The Syrian Conflict Thread

[Xarog]

40 missiles? that sounds more like a ground strike, maybe a Grad style BM-21 or some other form of home made Katyusha (which are popular with most of the forces involved) than an air strike. Iraq, Iran and Syria all have the military version and other groups like Hezbollah and Hamas have made extensive use of them on home built systems.

The fact that it's close to the Turkish border also can't be overlooked.

 

[Nanfeishen]

If there is no other solution then he shouldn't have signed a ceasefire agreement.

A temporary agreement though, the various parties could have lots of reasons for agreeing temporarily to something they don't think is feasible in the long run e.g. letting humanitarian aid get to people, treating their wounded, resupplying ammunition to their forces or even getting into position for the final assault without facing enemy fire at the same time ...

^^^^
What he said , its just a convenient time to reconsolidate, reposition, resupply and reinforce.

 

[Unhappy438]

A temporary agreement though, the various parties could have lots of reasons for agreeing temporarily to something they don't think is feasible in the long run e.g. letting humanitarian aid get to people, treating their wounded, resupplying ammunition to their forces or even getting into position for the final assault without facing enemy fire at the same time ...

Whilst that's partly true its not the full agreement, elections are supposed to be had under UN supervision within 18 months.

“4. Expresses its support, in this regard, for a Syrian-led political process that is facilitated by the United Nations and, within a target of six months, establishes credible, inclusive and non-sectarian governance and sets a schedule and process for drafting a new constitution, and further expresses its support for free and fair elections, pursuant to the new constitution, to be held within 18 months and administered under supervision of the United Nations, to the satisfaction of the governance and to the highest international standards of transparency and accountability, with all Syrians, including members of the diaspora, eligible to participate, as set forth in the 14 November 2015 ISSG Statement;

“5. Acknowledges the close linkage between a ceasefire and a parallel political process, pursuant to the 2012 Geneva Communiqué, and that both initiatives should move ahead expeditiously, and in this regard expresses its support for a nationwide ceasefire in Syria, which the ISSG has committed to support and assist in implementing, to come into effect as soon as the representatives of the Syrian government and the opposition have begun initial steps towards a political transition under UN auspices, on the basis of the Geneva Communiqué, as set forth in the 14 November 2015 ISSG Statement, and to do so on an urgent basis;

http://www.un.org/press/en/2015/sc12171.doc.htm

 

[Unhappy438]

40 missiles? that sounds more like a ground strike, maybe a Grad style BM-21 or some other form of home made Katyusha (which are popular with most of the forces involved) than an air strike. Iraq, Iran and Syria all have the military version and other groups like Hezbollah and Hamas have made extensive use of them on home built systems.

Dont talk to me, i dont value SOHR as a good source.

 

[Dave]

Dont talk to me, i dont value SOHR as a good source.

Are you losing it, Unhappy? I'm commenting on a statement in YOUR quoted link...

 

[Unhappy438]

Are you losing it, Unhappy? I'm commenting on a statement in YOUR quoted link...

No im not losing it Dave, im merely distancing myself from SOHR. Is that unreasonable?

 

[Dave]

No im not losing it Dave, im merely distancing myself from SOHR. Is that unreasonable?

Why tell me? I didn't even mention SOHR. Your link was a Vice News story, and my comment was about your Vice News story.

It looks like you just chose any post to quote to get your SOHR anger made public? Maybe next time quote a post that actually references them?

 

[NarrowBandFtw]

No im not losing it Dave, im merely distancing myself from SOHR. Is that unreasonable?

You seem to put more value in allegations made by the MSF though, why is that?

Like I stated before, to me they are equally (in)valid.

 

[Xarog]

Whilst that's partly true its not the full agreement, elections are supposed to be had under UN supervision within 18 months.

http://www.un.org/press/en/2015/sc12171.doc.htm

And Assad has said on more than one occasion that the agreement applies to rebels who want to be part of the political process, not rebels actively engaged in combat against the regime which are referred to as "terrorists".

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/syria-c...rns-opposition-rebels-assad-terrorist-groups/

 

[Unhappy438]

Why tell me? I didn't even mention SOHR. Your link was a Vice News story, and my comment was about your Vice News story.

It looks like you just chose any post to quote to get your SOHR anger made public? Maybe next time quote a post that actually references them?

I honestly haven't a clue what you're talking about, the source references SOHR which is an acronym for Syrian observatory for human rights. Perhaps that is where the confusion is coming from?

 

[Unhappy438]

You seem to put more value in allegations made by the MSF though, why is that?

Like I stated before, to me they are equally (in)valid.

Well MSF are on the ground for one.

 

[Unhappy438]

And Assad has said on more than one occasion that the agreement applies to rebels who want to be part of the political process, not rebels actively engaged in combat against the regime which are referred to as "terrorists".

