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by Elvis » Thu May 04, 2017 12:02 am
conniption » Wed May 03, 2017 6:39 pm wrote:Goodman and Gopal Lie About Syria
Amy Goodman, the world's most tireless promoter of Al Qaeda and ISIS, has outdone herself in outrageous mendacity about events in Syria.
Goodman this morning brought on one Anand Gopal to explain to viewers who's responsible for the catastrophic violence in Syria.
It's an absolute disgrace.
by seemslikeadream » Mon May 15, 2017 7:25 pm
by Elvis » Tue May 16, 2017 1:25 am
by SonicG » Tue May 16, 2017 3:57 am
Syria deploys troops to border with Jordan, Iraq: Report
Syria is reportedly moving troops to a desert region near its border with Iraq and Jordan amid reports that US and allied forces are consolidating positions in the area for a possible ground invasion.
Militant sources and commanders said Monday their intelligence showed that hundreds of Syrian troops and their allies with tanks and heavy equipment had moved in the last few days to the town of Saba'a Biyar.
The remote town near the strategic Damascus-Baghdad highway was captured by the army last week as they seek to prevent areas left by Takfiri terrorists from falling into the hands of Western-backed FSA militants.
"They have sent big reinforcements from artillery, to tanks and armored vehicles," FSA spokesman for the so-called Southern Front Issam al-Reis told Reuters.
US special forces operate and train FSA militants at the Tanf base near the Iraqi border in the area which is known as the Syrian Badia, meaning desert in Arabic.
The base is being expanded to become a launching pad for operations in the province of Dayr al-Zawr that straddles Iraq, Reuters cited regional intelligence sources as saying.
Syrian media on Sunday said government forces have made fresh gains against terrorists in Dayr al-Zawr.
Army units clashed with terrorist groups affiliated with Daesh in the province, leaving a number of terrorists killed and their fortifications and hideouts destroyed.
Last week, about 7,400 troops began conducting military exercises known as Exercise Eager Lion in Jordan, in what was described as the largest and most complex of their kind conducted jointly with the US.
The exercises prompted concerns that Washington and its allies were attempting to stage a major intervention to undermine recent gains made by the Syrian military against Daesh terrorists.
As the Syrian military began a new eastward push to drive out Daesh from Dawr al-Zawr, Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem warned Jordan against getting involved without Syria's permission.
"If the Jordanian forces entered without coordination with the Syrian government they will be considered as hostile forces," Muallem said.
In addition to the large US presence on the Jordanian side of the border, US special forces were also spotted inside Syria, training a group of militants called Mughawir al-Thowra, the Newsweek magazine reported.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2017/05/15 ... Army-Daesh
Trump said securing a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians after more than six decades of conflict was "frankly maybe not as difficult as people have thought over the years."
by Sounder » Tue May 16, 2017 7:14 am
words in todays Syrian fake news.
by seemslikeadream » Tue May 16, 2017 8:57 am
Time Has Come to Assassinate Assad, Senior Israeli Minister Says
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... ister-says
Erdogan meets Trump: 3 key issues topping the agenda
http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/16/politics/ ... s-meeting/
by BenDhyan » Fri May 19, 2017 6:58 am
US-led coalition strike against Syrian forces ‘absolutely unacceptable’ – Russian Foreign Ministry
The US-led coalition strike on a pro-government convoy in Syria is unacceptable and violates the sovereignty of the country, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said.
“Any military actions leading to the aggravation of the situation in Syria definitely affect the political process. Especially if such actions are committed against the Syrian armed forces… This is totally unacceptable; it is a violation of Syrian sovereignty. Of course, it does not help the political process,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov stated on Friday.
Damascus said on Friday that the Thursday strike hit a Syrian Army position on Al-Tanf road in the Syrian desert “which led to casualties and material damage,” Sana reports.
Senior Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev also condemned the strike, questioning whether it was a deliberate attack.
