The Syrian Conflict Thread

[Unhappy438]

Fight for Syria's Aleppo exposes limits of Russian air power

Russia's politically-sensitive and ultimately fruitless decision to launch bombing missions on Syria from Iranian soil has exposed the limits to its air power, leaving Moscow in need of a new strategy to advance its aims.

People familiar with Russia's military said Moscow opted for the sorties from Iran - and Tehran agreed to allow them - because they were struggling to achieve their aim of crushing rebels in the city of Aleppo.

The gamble failed and rebels fighting their ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Aasad, remain ensconced in parts of Aleppo.

Russia began air strikes on Syria in support of Assad on Sept. 30 last year, launched from bases in government-held territory and from warships. Then this month, facing logistical problems in mounting an expensive campaign at a time of tight state finances, it intensified the bombing of Aleppo in what turned out to be a brief series of raids from Iran.

The strikes on the Aleppo rebels seem to have achieved little beyond stirring a political row in Iran, whose constitution forbids the establishment of any kind of foreign military base.

The fact that Russia went to such lengths to achieve its aims in Aleppo and still failed could strengthen the hand of those in Moscow who believe the operation in Syria has reached a watershed, and that it is time to seek a negotiated solution.

"I get the feeling we're like a horse at the circus, running around in a circle since Sept. 30 when we first deployed our aircraft there," said a person close to the Russian defense ministry who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"Our forces are insufficient, our coordination with the Iranians is not at the required level. We need to change something. What, I don't know."

Full article: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-russia-idUSKCN1141VN

 

[Alan]

The UN has awarded contracts worth tens of millions of dollars to people closely associated with the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, as part of an aid programme that critics fear is increasingly at the whim of the government in Damascus, a Guardian investigation has found.

Businessmen whose companies are under US and EU sanctions have been paid substantial sums by the UN mission, as have government departments and charities – including one set up by the president’s wife, Asma al-Assad, and another by his closest associate, Rami Makhlouf.

The UN says it can only work with a small number of partners approved by President Assad and that it does all it can to ensure the money is spent properly.

“Of paramount importance is reaching as many vulnerable civilians as possible,” a spokesman said. “Our choices in Syria are limited by a highly insecure context where finding companies and partners who operate in besieged and hard to reach areas is extremely challenging.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...to-assad-regime-syria-aid-programme-contracts

 

[Unhappy438]

THE DECAY OF THE SYRIAN REGIME IS MUCH WORSE THAN YOU THINK

In a recent interview conducted by Aaron David Miller for Foreign Policy, Robert Malley, one of the president’s most trusted advisors on the Middle East, once again enumerated the competing priorities of U.S. Syria policy: the need to balance humanitarian concerns with the desire to “preserve state institutions” and avoid a power vacuum so that the country does not slide into total anarchy.

Over the past three years in particular, this line of argument has not only been a mainstay those supporting a carefully calibrated, limited U.S. Syria policy in line with the current administration but also by a number of commentators writing both implicitly and explicitly in defense of Damascus. In two revisionist articles published recently at War on the Rocks, an author writing under a pseudonym presents the Assad regime as ruthless, but at least secular, pluralistic and — most importantly — as the final basion of civic, central authority in a tumultuous Middle East. Whereas the indefatigable Emile Hokayem already formulated an eloquent response regarding sectarian dynamics in the Levant, there is an equally important question raised in the piece warrants answering: What’s really left of the Syrian central state?

Full article: http://warontherocks.com/2016/08/the-decay-of-the-syrian-regime-is-much-worse-than-you-think/

 

[Grant]

Air strike kills top commander of former Nusra group in Syria

The top military commander of the militant group Jabhat Fateh al Sham, the former al Qaeda offshoot in Syria, was killed in an aerial raid that targeted a meeting of the group's leaders, both the group and rebel sources said on Thursday.

