT Putin just keeps saying the same thing after every round of his mercenaries fighting with the Ukrainian UAF.....since he signed but has never fulfilled Minsk 2 so why is he trying to cover up that fact when he claims a ceasefire for Syria..."will work as he will do everything necessary"......

[OUTLAW 09]

Reference Russian disinformation warfare concerning Syria..refers to the author of the recent Boston Globe article carried by SWJ.....Kinzer..

https://kyleorton1991.wordpress.com/2016/02/22/assad-and-academics-disinformation-in-the-modern-era/

Assad and Academics: Disinformation in the Modern Era

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on February 22, 2016

Introduction


From the beginning of Syria’s war, the regime of Bashar al-Assad, enabled by Iran and Russia, has run a very elaborate media war to portray itself as the victim of an international conspiracy, wherein its only opponents are terrorists from al-Qaeda and its offshoots who are being used by foreigners—namely the Gulf States, Turkey, Israel, and the United States—to overthrow a defiant “resistance” State.

The other part of this strategic messaging is aimed at the West, which Assad otherwise accuses of supporting jihadi-Salafist terrorism against him: Assad is the only alternative to the terrorists, it says, so the West should support him. War criminal he might be, he will protect the minorities—his role in endangering them by starting a sectarian war against the Sunni majority and bolstering the takfiris within the insurgency to cannibalize all legitimate or engageable armed opposition, notwithstanding—and has no immediate plans to fly planes into Western skyscrapers. (That the leading edge of Assad’s ground forces are made up of radically sectarian, foreign Shi’a jihadists under Iran’s control, some of them Iraqis responsible for killing a quarter of the 4,000 U.S. soldiers who fell in Mesopotamia, and are integrated into a State-run terrorist network that has struck Western and Jewish targets the world over, gets left out.)

For Assad and his allies, it helps if this propaganda is not only delivered by regime spokesman but independent analysts, journalists, academics, and politicians. In the last ten days two salient examples have emerged: Stephen Kinzer, a veteran journalist, including for The New York Times, who wrote in The Boston Globe, and Jeffrey Sachs, an academic economist working at Columbia University, who wrote in The Huffington Post. Mixing together conspiracy theories, half-truths, and outright lies—disinformation, to give it an old name—both Kinzer and Sachs told a version of the regime’s narrative. Why they did this is best-known to them.

A Matter of Framing

A central point of misinformation in both Sachs’ and Kinzer’s articles is that the U.S. is hell-bent on overthrowing Assad. When Syria’s uprising broke out, “the CIA and the anti-Iran front of Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey saw an opportunity to topple Assad quickly and thereby to gain a geopolitical victory,” Sachs writes. Note the list of States that Sachs cites as being ranged against Assad. In many ways, it has to be said, Sachs can be forgiven for thinking this. In 2011 and since, those interested in containing Iran were advocating for the Assad regime’s overthrow: Iran’s gateway into the Arab world, its lifeline to the terrorist Hizballah in Lebanon, and increasingly an Iranian vassal regime on NATO’s doorstep. But in reality, U.S. policy has been essentially the exact opposite.

While President Obama said Assad must “step aside” in August 2011 and drew a “red line” around chemical weapons of mass destruction in August and December 2012, he never had any intention of enforcing either; the overarching goal was to stay out of Syria. In December 2011, Obama told Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq’s then-Prime Minister whose relationship with Iranian intelligence goes back decades, “We have no intention to intervene militarily” in Syria. The regime’s propaganda campaign basically worked. The U.S. was expressing misgivings about the Syrian rebellion in terms reminiscent of regime talking points by early 2012 and shortly thereafter Assad’s survival became part of a broader U.S. policy realignment.

Barack Obama came into office determined to reduce the U.S. footprint in the Middle East, where the U.S. was “over-invested,” as Obama’s former National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon put it, and the President alighted on détente with Iran as the means of achieving this. By respecting Iranian “equities” in the region and finding areas of common interest—such as fighting the Islamic State (even if such common interests are illusory)—Obama hoped to create an “equilibrium” that could police itself with minimal U.S. involvement. The nuclear deal would facilitate rapprochement, removing a thorny issue from U.S.-Iranian relations and giving Tehran access to resources to pursue these overlapping interests.

This was a fantasy, of course. But it did have practical implications. Iran has the Quds Force and other asymmetric instruments that mean any attempt to “balance” between Iran and its neighbours favours Iran. Iran saw U.S. reduced investment in the region as a chance to establish its own hegemony, and with Russia’s help it is well on the way. Since the paper agreement was the thing the U.S. wanted—rather than to verifiably disarm Iran—it meant that the leverage in the nuclear negotiations themselves was tilted toward Iran; it also meant Iran could extract concessions in the region with the implicit threat that it would walk away from the table if it didn’t get them.

To preserve the nuclear deal and Obama’s concept of a new regional order, Syria was given to Iran as a sphere of influence. Iran was informed ahead of time when the U.S. began airstrikes against IS, for example, and told Assad would not be a target—granting Assad a de facto U.S. security guarantee. Iran made sure of that by turning U.S. troops in Iraq into hostages—giving the administration a rationalization for not upsetting Tehran in Syria.

So the whole framing of the articles is wrong.

Continued........

Assad as Saviour

Within a month of Russia’s intervention, 35,000 people had been displaced from just two villages in Aleppo and 120,000 or more in total had been displaced either directly by Russia’s airstrikes or by Russian air power enabling offensives by pro-regime forces—usually led by Iranian-controlled foreign troops. Within days of Russia enabling the pro-regime ground forces to cut the last supply line from Turkey to the rebellion in eastern Aleppo City on February 3, anything up to 70,000 civilians fled fearing the imposition of starvation-sieges the regime has in place in forty-nine other locations. Many of the remaining civilians in Aleppo City are trapped for one reason or another such as they are already displaced and don’t have the resources to move again or are elderly. This was a fairly decisive case of people voting with their feet.

Russia has directly committed “egregious” war crimes, according to Amnesty International, deliberately targeting civilians and then following up with attacks on first-responders in an unmerciful campaign intended to terrorize the population into submission. These “double-tap” atrocities, against groups like the Syrian Civil Defence (“The White Helmets”) that have saved tens of thousands of lives, have been repeatedly documented. Russia has also systematically targeted civilian infrastructure like hospitals and schools. Subtlety not being Moscow’s leading skill, it wasn’t just a hospital but a hospital for children injured and disabled by its own bombing raids that Russia flattened last Monday.

Meanwhile, the Assad regime, enabled at every stage by Iran and Russia, not only bears moral responsibility for every death in this war since it met peaceful protests with live fire and turned a struggle for its spoils system into a grand religious war, but has gone some way to distinguish itself—above and beyond even the Islamic State—for the scale of its cruelty and murder. Six-hundred witnesses and a mountain of documentation taken out of Syria led the United Nations to conclude that the regime was guilty of extermination, rape, and five other crimes against humanity, as well as a raft of war crimes.

The liquidation of at least 11,000 prisoners held by the regime using torture and starvation has been revealed by the defector CAESAR. Something like 200,000 more are held in regime detention in subhuman conditions. In November 2011, barely a month after organized armed resistance had broken out, the U.N. reported that among the tactics the regime was using to suppress the uprising was raping male children in front of their families. Later the regime would cause female captives to bleed to death by inserting rats into their vaginas. IS burned a pilot alive in a cage; the Iranian-run sectarian militia, the National Defence Force, which has eclipsed the national army, burns whole families alive in their homes. And that is before the regime’s methods of warfare—indiscriminate artillery fire, barrel bombs, and airstrikes to destroy ancient cities, and chemical weapons of mass destruction and chlorine-laced incendiaries to intimidate—aimed at mass-killing and the displacement of survivors is factored in.

Continued.....

Shifting the Blame

Since both Sachs and Kinzer present a universe in which Assad is victim rather than perpetrator of the Syrian catastrophe, however, the corollary is to assign blame elsewhere. In line with regime propaganda, this burden falls overwhelmingly on the United States.

To press this argument of Assad as the wronged party, Sachs blames the U.S. for the breakdown of the April 2012 ceasefire. “[Kofi] Annan’s peace efforts were sunk by the United States’ unbending insistence that U.S.-led regime change must precede or at least accompany a ceasefire,” Sachs writes. Kinzer says the same thing: “In 2012 Secretary of State Clinton joined Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Israel in a successful effort to kill Kofi Annan’s UN peace plan because it would have accommodated Iran and kept Assad in power, at least temporarily.” But it isn’t true.

Continued.....


Very long read but worth it for a number of reasons......

[OUTLAW 09]

Sudden retreats don't mean that ISIL is defeated @hxhassan
http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/sudden-retreats-dont-mean-that-isil-is-defeated … via @TheNationalUAE

Syria #FSA advance against #IslamicState in desert of E- #Qalamoun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olq10RE00HI …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=34.008843&lon=37.343903&z=11&m=b …
pic.twitter.com/FytlJpgSNX

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat....hear and or see anything more that this.......?

Unconfirmed reports of KORAL systems' are being used near Tal Abyad, Jarablus and Kilis/Azaz border towns
pic.twitter.com/FUn1br3kxB

[OUTLAW 09]

Rebels captured #SAA mercenaries at #Kuds_Mount
#Latakia cs #Syria FEB 22
One was a camera man for info war reporting...

SCD searching for victims aftermath #RUSSIA airstrikes on #alLataminah
#Hama cs #Syria FEB 23

SCD removing remnants of #RUSSIA missiles aftermath it's airstrikes on #Atshan village
#Hama cs #Syria FEB 23

[OUTLAW 09]

The Kurdish National Council stated the PG should stop their attacks on anti Assad opposition......YPG response....still attacking.....

FSA statement confirm so called"#Jaysh_alThouwar & allies" aren't part of Revolution & Revolutionaries
#Syria FEB23


Translation: Recently, the so called Jaysh al Thouwar came out which is a punch of mercenary gangs who have been assembled from these who have criminal records, criminals thugs and bandits who have the same interests with the incoming money from Assad Regime, Russia Iranians militias. Their non-stop offenses against civilians have emerged and their betrayal which FSA has liberated before and carrying out Ethnic Cleansing, forced displacement and demographic changes of areas in order to help the extremists terrorists groups
allies (YPG, PKK & PYD) under the commander of the so called "Syria Democratic Forces", to take control of Northern Syria for separatists goals.

The entire world sees terrorism of PKK and Jaysh al Thouwar, which are trying to besiege Aleppo city with Russia air support and Assad criminal mercenaries troops. So, we Aleppo Revolutionaries, assure what is called "Jaysh al Thouwar" and it's allies and SDF have no relation with the Syrian Revolution or it's aims in anyway & means,

We FSA call on the fighters of Jaysh al Thouwar who still believe in the principles of the Revolution to return to our Revolution side and take principles to defect from criminal gang which has committed crimes against civilians & home land.
#SYria FEB 22

Rebels repels #SAA infiltration attempt in #Tel_alKhudar, #Kurds_Mount, exterminating a number of it's terrorists
#Latakia cs #Syria FEB 23

[OUTLAW 09]

SAA terrorists shelling Grad Rockets targeting #Houwayz village
#Hama cs #Syria FEB 23

Rebels gain control and advance over residential building in #Sheikh_Maqsoud, clashes ongoing with #PYD terrorists
#Aleppo #Syria FEB 23

Clashes between the two terrorists #Isis & #PYD in outskirts of #Sharkrak village
#Raqqa #Syria FEB 23

RUSSIA airstrikes targeting #alCastelo road in the #alJandoul roundabout area
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 22

Reports rebels regained control over #Qarouj village, heavy clashes in the area #Turkmen_Mount
#Latakia cs #Syria FEB 23

[OUTLAW 09]

ProAssad/Putin troll attacks on long time Twitter Syrian activists....by using a twitter form of a distributed denial of service attack...meaning bombing Twitter Support with over 300 negative complaints thus Twitter then deactivates that activist account......

Basically Twitter is not following up on the complaints but rather actually supporting the Russian/Syrian/Iranian info warfare.

This has been and is occasionally still a problem on the Ukrainian twitter side....where Twitter suddenly deactivated over 50 accounts in one run just based on proRussian troller complaints.

[OUTLAW 09]

A heavy and long running cyber attack on KSA today from both Iraq and Syria...since early morning and sustained.....is not your normal hacker ...points to an organized and professional attack....multiple attempts at installing backdoor trojans.

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad manipulating ceasefire text language. Actual text says 'other terrorist organizations designated by the UNSC. assad then states and all those groups affiliated to AQ and IS. Actual text says IS, JaN and those DEFINED by UNSC.

Typical Assad...stretches the so called ceasefire OR does he actually channel the true Russian interpretation of what the US thought the US had agreed to BUT failed to nail down word for word exactly how Russian defines each word of the text.....Unless one has the endurance to nail down every word and have it clearly defined in both English and Russian Russia will always "reinterpret them for you"......speaking from personal experience....

[CrowBat]

CrowBat....hear and or see anything more that this.......?

Unconfirmed reports of KORAL systems' are being used near Tal Abyad, Jarablus and Kilis/Azaz border towns
pic.twitter.com/FUn1br3kxBKORALS and plenty of similar other Turkish equipment are deployed down the Turkish border since... was it spring 2015?

They were crucial for muting regime's comms during insurgent assault on Idlib (city): no surprise if they're messing around with Russians, IRGC, and whatever other 'progressive Jihadists, pilgrims, tourists and terrorists' are fighting on Assadist side now.

[OUTLAW 09]

News
Only Russian air strikes today so far target #ISIS in eastern #Homs province.
#Assad' artillery keeps targeting #EastGhouta.

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad ethnically CLEANSED the country.
There is NO WAY,elex could be IN ANY WAY "democratic" as long as people didn't return & he is there!

I will post my comments on this development later today as I am waiting to see if a couple of things fall into place this morning after the Assad election announcement ..especially any responses to this from Russian or Iranian sides.

I have questioned in the past when Russian entered Syria who is really the proxy in Syria...the Iranians and or Russia???

If certain things fall into place today after the Assad election announcement I will show exactly how Putin was "played" by Iranian non linear warfare AND in fact Russia is actually the proxy for Iran in Syria.....and how non linear warfare allows for that to actually function.

Assad stated two things this last week and just after yesterdays announcement of CoH AND they take on an interesting perspective...when coupled with a comment from the previous week which caught everyone off guard.

1. late last week Assad made one interesting comment...he would be around for 10 years and would rebuild Syria which has the connotation of being around a long long while since the Russian AF has virtually flattened and pulverized all towns and villages held by anti Assad opposition forces.....

2. THEN two hours after the US/Russian announcement of the CoH Assad again stated he would be holding parliamentary elections on 13 April 2016.

BOTH Assad press statements were totally ignored by the US and Russia meaning no one made a single pushback/support statement either on his staying forever and rebuilding Syria to his holding elections...WHICH IMHO is totally strange.

Remember right after Munich 1938 talking about the then supposedly coming CoH Assad in an interview stated he would fight forever to restore all of Syria.....for that the Russian UNSC Ambassador Churkin supposedly "reined him in" with the comment he had to get onboard with the truce......

So Russia supposedly reins him on one comment but not on the other two???? Why is that????

In the Putin speech last night to the Russian public when he announced the CoH...he mentioned something the MSM did not pick up on the translation...he used the term...."we can hold Assad now".

Did he actually slipup and mean "hold" him for the ten years or so IMO I think so....because if you look at the Putin proposals for Syria he does not foresee Assad leaving "unless he is voted out by the Syrians themselves"...which is not about to happen anytime soon.

If you read the Assad statement on the election it was carried also by Sputnik......and a snap election would then grant him via the Russians proclaiming it was a valid democratic election since they will oversee them another 5-10 years in office.

So my core question is ...is the silence between the two... US and Russia a "tacit agreement" to allow Assad to remain in power in the hopes of then combatting IS ...there has been some chatter that one solution would be the rolling in of the FSA into the SAA in a newly reformed SAA which I am not sure how the memories of the SAA genocide of the last five years is to be washed away by a "new and improved SAA".

Assad seems to have a stronger proxy in this fight than the Russians..if one thinks about it...the Russian previous GRU Commander paid with his life for approaching Assad and asking for him to step down if the intel reporting is accurate....indications were that he had been ambushed after his meeting with Assad and then rushed to a Lebanese hospital so it would not appear as if it was a Syrian "accident" where when the news broke about his death the first response out of Moscow was he died in Moscow until social media uncovered exactly where he had died.

Besides what does one do with all of the transnational Shia jihadists still inside Syria nor does it assume the responsibility for bringing Syrian, Shia and Putin war crimes into a court of law if the rule of law is to be reestablished in Syria.

Provocative question is Russia a proxy of Iran and vice versa and who does Assad really answer to...it might be the RuAF and their new weapons, but the bulk of the fighting forces over the last four years as been Shia provided by Iran along with the funds for their pay...which for me makes Iran a stronger partner to Assad than Putin.

Remember Putin holds an unrestricted SOFA signed between Russia and Syria thus Putin plans on being in Syria for a very long time for come with or without FSA and the Sunni's.

Relying on an unreliable man, As #Putin clearly demonstrated in #Ukraine, a ceasefire is a tactic, not a goal
http://uatoday.tv/politics/nyt-relying-again-on-an-unreliable-mr-putin-596962.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian soldier in Tartus Port, 2013
pic.twitter.com/uKeJ5YtmAS

RUSSIA airstrikes on #Khanasser now
#Aleppo cs #SYria FEB 23

SAA airstrikes on #alMarj area
#Dasmascus cs #Syria FEB 23

3 #US_Coalition airstrikes targeted #Rawefah, #alHawaeqah & #alJabeileh neighborhoods
#DeirEzzor #Syria FEB 23

US_Coalition carried out airstrikes targeting #alHazam_Alakhdar village in #alAbu_Kamal
#DeirEzzor cs #Syria FEB 23

Isis vbeid attacked #SAA in #Khanaser moments ago
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 23

Rebels destroyed #SAA pick-up w/ machine gun in #Almasasna checkpoint exterminating 3 terrorists
#Hama cs #Syria FEB 23

Rebels destroyed #SAA bus loaded with it's terrorists in #Aziziyah village
#Hama cs #Syria FEB 23

SAA shelling IRAMs targeting #Darayya now
#Damascus #Syria FEB 23

One man died and dozens wounded victims of #ISIS mortars targeting #alJoorah and #Qossoor
#DeirEzzor #Syria FEB 23

SAA executed 12 of it's officers inside #alRaqeeta airbase due they refused to fight in #Aleppo - #Hama - #Khanasser Road
#Syria FEB 23

[OUTLAW 09]

ProAssad/Putin troll attacks on long time Twitter Syrian activists....by using a twitter form of a distributed denial of service attack...meaning bombing Twitter Support with over 300 negative complaints thus Twitter then deactivates that activist account......

