America is now in a proxy war with... itself in Syria, as Pentagon and CIA-backed militias repeatedly exchange fire http://ln.is/chicagotribune.com/NUGzP …
Assad's seriously making the point "See I'm better then them: I only torture and kill Syrians, you'll be fine!" https://twitter.com/sputnikint/statu...23096907288580 …
Terrorism in Syria and Iraq is receiving direct support from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, France and Great Britain, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to Sputnik.
DAMASCUS (Sputnik) — Terrorism in Syria and Iraq is receiving direct support from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, France and the United Kingdom, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Sputnik.
"Terrorism — that’s the real problem. We must fight it on the international level, because terrorism affects not only Syria. Terrorism exists in Iraq. It is directly supported by Turkey. It is directly supported by the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia, as well as a number of Western states, especially France and the United Kingdom," Assad said.
"As far as other states go, they are watching, observing. No serious work on this issue is being conducted from their side. I think that with regard to this questions, the problem far larger than the problem of the actual figures," he added.
Syrian refugees will begin returning home when they see hope for improvement, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Sputnik.
"We’ve started infrastructure reconstruction work before the crisis is over, to soften, as much as possible, the influence of economic losses and infrastructure damage on the Syrian people and at the same time reduce the migration flow out of the country," Assad said.
"Maybe some will want to return when they see that there is hope for the amelioration of the situation," he added.
The president noted that the cause of migration is not only terrorism and the security situation, but also the blockade and Western sanctions introduced against Syria.
"Many people have left safe areas where there is no terrorism because of the life conditions. Citizens can no longer provide themselves with all that is necessary. So we, as a state, must take steps, at least the most basic ones, to improve the economic situation and the service sector in Syria. That’s what we are currently doing in terms of reconstruction," he stated.
Damascus will lean primarily on Russia, China and Iran in rebuilding the country following the war, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Sputnik.
"The reconstruction process is in any case profitable for companies that are participating in it, especially if they manage to get loans from the countries that will support them. Of course, we expect that the process will rely on the three main states that have supported Syria during this crisis — that’s Russia, China and Iran. But I suppose that a lot of countries that were against Syria, I mean first of all Western countries, will try to direct their companies to take part in this process. However, for us in Syria there is absolutely no doubt that we will ask, first of all, our friendly states," Assad said.
Refugees No Longer: Residents Return to Liberated Palmyra, Thank Russia for Helping Hand
According to the president, it is "absolutely certain that if you were to pose this question to any Syrian citizen, his answer, political and emotional, would be that we welcome, first of all, the companies from the three countries, primarily from Russia."
"If we’re speaking of infrastructure, it spans, perhaps not even dozens, but hundreds of different areas and specializations. So I think that Russian companies will have a very broad space for contributing to the restoration of Syria," he added.
Syria Needs National Unity Government for Transition Period
The transitional period in Syria must occur under the current constitution and include a national unity government comprising various political forces, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Sputnik.
"First of all, regarding the definition of the 'transitional period,' such a definition does not exist. We in Syria assume that the term political transition means the transition from one constitution to another, and a constitution is what defines the form of the needed political composition in the next stage. Thus, the transition period must be under the current constitution, and we will move on to the new constitution after the Syrian people vote for it," Assad said.
"Before that, what we can work on, as we see it in Syria, is the government," he added. "This transitional structure or transitional format is a government formed by various Syrian political forces — opposition, independent, the current government and others."
The unity government's main goal would be to work out a new constitution and let the Syrian people vote on it, after which a transition to the new constitution could take place, Assad explained.
"Neither the Syrian constitution, nor the constitution of any other country in the world includes anything that is called a transitional body of power. It’s illogical and unconstitutional. What are the powers of this body? How will it govern the daily lives of citizens? Who will be assessing it? Today, there is the People’s Council [Syria’s parliament] and the constitution that regulates the work of the government and the state. That’s why a solution is a government of national unity that will prepare a new constitution," the president underlined.
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 03-30-2016 at 11:07 AM.
