Russian Syrian Express is on the move again......
ВМФ #ЧФ Ropucha class LST Azov 151 completed Bosphorus transit & entered Marmara en route to Mediterranean 13:30GMT
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Russian Syrian Express is on the move again......
ВМФ #ЧФ Ropucha class LST Azov 151 completed Bosphorus transit & entered Marmara en route to Mediterranean 13:30GMT
Statement: #FSA forces would respect the 72 hours #EidAlFitr ceasefire but would fight back if attacked.
BUT WAIT...did not Assad state there is a ceasefire for 72 hrs.....
It is worth to mention that Assad airstrikes reported on Hama, Aleppo & Latakia countrysides today despite the ceasefire announced.
A big convoy of regime forces was seen moving from Aleppo to Salamiya, probably heading towards Lattakia
The site where Jaish Islam seized several #Osa Systems: from Air Defense Base to agricultural settlement, E. #Ghouta
Jaish Al-Nasr dismantled several IEDs in S. #Idlib countryside.
Newspaper: "Nesawissimaja Gaseta" Negotiations between #Turkey & #Russia about military overflight rights to #Syria
#NATO?
Airstrikes by #Israel on financial directorate in #Quneitra's
Madinat al-Ba'ath - #Hezbollah inside?
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=33...80618&z=15&m=b …
Great pro-#Assad propaganda piece from Daraa by @TheRobertFisk for the @Independent.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...-a7121596.html …
Aleppo today
CAREFUL #RussianAirstrike hit charity kitchen preparing meals for #EidulFitr.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2ocXDCNtUc …
More #footage
#Assad-free #Idlib (though largely controlled by islamists) prepares for #Eid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bjuanC2SR8 …
Seeing women's dresses it becomes clear that most horror stories about "Burkas only in Nusra areas" are BS.
Their grip isn't that strong.
More #footage
Eid al-Fitr in #FreeAleppo
A vivid metropole #Assad&#Putin want to annihilate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wyliPUcMgg …
"Ghost town"?!
"Only rebels left"?!
Forget all the #Assad propaganda.
#FreeAleppo this eve!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-qERUhamzs …
Footage
The free & peaceful city of #Binnish in #Idlib province shortly before Eid al-Fitr.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nra3NTxtnDA …
Well, that last MiG-23 is not entirely 'confirmed'. That is: there is a pilot named Ali Shawkat Soleiman, but he's still alive. If any other was KIA, then there are no orbituaries (none for Soleiman, either); and, if any was captured, then nobody is reporting that. Indeed, even the JAI officially denied to have shoot down this MiG...
So, it's a very unusual case.
Here my write-up of all the claims and confirmed Assadist losses in aircraft and helicopters of the last two weeks, and reported, as well as possible reasons:
Syrian Rebel Missileers Are Wreaking Havoc on Bashar Al Assad’s Air Force
U.S. jets abandoned Syrian rebels in the desert. Then they lost a battle to ISIS.
Very important read.
http://wpo.st/Yk_k1
Breaking. Fatah Halab commander claims Rebels repelled fierce assault from pro-Assad forces on #Mallah & set up ambush w/ IEDs in #Handarat.
Rebels launched surprise raid & took Safa barrier from Hezbollah in W. #Qalamoun, seizing 2 tanks/57 mm cannon. Airstrikes & clashes ongoing
Jaish Al-Islam claimed it took out several armours with #ATGMs & seized back some positions on Midaa front, E. #Ghouta.
2 weeks after launching offensive to besiege Rebel-held #Aleppo, pro-Regime forces renewed fierce assaults on S. #Mallah & Layramoun area.
Jaish Al Islam claims to have destroyed 7 Tanks in the past 48hours in Damascus...
Idlib : Three dead and several other civilians are wounded after #Russian warplanes made five thermobaric missile attacks on #Jisr_Shughur.
FSA Army Mojahidin inspecting the fronts in Aleppo
https://yallasouriya.wordpress.com/2...onts-in-aleppo …
SHAM Legion Infographic of military operations during Ramadan
https://yallasouriya.wordpress.com/2...during-ramadan …
Joureen Army Base A stronghold of Assad’s Killing Machine
https://yallasouriya.wordpress.com/2...illing-machine …
Sham Legion denies to hand over Daesh defectors to Turkey and their countries
https://yallasouriya.wordpress.com/2...heir-countries …
Aleppo update : Assad’s attack failed
https://yallasouriya.wordpress.com/2...-attack-failed …
Unexploded vacuum missile dropped on Anadan
https://yallasouriya.wordpress.com/2...pped-on-anadan …
Unexploded missile in Anadan|pics
https://yallasouriya.wordpress.com/2...-in-anadanpics …
A powerful explosion followed by violent fire inside the Petrochemical compound in Maashur #Iran Losses= $millions
Apparently a terrorist attack on the plant......Apparently a group in Ahvaz was behind it, protests are flaring again
This @KyleWOrton reconstruction of Saddam Hussein's global terrorist legacy is really good.
Really really worth reading....a lot of information not really talked about much in the Us ...especially concerning the 1993 first attack on the NYC Twin towers......
Long read.....
Donald Trump is Wrong (Again): Saddam Hussein Supported Terrorism
By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on July 6, 2016
Quote:
Last night Donald Trump unburdened himself of the view that Saddam Hussein was an efficient anti-terrorist operator. It is a statement Trump has made before, and it is one of such staggering ignorance—yet one which has such wide sympathy—that it seemed worth examining the multiple ways in which it was wrong.