Basically Twitter is not following up on the complaints but rather actually supporting the Russian/Syrian/Iranian info warfare.

This has been and is occasionally still a problem on the Ukrainian twitter side....where Twitter suddenly deactivated over 50 accounts in one run just based on proRussian troller complaints.

After @Paradoxy13 highlighted #Assad's terrorism against Syrians @twitter buckled under pressure & suspended him

[CrowBat]

Regime has lost all contact to its garrison in Khan Nassir (said to have been 'several hundred strong').

Despite reported 'dozens of Russian air strikes' the place is under assault by the Daesh since this morning, and should now be considered as under Daesh control.

With this, the IRGC-Ba'ath-Russian conglomerate in general Aleppo area (plus the NDF-contingent inside Western Aleppo) are cut off from all supplies (except whatever they might be able to haul in via Aleppo IAP). The gap between them and Ithriya is about 20km wide. Unless somebody there reorganizes NDF's defences, I doubt Ithriya is going to hold out for very long.

First fuel shortages have been reported from western Aleppo already yesterday early morning. Now we'll see if the 'regime' can reverse the situation...

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria Regime lost contact to some hundred of their forces after #IS surprise coup in #Khanaser & take control of the entire town

Syria Seems #IS enter Khanaser now on vital regime supply route to #Aleppo- despite #Russia'n airstrikes
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=35.780082&lon=37.497368&z=13&m=b …

Seems #Russia'n air monitoring slept in the #Khannaser desert plain

too busy elsewhere

Syria #Druze faction detains regime security members http://mme.cm/7WAW00 by @AlbinSzakola and @UllinHope

Syria Rebels (Nour al-Din al-Zenki) claim killed 47 #Assad-forces in western outskirts of #Aleppo the past days

Rebels hit area of #Aleppo Municipal Palace with big rocket
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtHkVy9GFzQ&feature=youtu.be …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.203174&lon=37.146449&z=18&m=b …

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria Regime lost contact to some hundred of their forces after #IS surprise coup in #Khanaser & take control of the entire town

Syria Seems #IS enter Khanaser now on vital regime supply route to #Aleppo- despite #Russia'n airstrikes
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=35.780082&lon=37.497368&z=13&m=b …

Seems #Russia'n air monitoring slept in the #Khannaser desert plain

too busy elsewhere

Syria #Druze faction detains regime security members http://mme.cm/7WAW00 by @AlbinSzakola and @UllinHope

Syria Rebels (Nour al-Din al-Zenki) claim killed 47 #Assad-forces in western outskirts of #Aleppo the past days

Rebels hit area of #Aleppo Municipal Palace with big rocket
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtHkVy9GFzQ&feature=youtu.be …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.203174&lon=37.146449&z=18&m=b …

BreakingReport
Up to 200 Russian air strikes & Cruise Missiles from war ships in the Caspian Sea trying to halt the #ISIS push on #Khanaser

BreakingReports
#ISIS detonated a large SVBIED in #Khanaser.
Fighting inside the town now.
Would be catastrophic for regime to lose it.

Syria BREAKING: #Daesh militants have seized the town of Khanasser from the regime, only supply line to #Aleppo cut

Acc to @syriahr Jund alAqsa, TurkistanParty &Caucasus fighters (basically AlQaeda affiliated groups) also attacked supply road in same area.

[OUTLAW 09]

Britain says uneasy after evidence of Kurdish coordination with Syria and Russia
http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-syria-kurds-idUKKCN0VW16Z …

Syria rebels hand over #Afghan prisoners to “international organization” #Daraa
http://mme.cm/8WAW00
pic.twitter.com/276AtDVexC

Map
The #Aleppo "pocket" after the #ISIS capture of #Khanaser on February 23 2016.
pic.twitter.com/31tbobRD6j

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad stated two things this last week and just after yesterdays announcement of CoH AND they take on an interesting perspective...when coupled with a comment from the previous week which caught everyone off guard.

1. late last week Assad made one interesting comment...he would be around for 10 years and would rebuild Syria which has the connotation of being around a long long while since the Russian AF has virtually flattened and pulverized all towns and villages held by anti Assad opposition forces.....

2. THEN two hours after the US/Russian announcement of the CoH Assad again stated he would be holding parliamentary elections on 13 April 2016.

BOTH Assad press statements were totally ignored by the US and Russia meaning no one made a single pushback/support statement either on his staying forever and rebuilding Syria to his holding elections...WHICH IMHO is totally strange.

Remember right after Munich 1938 talking about the then supposedly coming CoH Assad in an interview stated he would fight forever to restore all of Syria.....for that the Russian UNSC Ambassador Churkin supposedly "reined him in" with the comment he had to get onboard with the truce......

So Russia supposedly reins him on one comment but not on the other two???? Why is that????

In the Putin speech last night to the Russian public when he announced the CoH...he mentioned something the MSM did not pick up on the translation...he used the term...."we can hold Assad now".

Did he actually slipup and mean "hold" him for the ten years or so IMO I think so....because if you look at the Putin proposals for Syria he does not foresee Assad leaving "unless he is voted out by the Syrians themselves"...which is not about to happen anytime soon.

If you read the Assad statement on the election it was carried also by Sputnik......and a snap election would then grant him via the Russians proclaiming it was a valid democratic election since they will oversee them another 5-10 years in office.

So my core question is ...is the silence between the two... US and Russia a "tacit agreement" to allow Assad to remain in power in the hopes of then combatting IS ...there has been some chatter that one solution would be the rolling in of the FSA into the SAA in a newly reformed SAA which I am not sure how the memories of the SAA genocide of the last five years is to be washed away by a "new and improved SAA".

Assad seems to have a stronger proxy in this fight than the Russians..if one thinks about it...the Russian previous GRU Commander paid with his life for approaching Assad and asking for him to step down if the intel reporting is accurate....indications were that he had been ambushed after his meeting with Assad and then rushed to a Lebanese hospital so it would not appear as if it was a Syrian "accident" where when the news broke about his death the first response out of Moscow was he died in Moscow until social media uncovered exactly where he had died.

Besides what does one do with all of the transnational Shia jihadists still inside Syria nor does it assume the responsibility for bringing Syrian, Shia and Putin war crimes into a court of law if the rule of law is to be reestablished in Syria.

Provocative question is Russia a proxy of Iran and vice versa and who does Assad really answer to...it might be the RuAF and their new weapons, but the bulk of the fighting forces over the last four years as been Shia provided by Iran along with the funds for their pay...which for me makes Iran a stronger partner to Assad than Putin.

Remember Putin holds an unrestricted SOFA signed between Russia and Syria thus Putin plans on being in Syria for a very long time .... with or without FSA and the Sunni's.

Relying on an unreliable man, As #Putin clearly demonstrated in #Ukraine, a ceasefire is a tactic, not a goal
http://uatoday.tv/politics/nyt-relying-again-on-an-unreliable-mr-putin-596962.html …

Whether #Russia's agreement with the US on Syria is genuine or another play, listen carefully to what #Putin's propaganda preaches at home.

[OUTLAW 09]

Update #Report
The #Assad regime launched six SS-21 ballistic missiles at #Khanaser shortly ago.
- Azaz Media Office

The ONLY "good thing" about the #ISIS offensive is that it absorbs almost all #Russian air strikes.
Number of killed civilians down to 26.

Syria Rebels destroyed army truck in #Hama's Ghab plain with TOW

Russia launches an average of one airstrike every 20 minutes in Syria, or twice as many as the US
http://thebea.st/1oyzwpJ

Seems now an "all out"- air bombing on Aleppo now canceled before cease-fire at Saturday

[CrowBat]

Seems #Russia'n air monitoring slept in the #Khannaser desert plain...I'm shocked... the super-turbo-wunderwaffe VKS missed a concentration of 1000 Daesh in the open desert?

Impossible... :rolleyes:

Anyway, here an explanation what's going on there, and why is this all important.

The entire concentration of about 20-24 'brigades' of the IRGC, Ba'ath Party Militia, SSNP, PFLP-GC, two brigades and one artillery regiment of the 4th Division, two brigades of the NDF in western Aleppo, and two battalions of Russian Army deployed in this area since recently too, plus entire population of Western Aleppo(!) is supplied via the road connecting Homs with Ithriya, then Khan Nassir and Aleppo.

That is: with help of lenghty convoys of buses and trucks, usually protected by few technicals (or, in case of Russians: few BTR-80s) at the front and the rear of the column. Up to a dozen of such convoys was passing this area every day.

Most of this road - about 200km in total - is running through a flat semi-desert (in essence a mix of gravel with some lavendel scrub). There are very few defensive features - and the regime is lacking troops to control all of it. Therefore, the NDF established about 25-30 checkpoints along it.

Despite earlier counterattacks by JAN and Daesh in this area (some of which have temporarily cut off this road back in October-November), the NDF only removed all the IEDs (reportedly: there were thousands of these), and re-established the old check-points, most of which were protected by a platoon of troops (if as many). Generally, nothing changed there: neither the NDF, nor the IRGC learned their lesson.

Over the last two weeks ('or so') there was an increasing number of reports about minings of this crucial lane. 'Even' Fisk reported about dozens of charred hulks of destroyed buses, technicals and fuel bowsers he saw while passing by, about a week ago. The regime reported deployment of the PFLP-GC's Liwa al-Quds and even one brigade of the 4th Division with the purpose of re-opening this road, but in essence: these passed by, removed some more IEDs, and otherwise did nothing. It's more than obvious that the area remained insecure. Even more so as the troops in question were soon withdrawn and re-deployed to reinforce Tiger Force's assault on the Aleppo Thermal Powerplant...

Unsurprisingly, if only 30% of all reports about minings and attacks on convoys on this road from the last two weeks can be considered for 'truth', the regime must've lost entire buss-loads of troops KIA there. Something like 200 - at least (though probably many more).

...and as unsurprising is then to hear reports about summary executions of officers that refused to lead their troops into de-blocking operations...

Yesterday morning, the Daesh 'suddenly' assaulted the area north-east of Khan Nassir. At the same time, 'insurgents/Islamists/terrorists' (pick your choice or see below for an explanation) attacked north of Khan Nassir in eastern direction - and cut off the road. Daesh then launched an assault down the road in southern direction reachin outskirts of Khan Nassir: the place was assaulted this morning, starting with the usual VBIED (nothing better but to start another 'victory' through sending some idiot to collect his 72 virgins)...

Now... and as announced above, from our 'Western' POV, one of most important questions here is that of possible involvement of 'insurgent's in this operation, i.e. their possible cooperation with the Daesh.

De-facto all available sources - but especially regime and Kurds - say there is 'coordination between terrorists and the Daesh' (where 'terrorists' stands for 'all insurgents'). However, when one asks the insurgents, there's not even any JAN unit there.

There's only the Jund al-Aqsa, staffed by Chechens.

Mind: Jund is no part of the JAN any more.

Namely, most of Jund's Chechens long to join the Daesh, but some do not. Therefore, the group has recently (two weeks at most) split over this issue: its entire leadership and nearly a third of Jihadists have defected and joined the JAN. In turn, JAN is under immense pressure from nearly everyobdy - including Qatar, meanwhile - to distance from al-Qaida. As reported already several times, Ahrar nearly went to war with JAN over this issue, and when this was averted (primarily through an Assadist MiG-23 that bombed the meeting killing about 20 JAN and Ahrar commanders), Ahrar began creating coalitions with various FSyA groups - to better protect these from JAN attacks, but also reinforce own units.

Anyway, this morning Jund denied its involvement in this operation. They say they're not there - although it's perfectly obvious that after being left isolated from everybody in Idlib and southern Aleppo (and thus cut off from supplies and support too) they had no way out but to search for a link to the Daesh.

With this Daesh offensive against 'regime' supply connection between Ithrya and Khan Nassir, this link was established: i.e. Jund can now openly side with Daesh, as they want to do since months.

Now grab yourself some popcorn and beer and stay tunned: considering the PFLP-GC and IRGC needed two weeks to re-open this road back in October-November, and the Daesh's assault this time is much larger, I wouldn't be surprised if this affair is going to keep us busy for another month.

[OUTLAW 09]

"The Latest: #Turkey PM says #Syria, #Russia plan 'terror belt' along border"
http://bigstory.ap.org/urn:publicid:ap.org:0089761372d64742a01acac0e7eff1 dc …

There is some actual truth to this PM statement if one looks at the Russian non linear war being carried out in Syria and Russian use of the Kurds as their proxy in this war......

[OUTLAW 09]

IS took # Khanassir because #SAA/#NDF ran away again, leaving behind a few poor guys like him. Truly sad.
pic.twitter.com/coq8jbgIIw

[CrowBat]

Well, that with 'run away' is relative: it's those that still could that have run away.

Namely, it seems all of the NDF between al-Jaboul Lake, Khan Nassir and Ithriya is vapourised.

Daesh seemingly attacked all over the place at the same time - but not in one, major attack, but in a number of small attacks. Yesterday evening, they overrun three checkpoints between Jabboul Lake and Khan Nassir. While the NDF was still trying to find out what's up there, the Daesh then VBIED the police station in the town centre, and then it was 'Daesh is everywhere' inside the town.

Daesh thusgs are claiming to have killed 'dozens', captured 'dozens' (other say 'hundreds') - and already executed 35 of NDF.

But now come really bad news: this morning, Daesh assaulted Ithriya too, and captured Jebel Ahadm Hamam and Shalala Kabira - two dominating hills in that area.

That means: the gap in regime's supply connections between Homs/Hama area and Aleppo is not only 20, but 50km wide.

[CrowBat]

Ah yes... and while regime fans are claiming '50 Russian air strikes on Khan Nassir' by now, not one of these can be confirmed. Only six SS-21s.

Russians are simply too slow for this: the VKS is operating along 'daily tasking orders', issued 36-48 hours in advance.

Therefore, the VKS is whole morning bombing
- JAS and FH units in Sheikh Isa and Ayn Dakhna, where these are in the process of kicking out YPG/SDF/JAT, and

- 16th Division FSyA (it's southern elements, including T-55 MBTs and BM-21s), and other insurgent groups that are bushwacking YPG in Ashrafiyeh neighbourhood of Sheikh Maqsood District of northern Aleppo.

Sure, Russians have about a dozen of Su-24s and a similar number of Mi-24s at Shayrat AB, south of Homs, but not one of these appeared over Khan Nassir by now. The only ones flying there are Assadists.

One should keep in mind: Keystone Cops are completely ignoring IRGC-presence in Syria. Even maps published by the MOD in Moscow do not show any kind of frontlines there - if these are held by the IRGC alone. Means, from Russian POV; eastern and southern Aleppo is 'IRGC operational zone', and thus 'not existing' - which is why the VKS was hardly ever flying any air strikes there in the last six months too.

So sorry: but guess that all the fans of 'Russians bombing Daesh' will have to keep on waiting...

[OUTLAW 09]

This summarizes the US FP in Syria...or better yet the lack of a FP.......

Asked if #Syria cease-fire is a "rope-a-dope" deal with #Russia, Kerry says: "It may be so."

Diplomacy Ace John Kerry knows how important empty mysterious threats are to force "partners" into playing ball. https://twitter.com/orientnewsen/status/702162170633707523 …

No need for #Geneva, #Syria peace talks can be held in new Russia-talks-centre opened at its air base in #Latakia.
http://dailym.ai/1LEjxvx

Pentagon, CIA chiefs don’t think Russia will abide by Syria cease-fire
http://on.wsj.com/1Q8L9e9

[OUTLAW 09]

YPG never admitted they're fighting #FSA, the official story is "we're fighting Nusra and Turkish backed Jihadis". https://twitter.com/markito0171/status/702159933425455104 …

Syria So far no statement by kurdish #YPG/#SDF about cease-fire
participation at Saturday (northern #Aleppo)

[OUTLAW 09]

Check the different flags draped over the bodies of the so called proAssad forces killed in Syrian......

Count the Syrian flags.
pic.twitter.com/cGox3zpfwQ

[OUTLAW 09]

Pay attention at the Saudi Arabia thread, Outlaw: guess, you're going to find the context interesting.


Turkish media is reporting that Russia threatened to use nuclear weapons vs a NATO ally,
https://twitter.com/davebender/status/702172060152426498 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Well, that with 'run away' is relative: it's those that still could that have run away.

Namely, it seems all of the NDF between al-Jaboul Lake, Khan Nassir and Ithriya is vapourised.

Daesh seemingly attacked all over the place at the same time - but not in one, major attack, but in a number of small attacks. Yesterday evening, they overrun three checkpoints between Jabboul Lake and Khan Nassir. While the NDF was still trying to find out what's up there, the Daesh then VBIED the police station in the town centre, and then it was 'Daesh is everywhere' inside the town.

Daesh thusgs are claiming to have killed 'dozens', captured 'dozens' (other say 'hundreds') - and already executed 35 of NDF.

But now come really bad news: this morning, Daesh assaulted Ithriya too, and captured Jebel Ahadm Hamam and Shalala Kabira - two dominating hills in that area.

That means: the gap in regime's supply connections between Homs/Hama area and Aleppo is not only 20, but 50km wide.

CrowBat...so you are saying Daesh used their tried and proven "swarming tactics" employed since 2006...?? Meaning multiple attacks from multiple different directions...

[OUTLAW 09]

Reports: unidentified jets could be Intl Coalition or TRAF jets targeted #YPG positions in Ayn Issa north Raqqa.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=36.385498&lon=38.859501&z=13&m=b&search=ayn%20issa …

Wow ...seems even USAF GPS seems to not work when near YPG positions....
according to Turkish news agency , it was USAF , they hit the YPG by mistake , like Russians :)

[OUTLAW 09]

Secretary Kerry has said “We are clear, if you don’t choose be part of it then you are choosing to perhaps make yourself a target,”

Has Hezbollah accepted these conditions?

That point was one of three sticking points, the Russian were given that mission 2 deliver, the visit of RU Def M TO Iran

Remarkable Mr. Kerry returned to the principle "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."

Is Kerry speaking on behalf of Russia,and to who? Lets say Israel conducts airstrikes on Assad reg,Iran, and Hezb?

US doesn't care at outcome of revolution now. US wants this over. Stop or be bombed."

