Egypt - Israel has issued an immediate warning for their citizens to leave Sinai, citing ISIS terrorist threats. Given that they've never been bitten as far as I know and their direct and indirect support for anyone fighting the Syrian government, I'd guess the real reason is something else entirely.
Originally posted by aldra
Egypt - Israel has issued an immediate warning for their citizens to leave Sinai, citing ISIS terrorist threats. Given that they've never been bitten as far as I know and their direct and indirect support for anyone fighting the Syrian government, I'd guess the real reason is something else entirely.
Looks like ISIS executed an Israeli spy or collaborator there. INB4 attacks 'attributed to ISIS' that they don't take credit for
Originally posted by aldra
and now for some good news:
Iraq - Thanks to the geolocating efforts of an online group, Malhama Tactical's training camp was located and rekt (Co-ordinates were found by cross-referencing landmarks in publicly released photos and video, then passed on to Russian military). 16 dead.
apparently these guys are getting a lot of undesired attention - they're reporting that 'journalists' from the BBC and Al JazNusra English keep trying to get in contact with them but refuse online interviews/questions, they're pressing to meet in person.
SYRIA - Turkey's claiming EUPHRATES SHIELD was a success, even though they never defined any hard and fast mission parameters or goals outside of 'protect the border'. They're not withdrawing though, they're still trying to annex land and crush Kurds, they're just not using the EUPHRATES SHIELD moniker anymore.
IRAQ - The US military are aware of ISIS' tactics of increasing airstrike lethality but appear unwilling to comment on it publicly. They've (publicly) stated that their current parameters for targeting and appropriate use of airstrikes are sufficient and will not be reviewed.
to clarify the following, ISIS was intentionally created by the US and cultivated as a regime-change tool against the Syria government - they were originally trained as a Sunni militia in Anbar province of Iraq and melded with Saddam's then-unemployed generals, and have been provided both directly (ie. airdrops of TOW launchers) and indirectly (weapons taken from Iraqi soldiers ordered to retreat, arms given to them by other rebel groups etc.). I do not believe, however, that the US or even the Gulf states have any real direct control over them. I can't comprehend any foreign-policy benefit for keeping them in Iraq or Libya. I'm of the opinion that the DoD genuinely wants to destroy them in Iraq (though the CIA may have other plans).
It sounds to me that the US are paralyzed in terms of tactics - with limited options aside from air attacks and a distinct lack of tactical-level co-operation with Iraqi forces, they haven't been able to formulate any plans to reduce civilian casualties. There are two factors at play that make me think this is only going to get a lot worse, not better:
1. Iraqi forces were initially moving slowly with the goal of pushing ISIS back and forcing them to release their human shields - the endgame being ISIS pushed into a stronghold with minimal civilians culminating in a siege (similar to the SAA's tactics in Aleppo). The US is unwilling to take it slow though - they intend to liberate Mosul, or at least devastate ISIS to the point where they're unable to recover, as soon as possible so they can commit the bulk of their forces to Raqqa.
2. They believe that pausing or stepping down air attacks would signal ISIS that their tactics are working. It's likely some combination of arrogance and machiavellianism that makes them think that the immense civilian toll is worth avoiding an ISIS propanda win.
YEMEN - The Yemeni Army are in the final stages of testing modifications to their existing SRBMs that will allow them to break Mach 4.5, which, given the range that they're attempting to strike Saudi Arabia from, should make them immune to their Patriot Missile defences.
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SYRIA - Russian military is reporting they've killed a Malhama squad; blew up their BMP (Russian APC). If there are any of these guys left I'd doubt they have the capacity to train any more jihadis.
Originally posted by aldra
YEMEN - The Yemeni Army are in the final stages of testing modifications to their existing SRBMs that will allow them to break Mach 4.5, which, given the range that they're attempting to strike Saudi Arabia from, should make them immune to their Patriot Missile defences.
Allah be with you Yemen.
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Syria - Rebel unity has almost completely collapsed to the point where Al-Nusra are begging for donations from Mosques. They're in extreme disarray; they've lost the majority of the ground they've taken and they're losing territories all around Hama - the SAA are cutting through from the north-west.
