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Thread: Syria in 2016 (April-June)

  1. #1021
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    http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/05/06/...-is-massacred/

    This is a long read but worth it..

    America Is Silent as Aleppo Is Massacred

    The Obama administration prefers not to notice that its diplomatic strategy in Syria has fallen apart.

    The Obama administration has chosen not to spotlight what by most definitions are widespread and systematic war crimes. On occasion, it blames the Syrian Air Force for bombing hospitals and other civilian targets but rarely discusses Russian violations. It doesn’t even share with the public the rampant infractions of the cease-fire it is overseeing. That’s all classified.

    Instead, U.S. officials have repeatedly focused attention on al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, the Nusra Front.

    In a series of inaccurate or loosely worded statements, officials have implied Nusra Front has a major presence in Aleppo — assertions that the Russian and Syrian governments could interpret, or exploit, as an invitation to carry on with the bombardment.

    The tally of missile, bomb, and artillery attacks on the city suggests that the primary target is civilians, not moderate rebel forces supported by the United States, and certainly not Nusra Front, whose presence in the city by most estimates is modest.

    Syrian Civil Defense, the white-helmeted volunteers who say they have saved more than 40,000 people from the rubble after government attacks, published a daily listing of cease-fire violations until April 26, when its own training center in Atarib, west of Aleppo, was the target of a coordinated attack of two air-to-ground missiles and one surface-to surface missile, which killed five rescue workers.

    But the group continues its rescue work and monitoring. Between April 24 and May 1, Syrian Civil Defense documented the following attacks in Aleppo: 260 airstrikes, 110 artillery bombardments, 18 surface-to-surface missiles, and 68 suspected barrel bombs.

    Three medical centers were bombed out of service in that horrific week: al-Quds hospital, al-Marja Medical Center, and Bustan al-Qasr Medical Center, the group said. Altogether, 189 civilians were killed, including 40 children, and 394 civilians wounded, including 96 children.

    The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based monitoring group, said that 279 civilians had been killed in Aleppo between April 22 and May 3 — 155 of them in opposition-held areas and 124 in government-held districts.

    The Aleppo City Council said Sunday that 65 died at al-Quds hospital; a bakery, a medicines depot, a water facility, three mosques, ambulances, and multiple residential neighborhoods were also hit.

    Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, laid the blame for the escalation at the feet of the Syrian government. “While all sides have contributed to the violence the military escalation was attributable largely to the actions of a singular party: the Assad regime,” she said this week.

    But Osama Taljo, a member of the Aleppo council, told Foreign Policy that one of the rebel fighting groups, Tajamu Fastaqim, claimed that the warplane that bombed the hospital was Russian, based on the reports of plane-spotters stationed by rebels near regime and Russian air bases.

    The only party that knows for sure the extent of Russian involvement is the U.S. government. But it won’t share its intelligence. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that the Russians “are clear that they were not engaged or flying at that time” and said the Syrian government had a track record of bombing rescuers and health care workers. But he didn’t say what the U.S. government has determined from its own intelligence — nor does his spokesman when asked at daily briefings.

    “We just continue to not find it helpful to read out every single violation,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said on April 28, when asked why the United States didn’t list recorded breaches of the cessation of hostilities. Asked specifically about the prospect that Russian airstrikes were breaching the partial cease-fire the following day, Kirby said that the current period amounted to “a test for the Russians” of their seriousness of adhering to the agreement.

    With U.S. aircraft crossing Syrian airspace every day on bombing runs against the Islamic State, “I am 100 percent certain we know who is flying where,” said Christopher Kozak of the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington, D.C., think tank. “The fact we don’t want to talk about it is very distressing.”

    A senior administration official told FP the information about which air force is bombing which target is classified to protect “sources and methods” of collection. Making it public “would also set a precedent of the U.S. reporting on foreign military activity. Where do you draw the line?”

    The U.S. attempts to work with Russia amid the ongoing offensive, however, has damaged its credibility among opposition members.