The side he's taking is irrelevant. Kerry is saying:

[OUTLAW 09]

Second Airstrike with 3 Missiles targeted East #EynEssa Town in #Raqqa north countryside #Syria #ISIL

18 barrel bombs so far over #Darayya
#Damascus #Syria FEB 23

Aleppo Multiple #Russia|n airstrikes w/ cluster munitions targeted Bani Zaid, Castello rd, Ashrafiyah & surrounding of Sheikh Maqsoud again

They gave a number of "442" including #SAA, some #NDF & #IRAN militias arrested by #Isis in #Khanasser
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 23 PT

Also reports #Isis executed not less than 30 #SAA so far
#Khanasser #Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 23

Rule holds: whenever regime troops/Iranian-sponsored foreign jihadis face with anyone without air cover: defeat

Reports of a large convoy of #SAA in #Kweirs airbase, going towards #khanasser now
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 23

Destruction of civilians houses in #Erbeen aftermath heavy #SAA terrorists bombardment
#Damascus cs #Syria FEB 23

RUSSIA airstrikes targeting #Rabia village nearby Tel_Daman village now
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 23

Russia airstrikes on #alHass village
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 23

RUSSIA Ballistic missiles targeting #Tel_Hadiyah & #Banis villages now
#Khanasser #Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 23

[OUTLAW 09]

While the Obama WH cannot seem to work together with FSA against IS and Russia is bombing the heck out of FSA...IS launched a massive 1K man assault on a critical Assad position capturing over 400 POWs....Russia threw over 250 air strikes and 6-8 SS21s TBMs at IS with no effect.....

ISis seized one #Russia T90 Tank in #Khanasser now
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 23

Pro-#Assad mappers seem not sure about what the regime still controls N-E of #Khanaser and where #ISIS came from...

[OUTLAW 09]

Rebels shelling direct on #SAA positions at outskirts of #Kinsaba village now
#Latakia cs #Syria FEB 23

Heavy clashes between Rebels & #SAA at #alFadhayah & #Tel_Farza fronts
#Damascus cs #Syria FEB 23

Rebels destroyed #SAA armored vehicle in outskirts of #Darayya
#Damascus cs #Syria FEB 23

Isis control over Air Defense Battalion in #Khanasser now
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 23

Rebel sniper shot #YPG flag in #Aleppo's Sheikh Maqsud
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeGvLgpFGmI …

VIDEO: Levantine Front fire hell cannons at Brigade 80 base in #Aleppo, #Syria.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhCFlPJL4Tw …

[OUTLAW 09]

Michael Weiss ‏@michaeldweiss
US appears to have given YPG Javelin anti-tank missiles (which it didn't give Ukraine):
https://mobile.twitter.com/michaelh992/status/702146838267355136 …

PHOTO: YPG/J fighters with a US-made FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missile. - @DrPartizan_

[CrowBat]

CrowBat...so you are saying Daesh used their tried and proven "swarming tactics" employed since 2006...?? Meaning multiple attacks from multiple different directions...
Must admit I'm not that versed regarding Daesh (like, I guess, people monitoring their ops in Iraq). But yes, it sounds that way.

Given they're simultaneously running a similar counteroffensive in eastern Hassakah... well, perhaps they've brought in a contingent or two from Iraq?

[CrowBat]

[B]ISis seized one #Russia T90 Tank in #Khanasser nowIt would be interesting to find out what kind of a crew they've captured there: some of innocent tourists camping in stolen UNHCR-tents, or any of innocent pilgrims waving yellow, green, red or black flags...?

[OUTLAW 09]

TURKEY: Military reportedly deploys ATILGAN Pedestal Mounted Stinger System to border with #Syria. - @metesohtaoglu

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat.....Again our favorite Russian info warrior made his Russian opinions known on TV.....

We must side with #Assad, #Iran, #Russia because only they share our goal of defeating #IS." says @stephenkinzer

Stephen Kinzer
‏@stephenkinzer
My TV interview on @NECN about Syria:
http://bit.ly/1RYJtbY

Hardcore Russian troll..and a very proAssad troller..........known from the Ukrainian proRussian trolling he does......
Navstéva ‏@Navsteva
.@stephenkinzer excellent report - thank you for saying the truth @NECN

@stephenkinzer @NECN Host mentions siege of Madaya , Kinzer: "I don't like reporting that just focuses on the symptoms."

[OUTLAW 09]

Michael Weiss ‏@michaeldweiss
US appears to have given YPG Javelin anti-tank missiles (which it didn't give Ukraine):
https://mobile.twitter.com/michaelh992/status/702146838267355136 …

PHOTO: YPG/J fighters with a US-made FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missile. - @DrPartizan_

Rebels begged 5 years for those.
But it was "too dangerous" to give them to them.
Now the Syrian PKK (YPG) got them.
https://twitter.com/green_lemonnn/status/702148417125011456 …

Same US reason for not giving them to the Ukrainians when they were being literally over run by 800 IFVs and 500 Russian tanks....

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad needs better Russian/Iranian military planners. Pushing the Aleppo offensive N & E without securing Khanaser supply line = amateurs

[CrowBat]

CrowBat.....Again our favorite Russian info warrior made his Russian opinions known on TV.....Yeah, I'm slowly falling in love with him: if he continues in similar fashion, he might match Russians in levels of becoming disgusting.

Anyway, it turned out the Daesh didn't get Ithriya today after all. They've captured three 'hills' few clicks north of this 'town' (rather 'village'), and were then hit by air strikes there - though those of the Assadists (Su-22s deploying OFAB-500s), still no Russians. The NDF barely managed to defend Sheikh Hillal-San, while the RGD is deploying one of its 'elite' brigades (they're 'all elite', of course) to counterattack from the south.

'Best' of all: all of these 'SAA', NDF, RGD, IRGC, SSNP, PFLP-GC, BPM and whatever other 'hero commanders' are such idiotic amateurs, they've not only left their major supply line exposed. Nah: as a 'dot on i' they've also left two big supply convoys move up the road today - and then without a single word of warning: both were smashed to pieces by the Daesh...

BTW: it turned out Khan Nassir was held by survivors from 2-years-long Kweres siege... what a 'wonderful' fate for all of them.

... but then, certain characters in the West praise this gang of wannabes and amateurish idiots as 'our best solution against Daesh', and regime-fans on Twitter are having a field day while babbling about 'Tiger Force decontaminating the road'... :rolleyes:

[CrowBat]

Robert Fisk has finally 'found some IRGC' in Syria - and clearly named them that way in his report from the frontline (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-civil-war-on-the-front-line-with-the-iranian-revolutionary-guards-battling-outside-aleppo-a6891891.html), but instantly bolsters their lies about 'fighting Daesh' there.

Namely, along the map published in that article, he visited the frontlines at Khan al-Assal, south-west of Aleppo - where there is no Daesh for about 100km.

The frontlines in question are not held by 'JAN' either, as he claims - but by the FSyA and Ahrar.

And, what a surprise, Fisk found IRGC-officers are courteous, almost lovely:

...And then the commander went to his vehicle and came back with a large box of Arab sweets and handed them to us. How very Iranian of him. England supports Isis, it seems, but he was ready to feed the English reporter on his front line. But please, no more pictures.

They are sending home Iranian bodies at the rate of 10 a week from Aleppo military airport. Quite a price.
Characteristically: the number of bodies of Iraqi Shi'a Jihadists and Afghan Hazara 'mercenaries' is neither ever counted, nor reported by such like Fisk.

Though, who's doing most of dying for 'Syrian Arab Army' can be seen on the photo below: count the number of bodies drapped in Syrian flags...

[CrowBat]

Oblabla's policy of 'no US-involvement in Syria' is getting better and better, and more interesting, day by day. It's meanwhile reaching proportions of daily soap-operas emitted by Keystone Cops in Moscow.

Obama Administration Argues Over Support for Syrian Kurds (http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2016-02-23/obama-administration-fights-itself-over-role-of-syrian-kurds)

Syrian Kurds are now attacking U.S.-supported rebels, but U.S. officials disagree about whether the Kurds have switched sides -- and about whether the U.S. should continue increasing its arms support for them, as opposed to focusing support on Sunni Arab rebels.
...

Some administration officials told us that U.S. intelligence has documented meetings between the Kurds’ armed group and officials in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, which has fought alongside the Assad regime against the opposition since 2011. This faction also says the Kurdish group, the YPG, is closely working with the PKK, a Kurdish terrorist organization at war with Turkey.
...

A separate group inside the Obama administration argues that unwavering support for the YPG undermines the U.S. effort to build a Sunni Arab ground force. This group contends that because the Kurds have no intention of attacking and holding Islamic State strongholds such as Raqqa, it is shortsighted to allow them to wear down the Sunni opposition to Assad. Those Sunnis are seen as the best hope to displace the Islamic State on Sunni lands. They argue for more support for Sunni Arab groups fighting in and around Aleppo and less support for the YPG.

This group is losing the internal policy battle...

But who cares nowadays any more about such obsolete issues like 'ethics'?
'Accountability'? Indeed, 'responsibility'?

Britain says uneasy after evidence of Kurdish coordination with Syria and Russia (http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-syria-kurds-idUKKCN0VW16Z)

Britain said on Tuesday it had seen disturbing evidence that Syrian Kurds were coordinating with the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad and the Russian air force.

"What we have seen over the last weeks is very disturbing evidence of coordination between Syrian Kurdish forces, the Syrian regime and the Russian air force which are making us distinctly uneasy about the Kurds' role in all of this," Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told the British Parliament.

[<= taking that position of a highly-inspired poet]...but in our hearts and our minds, Kurdish PKK-terrorists mimicking Syrian Kurds by carrying PYD/YPG-flags are forever going to be our most bellowed and most-dependable anti-Daesh partners there can ever be in Syria...

[OUTLAW 09]

BreakingNews
The slaughter continues of #Talbisah.
Dead and wounded after air strikes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3QR5Ekb95k …
pic.twitter.com/QR2Cv1kXoe

41 civilians were murdered by #Assad's, #Rouhani's & #Putin's forces across #Syria on Tuesday, 14 of those in & around #Aleppo.

Footage
#FSA TOW hits #YPG position near Ayn Daqnah.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-RFn0_sxfk …
I won't post rebel position.

Update
Hezbollah's channel Al-Manar says Rasm an Nafal and Shallalah Saghirah recaptured by pro-regime forces.

BreakingReport
3 civilians killed, 8 injured in a Russian air strike on #Atarib.
Confirmed by three sources

Footage
No news from #Daraya today.
#Assad bombs the hell out of the town.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaJsBO5tmK0 …

And another one in #Daraya.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKEnMNZSVAA …

Footage
Iranian Safir jeep with missile launcher takes part in #Khanaser counteroffensive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G54gI_PDn5c …

Footage
Either #Russian or #Assad air strike on village in #Latakia province today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35QILuLxsrk …

From IS attack yesterday......
IS claim detonate 2 vehicle bombs against #SAA convoy north of #Khanaser
Allegedly 200 #Assad-forces killed when #IS stormed town

[OUTLAW 09]

Appears Kerry, Obama, Putin and UNSC have totally "forgotten" about the use of Syrian/Russian starvation tactics...at least they do not talk about it anymore since Munich 1938 failed......

Damascus father picks grass to feed his 3 children in regime besieged #Darayya suburb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?

[OUTLAW 09]

The New York Times ‏@nytimes
Russia, Hezbollah, Nusra Front activity shows where Syria's war is intensifying http://nyti.ms/1QaRIgq

Russian info warfare directed against Germany...hard at work......
Hoax heavily circulating in #German social media showing a 'free cellphone' coupon for refugees, with 200€.

Always a funny read: hoax blog 'Global Research', @CRG_CRM. Today about the "false flag attack' on the @MSF hospital

[OUTLAW 09]

Appears that now Kerry has joined Putin and his FM in "their altered state of reality"...he has been simply around them to long to really understand reality these days.

Kerry to #Russia: War in #Syria ‘Can Get a Lot Uglier’
http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/02/23/kerry-to-russia-war-in-syria-can-get-a-lot-uglier/ …

What is amazing about Kerry and Obama is that they both have seen Putin "hard at work" in Ukraine and yet apparently have learned nothing from that experience..

I mean in Obama's own words....."we will judge Putin by his actions not his words" and yet two years later of Putin's actions in Ukraine and Syria we get this statement above from Kerry.....???????

INTERESTING.....Kerry talks about a plan B and that the DoD is working on support plans in case the ceasefire fails....BUT and here is the BIG BUT....then a small sentence at the end appears...BUT the Obama WH has not signed onto Plan B.....says everything about the Obama failure in Syria....PLAN but in the end DO nothing is the WH motto......


Secretary of State John Kerry conceded Tuesday he cannot guarantee Russia will stick to a new Syrian cease-fire plan that Moscow and Washington jointly agreed to this week. But he warned that the U.S. military was considering a “Plan B” and would continue supporting rebel efforts to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the absence of Russian cooperation.

“This can get a lot uglier,” Kerry said, raising the possibility of sustained U.S. and allied support for Sunni and Kurdish rebels inside Syria.

“Even if Russia took Aleppo … holding territory has always been difficult,” he said, referring to the country’s rebel-held stronghold, which has come under siege in recent weeks by Syrian troops aided by Russian air power. “Russia has to be sitting there evaluating that.”


Ah.....so here is in reality the Kerry/Obama PLAN "B".........

The Guardian 
‏@guardian
John Kerry says partition of Syria is potential ‘plan B’ if peace talks fail
http://trib.al/s2iZsQA

[OUTLAW 09]

Daraya: Syrian Rebels snipe Revolutionary Guard commander

Rebels regain most of Al-Sakan Al-Shababi buildings in Aleppo from (SDF) grip
http://en.eldorar.com/node/1549

Aleppo: (Ashrafieh) reconnaissance aircraft shot down
http://syrianpc.com/?p=84191
http://fb.me/7JcuNvL1k

Aleppo: Assad forces killed in Menyan when Syrian Rebels fired hell cannon shells on buildings they were occupying

Hama: dozens of Assad forces killed as Rebels destroy military truck in the village of Aziziyah

Horan: FSA announce killing of 50+ Iranian fighters & sectarian foreign militias including Commander+destruction of 3 tanks+5 military cars

YPG fighters just fled Tal Abyad with their weapons. Airstrikes?

[OUTLAW 09]

Saudi Arabia is seriously considering closing its embassy in Lebanon because of their surrender to Hezbollah/Iran intimidation

Lebanon declined to support resolutions against Iran in 2 meetings of the League of Arab States & Organization of Islamic Cooperation

Lebanese have become such a bunch of cowards in the face of Iran/Hezbollah that they refused to denounce Saudi embassy attack in Tehran

There are 350,000 Lebanese workers in Saudi who remit $4.5 billion annually out of the kingdom & get $3 million to support their military

Lebanon was rebuilt after the war by Harriri (Arab Sunni) with Saudi money & the Lebanese can't stand up to Hezbollah hegemony?

And every dime Saudi sent to the "Lebanese Army" went directly into Hezbollah's pocket

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian AF is still deliberately killing civilians AND Kerry/Obama say nothing.....not even the UNSC says a single words.....

Little girl wounded,survived #RUSSIA airstrikes on #Talbiseh
"TERRORIST"
#Homs #Syria FEB 24
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwAaWaDiIbY …

HOW many more Russian bombing days left until Saturday???????
THIS is apparently what Kerry/Obama "signed up for"...the killing of civilians

[OUTLAW 09]

Destruction aftermath #RUSSIA airstrikes on #Altareb, 4 martyrs, dozens wounded
#ALeppo cs #Syria FEB 24

Death toll rises to 3 martyrs, victims of #RUSSIA airstrikes on #Haranbush village
#Idlib cs #Syria FEB 24

[OUTLAW 09]

So Russian news media lied again...when they announced this week via the Russian FM that the KSA King would be visiting and talking with Putin.....

Al Arabiya English Verified account 
‏@AlArabiya_Eng
#Breaking Putin and King Salman agreed to continue contacts on Syria
http://ara.tv/vnzjp

Continue contacts is diplomacy buzz for we will occasionally talk...more Russian hype trying to give the illusion that their Syrian Peace Plan is drawing great interest when it is about to fail.....

NOTICE though nothing from the Russians that they will stop bombings after Saturday is there in the PR????....just stay in contact?????

[OUTLAW 09]

3 martyrs so far, and 8 wounded aftermath #RUSSIA airstrikes targeting #Altareb
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 24

#RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #alHajib town
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 24

#RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Qasr_IbnWardin village
#Hama cs #Syria FEB 24

Destruction aftermath #SAA helicopters dropped barrel bombs over #Burj_Hussain
#Aleppo cs #SYria FEB 24

RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Haranbush village
#Idlib cs #Syria FEB 24

RUSSIA carried out 2 airstrikes so far targeting #Saraqeb
#Idlib cs #Syria FEB 24

Reports of renewed clashes between ISIS & regime forces around Qaryatayn, near Mahyn, Shaar & Hajar oil fields in east rural #Homs

Rebels targeted #SAA terrorists positions in their camps of #Jourin
#HAma cs #Syria FEB 24

Rebels regain control over #Tel_alBayda in #Turkmen_Mount
#Latakia cs #Syria FEB 24

Deliberate Russian air strike on a local food market targeting strictly civilians....
#Saraqeb this morning..
Few squares from this popular market #Russia carried out airstrike..
#Idlib cs #Syria FEB 24

Rebels re-control over #Ard_alWata, arresting 2 #SAA mercenaries
#Kinsaba #Kurds_Mount
#Latakia #Syria FEB 24

Turkey Army shelled #SDF positions at #alJeqli area near #Efrin earlier today
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 24

45 Martyrs
[12 Fighters 11 Children 4 Women 1 Tortured]
14 Aleppo
7 Damascus
6 DeirEzzor
3 Daraa
2 Hassakah
1 Homs
#Syria FEB 23

Syria Cargo plane landed last night on #Aleppo Nairab military airport
bc supply road from #Hama still cut off by #IS

[OUTLAW 09]

Strong cyber attacks against KSA still continue from Syria, Iraq, Bulgaria and Russia......probably attempting to interfere in the ongoing major military exercise Northern Thunder.

[OUTLAW 09]

Eliot Higgins @EliotHiggins

Sputnik Int. is now publishing articles entirely based on @Bellingcat's open source research. Big of a change of heart http://tr.sputniknews.com/savunma/20160223/1021077392/belarus-nato-siniri-s300.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

Not so sure the Obama and Putin fully understand this........

President @RT_Erdogan says #Syria is a life & death matter for #Turkey, not like sheer interests for #Russia

CNN Türk ENG @CNNTURK_ENG
#LIVE Turkey's Erdoğan asks why allies are not designating YPG as a terrorist org. just as they did with PKK
pic.twitter.com/Yc6oLBYzK7

CNN Türk ENG ‏@CNNTURK_ENG
#BREAKING Turkey's Erdoğan: Our allies should understand that they are at a crossroads, PYD has to be outside the scope of Syrian ceasefire

[OUTLAW 09]

SAA Barrel Bombs over #Darayya, the 8th so far today
#Damascus #Syria FEB 24

1 martyr so far,boy Abdullah Khalid Abbas,dozens wounded victims of #RUSSIA airstrikes #Saraqeb
#Idlib #Syria FEB 24

Scholars in #Damascus calls for Revolutionaries Factions to Unite against #SAA &it's allies destroying #Syria FEB 24

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat.....anything on this..there had been a unknown blast reported and posted as such but then silence since the report.......