Trump and Saddam
Trump’s praise for Saddam having “made a living off killing terrorists” in February followed a statement in December 2015,
“Saddam Hussein throws a little gas, everyone goes crazy, ‘oh he’s using gas!'” Trump said. Describing the way stability was maintained in the region during that time, Trump said “they go back, forth, it’s the same. And they were stabilized.”
One might wonder if the use of chemical weapons of mass destruction against the Iranians during the eight-year war Saddam started can really be called “stability,” and the genocidal use of such weapons as part of the Anfal campaign that murdered at least 100,000 Kurds hardly seems to have helped regional stability either.
Trump’s exact statement from last night was:
Saddam Hussein was a bad guy … really bad guy. But you know what he did well? He killed terrorists. He did that so good. They didn’t read them the rights. They didn’t talk. They were terrorists. It was over. Today, Iraq is Harvard for terrorism. You want to be a terrorist, you go to Iraq.
Christopher Hitchens used to say that anyone who would content themselves with saying only that Saddam Hussein was “a bad guy” did not know anything about that man, his regime, or Iraq, and that rule can be safely said to hold in this case. It does accidentally contain a truth, however: If you “want to be a terrorist, you go to Iraq,” was in fact a well-known maxim for international terrorists for many decades.
A Long Trail of Murder
Sabri al-Banna (Abu Nidal) had many paymasters and agendas in his career as the most infamous international terrorist before Usama bin Ladin, but in preparation for that career and then for long stretches of it he was sheltered by Saddam. Hitchens met al-Banna in 1976 in Iraq, where he threatened Said Hammami, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) representative to Britain and a moderate who had publicly promoted a two-state solution long before it was acceptable in Palestinian politics. Hammami was struck down in London on 4 January 1978 by a member of the Abu Nidal Organization (ANO). This was just one of many crimes Saddam enabled al-Banna to commit.
Al-Banna departed Iraq to Assad’s Syria in 1979, but returned to Saddam’s realm in March 1982, after he had acquired the moniker of “the Arab world’s foremost terrorist.” It was from Baghdad that al-Banna attempted to murder Shlomo Argov, Israel’s ambassador to London, sparking Israel’s invasion of Lebanon to dismantle the PLO’s state-within-a-state—and doing great damage to the strategic standing and military of Saddam’s great rival in Damascus that had heretofore had almost unchallenged primacy over Lebanon.
A wave of assassinations and attempted assassinations then followed from the ANO against Jordanian, Kuwaiti, and Emirati officials. There is every reason to believe that the attacks against Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates especially were, at the least, encouraged by Saddam since those two states were making overtures to normalize their relations with the Iranian revolution that Saddam was then at war with.
Al-Banna departed Iraq again in November 1983—though parts of his organization remained there—and again put himself at the service of Hafez al-Assad. Though the Assad regime is now presenting itself as a victim and opponent of terrorism, before geopolitical amnesia set in the regime was known for carrying the near-unique attribute of having sponsored terrorism against every single one of its neighbours. Assad’s bugbear in the mid-1980s was Jordan—which was showing dangerous signs of making peace with Israel—so al-Banna was directed to blow up her diplomatic outposts and murder her diplomats, which he duly did from India to Spain.
Al-Banna would, in 1987, take up residence in Muammar el-Qaddafi’s Libya—another bizarrely lamented government (including by Trump) whose record as a global, long-standing state-sponsor of terrorism has been clumsily revised—where al-Banna ended up massacring most of ANO’s members after being deceived into thinking his organization was riddled with spies. Al-Banna was reported to be in Egypt in the summer of 1998, and finally came back to Iraq in December 1998. The curtain finally came down for al-Banna in August 2002: a suicide, reported Saddam’s regime, wherein he had shot himself three times in the head.
Muhammad Zaydan (Abu Abbas) led the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) and directed the taking of hostages aboard the Achille Lauro on 7 October 1985. During the assault, the PLF shot and killed the wheelchair-bound Leon Klinghoffer because he was a Jew, and threw his body overboard. When Italian authorities caught up with Zaydan they had to release him because he was travelling on an Iraqi diplomatic passport—despite being neither Iraqi nor a diplomat. Zaydan moved to Saddam’s Iraq and remained there until he was captured five days after the fall of Saddam’s regime.
In April 1993, Saddam tried to murder former President George H.W. Bush with a car bomb during his trip to Kuwait, using Wali al-Ghazali, who had taken part in the Shi’a uprising in March 1991, as a cut-out to give the regime plausible deniability. President Bill Clinton ordered airstrikes in retaliation.
Islamic Terrorism
It might be felt that this record, bad as it is, doesn’t exactly contradict Trump because this terrorism was not Islamist or jihadist in nature. Not to fear: Saddam supported Islamist and jihadist terrorism, too—a lot.