    “How can the international community accept that Russia is one of the countries who monitor the cease-fire while Russia is bombing? How can the criminal become a cease-fire keeper?” Taljo asked.

    But there is logic to the silence. The administration “want[s] to work as brokers in the peace process,” setting up local cease-fire arrangements and mediating between the warring parties, said Kozak.

    Kozak criticized the U.S government for becoming dependent on the good intentions of Moscow, long one of the Syrian regime’s most important international backers. “It feels very much as if we’ve pinned a lot of hopes on a great power political settlement of the conflict in which we are willing to believe the lies the Russians tell us to our faces in order to make it easier to believe in a settlement,” he said.


    The senior U.S. official did not share that negative view of Russian behavior but acknowledged that much of U.S. policy was focused on working with Moscow.
    The senior U.S. official did not share that negative view of Russian behavior but acknowledged that much of U.S. policy was focused on working with Moscow. “A lot of what we’re trying to do is de-escalation and refocus on positive counter-ISIL actions the Russians could be taking,” the official said, using an acronym for the Islamic State.

    The Obama administration even appears to have backed off its tentative warnings that it would consider using military force if the cessation of hostilities failed and it determined Russia was insincere in its diplomatic efforts. In February, Kerry referred multiple times to a “Plan B” if peace talks failed, saying the war “could get a lot uglier” for Russia in that event.

    But with diplomatic efforts now in tatters and violence in Syria surging back to its previous highs, U.S. officials are denying that they ever had any intention to escalate the use of force. Kirby, the State Department spokesman, last week shot down any thoughts of an alternative to the current track, deriding what he described as a “mythical plan B.”

    “Look, what I’m saying is our focus is on the political process,” Kirby told reporters.

    Continued....
    BTW..this is the same exact role Russia plays while both having troops inside eastern Ukraine....AND their military support to her own mercenaries and Spetsnaz there as well......

    “How can the international community accept that Russia is one of the countries who monitor the cease-fire while Russia is bombing? How can the criminal become a cease-fire keeper?” Taljo asked.
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 05-07-2016 at 09:50 AM.

  2. #1022
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    Jabhat al-Nusra executed a man in Salqeen in rural Aleppo after Friday prayers for "apostasy" (regime informant planting chips for bombing)
    Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 05-07-2016 at 04:08 PM.

  3. #1023
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    Obama administration set a narrative on AQ/jihadism/ISIS. A lot of people followed without questioning.
    That narrative was & is wrong.

    Thomas Joscelyn ‏@thomasjoscelyn
    I've written a bunch of articles (& testified before Congress) explaining that their definition of AQ is not logical/factual

    Thomas Joscelyn ‏@thomasjoscelyn
    It is understandable that everyone is focusing on how Rhodes/WH spun the Iran deal.
    Folks, they did the same thing on AQ/ISIS/jihadism.

  4. #1024
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    AFP news agency ‏@AFP ·
    #BREAKING 13 Iranian Revolutionary Guards killed in Syria: Iran media

    2 Iranians IRGC Saeed Kamali, Hassan Rajaei Far killed in Khan Touman,Southern Aleppo,Syria.Toll up to now:13

    Iranians #IRGC Alireza Bariri,Ali Jamshidi,Mahmud Radmehr, Bahman Ghanbari killed in Khan Touman,Aleppo, Syria

    4 Iranians #IRGC Col.Jawad Durbin,Hossein Moshtaqi,Ali Abedini,Reza Taher killed in Khan Touman,Aleppo, Syria

    Iranian #IRGC Rahim Kaboli killed in Khan Touman, southern Aleppo, Syria.

    Russian estate agent in #Turkey, arrested before G-20 in NOV 2015, convicted for being an #IS agent.
    http://bit.ly/1q5y7aA

    An IS fired missile ricocheting Off a Syrian Rebel Tank Was Close … Too Close
    https://warisboring.com/a-missile-ri...d49#.gz5yv4rnx
    Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 05-07-2016 at 05:11 PM.