“You cannot consider the US-led coalition airstrike against pro-government forces on Thursday an accident or a mistake anymore. This is a deliberate action and its consequences are yet to be estimated,” Kosachev wrote on his Facebook page.
“This is not only an attack in Syria and against Syria, but also against Geneva [negotiations]. The US is irritated that the Geneva process is not under its control and, what is worse, it can be successful.”
The sixth round of Syrian peace talks in Geneva which started on Tuesday was “short, but productive,” Gatilov said. He also noted that UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura wanted the experts’ meetings to continue beyond the negotiations.
Earlier, the US-led coalition admitted striking a militia group fighting alongside Syrian government forces in southern Syria on Thursday. They said in a statement that the Syrian forces “posed a threat” to US and allied troops at Tanf base near the Syria-Iraq-Jordan border.
by BenDhyan » Sat May 20, 2017 11:52 pm
Is the US-Russian Race for Eastern Syria Headed for a Military Confrontation?
Syria and allies rightly fear US is plotting partition, but plans are already underway to counter it by keeping Americans from taking more of eastern Syria
Moscow and Damascus prepare their respective forces – and those of their allies – to initiate aggressive multi-objective battles directed towards the Syrian-Iraqi borders (and towards Deir-ezzour). These take place at the same time as the Iraqi forces initiate a battle not far from the Syrian borders, in the Iraqi western desert, as Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi has announced.
The new Iraqi battles – supported by the US and coalition forces – aim to secure the border triangle up to the Jordanian borders or Ratba, including the Iraqi-Syrian borders once the cities of Ana and Rawa are liberated. Other battles, without coalition support, are expected to be carried out by the Iraqi forces of “Hashd al-Sha’bi” (Popular Mobilisation Units- PMU), heading towards al-Ba’aj, and closing all routes between Iraq and Syria.
The various battles on both sides of the borders have another objective: to protect the backs of the US forces and their Syrian proxies present at al-Tanaf crossing (on the Syrian side). This also helps to meet the advance of the US Special Operation Forces and the Kurds of the “Syrian Democratic Forces” (SDF) advancing towards al-Qaem and already only dozens of kilometres from their objective.
These advances will put the “Islamic State” group (ISIS) between two fires on both sides of the Syrian and the Iraqi borders: militants will have no other alternative but to fight or die, to surrender or escape into the Anbar and Syrian deserts. Other may seek refuge with al-Qaeda group (under the name of Hay’atTahrir al-Sham) – also facing serious extermination once ISIS is wiped out from the territories it has controlled since 2014.
On the other hand, Moscow, Damascus and Tehran, including all their respective allies, have started multi-front battles in the east south, middle and north of Syria to counter the US plans. A large number of allies’ forces were pushed into the front line to prepare for the forthcoming battle against the US and their proxies on the various fronts.
cont....
by Grizzly » Tue Jun 06, 2017 12:21 pm
by Elvis » Tue Jun 06, 2017 3:36 pm
Israeli Intel Chief: We Don’t Want ISIS Defeated in Syria
Says ISIS Faces Difficulty, Loss Would Put Israel in 'Hard Position'
Jason Ditz Posted on June 21, 2016Categories NewsTags ISIS, Israel
In a speech at the Herzliya Conference, Israel’s military intelligence chief, Major General Herzi Halevy, took Israel’s long-standing position that it “prefers ISIS” over the Syrian government to a whole ‘nother level, declaring openly that Israel does not want to see ISIS defeated in the war.
Quoted in the Hebrew-language NRG site, linked to Maariv, Maj. Gen. Halevy expressed concern about the recent offensives against ISIS territory, saying that in the last three months the Islamist group was facing the “most difficult” situation since its inception and declaration of a caliphate.
Israeli officials have regularly expressed comfort with the idea of ISIS conquering the whole of Syria, saying they find it preferable to the Iran-allied government surviving the war. At the same time, they were never so overtly supportive of ISIS and its survival.