Reports Ahrar al-Sham targeted Russian officers meeting with car-bomb in loyalist vige al-Sanawbar #Latakia.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=35.477272&lon=35.885983&z=15&m=b&search= …

Reportedly 10s killed in the blast took place last Sunday after intl confirmed the meeting. Hoping for some visual confirmation soon.

[OUTLAW 09]

Worth going through.....long read, 100 or so pages long...... but details are actually quite interesting especially in the light of current fighting.....

Sectarianism in Syria (Survey Study) | The Day After -
http://go.shr.lc/1QcO8G3

[OUTLAW 09]

James Miller @Millermena

Remember me explaining how Russia has defeated NATO without firing a shot?
https://twitter.com/Mwforhr/status/702484465445158913 …

It is about more than restoring the Franco-German tandem. It's a different #Europe: The European Dream: A Requiem http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/22/opinion/the-european-dream-a-requiem.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share …

Three core Russian geo political goals in the Russian non linear warfare used in support of the Russian political warfare with the US which Russia views as "an enemy"........

1. discredit and damage NATO
2. discredit and damage EU
3. completely disconnect the US from Europe and ME

Allows then the Russian establishment of a sphere of influence in regions they determine to make up what they can "the new Yalta"......

[OUTLAW 09]

First the KSA issues a warning to their citizens about travel to and from Lebanon....now this from Kuwait....

Is it possible that the Kuwaiti government knows something in advance...ie the move of KSA into southern Syria.....

Al Arabiya English ✔ @AlArabiya_Eng
BREAKING: Embassy of #Kuwait in Beirut asks its nationals to leave #Lebanon

[OUTLAW 09]

First the KSA issues a warning to their citizens about travel to and from Lebanon....now this from Kuwait....

Is it possible that the Kuwaiti government knows something in advance...ie the move of KSA into southern Syria.....

Al Arabiya English ✔ @AlArabiya_Eng
BREAKING: Embassy of #Kuwait in Beirut asks its nationals to leave #Lebanon

Sunni fingers are now starting to point clearly at Hezbollah (clearly supported by Iranian IRGC) for a number of problems in the ME.....

Al Arabiya English ✔ @AlArabiya_Eng
#Breaking Yemeni govt says has evidence Hezbollah involved in backing the Houthis
http://ara.tv/p75k7

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat.....anything on this..there had been a unknown blast reported and posted as such but then silence since the report.......

Reports Ahrar al-Sham targeted Russian officers meeting with car-bomb in loyalist vige al-Sanawbar #Latakia.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=35.477272&lon=35.885983&z=15&m=b&search= …

Reportedly 10s killed in the blast took place last Sunday after intl confirmed the meeting. Hoping for some visual confirmation soon.

Video confirmation is now in........

Ahrar Asham released a video of an IED attack on Russian generals in Jabla, Latakia
https://youtu.be/gUdEl-E766M

Initial video is short......but blast was evidently large...a longer video might show up later

[OUTLAW 09]

Approximately 95% of those that truly understand Syrian and the ME have severe reservations that the US Russian deal will even be implemented much less work...

So it appears to be war is on in the coming days and weeks if one listens to the Russian FM....AND Russia did not threaten Turkey with nuclear weapons..think again.....

Russian FM Lavrov: Those questioning viability of Russian-US agreements on Syria are calling for war.
http://dlvr.it/KbjBD0

Heck even the DoD does not think it will work.....UNLESS all anti opposition forces wear a GPS signaling device to let the Russian AF know they are not their target...

BUT WAIT Putin and Assad declared anyone resisting Assad is a terrorist? So wearing one will not help much......

Cracks showing already in US/Russia Syria plan? Moscow says it shared info with US embassy in Moscow, but received nothing in return

[OUTLAW 09]

Approximately 95% of those that truly understand Syrian and the ME have severe reservations that the US Russian deal will even be implemented much less work...

So it appears to be war is on in the coming days and weeks if one listens to the Russian FM....AND Russia did not threaten Turkey with nuclear weapons..think again.....

Russian FM Lavrov: Those questioning viability of Russian-US agreements on Syria are calling for war.
http://dlvr.it/KbjBD0

Heck even the DoD does not think it will work.....UNLESS all anti opposition forces wear a GPS signaling device to let the Russian AF know they are not their target...

BUT WAIT Putin and Assad declared anyone resisting Assad is a terrorist? So wearing one will not help much......

Great that now Lavrov is "channeling Kerry's words" when Kerry told the HNC..."what you want me to go to war over starvation"...??????

[OUTLAW 09]

Five factions join to form Jaysh al-Tahrir: Jabhat al-Sham, Firqa 312, Ninth Brigade, Firqa 46, and Saraya al-Haq
pic.twitter.com/tfwqZvzQ2I

[OUTLAW 09]

http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/iranian-efps-in-the-gulf-an-emerging-strategic-risk

Iranian EFPs in the Gulf: An Emerging Strategic Risk

Michael Knights

February 23, 2016


Tehran and its proxies have increased their efforts to provide armor-piercing explosive devices to Shiite cells in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and this game-changing escalation could pose even greater challenges if Riyadh takes further action in Syria.

As Saudi Arabia publicly discusses its options for direct intervention in Syria, Riyadh and its partners will need to consider how Iran might react to such a move. The answer may be apparent in the increasingly bold efforts by Iranian-backed Shiite militant groups to smuggle advanced roadside bombs into not only Bahrain, but also the neighboring Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, a predominately Shiite area that holds more than 20 percent of the world's total proven oil reserves and serves as the center of the kingdom's oil and petrochemicals industries. Almost unnoticed by the international community, Tehran has been ramping up its risk-taking behavior amid growing sectarian polarization in the region and intensified competition with Riyadh. Among other provocations, it began sending advanced armor-piercing explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) into the kingdom last year and has provided cells in Bahrain with the know-how for manufacturing such weapons themselves -- a stark warning to the Saudis and a harbinger of what may unfold if they do in fact upgrade their military commitment in Syria.

IRAN'S GULF ESCALATION

Alongside support for proxy forces in Yemen, Iraq, and Syria, another form of Iranian escalation against Saudi Arabia is the smuggling of EFPs and other arms directly into the Gulf states, carried out by Iraqi proxies of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Although Bahrain's government has exaggerated Iran's role in domestic unrest in the past, the country's intelligence agencies have consistently produced well-evidenced information on local terrorist and militia cells, their ties with the IRGC, and their efforts to import advanced explosives.

On December 28, 2013, a speedboat was tracked by coastal radar and intercepted carrying large quantities of advanced bomb components, including thirty-one Claymore-type antipersonnel fragmentation mines and twelve armor-piercing EFP charges, plus electronics to arm and fire the devices. The captured crew led investigators to a bombmaking workshop in al-Qurayyah village the following day.

The most recent maritime interception occurred on July 25, 2015, when Bahraini navy, coast guard, and police personnel captured a speedboat that had received weapons from a ship just outside the island's territorial waters. The boat was carrying forty-three kilograms of C4 explosive, detonators, and eight AK-type assault rifles with thirty-two magazines and ammunition. One of the two Bahraini men in the boat testified to having received weapons and explosives training at an IRGC camp in Iran two years prior.

Over the past year, the kingdom's security operations have uncovered a range of other indicators that Iran is intensifying its preparations to undertake proxy warfare inside Bahrain and even Saudi Arabia:
Increased number of bombmaking workshops. Bahrain uncovered three such workshops in the latter half of 2015. One underground room found in Dar Kulaib on June 6 contained advanced bomb components and an industrial press for fabricating EFPs. Two more shops were found in October and November; the latter was discovered within a concealed underground room.
Expansion into Saudi Arabia. On May 8, 2015, a vehicle carrying EFP charges was intercepted as it attempted to transit the King Fahd Causeway from Bahrain to Saudi Arabia. It was eventually linked to the bomb workshop at Dar Kulaib, where the smugglers received the EFPs.
Growing connections to Iranian and Iraqi networks. The Dar Kulaib workshop contained weapons linked via fingerprints to the previously mentioned December 2013 speedboat interception. And in June 2015, Bahraini police chief Maj. Gen. Tariq al-Hassan stated that the IRGC-supported Iraqi Shiite group Kataib Hezbollah (led by U.S.-designated terrorist Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis) provided EFP training at a camp in Iraq and "offered logistical and financial support" to a Bahraini terrorist group called "Saraya al-Ashtar."
Potential harbor security threats. General Hassan also claimed that detained Shiite terrorists had received "scuba diving skills to plant mines and explosives in the sea," presenting a potential threat to U.S. warships in Bahrain, where the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters is located. (Iranian-backed cells have been detected monitoring U.S. naval berths and coastal infrastructure in Kuwait since 2011.)
Use of antivehicle bombs. On July 28, 2015, a roadside bomb destroyed a police vehicle in Sitra, Bahrain, killing two policemen and wounding six others. Magnetically attached mines of this type have been a constant feature of weapons finds in Bahrain. This technique and some of the magnetic devices themselves have been smuggled into the island from Iraq, where Shiite militias use them for assassinations and other attacks on unarmored vehicles.

THE EFP PROBLEM

The provision of EFPs and firing kits is a particularly dangerous phenomenon. The EFP is a form of roadside charge that has exceptional armor-piercing capabilities and is easily concealed and detonated. High explosives are packed into a cylinder akin to a paint can with the lid removed. A concave liner of professionally milled copper or steel is then clamped over the cylinder's open end. When the explosive is detonated, it creates a focused jet of hypervelocity molten metal that can cut through even the heaviest main battle tank armor at close range. In Iraq, 1,526 EFPs killed a total of 196 U.S. troops and injured 861 others between November 2005 and December 2011; British troops were intensively targeted as well and suffered many casualties.

Apparently, the IRGC has sought to preposition EFPs in Bahrain since at least 2013. And last year's discoveries by security forces indicated that the IRGC is also helping local Bahraini Shiites to mass produce EFPs. The Dar Kulaib workshop included an industrial press that used specialized dies (possibly imported) to make EFP liners. A range of EFPs were found there as well, with diameters of six, eight, and twelve inches, indicating a variety of dies were in use. Also uncovered were at least twelve passive infrared sensors (used to initiate a device as vehicles pass) and numerous radio-controlled arming switches (to turn on the sensors), indicating that the devices were using the exact same configuration as Iraqi EFPs and would be highly accurate. High-quality copper liners were in evidence alongside less effective steel ones. Moreover, the press and other large equipment had been installed in a concealed basement, a major logistical undertaking.

As mentioned above, EFPs built in Dar Kulaib were intercepted en route to Saudi Arabia last May. This marks a major escalation because EFPs could enable Shiite militants in the Eastern Province to keep Saudi armored vehicles out of key towns, making mini-uprisings much more practical if Iran wished to foment such incidents. In 2008, EFPs used en masse created a formidable perimeter defense in Baghdad's Sadr City, requiring an extensive U.S. demining effort. If such explosives had been present during the February 2011 uprising in Manama, the Bahraini crackdown -- backed by Saudi and Emirati armored forces -- might have been impossible.

In short, bringing EFPs into Bahrain, let alone Saudi Arabia, is a military game-changer for Gulf security forces. And given that restive Shiite townships are threaded between some of the world's largest oil fields, refineries, pipelines, and export terminals, it could be a game-changer for global energy security as well. This is why Iran's actions, through its Iraqi proxies, hold such potential for destabilization. In conjunction with recent provocations by the IRGC-Navy in the Persian Gulf, the EFP uptick points to a wider pattern of increasingly bold IRGC risk taking.

IMPLICATIONS FOR U.S. POLICY

If Saudi Arabia intervenes more intensively in Syria, it will likely face blowback at home. In 2011, Riyadh's intervention in Bahrain and its early support for the Syrian opposition may have contributed to the attempted Iranian assassination of the Saudi ambassador in Washington later that year, as well as Tehran's eventual decision to ramp up paramilitary backing for proxies in Yemen, Bahrain, and now the Eastern Province.

In light of these dangers, Washington should expand intelligence assistance to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in order to stem the flow of IRGC-provided weapons. It should also help publicize the discovery of weapons caches so that the international community can follow the trail of evidence pointing back to Tehran. More broadly, Washington should view Iran's transfer of EFPs and bombmaking know-how to opposition elements in these countries as a game-changing escalation, not an incremental tactical adjustment. Riyadh will certainly view the up-arming of Shiites in the kingdom's largest oil province in existential terms.

In addition, Washington should speak with the Saudis about enhanced military cooperation on vehicle survivability and defensive tactics. The United States can greatly assist Saudi forces on two counts: reducing their heavy losses to Houthi antitank missile teams on the southern border, and preparing for the emergence of an advanced antiarmor roadside bomb threat in the Eastern Province. These efforts could include provision of up-armoring kits and the considerable benefit of hard-earned U.S. tactics and training against EFPs.

Continued........

[OUTLAW 09]

http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/iranian-efps-in-the-gulf-an-emerging-strategic-risk

Iranian EFPs in the Gulf: An Emerging Strategic Risk

Michael Knights

February 23, 2016

The Syrian Kurds are meeting with the IRGC and working with the PKK, but still getting U.S. weapons
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2016-

What is interesting is that this line of connections was known to the US for a number of years and YET some in the WH seem to think YPG was never tied to PKK..NOR Russia......

Appears the Obama WH also "forgot" that Turkey suffered over 22,000 killed inside Turkey fighting PKK....which might result in Turkey being extremely "sensitive" to anything that smacks of being ever so close to the PKK.....and as of 2014 the US National Terrorism Center was indeed carrying YPG being directly associated to PKK......

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat.....have you heard anything about these Russian so called peace treaties.....??

BUT WAIT this has to be the Russian interpretation of the Kerry stated humanitarian aid would be arriving comment......Russian version of the Kerry promises of humanitarian aid.....THIS was DEFINITELY not mentioned in the draft version that Kerry signed up for.....????

So "surrendering" get's the UN delivered humanitarian aid...that is going to go over like a lead balloon with the HNC and the FSA...

So let's review the Russian process....besiege a Sunni town via the war crime starvation, then tell them to surrender and then provide them humanitarian aid....that definitely was not what Kerry signed up for...BUT WAIT maybe he actually knew what the Russians were up to????

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
#SYRIA Regions, where peace documents were signed, receive humanitarian cargoes,living essentials and med support from personnel of Centre

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
#SYRIA First results:signing of peace documents as it has happened in Javalik settlement and a number of other inhabited areas in #Homs prov

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
#SYRIA Members of Centre are working with representatives of groupings in settlements of #Hama, #Homs, #Latakia, #Damascus and #Daraa prov

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
#SYRIA Results in the north #Latakia — combat actions were terminated in #Ghunaymiyah, #Laulyat, Burj Islam. Peace documents signed there

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria|n opposition yet to agree to fighting halt". Battlefield reports indicate decreased #RuAF activity indeed.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-government-idUSKCN0VW0UA …

Easiest way for #Russia to enforce ceasefire regardless of oppo commitment: Freezing of fronts, attacking offensive opposition parties only.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Syrian Express......

FLOT's Amur Class repair ship heading south on the bosphorus.
pic.twitter.com/ZTKLxjnq9z

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat.....have you heard anything about these Russian so called peace treaties.....??

BUT WAIT this has to be the Russian interpretation of the Kerry stated humanitarian aid would be arriving comment......Russian version of the Kerry promises of humanitarian aid.....THIS was DEFINITELY not mentioned in the draft version that Kerry signed up for.....????

So "surrendering" get's the UN delivered humanitarian aid...that is going to go over like a lead balloon with the HNC and the FSA...

So let's review the Russian process....besiege a Sunni town via the war crime starvation, then tell them to surrender and then provide them humanitarian aid....that definitely was not what Kerry signed up for...BUT WAIT maybe he actually knew what the Russians were up to????

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
#SYRIA Regions, where peace documents were signed, receive humanitarian cargoes,living essentials and med support from personnel of Centre

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
#SYRIA First results:signing of peace documents as it has happened in Javalik settlement and a number of other inhabited areas in #Homs prov

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
#SYRIA Members of Centre are working with representatives of groupings in settlements of #Hama, #Homs, #Latakia, #Damascus and #Daraa prov

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
#SYRIA Results in the north #Latakia — combat actions were terminated in #Ghunaymiyah, #Laulyat, Burj Islam. Peace documents signed there

Looks like UN aid is getting through...evidently WITHOUT Russian "surrender" documents?????

UN-led aid convoy reaches blockaded area of #Damascus
http://uatoday.tv/society/un-syria-aid-598020.html …
pic.twitter.com/H8bC8Yu5Kt

AFP news agency ✔ @AFP
#BREAKING UN carries out first humanitarian airdrop in Syria: aid chief

[OUTLAW 09]

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/02/24/are-kurds-allies-or-obstacles-in-syria/unconditional-us-support-for-kurdish-forces-in-syria-harms-the-anti-isis-cause?smid=tw-share

Unconditional U.S. Support for Kurdish Forces in Syria Harms the Anti-ISIS Cause

Hassan Hassan

Hassan Hassan, is a resident fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy and author of "ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror." He is on Twitter.

Updated February 24, 2016, 9:48 AM


From massacres perpetuated by pro-regime militias in 2012 to chemical attacks carried out by the government in 2013, the cycle of the Syrian conflict has gone through multiple milestones that pushed people one step further to extremism each time. The recent developments in northern Aleppo will be one such milestone.

After pressuring the opposition to attend the Geneva talks, Washington should restrain its Kurdish allies from tightening the noose on other U.S. allies.

The relentless Russian air campaign, which reports say it is also targeting aid convoys and doctors in rebel-held areas, continues to sledgehammer rebel defenses north of Aleppo, helping Bashar al-Assad change the direction of the conflict in his favor for the first time in more than a year.

But Washington’s failure to stand by its allies is cultivating profound cynicism and bitterness that might play into the hands of extremists.

Particularly in Idlib and Aleppo, Washington watches as some U.S.-aligned factions are being haplessly attacked — despite a truce the United States pressured the opposition to accept in the first place. Worse, the United States did not seem alarmed when one of its allies, the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or Y.P.G., was coordinating with the Russians to fight other U.S.-aligned groups. As the London-based Al Hayat newspaper put it, the Y.P.G. is working with the Americans in Kurdish areas east of the Euphrates River and with the Russians to the west of it, as it expands into non-Kurdish areas.

After pressuring the opposition to attend the Geneva talks last month, the least Washington could do was to restrain its Kurdish allies and prevent them from further tightening the noose on other American allies. The Y.P.G.'s latest moves have also alienated Turkey and are causing a strategic divergence between the two NATO countries.

