Syria in 2016 (October onwards)

[Azor]

I do feel to be in position to say: if this is the way Hoff's 'gauging' the Assadist regime, he's either plain dumb or a blind religious fanatic.

I wouldn’t say that Hoff is supportive of Assad so much as he is dismissive of the Sunni Arab rebels and sympathetic to the Christians, ignoring the wider historical context of Syrian communal relations.

And re. 'are there flaws in the FSyA': not that they are directly comparable, but tell me, are there flaws in the Democratic or Republican parties of the USA...? Are there flaws in the US or any other military...?

A more apt comparison would be between the Free Syrian Army and the White Army during the Russian Civil War. Unfortunately, winning both the war and the peace will require an ideological unity that the FSA does not posses at present. A common desire to oust Assad and expel the Iranians is not sufficient; there must be an agreed-upon platform for the day after Assad is gone.

And I didn't receive 1 cent from anybody. And still: I'm usually drawing similar conclusions to his, and that (usually) 12-24 months earlier.

Nevertheless, Qatar's intervention in Syria, Libya and Egypt, as well as its unabashed support for the Muslim Brotherhood, should be taken into consideration when receiving information from a source based in Qatar and reliant upon Qatari funding, no? After all, the Qataris have been rebuked by the Saudis...

Anyway, at some point in time during that party, I found myself chatting with (one of) US Army Attachés, and then spontaneously blurting the sentence, 'You're rapidly losing control of the situation (in Iraq)'. While I was still startled with what I said (and how frankly), he just looked me into eyes, then nodded in confirmation.

Was this before or after the CPA's Orders No. 1 and 2?

The CIA, State Department and many within the Defense Department knew that de-Ba’athification would be a disaster – and it was. The insurgency against coalition forces began within days of the anti-Ba’ath purge. The CPA blindly executed the OSP’s plan despite opposition, including the removal of the CPA’s first administrator, and it took over 4 years of casualties before the US began working to undo the damage. Petraeus was a fixer, not a strategic genius...

Even today, I would say that 'been there' is very important for understanding what's going on, for getting the 'picture' of people and (especially) terrain. But, many things have changed in these 'internet times': IMHO, nowadays it's far more important to have 'right contacts in right places' - and some sort of 'secure' or at least 'not too obvious' comms to the people in question.

I agree that the internet and social media permit a closer and rawer look at distant events as they unfold but are also more susceptible to deliberate misinformation as well. There are tweets, videos and posts tailored to every viewpoint, unfortunately.

Most of the Western commentators who question the existence of the FSA are actually stuck in the past:

• CIA coup d'etats against various governments during the Cold War
• CIA support for terrorists who are portrayed as "freedom fighters" to the public (e.g. Contras, UNITA, KLA)
• The fake intelligence used to justify the AUMF in Iraq
• The overthrow of Qaddafi under the aegis of "responsibility to protect" and a NFZ
• The misconception that the CIA supported Al Qaeda and the Taliban during the Soviet-Afghan War
• Official lies and cover-ups during the wars in Indochina
• The perception that Sunni Arabs are incapable of liberal democracy based upon the Islamist-secular authoritarian dichotomy of the past and present

As for Jack Murphy at SOFREP, the fact is that his narrative conflates the DOD’s program of training and equipping moderate/secular Sunni Arabs in Jordan and Turkey to fight Daesh exclusively, with the CIA’s program of supplying weaponry to Sunni Arab rebels who are fighting Assad, and who the CIA has determined to be moderate/secular.

Because the CIA program proved relatively successful in terms of stopping the Assadist advance and allowing the rebels to drive into Latakia in 2015, the DOD program was a failure. Clearly, the Sunni Arabs in the west of the country where the FSA is based, consider Assad a greater threat and are unwilling to fight Daesh whilst ignoring Assad’s depredations.

The whole point of my post is that we always have to be mindful of bias, not merely the blatant lies of those with opposing views. For someone who is “far from declaring” yourself as an expert, you refer to those with different opinions or observations as “plain dumb” or “a blind religious fanatic” or “an uninformed third person”.

