@EA_WorldView
Wednesday #Syria Daily: Opposition Faces a Regime Siege of #Aleppo
http://eaworldview.com/2016/07/syria...ege-of-aleppo/ …
Leader of Free Alawite Brigade allegedly arrives in Ankara to meet with opposition
Damascus: Rebels capture 2 top sell outs of so called "Palestine Liberation Army" Sergeant, Mufid Majid Qaddura & Sergeant Ahmed Sabri
Jaish Al-Islam claims capture of 2 fighters from "Palestine Liberation Army" on #Midaa front, E. #Ghouta (#Damascus).
Urgent: Iranian General Abdelilah Mehmandar Hussein killed in Aleppo by Syrian opposition forces
Syrian Rebels kill ISIS "prince" (leader)
http://en.eldorar.com/node/2724
Faylaq Al-Sham destroyed with an #ATGM a 14.5 mm gun (+2/3 KIA) in #Mallah, N. #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUytI7RJixs …
Car chase & driveby in the desert with a few #RPG taking out #ISIS technical
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H1y8EaDkR0 …
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 07-13-2016 at 07:11 AM.
28 Afghans of #IRGC's Fatemiun brig killed in Aleppo,Syria buried in different cities of Iran during recent days.
Oh gosh, didnt know Jerusalem has a district named #Aleppo too!
Soqour (Hawks) Huryat Kurdistan” carries out attacks against (IRGC) in Iran
http://en.eldorar.com/node/2723
Faylaq Al-Sham blew up with an #ATGM a 130 mm cannon on Sheikh Yussuf, E. #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgI_9CYH-lM …
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 07-13-2016 at 07:13 AM.
And here comes the regime revenge.
Large-scale MLRS on civilians in #Talbisah.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDp7X-S2F-A …
Surprise!
Bombings were possibly on rebels this time, who captured a regime barrier near #Talaf for some hours.
http://www.shaam.org/news/syria-news...%B1%D8%A9.html …
An #Assad air force Su-22 bombed free #Homs province this morning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNDeQOJEJuE …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88puYDHawkY …
So in addition to bombing a group fighting (only) ISIS it seems yesterday Russia also bombed refugees near the Jordanian border
AND what was the Obama/Rhodes/Kerry WH response......crickets...crickets....
The Castillo road yday.
Heavy fighting,heavy shelling,and no getting through for civilians.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi1Fsv4C1oc …
After #Russia bombing the last convoys and the #Castillo road blocked, diesel & fuel becomes rare in #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9fMrJ4jL3o …
Seemingly more #Nusra troops moved to the #Castillo road to open it once again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-qKosUgLS0 …
FOOD prices rose dramatically in #Aleppo as the total siege is now 72 hours.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ7UOa5fwEk …
A single brave journalist team took the #Castillo "road of death" today.
Not a single supply truck, no civilians.
https://youtu.be/3ZzO8tjjU1M
Pro-#Assad forces advanced further into #Aleppo's northern Layramoun district today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbjklRuWbAQ …
Syrian rebels say Russian jets hit refugee camp along Jordan border. Third time now.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKKCN0ZS2VJ …
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 07-13-2016 at 07:55 AM.
Thanks to Russia & international silence, Assad cuts last road to Aleppo, moving in for the kill
http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...source=twitter …
This is the perfect example of doing something "stupid" while not trying to do something "stupid".....
Proves to the entire ME Arab Sunni world as well as the global Sunni community the US and Russia did in fact have a "golden handshake"....
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 07-13-2016 at 08:04 AM.
Hama: #Syria|n rebels advancing in Southern #Hama and killed many pro-#Assad forces.
http://www.businessinsider.de/john-k...rar-al-sham-sy...Originally Posted by OUTLAW 09
State Department officials are 'baffled' by John Kerry's latest comments that have 'muddied the waters' in Syria
The Pentagon is resisting Obama's plan to work with the Russians in Syria, reports @nancyayoussef.The State Department is reportedly trying to walk back comments that Secretary of State John Kerry made about Syria during an appearance in Aspen, Colorado, last month.
