Syria Superthread [merged]

[The Bread Guy]

I wonder why they arent this public with their Ukraine operations ? ;D

'Cause they're all on leave - doesn't count

 

[Kirkhill]

'Cause they're all on leave - doesn't count

I always knew the Swiss and the Danes, amongst others, allowed their troops to take their rifles home with them.

Apparently the Russians let them take tanks, howitzers and helicopters home as well..... a truly progressive army.

 

[Altair]

Jeffrey A. Stacey, who is Managing Partner of Geopolicity USA, a former State Department official in the Obama administration, and author of Integrating Europe ( Oxford University Press), posits, in this article which is reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act from Foreign Affairs, that Syria, like Crimea, is now "lost" to the West:

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/syria/2015-10-02/undeterred-syria

Readers may disagree with his appraisal of the Iran deal but I think his logic, here, is sound.

I realized the west lost syria the moment that all I heard from the POTUS, European leaders and even the PM of canada was whining about Russian actions with not one single person talking about a western response.

And while Russia was blitzing the syria countryside with 10-20 bombing runs the coalition had 1 airstrike in Syria during that time.

Step aside west, not to fear, Putin is here.

 

[a_majoor]

Sinc the Saudis havn't been successful in toppling Assad on their own or really sticking it to the Iranians (although the oil war tactic is working wonders with both Iran and Russia in the mid to long term), they will have to up their game. I suspect that we will see ISIS becoming much more "energized" in their attacks on Syrian territory and particularly targeting Iranian troops, Hezbollah fighters and the supply lines which join Iran to syria and Lebanon.

As for the Russians, I suspect they may be a bit of a hard nut for ISIS fighters to crack, but the lure of paradise and the thrill of destroying the "Godless Russians" may be incentive enough.

 

[Altair]

Sinc the Saudis havn't been successful in toppling Assad on their own or really sticking it to the Iranians (although the oil war tactic is working wonders with both Iran and Russia in the mid to long term), they will have to up their game. I suspect that we will see ISIS becoming much more "energized" in their attacks on Syrian territory and particularly targeting Iranian troops, Hezbollah fighters and the supply lines which join Iran to syria and Lebanon.

As for the Russians, I suspect they may be a bit of a hard nut for ISIS fighters to crack, but the lure of paradise and the thrill of destroying the "Godless Russians" may be incentive enough.

Russians don't play by the same rules that the west plays with.

They might be surprised that hiding their arsenal beside a school doesn't work with Russian jets.

Collateral damage doesn't exist in the Russian military, at least that's the impression I'm getting from their spin experts.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Russians don't play by the same rules that the west plays with.

They might be surprised that hiding their arsenal beside a school doesn't work with Russian jets.

If they're dead and they're Syrian, they're ISIS, right? 

Apparently the Russians let them take tanks, howitzers and helicopters home as well..... a truly progressive army.

Maybe not, but it sounds like we'll be seeing Russian "volunteers" in Syria, soon ....

.... Russia has openly acknowledged sending warplanes and other military equipment to bolster Mr. Assad. Although President Vladimir V. Putin has ruled out sending ground forces to Syria, a senior Kremlin defense official told Russian news agencies on Monday that military veterans who had fought in eastern Ukraine were likely to start showing up as “volunteer” ground forces in Syria.

The statement by the official, Adm. Vladimir Komoyedov, head of the armed forces committee in Russia’s Parliament, asserted that such volunteers “cannot be stopped.”

Admiral Komoyedov’s statement was the strongest signal yet of Russia’s intentions. It echoed Russia’s use of shadowy ground forces in other conflicts over the past year — most notably its seizure of Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 and its assistance to insurgents in eastern Ukraine ....

From Russian media (Google translated from the Russian):

The head of the Duma Committee on Defense, Admiral Vladimir Komoyedov did not rule out that in the Syrian government troops are fighting international terrorists, including militant IG (organization "Islamic state", banned in Russia - IP), you may receive a Russian volunteer brigade or a battalion, which will include, including people who have received combat experience in the Donbass.

"Komsomol volunteers, as sung in the famous song - they do not stop. And certainly in the ranks of the Syrian army will be the formation of the Russian volunteers - combatants" - said Komoedov "Interfax" on Monday, commenting on media reports that as part of the Syrian Government troops are seen volunteers who fought earlier in the eastern Ukraine ....

 

[tomahawk6]

Interesting piece in the Federalist concerning Obama's belief that the US should lead from the rear.As the US steps back from the Middle East the Russians step in.The Great Game is afoot once again. ???

http://thefederalist.com/2015/10/05/what-happens-when-america-retreats-middle-east/

 

[Retired AF Guy]

"Komsomol volunteers, as sung in the famous song - they do not stop. And certainly in the ranks of the Syrian army will be the formation of the Russian volunteers - combatants" - said Komoedov "Interfax" on Monday, commenting on media reports that as part of the Syrian Government troops are seen volunteers who fought earlier in the eastern Ukraine ....

I wonder how all those "volunteers" think about being sent to Syria?