Saddam’s regime supported the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood (SMB) from when they initially rebelled against the Assad regime in 1976. Al-Banna was even tasked with training Syrian Ikhwans in camps at Hit, in Anbar Province. One man trained in these camps—which evidently operated even after al-Banna departed the country—was Ahmed Barodi, who later resided in the U.S. before being deported partly for these ties. In the wake of the crushing of the SMB rebellion in 1982 at Hama, Saddam took in the survivors—the “most radical” ones anyway (many others went to Europe), including Eddin Barakat Yarkas and Mustafa Nasar (Abu Musab al-Suri). Yarkas became a roommate of Mohamed Atta—the lead death pilot on 9/11—and was swept up in Spain after the 9/11 massacre, later convicted of helping to plan and finance that atrocity. Nasar went on to become probably the greatest strategist in the Jihadi-Salafist world, a guide for both the Islamic State (IS)* and al-Qaeda.
Continued.....
Ever wonder what those Obama/Rhodes WH "moderate Iranians are up to these days"?????
How about that? Iran's already-high level activities to procure nuclear and missile technology got even higher.
In German.....German Defense of the Constitution equal to say the British MI5.....clearly stated Iran still wants their nuclear bomb.....
http://m.bild.de/politik/ausland/ato...ildMobile.html
Ehab Al Atrash, Assad's spy, was captured in Istanbul.
http://www.haber7.com/guncel/haber/2...ulda-yakalandi …
http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...-on-syria.html
Al Qaeda Reaps Rewards of U.S. Policy Failures on Syria
Charles Lister 6/7/2016
Unless America addresses the chaos Assad has wrought, it can’t stop the rise of jihadism in Syria.
Quote:
Warfare and diplomacy are intrinsically linked, except when it comes to the Obama administration’s policy on Syria. While a negotiated settlement remains the only viable pathway out of the Syrian crisis, currently existing facts on the ground do not in any way allow for a meaningful process, let alone a solution. As things stand, there is no reason for Bashar al-Assad to view a political process as anything less than a game in which to taunt and kill his adversaries, while compelling his allies to double-down in defense of his regime.
Nevertheless, the principal benefactor of Assad’s survival is not Assad, nor Russia, Iran, Hezbollah or even ISIS—it is Al-Qaeda. Having spent the past five years embedding itself within broader revolutionary forces and strategically choosing to limit and very slowly reveal its extremist face, Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra is reaping the rewards of our failures to solve the Syrian crisis. According to sources close to the group, al-Nusra has accepted more than 3,000 Syrians from Idlib and southern Aleppo into its ranks since February alone. That is an extraordinary rate of recruitment from within a territory roughly the size of Connecticut.
It is desperately unfortunate and painfully ironic that for increasing numbers of Syrians, Al-Qaeda appears to have been a more loyal protector of their lives than the United States. Civilian protection is therefore key, and widespread perceptions of the moral bankruptcy of U.S. policy on Syria in this regard has unquestionably and directly stimulated Al-Qaeda’s growth. Even our fight against ISIS has provided an opening for Al-Qaeda, which exploits the fact that most of our chosen anti-ISIS partners maintain an ambiguous relationship to the Assad regime and an open one with Russia. Our fight against the scourge of ISIS is indeed securing us consistent gains, but these are tactical gains fought in such a way as to produce long-term secondary sources of instability that Al-Qaeda will chiefly exploit.
Enough is enough. It is not sufficient to wait for a new administration in 2017. Events are unfolding too quickly and ISIS is far from the only issue needing urgent resolution. Based on its current trajectory, the conflict in Syria will almost certainly continue and indeed worsen, lasting for a decade or more. Extremists on all sides will benefit the most, meaning we will face an Afghanistan on steroids, on Europe’s borders. ISIS may be defeated territorially in the near-term, but it will live to fight another day. Al-Qaeda meanwhile may come to represent a terrorist actor far more intelligent, more deeply rooted and offensively capable than anything we have faced until now.
While it remains feasible to defeat ISIS in Syria independently from attempts to solve the country’s broader crisis, Al-Qaeda’s fate is intrinsically linked to the conflict’s outcome and how it ends. Moreover, unlike ISIS, undermining and ultimately defeating Al-Qaeda in Syria cannot and should not be done primarily through military means. Russia has consistently pushed for a bilateral campaign against Jabhat al-Nusra alongside the U.S. Air Force and though this is still some way off from being realized, it is being actively considered by President Obama. Far from being helpful, this is precisely the wrong thing to do. Jabhat al-Nusra’s entire modus operandi has been designed to insure itself and ultimately benefit from just such a scenario.
At the end of the day, Al-Qaeda has increasingly thrived in Syria due in part to two realities: consistent conflict, instability and the regime’s unchallenged mass killing of civilians; and an insufficiently supported mainstream, moderate civil, political and armed opposition. If and when reversed, these two factors could come to represent Al-Qaeda’s greatest and likely crippling vulnerabilities.
To challenge the first reality, the U.S. has an opportunity to grasp back some credibility by prioritizing a determined and if necessary, aggressive protection of civilians. Whether through the creation of limited ‘safe’ or ‘no-bombing’ zones along border areas, or through the use of punitive strikes to punish the bombing of civilian, humanitarian or medical facilities, the U.S. must demonstrate a willingness to draw more discernibly upon its might to punish war crimes. An escalatory menu of ‘softer’ options—expanded sanctions, naval interdictions in the Mediterranean, or challenging Syria’s role within the UN General Assembly—could be considered prior to military action, although these take time, which we do not necessarily have.