America is now in a proxy war with... itself in Syria, as Pentagon and CIA-backed militias repeatedly exchange fire http://ln.is/chicagotribune.com/NUGzP …
As most Russian watchers suspected. Putin's "withdrawal" from Syria is another sham to deceive naive western leaders
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0WW0DJ …
............since Russia announced its "draw down" in Syria it has shipped more equipment + supplies to Syria that brought back http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mi...-idUSKCN0WW0DJ …
LT MFA STRATCOM @LT_MFA_Stratcom
Lessons of #Kremlin's #propaganda
http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art...ian-propaganda …
A little girl writes Allahu Akbar on the fallen minaret of the mosque in #Douma that was bombed by Assad today.
Iran missile tests have caused alarm: U.N.'s Ban
http://reut.rs/25vTpz2 via @Reuters
ANNA NEWS with #SAA #SyrianArmy Liwa Al Quds Brigade.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc-EQv24q_4 …
That highly touted Obama WH Iran Deal strategy is really working out now for the US in Syria.....those "moderates" can be counted on.....
Iran will continue escalating its involvement in Syria after Obama recognized its "legitimate defense concerns".......ie a land corridor to Hezbollah and Syria a largely Arab Sunni nation state inside the Iranian sphere of influence.......
Iraqi Badr Military Wing posted new photos of some more of their troops heading to Syria to crush terrorists ie Sunni's and FSA.
Aleppo Commander of Badr Military Wing in Syria visiting some troops.
BTW........
I had Sunni's in Diyala Province in 2005 already warning me that the real threat was not the Sunni's BUT Badr Corp.
BTW Badr answers to the IRGC.........
A major side effect of this poorly thought through Obama strategy is the following and it is coming.........
There will not be peace in Syria until Iran & its proxy forces sees confrontation only possible at this stage by Saudi-led Islamic coalition
BUT WAIT.....Obama in his Goldberg interview basically told KSA they should accept "a cold peace" and should "share the region" whatever that means to Obama????
It's the Iran Deal stupid.........that "legitimate defense concerns thing"
French navy seizes weapons cache heading from Iran to Yemen http://ara.tv/nttz5 prin @AlArabiya_Eng
Last edited by davidbfpo; 03-30-2016 at 07:10 PM.
All Russia did was replace their fixed-wing CAS aircraft (the Su-25s) with rotary-wing CAS aircraft (helicopters).
https://twitter.com/Charles_Lister/s...02890097369088 …
FSA Liwa Mutasim mortar shells hits #ISIS ammo depot in Asunbul east of Marea'a, north rural #Aleppo
http://youtu.be/GPZQbVW409s
Also east of #Damacus, the #Assad air force kept bombing rebel-held towns.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAyTtdcgBjA …
Meanwhile in #Syria, #Assad and his allies keep ignoring the #SyriaCeasefire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okb0KQWU1nU …
near Damascus
Clashes continue between rebels and IS-linked groups in Heet, Taseel, Jallin and Sheikh Saad in western Deraa
Regime barrel bombs target al Zerba and Khan Touman in southern Aleppo as well as Khan al Sheeh and Zakya in southern Damascus countryside
Afghan Fatemiyoun flag flying in Palmyra, #Syria. Sources say more Afghans being sent to garrison captured territory
Double-tap strike by Assad/@mod_russia terrorists against a Ghouta mosque hits a minaret. Via @SyriaCivilDef.
Heavy clashes continue between rebels & regime forces/militias in the Bala area in E. Ghouta w/ several Assad airstrikes reported earlier
Anadan in north rural #Aleppo is also being targeted with heavy artillery by Assad militias in Tamoura with clashes ongoing in Jabal area
http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/03/30/...t-white-house/
Erdogan Uses Closed-Door Meeting to Blast Obama Administration
The Turkish president told a gathering of academics and former government officials that the White House was wrong to back the Kurds in the fight against the Islamic State.
By John Hudson
March 30, 2016
Is there little wonder just why the Obama WH "does not get it".....Facing a high-profile snub from the White House and a growing chasm with the United States over human rights and press freedoms, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan courted Washington’s top think tank luminaries on Tuesday night in an effort to rehabilitate his image and criticize the Obama administration’s policies in Syria.
During a private dinner at Washington’s high-end St. Regis Hotel, a defiant Erdogan ripped the American media’s coverage of his administration’s policies and bashed the White House’s support for Kurdish fighters in Syria. Washington sees the Kurds as their most valuable proxies in the ground battle against the Islamic State, but Erdogan views them as terrorists aligned with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a militant group struggling for autonomy. Kurdish militants have been tied to several recent bombings inside Turkey.