You claim that your knowledge of the war’s dynamics are from personal contacts in the SyAAF made over decades as well as other Syrians who are still in Syria, presumably. But do these sources not have their own biases?

Ultimately, my concern stems from your glosses of history, specifically with regard to the Sunni-Shia divide and the rule of the Assads.

Where you see bloodletting instigated deliberately by the Assads, I see yet another example of minority rule collapsing. Where you see a Hitler, I see a dictator who is in far less control and is far less bloodthirsty than Hussein was. Where you see only Shia and Iranian supremacy, I see but one offensive in an ongoing conflict that includes the Iran-Iraq War, in which chemical weapons were used on Iranian civilians to a degree that would make Assad blush.

[Azor]

Azor...you ask some interesting questions.....

1. having spent time also in Iraq when the Iraqi Salafists and QJBR then AQI were basically running a phase 2 guerrilla war that no one and yes no one even on the SOF side saw it....and I caught massive pushback or repeatedly pointing it out....I greatly distrust anyone who states I was there speak some Arabic thus "I understand the ME"....

I agree that exposure is not the same as knowledge, and intelligence requires the ability to acquire and apply one’s knowledge in a rapid manner, similar to OODA.

2. right now if we take just the work done by Lister...Orton....CrowBat....Hassan Hassan and Weiss for just say the last five years.....literally tons of articles and then compare them to other writers claiming to "know Syria" or the various Salafist groups as well as the moderate secular FSA and their reporting on the over 1000 Syrian self governing groups I then take them hands down.......Their accuracy in naming the groups and sub groups and the twists and turns of what is ongoing inside cannot be matched by another group of writers or single writers......I post them repeatedly just because of their accuracy.......

Basically, I am hesitant to accept any glosses of the opposition, because it is so diverse. You yourself have stated that the FSA includes Islamist units and that supposedly Islamist rebel coalitions (not JFS or Daesh) include moderate/secular units. Brennan and others at the CIA clearly believe in the FSA, but we would have to acknowledge that the CIA must have reasonable cause to discriminate on a unit-by-unit basis in terms of due diligence and approval for arms transfers. Unfortunately, civil wars are historically won by groups that are ideologically unified and operationally cohesive.

Just a side comment....I was writing a series of intel reports one day in a BCT TOC when the BCT intel officer was writing his monthly intel summary for Baqubah Diyala Province which in 2005/2006 was like the Wild West for insurgent activities....

Well anyway he asked me....do you have any idea why we see almost like clock work a series of insurgent attacks on five major ISF controlled checkpoints in Baqubah.....about every four weeks.....

Without looking up I said take a look at the targets...five different styles of control points .....the insurgents are graduating a trainee class and are doing a live fire attack exercise.....as they have been doing indoor dry fire training and need to finally conduct true attacks.....

His response...but they do take loses and wounded..my response...that is the guerrilla Darwinian principle at work....only the good ones make it onto the attack teams.....

His response...that is to simple and higher will not accept such a short explanation.....and he did not report it that way....actually he fudged around and never did accurately reflect what was happening on the ground......

WHICH flew in the face of my interrogation reports which in fact verified what I had said....because that was a question I placed to a Salafist we had picked up by "accident"....because I had spotted the guerrilla tactic and had in fact checked the five objectives....and had photos taken of them to confirm my thoughts...

Yes, thank you Wolfowitz, Feith, Chalabi, et al, for the insurgency.

Sometimes the simplest explanation is...

I distrust to a degree many Syrian writers on a number of military type blogs...the group around Orton...Lister...Weiss....Hassan Hassan and CrowBat...inherently "know" the ground.....and basically reconfirm each other's analysis work and or sometimes critique each other which is academically healthy...BTW Hassan Hassan and Orton as well as Lister have published a number of articles on what the ME might look like without IS the "day after"...and how the US has sided with the "wrong Kurdish group YPG/PKK" and they gain no traction in the US MSM.....