While military action does indeed carry with it risks, pre-warning Moscow of such plans would minimize any chance of counter-escalation, while realistically, Russia has absolutely no interest in, nor a capacity for entering into a war with America. It is long past time to call Vladimir Putin’s bluff. After all, beyond its aggressive military actions in Syria, Russia’s biggest investment has arguably been in exploiting its bilateral relationship with the U.S. in an attempt to acquire an outward appearance as a ‘constructive partner’ in solving Syria. Russia will not be shooting down American jets or cruise missiles anytime soon, especially if our targets are non-critical regime infrastructure.
Consequently, by using civilian protection as a mechanism for limited and targeted aerial intervention, the U.S. would simultaneously contribute towards saving human lives; de-escalating the most deadly aspect of Syria’s conflict and providing a more stable environment in which the moderate civil opposition could thrive. Most importantly, the Assad regime will lose its principal source of escalation, while its backers will face less reason to stand so aggressively by his side. Paired with hard diplomacy, such conditions would be at least more potentially favorable to lead towards meaningful negotiations. In September 2013, merely the threat of limited punitive U.S. strikes sparked a temporary collapse of regime confidence in Damascus, as dozens of figures fled to Beirut with their families. It is by no means unthinkable that a similar situation could be replicated.
To challenge the second reality, the U.S. must acknowledge that while the vetted opposition is far from perfect, they remain the best and only viable option on the table for securing a mainstream Sunni Arab role in Syria’s future and undermining Al-Qaeda’s pseudo-revolutionary narrative. There are currently at least 50 such vetted opposition factions across Syria, who have received assistance through the CIA’s covert ‘Timber Sycamore’ program since late-2012. Such assistance has only ever been enough for each faction to sustain a role within Syria’s complex conflict dynamics. That it has never been sufficient enough to produce genuine moderate opposition dominance is exactly what has allowed Al-Qaeda to step in so strongly. To continue our current policy of providing ‘just-enough’ support to the vetted moderate opposition means nothing short of indirectly enabling Al-Qaeda’s continued growth.
This must change. While weaker than some conservative Islamists, all 50 vetted opposition factions remain deeply rooted within the exact Syrian communities we need most to reject extremist alternatives. Using external force to combat Al-Qaeda will feed the jihadist group’s existing narrative, as occurred in late-2014 when U.S. strikes against its forces were quickly labelled by the opposition as “counter-revolutionary” for they served only to weaken opposition lines against the regime. Allowing Assad and his external backers to take the fight to Al-Qaeda would likely have even worse mobilizing effects. The only solution is local and the mainstream, moderate opposition is the only game in town. But the only feasible scenario in which such forces can and would take on their long-time military ally of convenience is if we appeared more assertively ‘on-side’ in challenging the Assad regime’s continued brutality and obduracy in the face of an internationally-backed political process.
Al-Qaeda is not a problem that can be merely contained in Syria. At its current rate of growth, it could feasibly command close to 20,000 fighters by the time a new President steps into the Oval Office. Moreover, the establishment of an Islamic Emirate in northwestern Syria is now very much on the cards. Its creation will bring the initiation of complex and centralized foreign attack planning, from Europe’s doorstep. Letting Syria burn itself out while trying to contain its consequences is not only a fantastical policy, but an astonishingly dangerous one.
Nevertheless, the principal benefactor of Assad’s survival is not Assad, nor Russia, Iran, Hezbollah or even ISIS—it is Al-Qaeda.
Continued....
Russia/Assad announce 72 hrs ceasefire but still attack Layramoon and Kafr Hamra with incendiary munitions in Aleppo
Syrian army fire cuts only road into rebel-held Aleppo: rebels
http://reut.rs/29pVplC
Rebels claim pushed Assad militias back from positions they captured this morning near Castillo only supply road to Aleppo.
Important chart from #ISIS’ latest video, detailing 35 provinces (19 in #Syria/#Iraq) & more…
(via @Rita_Katz)
Negotiated political solution = only viable way out for #Syria but conditions *in no way* amenable to it working.
Need U.S. assertiveness.
Continued mass killing, destruction & chaos overwhelmingly by regime.
Biggest benefactor?
Not #Assad, #Russia, #ISIS or #Iran. It is AQ.
US should prioritize civilian protection, with punitive strikes (#Russia pre-warned) if necessary.
+ Expanded support to vetted opposition.
AQ’s rise in #Syria now an urgent policy issue. But external military action will *not* work.
Only option = the existing local alternative.
Syria|n rebels have captured #Maydaa town in Eastern #Ghouta from the regime today. Dozens of pro-#Assad forces were killed.
Dozens killed in #Assad #Airstrike on #Mashhad #Aleppo as #Civilians were exiting the mosque after #Eid prayers
Footage from besieged Daraya #Damascus shows Assad tanks trying to storm the southern parts.
https://youtu.be/wHMX7tI9OuI
Syria|n rebels have captured #Safa Barrier in #Qalamoun from #Hezbollah, seized 2 regime tanks & killed many #Hezbollah militias
Manbij: #Syria|n woman killed and her children injured by #US drone strike on their house in #Manbij this morning.
DeirEzzor: #ISIS attacking Artillery Brigade's Base and other regime positions around #DeirEzzor Airport since the morning.
Oryx @oryxspioenkop
The moment you just geolocated the Islamic State's main armour workshop in Syria. Judging by satellite imagery, the coalition so far hasn't.
