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Hezbollah in talks with Nusra to free 3 of its fighters in exchange for Nusra fighters captured in Qalamoun battles.
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/199960 …
Russian Msta-B crews working in Syria. 'Are weapon ready? Fire!'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6ZI...youtu.be&t=54s …
Rebel sniper downs 2 #Assad fighters on the front line of the al-Assad suburb #Aleppo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P2F531mOjQ …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=36...80488&z=14&m=b …
Russia air strike in eastern Syria reportedly kills 33 civilians (including 9 women, 2 kids)
http://bit.ly/1S3ARS9
pic.twitter.com/O1th20Jgm5
Syria this missile just hit Selqeen #Idlib but didn't explode(looks like Tochka missile)
pic.twitter.com/DbcB7MZkk2
Michael Weiss ✔ @michaeldweissQuote:
Originally Posted by OUTLAW 09
Initial reports out of the Syria negotiations suggest the US is now acting as a proxy of Russia and Iran, pressuring rebels to give up.
Michael Weiss ✔ @michaeldweiss
The fact that the former US ambassador to Syria thinks Kerry is capable of saying this is almost enough in itself: https://twitter.com/fordrs58/status/691427967755513857 …
If Kerry did say such, then no US Govt credibility after voting 4 UN Secuty Council resolutions 2118, 2139 and 2254
Robert
Kerry told them these were unacceptable “preconditions”!
https://twitter.com/hxhassan/status/691423139184582656 …
"Unacceptable preconditions"
Come on...this cannot be the exact words of Kerry...WHY because if correct then it supports my numerous comments that the Obama WH/Kerry are truly complicit in the mass killing of civilians through deliberate Russian air strikes AND the use of starvation as a weapon......in full violation of international humanitarian law and the Law of Land Warfare.
THIS cannot be truly the current US FP...complicit in war crimes in order to get an agreement with Putin.....
Nope.Quote:
Originally Posted by OUTLAW 09
All I've seen lately is JAN screwing up wherever it appeared.
'Best' of all was their 'performance' in Sheikh Mishkin area, the last week or so. JAN's Harakat Muthana blocked the supply road into the town for all FSyA groups. IRGC exploited this opportunity and launched another (fifth in total!) assault into the western part of the town. This was beaten back (with a loss of another T-72 and about two dozens of KIA).
Meanwhile, the FSyA/SF issued an ultimatum upon the JAN to re-open the road; when this expired without response, the FSyA/SF overrun the HQ fo the JAN's Harakat Muthana, and the road is now open.
Nevertheless, because of this nonsese of Jihadists, IRGC and NDF are again in control of nearly 40% of Sheikh Mishkin (i.e. the place was nearly liberated before the JAN screwed up).
They're screwing up in northern Syria too; except it's that Chechen group active in northern Hama and southern Aleppo (Jund al-Aqsa), they're either failing in every single attack (like in Hreitan area, in early January) or losing every part of the frontline they're holding (i.e. meanwhile it seems especially the IRGC is aiming to hit JAN-held sectors of the frontline) - and then so much so, Ahrar ash-Sham nearly went to war with them.
That's why AAS and JAN leaders decided to meet in Salqin, yesterday. The place was then targeted by two SS-21s - apparently fired by Russians.
One missile failed to explode, but the other hit the place of meeting killing 12 AAS and JAN, and injuring another 20, and killing plenty of civilians too.
The #Putin-#Assad coalition captured #Rabia
ALL of its inhabitants are refugees or dead now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_ZDjHSAWK0 …
RussianAirstrikes and missile attacks killed 11 civilians in #Salqin and 7 in #Aleppo yesterday.
While Kerry is off pressuring the anti Assad forces/Sunni Front States who have been fighting for five years HE already knows the Putin and Assad negotiating position from the very beginning....