The commander Abu Hajer al Homsi, whose alias is Abu Omar Saraqeb, was killed in a rural area of Aleppo province, they said, where the group has played an instrumental role in ongoing battles against the Syrian army troops and Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias in the gateway city of Aleppo.

An announcement by the group said he was "martyred" in an air strike in the countryside of Aleppo. The nationality of the jets that hit the location was not immediately known, but a rebel source said initial information suggested it was most likely a U.S. jet that struck the hideout.

Since the U.S.-led coalition was launched, air strikes have targeted Nusra Front figures in Syria, killing scores. But this marked the first time a key figure has been targeted since the group's name change.

Abu Omar Saraqeb was a founding member of Nusra Front, Al Qaeda's powerful Syrian branch, and had been among the jihadists who fought U.S. forces in Iraq after the U.S. invasion in 2003 before returning to Syria.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-militants-idUSKCN11E2YD?il=0

 

[Noah]

Fight for Syria's Aleppo exposes limits of Russian air power




Full article: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-russia-idUSKCN1141VN

Fast forward today, Aleppo exposes moderats limits of forward thinking.

 

[Unhappy438]

US and Russia agree peace moves

Russia and the US have agreed to coordinate air strikes against Islamist militants in Syria, part of a detailed agreement to reduce the violence there.
The plan will begin with a "cessation of hostilities" from sunset on Monday. Syrian forces will end combat missions in specified opposition-held areas.
Russia and the US will then establish a joint centre to combat jihadist groups, including so-called Islamic State (IS).
A Syrian opposition coalition has cautiously welcomed the agreement.
"We hope this will be the beginning of the end of the civilians' ordeal," said Bassma Kodmani, a spokeswoman for the High Negotiations Committee.
"We welcome the deal if it is going to be enforced."
The announcement follows talks in Geneva between US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.
The plan would need both the regime and opposition "to meet their obligations", Mr Kerry said.
The opposition had indicated it was prepared to comply with the plan, he said, provided the Syrian government "shows it is serious".
Mr Lavrov said Russia had informed the Syrian government about the arrangements and the Syrian government was "ready to fulfil them".

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37324872

 

[Noah]

Good ceasefire, rebels can't contain themselves for longer than 20min.

 

[NarrowBandFtw]

Source: US troops 'forced to flee Syrian town' after FSA rebel threats

The US soldiers were working with Turkish forces as they advanced on al-Rai in preparation for an offensive against nearby al-Bab, which is controlled by the Islamic State (IS) group.

The FSA is allied with Turkish forces and ostensibly supported by the US as a "moderate" rebel group fighting against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

However, Friday's confrontation highlights the complex nature of the war in Syria.

In the video, fighters from the FSA chant that US forces are "pigs", "crusaders" and "infidels".

"Dogs, agents of America," one man can be heard to say in Arabic, while others chant: "They are crusaders and infidels, Down with America, Get out you pigs," and, "They are coming to Syria to occupy it."

A voice on a megaphone can be heard to say there will be a "slaughter". The US forces were reportedly forced to leave the town after the protests.

"Moderate" rebels biting the very hand that feeds it

 

[Solarion]

Chinese YPG fighter. He is based in Kurdistan fighting alongside US special forces.

 

[Solarion]

Turkey-backed rebels in Syria threaten to massacre US troops, calling them infidels

ALEPPO – On Friday, 25 US Special Forces were expelled from al-Rai town by Turkey-backed Syrian rebels calling them infidels.

This comes after the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that recently raised US and British flags on the border with Turkey.

According to the pro-opposition Qasioun agency, the Ahrar ash-Sharqiya brigade protested the US entry in Syria, demanding the US troops to withdraw.

Video footage showed rebels calling the US Special Forces infidels and dogs, while shouting ‘Allah Akbar’ in Arabic. A rebel on video is heard saying: “We don’t accept US soldiers to fight with us, we are Muslim and not Kuffar [unbelievers],” one rebel said.

Washington-based analyst Charles Lister said it was a mistake by the Syrian rebel group.