  5. #1025
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    For those that can remember the good ole days and I certainly know Obama and Kerry missed this.....REMEBER the "Non Aligned Movement" from the Cold War days...they are very much still alive and well....and being played by Iran...those so called Obama "moderates'......

    It's like back-to-the-future. A hostile ideological government using the "Non-Aligned Movement" to attack the US.

    120 nations accuse US top court of violating law over Iran

    By EDITH M. LEDERER

    May. 5, 2016 7:16 PM EDT

    UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The 120-nation Nonaligned Movement headed by Iran accused the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday of violating international law by ruling that nearly $2 billion in frozen Iranian assets can be paid to victims of attacks linked to the country.

    A communique issued by the NAM's Coordinating Bureau follows an Iranian appeal to the United Nations last week to intervene with the U.S. government to prevent the loss of their funds. Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called the ruling an "outrageous robbery, disguised under a court order."

    The NAM, comprising mainly developing countries, called the U.S. waiver of "the sovereign immunity of states and their institutions" a violation of U.S. international and treaty obligations.

    It called on the U.S. government "to respect the principle of state immunity" and warned that failing to do so will have "adverse implications, including uncertainty and chaos in international relations." It also warned that a failure would also undermine the international rule of law "and would constitute an international wrongful act, which entails international responsibility."

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on April 23 that the families of victims of a 1983 bombing in Lebanon and other attacks linked to Iran can collect nearly $2 billion in frozen funds from Iran as compensation.

    The court's ruling directly affects more than 1,300 relatives of victims, some who have been seeking compensation for more than 30 years. They include families of the 241 U.S. service members who died in the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut.

    Iran denies any links to the attacks.

    Iran's U.N. Ambassador Gholamali Khoshroo asked that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon circulate the NAM statement to the U.N. General Assembly and Security Council.

    The NAM called for "dialogue and accommodation over coercion and confrontation" to peacefully settle disputes.

    In last week's letter, Iran's Zarif appealed to secretary-general Ban to use his good offices "to induce the U.S. government to adhere to its international obligations, put an end to the violation of the fundamental principle of state immunity."

    State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in response that "U.S. laws and the application of those laws by the courts of the United States comport with international law."

    U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Thursday that the letter is being studied.

    Iran has also complained to the United States that it is locked out of the international financial system.

    It accused the U.S. of failing to fulfill its obligations under last year's nuclear deal which was supposed to give the Iranians relief from crippling economic sanctions in exchange for curbing their nuclear program.

    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who met Zarif on April 22, said the United States would not stand in the way of foreign banks or firms doing business with Iranian companies that are no longer subject to U.S. sanctions. He said the administration was willing to further clarify what transactions are now permitted with Iran, and he urged foreign financial institutions to seek answers from U.S. officials if they have questions.
    WONDER what the 38 year old "messaging guru" novelist has for an answer to this.....????

  6. #1026
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    CrowBat.....anything on this on your end......

    Pictures (unverified) of #Iran Qassem Suleimani in southern #Aleppo. Fatimiyoun & Iraqi fighters next to him

  7. #1027
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    TURKEY: Turkish media reports more rockets fired by #ISIS have hit the city of Kilis in the south of the country.


    Every time Russia did something in eastern Ukraine it was always ..."it ain't us it's them"...was their response.....this is new as Nusra/AQ simply does not have an air force....

    RT ‏@RT_com · May 6
    Evidence shows Al-Nusra Front behind Aleppo refugee camp attack - Russian MOD
    http://on.rt.com/7bxt

  8. #1028
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    Syria #Assad-forces gathering outside #Hama Central Prison
    yesterday crackdown of revolt failed
    prisoner swap?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D31...ature=youtu.be

    Assad military cannot even take back over a prison.......

  9. #1029
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    Russian Syrian Express and Naval Express.....both on the go.....

    Russian Navy Krivak Class Frigate Ladnyy (Harmonious) 861 on the Bosphorus.