Orton’s Twitter exchange with Hoff doesn’t indicate that the former is very inviting of critiques. As for CB, well, he can be quite the curmudgeon, but I suppose that personal attachments to the issues and the unending ideological warfare of the internet can do that.

Clearly, the CIA and DOD disagree over the YPG, which is why TOWs go to the FSA and not the YPG. Now, there are US SOFs embedded with the YPG and a certain amount of CAS deployed on their behalf, but only insofar as Daesh is concerned. Therefore, the YPG is not trusted beyond its willingness to fight Daesh.

Why are there no SOFs embedded with the FSA (unverifiable given that these would be seconded to the CIA SAD and not acknowledged)? Well, it is probably a combination of:

• Washington not wanting to be seen as being behind the rebellion and engaged in ousting Assad from the beginning
• Fear that US personnel will be captured, killed or injured by pro-regime forces
• Fear that Islamists within the FSA can turn on US personnel or that Islamists can infiltrate the FSA to do the same
• De-confliction with Russian and Iranian SOFs, which are on the ground fighting for Assad

Azor....BTW.....I am probably the only SWJ commenter who has spent literally hours of face to face conversations with Salafists, Takfirists and Sunni secularist/nationalist insurgents....hours literally hours.....in Abu Ghraib and Baqubah Diyala Province...AND the only interrogator at that time using the Koran and Islam as the basis for those discussions......and that from someone who could not spell Koran before arriving in Iraq....I could even repeat the oath of allegiance of the Ansar al Sunnah a Kurdish/Sunni/Salafist Iraqi insurgent group......much to the surprise of those that we would capture from AAS....The Army interrogators were told to not use religion was a basis but how can one avoid religion in the ME??? Especially when Shia and Sunni's share the same areas....same towns...and sometimes share the same tribes.....???

But you would have to admit that others with your experience are continuing to serve either in-theater (CIA, DOD) or stateside (DOS, DOD, think tanks) and leveraging their experience as part of US policy and execution, no? Their opinions are classified at present, but would you say that they broadly agree with your desire to provide more support for the FSA and that Obama is hamstringing the effort, or that they are reserved about dialing up the weapons?

[CrowBat]

Just received audio from E Aleppo:"It's all correct, unfortunately, all went, we used all the munition & weapons, all went now, we will die"

The question is how many of the former 8000-9000 rebels are left in Eastern #Aleppo. The ammunition is out. https://twitter.com/Interbrigades/st...71077772709888 …

BREAKING: Russian defense ministry says Syrian government forces have taken full control over five more districts of eastern Aleppo - media

Well, I do not think the Russian MOD considers these 'Syrian government forces'... perhaps for PR-purposes, but otherwise - surely not.

See here:
U.S. Shut Out of Turkey, Russia, Rebel Peace Talks

The US was shut out of a new round of secret negotiations between Russia and Syrian rebel factions hosted by Turkish officials in Ankara, a source within the Syrian opposition#told Business Insider on Monday.

The opposition source, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the negotiations, said American officials were not invited to take part in the talks due to recent tensions between Turkey and the US.

"The US is totally out of these talks," the source said. "And they're pretty angry about it."
...

Mikhail Bogdanov, Russia's deputy foreign minister, did not say last week#whether Russian officials were negotiating with Syrian opposition factions#in Ankara.
"We need no mediators with the Syrian opposition, we have direct contacts," he told the Russian news agency TASS.

Among those present at the Ankara talks, according to the opposition source, were representatives from the Islamist rebel coalition Ahrar al-Sham. The#Islamist al-Zenki rebel faction, which#received US-made anti-tank missiles between#2014 and 2015, was also present — reportedly at Russia's invitation.

The talks have been aimed at securing a deal to#deliver humanitarian aid#into eastern Aleppo — the Syrian city that has been besieged and#under relentless aerial bombardment for more than#three weeks — in exchange for the evacuation of extremists groups like former Al Qaeda affiliate Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (JFS).