Hilal inspects troops & talks tough pre-Geneva: "What we didn't give in the past 5 yrs...we won't give today"
http://www.sana.sy/?p=327614
BUT remember it was Obama who blinked and compromised...."Assad is the problem and must go first....that statement repeated for over four years" AND now..."oh he can stay at least until March 2017"...long after I am gone.
Now that is a great and highly successful Syrian strategy that he claims just needs a little more messaging on to get everyone to understand his strategy.
Saleh Muslim of PYD says he still hasn't received an invitation to Geneva III, and no one else has either
http://www.pydrojava.com/?p=8892
Interesting read.....
The People are Revolting: An Anatomy of Authoritarian Counterinsurgency
http://warontherocks.com/2016/01/reg...erinsurgency/?
interesting by @DavidUcko
Moderator adds: Ucko's article is subject of a separate thread.
Disinformation 101: Remember that Russia-FSA meeting in Abu Dhabi?
http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/med...ee-syrian-army …
it was all the rage in Kremlin media—and all fake
Making stuff up is a risk-free strategy for Sputnik/VoR/RT: their own readers don't care & real media continues to reprint without follow-up
Dedicating this comment to the so called US DoS Kerry approach to negotiations based on Russian demands.....
Syrian opposition ex-chief @hadialbahra: the opposition is committed to the Riyadh formula for entering peace talks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEan...ature=youtu.be …
The opposition is adamant about two delegations, one represents the govt & one represents the opposition; reject any attempt to change that.
Reliable Ibrahim Hamidi writes that Kerry delivered/backed Russian conditions 2 Syrian HNC team n Riyadh on Saturday http://alhayat.com/Articles/13617136
Humanitarian access & ending sieges aren't part of the talks, all parties agreed to them as per UNSC & the question is re mechanism
NOTICE the former US Ambassador Ford comment fits perfectly...that the US creditability concerning the three previously passed UNSC resolution concerning stopping the bombings and humanitarian aid is badaly damaged by Kerry and Obama.
Okaz also has a report about the US pressure on the Syrian opposition to accept compromises & Russia-driven demands http://www.okaz.com.sa/new/mobile/20...0125821176.htm …
He can't really be this naive –– John Kerry says U.S.-Saudi friendship stronger than ever
http://bit.ly/1ZX3u7Q AP
After following the so called US negotiation positions on eastern Ukraine for 18 months, and the Syrian US positions for over 4 years CAN any SWJ reader actually answer with a honest face the following......
1. does the US ie Obama, his NSC and Kerry have a valid sound and sane negotiation strategy at all for eastern Ukraine??.
2. does Obama, his NSC and Kerry even have one for Syria???
3. is in fact with the US support for the Putin demands in eastern Ukraine and in Syria...has the US become complicit in "war crimes" and in the support of "genocide"
4. is in fact the Kerry positions actually those of Putin and just why is the WH hiding that from the general US public behind a wall of ..."people just do not understand us"...thus we need more info warfare messaging to convince them
5. can the drive to have a super squeaky clean legacy as a President who ended wars and got the US out of the US Marshall's business at the cost of thousands of killed civilians...can it survive the time of historical research???
OR is in fact the so called US position in eastern Ukraine and Syria nothing more or less than the demands placed on the US by Putin and the US caving to those demands....in order to give the perception that the US is doing something---anything at all that looks like a foreign policy.
OR has the US administration basically so retrenched itself in Europe and the ME that one could in fact state the US has all but abandoned Europe and the ME to the Russian "sphere of influence" and pulled the US basically back to it's neutral historical "sphere of influence ending at the US coastline touching the Atlantic....."????
It sure seems so.....as the US has all but openly pressured the Ukraine to unilaterally cave to the Putin demands and it is doing the same unilateral caving to Putin's demands with the anti Assad forces and the Sunni Front States.......
Taken from comment above.........
Dedicating this comment to the so called US DoS Kerry approach to negotiations based on Russian demands.....