When asked about the US's anti-ISIS strategy in Syria, Kerry said that "the most important thing, frankly, is seeing if we can reach an understanding with the Russians about how to, No. 1, deal with Daesh and al-Nusrah," Kerry said, referring to ISIS and Al Qaeda's offshoot in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra.
Kerry then characterized two other Syrian rebel groups, Jaysh al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham, as "subgroups" of ISIS and Nusra.
"There are a couple of subgroups underneath the two designated [terrorist groups], Daesh and Jabhat al-Nusra — Jaysh al-Islam, Ahrar al-Sham, particularly — who brush off and fight with that alongside these other two sometimes to fight the Assad regime," he said.
It is true that rebel groups in Syria fighting forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad sometimes coordinate or shift alliances to improve their battlefield odds. Indeed, Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham are members of the Jaysh al-Fateh (Army of Conquest) anti-Assad military alliance that now controls most of Idlib Province.
Neither Jaysh al-Islam nor Ahrar al-Sham, however, is a UN-designated terrorist organization. Both have expressed that they are opposed to ISIS. And neither is beholden to, or takes orders from, Nusra.
The Washington Post's Josh Rogin first noticed the comment, which apparently annoyed State Department officials who say that they have "been arguing to make sure the Russians and the Syrian regime don't equate these groups [Jaysh al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham] with the terrorists."
"Kerry's line yields that point," a senior administration official told Rogin.
"Baffled. SMH," another said in an email, using an abbreviation for the expression "shaking my head."
State Department spokesman John Kirby confirmed to The Post that the administration's policy with regard to Jaysh al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham had not changed.
Still, "it's a telling gaffe," Middle East expert Tony Badran, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Business Insider on Tuesday. "And it's revealing about the kind of conversation they're having with the Russians — and where, usually, that conversation leads."
Russia intervened in Syria on behalf of its ally, Assad, in late September. Since then, Moscow has pushed for the UN to list Jaysh al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham — which are staunchly opposed to Assad — as terrorist organizations. This is for political reasons and to justify its continued strikes on areas of Syria where ISIS, also known as ISIL or the Islamic State, has little to no presence.
Jaysh al-Islam, which is backed by Saudi Arabia, is one of the most important rebel groups in Syria, with a formidable presence east of Syria's capital, Damascus. Mohammed Alloush, a leading Jaysh al-Islam figure, was the chief negotiator for the opposition High Negotiations Committee before he resigned in May, citing a lack of progress on humanitarian issues.
A Russian airstrike targeted and killed the leader of Jaysh al-Islam, Zahran Alloush, in the village of Utaya to the east of Damascus in December.
Ahrar al-Sham, a powerful Islamist rebel brigade headquartered in Syria's Idlib Province, is backed by Turkey and has criticized and clashed with ISIS in the past.
Until now, it has been politically pragmatic for the US to refrain from characterizing Jaysh al-Islam or Ahrar al-Sham as terrorists. Doing so would most likely further undermine peace talks and paint Washington as sympathetic to Russia's bombing campaign — which has frequently targeted rebel groups supported by important US allies and the Central Intelligence Agency.
"Russia considers all revolutionaries and rebel groups as ISIS or al-Nusra to justify its indiscriminate shelling of civilians and the moderate opposition," Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, told The Post on Monday.
But the administration's political calculations may be shifting in light of a new proposal by President Barack Obama — which was reportedly opposed by Defense Secretary Ash Carter — to coordinate more closely with the Russians in Syria against Al Qaeda.
Not the first time
It would not be the first time that the Obama administration has touted a Russia-aligned policy in Syria at a politically sensitive moment.
In the midst of a countrywide truce brokered by the US and Russia in late February, US Army Col. Steve Warren, then the spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq, was asked whether Russian airstrikes on Aleppo — the epicenter of the war since late last year — meant that Moscow was preparing to end the cessation-of-hostilities agreement.
Warren responded that it was "complicated" because Nusra "holds Aleppo" and is not party to the agreement.