“A dispute erupted when FSA fighters accused U.S. SOF of being pro-YPG [Kurdish People’s Protection Units]. American personnel withdrew; some to Turkey, some to Tathamus,” he said.

According to reports, the US Special Forces returned to al-Rai after meditation.

“That’s what happens when you team up with Turkish-backed Islamists at expense of our true allies: YPG and SDF,” Julie Lenarz, the Executive Director of the Human Security Centre, told ARA News.

“The images coming out of Jarablus call into question the narrative that the city has been liberated. In territory cleared by SDF we see burqa-burning women, smoking men and children playing on the streets – people returning to normal life,” she added.

“In Jarablus, however, it appears that ISIS has just been replaced with Turkish-backed Islamist rebels, who maintain a tight grip on the city,” Lenarz told ARA News.

Full Article

 

[Nanfeishen]

Chinese YPG fighter. He is based in Kurdistan fighting alongside US special forces.

View attachment 389786

Guy in Picture is Huang Lei

Inspired another one to join up as well

Ba Si Pan, as he calls himself, may be the first Chinese national fighting IS in Syria with the YPG. He won't reveal his full name, but says Ba Si is his name in Kurdish.
..................................
One of the most popular YPG fighters on the Chinese internet is Huang Lei, a British Chinese volunteer who attracted ample attention from Chinese media in May, and has since become an online celebrity of sorts.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-35036879

 

[Dave]

According to reports, the US Special Forces returned to al-Rai after meditation.

Full Article

So did they all sit in a circle going ommmm, ommmm, ommmm?

 

[Solarion]

So did they all sit in a circle going ommmm, ommmm, ommmm?

Perhaps it's another word for getting vrot drunk and they just didn't want to offend their Muslim counterparts

 

[Unhappy438]

So did they all sit in a circle going ommmm, ommmm, ommmm?

but:

meditation-a written or spoken discourse expressing considered thoughts on a subject.

 

[Solarion]

Guy in Picture is Huang Lei

Inspired another one to join up as well

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-35036879

Love his statement:

Chinese YPG fighter Huang Lei says:
We come from different countries
We speak different languages
We have different culture
But we all fight for the same goal. Freedom

 

[Noah]

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/us-air-force-attacks-syrian-army-deir-ezzor-reports/

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/israeli-air-force-attacks-syrian-army-golan-heights/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quneitra_offensive_(September_2016)
>Bayt al-Maqdis

Makes you think.

 

[Noah]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansar_Bait_al-Maqdis

Basically ISIS in the Sinai peninsular. Tends to popup on the border of Israel fighting the people who border Israel. Managed to get from one side of Israel to the other to fight in the Golan Heights. Israeli bombings in Syria don't hit them but rather the people they're fighting. Listed as a terrorist org by USA, UK, UAE and EGY but guess who doesn't?

Makes you think.

 

[NarrowBandFtw]

[video=youtube;8d8JR-H-iEU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d8JR-H-iEU[/video]

 

[Noah]

https://twitter.com/sayed_ridha/status/777204574155190273

Syrian Army MoD releases statement regarding Coalition/US air raid on Syrian Army position which aided IS advance

 

[Solarion]

^

The whole thing is just a huge confusion. US special forces out of uniform, rebel forces in US uniform, rebels swapping sides on a daily basis. It's a god dam intelligence nightmare.

It's the only way to defeat ISIS though, by becoming part of the network. By winning the hearts and minds of the general population, turning them into spies and information gatherers.

Russia has this WW2 era way of thinking, just fly over and drop bombs or shell everything into oblivion. This war will not work that way. Someone has to go in, sink their roots deep into Syria and become Syrian. The US can do that.

This way is the future of war on terror. Drive by bombing runs are antiquated and won't work.

This is why in the video above, Putin wants clear clarification on who is on who's side. Because he's fighting a modern war, a whole new type of warfare, with an outdated strategy.