Syrian opposition ex-chief @hadialbahra: the opposition is committed to the Riyadh formula for entering peace talks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEan...ature=youtu.be …
The opposition is adamant about two delegations, one represents the govt & one represents the opposition; reject any attempt to change that.
Reliable Ibrahim Hamidi writes that Kerry delivered/backed Russian conditions 2 Syrian HNC team n Riyadh on Saturday
http://alhayat.com/Articles/13617136
Humanitarian access & ending sieges aren't part of the talks, all parties agreed to them as per UNSC & the question is re mechanism
NOTICE the former US Ambassador Ford comment fits perfectly...that the US creditability concerning the three previously passed UNSC resolution concerning stopping the bombings and humanitarian aid is badaly damaged by Kerry and Obama.
Okaz also has a report about the US pressure on the Syrian opposition to accept compromises & Russia-driven demands http://www.okaz.com.sa/new/mobile/20...0125821176.htm …
He can't really be this naive –– John Kerry says U.S.-Saudi friendship stronger than ever
http://bit.ly/1ZX3u7Q AP
NOW convince me the touted Obama WH/Kerry successful Syrian strategy...at least they claim it is successful is really just the Putin Assad strategy being repacked and sold as the US position.....
Humanitarian access & ending sieges aren't part of the talks, all parties agreed to them as per UNSC & the question is re mechanism
The report says the opposition rejected these demands & insisted on the Riyadh opposition composition which represents all opposition.
If the opposition doesn't accept, according to the reports, de Mistura will invite them regardless as "consultants and experts".
John Kerry, according to these reports, also told the opposition they have to include PYD's Saleh Muslim & DSC's Haitham Manna to delegation
The report says Kerry told the opposition Assad has the right to run & no timetable for his departure.
Al Hayat says Kerry dictated to the opposition "his understanding with Lavrov" that they have to go & discuss a "national unity government"
Al Hayat also reports on John Kerry's "threats" to the Syrian opposition about the peace talks
http://alhayat.com/Articles/13617136 …
getting out of hand
Russian missiles killed over 20 ppl in Salqin #Idlib. Possibly 9K52 Luna launched frm defence factories south Aleppo
Syria this missile just hit Selqeen #Idlib but didn't explode(looks like Tochka missile)
160 civilians killed in Deir Ezzor by Russians over the weekend! Where's the western outrage?!
http://en.deirezzor24.net/russian-de...in-three-days/ …
http://eaworldview.com/2016/01/syria...s-with-regime/
Syria Daily: Did Kerry Give Ultimatum to Opposition Over Talks With Regime?
January 25
10:36 2016
SO did he pressure/threaten or not.......??????Quote:
UPDATE 0930 GMT: US Secretary of State John Kerry has said that he hopes for “clarity” within 24 to 48 hours on opposition-regime talks.
The discussions were supposed to have started today in Geneva, but have foundered over conditions set by both the Assad regime and the opposition and over Russia’s objections to the opposition-rebel negotiating team.
During a visit to Laos, Kerry said he agreed with UN envoy Staffan de Mistura that invitations for the talks should not be sent out until “you have pieces lined up”:
They have to be serious. If they are not serious, war will continue. Up to them — you can lead a horse to water; you can’t make it drink.
We have created a framework; the Syrians have the ability to decide the future of Syria.
“We will have to see what decision Staffan makes as to exactly how he is going to begin; but we don’t want to decide and have it crumble on day one. It’s worth taking a day or two, or three, or whatever.
Amid claims that he issued an ultimatum to the opposition-rebel team, Kerry rejected comments from the team’s coordinator, former Prime Minister Riad Hijab, about demands from Washington:
I don’t know where this is coming from. Maybe it’s a pressure thing or an internal political thing, but that is not the situation.
They are the negotiators; so they will decide the future. What I did tell them is that it’s by mutual consent. You have a veto, so does he [President Assad], so you are going to have to decide how to move forward here.