Many experts and analysts were quick to point out, however, that Nusra has never controlled Aleppo nor maintained a significant presence there. While Nusra had indeed been building up its presence in Aleppo since February, the city is also occupied by civilians and armed opposition groups associated with the US-backed Free Syrian Army that agreed to abide by the fragile agreement.
As Middle East analyst Kyle Orton noted on Twitter at the time, Warren came "pretty close" to saying that the coalition supported Russia's airstrikes in the city.
Then as now, observers wondered whether Warren had misspoken. But the US has been steadily accommodating an increasing number of Russian demands in Syria, including one to urge the moderate opposition to stop comingling with Nusra so that Moscow can bomb its positions — even though, some rebels have complained, weakening Nusra would mean strengthening Assad.
For the US's top diplomat to now indicate that he agrees with Russia's characterization of Jaysh al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham as terrorist groups sends more mixed signals — whether to Syrian rebels or political allies — about Washington's commitment to the opposition it claims to support.
Writing in the pan-Arab daily newspaper Al-Hayat, Ibrahim Hamidi noted that European diplomats were unnerved by what they perceived as a bilateral discussion between Washington and Moscow that had gone over their heads — and were engaged in intense discussions about how to "control the Obama administration's rush toward the Russian position on Syria."
And rebels are reportedly concerned that Washington's new cooperation with the Russians means "dismantling Jaysh al-Fateh, which opens the door to a regime victory and reproducing the regime with Russian backing," Hamidi added.
Continued.....
In any case, analysts agree that Kerry's comments bizarrely — and inaccurately— conflated roughly five different rebel groups in Syria that are either military allies or in competition with one another.
"It's true that the groups fighting Assad are hard to distinguish and often co-mingle, but US policy is based on knowing which are which," Rogin wrote. "Kerry muddied the waters. That's typically Moscow's job."
http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...-in-syria.html …
Charles Lister
@Charles_Lister
Good by @karendeyoung1 on intensified (& extraordinarily naive) efforts to work more closely w. #Russia in #Syria:
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 07-13-2016 at 02:09 PM.
The #Russia|n "Firehose of Falsehood" #Propaganda Model
Why It Might Work and Options to Counter It
http://www.rand.org/pubs/perspective...adbpr=22545453 …
Direct hit w/ hell cannon on top of Emir Palace (53 m high), #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAtTnohUtL8 …
Second Coastal Division took out with a #TOW an alleged (hidden) Gvozdika in N. #Latakia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVfmTm7gKic …
The White Helmets @SyriaCivilDef · 2h2 hours ago
Main market in Ariha (Idlib) just targeted. 14 dead including 4 children
14 killed including 4 children Main market #Ariha wastargeted and10 injured @SyriaCivilDef teams were still working
Footage from battle at Souq al-Hal in #Aleppo city center
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rol9GYG7rJ0 …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36...48659&z=17&m=b …
2 Afghan child soldiers of #IRGC's Fatemiun brig Mohammadhossein Rezaei 15, Mustafa Hesari 16, killed in Syria.
Russia dropped cluster bombs on #Binnish & #Ariha towns in #Idlib
Footage from quarries frontline in northern #Aleppo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2Ivag7uzl8 …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36...01445&z=16&m=b …
AND it just keeps getting worse ...on what is coming out of the so called Obama/Rhodes/Kerry Russian WH for US FP......
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...517_story.html
As Kerry pushes for coordination with Russia in Syria, others in administration cry foul
By Karen DeYoung July 12 at 7:32 PM
AND here is the Russian answer to Kerry, Obama and Rhodes.....The Obama administration’s offer to coordinate air attacks in Syria with Russia has opened a deepening rift between senior national security officials who insist it could quiet Syria’s civil carnage and further larger counterterrorism goals, and those who consider it a counterproductive sellout to the Kremlin.
Secretary of State John F. Kerry, who said last month that reaching an “understanding” with Russia was “the most important thing” in moving Syria forward, plans to push the deal when he meets Thursday in Moscow with President Vladi#mir Putin.
