The Syrian Conflict Thread

imranpanji said:
Http://qz.com/520483/saudi-arabias-last-best-chance-may-be-an-alliance-with-israel/
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I wonder how that would fan out.

Moscow says it is targetting only banned terrorist groups in Syria, primarily Islamic State. In its daily briefings, it describes all of the targets it strikes as belonging to Islamic State, although most of them have taken place in parts of the country held by other opposition groups, including many that are supported by Arab states, Turkey and the West.
read more: http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.680052?v=C2B69F80A0201A269787EB263B700B6F
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Atypical Putin's Ukrainian/Crimea style and modus operandi. The devil at large.
 
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The one question that hawks need to answer about Syria

Hawks want the United States to intervene in Syria. They have some good reasons. But they don't have an answer to this question.

By Daniel W. Drezner October 12 at 8:49 AM


The hard-working staff here at Spoiler Alerts has discussed the mess in Syria a lot in recent weeks, to the point of accidentally midwifing a conspiracy theory. Other things happening in the world should probably be talked about as well, so I’d like to pivot away from this topic.

As a parting shot, however, I was struck by this exchange Sunday on “Fareed Zakaria GPS” ( http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1510/11/fzgps.01.html ) between Zakaria and the Wall Street Journal’s Bret Stephens. For anyone familiar with Stephens’s oeuvre, it should come as no surprise that he wants to intervene more forcefully in the Syrian civil war. Then Zakaria asked him the following question:

ZAKARIA: But when we think about Syria, which is to my mind more messy, because what you’re talking about is any U.S. involvement would have to be aimed at essentially dislodging Assad from power. Okay. We dislodged Hussein from power. We thought we had good guys who are going to take — pick up, total chaos, civil war, 10 years, 400,000 people dead. We did it in Libya, we dislodged Gaddafi, we thought it would work out well. We had democrats, total chaos. We did it in Yemen. Total chaos.

It feels like we know how this movie will end. If Assad is dislodged from Damascus, what do you think is going to happen? Total chaos.

STEPHENS: Look, the — we don’t say, ‘Okay, we have overcommitted in the past.’ But the answer to that is not completely —
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Full article here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/post...estion-that-hawks-need-to-answer-about-syria/
 
Shells hit Russian embassy compound

Two shells have struck the Russian embassy compound in the Syrian capital Damascus as hundreds of pro-government supporters rallied outside in support of Russian air strikes.
A BBC Arabic correspondent in Damascus says some people have been injured.
The explosions triggered widespread panic and smoke was seen coming from the embassy compound.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described the shelling as "a terrorist act"
He said those responsible were trying to "intimidate those fighting Islamic State".

Activist group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the shells fired at the embassy had come from an eastern area of the capital.
Moments before, demonstrators had been waving Russian flags and holding up photographs of Russian President Vladimir Putin, witnesses said.
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more:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34515498
 
Russian HIND Gunships - Al Ghab Plain

jihadi's decimated as their glorious caliphate falls apart at the seams . . .

[video=youtube;1V7qSrjZtk0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V7qSrjZtk0[/video]
 
grantza said:
jihadi's decimated as their glorious caliphate falls apart at the seams . . .
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Glorious indeed. I just wonder if ISIS are going to stick to their word and attack Israel in a last ditch attempt ......or is it going to be Iran?
 
Russia's Lavrov says Washington declines deeper military talks on Syria

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the United States declined to send a high-level military delegation to Moscow to discuss deeper coordination in fighting in Syria as had been proposed by Moscow.

Lavrov said the proposal was made by Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to New York in late September.

He said the idea also included sending a Russian delegation headed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to the United States as a second step. He said on Tuesday Washington also told Moscow it won't be receiving the Russian delegation.

(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Christian Lowe)
http://news.yahoo.com/russias-lavrov-says-washington-declines-deeper-military-talks-101640962.html
 
China’s military advisers ‘heading to Syria to help fight ISIS’ – report

https://www.rt.com/news/316705-china-syria-isis-fight/

Things are becoming very interesting indeed!

5608b5a0c361882a7a8b459f.jpg

China will be helping out the Syrian government in the fight against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIL/ISIS) by sending “military advisers,” media reports have claimed.
Trends
Islamic State
“The Chinese will be arriving in the coming weeks,” a Syrian army official told the Lebanon-based news website Al-Masdar Al-‘Arabi.

The report claims that a Chinese naval vessel is on its way to Syria with dozens of “military advisers” on board. They will reportedly be followed by troops.

The ship is said to have passed the Suez Canal in Egypt and be making its way through the Mediterranean Sea.

According to the website, the advisers will be joining Russian personnel in the Latakia region.

Meanwhile, an Israeli military news website, DEBKAfile, has cited military sources as saying that a Chinese aircraft carrier, the Liaoning-CV-16, has already been spotted at the Syrian port of Tartus on the Mediterranean coast. It was said to be accompanied by a guided missile cruiser.

The news comes after Russia, Iran, Iraq and Syria agreed to establish a joint information center in Baghdad to coordinate their operations against Islamic State militants, according to sources.
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What else are they up to?
 
Alan said:
Russia is only using rudimentary precision guided weapons in Syria hence why a few of them have gone a little off target and struck rebel areas.
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Strange that the most of the few "off target" is well concentrated on Al-Nusra is it not? ;)

Seems more like "off target" guidance.
 
Russian Military Uses Syria as Proving Ground, and West Takes Notice

WASHINGTON — Two weeks of air and missile strikes in Syria have given Western intelligence and military officials a deeper appreciation of the transformation that Russia’s military has undergone under President Vladimir V. Putin, showcasing its ability to conduct operations beyond its borders and providing a public demonstration of new weaponry, tactics and strategy.

The strikes have involved aircraft never before tested in combat, including the Sukhoi Su-34 strike fighter, which NATO calls the Fullback, and a ship-based cruise missile fired more than 900 miles from the Caspian Sea, which, according to some analysts, surpasses the American equivalent in technological capability.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/15/w...roving-ground-and-west-takes-notice.html?_r=0

The Russian advancements go beyond new weaponry, reflecting an increase in professionalism and readiness. Russia set up its main operations at an air base near Latakia in northwestern Syria in a matter of three weeks, dispatching more than four dozen combat planes and helicopters, scores of tanks and armored vehicles, rocket and artillery systems, air defenses and portable housing for as many as 2,000 troops. It was Moscow’s largest deployment to the Middle East since the Soviet Union deployed in Egypt in the 1970s.

“What continues to impress me is their ability to move a lot of stuff real far, real fast,” Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, the commander of United States Army forces in Europe, said in an interview.

Since its air campaign started on Sept. 30, Russia has quickly ramped up its airstrikes from a handful each day to nearly 90 on some days, using more than a half-dozen types of guided and unguided munitions, including fragmentary bombs and bunker busters for hardened targets, American analysts said.

Russia is not only bringing some of its most advanced hardware to the fight, it has also deployed large field kitchens and even dancers and singers to entertain the troops — all signs that Moscow is settling in for the long haul, American analysts said.

“They brought the whole package,” said Jeffrey White, a former Middle East analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “It showed me they could deploy a decent-sized expeditionary force.”
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