The SAA are claiming they shot down another jedi-15, complete media silence though.
In the void that AQ/ANF are rapidly leaving, many of the remaining jihadis are integrating and allying with Turkish groups, being that they're well-supplied and backed by the Turkish military. Many are flying Grey Wolves banners, which is pretty funny considering how much Turkey's been calling other people nazis lately.
Originally posted by aldra
SYRIA - Russian military is reporting they've killed a Malhama squad; blew up their BMP (Russian APC). If there are any of these guys left I'd doubt they have the capacity to train any more jihadis.
SYRIA - Sarin gas attack reported the other day, of course Assad has been personally blamed by the popular media. I'm still researching but so far the story doesn't add up at all - nerve agents kill within minutes, victims apparently agonised for much longer. The bodies do not bear the standard indicators of death by nerve agent. The White Helmets have claimed the gas was delivered by an AtG missile, but the supposed crater is maybe 2ft or half a meter in diameter.
I'll post a thread when I've got more information.
Originally posted by aldra
SYRIA - Sarin gas attack reported the other day, of course Assad has been personally blamed by the popular media. I'm still researching but so far the story doesn't add up at all - nerve agents kill within minutes, victims apparently agonised for much longer. The bodies do not bear the standard indicators of death by nerve agent. The White Helmets have claimed the gas was delivered by an AtG missile, but the supposed crater is maybe 2ft or half a meter in diameter.
I'll post a thread when I've got more information.
The SAAF has reported that the toxic gases were likely chlorine or mustard gas - they had used an airstrike to destroy a rebel facility nearby which turned out to be a chemical-weapons storehouse, causing the release of some of the chemicals.
Assad has nothing to gain from using chemical weapons - it's never been proven that he has in the past; as a matter of fact the original sarin attack in Ghouta, which Obama used as a 'red line' to officially get involved in Syria, was definitely not launched by Assad/the SAA and quite likely engineered or at least enabled by the Turkish intelligence services. For more information you can check out the interviews with the head of the UN investigation team, Carla de Ponte, and the excellent article by Seymour Hersch "The Red Line and the Rat Line". Further, Eren Erdem is facing treason charges for giving RT details of instances where Turkish nationals were released without charge when caught smuggling nerve agents and precursors into Syria.
On top of that, after the Ghouta fiasco Assad turned over all of his chemical weapons stocks for destruction.
The SAA and Tigers have completely reversed all rebel gains over the last few months - they're in a position of strength, not desperation. Given that and the physical evidence, I believe the official SAAF version of events.
Like I said though, once I'm more familiar with the facts on the ground I'll post a proper thread on it
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Originally posted by Discount Whore
I'm not entirely convinced everybody claiming SAA isn't just a shill.
US foreign policy in relation to Syria has fallen apart. Their goal from the beginning was to depose Assad and put a US-friendly dictator in his place, largely to give some semblance of legitimacy to their plans of forcing their gas pipeline through the country. Breaking one of Iran's strongest allies in the region (one of the reasons for smashing Iraq too) was another reason.
The details of why they've failed so hard aren't really important here, but their current play (likely the last thing they can try short of all-out war) is to convince the Syrian Kurds in the north to secede from Syria, giving them a puppet state that will allow them to build their pipeline and have a military presence. This seems to me like wishful thinking, considering the Kurdish militias are working with the SAA and have handed over huge swathes of land they cleared of Jihadists. Declaring an independent state would also put them at the mercy of Erdogan and his Kurd murderboner without the protection of the SAA.
So now it's a race to Raqqa, the last real ISIS stronghold. The US means to take it before the SAA/Russia so that they can use their proxies (mostly Iraqi Kurds led by Barzai) to try to declare an independent state to the north. The corporate media is jumping at any chance to demonise Russia and the SAA, and in this case you only need to look at the rhetoric the neocons are spewing to see that they intend to use the 'chemical weapons bogeyman' to justify much larger military deployment to the US public.
PS. it's no coincidence that this has been pushed into the spotlight so soon after the US declared that they've officially abandoned their 'Assad must go' mantra.
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