Syria in 2016: an exchange on what to do

[mwe12]

What would you suggest them to do - especially since your president (and not only him, of course: all the Western governments) is so hapily ignoring the fact that the JAN is supported by such 'most important non-NATO allies' like Qatar and Turkey (the same ones, BTW, that already turned Libya into a mess)?

I'm suggesting we let Russia/Assad/Hezbollah/Iran/PKK flatten JAN/IF/FSA/ISIS - and bleed themselves and the backers of those groups out in the process. And we (America) should drone strike ISIS/IF/JAN in the process.

...and exactly how do you want to know there are 'new Taliban' in Syria...?

When asked about Ahrar al-Sham’s relationship with al-Qaeda in Syria, Aboud made clear that their disagreement was not fundamental: “They, like other Islamic groups, my brother, we meet with them in points and disagree on other points and militarily meet in matters of tactics and disagree with them on other tactics… We may agree with them that Islam is the adjudicator of our work and we may disagree on some points.”

When asked how the post-Assad regime would be selected, Aboud endorsed anything other than democracy: “The method of selecting a ruler varies in the Islamic state. There are those like today’s monarchies, for example, where the king appoints his successor, and also there are those where leaders are selected by senior nobles and wise men, and there are those consulted by citizens. All these methods are legitimate and nothing is wrong with them.”

But he described “democracy” as a “sword hanging on everyone that Western powers want… Democracy is to control people via people according to what they think of rules. We say that we have a Divine system prescribed for his Caliph and slaves… It is the system where the rule is for the pure Islamic law. Allah’s law is complete, and you need only consider the texts and derive rules.”
- See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns....bqSYXtta.dpuf

How often?

http://www.syriahr.com/en/?p=41672

The dead are : 792 civilians ( 180 children, and 116 women ), 496 men and young men, 655 IS, and 924 rebels and Jabhat al-Nusra including non-Syrian militants.

End of last year from a pro-terrorist/insurgent source. That seems pretty busy to me. Two terrorists for every "civilian" (which don't seem to have all that many women among them).

If so: mind explaining what 'Islamic State' (aka IS formerly ISIS/ISIL) was ever there in Latakia?

Flattening JAN/FSA/IF is perfectly fine. Would have been pretty dumb to ignore them.

Nope. He's not genocidal - if you prefer to ignore the number of his victims.

He is not genocidal even with those numbers.

Instead, he's such a lovely character that I would recommend people like you to try living under his rule - for a week or so, at least.

Wouldn't want to live under the IF/JAN either.

So, Iranian nukes are not important any more; and that lovely clique in Tehran - that, just BTW, is teaching the entire neighbourhood how to oppress and terrorise own population first and foremost - are now best friends, right?

Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia... Axis of Saints there.

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http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/25/politi...rts/index.html

Al-Nusra is "much more dangerous to the U.S. than the ISIS model in the long run," according to the authors of a report labeling both groups "existential" threats. The report was released last week by the Institute for the Study of War and American Enterprise Institute.

The report criticizes the administration's ISIS-centric strategy, saying, "Any strategy that leaves Jabhat al-Nusra in place will fail to secure the American homeland."
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In fact, Kagan warned that al Qaeda's Syrian branch represented a longer-term and more intractable threat than ISIS and that targeting al-Nusra would be more difficult than targeting the other group, both of which take advantage of the chaos of the Syrian civil war to expand their reach.

"Al-Nusra is quietly intertwining itself with the Syrian population and Syrian opposition. ... They are waiting in the wings to pick up the mantle of global jihad once ISIS falls," she said.

RELATED: What is al Nusra Front?

Peace talks between the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and select rebel groups are tentatively scheduled to begin this month in Geneva, Switzerland, with the United States hoping that a resolution to the conflict will curtail the power of ISIS and other terror groups.

Al-Nusra, like ISIS, won't be participating in the talks, but the report argues that al-Nusra is "a spoiler that will almost certainly cause the current strategy in Syria to fail."

The State Department has said that over 35,000 foreign fighters from 100 countries have traveled to Syria to participate in the conflict and that the al-Nusra Front attracts the second-most foreign fighters, ranking only behind ISIS, according to Nick Heras of the Center for a New American Security.

Al-Nusra emerged in late 2011 during the early days of the Syrian civil war and was initially largely made up of battle-hardened Syrians who had traveled to Iraq to fight U.S. troops during the American engagement there.

It has emerged as one of the most effective groups fighting the Syrian regime and currently controls swaths of northwestern Syria. The group holds "coercive power" over several opposition groups, serving as a sort of "kingmaker," Heras said.

Al-Nusra does "not have the same capacity as ISIS, but its greatest usefulness is as a base of operations" to other elements of al Qaeda that may seek to strike Western targets," Heras said.
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Kagan said she believes al-Nusra has made a tactical decision not to attack the West for the time being.

"Right now, al-Nusra has decided not to overtly host attack cells because the al Qaeda leadership's priority is preserving success in Syria and avoiding being targeted by the U.S.," she said.

But she explained that the report still treated it as a larger threat than ISIS because, "We define a threat as having the capability and the intent. ... The capability is already there, and in time the intent will be as well."

http://syriadirect.org/news/rebel-in...heikh-miskeen/
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Last Monday, Syria Direct reported on the rise of intra-rebel tensions between Harakat al-Muthanna al-Islamiya, of salafi-jihadi leanings, and two FSA affiliates over accusations that the former had engaged in a series of “kidnappings, assassinations and intimidation,” culminating in the abduction of the head of the Daraa Provincial Council.

The fear, said a local activist at the time, is that recent accusations “will affect the ongoing Sheikh Miskeen battles,” seeing as Harakat al-Muthanna has a strong military presence on the Sheikh Miskeen front.

That fear appears to have materialized. Harakat al-Muthanna blocked the passage of an FSA-affiliated Jaish al-Yarmouk convoy headed for Sheikh Miskeen on January 17, according to an announcement circulated by Jaish al-Yarmouk on Facebook.

Aside from that convoy incident, little more is known about the circumstances of the infighting repeatedly referenced by opposition media and citizen journalists.

In a video released Monday by the pro-opposition Nabaa Media Foundation, one Daraa resident condemned the feuding brigades for “chasing each other down” all the way to “the Jordanian fence,” indicating that clashes had reached the border.

Civilians and rebel soldiers who appeared in the Nabaa Media Foundation video were united in their demand for rebel brigades to put up a united front against the regime advance.

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