ISIS/ISIL conflict in Syria/Iraq (No OpEd, No Politics)
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TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
Equation, Where have you been for the past 5 years... Iran is up to it's proverbial eye balls in this whole thing. They have been backing Assad since Day zero. And not just Syria but Iraq as well.
World | Thu Oct 1, 2015 11:23am EDT
Related:
Assad allies, including Iranians, prepare ground attack in Syria: sources
BEIRUT | BY LAILA BASSAM
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad answers questions during an interview with al-Manar's journalist Amro Nassef, in Damascus, Syria, in this handout photograph released by Syria's national news agency SANA on August 25, 2015.
REUTERS/SANA/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS
Hundreds of Iranian troops have arrived in Syria in the last 10 days and will soon join government forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies in a major ground offensive backed by Russian air strikes, two Lebanese sources told Reuters.
"The (Russian) air strikes will in the near future be accompanied by ground advances by the Syrian army and its allies," said one of the sources familiar with political and military developments in the conflict.
"It is possible that the coming land operations will be focused in the Idlib and Hama countryside," the source added.
The two sources said the operation would be aimed at recapturing territory lost by President Bashar al-Assad's government to rebels.
It points to an emerging military alliance between Russia and Assad's other main allies - Iran and Hezbollah - focused on recapturing areas of northwestern Syria that were seized by insurgents in rapid advances earlier this year.
"The vanguard of Iranian ground forces began arriving in Syria: soldiers and officers specifically to participate in this battle. They are not advisors ... we mean hundreds with equipment and weapons. They will be followed by more," the second source said. Iraqis would also take part in the operation, the source said.
Thus far, direct Iranian military support for Assad has come mostly in the form of military advisors. Iran has also mobilized Shi'ite militia fighters, including Iraqis and some Afghans, to fight alongside Syrian government forces.
Lebanon's Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, has been fighting alongside the Syrian army since early in the conflict.
The Russian air force began air strikes in Syria on Wednesday, targeting areas near the cities of Homs and Hama in the west of the country, where Assad's forces are fighting an array of insurgent groups, though not Islamic State, which is based mostly in the north and east.
An alliance of insurgent groups including the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and powerful Ahrar al-Sham made rapid gains in Idlib province earlier this year, completely expelling the government from the area bordering Turkey.
(Reporting by Laila Bassam; Writing by ; Editing by and )
TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
And this one stands alone.
I am sorry one more time please...
"We don't consider Free Syrian Army a terrorist group.
"We believe that the Free Syrian Army should be part of the political process, like some other armed groups on the ground composed of the Syrians' patriotic opposition individuals," Lavrov said.
Business | Thu Oct 1, 2015 2:21pm EDT
Related:
Russia says U.S.-backed Free Syrian Army not a terrorist group
UNITED NATIONS | BY MICHELE NICHOLS
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addresses the media during the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations in Manhattan, New York, October 1, 2015.
REUTERS/ANDREW KELLY
Russia does not consider the U.S.-backed Free Syrian Army rebels a terrorist group, and they should be part of a political solution in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday after Russia was accused of bombing the group.
Lavrov told a news conference at the United Nations that Russian air strikes that began on Wednesday targeted Islamic State militants and "other terrorist groups" in Syria. "We targeted ISIL-associated depots, armaments and sites," he said, using an acronym for Islamic State.
Free Syrian Army and U.S. sources said the strikes actually hit facilities of the U.S.-backed group, some of whose rebels have received training and support from the CIA.
Lavrov said Russia's targets were those considered terrorists by the United Nations and by the Russian legal system, including Islamic State and the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.
"This is the same position that the Americans are taking. The representatives of the (U.S.-led) coalition command have always said their targets are ISIL, al-Nusra and other terrorist groups. This is basically our position as well," he said.
Lavrov did not specifically deny that Russian planes had attacked Free Syrian Army facilities, but said:"We don't consider Free Syrian Army a terrorist group.
"We believe that the Free Syrian Army should be part of the political process, like some other armed groups on the ground composed of the Syrians' patriotic opposition individuals," Lavrov said.
BIG POWER RIVALRIES
The dramatic escalation of the conflict in Syria prompted by Russia's military action has dominated the U.N. General Assembly. Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama discussed the crisis on the sidelines of the General Assembly on Monday and agreed to start talks to avert military clashes by parallel air campaigns.
Lavrov said the legal basis for air strikes in the past year by the U.S.-led coalition of Western allies and regional states against Islamic State targets in Syria was "really flawed."