“He kept coming back to that issue: Terrorists are terrorists — there are no good ones” said one attendee of the dinner, speaking on condition of anonymity. “He pretty much threw the administration under the bus.”
The attendees included Joel Hellman, the dean of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service; Vali Nasr, dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies; Jane Harman, chairwoman of the Woodrow Wilson Center; Michael Singh, managing director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy; and other high-profile academics and former U.S. officials.
Erdogan is in Washington to meet Vice President Joe Biden and attend the administration’s 2016 Nuclear Security Summit. But he is not expected to enjoy a formal meeting with President Barack Obama — a slight the White House explained away as scheduling issue but which has been widely perceived as sign of Obama’s frustration with Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian actions.
The visit follows the seizure of Turkey’s largest newspaper, Zaman, by authorities who accused the paper of serving as a mouthpiece for Fethullah Gullen, a one-time Erdogan ally now charged with attempting to overthrow the government. After the paper’s staff was gutted and replaced with Erdogan-friendly editors, State Department spokesman John Kirby called the takeover “troubling.”
Julie Smith, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and a former Biden adviser on Turkey, said Erdogan was using the meeting to try to improve his standing at a difficult moment in the relationship, but said it might not be enough.
“The president will need more than a few days of targeted engagement if he has hopes of putting the bilateral relationship back on track,” she said. “Washington remains deeply troubled by Erdogan’s actions at home, especially in regards to freedom of the press, and remains concerned by core elements of its foreign policy.”
Though she attended the Tuesday night dinner, she declined to comment on any specifics of the meeting. But according to a source in the room, Erdogan seemed eager to compensate for Obama’s snub by speaking directly to Washington’s thought leaders about why Turkey is crucial to U.S. grand strategy and why the Obama administration is taking it for granted.
“The biggest message I heard from Erdogan was: ‘You need us. You can’t win your war in Syria without us,’” said the attendee. The president also made veiled references to deceitfulness of the U.S. media and his view that some journalists were actively working against Turkish interests.
In a sign of his seriousness, the Turkish leader spent about three hours with the group, opening himself up to a range of questions from different academics.
“He didn’t get any nasty questions, but there were a few that if he were a thin-skinned politician, he would’ve melted down,” said the attendee. “He wanted to speak directly to us and without a filter.”
The fact that not a single official from the Obama administration attended the dinner seemed to indicate a growing distrust between the two powers. Erdogan had wanted Obama to attend the opening of a Turkish-funded mosque in Maryland during his visit. When the White House declined, the Turks sought a formal bilateral meeting, but the White House has refused to commit to that as well.
On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that Erdogan and Obama are likely to meet informally and “at least have a conversation.” But given that 50 world leaders are in Washington to attend the summit, the president is strapped for time, said Earnest.
Obama once saw Erdogan as a potential bridge between the U.S. and the Muslim world, but those ties have also been put under severe strain because of sharp disagreements about the fight against ISIS.
“Now with terrorism on the top of everyone’s mind, Erdogan seems to be bringing the message that Turkey is on the front-lines and needs to settle its differences for the sake of regional and global stability,” said Joshua Walker, a fellow at the German Marshall Fund who attended the dinner but also declined to discuss specifics of the meeting.
While in town, Erdogan is also meeting with leaders of Jewish organizations, Turkish and American business leaders and holding events at the Brookings Institution and Atlantic Council.
That highly touted Obama WH Iran Deal strategy is really working out now for the US in Syria.....those "moderates" can be counted on.....
Iran will continue escalating its involvement in Syria after Obama recognized its "legitimate defense concerns".......ie a land corridor to Hezbollah and Syria a largely Arab Sunni nation state inside the Iranian sphere of influence.......
AND least of all YPG which is getting Russian CAS and being supported by Assad in their attacks against FSA....
America is now in a proxy war with... itself in Syria, as Pentagon and CIA-backed militias repeatedly exchange fire http://ln.is/chicagotribune.com/NUGzP …
Actually it is unusual to see him so open in a long discussion.....Obama WH missed another major chance to do something in the ME...but wait his is retrenching anyway based on his Goldberg interview.
NOW...the interesting question...if both Erdogan and the Saudi's feel the US FP under Obama is not really a FP....will they feel free enough to move into Syria under the banner of an Islamic Army led by KSA......right now that is a very distinct possibility as Obama has 1) no creditability left thus no influence whatsoever and 2) he basically called the US ME allies "free loaders".............