The wisdom of supporting the Y.P.G. to protect or reclaim Kurdish areas from ISIS should be in no doubt. The problem arose, however, when the Y.P.G. started using U.S. support to dominate in non-Kurdish areas or mixed areas, primarily in Hasaka, northern Raqqa and Aleppo, as part of its expansionist agenda of linking Kurdish cantons in northern Syria. Amnesty International documented instances of forced displacement and home demolitions of Arab families “amounting to war crimes” committed by those Kurdish militias. This week, local reports also claimed that 30,000 civilians in southern Hasaka fled after the YPG advanced into their areas and went to ISIS-controlled areas.

Unconditional U.S. support for the Y.P.G. is not only harming the rebels but, ironically, it is also complicating the fight against extremism in the country.

[OUTLAW 09]

YPG still attacking FSA in Aleppo.....

BreakingReport
#YPG forces captured the "Youth Housing Complex" outside #SheikhMaqsoud today.
#Aleppo #Syria

ProAssad trolls claimed control again...but evidently not...

Footage
Pro-#Assad (Iranian-sponsored) forces near #Khanaser.
NOT yet back under control.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIp5GICtygM …

Footage
Al-Lataminah in #Hama province is under "Russian" air strikes as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoa3zoQb2tU …

Footage
Air strikes also resumed on #Douma near #Damascus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHZm2y6FNtc …

Footage
Also civilians in #Saraqib in #Idlib province, are under air strikes again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQfXj8_v2r4 …

Update
Visual confirmation, pro-#Assad forces recaptured Rasm an Nafal.
#Aleppo #Syria

Footage
#Assad keeps killing civilians in #TerMaela, #Homs province.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOKWwUAER0s …

Footage
Reported "Russian" air strike on #Saida in #Daraa province.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFQEfa2WstM …

BUT WAIT.....Russian MoD stated they have flown fewer air strikes over the last two days....they are lying again it appears....

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian MoD totally hates being called war criminals...tries to now blame the Turks who are not killing civilians with deliberate air strikes....

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
#SYRIA Instead of unsubstantiated accusations Amnesty Intl,Human Rights Watch,Medecins Sans Frontieres should assess criminal actions Turkey

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
Rus-American agreements aren't acceptable for everyone,esp.in north #SYRIA where shelling of Syrian bordering towns from Turkish territory

Russian 6Ds of propaganda hard at work......

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian MoD totally hates being called war criminals...tries to now blame the Turks who are not killing civilians with deliberate air strikes....

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
#SYRIA Instead of unsubstantiated accusations Amnesty Intl,Human Rights Watch,Medecins Sans Frontieres should assess criminal actions Turkey

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
Rus-American agreements aren't acceptable for everyone,esp.in north #SYRIA where shelling of Syrian bordering towns from Turkish territory

Russian 6Ds of propaganda hard at work......


Russian MoD continues their unabated lying campaign that equals their deliberate killing of civilians.....

Today they claimed at their briefing they flew 62 sorties hitting 187 IS and JN targets.....

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
#SYRIA Russian aircraft continue making strikes on objects of these international terrorists of #ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra

AND then they listed all the military things they hit.....

NOW go back and reread the bombing reports I posted just today that came in from the Sunni towns and villages hit and the numbers of civilians either killed and or wounded....

NONE of these towns that reported air strikes via video footage were bases for IS and or JN......BUT they were for the FSA....interestingly determined to NOT be a terrorist group by the UNSC and the US......

So I guess the famous Russian precision air strikes "mistook" a local community food market as a major IS encampment but how can that be with such Russian precision guided munitions????????

Especially since it was the same "local food market that has been hit four times in the past five months by the Russians......

Man does IS regenerate their fighters fast and always seem to put them in the same exact location as the local food market.......

One might think that IS being "hit five times in a local market" might change their local AFTER the first air strike....?

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian MoD continues their unabated lying campaign that equals their deliberate killing of civilians.....

Today they claimed at their briefing they flew 62 sorties hitting 187 IS and JN targets.....

Минобороны России ✔ @mod_russia
#SYRIA Russian aircraft continue making strikes on objects of these international terrorists of #ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra

AND then they listed all the military things they hit.....

NOW go back and reread the bombing reports I posted just today that came in from the Sunni towns and villages hit and the numbers of civilians either killed and or wounded....

NONE of these towns that reported air strikes via video footage were bases for IS and or JN......BUT they were for the FSA....interestingly determined to NOT be a terrorist group by the UNSC and the US......

So I guess the famous Russian precision air strikes "mistook" a local community food market as a major IS encampment but how can that be with such Russian precision guided munitions????????

Especially since it was the same "local food market that has been hit four times in the past five months by the Russians......

Man does IS regenerate their fighters fast and always seem to put them in the same exact location as the local food market.......

One might think that IS being "hit five times in a local market" might change their local AFTER the first air strike....?

Barbaric multiple regime barrel bomb attacks on besieged #Daraya west #Damascus
http://youtu.be/7zTXsUbxMW0

Regime dropping bombs on Daraya again
http://youtu.be/GaJsBO5tmK0
https://youtu.be/kKEnMNZSVAA
https://youtu.be/FtfAaPr78hA

SYRIA: SAA general claims operation against 'Jabhat al-Nusra' will continue in Daraya even with a cease fire -

BUT WAIT...JaN is not even anywhere close to being in the area.......???? So we now see exactly how Assad and Putin handles the term "terrorists can be bombed" as they define what the ceasefire document states......

AND MORE Russian air strikes on those IS/JaN positions they claimed today to being hit.

Destruction aftermath #RUSSIA airstrikes on #Ariha, killing 10civilians including 3 children
#Idlib cs #Syria FEB 24
https://youtu.be/Gw5zq2glPHU

RUSSIA renew it's airstrikes on #Kafr_Zeta now
#Hama cs #Syria FEB 24

[OUTLAW 09]

Amaq News Agency claims that 220 regime soldiers have been killed in Khanaser attack.

SAA shelling using #RUSSIA MLRS targeted civilians houses in outskirts of #alCastelo Road
#Hama cs #Syria FEB 24

Victims of #SAA shelling using #RUSSIA MLRS on #alCastelo
#Hama cs #Syria FEB 24
2 Martyrs so far:
1-Emad Suleiman
2-Tariq Nazir Darwish

4 "Unknown" warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting a Park & the Faculty of Science in #alHaweq neighborhood
#DeirEzzor #Syria FEB 24

[OUTLAW 09]

Barbaric multiple regime barrel bomb attacks on besieged #Daraya west #Damascus
http://youtu.be/7zTXsUbxMW0

Regime dropping bombs on Daraya again
http://youtu.be/GaJsBO5tmK0
https://youtu.be/kKEnMNZSVAA
https://youtu.be/FtfAaPr78hA

SYRIA: SAA general claims operation against 'Jabhat al-Nusra' will continue in Daraya even with a cease fire -

BUT WAIT...JaN is not even anywhere close to being in the area.......???? So we now see exactly how Assad and Putin handles the term "terrorists can be bombed" as they define what the ceasefire document states......

AND MORE Russian air strikes on those IS/JaN positions they claimed today to being hit.

Destruction aftermath #RUSSIA airstrikes on #Ariha, killing 10civilians including 3 children
#Idlib cs #Syria FEB 24
https://youtu.be/Gw5zq2glPHU

RUSSIA renew it's airstrikes on #Kafr_Zeta now
#Hama cs #Syria FEB 24

US Military and Intelligence Leaders In Agreement That Russia Won't Honor Cease-Fires
http://on.wsj.com/1XKjFAD
pic.twitter.com/RGPsMm3wQ0

JUST as he did not honor nor fulfill a single point in the Minsk 2 agreement....

[OUTLAW 09]

Interesting question........does in fact the Syrian Cessation of Hostilities actually signal the de facto break up of Syria...

Was this all along the US PLAN C......?????

[CrowBat]

CrowBat.....anything on this..there had been a unknown blast reported and posted as such but then silence since the report.......There was a big meeting in Jableh, and it was blown up. There's no doubt about this.

But, 'dozens of generals' is certainly an exaggeration. There's only a handful of generals in the HQ of the 58th Army - partially because most of Russian units deployed in Syria are battalion-sized (there's not a single 'brigade-sized' unit, for example).

And then: how many Russians were killed... I doubt Keystone Cops migth ever let us know.

...except through such 'retaliation' like bombing of Sarqib today...


CrowBat.....have you heard anything about these Russian so called peace treaties.....??...if this would be a comedy, Keystone Cops in Moscow would've landed a major coup...

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat...this will interest you...concerns the Russian Syrian Express...appears that the Russian Army is now having to haul fuel all over the battlefield...this is the first reported sighting of military fuel tankers on their Syrian Express ships and the first use of a commercial RORO......

Either that or Russia is preparing to send in a larger military force with armor and IFVs....these fuelers are often seen in eastern Ukraine where the Russian army has over 500 tanks and over 800 IFVs....

This is how unarmed/unarmored support vehicles are sent to Syria; On civilian cargo ships. A.Tkachenko on Bosphorus

There are 9 highly flammable (огнеопасный) liquid tank trailers along with approx 25 trucks on top deck of Tkachenko

NOTE: being carried on a commercial RORO...evidently their own fleet is incapable to either carrying them or this does indicate more troops are coming.......

The obviously military cargo vehicles on a commercial RoRo is a resourceful way of Russia expanding its supply lines

BUT the RORO is filing false end destination data which is highly illegal in the shipping business....

Russian government chartered RO-RO continues to file false AIS data, Supposedly Limassol-bound but going to #Tartus

[OUTLAW 09]

Now we see the so called "Biden Plan for Iraq" being possibly implemented in Syria?????

Michael Weiss ✔ @michaeldweiss
Does Obama Want to Carve Up Syria?
http://thebea.st/21iiMVs

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat...this will interest you...concerns the Russian Syrian Express...appears that the Russian Army is now having to haul fuel all over the battlefield...this is the first reported sighting of military fuel tankers on their Syrian Express ships and the first use of a commercial RORO......

Either that or Russia is preparing to send in a larger military force with armor and IFVs....these fuelers are often seen in eastern Ukraine where the Russian army has over 500 tanks and over 800 IFVs....

This is how unarmed/unarmored support vehicles are sent to Syria; On civilian cargo ships. A.Tkachenko on Bosphorus

There are 9 highly flammable (огнеопасный) liquid tank trailers along with approx 25 trucks on top deck of Tkachenko

NOTE: being carried on a commercial RORO...evidently their own fleet is incapable to either carrying them or this does indicate more troops are coming.......

The obviously military cargo vehicles on a commercial RoRo is a resourceful way of Russia expanding its supply lines

BUT the RORO is filing false end destination data which is highly illegal in the shipping business....

Russian government chartered RO-RO continues to file false AIS data, Supposedly Limassol-bound but going to #Tartus


CrowBat...Russian troops are inbound if this is correct.....statements reflects large number of officers with peacekeeping experience.....this IMO tends to point to both the Russian 14th and 15th Peacekeeping Mech Infantry/Armor Brigades are coming in as these are the two Russian designated UN peacekeeping brigades as one would not be able to fully cover Syria with one.

WHY do I say this...check the last paragraph of the Russian statement ...taken straight from their peacekeeping doctrinal presentation which I have a copy of....

Have trained the staff of the 15th in 2012 and 2013 and even got them over to using the US decision making processes (MDMP) including reporting processes complete with translated reports will be interesting to see what they kept and what they discarded in the coming months.

Russian Embassy, UAE ✔ @RusEmbassyUAE
#Russia has started a complex work aimed at #reconciliation in #Syria |
http://goo.gl/Vkq3S9 | #روسيا #سوريا
pic.twitter.com/VsCFUYKj5a

These two brigades would in fact have enough firepower to counter any cross overs by Turkey and or KSA into Syria...if linked into the Russian forces already in Syria......

Want to bet neither Kerry and or Obama knew this when they were negotiating with the Russians otherwise he would not have been talking about a Plan B or DoD/IC would not be saying Russians will not hold to the ceasefire....

BTW ...their unrestricted SOFA fully allows for major stationing of Russian troops and indicates to me Assad is in place until 2020 much as he stated in his interviews and press releases the last two weeks....

[OUTLAW 09]

Are there any moderates left at @UN? "Syrian Minister’s Wife Named by @UN to Assess Mental Health of the Displaced" http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/25/world/middleeast/syrian-ministers-wife-named-to-assess-mental-health-of-the-displaced.html …

Ever wonder why the UN was in "bed" with Assad and why they had their major UN HQs for Syria in Damascus BUT could not somehow recognize the Assad starvation tactic nor reported accurately the sheer numbers of civilians being starved to death???

And the so called UN is suppose to be "neutral"....?

[OUTLAW 09]

FSA says no ceasefire without Daraya. Assad dropped 50 bombs on Daraya today.
http://youtu.be/3UF3agvRUHk
https://youtu.be/e6nR-1aCqxY

Everyone except Putin and Assad knows neither IS nor JaN is positioned anywhere inside Daraya....

No ceasefire without #Daraya. Our #FSA stronghold in W#Damascus. Over 200kms away from #daesh & no nusra presence there. It must be included

Appears that Russia and Assad do not really care what the US agreed to and if one notices the US really does not complain does it????

Pro regime people say #Ahrar will not be included by #Russia but attacked. That's not what #US agreed to.

[OUTLAW 09]

YPG/PYD/PKK have said they will adhere to #Syria's ceasefire. But, like Assad and Russia, they call all non-IS insurgents "al-Qaeda".

Notice both Assad and Putin declared they will continue to bomb IS and JaN and "other terrorists" then in their fine print they add "{as determined by the UNSC"...but here is not a very clear UNSC who else is on the list.....SO FAS assumes Assad and Putin still define anyone resisting Assad to be a "terrorist" so really the bombing will never stop.

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat...Russian troops are inbound if this is correct.....statements reflects large number of officers with peacekeeping experience.....this IMO tends to point to both the Russian 14th and 15th Peacekeeping Mech Infantry/Armor Brigades are coming in as these are the two Russian designated UN peacekeeping brigades as one would not be able to fully cover Syria with one.

WHY do I say this...check the last paragraph of the Russian statement ...taken straight from their peacekeeping doctrinal presentation which I have a copy of....

Have trained the staff of the 15th in 2012 and 2013 and even got them over to using the US decision making processes (MDMP) including reporting processes complete with translated reports will be interesting to see what they kept and what they discarded in the coming months.

Russian Embassy, UAE ✔ @RusEmbassyUAE
#Russia has started a complex work aimed at #reconciliation in #Syria |
http://goo.gl/Vkq3S9 | #روسيا #سوريا
pic.twitter.com/VsCFUYKj5a

These two brigades would in fact have enough firepower to counter any cross overs by Turkey and or KSA into Syria...if linked into the Russian forces already in Syria......

Want to bet neither Kerry and or Obama knew this when they were negotiating with the Russians otherwise he would not have been talking about a Plan B or DoD/IC would not be saying Russians will not hold to the ceasefire....

BTW ...their unrestricted SOFA fully allows for major stationing of Russian troops and indicates to me Assad is in place until 2020 much as he stated in his interviews and press releases the last two weeks....

Russian FM has stated a number of times in the last two days that Russia and the US are trying to get a supporting UNSC resolution through to support the CoH agreements.....BUT do they really mean getting a "peacekeeping mission via the UNSC" with US approval???

[OUTLAW 09]

News
Seven Russian air strikes hit #JisrAlShughour yesterday.
No casualties as many fled.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWl4nRoF4ME …

[OUTLAW 09]

FSA says no ceasefire without Daraya. Assad dropped 50 bombs on Daraya today.
http://youtu.be/3UF3agvRUHk
https://youtu.be/e6nR-1aCqxY

Everyone except Putin and Assad knows neither IS nor JaN is positioned anywhere inside Daraya....

No ceasefire without #Daraya. Our #FSA stronghold in W#Damascus. Over 200kms away from #daesh & no nusra presence there. It must be included

Appears that Russia and Assad do not really care what the US agreed to and if one notices the US really does not complain does it????

Pro regime people say #Ahrar will not be included by #Russia but attacked. That's not what #US agreed to.


In Germany......
Video
Der Damaskus-Vorort #Daraya heute.
#Assad's Massenmrder sind weiter fleiig
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0TiXPm6SoE

TV report from besieged #Damascus subs
Darayya/Maadamiyeh
http://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/syrien-kaempfe-107.html …
In German....

46 barrelbombs hit #Daraya yesterday

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat...this was evidently the Russian revenge attack for the VBIED attack on their officers...

Deadly air raid hit a market in Ariha. 15 people killed while buying food. #Idlib #Syria
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BK0_lPdN064 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad and Putin have now destroyed 28 hospitals...in the last five months via deliberate air strikes.......

Syria Marj hospital serving 55k people in E. Ghouta destroyed by Assad bombing last week
http://youtu.be/ihFrJmJ2GcQ

BUT WAIT Russian MoD claims they have never hit a single hospital anywhere in Syria and for that matter anywhere in the ME...it was the bad aiming of the USAF.....

[OUTLAW 09]

Does this make any sense to any SWJ reader....?

UN parachute 21 tons aid supplies into regime hold parts of #DeirEzzor city
Note: They have an airbase

BUT WAIT 21 tons to an Assad town but no much of anything else yet to Sunni towns (total of 470K) besieged by Assad/Putin/Hezbollah and Shia militia STILL has not occurred...aid is being held up in fact by Assad forces in a number of locations and not allowed through...ALL for show it appears.....as the UN does not officially complain about the aid being stopped by Assad nor does Putin say a single word......

[OUTLAW 09]

IslamicState try to advance westwards from #Khanaser into Nusra controlled area in southern #Aleppo
Clashes btw both now

NOTICE western MSM does not seem to notice this normal fact JaN fights against IS as much as does FSA these days.....

[OUTLAW 09]

Remnants of #RUSSIA Tochka missile in #Maarat_Mesrin
#Idlib cs #Syria FEB 25
Imagine if it had exploded in the residential houses..

Russian SS21 TBMs seem to be flying just about everywhere and in numbers never seen fired before....either shooting up their surplus to make room for newer versions OR training for Hezbollah.....

[OUTLAW 09]

Are there any moderates left at @UN? "Syrian Minister’s Wife Named by @UN to Assess Mental Health of the Displaced" http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/25/world/middleeast/syrian-ministers-wife-named-to-assess-mental-health-of-the-displaced.html …

Ever wonder why the UN was in "bed" with Assad and why they had their major UN HQs for Syria in Damascus BUT could not somehow recognize the Assad starvation tactic nor reported accurately the sheer numbers of civilians being starved to death???

And the so called UN is suppose to be "neutral"....?