Halevy went on to express concern that the defeat of ISIS might mean the “superpowers” leaving Syria, saying this would put Israel “in a hard position” after being so opposed to the survival of the Syrian government.
He then said Israel will do “all we can so as to not find ourselves in such a situation,” suggesting that the Israeli military is looking at direct support for ISIS as a matter of policy, and not just rhetoric.
http://news.antiwar.com/2016/06/21/isra ... -in-syria/
by conniption » Wed Jun 14, 2017 6:38 am
MoA
(embedded links)
June 13, 2017
Syria Summary - The End Of The War Is Now In Sight
A look at recent developments in Syria. [Updated below June 14 1:00am EDT]
Source: Al Watan Online - bigger
The most important change over the last days was the Syrian government forces move (red areas and arrows) in the south-east towards the Iraqi border. The original plan was to retrieve al-Tanf further south-west to secure the border crossing of the Damascus-Baghdad highway there. But al-Tanf was occupied by U.S., British and Norwegian invaders and some of their proxy forces (blue). Their airplanes attacked Syrian army convoys when they approached. The U.S. plan was to move from al-Tanf north towards the Euphrates river and to thereby capture and control the whole south-east of Syria. But Syria and its allies made an unexpected move and prevented that plan. The invaders are now cut off from the Euphrates by a Syrian west-to-east line that ends at the Iraqi border. On the Iraqi side elements of the Popular Military Unites under the command of the Iraqi government are moving to meet the Syrian forces at the border.
The U.S. invaders are now sitting in the mid of a piece of rather useless desert around al-Tanf where their only option is to die of boredom or to move back to Jordan from where they came. The Russian military has made it very clear that it would intervene forcefully should the U.S. attack the Syrian line and move further north. The U.S. and its allies have no mandate to be in Syria in the first place. There is no justification or legal ground for them to attack any Syrian units. Their only option now is to retreat.
The U.S. move into al-Tanf was covered by an attack of U.S. proxy forces in the south-west of Syria. A large group of "rebels", which include al-Qaeda elements and is supplied from Jordan, moved to take the city of Deraa from Syrian government control. It was hoped that this attack would divert Syrian forces from their move east. But despite the use of suicide bombers the attack on Deraa failed to overwhelm the strong defenses of the Syrian forces. It did not provide the necessary diversion. The Syrian position in Deraa was reinforced by units from Damascus which are now attacking the U.S. proxy gangs. Significant progress was made today in the southern suburbs of Deraa and the Syrian army attack will likely continue the move until it has reached the Jordanian border.
The U.S. plans in south Syria, in the west as well as in the east, have failed for now. Unless the Trump administration is willing to invest significant more forces and to openly and against all laws wage war on the Syria government and its allies the situation there is contained. The Syrian forces will over time recapture all the (blue colored) land in the south that is currently held by the various U.S. proxies and other terrorist groups.
In the north-west the Takfiri "rebel" groups are concentrated around Idleb and further north. These groups are sponsored by Saudi, Qatari and Turkish money. The recent spat between Qatar and other Gulf states has throw the Idleb situation into further chaos. Saudi sponsored groups are now fighting Qatari and Turkish sponsored groups. These conflicts come on top of other animosities between al-Qaeda aligned forces and those of Ahrar al-Sham. The Syrian government forces keep the province surrounded and Turkey in the north has kept its border mostly closed. The Takfiri "rebels" in Idleb will cook in their own juices until they are well done and completely exhausted. Eventually government forces will move in and destroy whatever is left of them.
In the center of the map the Syrian army (red) arrows are pointing towards the central desert areas held by ISIS forces which are retreating towards the east (black arrows). Moving simultaneously from the north, west and south the Syrian government forces make fast progress with several kilometers of ground retaken each day. During the last month 4,000 square kilometers and over 100 settlements and towns have been recovered. Within a few weeks they will have recovered all the (brown) ISIS held areas up to the Euphrates river line and the Syrian-Iraqi border.
Russian military bridging equipment recently started to arrive in Syria. It will be needed to cross the Euphrates and to recover the areas north of it.
