ISIS/ISIL conflict in Syria/Iraq (No OpEd, No Politics)

timepass

timepass

Brigadier
U.S. command in Iraq shuts down ground operations...

US-command-in-Iraq-shuts-down-ground-operations.jpg


"U.S. command forces in Iraq responsible for coordinating land operations against the Islamic State terror group deactivated Monday -- signaling the end of major ground combat.

Since 2014, the command headquarters has run coalition and local operations to clear out large sections of IS territories in Iraq.

As of Monday, the allied command transferred its duties to the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, the Pentagon's primary fighting arm against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria."

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timepass

timepass

Brigadier
Suspected Israeli strikes hit Iran-linked targets in Syria, escalating regional tensions....

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"Missile strikes at two Iran-linked bases in Syria caused huge explosions and killed dozens of pro-government fighters, a monitoring group said Monday, in an attack seen as Israel’s latest blow in a shadow war to contain Iranian influence.

At least 26 people were killed, four of them Syrians, the Syrian Observatory said. Representatives of a regional alliance that includes Iran, Syria and the Hezbollah paramilitary group said that Iranians were among the dead, and some cited a much higher toll."

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T

taxiya

Brigadier
Registered Member
New development. It is interesting to see the sudden change of heart from March to April. It sounds like "I stop supporting you because you were 'chemically' bombed.":rolleyes:

CBS:
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"Our meetings in March were very positive. There were even remarks from senior officials about long-term commitments even into 2020. There were no suggestions whatsoever about stopping support," Raed Saleh, the group's leader, told CBS News.
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Newsweek:
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Jura The idiot

Jura The idiot

General
Apr 22, 2018
Jura said:
Wednesday at 9:13 PM
now
Experts enter Damascus' Douma to probe alleged chemical attack
Xinhua| 2018-04-22 01:54:40
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and now
Chemical inspectors complete Douma mission: OPCW
2018-05-05 07:41 GMT+8
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Chemical weapons experts have completed their mission to the Syrian town of Douma to probe last month's alleged chemical attack, but the analysis of samples may still take weeks, the global watchdog said Friday.

"The initial deployment of the fact-finding mission... in Douma is complete," the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said from its headquarters in The Hague.

"Samples have been brought to the OPCW laboratory where they will be split and then dispatched to the OPCW designated laboratories," it added in a statement.

The OPCW's mission to Douma was launched amid international outrage over images of adults and children appearing to be suffering from the effects of a toxic weapon attack.

The gruesome footage from the apparent April 7 attack horrified the world and prompted unprecedented Western strikes on Syrian military installations.

The fact-finding mission gained access to Douma on April 21 after several delays since deploying to Syria on April 14.

But the global watchdog warned that the analysis of samples "may take at least three to four weeks," with inspectors continuing to collect more information and material.

"At this time it is not possible to give a time frame for when the Douma report will be issued to states parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention," the OPCW said.

On April 7, the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) and the White Helmets jointly said dozens of people died in a "poisonous chlorine gas attack" in Douma.

But Syria and Russia have accused Syrian volunteer rescue workers of staging the video footage at the behest of the United States and its allies.
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SampanViking

SampanViking

The Capitalist
Staff member
Super Moderator
VIP Professional
Registered Member
The latest news is that the ISIS salient of Hajar al Aswad has collapsed completely and only the northern enclave around Yamouk is still holding out.
On top of that, it is being reported that some 33 buses full of FSA members and their families are leaving the adjacent area for Idlib and that the SAA expects to take full control of these areas within a couple of days.

The final enclave in Central Syria - Al-Rastan between Homs and Hama is also winding itself up, although I have read a little while ago that some groups are not yet ready to give up. Others though have and some have already left (I understand).

The SAA has opened the Homs - Hama highway through the region which suggests that the enclave is now split in half?

Either way, it seems that this time next week, there will be no besieged enclaves in Central Syria and that only border areas will be still be rebel held.
The big question still remains which ally the US is going to choose? The Turks or the Kurds?
I cannot believe that the US will ultimately choose anyone other than the Turks and Trumps recent pronouncement rather supports this, even if administration figures are saying otherwise.

If the US chooses the Kurds, it will break NATO as Turkey will move fair and square into the Russian orbit and no US President is surely going to surrender the Bosphorus to the Russians.
In addition support for the Kurds would pit the US and other Western allies that hung around, into a direct path of conflict with every neighboring country, in a fight that would be un-winable
It just is not going to happen.
 
plawolf

plawolf

Lieutenant General
SampanViking said:
The latest news is that the ISIS salient of Hajar al Aswad has collapsed completely and only the northern enclave around Yamouk is still holding out.
On top of that, it is being reported that some 33 buses full of FSA members and their families are leaving the adjacent area for Idlib and that the SAA expects to take full control of these areas within a couple of days.

The final enclave in Central Syria - Al-Rastan between Homs and Hama is also winding itself up, although I have read a little while ago that some groups are not yet ready to give up. Others though have and some have already left (I understand).

The SAA has opened the Homs - Hama highway through the region which suggests that the enclave is now split in half?

Either way, it seems that this time next week, there will be no besieged enclaves in Central Syria and that only border areas will be still be rebel held.
The big question still remains which ally the US is going to choose? The Turks or the Kurds?
I cannot believe that the US will ultimately choose anyone other than the Turks and Trumps recent pronouncement rather supports this, even if administration figures are saying otherwise.

If the US chooses the Kurds, it will break NATO as Turkey will move fair and square into the Russian orbit and no US President is surely going to surrender the Bosphorus to the Russians.
In addition support for the Kurds would pit the US and other Western allies that hung around, into a direct path of conflict with every neighboring country, in a fight that would be un-winable
It just is not going to happen.
Click to expand...

Good analysis and cannot really fault your conclusion.

The issue is that once the US turn on the Kurds and hang them out to dry to make nice with the Turks, they will have made a new and dangerous enemy, with the Kurds becoming a new terror threat to the US and the West.

And all of this was both inevitable and completely unnecessary, as America really had no good reason to get so deeply involved in Syria, and no, just to screw with the Russians is not a good reason in my book.
 
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