Syria in 2017 (April-December)

[OUTLAW 09]

Azor..now tell me the Trump WH has a solid Syrian plan...I see nothing but failures...actually now worse than Obama....


Pro-#Assad tweeps celebrate insufficient @CJTFOIR response to Iranian-led forces advance on US/UK forces.
PS: Interesting Nazi comparison...

[OUTLAW 09]

Azor...more along this same line....

Confirms earlier reports of raising Russian flag over positions captured by pro Assad forces from FSA east Suwaida
https://twitter.com/Ibra_Joudeh/stat...6510117695488#

Iran|ian-backed #Iraq|i militia Harakat Al-Abdal involvement for Al-Tanf battle w/ slogan "defend faith & holies, avengers of Zeinab".

[OUTLAW 09]

Since the introduction of the "De-Escalation Zones" in #Syria,pro-#Assad forces have captured more than 2000 km^2 of Syrian opposition land.

Talking about none-ISIS opposition.
Not a single km^2 of these areas in #EastGhouta, #RifDimashq, #Suwayda & #Homs province was held by HTS.

[OUTLAW 09]

News
16 people killed, 40 injured in suspected (pro-)#ISIS car bomb attack on #AhrarAlSham HQ in #Idlib province.

[OUTLAW 09]

Saudi may spend $350 billion on high end weapons, but if they don't focus on SOF/asymmetric threats, Iran will still run circles around them

[OUTLAW 09]

Since the introduction of the "De-Escalation Zones" in #Syria,pro-#Assad forces have captured more than 2000 km^2 of Syrian opposition land.

Talking about none-ISIS opposition.
Not a single km^2 of these areas in #EastGhouta, #RifDimashq, #Suwayda & #Homs province was held by HTS.

Syria: Pro-#Assad forces have captured #Raj_al_Issa from #FSA.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=33...A%D8%B9%D9%8A#

US still not protecting the FSA units they trained and are not blocking Iranian backed Iraqi Shia militia EVN after stating in KSA that Iran is the leading terrorist supporting county in the world.

[OUTLAW 09]

Commander of 106th Guards Airborne Division, General Major Glushenkov Dmitry Valeryevich with head of LiwaAlQudus colonel Samer Jafar, Homs

As of May 9 this year, the 68th Army Corps was commanded by Major-General Andrey Mordvichev

So apparently Glushenkov wasn't promoted to Corps commander after all... he appears to have deployed straight to Syria?

[OUTLAW 09]

Almost all news about #Syria coming from pro-#Assad "sources". A few reports from #ISIS, a few reports from #YPG and zero from the rebels.

[OUTLAW 09]

BREAKING Russian re-qualified 26 DNR terrorists to be send to Syria as PMC Wagner mercs. Only 8 returned alive.
https://twitter.com/GirkinGirkin/sta...5075710693376#

[OUTLAW 09]

SyAAF T4 AB is updated over @TerraServer as of 6/5/2017 and shows:
4 L-39
9 Su-22 scattered on taxi ways
2 Su-24M2
1 Mi-8/17
7 RuAF helos

[OUTLAW 09]

New russian army electronic warfare system noticed in syria
Svet-KU radio control and information protection system.

[OUTLAW 09]

Pictures of the Belgian SFG on the frontline with #Kurdish soldiers north of #TalAfar

[OUTLAW 09]

Ongoing heavy #AssadPutin air force attacks on #Daraa city.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn3B6qExNAw#

Daraa: Nonstop #Assad airstrikes, artillery shelling & rocket attacks on #Daraa since the morning. Pro-#Assad forces trying to advance.

Turkish pilot who shot down Russian aircraft gets a five year jail term....great motivation for future Turkish pilots that are in harms way....

[OUTLAW 09]

FSA rebels in the Syrian desert captured al Halba village from ISIS, 70km from al Tanf.
http://youtu.be/CFCd9QGs4M4

Overheard in German Foreign Office: If Saudi had invested $320b in Iraq & Syria instead of US arms, would Iran have as much influence there

Very valid comment....

[Azor]

Azor you still do not get it....

1. US air strike was not to protect FSA but to protect SF units the 5th and UK SAS...

2. Verified by FSA themselves with their comments that they had been ordered to move out of the crossing point....still not confirmed though

3. That TLAM was for nothing but show and that was it...had no impact on any of the ME players did not impress Iran nor did this air strike impress them

Both TLAM and air strikes served to provide Russia and Iran just more propaganda....

4. Trump could have broken with Obama but did not as he has absolutely no plan on how to defeat IS.

REMEMBER it was Trump himself that stated he would have within 60 days a "plan to defeat IS"..we are way pass 100 days and have you seen this "plan"....MIA......

5. By fully titling to the PKK Trump has ensured a decade of more fighting between Turkey and PKK

So all on all..what I have constantly bashed Obama for on his failed strategy because anything the FSA did that placed his Iran Deal in trouble he deflected back onto the Syrians...NOW we can continue to bash Trump FOR CONTINUING what basically was a pro Iranian strategy.....

That should have been apparent from the two postings here from former Obama types....BUT you seemed to miss those postings..

The Iran Deal was everything...and the Syrians were collateral damage...