“Russia has indicated it would be willing to accept aid access and local council control of the east, in return for JFS's withdrawal,” Charles Lister, a Syria researcher with close ties the opposition, tweeted on Saturday.
...

Further complicating the negotiations is the feeling that Russia — which changed the tide of the war when it intervened on behalf of Assad in October 2015#— may be#losing influence in Aleppo.

"The Russians would prefer to have a ceasefire, to help their relations with Turkey and show they are interested in peace, but the regime and the Iranians – they don’t care,"#Bassam Barabandi, a former Syrian diplomat who is now political adviser to the opposition High Negotiations Committee, told The Guardian last week.

"They want to take all of Aleppo,"#Barabandi said. "For the Russians, failing to achieve a ceasefire in Aleppo will show just how weak they are."

Bottom line: and I said this already so often, Russians have no say there, actually. But, they act as if they do.

Therefore, this 'Battle for Aleppo' is now actually a 'race against the time' - especially for the IRGC, but for the Russians, and the Jaysh Halab too. The IRGC wants to defeat insurgents before Russians reach any kind of an agreement. That's why they're attacking so much.

[CrowBat]

So, are #Turkey & #EU ready for 1.5 million more #Syria|n refugees from #Idlib Province?

Turkey - might be. Our MSM here is currently doing its best to busy itself with completely ignoring developments in Aleppo. The ORF (Austrian State Broadcasting Corp.) didn't report a single word about Syria since more than two weeks.

There will be a very rude awakening when it falls...

**********

As for CB, well, he can be quite the curmudgeon, but I suppose that personal attachments to the issues and the unending ideological warfare of the internet can do that.

'Personal attachments': yes, I've certainly got a dose of that. After all, a number of my Syrian friends were disappeared by the Air Force Intelligence in the early hours of 1 January 2008. Only one was ever heard ever since (about two years ago, and still incarcerated).

That said, I do not 'feel' (if you like), this is influencing me as much as my experiences from back in 2002. At that time, I was involved in preparing those 'funny little information booklets' about various countries that are then distributed to... well... personnel of specific US military branch when they are deployed abroad.

The last topic involving me was Iraq. Everything went nice and fine because I knew the ORBATs for the Iraqi Army and/or Air Force by heart already then. But, one of sub-chapters was dealing with WMDs: at the end of the same, I wrote that none were left (i.e. that perhaps 100Kg of Sarin produced back in 1987 or whatever, were missing, but even if still around - long since useless).

Those who asked me to help them prepare the text in question insisted in fashion like, 'but, President said...and Secretary of State said...' etc. When I replied that (citing myself) this is simply wrong, I was fired without further explanation.

I didn't say a single word back then: guess, I was too shocked by sheer stupidity of such behaviour.

To make sure: I have no illusions. I'm perfectly aware of the fact that I'm nobody important: I wasn't important back then, and I'm not important now either. And I don't feel I can do more but rant on 2-3 different internet forums.

But, I promised myself never to fall silent again, and I keep my promises.

[Azor]

According to Wikipedia, Jaysh Halab, which is coordinating the rebel response to the Assadist offensive as of December 1, is comprised of 9 Islamist units and 3 FSA units (1st Regiment, 16th Division and Sultan Murad Division).

Yet the 16th Division has ceased to exist since July, the Sultan Murad Division is not the most savory or inclusive of the FSA's units, and I have no information as to the 1st Regiment. As for the Levant Front, it is Islamist, aligned with JFS and cannot be considered part of the FSA at this point, although some sub-groups may be moderate/secular.

AAS commanders seem to be in charge of both Jaysh Halab and the Levant Front. Is there any credence to the claim that after the Summer, the battles in Aleppo have been between Assadist and Islamist forces in the main?

[Azor]

'Personal attachments': yes, I've certainly got a dose of that. After all, a number of my Syrian friends were disappeared by the Air Force Intelligence in the early hours of 1 January 2008. Only one was ever heard ever since (about two years ago, and still incarcerated).