Less than 2km separate #SAA from Capturing #Castlo Road in #Aleppo City #Syria
https://goo.gl/K30VIw
Will the current 'ceasefire' finally cut off #Aleppo city?!
Assad/Putin/Rouhani fight on as the entire west sleeps.
Hit by thousands of #Assad's & #Putin's bombs, the people of #AlGhantu in #Homs stay strong.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGIJfzOrAiY …
Pro-#Assad/YPG propagandists claim "FSA is like Daesh".
Reality in #FreeSyria's #Daraa prov.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTlRfa6Mit4 …
More footage from islamist-controlled #Idlib you wouldn't expect.
Fun for kids @ #Eid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTKXGdy-sWM …
Also in #Idlib province,the butcher's air force kept hitting urban hubs like #Jisr.
GRAPHIC!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uHW9h44c1c …
Footage
#KafrHamra yesterday
The #Assad air force fully ignores its own "ceasefire".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpT8w4_SQCg …
Also this bombing vs. civilians happened just hours after he declared a 3-day ceasefire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZP1a5nX2-g …
Aleppo yesterday.
#Assad promised 3 days of calm.
But the killer did the only thing he can do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbT8yQBNHRM …
Kyle W. Orton @KyleWOrton
So, these maps are awesome from @TheStudyofWar
And anyone maintaining #Russia focuses on #IS is still a fool.
http://bit.ly/29nTwIC
Castillo Road moments ago, via @el_sarkis. Regime/Russia unleashing hell to besiege (& starve) Rebel-held #Aleppo.
PTT-20160707-WA0025.opus
Northern #Mallah farms widely flattened by shelling & airstrikes. 1st pic h/t
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=36....137458&z=17&m …
Aleppo Battle: fiercest clashes ongoing in Arab Sallum ~1.5 km from Castillo road as Rebel counter-attack allowed them to regain some pos.
Footage: pro-Regime shows abandonned section of Castillo road from Khaldiya. Huge airstrikes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJFp__L0p4w …
Russia & Regime unleashing the hell since last night with v. intense airstrikes to try to besiege & starve Rebel-held #Aleppo
Castello Road is completely a military zone right now. The fighting is ongoing as reinforcements have arrived and their are attempts to recapture ++
Mallah Farms, the mujahideen recaptured 2 or 3 of them, but the regime still has an important hill overlooking Castello road so the ++
The situation in Al Mallah for those asking is changing hence no accurate updates, the regime captured the 5 key positions in Southern ++
The group "Hawks of Ahwaz" has claimed an attack on an Iranian petrochemical facility, calls Iran occupiers of Arabs
https://justpaste.it/w0dq
Manbij: #US warplanes have bombed 2 #YPG positions north of #Manbij by mistake today.
Homs: #Russia|n warplanes have bombed #Sukhnah in Eastern #Homs today. Several #Syria|n civilians were killed and wounded.
YPG today: "#Manbij frontlines are still the same for nearly a week"
Reality: #YPG has lost several villages and mountains in this week.
Manbij/#Raqqa: #ISIS stormed a #YPG position east of the #Tishrin Dam and killed 4 #YPG fighters there yesterday evening.
http://europe.newsweek.com/putin-cal...arabakh-478285
Obama and Putin talk by each other........again......
Quote:
Russian President Vladimir Putin phoned U.S. counterpart Barack Obama to discuss Syria, Ukraine and the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The readouts from Wednesday’s conversation published by the White House and Kremlin had some notable differences, with each leader stressing their side on each issue.
According to the Kremlin’s statement, during their discussion on Syria, Putin called on Obama to find a way to separate militant groups from the moderate Syrian opposition in order to continue peace talks. Meanwhile, according to the White House, Obama stressed to Putin “the failure of the Syrian regime” to comply with the ceasefire and urged Russia to pressure its ally towards compliance.
The Kremlin also said that Obama “gave high praise to Russia’s efforts” in regulating the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenian-backed forces in Nagorno Karabakh. The White House makes no mention of this, but instead affirms Obama’s willingness to maintain U.S. efforts in peace initiatives in the region.
The two leaders also appeared to be talking past each other when it came to Ukraine, with Putin insisting the U.S. see the importance of including the Russian-backed separatist groups in dialogue.
Ukraine considers Russia to be behind the separatists so it has repeatedly called for Russian officials to represent the separatist forces in peace talks, while Russia denies this and argues that the dispute is domestic. For that reason Obama asked Putin to ensure the uptick in violence in eastern Ukraine is reversed and Russia implement the ceasefire agreed by all sides last year.
Opposition factions regain full control of Castello Rd, trying to push Regime out of the southern farms of #Mallah area. #Aleppo
Regime militias try to advance in Jabal Akrad by starting clashes pre dawn #Lattakia
Syria|n rebels have killed 27+ #Hezbollah militias and captured some others in #Qalamoun yesterday.
When will the Obama/Rhodes WH realize that just talking with Putin get's them nowhere...Or maybe that is all they really want to do as it then appears as if they are really doing something......
U.S. Embassy Syria Verified account
@USEmbassySyria
.@POTUS stressed the importance of Russia pressing Syrian regime 4 a lasting halt to offensive attacks agst civilians & parties to #CoH
BUT WAIT...Putin was never against IS which is indirectly a direct Russian proxy...it was always about securing Assad in power and destroying all anti Assad forces NOT JaN (AQ) or IS.....