    This is the first Mediterannean deployment in 2016 for #ВМФ #ЧФ Krivak class missile frigate Ladnyy 861

    I totally missed this 'holiday-maker' yesterday: Sniper on Krivak class frigate Ladnyy during its Bosphorus transit

    Dvinitsa 50 heading south on the Bosphorus, again. Nothing on top deck. Looks quite heavy loaded

  10. #1030
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    Another Assad General killed in Damascus...
    Syria'n regime lost an airforce major general in #Damascus

    Hassan Hassan ‎@hxhassan
    Jaish al-Islam's Issam Buweidani on the latest clashes with Faylaq al-Rahman and Jaish al-Fustat outside Damascus
    https://youtu.be/NJO7PwByOAg

    The "glorious SAA" is de facto nonexistent around Aleppo...

    #IRAN ANNOUNCES 15 KIAs, 21WIAs IN #KHANTUMAN !
    - IRGC spokesperson

    Russian military aircraft reportedly targeted Khan Touman with phosphorus bombs hours after rebels capture town

  11. #1031
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    No USAF to be seen anyway around this IS counterattack on the FSA......
    After recapturing Dudiyan (for the 10th time?!), #ISIS launches assaults on the last #FSA-held villages.

    Footage
    The latest #FSA offensive vs. #ISIS in S-W #Daraa province.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpGgUFY2ttA

    The humvee. An unexpected Journey
    US Army> Iraqi Army> Kata'ib Hezbollah> Fatimiyoun Brig.> Turkistan Islamic Movmnt

    This was after the US/Russian announcement of a ceasefire for Aleppo......
    CENTCOM has corrected that AQ is only in north-west Aleppo City. Bit late, though; #Russia's bombs still falling.

  12. #1032
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    Reference the Russian bombing of a Syrian IDP camp this week.....

    Believe it or not!
    7 days later, the #Russian Ministry of Bad Jokes comes with a third version.
    It never happened...

  13. #1033
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    Air Strike are out due to the ceasefire for Aleppo...BUT someone forgot to include artillery strikes.....

    Syria Intense shelling on rebel held suburbs west of #Aleppo

    Russia set up army base on #Palmyra's ancient tombs
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38b9...ature=youtu.be
    http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=34...65349&z=17&m=b

    Syria'n regime violate ceasefire in #Latakia mountains -heavy shelling with artillery

    Nonstop airstrikes by #Syria'n regime & #Russia'n jets on western & southern outskirts of #Aleppo city

    Aleppo #FSA regain Dodian from #IS after lost it in morning
    http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36...88027&z=14&m=b

    23 residents of Umm al-Karamil town in southern #Aleppo killed by airstrikes 2 days ago
    http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=35...65039&z=15&m=b

    Assad-forces regain Khirbat Ma‘rata near
    Khan Tuman in southern #Aleppo
    http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36...81647&z=15&m=b
    Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 05-07-2016 at 05:12 PM.

  14. #1034
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    150 #US special forces + gear & habitats arrived today in kurdish NE #Syria
    & protest by #Assad- loyalists against


    Reports of Assad helicopters dropping barrel bombs around Zakia near Khan al-Sheeh in rural #Damascus, #Syria

    Regime trying to advance into Zibdin & Bala in E. Ghouta under artillery barrage, meanwhile Faylaq al-Rahman & JaI fight each other, ffs..

    1 women & 1 child killed & several others injured by Assad artillery shelling in Anadan, north rural #Aleppo, #Syria

    "No Iranians fighting in Khan Tuman." -@EjmAlrai
    "Thirteen Iranian IRGC members killed in Khan Tuman." -@farsnews

    Reports of Assad barrel bombs on Kafrzita, Hesraya & Zakat in #Hama, #Syria

    Syrian volunteers open a health center in Maar Shamshah, rural #Idlib; when will #Russia bomb this now?