That is unfortunate. As I said in a prior reply to you, if a person is being murdered by the state, he or she takes little comfort in knowing that the state only plans to murder 100, 1,000 or 10,000 people as opposed to 100,000 or 1,000,000...

That said, I do not 'feel' (if you like), this is influencing me as much as my experiences from back in 2002. At that time, I was involved in preparing those 'funny little information booklets' about various countries that are then distributed to... well... personnel of specific US military branch when they are deployed abroad.

The Pentagon has always ensured that those forces deployed overseas have a thorough understanding of the local society and culture...

The last topic involving me was Iraq. Everything went nice and fine because I knew the ORBATs for the Iraqi Army and/or Air Force by heart already then. But, one of sub-chapters was dealing with WMDs: at the end of the same, I wrote that none were left (i.e. that perhaps 100Kg of Sarin produced back in 1987 or whatever, were missing, but even if still around - long since useless). Those who asked me to help them prepare the text in question insisted in fashion like, 'but, President said...and Secretary of State said...' etc. When I replied that (citing myself) this is simply wrong, I was fired without further explanation. I didn't say a single word back then: guess, I was too shocked by sheer stupidity of such behaviour.

The Office of Special Plans was not to be deterred, was it?

The cause of non-proliferation would have been better served in Iran, North Korea or Pakistan. In the case of Iraq, its unresolved status since 1991, possession of oil and gas, and strategic location in the heart of the Middle East made it an inviting target for those who thought that they could transform it into a more prosperous version of Jordan...

To make sure: I have no illusions. I'm perfectly aware of the fact that I'm nobody important: I wasn't important back then, and I'm not important now either. And I don't feel I can do more but rant on 2-3 different internet forums.

But, I promised myself never to fall silent again, and I keep my promises.[/QUOTE]

[CrowBat]

I wouldn’t say that Hoff is supportive of Assad so much as he is dismissive of the Sunni Arab rebels and sympathetic to the Christians, ignoring the wider historical context of Syrian communal relations.

...then Hoff is simply a naive and ignorant fool.

Show him this (Brig Gen 'Botox' Hussain - CO 'Tiger Force' - slamming TV-reporter Shadi Hulwe for calling 'Long Live Syria', and yelling at him that 'Syria is Bashar'), and this.

Nevertheless, Qatar's intervention in Syria, Libya and Egypt, as well as its unabashed support for the Muslim Brotherhood, should be taken into consideration when receiving information from a source based in Qatar and reliant upon Qatari funding, no?

Nope. Because his work is paid for by the Swiss, Norwegians etc.

After all, the Qataris have been rebuked by the Saudis...

They were - 2-3 years ago. The situation changed meanwhile, too.

Was this before or after the CPA's Orders No. 1 and 2?

Most of what I described was 'before'. The 4 July party was 'after', of course.

Most of the Western commentators who question the existence of the FSA are actually stuck in the past:

...which is just the same 'repeating of old mistakes' like back in 2002.

It never stops amazing me how 'Americans' are entirely unable to learn from their own mistakes in such cases.

The whole point of my post is that we always have to be mindful of bias, not merely the blatant lies of those with opposing views. For someone who is “far from declaring” yourself as an expert, you refer to those with different opinions or observations as “plain dumb” or “a blind religious fanatic” or “an uninformed third person”.

Yup. Because it's fundamental stupidity to - just for example - do such things like completely ignore interests of majority of the local population, completely ignore massive terror exercised by the regime (so also against local Christians) etc., or declare the biggest segement of the opposition for 'non-existing' - just because this is piss-poor at PR.

You claim that your knowledge of the war’s dynamics are from personal contacts in the SyAAF made over decades as well as other Syrians who are still in Syria, presumably. But do these sources not have their own biases?

Sure. Indeed, I would describe them as 'extremely biased': some are so staunchly pro-Assad (or have to present themselves as such), they consider him a 'God'. And others can't stop spitting at the entire system.

Frankly: can't care less about their POVs - as long as the info they supply is good.

Ultimately, my concern stems from your glosses of history, specifically with regard to the Sunni-Shia divide and the rule of the Assads.