New York Times World 
‏@nytimesworld
Is it a conflict of interest that deputy Syrian foreign minister's wife works for U.N.?
http://nyti.ms/1QetGRF

[OUTLAW 09]

Clashes continue north of Khanaser. ISIS has destroyed several armours with ATGMs and reportedly captured female regime fighters

Leaked video: Hezbollah operative telling Houthis they are planning terrorist attack in Riyadh which won't involve Houthis

Important: leaked of Hezbollah operative training Houthis "we will carry out a suicide operation in Riyadh"

Assads NDF kill 3 Druze & injure 15 in Al-Sweida
http://en.eldorar.com/node/1565

Prisoner exchanges between the Druze "Rejal Al-Karamah" and the Assad regime in Al-Sweida
http://en.eldorar.com/node/1559

Aleppo: south of Khannaser, 1 Assad regime tank destroyed & 4 military vehicles carrying soldiers

[OUTLAW 09]

Does this make any sense to any SWJ reader....?

UN parachute 21 tons aid supplies into regime hold parts of #DeirEzzor city
Note: They have an airbase

BUT WAIT 21 tons to an Assad town but no much of anything else yet to Sunni towns (total of 470K) besieged by Assad/Putin/Hezbollah and Shia militia STILL has not occurred...aid is being held up in fact by Assad forces in a number of locations and not allowed through...ALL for show it appears.....as the UN does not officially complain about the aid being stopped by Assad nor does Putin say a single word......

The UN is a total joke. They couldn't do this for civilians in Madaya or Daraya but for Assad soldiers they can...the 21 tons really were for the Assad forces inside their besieged area not really for the civilians trapped with them......

[OUTLAW 09]

Reports of heavy Assad rocket fire targeting al-Hrak in Daraa this morning. #Syria

Renewed airstrikes by Russian jets in Saraqeb, Idlib & Atareb, Aleppo & by Assad helicopters in Teirma'ala, Homs this morning. #Syria

Iraqi Shiite militias im Aleppo kill and drag body of a man bcz he is a "son of an Omayyad" (Sunni)

BTW what exactly are Iraqi shia militia doing in Aleppo instead of fighting IS inside their own Shia nation state Iraq against IS......interesting question that even the Obama WH and US MSM has not yet somehow picked up on...NOR really wants to.......

[OUTLAW 09]

Michael Weiss ‏@michaeldweiss

Kerry's floated "Plan B" for Syria looks an awful lot like the administration's "Plan A." My take:
http://thebea.st/21iiMVs

Does Obama Want to Carve Up Syria?


A stray comment by John Kerry this week—laying out a last-ditch, now-don’t-hold-me-to-this prescription for ending a modern and globally transformative holocaust—acknowledges an unfolding reality.

A decade ago, the current U.S. vice president wanted to partition Iraq as a political solution to a civil war that ended militarily. Now the current secretary of state believes that partition may be the only viable course left for Syria if and when a ceasefire he co-brokered fails.

The odds of such a failure are high, as John Kerry admits, because the whole accord might well be a “rope-a-dope” exercise by Bashar al-Assad, Vladimir Putin, and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to gobble up more territory and destroy more of the mainstream Syrian opposition under the guise of abiding by international diplomacy.

Testifying Tuesday before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the secretary said: “I’m not going to vouch for this. I’m not going to say that this process is going to work, because I don’t know. But I know that this is the best way to try to end the war, and it’s the only alternative available to us if indeed we’re going to have a political settlement.”

This is an interesting verbal construction to parse not just because one of the architects of a highly ambitious peace plan is confessing to Congress that he has no intention to “vouch” for his own architecture. And not just because people have been sitting down at tables for five years trying to arrive at an understanding about what Syria is going to be.

So far the yield of those sit-downs has been 470,000 dead; tens of thousands confined to torture-room prisons; half the population internally or externally displaced; and half a million of the latter category living as refugees in Europe, where far-right, anti-Muslim political parties aligned with, or financially dependent upon, the Kremlin are now thriving, much to Moscow’s propagandistic delight.

No, what made this testimony remarkable was that it was the first time Kerry crept right up to acknowledging the reality of a catastrophe he has hitherto treated as the subject matter of an academic symposium.

“Syria,” properly speaking, no longer exists. The nation-state cobbled together a hundred years ago by the great powers, albeit with borders periodically rejiggered since, is FUBAR and will henceforward remain a balkanized set of cantons or fiefs ruled by a panoply of antagonistic sectarian insurgencies, proxies, and terrorist organizations—some elements, including the one residing in the presidential palace in Damascus, adequately meeting the definitions for all three categories. And it really doesn’t matter if every last Sukhoi fighter jet, Scud missile, and barrel bomb gets put away on Saturday, when the truce is set to commence.

I say that because the best-case scenario for Kerry’s last-ditch, now-don’t-hold-me-to-this prescription for ending a modern and globally transformative holocaust is that war actually continues, only against the “right” targets, namely al Qaeda and ISIS. These are the two U.N.-designated terrorist organizations not party to or expected to abide by the ceasefire. Their spoiler potential for provoking others to violate the terms of the agreement is enormous, as both militancies collectively boast an order of battle greater than that of the mobilized Syrian Arab Army.

As Andrew Tabler, a Syria specialist at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, puts it, the central dilemma is gauging what constitutes success for Kerry’s quixotic program.

“Is the bar that fewer people are dying or is the bar that more people are fighting terrorism?” If the latter, then how do you accomplish that when every security agency of the executive branch believes that Russia is not going to stop bombing the anti-Assad opposition so as long as it can claim it is only hitting terrorists, the Kremlin’s abiding lie since September 30, when it started bombing?

Yes, the Russian Air Force does go after Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s minions on occasion, whenever they dare to interdict Russian- and Iranian-abetted regime advances against other rebel groups, as they are currently doing in Aleppo. On the whole, however, Putin’s air war, as the US-led coalition now concludes, has allowed ISIS to acquire terrain where the opposition had previously prevented it from doing so. The best the U.S. has done by way of deterrence is a ceasefire the U.S. thinks is a dud.

Then there are the terms of the truce, whereby the U.S.-backed Free Syrian Army has exactly two options in the likely event that any of a multitude of actors decides to attack it. It can forbear, or it can pick up its guns and start shooting again, in which case it risks being bombed by…the United States. No, really. According to Hadi al-Bahra, the former president of the U.S.-midwifed Syrian Opposition Coalition, Kerry spelled out the consequences for noncompliance: “We are clear, if you don’t choose to be part of [the ceasefire] then you are choosing to perhaps make yourself a target.”

If the prospect of the U.S. Air Force waging airstrikes against its own assets sounds like the foreign policy of M.C. Escher or Kurt Goedel, then consider what has occurred only a week before the ceasefire is set to go into effect.

As BuzzFeed’s Mike Giglio reported this week, the FSA-aligned Furqa al-Sultan Murad battalion, an anti-Assad faction that has received weapons from the CIA for the purpose of fighting the regime, was recently attacked by the People’s Defense Units, the Kurdish militia that represents the Pentagon’s primary ground force in going after ISIS. The People’s Defense Units have now been accused by the British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond of coordinating not just with the coalition but Russia and Assad.

Why? Because apart from seeing all Sunni Arab rebels as little more than helpmeets or cutouts of jihadists, the Kurds have a barely concealed ulterior motive: the construction of their own proto-state or autonomous region stretching across northern Syria from Aleppo to Hasakah province, including many villages and towns where Arabs constitute a plurality. Non-Kurds with guns who feel otherwise stand in the way of that project, and so must be disarmed, brought to heel, expelled, or eliminated.

Continued.....REALLY worth the complete reading of this article.

[CrowBat]

Does this make any sense to any SWJ reader....?

UN parachute 21 tons aid supplies into regime hold parts of #DeirEzzor city
Note: They have an airbase

BUT WAIT 21 tons to an Assad town but no much of anything else yet to Sunni towns (total of 470K) besieged by Assad/Putin/Hezbollah and Shia militia STILL has not occurred...aid is being held up in fact by Assad forces in a number of locations and not allowed through...ALL for show it appears.....as the UN does not officially complain about the aid being stopped by Assad nor does Putin say a single word......
To make few things sure here:
- Like Palmyra, Dayr az-Zawr is a staunchly anti-Assad city;
- Assadists are besieging the local population much more so than the Daesh; to their luck, people living in areas held by the Daesh (as far as they are still there), at least have something to eat;
- Whatever the 'UN' drop there, ends in Assadists hands - just like earlier air-drops by Russians and Iranians.

I.e. this is another farce for the purpose of having an excuse. 'We tried our best'.

[OUTLAW 09]

Michael Weiss ‏@michaeldweiss

Kerry's floated "Plan B" for Syria looks an awful lot like the administration's "Plan A." My take:
http://thebea.st/21iiMVs

[B]Does Obama Want to Carve Up Syria?

Hassan Hassan
‏@hxhassan
A MAJOR failure: 30,000 civilians are fleeing the US allies (Kurdish-led SDF) to live under ISIS after latest push
http://syriadirect.org/news/in-battle-for-one-corner-of-al-hasakah-30000-displaced-move-south-toward-islamic-state-territory-amidst-fears-of-sdf/#.VsyUezUVZgg.twitter …

[OUTLAW 09]

If this is the tone coming out of the second largest NATO military provider...the next US President is going to have to dig themselves out of one heck of a deep cave if he or she ever can.....

This is a direct result of "Obama standing by"........

http://www.politico.eu/article/turkey-gives-up-on-obama-syria-deal-cease...

Turkey gives up on Obama, bristles over Syria deal

Rogue actors fill vacuum that Ankara says was Made in USA.

By

Roy Gutman

2/25/16, 5:30 AM CET


ISTANBUL — The Russian-American agreement on a partial cease fire in Syria, hailed by President Vladimir Putin as a “real chance” to stop the war, got a wary welcome this week in Turkey, whose government fears that Moscow will exploit the deal and continue with its bombing campaign to redraw the battlefield of Syria in favor of Bashar Assad’s regime.

It’s not only distrust of Russia, which according to Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus has completed 8,000 sorties since October, nine-tenths of them directed against the moderate opposition and civilian targets, and only a tenth against the fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Adding to doubts about Moscow’s intentions in Syria is the fact that the accord goes into effect on Saturday, more than two weeks after the U.S. and Russia announced there would be a cessation of hostilities. “Apparently the Russians had some things to do on the ground,” said a senior Turkish official.

Then there’s the loophole that allows Russia — or the U.S.-led coalition — to continue bombing ISIL and Jabhat al Nusra, the Al Qaeda affiliate, whose fighters are mixed with moderate rebels in Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province.

And, above all, the skepticism about the cease-fire deal reflects the Turkish ruling establishment’s loss of confidence in Moscow’s negotiating partner in Syria — Washington. Officials in Ankara say they doubt the U.S. has the political will to see that this or any other agreement is upheld.

After nearly five years of watching Washington fumble the Syria crisis, Turkish officials say they are giving up on the Obama administration and will await its successor to craft a strategy for sorting out the Middle East’s expanding conflict.

Echoes of 1914

Continued......

The relentless Russian bombing of cities, towns, villages and farms to prop up the Assad regime’s tenuous hold on power has killed at least 1,500 civilians, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR). In February alone, the bombardment displaced more than 75,000 civilians in the war-wrecked country, according to the U.N. Refugee Agency.

The deliberate destruction of health facilities — 27 since October by SNHR’s count — schools, markets, camps for the displaced, even olive groves, has driven an enormous number of refugees into makeshift tent camps on Turkey’s border. The border has now been closed to all but the sick and wounded.

Were Ankara to reopen it, another surge of refugees would flow in, many of them heading to the coast to find boats and rafts that would take them to Greece and then onward.

In Syria itself, the array of foreign and Syrian fighters now under Russian and Iranian direction — Lebanese Hezbollah, Iraqi militias, Afghan Hazaras and a Syrian Kurdish militia — are in a position to close all exits to Turkey and block Aleppo, where 250,000 people reside in rebel-held territory, leading possibly to siege, starvation or even genocide.

And with so many actors on the battlefield cloaking their true intentions while issuing misleading or contradictory statements, many observers see a parallel to 1914, with any number of opportunities for a minor mistake triggering a war between Russia and Turkey.

That moment seemed close in mid-February. A Kurdish militia that the U.S. had supported in battles against Islamic extremists switched patrons, and backed by Russian warplanes captured an airbase, a strategic town and several villages and was heading towards the border town of Azaz.

In a brazen advance, the People’s Protection Units or YPG not only dealt a major blow to Western- and Turkey-backed rebels that were safeguarding a supply route from Aleppo to Turkey, but pressed their own stated goal in the war: To unite separated Kurdish enclaves in northern Syria into a single unit, the nucleus of what its parent organization in Turkey, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, views as a future Kurdish state to be carved out of Syria and Turkey.

Ankara swiftly demanded the YPG abandon the territory it had claimed and began shelling the militia across the international border.

The U.S. State Department’s evenhanded response — admonishing both Turkey and the YPG and calling on both to back off — infuriated Ankara. “The only thing we expect from our U.S. ally is to support Turkey, with no ‘ifs’ or ‘buts,’” snapped Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu on February 20.

The YPG halted its advance on Azaz, but it’s unclear for how long.

The increasingly bitter tone of the dispute with Washington — President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at one point, “Am I your ally, or are the ‘terrorists’ in Kobani?” in a reference to the YPG’s stronghold — shows how out of synch the two NATO allies have become.

President Obama’s proclivity to disengage from the Arab world, his tilt towards Iran (the main regional rival for U.S. allies Turkey and Saudi Arabia) and his announced “pivot” towards Asia are no doubt factors in the falling out with Ankara.

Also a factor is Obama’s broader goal to avoid entanglement in another Middle East conflict, a reflection of the popular revulsion to his predecessor’s war in Iraq.
Whatever the reason, U.S. policy has been marked by frequent shifts in tackling Syria.

‘Change your attitude to Russians’

Continued......

America’s alliance with a Kurdish militia that Turkey views as a threat to its territorial integrity and Washington’s daily praise of the fighters’ prowess on the ground may have encouraged the YPG to use the war in Syria to carve out a Kurdish state. The biggest strategic error in Turkey’s view was the U.S. refusal to step up support for Arab opponents of the Assad regime after the Russian intervention on the side of government forces.

Continued.....

“We are trying to understand what the Americans are trying to do,” said the official, who asked to speak anonymously so he could be more frank.

Another official spoke even more bluntly, suggesting the Obama administration was pursuing a course of appeasement. Ankara’s message to Washington is that Russia has carried out devastating airstrikes “thanks to your consent,” said this official. And the Turkish admonition is that if the U.S. wants a political solution in Syria, “You need to change your attitude toward the Russians.”

Officials in Turkey, which last year saw a long truce with the PKK end, bitterly criticized U.S. support of the YPG. Their message was: “What you are doing is not reasonable or consistent, nor compatible with alliance relations. You cannot continue doing this.”

But the U.S. response is “nothing much,” the official said. “They try to evade the conversation.” That apparently “is the current policy line of the Americans up to the elections.” In response, Turkish policy will be focused on “damage control,” the official said.

U.S. officials tell their Turkish counterparts that they are powerless to rein in the YPG, this official added. “They say, ‘We are telling them to withdraw from the areas they took,’ and they say, ‘they don’t listen to us.’”

A change in the U.S. position seems unlikely. On the rare occasions that he speaks about Syria, President Obama avoids harsh criticism of Russia and uses the language of friendly persuasion. “If Russia continues indiscriminate bombing of the sort that we’ve been seeing, I think it’s fair to say that you’re not going to see any take-up by the opposition,” he told reporters in California on February 16, referring to the peace negotiations in Geneva.

When Russian aircraft destroyed a hospital in Maarat al Numan on February 15, the U.S., unlike Britain and France, refused to call it a war crime. Médecins Sans Frontières, the French NGO that supported the hospital, said four air-to-ground missiles fired in two salvoes destroyed the hospital, with a precision that military observers said only Russians are capable of showing.

The State Department waffled about the violation of humanitarian law. “There’s a very precise legal definition of what constitutes war crimes. I’m not going to get into that from the podium,” said spokesman Mark Toner. “What I will say is it’s absolutely horrific what they’ve done and they need to stop.”

He also refused to confirm that the YPG had advanced thanks to battlefield collaboration with Russia. “We’ve seen no connection whatsoever,” Toner told reporters in Washington. Nor would he affirm that the YPG also receives support from the government of Syria, which has publicly acknowledged doing just that. “No comment,” he said.

Syria’s breakdown, Turkish complicity

The credibility gap in official U.S. pronouncements on Syria is not new. That makes it a lot more difficult to repair U.S.-Turkish relations.

Turkey has made its share of mistakes in the Syria crisis. When the U.S. restricted its aid to rebel forces to allow them to survive but not topple the Assad regime,

Continued......

In Turkish eyes, U.S. mistakes make up a catalog of avoidance — first America allowed a vacuum to take hold and then empowered rogue actors, Iran and Russia, to fill it.

Continued.....

“Oh America. You did not say ‘yes’ to a ‘no-fly zone.’ Now the Russian planes are running wild over there, and thousands and tens of thousands of victims are dying,” Erdoğan said last week. “Weren’t we coalition forces? Weren’t we to act together?”

[OUTLAW 09]

As predicted #Assad insists on bombing #Daraya during ceasefire. Now #FSA @south_front_sy demands it's inclusion:

Southern Front, one of Syria's key rebel coalitions, says it won't uphold US-Russian brokered ceasefire if regime excludes suburb of Daraya.

So maybe Assad does not like a Sunni anti Assad enclave 6kms from his palace??????

Good morning #Daraya!
#AssadTerrorism, 6 km south of his palace.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWs7yMzPbfs …
#Damascus #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

Footage
#YPG / #SDF in #Shaddadi after the capture from #ISIS.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU_EPmVt870 …
#Hasakah #Syria

Then recapture by IS......

News
Russian air strikes on #Inkhil in #Daraa province continue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSynPK-k_CI …

BREAKING: Reports that Syrian government forces have recaptured Khanaser in #Aleppo from #ISIS...not confirmed though by field reports.

[OUTLAW 09]

If this is the tone coming out of the second largest NATO military provider...the next US President is going to have to dig themselves out of one heck of a deep cave if he or she ever can.....

This is a direct result of "Obama standing by"........

http://www.politico.eu/article/turkey-gives-up-on-obama-syria-deal-cease...

Turkey gives up on Obama, bristles over Syria deal

Rogue actors fill vacuum that Ankara says was Made in USA.

By

Roy Gutman

2/25/16, 5:30 AM CET

Appears that Erdogan has basically now written off the US and Obama and especially NATO until the next election and whoa if it is Trump we all are in trouble in Europe...
but that is another story....

BREAKING: Turkish PM says "we support Syrian truce but when it comes to #Turkey's security, it will not be binding for us - @CNNTURK_ENG

Turkey has already defined for the US in recent statements exactly what they view their national security to entail....and what they view as a threat to that national security....MUCH has have the Saudi's WHO have remained actually extremely quiet over this Russian/US "peace drive"....

TURKEY FM: "#UAE & #SaudiArabia military forces arrived #Turkey and expecting it's warplanes to land today"

This after there are some reports unconfirmed that Russian, SSA and Shia militias ie Hezbollah and Iraqi Shia militias have edged as close as TWO kms from the Turkish border in some areas.