RE:

1-2. Regardless, Obama was loath to use force against Assad even to protect U.S. personnel, for fear of the optics. The fact that the U.S. is now unconcerned with the optics of appearing to provide CAS for the rebels (or “terrorists” according to Damascus and Moscow) indicates a major change of policy.

3. Thus far, there have been no reports of any chemical weapons use by Assad since the airstrike on Shayrat Airbase, let alone of Sarin.

4. Trump was never going to radically break from Obama’s handling of Daesh. The fact is that Obama’s approach was the most cost-effective, and fit with his overall CT strategy of containment and attrition. Any radical departure would either be prohibitively expensive in blood, treasure and political capital, or would allow for a resurgence of Daesh. Neither Trump nor the Republicans are especially fond of the JCPOA. Whereas Obama was prepared to give Iran a free hand in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, and to tolerate Iranian provocations such as the capture and parading of U.S. soldiers, Trump does not appear to have those inclinations. Any approach that does not involve direct conflict with Iran can be regarded as “pro-Iranian”, given that country’s aggression.

Syrians were not “collateral damage” for the JCPOA. The fact is that humanitarian grounds aside, the U.S. had no compelling interest to intervene in Syria. Rather than the JCPOA, I would suggest that probably there was a gentleman’s agreement between Washington, Moscow and Damascus, that Obama would not intervene in Syria as long as Assad surrendered his chemical weapons. It was difficult to punish Assad in 2013, when Washington wanted him to both refrain from using chemical weapons and to keep those weapons secure.

5. The tilt to the PKK was done by the previous administration. For the reasons that Aaron Stein provided above, it is a sound policy if the objective is solely the defeat of Daesh as a statelet and conventional force, and as quickly as possible. As for any unfinished business or loose ends, these were also present in 1865, 1918, 1945, 1953 and 1991, to say nothing of later marches to folly. Arguably, the Vietnam War's end has produced the least fallout of any major American war, despite the loss.

[Azor]

FSA rebels in the Syrian desert captured al Halba village from ISIS, 70km from al Tanf.
http://youtu.be/CFCd9QGs4M4

Overheard in German Foreign Office: If Saudi had invested $320b in Iraq & Syria instead of US arms, would Iran have as much influence there

Very valid comment....

It is a very valid comment. I would have preferred that Trump pressured KSA to provide humanitarian aid for Iraqi and Syrian refugees, and to even take a few hundred thousand in. Despite the GCC's antipathy toward Iran, it is about a pro-Shia as France was pro-Catholic during the Thirty Years War. Indeed, Egypt is being kept barely afloat simply for the sake of Saudi border security.

[OUTLAW 09]

RE:

1-2. Regardless, Obama was loath to use force against Assad even to protect U.S. personnel, for fear of the optics. The fact that the U.S. is now unconcerned with the optics of appearing to provide CAS for the rebels (or “terrorists” according to Damascus and Moscow) indicates a major change of policy.

3. Thus far, there have been no reports of any chemical weapons use by Assad since the airstrike on Shayrat Airbase, let alone of Sarin.

4. Trump was never going to radically break from Obama’s handling of Daesh. The fact is that Obama’s approach was the most cost-effective, and fit with his overall CT strategy of containment and attrition. Any radical departure would either be prohibitively expensive in blood, treasure and political capital, or would allow for a resurgence of Daesh. Neither Trump nor the Republicans are especially fond of the JCPOA. Whereas Obama was prepared to give Iran a free hand in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, and to tolerate Iranian provocations such as the capture and parading of U.S. soldiers, Trump does not appear to have those inclinations. Any approach that does not involve direct conflict with Iran can be regarded as “pro-Iranian”, given that country’s aggression.

Syrians were not “collateral damage” for the JCPOA. The fact is that humanitarian grounds aside, the U.S. had no compelling interest to intervene in Syria. Rather than the JCPOA, I would suggest that probably there was a gentleman’s agreement between Washington, Moscow and Damascus, that Obama would not intervene in Syria as long as Assad surrendered his chemical weapons. It was difficult to punish Assad in 2013, when Washington wanted him to both refrain from using chemical weapons and to keep those weapons secure.

5. The tilt to the PKK was done by the previous administration. For the reasons that Aaron Stein provided above, it is a sound policy if the objective is solely the defeat of Daesh as a statelet and conventional force, and as quickly as possible. As for any unfinished business or loose ends, these were also present in 1865, 1918, 1945, 1953 and 1991, to say nothing of later marches to folly. Arguably, the Vietnam War's end has produced the least fallout of any major American war, despite the loss.

FSA Unified Military Council for Deir EzZor coordinating w/ supporting countries prepare for big battle #DeirEzZor:
http://eldorar.com/node/111650

Turkish ambo to US, Serdar Kılıç, rips US policy in Syria for backing YPG for battle of Raqqa. No way to treat a 65-year ally, he said

[OUTLAW 09]

Daraa: Rebels have confirmed killed 11 #Assad forces in #Daraa City today, most of them Alawites from #Tartous and #Latakia.

[OUTLAW 09]

AFTER the Trump tilt in KSA to "contain" Iran...appears it was all just words...just as was the Trump TLAM attack...all intentions and that was about it....

Over the past 24 hours, #Iranian-led forces captured 100 more square kilometres of Syrian-opposition-held land in #RifDimashq.

[OUTLAW 09]

3 people killed, 15 injured in a suicide car bomb attack in (regime-held) #Homs city.