Coalition airstrike on #Manbij
https://youtu.be/cuHeeLWUmLQ http://wikimapia.org/#lat=36.510123&...48620&z=18&m=b …
Obama/Rhodes WH support for the Kurdish YPG/PKK/SDF proxy seems to be out of control with YPG working with Assad regime against the Us semi supported on occasions FSA.
Why I am not surprised, YPG attack Castillo road from Shaikh Maqsoud north Aleppo probably in co. with Assad army offensive in Malah farms.
For Jaish al-Fath, It always has been Aleppo vs. Latakia I guess. Situation in EastGhouta, Latakia and Aleppo is not promising at the moment
Cutting off Ramousah road SW Aleppo seems like a long shot. Rebels should focus on repelling Assad army from the Castillo outskirts first.
The war of supply roads into #Aleppo city. Assad army cut Castillo NW while Jaish al-Fath trying to cut Ramousah SW.
Renewed clashes in Akrad Mountain #Latakia countryside as Assad army trying to recapture positions lost to Jaish al-Fath in the past days.
Assad army supported by Russian airforce advanced to strategic positions in Malah farms north #Aleppo overlooking rebel-held Castillo road.
Russian_Navy's aircraft carrier #Admiral_Kuznetsov is headed to #Mediterranean_Sea, #Syria, 4 MiG-29K/KUB on-board!
Mallah: heavy clashes still taking place in Southern farms bombed with barrel bombs & targeted by #RuAF (report of friendly fire). #Aleppo
Al-Safwah Brigade wiped out with a #TOW a 130 mm cannon in Ramoussah, #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DAsTCtl0KQ …
Heavy clashes btwn Jaish Islam & pro-Assad backed by armor to control Midaa in E. #Ghouta.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXlC0PEKuWs …
Yesterday Rebels seized Safa barrier in W. #Qalamoun, took 14 prisoners & at least a T-55 (+ 1 truck,1 cannon & AKs)
Levantine Group @Levantinegroup
Weeks of shelling put SAA in striking distance of Castello Road; 1 step closer to sieging #Aleppo's rebel-held areas
SDF media interview the same person twice, firstly as a displaced one from Menbij, then as an ISIS militant
New from me at @TCFdotorg: New Syrian Army's near-destruction yet another blow to America's proxy war on ISIS:
https://tcf.org/content/report/suppo...a-nobody-came/
Suppose America Gave a Proxy War in Syria and Nobody Came?
July 7, 2016 — Sam Heller
Quote:
Last Wednesday, the New Syrian Army—America’s best, maybe only, hope to challenge the self-proclaimed Islamic State in its east Syrian stronghold—launched a daring attack on the heart of Islamic State territory.
By Thursday, it had gone wrong.
Islamic State had been waiting, and the New Syrian Army only barely avoided being annihilated by circling jihadists. On Twitter and in an interview with me, the group’s commander, Khaz’al al-Sarhan, railed against his American backers and speculated that his own group may have been infiltrated by Islamic State.
Translation: “Your brothers [only] lost two martyrs – we ask God to accept them – and there are a few wounded. The reason your brothers withdrew was America’s treachery and betrayal of our forces.”
For the United States, it was just the latest in a series of mostly unsuccessful attempts to field a Syrian Arab proxy force against Islamic State. Even after the conspicuous failure of other U.S.-trained units, the United States seems no closer to figuring out how to get Syria’s rebels to fight America’s war.
Near-Disaster in Albukamal
The June 29 offensive was supposed to showcase the New Syrian Army (Jeish Suriya al-Jadid, or the NSA), America’s latest partner in Syria. It is one of several Syrian factions fighting Islamic State (IS, also known by an earlier acronym, ISIS) that have been trained and equipped overtly by the Pentagon and backed by the international coalition America has assembled against Islamic State. The NSA was attacking Albukamal, a key strategic border town in Syria’s eastern Deir al-Zour province that serves as the desert link between Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.
The NSA advanced from its base in the central Syrian desert to Albukamal’s outskirts, where it seized an airfield and set up a base in a local school. But the offensive seems to have been dramatically undermanned. The NSA may have top-of-the-line U.S.-supplied hardware and U.S. air support, but according to sources within the group, it has only about 150 fighters. The day after it arrived in Albukamal with such fanfare, the NSA had been encircled by Islamic State forces.
“Thank God they didn’t use a car bomb on our encircled men,” Khaz’al al-Sarhan told me over social media. “We would have lost a lot.”
The NSA could have been wiped out. “Thank God they didn’t use a car bomb on our encircled men,” Khaz’al al-Sarhan told me over social media. “We would have lost a lot.”
It was only thanks to help from American bombers that the NSA was able to narrowly escape and retreat west to its base. The heavily publicized rebel offensive had completely collapsed a day after it begun. Somewhat miraculously, it had suffered only a handful of casualties—Sarhan told me two had died, although other accounts put the number higher. But the defeat was a blow to hopes that the NSA—or anyone, really—can free the residents of Albukamal and Deir al-Zour from Islamic State.
Iran invited anti-police Us activists In 2015
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...onference.html …
Khamenei already tried to speculate on racial tensions
Heavy fighting between #Syria|n rebels and #YPG now. #YPG trying to capture the Youth Complex to reach Castillo Highway.