Large number of #RUSSIA & #SAA soldiers mercenaries terrorists in #Latakia cs #Turkey - #Syria Borders, in about 2 km of lines
FEB 24

AND Obama "is standing by"......

[OUTLAW 09]

Actually an interesting move if correct......as UAE will play a role together with KSA if the Saudi's make a move.....

YEMEN: #UAE pulls out ground troops from #Yemen - @MiddleEastEye

[OUTLAW 09]

Footage
Rebels shell #YPG position in the N-W #SheikhMaqsoud quarter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkl8ujADaSk …
pic.twitter.com/XMPM8Le8VH

Frontline verification
Pro-#Assad propaganda that #YPG took entire "Bani Zaid" is NOT true
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hCa0tytFyU … pic.twitter.com/afIADXapFv

But it is very true that the militia tries to expand its territory control beyond the Kurdish Sheikh Maqsoud quarter vs. none-jihadi rebels.

[OUTLAW 09]

So Russian MoD claims to not be bombing hospitals, schools, mosques and food markets THEN this today seems to indicate they simply are lying..... Fourth time an IDP camp has been hit with Russian GRADS......

BREAKING
Massacre in the #IDP Camp aftermath #SAA/#RUSSIA Grad Rockets targeted the displaced civilians
#Latakia cs #Syria FEB 25

Casualties reported in a Russian/Assad MRLS attack on the Sfayat IDP camp near the Turkish border in rural #Latakia a few hours ago. #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

SAA mortars targeted civilians houses in the besieged #Moadamiyah_alSham
#Damascus #Syria FEB 25

WELL so much for that so called UN humanitarian aid for the Sunni besieged arears...NOW this......

SAA shelling IRAM rockets targeting the besieged #Moadamiyah_alSham
#Damascus #Syria FEB 25

RUSSIA airstrikes on #Kobtan_alJabal
#aleppo cs #Syria FEB 25

RUSSIA airstrikes targeting #Tel_Masibin now
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 25

RUSSIA airstrikes targeting #Kafr_Bisin now
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 25

RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Anadan, #Haryatan & #Hayan towns
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 25

More PTAB-1-series submunitions in Syria, probably dispensed from an RBK-500 cluster bomb.

[OUTLAW 09]

2 martyrs so far and 6 wounded victims of #SAA terrorists shelling on #Qaboun neighborhood
#Damascus #Syria FEB 25

RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Khan_Alsaal
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 25

Regime shelling in Yarmouk camp. #Syria

RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes on #Teir_Maela..
#SAA barrel bombs not enough for killing innocents there..
#Homs cs #Syria FEB 25

#RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting the Farms areas of #Tel_Mawtoq
#Daraa cs #Syria FEB 25

#SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Khan_alSheikh
#Damascus cs #Syria FEB 25

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Joubar neighborhood
#Damascus #Syria FEB 25

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Ein_Terma
#Damascus cs #SYria FEB 25

SAA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Erbeen
#Damascus cs #Syria FEB 25

RUSSIA airstrikes targeting #Inkhil now, the 8th airstrikes so far since earlier morning
#Daraa cs #Syria FEB 25

#RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Urum_alKoubra village
#Aleppo cs #SYria FEB 25

RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Deir_Hafir town
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 25

#RUSSIA warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #alHamouz, #Ghrnata & #Kissin villages earlier
#Homs cs #Syria FEB 25

#SAA helicopters dropped barrel bombs over #Teir_Maela earlier this morning
#Homs cs #Syria FEB 25

RUSSIA airstrikes targeting #Inkhil now, the 8th airstrikes so far since earlier morning
#Daraa cs #Syria FEB 25

[OUTLAW 09]

Rebels stormed #SAA positions at #alDura fronts
#Latakia cs #Syria FEB 25

FSA destroyed #SDF ammunition depot & 14mm MG pick up in outskirts of #Tel_Refaat,number of it's mercenaries killed
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB25

Evidence of #YPG consolidating positions on main road #Tell_Rifaat-Ayn Daqnah by erecting new barriers. N. #Aleppo

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat...this will interest you...concerns the Russian Syrian Express...appears that the Russian Army is now having to haul fuel all over the battlefield...this is the first reported sighting of military fuel tankers on their Syrian Express ships and the first use of a commercial RORO......

Either that or Russia is preparing to send in a larger military force with armor and IFVs....these fuelers are often seen in eastern Ukraine where the Russian army has over 500 tanks and over 800 IFVs....

This is how unarmed/unarmored support vehicles are sent to Syria; On civilian cargo ships. A.Tkachenko on Bosphorus

There are 9 highly flammable (огнеопасный) liquid tank trailers along with approx 25 trucks on top deck of Tkachenko

NOTE: being carried on a commercial RORO...evidently their own fleet is incapable to either carrying them or this does indicate more troops are coming.......

The obviously military cargo vehicles on a commercial RoRo is a resourceful way of Russia expanding its supply lines

BUT the RORO is filing false end destination data which is highly illegal in the shipping business....

Russian government chartered RO-RO continues to file false AIS data, Supposedly Limassol-bound but going to #Tartus


Commercial RoRo Ship Alexandr Tkachenko with Trucks and Fuel Trailers on board
https://youtu.be/Yzr7laEif1c

[OUTLAW 09]

ProAssad info warriors failed again...they claimed this morning to have retaken the town but it is still under IS control......

Map
Day 3 of the #ISIS cut-off of the #Hama-#Aleppo highway near #Khanaser.
#Syria
pic.twitter.com/FHgGEXjZmP

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat...this will interest you...concerns the Russian Syrian Express...appears that the Russian Army is now having to haul fuel all over the battlefield...this is the first reported sighting of military fuel tankers on their Syrian Express ships and the first use of a commercial RORO......

Either that or Russia is preparing to send in a larger military force with armor and IFVs....these fuelers are often seen in eastern Ukraine where the Russian army has over 500 tanks and over 800 IFVs....

This is how unarmed/unarmored support vehicles are sent to Syria; On civilian cargo ships. A.Tkachenko on Bosphorus

There are 9 highly flammable (огнеопасный) liquid tank trailers along with approx 25 trucks on top deck of Tkachenko

NOTE: being carried on a commercial RORO...evidently their own fleet is incapable to either carrying them or this does indicate more troops are coming.......

The obviously military cargo vehicles on a commercial RoRo is a resourceful way of Russia expanding its supply lines

BUT the RORO is filing false end destination data which is highly illegal in the shipping business....

Russian government chartered RO-RO continues to file false AIS data, Supposedly Limassol-bound but going to #Tartus


Meet FLOT's recently purchased & converted commercial ship Kazan-60 This's the 1st pass we spotted, not nec. her 1st pic.twitter.com/TqlZcKgzos

On closer examination almost all cargo is armored vehicles. Here is the front row in full res I shot. 3 or 4 trucks all covered by desert camo netting

Russian Navy Kazan-60 top deck cargo close up.
pic.twitter.com/2InxzIoQgo

Video of her crossing is to be posted later......

[OUTLAW 09]

So Russian AF commits no "war crimes" in their deliberate air strikes on hospitals and schools........a hospital was hit today and NOW this school was hit and initial reports of children killed...........

BREAKING
#RUSSIA airstrikes targeted School of #Kobtan_alJabal, killing 2 children so far
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 25

[OUTLAW 09]

Appears Russia is not accepting the fact that FSA is not on the no air strike list based on the newest Russian peace truce interpretation.....US is again out in the cold or they simply do not care.......

RUSSIA consecutive airstrikes on #Marea, 9 airstrikes so far
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 25

Syrian army battles Daesh for third day near key road
http://bit.ly/1KLCeCL

[OUTLAW 09]

Reuel Gerecht: Obama's reorientation in the Mid-East is the most extreme test of trasnatlantic relations since WW2.
https://youtu.be/2qjg4rgj_wg?t=50m28s …

Over hour long but well worth listening to........

Hassan Hassan ‏@hxhassan
ISIS & Kurds
http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/sudden-retreats-dont-mean-that-isil-is-defeated …

Syria Deeply: Truce
http://www.syriadeeply.org/articles/2016/02/9687/expert-view-significance-aleppo/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat......concerning the VBIED attack on the Russian HQs.......

Hassan Hassan ‏@hxhassan
The original report says "dozens were killed or wounded", which could mean anything from one killed & others wounded
http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Report-Dozens-of-Russian-generals-in-Syria-killed-after-a-car-bomb-hits-their-military-base-445975 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Nearly 230k starving under Assad & Hezbollah siege in #EastGhouta & #Madaya. Another 300k about to in #Aleppo yet..

AND yet the first 21 tons of UN aid WENT straight to an Assad area...WHY was that??????

If true this will provoke Turkey big time....
YPG comrades following Assad army footsteps in Arab/Turkmen occupied villages.

More than 60 Iranian supported Shia militias now inside Syria....up from 30 several weeks ago......

Rebels B9 target #Assad army position in municipality tower inside #Aleppo
https://youtu.be/z8ihb9nG4Yc

[OUTLAW 09]

Formal confirmation of Saudi troops and planes now in Turkey.....was initially carried via social media

CNN Trk ENG ‏@CNNTURK_ENG
#BREAKING Saudi war planes and troops arrive in Adana's İncirlik base #Turkey

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat....some interesting comments from a Russian commenter with close ties to Moscow.....your opinion?????.

Great article by @Russia_Direct explaining Assad's discontent with the ceasefire -
http://www.russia-direct.org/opinion/does-assad-really-want-ceasefire-syria …

I’m hearing something very interesting: Russia allegedly intentionally allowed ISIS to capture Khanasser-Ithrayya road &divide Syrian forces

Now that the Syrian Army is "humiliated" Moscow will help retake control of the area.

Goal is to make Assad understand that without Rus military support he'll lose in no time. Moscow is unhappy about Assad's recent outbursts

If truce sticks in Syria, Russia will reduce military presence in the country and Assad doesn't want this to happen
http://www.russia-direct.org/opinion/does-assad-really-want-ceasefire-syria …

CrowBat...from our favorite proAssad commenter:

Elijah J. Magnier ‏@EjmAlrai
Nice joke. And Russia allowed 13 #Iranian Special Forces to be killed. No "Assad forces involved 2be "humiliated".

THEN this comment is extremely interesting and goes to the potential failure...
Yury Barmin ‏@yurybarmin · Feb 22

Yury Barmin
The agreement on ceasefire in Syria won't stick unless it specifically tells Russia what targets it can/can't attack

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat....some interesting comments from a Russian commenter with close ties to Moscow.....your opinion?????.

Great article by @Russia_Direct explaining Assad's discontent with the ceasefire -
http://www.russia-direct.org/opinion/does-assad-really-want-ceasefire-syria …

I’m hearing something very interesting: Russia allegedly intentionally allowed ISIS to capture Khanasser-Ithrayya road &divide Syrian forces

Now that the Syrian Army is "humiliated" Moscow will help retake control of the area.

Goal is to make Assad understand that without Rus military support he'll lose in no time. Moscow is unhappy about Assad's recent outbursts

If truce sticks in Syria, Russia will reduce military presence in the country and Assad doesn't want this to happen
http://www.russia-direct.org/opinion/does-assad-really-want-ceasefire-syria …

CrowBat...from our favorite proAssad commenter:

Elijah J. Magnier ‏@EjmAlrai
Nice joke. And Russia allowed 13 #Iranian Special Forces to be killed. No "Assad forces involved 2be "humiliated".

THEN this comment is extremely interesting and goes to the potential failure...
Yury Barmin ‏@yurybarmin · Feb 22

Yury Barmin
The agreement on ceasefire in Syria won't stick unless it specifically tells Russia what targets it can/can't attack

CrowBat....the Russian commenter is also indicating that the rebels must sign a document that they are part of the truce.....is this maybe what the Russians were talking about yesterday about "signing peace documents" with various groups....NOWHERE is that being mentioned in the Kerry/Lavrov press conference nor by the HNC.....

This is coming from a Russian commenter who has reasonably good Moscow contacts.....

Yury Barmin ‏@yurybarmin · 6h6 hours ago
This is the document rebel commanders in Syria need to sign to be part of the ceasefire.

[OUTLAW 09]

This is going to get really really interesting in the coming days.....

TASS 
‏@tassagency_en
Moscow accuses Turkey of hiding illegal activity near border
http://tass.ru/en/politics/858903 …


MOSCOW, February 25. /TASS/. Turkey is trying to hide illegal activities near the border with Syria by denying a Russian observation flight over its territory, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

"Ankara had no right to deny the observation mission over its territory," she said. "Its refusal indicates the Turkish side’s intention to hide some kind of activity that takes place in the areas over which a Russian aircraft was to fly."

The diplomat drew attention to the fact that Ankara argues that Moscow’s statements on illegal activities near the Turkish-Syrian border were groundless. "It was a great chance to dot the i’s and close the issue," Zakharova said.

"The fact that we were refused means that there is something to hide and we know what is hidden," she said. "We constantly talk about it."

Deployment of Saudi jets to Turkey does not contribute to enhancing confidence

The deployment of Saudi fighter aircraft to Turkey does not contribute to confidence building around the situation with the cessation of hostilities in Syria, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman went on to say.

"This issue [the deployment of Saudi military aircraft to Turkey — TASS] is the issue of relations between the two countries. Let’s take two categories as a premise," Zakharova said. "Firstly, do they have the right to do so? They do. Secondly, what is the purpose of this [move]?"

"We are now dealing with resolving the complex regional crisis. To achieve a truce we need confidence," she said. "Do such steps contribute to confidence building? Of course, they do not."


So now Russia wants to be part of the Saudi and Turkish decision making process...since they admit that both countries have the inherent right to do what they want to do....if one really reads the PR correctly.....

Secondly the Russian FM makes the statement ...we need confidence...BUT what about the constant violations of and failed implementation by Russia of Minsk 2 and their constant statements "they are not killing civilians" when the whole world knows differently...SEEMS to be they have a serious "creditability issue" and yet they attempt to divert attention from themselves and point the finger at others...typical Russian propaganda hard at work.....

BTW Russia constantly is illegally hiding their own military and heavy weapons inside Ukraine AND openly refuse OSCE the right to monitor all of the areas they occupy.

First class hypocrisy.......

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat....the Russian commenter is also indicating that the rebels must sign a document that they are part of the truce.....is this maybe what the Russians were talking about yesterday about "signing peace documents" with various groups....NOWHERE is that being mentioned in the Kerry/Lavrov press conference nor by the HNC.....

This is coming from a Russian commenter who has reasonably good Moscow contacts.....

Yury Barmin ‏@yurybarmin · 6h6 hours ago
This is the document rebel commanders in Syria need to sign to be part of the ceasefire.



Russia doesn't support Assad regime, we're defending Syrian sovereignty & fighting terror: FM spox
http://www.rferl.org/contentlive/live-blog-syria-islamic-state-isis/27363628.html?liveshare=84408#featured …

[OUTLAW 09]

BUT WAIT Russia wants to install highly accurate and detailed digital cameras for their US requested flights which were and or have never been approved...which was not foreseen in the original Open Skies Treaty.

AND Russia has not implemented certain OST limits on their cameras and or limited a number of areas the US cannot fly over in Russia .....


MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
#Zakharova: Actions of Turkey should raise concerns over the viability of the Open Skies Treaty
http://bit.ly/1WKYkpy | @RusEmbTurkey

Typical Russian hypocrisy hard at work....

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia just keeps on telling other countries what they should and or should not be doing.....

MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
#Zakharova: We hope the #UK will act & make statements based on the Russia-US Statement on #Syria | @RussianEmbassy

Evidently they did not like the UK statements that Russia will continue bombing just about anyone they want...which is actually true based on today's bombing targets.....

[OUTLAW 09]

Nice to see the actual Russian strategy now for Syria and yet the Obama Wh did not see this coming.....???? They had mentioned this initially when they entered Syria then parked it on the back burner......

MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
#Zakharova: The anti-terrorist coalition in #Syria must include the Syrian army, the Syrian patriotic opposition and the Kurdish forces (Lead naturally by the Russian Army)

Excellent way to keep Assad in power as he himself recently stated until 2020 and at the same time agitate the Turks....

[OUTLAW 09]

The German MSM BILD strike fears into the hearts of the Russian FM...countering Russian info warfare on page one has become a specialty of theirs lately as they cover Russian actions in Syria, Ukraine and now Russian propaganda aimed at Germany.

MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
#Zakharova: Strangely, but our German colleagues do not regard the leading German media anti-Russian rhetoric as biased

MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
#Zakharova:We're perplexed by German officials saying that activities of Channel One Russia are allegedly “biased”
pic.twitter.com/joOETabTIS

[OUTLAW 09]

From Saturday on, there will be no more #Assad bombing raids on civilians in #Daraya.
Not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTxa4RJRk50 …

Sir Mahmoud showing destruction of previous airstrikes then #RUSSIA bomb again #alLataminah
#Hama cs #Syria FEB 25

RUSSIA airstrikes on #alBab now..
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 24

SAA airstrikes targeted the School of #alMarj
#Damascus cs #Syria FEB 25

SAA helicopters dropped barrel bombs over #Teir_Maela
#Homs cs #Syria FEB 25

Non-stop barrel bombs on #Darayya..
#Damascus #Syria FEB 25

Children victims of #Assad #SAA airstrikes on #Zamalka
***TERRORIST TARGET***
#Damascus cs #SYria FEB 25

SAA shelling targeting al-Hara city, Daraa cs
http://syria.liveuamap.com/en/2016/25-february-saa-shelling-targeting-alhara-city-daraa-cs- …

[OUTLAW 09]

#YPG mocking salah inside Masjid of #alShadadi
#Hasaka #Syria FEB 25
..

BUT WAIT is this not the US supported and funded Kurdish proxy that was suppose to be attacking IS BUT instead attacked Arab Sunni's....

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat......have you noticed that the parliamentary elections called by Assad for 13 April have not be refuted by either the Russian and or the US......

AND in Damascus one is seeing the first election placards spring up....

AND here is the Assad loophole....

Assad said on Saturday he was ready for a ceasefire, on condition that opposition forces he describes as terrorists did not use a lull in fighting to their advantage, and that countries backing insurgents halted support for them.

that is not about to happen thus he and Putin can continue to attack FSA using this loophole.....

[OUTLAW 09]

You have got to be kidding me is all I can say .....that is what happens when you use a Russian contracted aircraft and Russian loadmasters.....instead the US C130s and US loadmasters


Really suspect it all landed inside the Assad military areas.....