The U.S. proposal, which has not been made public, calls for the establishment of a “Joint Implementation Group” with Russia, through which the two countries would initially exchange intelligence and operational information on the locations of Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, and “synchronize” their independent operations against the Islamic State. Once al-Nusra targets have been agreed, they would determine what action to take and “deconflict” their air operations.
In exchange, Moscow would use its leverage to effectively ground Syria’s air force, limiting its operations to non-combat humanitarian and medical-evacuation missions. Both the United States and Russia would recommit themselves to pushing for a political settlement to Syria’s civil war.
Kerry is “extremely frustrated,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said. “And that’s one of the reasons why we’re going to Moscow, to see if that change is actually going to be possible — if the Russians are going to do what they’ve said they were going to do.” Administration officials have declined to discuss details of the proposal.
Despite a cease-fire ostensibly in effect since February, Syrian planes have kept up a steady bombardment of both civilian and opposition sites — where they have argued that al-Nusra forces, exempt from the truce, are mixed with rebel groups covered by the accord. After observing the early weeks of the cease-fire, Russian planes joined the Syrian forces, including in an offensive last weekend that took over the only remaining supply route for both rebels and civilians hunkered down in the northern city of Aleppo.
After days of air bombardment riddled an area only a few miles wide, Syrian forces and allied militiamen from Iraq, Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group took up positions above what is known as the Castello Road leading to Turkey. Artillery, rockets and surface-to-surface missiles have struck dozens of passenger cars and minibuses that attempted to drive the route, rebel spokesmen said. The area is so dangerous, they said, they have been unable to retrieve scores of bodies still trapped in the destroyed vehicles.
On Monday, rebel forces shelled government-held areas of the city, killing scores of residents, according to Syrian state media.
With government forces now virtually surrounding the city, the United Nations on Tuesday expressed concern about a prolonged siege. U.N. officials estimated that 300,000 civilians stuck inside the area would be cut off from dwindling supplies of food and medical care, as well as from their only escape route.
A new coordination agreement with Moscow, supporters within the administration argue, would save lives by stopping air attacks on civilians and opposition fighters, while simultaneously increasing the focus on al-Nusra, a shared U.S.-Russian enemy. Al-Nusra forces are amassed south of Aleppo, but their scattered presence among rebel fighters to the north has been used as an excuse for both Syrian government and Russian attacks.
But as Kerry and Robert Malley, the chief White House point man on Syria, negotiate with the Kremlin, a growing chorus of defense, diplomatic and intelligence officials have voiced objections.
“We do this, and then what?” said a U.S. official, one of several who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue and feared identification as internal critics.
“You need to solve the Assad problem, because as long as Assad is in power, Syria is a failed state. And as long as it’s a failed state, it will be a breeding ground for extremists,” including the Islamic State and al-Nusra, the official said.
This official and others, in comments that were echoed across a wide range of outside Syria experts, said that the proposed deal does not appear to affect Syrian or Russian ground operations — including extensive Russian artillery being used in the Aleppo offensive — and does nothing to force Assad to negotiate a political end to the war, something both he and Russia agreed to as part of the original cease-fire arrangement.
“I don’t understand how Kerry walks away from this saying he got something,” said Andrew J. Tabler of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “It’s all in the name of saying . . . that they’re saving lives and targeting terrorists. But what it will do strategically will mean the regime will simply stand by while we hit the terrorists, and the regime will benefit from that.”
“This is defeat,” Tabler said. “I think everybody is beside themselves because this is all being done in the name of a cease-fire . . . the best thing we can do to reduce the violence. But in effect, it’s crafted in such a way that it strengthens the regime, the opposite of what we say we want.”
Frederic C. Hof of the Atlantic Council, who served as the administration’s special adviser for Syria until resigning in late 2012, advised the administration to “take a deep breath and think things through very carefully.”
“As desirable as it is to damage a loathsome al-Qaeda entity, military collaboration with Russia could also exact long-term costs to America’s reputation and the broader fight against extremism, costs potentially far exceeding the benefits of a here-and-now body count,” Hof wrote in the Huffington Post on Tuesday.
