Once more we are treated with contempt by our governments and its crummy voices, the MMMM (mediocre mass media de mierda). The victory by Assad's forces on ISIS in Palmyra is possibly a big turning point in this sorry war in Syria. ISIS played a game of thugs. The Russians fought war. Meanwhile our own governments have been less than gracious. We — I mean the western governments — want Assad to go. It is our only interest in this war because he is in the way of Saudi oil and gas to Europe. While Assad remains in power, Europe will stay dependent on Russian oil, no matter on the sanctions that have been placed on Russia for "downing MH17" which of course Russia did not. 

As well "we" hate the Russians for having taken Crimea (which was Russian territory gifted to Ukraine as a gesture of goodwill 50 years ago) back and interfering with our thugs in Ukraine. While we get exposed to the Unaoil scandal for bribery, the biggest bribery scandal at the moment is the amount of cash being "given" to the government of Ukraine and its thugs and mafia and henchmen by the US. It is obscene.

The US thinking is that Russia "needs to be encircled by our forces". All this is done not to protect us from a military invasion coming from Russia, but the US is highly worried that Russia has the economic, technological and human resources to destabilise the US empire, economically. So this is why we do not want to acknowledge the Russian part of saving Palmyra form ISIS (nor Assad troops for that matter).

 

The reality of "our" disdain is shocking:

 

Moscow is disappointed to see that some Western countries refuse to salute the retaking of the Syrian city of Palmyra from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and questions their true goals in Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

The reaction coming from some western countries following the defeat of Islamic State in Palmyra by Syrian government forces with help from Russia was muted or outwardly dismissive, Maria Zakharova said in a weekly briefing on Thursday.

She singled out UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, who basically said that Russia was not good enough to fight terrorists alongside Britain.

Relentlessly critical: UK’s Hammond brands Russia a ‘challenge & threat,’ rejects cooperation

“I have no doubt that Russia is sincere in its desire to defeat Daesh [the Arabic name for IS] in Iraq and Syria,” Hammond told Reuters on Wednesday. “But we need to work together on these things and we can only work in partnership with countries which accept the international rules by which we all have to live. We can't be working in partnership with a country one day and find that it is doing just exactly whatever it wants.”

“The British reaction was quite specific. What we saw is an attempt to dismiss the part played by Damascus in fighting terrorism and, by extension, by Moscow, which is supporting the Syrian government in their fight against terrorists,” Maria Zakharova said.

She added that the government line was toed in the UK by the mainstream media, which jumped to speculate how much damage Russian airstrikes could have done to Palmyra’s historic legacy during the operation and how miraculously they haven’t.

Another example of the same narrative came from the UN Security Council, where a Russia-proposed statement intended to welcome the liberation of Palmyra from ISIS was blocked by some members, Zakharova said.

----------------------

We are stupid. The Russians have the capability to pinpoint their attacks on whatever and we talk of "miracle"... Get a life. 

---------------------

 

He stressed that “no structure of historic value in Palmyra was damaged by the Russian Air Force.”

Russian military advisers “took a direct and active role in planning the operation,” Rudskoy said.

Russian warplanes helped Syrian artillery and air forces suppress the defenses of the city, which IS had turned into a fortress since capturing it in May 2015. The militants had considerable strength and prepared an elaborate system of fortifications, the general said.

“By the beginning of March the militants had over 4,000 fighters, at least 25 tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, over 20 artillery pieces and rocket launchers, over 50 mortars, some 100 guided anti-tank missile launchers, over 50 off-road cars with heavy weapons mounted on them. The terrorists also had more than 10 trucks rigged with explosives and manned by suicide bombers and a number of drones,” he said.

Russian airstrikes helped destroy main artillery positions and fortified bunkers on the hills surrounding the city, Rudskoy said. They were also involved in preventing any reinforcements from arriving in Palmyra or any terrorist forces leaving it.

“Russian warplanes destroyed militant convoys trying to storm through towards Palmyra from Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor every day,” he said. “When scattered gangs of ISIL managed to get out through the encirclement, Russian warplanes destroyed them before they could flee to Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor.”

The capture of Palmyra, a strategically and symbolically important city in central Syria, was a major achievement for Damascus. The city’s control over a number of important roads connecting northern and southern parts of the country means that IS will now have trouble transporting weapons and fighters across Syria. It was also an important source of income for the terrorists, who will now have fewer resources to buy new weapons and pay their fighters, the general said.

https://www.rt.com/news/337919-russian-advisers-syria-palmyra/

---------------------

Meanwhile the Russians are baffled as to why the US bombed the power station of Aleppo, while not attacking the Daesh convoys of ammunitions as the Russians did...