“The position of the United States is and hasn’t changed, that we are still supporting the opposition politically, financially and militarily,” he added.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: A “high-level source in the Syrian opposition” has accused US Secretary of State John Kerry of giving the opposition-rebel bloc an ultimatum: enter negotiations with the Assad regime or face a cut-off of support.
According to the London-based al-Araby, Kerry delivered the message in a meeting with the coordinator of the opposition-rebel team, former Prime Minister Riad Hijab, in Riyadh on Saturday.
The source said the discussion was “catastrophic and very bad”, as “Kerry carried the Russian and Iranian messages” about the international gathering planned for Geneva. He claimed the Secretary of State distanced himself from pressure on the Assad regime, saying, that “his country will not interfere in Syria, but will only fight terrorism and nothing else”.
According to the report, Kerry stepped away from the explicit requirement that President Assad must leave power, replacing the call for a “transitional governing authority” — maintained by the UN and the international community since 2012 — with the objective of a “national unity government”.
The opposition-rebel bloc, named in Saudi Arabia last week, has said that it will not begin talks until there are halts to Russian and regime bombing, release of detainees from regime prisons, and access to humanitarian aid for besieged areas.
The source said Kerry asserted that the conditions did not have to be fulfilled, but should be part of the Geneva discussions.
In addition, Kerry allegedly supported modification of the opposition-rebel delegation by UN envoy Staffan de Mistura.
Russia has objected to the 33-member opposition-rebel team, putting up an alternative list of 15 names including politicians close to Moscow and Kurdish representatives. Three Western diplomats said last week that Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had reached a compromise that invitations should be sent to both groups.
A former President of the Syrian National Coalition and member of the opposition-rebel team advised caution over the report, as he said a final decision on the talks would be made on Tuesday:
Meanwhile, the Assad regime cast further doubt over the talks by indicating that it will make no concessions and repeating its objections to the opposition-rebel team.
“We are not going to give today what we did not give over the past five years,” said senior Baath Party official Hilal al-Hilal late Saturday. “This year will be the year of victory for Syria because of the heroic acts and sacrifices by its army and people.”
Regime newspaper Tishrin said in an editorial on Sunday that the Geneva talks should not include “representatives for the agendas terrorist-supporting countries that seek a seat for terrorism at the dialogue table”.
The reference was to Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar, all of whom back the opposition-rebel bloc.
To much was leaked immediately after his meetings with the anti Assad front which indicates he in fact threatened the anti Assad front as he urgently needs to get talks going to show the Us has a "highly successful Syrian strategy" that the WH keeps talking about.. "emphasis on talking about..".
One of the main JaI negotiators (Alloush..whose brother was recently assassinated for leading JaI)for Geneva stated after the Kerry threats and his statement was interesting but largely overlooked by US MSM and Kerry as well..."we will see how the next few days develop.....might be a surprise to all".
THEN this four hours ago came across Twitter....
Preparation is underway for a major joint Saudi-Pakistani-Egyptian military exercise, code named Northern thunder, in the north of KSA.
THEN this comment three hours ago....
Whenever sectarianism enters a country it destroys it. Iran is working hard to spread this disease because it helps its expansionist policy.
Interesting.
Assad reportedly has arrest warrants for 1.7m people from 150 nationalities including 5,748 Saudis.
AND issued warrants for those anti Assad negotiators going to Geneva as well. NOTICE Kerry said nothing about that.
To stop Syrian fighting, first press the parties--especially Assad--to stop the atrocities.
http://bit.ly/1ScZ1Ii
THAT includes now Russia as well.....
Not sure what the context of his statement was but should Iran get a bomb Saudi will get a bomb. Plain and simple.
Amazing how little confidence people have in whatever comes from American officials. The image of the USA has severely been damaged.