Internal disagreement over Syria policy has plagued the administration for years. In 2012, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton argued for the use of military force against Assad and for the establishment of opposition safe zones. In addition, then-CIA Director David H. Petraeus recommended arming and training anti-Assad opposition forces.
President Obama rejected both proposals and, to the consternation of most of his national security cabinet, pulled back in 2013 from an agreed plan to bomb Syrian military targets to punish Assad for the use of chemical weapons.
Among the many arguments against the currently proposed deal with Russia, the Pentagon has insisted that Moscow has demonstrated — in Syria, Ukraine and elsewhere — that it simply cannot be trusted.
The stated purpose of airstrikes that Russia began last fall was “to fight ISIL and . . . assist the political transition in Syria towards a post-Assad government,” Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said late last month. “They haven’t done either of those things.”
ISIL, along with ISIS and Daesh, is an alternative term for the Islamic State.
While Kerry has long advocated for U.S. military action against Assad, he believes that the highest priority now must be to stop the violence generated by Syrian government airstrikes. He feels that any downside to cooperation with Russia would be mitigated by the pressure Moscow could bring on Assad and gains against an al-Nusra organization that remains a vital component of al-Qaeda’s international operations.
And this morning we have reports of Russia bombing a refugee camp housing families of US backed anti-ISIS fighters
"Russia is framing offer in terms of counterterrorism but Russia's current campaign does not make such distinctions"
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 07-13-2016 at 02:30 PM.
Exact track (based on sat imagery) of S. supply line for Regime-held #Aleppo. Rebels distant from ~450 m to 1.32 km.
This video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faP4k_I5xm0 …
and satellite data show the current frontlines of W Mallah #Aleppo as
Rebels trying to repel pro-Regime assault on Zara-Harbinafsah front, S. #Hama.
Heavy clashes during Rebel attack on Western front of Old #Aleppo.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=36....150590&z=16&m …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rol9GYG7rJ0 …
Footage of daily clashes in Khaldiyah as pro-Regime forces try to reach Castillo Rd from S.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIcw1f5G5DM …
Aftermath of #JaF's VBIED on Iranian-led militias in Khan Tuman Ammo Depot, S. #Aleppo
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=36....091496&z=17&m …
Daraya pocket reduced by roughly one third since "ceasefire" from 27th February.
The Obama/Rhodes/Kerry Russian WH has no earthly idea of what they are exactly doing...and again this is their famous mantra of.... "not doing something stupid"....
http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...-in-syria.html
07.13.16 7:00 AM ET
Pentagon Resists Obama’s New Plan to Work With the Russians in Syria
The White House is pushing to cooperate with Putin’s forces in the fight against ISIS. But many in the U.S. military are saying: No way.
Remember this is the same exact Obama/Rhodes/Kerry WH that stated in 2014...."we will judge the Russians on their actions not their words"....AND YET Kerry states again..."we will see if they are serious"...the same exact words he used to entice the anti Assad opposition to Geneva....The Obama administration has increasingly warmed to a Russian proposal that allows U.S. forces to coordinate with the Kremlin in the ongoing war against ISIS in Syria. But the White House is facing major resistance to the idea from the U.S. military and those in the intelligence community who are working with local Syrian opposition forces—the very government officials who would carry out such a plan.
The pushback comes as the U.S. has reportedly sent a proposal to Russia to share information about specific targets to strike in Syria. Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday in part to discuss the plan.
Some Pentagon officials already are saying it won’t work. They have suggested that should the U.S. and Russia agree to increased coordination, they will lobby to share as little with the Russians as possible.
There are discussions in the Pentagon about narrowing the extent of the coordination and the amount of intelligence shared, a U.S. defense official explained to The Daily Beast.
The Russians, two defense officials said, could not be trusted to honor any agreement, saying they believe Moscow would eventually exploit any agreement to bolster the regime—and weaken Syria’s beleaguered rebel fighters. As one U.S.official asked: “What do we gain?”
The internal debate about how much to expand U.S. coordination with the Russians has exposed perhaps the greatest schism within the administration this year over the way ahead in Syria.