Meanwhile U.S. supported Kurdish forces (yellow arrows) are attacking the ISIS held city of Raqqa. The Russian military command claims (video) that the Kurds and the U.S. made a deal with ISIS to let its fighters leave Raqqa towards the south and east. The fast progress the Kurds are making in taking the city supports that claim. There seems to be barely any Islamic State resistance left.
All ISIS forces left in Syria, those coming from Raqqa as well as those from the desert areas, are moving east along the Euphrates towards the city of Deir Ezzor. There as many as 100,000+ government aligned civilians and a Syrian army garrison have long been surrounded by ISIS forces. The besieged people are supplied by air drops. The Syrian military garrison has long held off the attacking ISIS forces. But with thousands of new Islamic State forces coming towards the city the government troops are in real danger of getting overwhelmed. Reinforcements must be flown into the city to keep ISIS off and to prevent a very large massacre. A much better alternative is a relief line on the ground. But the Syrian army race towards the city had been delayed by the U.S. shenanigans in the south. A new large ground move of government forces towards Deir Ezzor is in preparation. One can only hope that they arrive in time.
Qatari, Saudi and Turkish proxy forces, directed by the CIA, have waged a six year long war against Syria and its people. With Qatar and Turkey now in opposition to the Saudis and their U.S. allies, the gang that attacked Syria is falling apart. The Islamic State is shrinking fast and nearly defeated. The U.S. attempt to gain ground in the south has been stopped. Unless the U.S. changes tact and starts a large scale attack on Syria with its own army forces the war on Syria is over. Many areas still need to be recovered by Syrian forces. Terrorist attacks within the country will continue for several years. The wounds will take decades to heal. Negotiations will have to be held over areas in the north now under Turkish or U.S. (proxy) control. Further settlements will have to be reached. But the large scale strategic war against Syria has for now ended.
No one has won anything. The Kurds, which for while looked like the sole winner of the war, have just thrown away their gains.
The U.S. supported Kurdish forces of the YPG made the lunatic error of openly asking for support from Saudi Arabia. The anarcho-marxists of the YPG, always proudly showing off their feminism, are suddenly bowing down in front of the medieval Wahhabi nutters. They thus ruined their appearance of being a progressive leftist force. This move will reinforce Turkish and Syrian, Iraqi and Iranian animosity and hostility against them. All political advances they made during the war by staying mostly neutral between "rebels" and the Syrian government is now in jeopardy. The move is crazy. The Kurdish held area is completely surrounded by more or less hostile forces. U.S. or Saudi support for the land-locked and encircled Kurdish enclave is not sustainable over any longer time-frame. The Kurds have thus again demonstrated that they are their own worst enemies in their striving for a (semi-)sovereign Kurdish state. They will be thrown back into their original areas and again be folded up into the Syrian state.
[UPDATE:]
Secretary of Defense Mattis was questioned in Congress yesterday about the situation in Syria. There is no transcript yet but here are some tweets from a Stars & Stripes journalist who attended:
Tara Copp @TaraCopp - 3:11 PM - 13 Jun 2017
#SecDef Mattis says "pro regime" forces that have moved into S. Syria near #AnTanf base are actually #Russian 1/2
#SecDef Mattis: "I did not anticipate that the #Russians would move there (near At Tanf.) ... it was not a surprise to our intel people."
The U.S. had claimed that the Syrian government aligned forces moving towards al-Tanf were "Iran backed" or "Iran led". Now the Secretary of Defense says that was a lie. They were Russians allied with the Syrian government. The Russians certainly do not take their orders from some Iranian generals. It is no wonder than that the Russian command issued strong warnings against any attacks on these forces.
Mattis also exposes that he is incapable of strategic thinking. He really believed that Russian would not move to al-Tanf to cover for their Syrian comrades? It has been clear your months now that the Russians are all-in in Syria. They will not let the Syrian government fall to make nice with Mattis or Trump or anyone else. The strategic issue for them is clear and has been for a while. They will fight. They said so. It was utterly stupid to believe anything else.