Iraq PM Abadi unhappy foreigners come to his country to wage Jihad. Iraqis fighting in #Syria dont bother Abadi
Interesting response today by the anti Assad front HNC....notice the emphasis is on fulfil what you signed off on at the UN in order for us the NHC to judge your full faith in negotiations....notice it is being sold in the West as "obstacles" and "preconditions" and the HNC says..."no we just want you to implement what you have passed in the UNSC so we do not have to re-negotiate for the same things from Assad and Putin" which is what you are basically telling us to do....Quote:
Originally Posted by OUTLAW 09
Actually makes sense as there is no trust in whatever the US is telling them....as they perceive the US as just a carrier for Putin's demands....
Quote:
Salim al-Muslat, a spokesman for the Syrian opposition's High Negotiation Committee (HNC), accused Russia and the Syrian government of throwing obstacles in the path of talks that were originally due to begin in Geneva on Monday.
The HNC, formed in Saudi Arabia last month and grouping armed and political opponents of Assad, has repeatedly said talks cannot begin until air strikes are halted, government sieges of rebel held territory are lifted and detainees freed, steps outlined in a Dec. 18 U.N. Security Council resolution.
"We want to realize pure humanitarian matters. They are not preconditions. It is an international resolution at least part of which must be implemented, so we see there is seriousness and good will in this matter," al-Muslat said on Saudi-owned Arabic news channel Arabiya al-Hadath.
"Unfortunately, it is not possible to sit and talk to anyone without the suffering being lifted first."
The lead negotiator appointed by the HNC told Reuters on Sunday said the opposition was coming under pressure from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to attend the talks before these demands were met.
Muslat however said on Monday the talks with Kerry had been "positive" and that the opposition was "sticking by certain principles, not putting up obstacles."
Appears the Russian MoD is caught lying again....yes they have already moved and it has been confirmed troops and engineers to the new air field.
Russian Defence Ministry spokesman denies that Russia is building an additional base in Syria (Tass, Interfax)
They have an unrestricted SOFA with Syrian so they can do whatever they want to without even asking Assad.....
Russia's Ground Operation in Syria: ‘Polite People’ in the Slanfah Area https://informnapalm.org/en/jan23-syria-polite/ … via @en_informnapalm pic.twitter.com/hBRLai3wt1
Reference Russian info warfare targeting Ukraine and Syria......
Typical theme in #Russia's propaganda strategies: when the facts are inconvenient, discuss the motivation of those disclosing them, instead.
Russia'n trainers instruct SDV' rifle basic Sniping course for Syria'n soldiers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bna3fIZ7PAw …
pic.twitter.com/VprC2aXwEp
Exact same training process as for the Russian mercenaries in eastern Ukraine which has been heavily relying on sniper attacks the last few weeks...
Russian Express is on the move again.....
XX-TK Antwerp, X-Alican Deval, currently Dvinitsa 50, 2015 addition to #SyriaExpress is en route to #Tartus #Syria
Russian soldiers and sailors on Dvinitsa-50: Cargo vessel transited southbound Bosphorus en route to #Tartus #Syria
ВМФ Naval Auxiliary Fleet cargo ship Dvinitsa 50 carried six 20ft ISO containers above the deck
This is the fourth Syrian deployment for #ВМФ cargo vessel Dvinitsa-50 since it was purchased early October 2015
Iran calls on Saudi to reduce tension
http://www.unian.info/world/1245616-...e-tension.html …
pic.twitter.com/4r4oDFFYkF
BUT WAIT did not Khamenei declare he was going to pull out IRGC, Hezbollah Lebanon/Iraq, the Iraqi Shia militias and the Shia mercenaries out of Syria...wait that certainly did not happen BUT let's announce to the world....the KSA should lower tensions......??????
Iranian info warfare hard at work........maybe if we make enough KSA info war announcements the world will not notice our massive military engagement inside Syria.......
Russian guy V Korneev films himself in desert with Rus Msta-Bs and Syrian BM-21s. 'For VDV'
https://www.facebook.com/sy.Harbisyr...98270/?theater …
pic.twitter.com/8tR771e8rD