Russia says its actions were justified by an invitation from its longtime ally President Bashar al-Assad.
The Free Syrian Army was set up by Syrian army defectors after the uprising against Assad began in 2011.
The commander of an FSA-affiliated group said two Russian air strikes on Thursday hit a camp operated by the group, which had received military training from the CIA in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Hassan Haj Ali, head of the Liwa Suqour al-Jabal rebel group, told Reuters the camp in Idlib province was struck by around 20 missiles in two separate sorties.
It was at least the third Free Syrian Army group to report being targeted in Russian air strikes.
On Thursday, U.S. Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also said Russia's initial air strikes in Syria targeted Free Syrian Army recruits.
FSA groups have been eclipsed in much of Syria by Islamic State and Nusra Front.
(Reporting by , , and ; Editing by and )
I am sorry one more time please...
"We don't consider Free Syrian Army a terrorist group.
"We believe that the Free Syrian Army should be part of the political process, like some other armed groups on the ground composed of the Syrians' patriotic opposition individuals," Lavrov said.
Saudi Arabia is concerned about the civilian casualties due to Russian bombing in Syria. Saudi bombing in Yemen causes very many civilian casualties, so many that the Netherlands proposed investigation of war crimes in that country in the UN Commission on Human Rights. However Saudi Arabia objected and the Netherlands retracted its proposal.
I was in too much of a hurry yesterday and forgot to mention that I got this news from my Dutch newspaper NRC: .Saudi Arabia is concerned about the civilian casualties due to Russian bombing in Syria. Saudi bombing in Yemen causes very many civilian casualties, so many that the Netherlands proposed investigation of war crimes in that country in the UN Commission on Human Rights. However Saudi Arabia objected and the Netherlands retracted its proposal.
Such things happen on a crowded battlefield. I just heard a BBC Radio 4 news bulletin and in the survey of the newspapers it mentioned a comment from one newspaper that to prevent accidents everyone should know where everyone else is but that it is impossible to tell the Russians where the British special forces in Syria are.
Jura The idiot
General
a Red Russian blogger "El Murid" said
about $4000 Bounty was put on any member of Russian Military in Syria, by
whose members are paid about $150 a month; he's much more critical
than "Cassad"
about the intervention ... plus I noticed Russian journalists at Latakia Airbase:
EDIT
oh and some of you might miss a typical Russian claim of already having achieved more than the US-led air-strikes during a year
about $4000 Bounty was put on any member of Russian Military in Syria, by
whose members are paid about $150 a month; he's much more critical
than "Cassad"
about the intervention ... plus I noticed Russian journalists at Latakia Airbase:
oh and some of you might miss a typical Russian claim of already having achieved more than the US-led air-strikes during a year
Last edited:
thunderchief
Senior Member
They mostly use OFAB-250 "dumb" bombs for now .
plawolf
Lieutenant General
Makes good sense, when faced with two opponents, fight them one at a time.
By making a distinction between the FSA and ISIS, the Russians and Assad's forces can focus on destroying ISIS without having to worry about the FSA as well.
It also puts the FSA in a difficult position. If they attack Assad's forces, they give Assad and the Russians the perfect excuse to add them to the target list. IF they sit back, they risk loosing any support and legitimacy they have. If they join in the fight against ISIS, they weaken themselves, making it easier for Assad to finish them off larger.
It also neatly chops the legs out from under much of the anti-Russian rhetoric coming from the west, and avoids some of the tougher legal questions about whether foreign forces helping to put down domestic uprisings are committing war crimes (curiously, questions that didn't seem to have occurred to anyone in the west when Saudi Arabia sent in troops to help put down peaceful demonstrations in Bahrain).
After the Russians and Assad's forces have put ISIS to grass, it would be the easiest thing in the world to find or manufacture an excuse to go after the FSA. At that point, the Russians could step back and insist that it is purely an internal matter for the Syrians or sort out themselves without outside interference.
Jura The idiot
General
I must admit that I see this a little bit differently.
My reading is that the FSA have been given an "either you are with us or against us" ultimatum. Just think about Lavrovs words yesterday.
In short (and backed up with air strikes) they are being told to return to the Assad fold or they will designated as just another terrorist group and dealt with according;y. Given that they are in very close proximity to Syrian state heartlands and military front-lines, this would make them an immediate and priority target.
It makes sense to neutralise or eliminate this threat first. It is the one that glues together the Western coalition. Without this force, the West has no viable interest in the conflict or resolution.