Al-Tanf is a tactical issue but the U.S. military elevates it to a strategic one. This is clearly not justified. We have to ask again what the possible gains for the U.S. are from defending that place in the empty desert. There is none to be had but defending it out of "principle" could evidently start a much bigger war.
[T]he Tanf garrison is now surrounded by hostile forces. The U.S. forces in the area would have to fight through regime positions to get to al Bukamal, further risking escalation.
What now? Is the United States prepared to protect these forces in perpetuity? Will the U.S. provide air cover for forces that clash directly with regime allied assets outside of the 55-kilometer zone? Did the previous three strikes prompt a counter-escalatory act that undermined U.S. interests? Sadly, the answer to the last question is yes.
...
Strategy should drive tactics when it comes to handling Iranian-backed elements in Syria, not the other way around.
...
The United States has the capability to defend a garrison in the Syrian desert. However, the reasons for doing so are devoid of any purpose, making a simple cost benefit analysis all but impossible.
That insight has obviously not yet reached the Defense Department and the U.S. command on the ground. The local U.S. commander moved a U.S. HIMARS long-range artillery system from Jordan to al-Tanf. HIMARS has a range of 300 kilometers. It makes no difference from a tactical perspective if its fires from Jordan or from al-Tanf in Syria some 12 kilometers east of the border line. It is a symbolic move to "show flag" in al-Tanf but it exposes the system to a legitimate attack by Syrian, Russian and Iranian forces.
As Secretary of State Tillerson rightly said: The U.S. has no legal authority to attack Syrian, Iranian or Russian forces. None at all. It is invading Syria with no legitimate reason. Syria, in contrast, has the legal authority to throw the U.S. troops out.
To move the HIMARS to al-Tanf is utterly stupid grandstanding. It is high time for Washington to shut such nonsense down.
Posted by b on June 13, 2017
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/06/sy ... sight.html
comments
by Sounder » Wed Jun 14, 2017 9:06 pm
Video footage obtained by Al-Masdar appears to show convoys of ISIS fighters fleeing the Syrian city of Raqqa untouched by the U.S. military, which is currently bombing that exact location. As Al-Masdar notes, despite having Kurdish and American drones hovering around the city of Raqqa, U.S. bombs are nowhere to be seen as hundreds of fighters pass safely. The release of this footage comes on the heels of accusations from both Russia and Iran that the U.S. is colluding with ISIS to allow the group’s safe passage into areas controlled by the Syrian government…….
……….As fascinating as the Comey testimony spectacle has been (don’t forget to tune in for tomorrow’s scandal of anonymous leaks and misspelled tweets), the real scandal lies in the fact that the U.S. is now openly siding with ISIS while allowing the terrorists safe passage into parts of Syria so that these extremists can battle a secular government. The U.S. is moments away from an all-out confrontation with Iran (and Russia, a nuclear power).
Don’t expect the corporate media to report on these damning facts anytime soon, as the public continues to sleepwalk into a global powder keg of deceit, death, and destruction.
by BenDhyan » Wed Jun 14, 2017 9:54 pm
Syrian Army Boxing in US Forces in Southern Syria Came as a Shock -- Defense Secretary Mattis
The Pentagon was taken aback by how suddenly and quickly it was presented with a fait accompli east of al-Tanf
When last Friday Russian Ministry of Defense announced that Syrian forces had broken through to the Iraqi border and enveloped the US forces in southern Syria this came as a shock to us here at RI.
Not because this was some move nobody could see coming. Anyone who can read a map could see that a Syrian advance to the east of US positions at al-Tanf base would effectively neutralize it. I spelled out as much a week before the Syrian offensive took place:
The obvious play for the Russian-backed Syrians is to neutralize Americans at al-Tanf by giving their base a 55 kilometer-wide berth and punch through to the Iraqi border further east. Such a maneuver would end US dreams of al-Tanf as a staging point for a push into the Euphrates valley and make it into an irrelevant, isolated outpost in the desert.