Where you see bloodletting instigated deliberately by the Assads, I see yet another example of minority rule collapsing. Where you see a Hitler, I see a dictator who is in far less control and is far less bloodthirsty than Hussein was...

Sigh... that cynical jerk is sitting there atop what is de-facto a giant concentration camp, in which his thugs can do whatever they like to do. Sure, he can't even afford paying them any more: the IRGC is doing that since years instead. Which means that he's actually little else but an IRGC-puppet.

But again: what is done in his name, is done by thugs that consider him a God of sort. And, as already explained, the fact the Iraqis gased more Iranians than Assadist thugs gased Syrians (or Nazis holocaused more Jews and others) is based solely on Assadists lacking the means to do the same.

Means not they wouldn't like to do so - if they only could.

Where you see only Shia and Iranian supremacy, I see but one offensive in an ongoing conflict that includes the Iran-Iraq War, in which chemical weapons were used on Iranian civilians to a degree that would make Assad blush...

Now you're falling for IRGC's own legends.

Syrians that rose against Assad in 2011 did so for the very same reason Iranians rose against the IRGC-controlled regime in Tehran, two years earlier. That was no part of the 'eternal Shi'a-Sunni war'.

[CrowBat]

According to Wikipedia, Jaysh Halab, which is coordinating the rebel response to the Assadist offensive as of December 1, is comprised of 9 Islamist units and 3 FSA units (1st Regiment, 16th Division and Sultan Murad Division)....

Gave up trying to correct the Wikipedia about 10 years ago....

Anyway: Jaysh Halab consists of:

- Fawj al-Awal (1st Regiment), FSyA
- JAM (Jaysh al-Mujahidden), FSyA
- Safwa Battalions, FSyA
- 16 Division (this is a part of that unit left behind; the part of this division outside Aleppo was meanwhile reorganized into something else, about a month ago... it's late here, and I can't recall right now), FSyA
- Sultan Murad Division, FSyA

Islamist groups were (or still are) such like the HNAZ (Harakat Noureddin az-Zenghi) and its Abu Amara Battalions, JAI (Jaysh al-Islam), AAS (Ahrar ash-Sham), Faylaq ash-Sham (destroyed in attack by HNAZ and JFS, few days ago), and Jabhat ash-Shamia.

Commander of the Jaysh Halab is Gen ABu Abdel Rahman Nour (FSyA) and his Military Commander is Abu Bashir Ma'are (unclear; could be AAS).

The most powerful between these units is precisely the one about which you have no info about: namely, the Fawj al-Awal. They were not only vetted by the CIA, and - together with Safwas - equipped with TOWs (here an example of the latter using a TOW today), but also the 'power-brokers' in Aleppo.

Is there any credence to the claim that after the Summer, the battles in Aleppo have been between Assadist and Islamist forces in the main?

No. Indeed, not a trace.

Firstly: there are very few 'Assadist' militias deployed in Aleppo area. The only ones around right now are the Quwwat Nimr (Tiger Force) and Liwa Suqour as-Sahra. Actually, the entire 'regime-controlled' part of Aleppo Governorate is under IRGC's control, and over 90% of troops there are IRGC (incl. Liwa Fatimioun), Hezbollah (Lebanon), Harakat Hezbollah (Iraq), Harakat an-Nujba (Iraq, pro-IRGC), Hezbollah/Syria (aka 'Local Defence Forces' or 'Local Tribes'), or such IRGC-supported 'Syrians' like Liwa al-Qods al-Filistini (essentially 'kids of Palestinian refugees that grew up in Syria') and Fawj 47 (ex-SAA troops commanded by IRGC officers and NCOs).

Secondly: even during such offensives run by the 'JFS-dominated' JAF alliance like back in August, and then in October, the mass of involved insurgents were Syrians (20+ FSyA, 5+ Islamist groups, with about 20,000 combatants, compared with 1 JFS with perhaps 12,000 combatants in all of Aleppo and Idlib Governorates).