Syria PTAB-1M HEAT submunitions recovered near Saraqib.
Unconfirmed.....as of yet....
Palmyra: Reports that #ISIS has shot down a #Russia|n helicopter east of #Palmyra.
Palmyra: #ISIS captured 3 #Assad regime checkpoints east of #Palmyra this evening.
Who killed 1271 Syrian civilians in June 2016?
The @snhr chart gives the answer.
1. #Assad
2. #Putin
3. #ISIS
Some spoils #ISIS made in Shaer gas fields last May, via @SMantoux:
- 7 T-55
- 2 T-62
- 4 BMP
- 1 BM 21
- 1 M46...
Latakia: after initial pro-Regime breakthrough S. of #Kinsabba, Rebels were able to foil multiple axes offensive
Footage: Jaish Tahrir clashing with pro-Regime forces N. of #Kinsabba & claims attack foiled
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgJ19cP4ooo …
Jaish Al-Nasr blew up with a #TOW a pick-up with 23 mm gun on #Mallah front, N. #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjPdCoYndok …
Rebels are still in the outskirts of Al-Rai shelling #ISIS positions near Silos, N. #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gSm2ObkucA …
The upcoming siege of Aleppo proves the world learned NOTHING from Srebrenica, Ruanda and other locations of horror.
If Aleppo gets besieged on the coming days, Western governments bear co-responsibility for whatever happens to the 300K+ civilians.
132 days into the"cessation of hostilities"
60 hours into a "3 day ceasefire"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PTwl4Y9mWs …
No 'jihadi / FSA' shelling can justify YPG's attempt to help besiege eastern Aleppo, encircling 300.000+ civilians.
BUT WAIT.....YPG is the US supported Kurdish proxy....so why is it not fighting IS......
So the German and French intelligence services and who have great experience with the Iranian embargo/sanctions workarounds......
France and #Germany claim that #Iran's ballistic missiles program is violation of "nuke" deal brokered by #Obama. Washington rejects claim.
The Iran Deal strengthened the regime in Iran and made its foreign policy more aggressive.
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/i-used-supp...-wrong-1569480
I used to support the US-led nuclear deal with Iran – I was wrong
Iran's nuclear deal with the US and Europe has made the Middle East more divided, unstable and violent.
Iyad el-Baghdadi
By Iyad el-Baghdadi July 7, 2016 15:22
Quote:
Last week I sent out a tweet about the state of the Middle East after the Iran nuclear deal, in which I argued that the agreement "has made the Middle East a more violent, unstable, and dangerous place".
The tweet – viewed over 35,000 times at the time of writing – engendered many responses, a few in support, but many in outrage: 'How can you be against an anti-war, anti-nuclear, anti-sanctions deal?' they asked. 'Do you not want peace and prosperity for the Iranian people?'
I didn't always feel this way about the Iran deal. Although I had occasional doubts, I was mostly supportive, even optimistic. I had never bought into "nuclear Iran" scare stories, considering them to be warmongering propaganda. I had never believed that the Iranian regime was close to having nuclear weapons, and that even if it had them it would ever use them.
I understood the Iranian regime's core need as a need for international legitimacy – this is a regime that was born in 1979 ringed by enemies, and almost immediately engaged in a devastating and prolonged war (with Saddam Hussein's Iraq) that sought to uproot it. The regime, I understood, needed the deal for the same reason it needed the nukes: To ensure that its existence was no longer threatened.
But I also never saw the deal to be simply about nuclear weapons vs sanctions – I consider that view rather myopic. Put in its historical and geopolitical context, the deal is about more than just the lifting of sanctions. It is about the final legitimisation of the Iranian regime and the normalisation of its relationship with the world as an acceptable and valid partner.
My optimism about the Iran deal was based upon two main reasons - the first being the potential economic and political liberalisation it would bring, and the second being the belief that it would catalyse a wider regional drive to reduce violence and war.
Economic and political reform
I thought that the momentum created by the lifting of sanctions would be used by Iran's regime reformists to push for economic and political liberalisation. Sanctions rarely change the behaviour of a committed regime and instead punish and weaken society, critically reducing its ability to push against its own regime, and hence leading to entrenchment rather than change.
I had hoped that the lifting of sanctions and the return of foreign trade could create a momentum that can lead to an "opening up" of economic and political space within Iran, allowing civil society and native reformers some breathing space.
I now see I was wrong in that hope.
Iran deal Foreign Minister Javad Zarif Palais Coburg
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif waves from the balcony of Palais Coburg, the venue for nuclear talks, in Vienna(Reuters)
Iran's regime – even its presentable faces – continue to mock those who call for human rights or political liberalisation. In this astounding clip (recorded last month in Oslo), Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif responds to a question posed by an Iranian academic with accusations of "Iranophobia".
It's almost tragicomic and reminds me of sympathisers with the Egyptian regime responding to criticism of General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's dismal human rights record with accusations of "hating Egypt".
Well – perhaps the human rights situation won't immediately improve, but maybe the renewed economic dynamism can lead to an economic liberalisation that can improve the lot of many Iranians? Unfortunately, it now looks increasingly more likely that the prime benefactors of new business contracts will be none other than Iran's Islamic Republican Guards Corps (IRGC), which control an increasing sector of Iran's economy, especially in heavy industry and infrastructure (the very industries that will probably see the first, and largest, business contracts).