No, the shocking part was how quickly the Syrians advanced and with how little warning. Without any previous indication that they intend to do so, the Syrian forces covered 184 kilometers of barren desert in a single day.
It took place so unexpectedly and with such speed that the first we heard about it was when it was all already over -- the Syrians were already shaking hands with Iraqis on their joint borders and the Americans had been cut off.
A 184 kilometer march executed in a single day would be a feather in the cap of any force, but is particularly impressive in the Syrian context where advances tend to be far, far slower.
Also, there were no prior announcements or social media rumors that such a move was being prepared -- for once the Syrians kept their plans and preparations to themselves.
Additionally, it of was of great help that it took place while all eyes (and American bombs) were focused on much smaller forces testing the US-proclaimed 55 kilometer exclusion zone further east -- and which may have been diversionary moves.
We have now learned that the US military was no less shocked by the advance than you and I. Testifying before Congress US Defense Secretary Mattis explained:
“As far as the Tanf situation, that was another operating area that we had. I did not anticipate that the Russians would move there. We knew it was a possibility. I did not anticipate it at that time but it was not a surprise to our intelligence people who saw the potential for them to move out in that direction.”
So then, exactly like RI, the Pentagon saw "the potential" for a Syrian move in that direction (everybody did), but was completely taken aback by how suddenly and quickly it developed.
In military parlance the Syrians did not achieve a "strategic surprise" but they did achieve an "operational surprise".
In all likelihood US brass could only predict a typical haphazard Syrian advance that would give it plenty of time to react against. Instead it was presented with a fait accompli within a day.
Pentagon grossly underestimated the Syrian forces. Indeed, Mattis had by all apperances convinced himself that Russians were not interested in southern Syria, and that a push to the Iraqi border was a solely Iranian-backed operation with which the Russians disagreed.
In fact, that the Russian Ministry of Defence timed its press briefing for almost the very moment (figuratively speaking) when Syrian and allied forces had reached the border would imply just the opposite was the case.
It also likely means that the Russians contributed heavily to the planning for the operation and that this reflected in its swiftness and professionalism. Indeed, Mattis who speaks of "Russians moving there" now seems to believe so.
Actually he should have known better from the start. Here at RI we always wrote about al-Tanf as ultimately being between the Russians and the US. After all if the Syrians want to restore a land border with Iraq and profit from some of the latter's manpower reserves that is also in the Russian interest in Syria.
by BenDhyan » Fri Jun 16, 2017 7:18 am
Russia claims it may have killed Islamic State leader al-Baghdadi
1 Hour Ago
The Russian Defense Ministry believes the leader of the Islamic State militant group, Ibrahim abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, may have been killed by one of its air strikes on the Syrian city of Raqqa.
The ministry said Baghdadi and as many as 330 other fighters had been killed as a result of an air strike on the city at the end of May.
"According to the information that is being checked via various channels, Ibrahim abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS was at the conference and was liquidated by the strike," Russia's Defense Ministry said via a Facebook post, according to a translation.
The claim has not yet been verified.
Despite several previous reports of Baghdadi's death, the statement from Moscow's Defense Ministry is the first time Russia has reported the killing of the IS leader.
The ministry said an air strike killed 30 field commanders and up to 300 militants during an ISIS "meeting council" on May 28, near to the southern outskirts of Raqqa.
Islamic State's de facto capital, Raqqa, in Syria is reportedly surrounded to the north, east and west by approaching rebel and Kurdish forces, supported by the U.S.-led coalition.
The Russian Defense Ministry said they had informed Washington of the strike. Colonel John Dorrian, a spokesperson for the U.S.-led coalition told the BBC he had not been able to confirm whether Baghdadi had been killed.
There has been no official comment from the Syrian government.
.
by kool maudit » Fri Jun 16, 2017 7:27 am
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