 

[Altair]

Apparently Russian jets entered turkey today.

Potential of things going sideways seems high in this current environment

 

[CougarKing]

Altair, that news of Russian jets entering Turkey was already posted in another thread. And apparently it's happened more than once, in spite of NATO's refusal to accept Russia's explanation of what happened.

Anyways, here is more bad news for the moderate Syrian rebels, if they do survive at all:

Reuters

Russian warplanes in Syria destroy U.S.-trained rebels' weapons depots: commander

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Russian air strikes have destroyed the main weapons depots of a U.S.-trained rebel group in Syria, their commander said on Wednesday, in an expansion of Russian attacks on insurgents backed by foreign enemies of President Bashar al-Assad.

The Liwa Suqour al-Jabal, whose fighters have attended military training organized by the Central Intelligence Agency in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, was also hit last week by Russian raids as Moscow began its air campaign in support of Damascus.

New strikes targeted the group's main weapons depots in western Aleppo province and completely destroyed them late on Tuesday, its commander Hassan Haj Ali told Reuters on Wednesday via Internet messaging service.

(...SNIPPED)

Reuters

Syrian army and Russian jets target rebels in western Syria
Wed Oct 7, 2015 7:32am EDT

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian army and allied militia carried out ground attacks on insurgent positions in Syria on Wednesday backed by Russian air strikes, in what appeared to be their first major coordinated assault since Moscow intervened last week, a monitor said.

Russia's air strikes hit northern parts of Hama province and nearby areas in Idlib province, targeting towns close to the main north-south highway that runs through major cities in western Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Ground attacks using heavy surface-to-surface missile bombardments targeted at least four insurgent positions in the area and there were heavy clashes on the ground, the head of the Observatory Rami Abdulrahman said.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[The Bread Guy]

Russian Help: It's not JUST fast air anymore!

Russia launched a naval bombardment of ISIS targets in Syria on Wednesday, a senior official said, ramping up a newly muscular presence in the Middle East.

Four Russian ships fired 26 missiles into Syria, hitting 11 targets, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin during a televised meeting.

Shoigu said the strikes were launched from the Caspian Sea using precise long-range missiles that flew 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) to their targets ....

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the immediate neighbourhood, one of the neighbours may be asking for Russian help, too:

Iraq may request Russian air strikes against Islamic State on its soil soon and wants Moscow to have a bigger role than the United States in the war against the militant group, the head of parliament's defense and security committee said on Wednesday.

“In the upcoming few days or weeks, I think Iraq will be forced to ask Russia to launch air strikes, and that depends on their success in Syria," Hakim al-Zamili, a leading Shi'ite politician, told Reuters in an interview ....

 

[jollyjacktar]

At least you know the Ivans will curb stomp the arseholes out of their flip flops and manjammies.

 

[57Chevy]

Would it be safe to say that the friend of my enemy can also be my friend for perhaps a short time ?

 

[jollyjacktar]

I'd rather be friends with the Ivans than some of the so-called allies we presently hang with.

 

[CougarKing]

Putin's navy raining hell on ISIS and other anti-Assad rebels.

Aviationist

Watch Russian warships launch cruise missiles against targets in Syria from the Caspian Sea
Oct 07 2015
By David Cenciotti

Impressive footage shows Russian ships launch cruise missiles against ISIS targets from the Caspian Sea.
Early in the morning on Oct. 7, Russia warships belonging to the Russian Navy’s Caspian Sea Strike Group launched 26 cruise missiles against Islamic State targets located in Syria.

The missile used to conduct the attack is the 3M14TE Kalibr-NK with a maximum range of 2,600 km, fired by a strike group consisting of the Dagestan missile ship, the small-sized missile ships Grad Sviyazhsk, Uglich, Veliky Ustyug.

According to the Russia’s MoD, the cruise missiles “engaged all the assigned targets successfully and with high accuracy.”

(...SNIPPED)

 

[Altair]

Wait, the Caspian sea?

Did these missiles fly over turkey or what?

 

[larry Strong]

Wait, the Caspian sea?

Did these missiles fly over turkey or what?

First thing that crossed my mind as well.

Larry

 

[GR66]

Wait, the Caspian sea?

Did these missiles fly over turkey or what?

I'm guessing Iran and Iraq based on recent comments about increased cooperation between Russia and those governments?  Seems more likely than sending missiles across a NATO member country. 

Raises interesting questions though...were the Western airforces operating in Iraq/Syria advised in advance?  Who is responsible for airspace control over that area?

 

[MAJONES]

Putin's navy raining hell on ISIS and other anti-Assad rebels.

Aviationist

The impression that I got from reading a few other articles online was that the Russians were mostly hitting the US backed rebels and leaving ISIS alone.

 

[Altair]

The impression that I got from reading a few other articles online was that the Russians were mostly hitting the US backed rebels and leaving ISIS alone.

What's the situation on the ground? Is ISIS the closer to the assad front lines or are the other rebel groups.

I'm sure if Russia wants all of syria back under assad control they would need to hit ISIS areas sooner or later.