[OUTLAW 09]

Azor..just a side comment.....never ever trust anything posted in Wikipedia ...often false and not correct ...........if I use anything from it ...it is the definitions of terms....

Secondly....I find that when say FSA posts an infographic as to who is participating in a particular battle far more informative and accurate....

You keep using the term Islamists....wrong they are Salafists simple as that....the term Islamists could when wrongly used even be used to describe "moderate/secularists".....

In some ways if you are tracking here both CB ad I often use or post something that provides a "definition" or questions a posting.....

In the world of writing....even good writers tend to not define a term or word....in the world of intel reporting the first use of a word or term is followed by a definition and then everyone knows how it is being used.....and the word Islamist is vastly overused and never clearly defined...

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat...more of those "unconfirmed unnamed aircraft attacks"......

Suspected Israeli aircrafts hit Mazzeh airport in Damacus. Unconfirmed
pic.twitter.com/T5OJABT9n0
http://syria.liveuamap.com/en/2016/7...rikes-reported …

Almost daily reports of "someone" aircrafts hit Syr. Govt or their allies positions

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Spetsnaz COL killed in Aleppo....

Russia's Defense Ministry has confirmed the death of one of its army officers in Aleppo on Wednesday.

"[Colonel] Ruslan Galitsky was carrying out his mission in the Syrian Arab Republic as part of a group of Russian military advisers," the ministry said in an official statement to the Interfax news agency.

Galitsky was wounded during shelling by "militants of the so-called [Syrian] opposition" from western neighborhoods of Aleppo. Russian military physicians fought to save his life for several days, the ministry said.

According to the official statement, Galitsky will posthumously be awarded a medal for his service

[OUTLAW 09]

Footage
Destruction due to intense air strikes on #Atarib (left) & #Idlib (right) today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55v_jCdhJUw …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p6OYp0i_Mg …

Footage
Aftermath of cluster bomb attack on rural #Idlib shortly ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvorxOctlmU …

Eastern #Aleppo yesterday.
#AssadPutin's "liberation" as it really looks like.

[OUTLAW 09]

Footage
Pro-#Assad TV presents "Free Syrian Army terrorists".
Average locals, which wanted to defend their homes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SxrsdlB0bg …

News
More groups, not belonging to Jaish al Fateh, join bombing #Fuah and #Kefraya as part of "Anger for Aleppo" campaign.

Syria tonight.
#AssadPutin burn the country.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI4gyKVuxpA …

Multiple #Russian air strikes on civilians in towns across #Idlib province today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuBb44rwK-o …

Massive bomb strike!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjFsqb-mkcA …

[OUTLAW 09]

Moscow today.
Everyone has his price.
This is what #Turkey got for #Aleppo.

[OUTLAW 09]

Footage
Intense unguided #JFS attacks on #Fuah and #Kefraya while #Aleppo remains ignored by them ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DZsK67TPCM …

Footage
Regime footage shows entire residential buildings collapse in brutal #AssadPutin air strikes on #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2WEtnyG8vs …

Footage
"#Russian" air strikes on #Sarmin in #Idlib provnce this evening.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcwyKDpwBxE …

[OUTLAW 09]

Azor...picking back up your comments on who writes about Syria and the ME....right now none o those you have mentioned nor many o their associated blogs are carrying anything on this....so give me a writer based in Qatar or anywhere in the ME and or a think tank handling strictly the ME any day over someone or think tank sitting in the US

Charles Lister Verified account 
‏@Charles_Lister
My latest comments on #Aleppo, secret talks in #Turkey & expansion of bombing to #Idlib:
For @MiddleEastInst:

http://www.mei.edu/content/article/m...-deal-win-iran …

"On Sunday, Russia insisted on withdrawal of all mainstream opposition fighters, as well as identification, surrender of al-Qaeda members."

Opposition factions in #Aleppo have been advised by the U.S. to accept an offer of withdrawal on condition of safe evacuation with families.

The instruction was received through MOM channels & comes out of #Kerry-#Lavrov negotiations in #Switzerland.

Factions have not responded.