Will it help end the war—and if so—for which side? Will it lead to a weaker ISIS and al Qaeda in Syria or an emboldened Russia and Syrian President Bashar al Assad?
The U.S. officials supporting increased coordination believe that ultimately Russia wants a political solution—an agreement between Assad and the rebels. Increased coordination could induce Russia to broker such a deal. On the ground, increased coordination could reduce civilian casualties and weaken terror groups like Jabhat al Nusra, al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, one administration official explained to The Daily Beast.
“The regime needs to... end the indiscriminate use of weapons, including the targeting of civilians and civilian authorities, and including medical ones. And we look to the Russians to make a greater use of the influence that we know that they have to make that happen,” State Department spokesman John Kirby explained to reporters last week.
But for others in the U.S. government, there are concrete reasons, presented in just the last few weeks, not to trust the Kremlin. Russia is believed to have attacked Pentagon-backed and trained forces in southern Syria last month, even after the U.S. reached out to the Russians to alert them about who they were striking. Russia denied striking the rebels, stationed near the Jordan border.
For others at the State Department, Russia is not a partner in Syria but the country whose police forces attacked a U.S. diplomat entering the embassy in Moscow over the weekend, leading to an expulsion and counter expulsion of diplomats.
The State Department said Russian police “attacked” the diplomats. Last month, Kerry raised the issue of how diplomats are being treated with the very Russian officials he is now discussing a military coordination plan with.
And in the nine months since Russia began its strike campaign on behalf of Assad, there have been a series of broken agreements.
In May, for example, there was an agreed ceasefire between Russia and the United States in the Syrian city of Aleppo. And yet, despite those calls to stop fighting, just over the weekend, with the help of Russian air strikes, the Syrian army claimed control of Castello Road, a key rebel route out of Aleppo.
The U.S. has been trying to get its Syrian rebel allies to separate themselves from Nusra, so far without success, because the Islamist group is among the most effective anti-Assad forces. The Russians have said that with the moderate rebels interspersed with Nusra, it’s hard to bomb al Qaeda without also bombing the moderate rebels. Moscow says it needs to know where the American-backed rebels are so its forces don’t hit them by accident.
Opponents to such coordination sense a Russian trap. Two U.S. defense officials explained to The Daily Beast that they believe the Russians will use such coordination to shift the discussion about Syria away from Assad’s removal and toward weakening his opponents, like Jabhat al Nusra. Moreover, they fear that once Russia, with U.S. help, pushes back the al Qaeda affiliate, they will renege on promises to spare the U.S.-backed moderate Syrian opposition, thereby “eliminating the two greatest threats to the Assad regime,” the U.S. official explained.
“Russia is framing this offer in terms of counterterrorism and is proposing joint operations against both Jabhat al Nusra and ISIS, but of course Russia’s current campaign does not actually make such distinctions. The issue on the table, therefore, is whether it’s possible for the U.S. to redirect Russia into an actual counterterrorism alliance in which Russia halts targeting of acceptable opposition groups,” Jennifer Cafarella, a Syria analyst at the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, explained to The Daily Beast.
U.S. defense officials said that working with Moscow would give credibly to a far less precise Russian military air campaign, one that has, by everyone’s measure, killed far more civilians in Syria than the U.S.-backed coalition.
“Why give [the Russians] legitimacy?” one defense official asked.
And perhaps most importantly to those working with local forces, they fear that any agreement could cost the U.S. credibility with local forces who are working with them.
The U.S. and Russia already communicate to ensure there are no accidents in the air over Syria and that U.S.-backed opposition forces are not struck. There is no coordination of attacks, but rather an exchange of limited information to prevent unintended strikes.
The pressure on the Pentagon to embrace increased Russian coordination has begun to creep into the public discourse. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, who once flatly closed the door to increased Russian coordination, opened that door ever so slightly late last month.
“If the Russians would do the right thing in Syria, and that’s an important condition, as in all cases with Russia, we’re willing to work with them,” Carter told reporters at a June 30 briefing.
The U.S. has been divided for years about how to deal with Nusra, which the U.S. declared al Qaeda in December 2012. The U.S. now sees the ongoing expansion al Qaeda affiliate as dangerous.