The IRGC, created in 1979 to "protect the Islamic system", increased their power during Ahmadinejad's term, and helped crush Iran's Green Revolution in 2009. Their expanding role has led several Iranian friends to comment that their country seems to be gradually transitioning from a theocracy to a military dictatorship. This may seem ironic if not for historical precedents – a force established to protect a ruling establishment, ending up controlling, dominating, and overshadowing that establishment.
In short, I had initially hoped that the Iran deal would give Iran's entrepreneurs, reformists, and civil society at large more breathing space, but I now see that it's more likely that we'll see exactly the opposite, with existing powers entrenching themselves even further.
Reducing war and violence
I was also initially optimistic about the Iran deal due to my belief that it would lay the groundwork for a wider regional agreement that would reduce violence and defuse war.
Iran's regime, as I have mentioned, was under siege for most of its lifetime and regularly threatened with war or regime change. The deal removes the existential threat of a Western-led invasion, in effect giving the Iranian regime immunity against foreign-led regime change. My initial optimism was grounded in a belief that the regime's aggressive foreign policy will become far more moderate if it no longer feels existentially threatened.
Additionally, I thought that the United States would use the diplomatic momentum created by the deal to lead a regional effort to reduce tensions; primarily by getting Iran to help a Syria transition or resolution, and "rebalancing" the region through a US-led Iran-GCC détente. There were some early signs of this, with the UAE's Foreign Minister visiting Iran in late November 2013, after which there was talk about an Iran-UAE presidential summit (which unfortunately never materialised).
I now see that I was wrong about this as well. The region, post Iran deal, has become even more unstable and more violent, due to choices made by both Iran and its regional competitors, the GCC block.
We cannot be prosperous unless we are also at peace, and we deserve better than to be cannon fodder in a regional war.
Iran's foreign policy was not at all tempered by the deal – it only became more aggressive, ramping up support for Syria's Assad and with the IRGC even going to the extent of recruiting and training Afghani refugees to fight in return for asylum for their families. Simultaneously, the GCC countries felt so threatened by the Iran deal that they intensified the regional conflict in Syria, and opened a new front in Yemen.
Whether it's the Iranian regime or the GCC that are more responsible for the increased violence is debatable; but the point stands that the Iran deal contributed to an atmosphere of insecurity, instability, sectarianism and violence. It created a situation which empowered (rather than moderated) aggressive foreign policy among both Iran and the GCC. The Iran deal could have made the region better – but it ended up making it worse.
Is there a better deal?
So what is the alternative? It's commonly argued that to reject the Iran deal is tantamount to advocating war – but I reject this view. The alternative to a short-sighted deal is a better and wider deal, one that is sustainable and that stands to empower the region's societies rather than precipitating further war and empowering tyrants and terrorists.
It is of course too late, in a way – the deal has already been concluded, and the regional situation has mutated and has become far more complex since.
We can only hope that Western players – especially those that played a role in creating the region's mess – would use their diplomatic capital for a better outcome for the region's societies. I say this with bitterness, because the region's own players do not seem to be interested in de-escalation, and seem to find sectarianism the convenient and even pragmatic thing to do.
It is the average Iranian and the average Arab who will suffer the most in an atmosphere of rampant terrorism, sectarianism, and war. We cannot be prosperous unless we are also at peace, and we deserve better than to be cannon fodder in a regional war.
Raqqa: #ISIS fighters killed 23+ #YPG militias east of #Ayn_Issa today as they attacked several villages in Northern #Raqqa.
UN chief calls on Iran to stop conducting missile launches http://abcn.ws/29nF6bG
BUT WAIT....the Russian Syrian ambassador lied again when he stated Assad was not going to attack Aleppo....BUT WAIT Assad did not attack Aleppo...it was the US supported Kurdish proxy YPG/SDF/PKK......
Just how does the Obama/Rhodes WH "spin" this bit of news?????
The @OCHA_Syria euphemism for the developing horrific 300.000+ civ pocket of eastern Aleppo.
http://aranews.net/2016/07/un-relief...r-torn-aleppo/ …
Regime forces have reached the Jurf Al-Sakher area very close to the Castello road,situation is very dangerous
Graphic!
A civilians tried to leave #Aleppo over the #Castillo road.
A deadly endeavour.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDQnrwfu2q4 …
Pro-Assad sources confirm,regime troops + allies from Russia and Iran are in the last stage of besieging Aleppo.
Rebel flank in eastern #Damascus collapses, Syrian Army enters new village: Map
https://goo.gl/HMJhh1
Footage
3 civilians killed, 10 wounded in #Assad/#Putin evening air strike on #Aleppo city.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8DMKccLK0Y …
For those serious SWJ commenters who truly believe that the Obama/Rhodes WH Syrian/Is FP is really working and saving Syrian lives.....
And for those, doubting.
This video only contains the bearable footage ...
Other is much worse (example below) ...
22 civilians killed & 35 wounded in Assad/Putin ballistic missile attack on Darkush
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMO_6K0aXfw …
Madaya today
Newborn child died hours after being born due to malnutrition of mother.
ALEPPO NEXT!
Over the last mins, #RUS war planes attacked the last entrance to #Aleppo with cluster bombs, supporting combined pro-#Assad troops.
Pro-Assad sources confirm,regime troops + allies from Russia and Iran are in the last stage of besieging Aleppo.