Lack of clarity & conflicting reports is the result of individual factions taking differing positions; some pro- & others anti-withdrawing.

Some opposition groups in #Aleppo have drawn up a list of demands/guarantees they deem necessary should any withdrawal eventually be agreed.

Important - multiple opposition sources in #Aleppo insist a withdrawal is “impossible” & reports suggesting its possibility are “false."

[OUTLAW 09]

Mousa al-Omar confirms opposition will withdraw from Old #Aleppo.
Major development.

Syria’s armed opposition issues a demand for a 5-day ceasefire, to allow for civilian evacuation from East to North #Aleppo (not #Idlib):

Statement stresses that armed groups won't surrender/withdraw.

“The future of the city” would be negotiated post-civilian evacuation.

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat...more of those "unconfirmed unnamed aircraft attacks"......

Suspected Israeli aircrafts hit Mazzeh airport in Damacus. Unconfirmed
pic.twitter.com/T5OJABT9n0
http://syria.liveuamap.com/en/2016/7...rikes-reported …

Almost daily reports of "someone" aircrafts hit Syr. Govt or their allies positions

For 2nd time in a week, Syrian state TV confirms Israeli airstrikes in Damascus. This means an uptick in arms transfer attempts to Hezbollah

[OUTLAW 09]

Azor...picking back up your comments on who writes about Syria and the ME....right now none o those you have mentioned nor many o their associated blogs are carrying anything on this....so give me a writer based in Qatar or anywhere in the ME and or a think tank handling strictly the ME any day over someone or think tank sitting in the US

Charles Lister Verified account 
‏@Charles_Lister
My latest comments on #Aleppo, secret talks in #Turkey & expansion of bombing to #Idlib:
For @MiddleEastInst:

http://www.mei.edu/content/article/m...-deal-win-iran …

"On Sunday, Russia insisted on withdrawal of all mainstream opposition fighters, as well as identification, surrender of al-Qaeda members."

Opposition factions in #Aleppo have been advised by the U.S. to accept an offer of withdrawal on condition of safe evacuation with families.

The instruction was received through MOM channels & comes out of #Kerry-#Lavrov negotiations in #Switzerland.

Factions have not responded.

Lack of clarity & conflicting reports is the result of individual factions taking differing positions; some pro- & others anti-withdrawing.

Some opposition groups in #Aleppo have drawn up a list of demands/guarantees they deem necessary should any withdrawal eventually be agreed.

Important - multiple opposition sources in #Aleppo insist a withdrawal is “impossible” & reports suggesting its possibility are “false."

Azor....something to think about as this topic has largely gone totally unnoticed by most US writers and MSM when they mention the words Syria... IS....Iran and Assad in the same sentence...

If you take the time to read most of what Lister...Weiss....Orton and Hassan Hassan have written about the connections of Assad to the development and support to first QJBR/AQI and then IS and still continued support via the Kurdish YPG/PKK as well as the Iranian support to IS.....we might have had a far different Syrain discussion coming out of the Obama WH......

Kyle W. Orton ‏@KyleWOrton · Dec 3
IS about to lose its two capitals, but it'll go back into the deserts, resting on networks Assad helped them build.
http://henryjacksonsociety.org/2016/...tate-for-good/ …

Orton has done a number of articles with evidence of the deep ties between IS
Assad and Iran....largely ignored by US MSM.....

Charles Lister Verified account 
‏@Charles_Lister
#pt: The evidence on #Assad regime collision with jihadists (2000-present) is extensive.
I wrote a whole chapter on it (Ch.3), for my book.

Charles Lister ‏@Charles_Lister · Nov 22

My in-depth paper on the FSA is out!

— "The Free Syrian Army: A decentralized insurgent brand” —

http://brook.gs/2fadx48 #Syria #Aleppo

NOW find me US MSM and or writers who have covered the same areas....there are none....

[OUTLAW 09]

Children in #Madaya this morning after days of #Assad artillery, mortar and rocket attacks on their homes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbKmTe7Y_tI …