    ISIS launched an attack on rebels in Harjaleh & Hawar Kilis in north rural #Aleppo, heavy clashes ongoing. #Syria

    Syria Intense shelling on rebel held suburbs west of #Aleppo
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6DQ078ZysQ
    Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 05-07-2016 at 06:56 PM.

  15. #1035
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    Iran lost now ~300 regular soldiers in #Syria'n war since Sept. 2015

    Wonder if the UNSC will say anything at all about this.....
    Regime is re-labeling #UN humanitarian aid as #Russian.


    Rebels killed a number of #Assad forces during clashes at Khan Tuman front in southern #Aleppo today

    Regime controlled Jabiri Square in #Aleppo center
    -deserted-
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qok7...ature=youtu.be
    http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36...47517&z=18&m=b

  16. #1036
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    APPEARS the Iranians are not happy with Putin right about now especially after their bad defeat in Khan Tuman.....

    Iran State TV commentator says "#Syria Truce initiative of #Russia/ns & now they are responsible for what happened"

    Breaking #TRT claims some more 20 to 50 #Iran/ian forces stranded and killed in #Aleppo today.

    Iran State TV commentator says "#Syria Army is now under attack and self defense is legitimate."

    Iran local Media report the #IRGC avenge in #Syria and say some 100 missile fired into #KhanTouman in 2 hours 2day.

    Iran state TV says "#Syria Terrorists abused Cease Fire and martyred our military advisors." Fierce Attack on way?
    If 13 IRGC military advisors were killed in South Aleppo, what happened to the entire SAA, NDF or Shia militia units they were advising?

    Breaking #IRGC announces 13 officers killed and 21 others disabled in yesterday fight in #Syria."

    Breaking #Iran IRGC headquarter of Mazandaran province confirms "Some officers taken captive in #Syria Khan Touman"

    5 #Hezbollah and 2 #Afghans fighting for #Iran in #Syria taken captive by #Alnusra.

    Iran's IRGC has confirmed that a number of #IRGC forces been held captive in #Aleppo, #Syria. This is ACC Deputy PR head of Mazandaran IRGC
    Iranian media outlets are reporting around 83 IRGC troops killed or captured in battle for Khan Toman, Aleppo.
    Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 05-07-2016 at 07:42 PM.

  17. #1037
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    More & More Rumors are flying that #Iran prez @HassanRouhani WONT be cleared to RUN for president next year.

    Iran Supreme Leader says "#US current policy hinges on confronting Islam. Shia and #Iran."
    Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 05-07-2016 at 07:15 PM.

  18. #1038
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    Some Russians are hitting the vodka too hard lately.....

    Russia FM spox says "Arms flow from #Turkey to #Aleppo on rise and it's reason for escalation not #Syria army."

    Russia FM spox blames #US for #Aleppo ceasefire collapse says "US failed to seprate opposition from #Alnusra."

  19. #1039
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    Jaish al-Fateh publishes compilation of Khan Touman fighting.
    https://youtu.be/iclCHnrngMk

    Charles Lister ‎@Charles_Lister
    3 Spanish journalists kidnapped in #Aleppo in July 2015 have been released by Jabhat al-Nusra, after extensive mediation by #Qatar.

    Aleppo: dozens of pro Assad forces killed trying to advance on Al Humayra

    Yazan Abo Asaly (elite Syrian special forces) turned up in #Paris as a "refugee" before the attacks.
    Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 05-07-2016 at 07:38 PM.

  20. #1040
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    Despite regime & alQaeda attacks, residents of Maarat a-Numan have been protesting against both for 56 days straight

    Syria: anti-#JN protest in Maarat al-Numan, people sing protest songs against Jolani
    https://youtu.be/BXRou9VcN10

    Michael Weiss ‏@michaeldweiss · Apr 28
    Recall Soleimani was reported to have traveled to Moscow again, what, two weeks ago? Likely prepping Aleppo battle during "ceasefire".

    Russian military base in Palmyra filmed by Andrey Borodulin/AFP. First sighting of Pantsir AA system at Palmyra
    Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 05-07-2016 at 07:48 PM.

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