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/syria-c...rns-opposition-rebels-assad-terrorist-groups/

Yup 100% fair statement from Assad but that doesn't include taking back the entire country.

 

[Xarog]

Yup 100% fair statement from Assad but that doesn't include taking back the entire country.

I can't find the link that I read because it was a while back, but Assad basically said that the political process was only for those not engaging in hostilities. So if the regime takes the entire country back that still doesn't stop the political process which is what the peace process is supposed to be ensuring.

And all things considered, I would say that position is quite reasonable, as anyone interested in maintaining the integrity of the Syrian state would have a similar view even if they were personally willing to cede autocratic power in favour of a democratic process.

 

[Dave]

I honestly haven't a clue what you're talking about, the source references SOHR which is an acronym for Syrian observatory for human rights. Perhaps that is where the confusion is coming from?

You have lost it.

Let's try again, you posted a quoted article and link to Vice News, do you remember that?

Really? Ok then

The camp, located in the northeastern part of the Latakia governorate, was hit by more than 40 missiles, according to activist Ammar Ibrahim, who shared video footage of the attack that showed smoke rising from several fires.

https://news.vice.com/article/russi...lling-syrian-refugee-camp-near-turkish-border

I answered your quoted article with a comment that 40 rockets sounds more like a ground based strike than a air strike, do you see that now?

40 missiles? that sounds more like a ground strike, maybe a Grad style BM-21 or some other form of home made Katyusha (which are popular with most of the forces involved) than an air strike. Iraq, Iran and Syria all have the military version and other groups like Hezbollah and Hamas have made extensive use of them on home built systems.

I didn't reference the SOHR, (which I know is the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights), I didn't even think about them.

You then replied, and quoted my post and made a comment about the SOHR, which I hadn't mentioned, linked to or thought of.

Dont talk to me, i dont value SOHR as a good source.

You had a SOHR wobble and just blurted out about it...

 

[Unhappy438]

You had a SOHR wobble and just blurted out about it...

Apologies, i thought the rocket claim came from SOHR not an activist.

 

[Dave]

Apologies, i thought the rocket claim came from SOHR not an activist.

No problem, you just confused me when you came out about SOHR about my post.

Back to the point though, 40 missiles is more likely to be a grad style attack than an airstrike, or do you disagree?

 

[Unhappy438]

No problem, you just confused me when you came out about SOHR about my post.

Back to the point though, 40 missiles is more likely to be a grad style attack than an airstrike, or do you disagree?

I agree yes.

 

[NarrowBandFtw]

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/05/04/my-conscience-bothered-me-army-captain-sues-obama-over-illegal-war-on-isis/

An Army captain filed suit against President Obama on Wednesday, claiming that the president is engaged in an “illegal war” against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
.........................................
The lawsuits rests on five counts.

First, Smith and his lawyers argue that Obama violated the War Powers Resolution, which requires that a president obtain congressional authorization for use of force within 60 days of deploying troops into a hostile situation.

Second, they say he violated the “Take Care” clause of the Constitution by failing to publish a legal justification for the conflict.

“He’s not a lawyer,” Ackerman says. “If he could be directed to a serious and sustained argument, he would be able to read it.” Without that, Smith cannot reasonably be expected to know what his duty is, Ackerman says.

Third and fourth, they say Obama has exceeded his authority under the 2001 and 2002 authorizations of the use of military force. Finally, Smith and his lawyers say that Obama’s campaign against the Islamic State represents executive overreach under the Constitution.

 

[NarrowBandFtw]

Missed this on Friday, but apparently Russia agrees with those who think the refugee camp attack sounds more like a ground based one than an airstrike.

Source: https://www.rt.com/news/342065-aleppo-nusra-attack-airstrike/

"Considering the fracture pattern, seen in the pictures and videos taken at the site, the camp could have been shelled, either intentionally or by mistake, by rocket artillery, which is in active use in the area by militants from the terror group Al-Nusra Front," Major-General Igor Konashenkov, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, said on Friday.

He added that after analyzing photographs and video footage from the devastated camp available online, it became evident that "there are no airstrike shell craters or other signs of an airstrike."

The Russian Defense Ministry states there were no air sorties over the area of the refugee camp on the day of the attack or on the day prior to it.

"We have analyzed airspace objective control data for the area as of May 4 and 5, 2016. There were no flights of Russian or any other aircraft over the camp area," Konashenkov stressed.

Of course they also poke some fun at the media's biased reporting of the incident:

“The initial report itself cannot be found on the website of the Syrian Observatory, it's just not there. Only a post on Facebook without time or date of the report, which was surprisingly quickly found and broadly disseminated by a Reuters correspondent, who himself was at the time in neighboring Lebanon.

“Notwithstanding all this, the report was quickly taken up by international mass media and even drew comments from officials from the UN, US and UK."

 

[Dave]

I'll have to go sit in a dark room for a while, can't believe I actually agree with a story on RT...