ANOTHER interesting thing is that Erdogan is a strong personality in the room and is very well versed in ME issues and the US has really blown it with their CIA/CENTCOM Kurdish "card" ....NOT so sure Obama can or could directly talk to him as he is in the weaker position if they had talks...thus the not so elegant dismissal of Turkey as the second strongest army in NATO....feel sorry for the next President.
Obama does not like it when he is in the weaker position intellectually speaking...thus he sidesteps issues.
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 03-30-2016 at 08:04 PM.
This is another of so many absurdities of the situation in Syria: Assadists didn't attack Israel since 1973. However, when they were about to order SS-26s from Russia, back in 2006 (or so), everybody was against that deal and it was cancelled.Originally Posted by OUTLAW 09
Nowadays nobody cares if Russians are not only hauling such weapons to Syria, but even less so if these are delivered to Hezbollah.
Where are all those now who usually can't stop babbling about all sorts of 'mortal threats' for Israeli security...
Oh but sure: Liwa al-Quds - a gang of PFLP-GC terrorists - is now 'SAA'...
The entire PFPL regardless of splitter grouping use to be high on the US terrorist "hit list" but it seems they have "forgotten them" in the race to hit IS....they have killed over the years a number of Americans but that also seems to have been "forgotten"....
Russia'n cluster bombs on Dayr al Asafir SE of #Damascus
(some days ago)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4ewsmWqliM …
Putin sent #Russia'n mercenaries to #Syria
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...d-Ukraine.html …
Syria Brutal regime airstrikes on Dayr al Asafir SE of #Damascus today
#Damascus Recent destruction by regime in Bala area
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ktk7xmbpoK4 …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=33...22639&z=15&m=b …
Airstrikes on Kafr Zita in northern #Hama
Homs Heavy clashes btw #IS & #Assad-forces about control of Al-Qaryatayn
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=34...45712&z=12&m=b …
Multiple Assad airstrikes targeted the #Damascus suburb of #Douma again this morning. No reports of casualties yet
Palmyra Update
Steps after Regime seized city:
1 loot
2 beat/kill/expel civilians left
3 bring selected ppl 2 show normal life back
NOTE: Assad government threatened all employees of the city that fled if they do not return to the city they will be arrested.
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 03-31-2016 at 11:49 AM.
Russian MoD now field testing under combat conditions their VDV sappers....
Russian sappers depart for #Palmyra #demining mission
Interesting is the lack of bomb dogs..only two seen boarding...that is dangerous as the US only knows to well with IS IEDs...they will need far more than two.
NOTE: also allows Russia to bring in basically combat troops using the cover of demining....
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 03-31-2016 at 11:50 AM.
Breaking
School & hospital hit by regime airstrikes causing ugly massacre in eastern #Ghouta's Bilda Deir Asafir
https://youtu.be/69my6KzZBF8
+10 killed & more wounded in Assad airstrikes targeting a school & a hospital in Deir al-Asafir, rural #Damascus this AM.
no medical attention for many of the wounded as the only field hospital in town has been bombed
SyriaCeasefire going well. Assad targeted +25 positions w/ airstrikes/rockets/artillery across Damascus, Hama, Aleppo, Latakia & Homs today
Russia bombed 243 vital civilian facilities - mosques schools hosps etc
http://en.etilaf.org/all-news/local-...0-mosques.html …
An Assad tank has reportedly been destroyed & several Assad forces killed in clashes with rebels in the Marj area in E. Ghouta, #Syria
Damascus : Regime helicopters are dumping barrel bombs on #Al_Marj, twelve so far.
Bala & its fields in eastern Ghouta gets its share of Assad airstrikes today as usual. #Damascus, #Syria http://youtu.be/RKqyP0O3LOA
Smoke rises following Assad airstrikes on Harasta in rural #Damascus, #Syria today
http://youtu.be/hwCKYs8W81U
Children wounded in an Assad rocket attack on the al-Salihin district in #Aleppo, #Syria today
http://youtu.be/fpWbPdZLWQA
War and Madness: A Retrospective of Five Years of Reporting on the War in Syria
http://www.ukrainebusiness.com.ua/news/17080.html
Last edited by davidbfpo; 03-31-2016 at 12:26 PM.
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