“In Syria, as [ISIS] is losing territory in the east, its terrorist rival—Jabhat al-Nusra—is gaining ground in the west,” Brett McGurk, the U.S. special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter IS, said June 28 in written testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Kerry arrives in Moscow Thursday, in part, “to test how serious the Russians are about using their influence in a constructive way in Syria,” a second U.S. official explained.
The Russians have held to not a single thing they have stated they would do in eastern Ukraine and in Syria so why is Kerry even trying?????
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 07-13-2016 at 02:45 PM.
Remember this is the same exact Obama/Rhodes/Kerry WH that stated in 2014...."we will judge the Russians on their actions not their words"....AND YET Kerry states again..."we will see if they are serious"...the same exact words he used to entice the anti Assad opposition to Geneva....
Well here are the Russian actions...and where is the Obama/Rhodes/Kerry response...????
Douma city today
#Assad's terrorism vs. women and children continues throughout the country
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83NP...ature=youtu.be …
Heavy regime air strikes around Zahra in southern #Hama province.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZdA7LtEPTA …
(Graphic) #footage
Deadly #Assad/#Putin air strikes on #Ariha in #Idlib province shortly ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXJWSg63CZI …
Terrible and graphic!
Another civilian casualty of #Assad's attacks on #Talbisah.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRk_G_PCb5g …
Air strikes joined artillery and MLRS attacks on #Talbisah.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8YMOMrVNzY …
64 civilians including 13 children killed across #Syria yesterday.
- LCC
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 07-13-2016 at 02:54 PM.
Somehow the Obama/Rhodes/Kerry WH seem to always forget the other players of the ME that are just as involved as are the Russians....notice they do not approach them ........
"Reconciliation with Assad"...
As I said before: Turkey learned from its past mistakes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_K-7vYHx8A …
#Turkey’s rapprochement w. #Russia is reflective of self-proclaimed “more friends & less enemies” policy.
Stance on #Assad won’t change.
Kerry seems to forget that any US participation with Russia will signal to those players that they can now make their own moves in a much more open way and I do not think Kerry and Obama will like those moves...nor will Putin and Assad......
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 07-13-2016 at 03:03 PM.
The Pentagon is resisting Obama's plan to work with the Russians in Syria, reports @nancyayoussef.
Charles Lister @Charles_Lister
As 1 very senior US official told me last week:
"I don't trust *anything* #Russia says, on #Syria or anything else"
This is key context behind the U.S.-#Russia discussions around Jabhat al-Nusra, grounding #Assad’s airforce & political process etc.
Rumor abounds now that #Russia may be prepping a replacement (a military man) for #Assad.
U.S. is awaiting evidence from #Moscow.
Reports: FSA takes over all Nusra HQs in N. Aleppo, & arrests tens of Nusra fighters. #Syria
Symbolically important:
US-vetted FSA group Al-Jabhat al-Shamiya takes on Nusra's small presence in Azaz, #Aleppo:
Specifically Azaz area where Northern Storm (component of Jabha Shamieh coalition) controls. Jabha Shamieh responsible for raids.
This according to Abo Abdo Sajjo, leader of Northern Storm, who also accused Nusra of being allied with ISIS in justifying the raids.
As others pointed out correctly Nusra mostly withdrew from N. Aleppo last August. Small group of 50-60 had remained, until today.
Aleppo resident I spoke to estimates they have just over two weeks' worth of food left after regime cut main road out and left them besieged
Aleppo factions Ahrar, Zengi, Fastaqim warn traders against exploiting siege
http://orient-news.net/ar/news_show/...B9%D8%A7%D8%B1 …
Residents of besieged #Daraya tell us that the regime is burning their crops - the last source of food to the town
Amaq claims #IS has killed three members of the Kurdish-Marxist #YPG and wounded others in southern #Hasaka, #Syria.
Kafrhamra in #Aleppo hit with at least 8 barrel bombs by Assad helos so far this morning, yesterday it was targeted with over 20 airstrikes
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 07-13-2016 at 04:16 PM.
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