SYRIA: UN says entirety of 21 ton food aid drop to Deir ez-Zour was lost or damaged.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/entire-21-ton-syria-food-aid-drop-lost-or-damaged-n525521?cid=sm_tw&hootPostID=dc38ace8ab08035e8896eddb48b2f4d6 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Meet FLOT's recently purchased & converted commercial ship Kazan-60 This's the 1st pass we spotted, not nec. her 1st pic.twitter.com/TqlZcKgzos

On closer examination almost all cargo is armored vehicles. Here is the front row in full res I shot. 3 or 4 trucks all covered by desert camo netting

Russian Navy Kazan-60 top deck cargo close up.
pic.twitter.com/2InxzIoQgo

Video of her crossing is to be posted later......

Kazan-60 Russian Navy Cargo Ship Close-up video
https://youtu.be/xKe5pWmdL0A

[OUTLAW 09]

Michael Weiss ✔ @michaeldweiss

I wrote in October that Russia's intervention was helping Isis.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/10/08/russia-s-giving-isis-an-air-force.html …

I may have very slightly gloated about this yesterday
https://twitter.com/KyleWOrton/status/702587807932485637 …

Know the feeling. I can only shout "#Syria is just Algeria but worse" from the rooftops so many times....

Ahem. I noticed it in October. Was trolled by those who will a) now ignore this, b) call IHS a CIA front.

Finally MSM starts to notice the obvious ....

ISIS attacks spike in Syria with help from Russian air cover, report says
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/02/24/isis-attacks-spike-in-syria-with-help-from-russian-air-cover-report-says/?postshare=3011456413849096&tid=ss_tw …

[OUTLAW 09]

FSA says no ceasefire without Daraya. Assad dropped 50 bombs on Daraya today.
http://youtu.be/3UF3agvRUHk
https://youtu.be/e6nR-1aCqxY

Everyone except Putin and Assad knows neither IS nor JaN is positioned anywhere inside Daraya....

No ceasefire without #Daraya. Our #FSA stronghold in W#Damascus. Over 200kms away from #daesh & no nusra presence there. It must be included

Appears that Russia and Assad do not really care what the US agreed to and if one notices the US really does not complain does it????

Pro regime people say #Ahrar will not be included by #Russia but attacked. That's not what #US agreed to.


Appears SAA is trying to torpedo the latest Russian US agreement...or is it really how Russian will actually implement the agreement????


On Wednesday, Syria's army said it would exclude an important rebel bastion near Damascus from a ceasefire set to begin at the weekend because rebel forces there include jihadists. According to the agreement announced by the US and Russia, the truce does not apply to jihadists from the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) or al-Qaeda's affiliate, al-Nusra Front.One-fifth of rebel fighters in Darayya are al-Nusra militants."The Syrian army is committed to the decision of the Syrian leadership when it comes to the ceasefire, which will not include areas where al-Nusra Front and Daesh [ISIS] are fighting," an army general said. "Therefore, Darayya is not included in the cessation of hostilities agreement, because al-Nusra Front is one of the factions inside the town," he said. The general estimated between 1,000 to 2,000 anti-government combatants remained in the town. Darayya is the largest rebel bastion west of Damascus where fighting is still taking place, said Rami Abdel Rahman, the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) monitoring group. "It's an essential opposition stronghold that has been out of regime control for nearly four years," Abdel Rahman said. [AFP, AP, 2/25/16]

NOTE: and it is 6kms from the Assad palace which is probably the truer reason......


Even the top proRussian commenter pointed out that this was the loophole in the Russian plans....that in the end lea to a Russian failure.

[OUTLAW 09]

That awkward moment when the guy writing most of the ISIS OPSEC guides has an exposed Facebook account. What is Arabic for "epic fail"?

[OUTLAW 09]

AND Russia precision air strikes are not killing civilians.....think again.....another hospital hit an another family lost.......

SAMS @sams_usa
Our condolences 2 SAMS's Dr. Kaddeh for the loss of his wife & son. Both were killed yesterday in airstrikes #Syria
pic.twitter.com/ezfZbyqgTz

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria #YPG militia banned @RudawKurdi network in #Kobane pic.twitter.com/QY6oT5OMNU

Syria: Liwa Dir' al-Watan: new pro-Assad militia in Damascus that overlaps w/ Iraqi Shi'a militia Liwa Dhu al-Fiqar
http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/liwa-dir-al-watan-a-new-pro-assad-militia-in-damascus/ …

It's been pointed out that the GRAD boxes say "Country of Origin: Bulgaria". More Bulgarian weapons for rebels.
pic.twitter.com/g2A7MPa9Ar

Good news, despite massive bombardment, mujahideen retake Tel-Hadadah. #Lattakia.

RUSSIA Parachuted Bomb fell in #Meskin_Hanano neighborhood
#Aleppo #Syria FEB 25

Isis carried out suicide-car bomb explosion targeting #SAA convoy in #khanasser
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 25

FSA destroyed #SAA terrorists Tank in #Darayya fronts
#Damascus #Syria FEB 25

RUSSIA "mistakenly" carried out airstrikes targeting #SAA terrorists positions in #Aleppo cs
#Syria FEB 25

Martyrs and wounded reports victims of #SAA shelling Grad Rockets in #Douma
#Damascus cs #Syria FEB 25

SCD collecting more #RUSSIA RBK-500 PTAB-1M Cluster bombs in #Urum_alKoubra village
#Aleppo cs #SYria FEB 25

SAA shelling with Grad Rockets
#Damascus cs #Syria FEB 25
Stay safe my brother @FirasAbdullah_7

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat......can you confirm any of this Kerry statement.......but against that the Iraqi Shia militias climbed from 30 to 60.....

Kerry: "Iran's Revolutionary Guards withdraws from Syria in large numbers"

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria : New stuff at "Latakia Air show" .
RuAF' UAV "Outpost" (Israel' "IAI Searcher Mk.II" )
pic.twitter.com/qhCFwXpPzF

[OUTLAW 09]

Fred Hof: "[Putin's] aim is to create an Obama-Assad handshake and get the West to pay for it all."

"…[Obama's] five-year failure to protect a single Syrian inside Syria from Assad’s campaign of mass extermination"
http://goo.gl/6XxSfP

On cusp of planned Syria cease-fire, details on monitoring remain unclear
http://wpo.st/PdPF1

"[DEF SEC Ashton Carter] doesn’t want to play ball with the Russians at all, no question about that." Understandable, in the circumstances.

[OUTLAW 09]

Really worth the reading of this Hof article....

http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/syriasource/washington-and-moscow-a-secret-handshake

February 17, 2016

Washington and Moscow: A Secret Handshake?

By Frederic C. Hof



In the midst of a Russian military offensive, a suspended peace conference, and an escalating humanitarian catastrophe, the idea that all of this unfolds in accordance with a secret understanding between Moscow and Washington finds fertile soil in which to take root. It is probably by now an article of faith among most, if not all, Syrians: pro and anti-Assad regime people alike. And although the secret handshake thesis is not the product of idle conspiracy mongering, it is false nonetheless.

In a very real sense the notion of a bilateral, great power understanding on Syria reflects among its believers something resembling grudging respect for the United States. The reasoning seems to be that Russia would not have dared to risk sinking altogether the Vienna peace process it co-chairs without a green light from the United States—the other co-convener of the International Syria Support Group.

The motive assigned to Washington for this alleged betrayal is not altogether otherworldly: it is that the Obama administration allegedly wants Syria out of its in-box for the year-minus left to it. So (or so the reasoning goes), to the extent that Russian military actions force the Syrian opposition to submit to a national unity government deal that keeps Bashar al-Assad in power throughout an open-ended “political transition” phase, the Obama administration can consign a relatively quiet, Assad-dominated western Syria to its successor with a relatively clear conscience. And it can continue the air war against the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) in eastern Syria.

This hypothesis assumes the willingness of the Obama administration to accept the mother of all foreign policy humiliations: crawling back to Bashar al-Assad for the sake of the battle against ISIL. There may be little or no sentiment in Congress or the general public for pushing back against Russia or making it hard for Assad to exterminate Syrian civilians in wholesale numbers. Still, anything resembling an accommodation with Mr. Assad would expose President Obama to a painful, bipartisan political caning that could dominate his final months in office.

Yes, there is something passive-aggressive about American political culture that may not always translate coherently abroad. Members of Congress who lined up to vote against Mr. Obama’s request to authorize military strikes in the wake of Assad’s largest chemical atrocity (in August 2013) would be among the first to pillory him if he tries to make common cause with the barrel bomber he had called on to step aside in August 2011. And it would not just be Republicans. Already pieces of the president’s Democratic base are breaking off because of his administration’s nearly five-year failure to protect a single Syrian inside Syria from Assad’s campaign of mass extermination: a campaign producing genocide-like results in Syria while flooding the neighborhood and Western Europe with refugees.

It might have been one thing for the administration to tolerate endless processes for the sake of getting to noon, January 20, 2017. But Moscow had a vote. Are believers in the green light thesis also willing to believe that Secretary of State John Kerry was complicit in seeing a peace conference sunk; a conference for which he had twisted arms and offered assurances on ceasefires and civilian protection? It seems that some opposition figures who felt pressured by Mr. Kerry to show up in Geneva are comfortable now with the notion that it was all an act—that the fix was in with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov all along.

For a Syrian sitting in Aleppo waiting to join one million of his countrymen under siege, denied the basics of food and medical attention, the question of American intent in all of this rests somewhere between academic and irrelevant. For them the bottom line remains the bottom line: an American administration willing to rescue Yazidis and Kurds from an ISIS onslaught does nothing—absolutely nothing—to protect Syrian civilians from mass homicide undertaken by an Assad regime supported by Iran and Russia. For over ten million Syrians driven from their homes, for tens of thousands rotting in regime prisons, for the countless maimed, terrorized, and traumatized over the past nearly five years, the secret handshake scenario is either obvious or uninteresting. Two-hundred thousand dead Syrian civilians would, if they could, agree.

Still, the secret handshake argument is wrong. Yes, Barack Obama’s failure to afford any kind of protection to Syrian civilians is beyond regret. But he is not the cause of Syria’s agony, and he does not see Russia as the cure. Indeed, he is on the record—most recently on February 16—decrying Russia’s intervention. “The question is, how can we stop the suffering, stabilize the region, stop this massive out-migration of refugees…end the violence, stop the bombing of schools and hospitals and innocent civilians, stop creating a safe haven for ISIS. And there’s nothing that’s happened over the last several weeks that points to those issues being solved.” And he further stipulated that “Russia has been a party” to the shattering of a country that Assad “was willing to shatter.” This does not have the ring of secret collaboration.

What matters is what “we”—the United States, its allies, and its partners—do to counter the homicidal, ISIL-abetting actions of Russia, Iran, and the Assad regime in western Syria. It is not enough to chide Mr. Putin about intervening in Syria as “a testament to the weakness of Assad’s position.” It is not enough to give him Dutch uncle advice about considering the cost of “a country that’s been completely destroyed as an ally that [he] now has to perpetually spend billions of dollars to prop up.” And it is not enough to counsel him that, “What would be smarter would be for Russia to work with the United States and other parties in the international community to try to broker some sort of political transition.”

Mr. Putin does not care a tinker’s dam about Syria, its people, or his miserable client. He will invest not a kopek in the country’s reconstruction. Syria for him is a tool to humiliate Washington, harm the West, and proclaim—mostly for the benefit of a misgoverned domestic constituency—the return of Russia to greatness. Preserving Assad—pure poison for the fight against ISIL—is the key to his goal. His aim is to create an Obama-Assad handshake and get the West to pay for it all.

As an American I am willing to listen to Syrians and others who are deeply angered and aggrieved over what an administration—one in which I once served—has done and failed to do with respect to Syria. Some hard words—incompetence and naïveté, even stupidity and cowardice—are acceptable, even as they hurt and offend. But complicity is untrue. And it is unacceptable.

The kind of cooperation Barack Obama and his Secretary of State seek from Russia requires an end to Russian support of and participation in an Assad regime policy of eradicating human beings. As of now they depend entirely on Mr. Putin’s decency and goodwill. It is precisely this that must change. Otherwise the practical, on-the-ground difference between operational complicity and principled, intellectual disagreement will remain as it is right now: negligible.

[CrowBat]

CrowBat......can you confirm any of this Kerry statement.......but against that the Iraqi Shia militias climbed from 30 to 60.....

Kerry: "Iran's Revolutionary Guards withdraws from Syria in large numbers"
No trace of confirmation for this - and I really couldn't imagine this happening (even if, say, Russians would replace these 35,000-40,000 IRGC-run troops that are in Syria, with those two brigades supposedly about to deploy there).

Even with all of its PMCs, and new NDF/Hezbollah units (established last year), regime has at best about 70,000 combatants - which is not enough alone to hold all the frontlines, not to talk about conducting offensive or defensive operations of any sort above battalion-level.

With other words: that would mean a complete and instant collapse for all of regime's positions in northern and most of south-western Aleppo, large parts of Eastern Ghouta, and probably in Sheikh Mishkin-Dera'a too.

[CrowBat]

...and to illustrate how many IRGC-run units are around in Syria meanwhile: it's about 60.

Repeat: 60.

That's more than double their number from back in November (and I still don't have full designations of something like 15 of them).

If I add newly-established Hezbollah/Syria units, many of which are run by Iraqi officers seconded from gangs like Abu Fadl al-Abbas, Hezbollah/Iraq etc... well, it's not getting any better.

Sound 'withdrawal'...

(After this, conclusion is on hand: gotta find a similar equivalent to 'Keystone Cops in Moscow' - for Oblabla and that gang of clowns in the White House.)

*************

EDIT: Sure, some of insignia in question are no 'units', but organizations like IRGC, Hezbollah/Lebanon, or Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas Movement and Mehdi Army. I.e. 'groups' that run multiple units deployed in Syria. But sigh... that's 4-5 such groups. Rest are their units.

...which in turn means that my estimates for their troop strength are too low too. Sure, some of them have only 400-500 combatants, but more than half certainly has at least 1000, some 2000+. So, let's say 'average' figure is at around 800 'or so'. Multiply that with, say, 55... that's 44,000 (not 30,000 as thought until now).

...or nearly two times as many as there are Daesh - in Syria AND in Iraq (at least according to newest assessments of the US intel, which say '25,000 top').

And now imagine: what these 44,000 could achieve if they - plus Russians - would fight Daesh, instead of fighting a sectarian Jihad against Syrians in Syria...

[OUTLAW 09]

#FSA & Faylaq al-Sham reportedly destroyed several #YPG Kurdish militia pick-ups around Ayn Daqna vlge north #Aleppo

No UN aid yet to these locations which was an inherent part of the so called Russian US CoH pan.......

Nearly 230k starving under Assad & Hezbollah siege in #EastGhouta & #Madaya. Another 300k about to in #Aleppo yet..

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat.....asking for your opinion on this......

From Berlin this morning.....

In German:
Der hssliche Clown ist aus der Kiste!
Russland erklrt 90% des Rebellengebiets zur zum legitimen Ziel.

Translated...the ugly clown is out of the box...Russians declared 90% of the rebel territory as legitimate air strike targets.

Russian disinformation and propaganda has spent the last two days explaining over and over that JaN is everywhere and controls the 90% thus they can attack...same argument is being used by Assad.....AND thus ME analysts that know Syrian well are pushing back calling the Russian information complete lies.....

AND the US...silence total silence....silence and more silence.....

So does this sound like the FSA is not going to be the direct target of the RuAF again and why then would the FSA/HNC accept the CoH?

Especially since virtually no UN humanitarian aid has not made it to any besieged towns as per the Kerry statements of seven towns getting aid an a part of the CoH.....

In my not so humble opinion both Turkey an the Saudi's knew this would happen and are steadily moving forward.......thus e sudden announcement yesterday of both Saudi troops and AC arriving in turkey and the UAE pulling out of Yemen announcement ALL at the same time....

[OUTLAW 09]

Yesterday there were continuous cyber attacks on the Saudi's from Bulgaria, Iraq and Syria......this morning they are exceptionally stronger than the normal ranges seen yesterday.

Why Bulgaria........appears the Syrians are using a number of compromised servers at a Bulgarian hosting site....

A new attack route appeared this morning.......Morocco alternating with Algeria via Turkey then into KSA.

[OUTLAW 09]

News
51 people were killed by #Russia and #Assad on Thursday across #Syria. 10 of them children, 2 women.
- LCC

AND Russia is not deliberately bombing and killing civilians as their MoD and FM repeatedly claim.....

Evidence
It was a #RUSSIAN Su-24 that bombed towns in #Daraa province today (red stars).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYqRIImagKo …

[OUTLAW 09]

Footage
#FSA TOW vs. #YPG troops, occupying #TallRifat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIceAD8ZIW4 …
#Aleppo #Syria

Footage
The #FSA in #Latakia hits a pro-regime position with the "Fagot" ATGM.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzKZjafTFMc …

[OUTLAW 09]

.@mod_russia does not consider North Aleppo part of ceasefire and will keep bombing it.
http://eng.syria.mil.ru/en/index/syria/news/more.htm?id=12079277@egNews …

Russia is now using anti tank cluster munitions on civilians as well....
More #Russia anti-tank Cluster Bombs targeted civilians found in #Anadan yesterday FEB 25
#Aleppo cs #Syria

YPG info warfare now against Turkey....so who stated in the Obama WH that YPG is not part an parcel of PKK...stand up and be counted......

Pro #YPG using victims of Russia airstrikes in their cheap propaganda against turkey..

Russia|n airstrikes targeting rebel towns in #Aleppo all day (Hraytan, Tal Rifa’at, Ma’arat, Babis, Kafr Bisin, Anadan, Hayan)

Russia warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting #Khan_Aalsal
#Aleppo cs #Syria FEB 26

When UN can't airdrop food to besieged civilians in Madaya, Daraya/Moadamiyah but attempt at giving Assad army then u know they're a joke

And naturally the RuAF does not bomb hospitals.....
nurse trapped for 8hrs under the rubble of the #MSF hospital in Maraat al Numan that was destroyed by Russia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TThzXkTemgU …

[OUTLAW 09]

For those interested in IS/AQ info warfare.........

switched ‏@switch_d
Jihadist forums and Cloudflare, as of 25FEB2016
pic.twitter.com/2ls0v4RPYx

It is extensive and the US and EU/NATO efforts have not even put a dent in it as it works the social media and the western answer to the agility of social media is throwing large government agencies and US Corporations and defense contractors at it.....who are inherently always slower...that will never work....

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian military tactics in Syria are actually those practiced in both Georgia 2008 and in Chechnya.....

#Syria: Under #Russia's fist - deliberate targeting of civilians
http://wp.me/ppCFZ-ca5 via @im_PULSE

AND the Obama WH certainly did not realize Putin would do this right????

And these are the Syrian Kurds a US proxy in #AynDaqnah fighting the #FSA ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nEOpVG2zTk … pic.twitter.com/Ig12au0N76

Footage
#FSA vs #YPG in #TallRifat last night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_Qm0ag88zA …
pic.twitter.com/t3k29hXchW