 

 

This interview published in September 2014

 

The US invasion of Iraq in 2003 came with many warnings that it would lead to a dire consequences for the whole region. A decade later, and the brutal jihadists from ISIS are dominating the north of the devastated country. Now, the US is again mulling the possibility of sending its army to Iraq once more - but would that actually help solve the issue? From where does the money come for the Islamic State? Is America obliged to save Iraq after what it's done to that nation? We ask these questions to American Colonel and former diplomat Ann Wright on Sophie&Co today.

Follow @SophieCo_RT

Sophie Shevardnadze:Colonel, the 2003 war in Iraq was a reason you left the U.S. military after many years. Do you feel the roots of what’s happening now lie back then?

Ann Wright: Well, yes. In 2003 I did resign from the Federal government. I actually had order to retire from the military; I was a U.S. diplomat, and I was one of the three diplomats who resigned in opposition to the war in Iraq. And I do feel that there are so many similarities now, 11 years later with the issue that the Obama administration is bringing forward, and they are seeming intent that they will be using military force to resolve the further issues in Iraq, and perhaps even in Syria.

SS: But what I really meant was that… I’m talking about ISIS expansion and the will of the ISIS to create a caliphate. Do you think that, what’s going on right now, has to do something with the invasion in Iraq in 2003, or those are two separate things?

AW: I think they are two separate things. Certainly, the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq has precipitated what we now see, 11 years later, with the growth of ISIS and other forces that initially came in to the region to battle with Assad in Syria, but are taking the opportunity with the disarray that came starting with the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. And then, the Al-Maliki government that has been so brutal towards the Sunnis in Iraq, that the ability of ISIS to move remarkably quickly, to gain territories in Syria and now in Iraq is very worrisome and dangerous.

SS: Now, president Obama has authorized deployment of additional 350 american troops to Iraq. Last month, the U.S. launched an aerial campaign against the Islamic State. Will any good come out of this?

AW: Well, the issue of the protection of the U.S. facilities in Baghdad and other cities of Iraq by U.S. military forces is one rational for the deployment of certain number of military folks. And then, the administration has already said that they will be sending in special forces to help train or re-train Iraq military to battle ISIS. And also, the use of CIA operatives up in the north, in northern Iraq and the Kurdish area of Iraq - one could argue that this does give the Iraqi military and the Kurdish Peshmerga a better opportunity to battle ISIS. One of the fears, though, is that the continuation of the U.S. providing U.S. military equipment will end up as we've seen what has happened now, when ISIS has overrun Iraqi military facilities and have taken U.S. military equipment that has been given to the Iraqi military. So, one of the great dilemmas is when you start funneling more military equipment into this type of situation, it may be turned up on you as we've seen - that equipment now being in hands of ISIS and being used to battle almost in one way the remnants of the Iraqi military.

SS: Steven Sotloff was the second journalist executed by the Islamic State. Let’s hear president Obama’s response to this:

OBAMA: And those who make a mistake of harming Americans will learn that we will not forget, and that our reach is long and that justice will be served.

SS: Now, the U.S. president has vowed to avenge the death of U.S. journalist and called for the war plan to be drawn up. Should there be further involvement?

AW: Well, indeed, it’s horrific what ISIS is doing, not only to the international media, to U.S. reporters that are being beheaded, but in even greater measure, what ISIS is doing to Iraqis and Syrians that they have captured. The wholesale murder, massacre of large numbers of Iraqi military and people in villages who have repelled or attempted to repel the ISIS military onslaught. There’s no doubt about it, ISIS is very brutal, terrible group of people who are rampaging across that area of the world.

SS: Well, yeah, but that’s my question - does the U.S. really have any other choice but to get involved and act in the face of these kidnappings?

AW: The people that have been kidnapped - I mean, the international folks have been in the hands of ISIS for quite a few months now. The beheadings of course are horrific, and as vice-president Biden has said...something about the “gates of hell” being opened; I think the administration certainly feels the pressure that something needs to be done about it, about this group of horrific people. Now, whether it is further american military on the ground - I suspect not, because the feeling in the U.S. is that we do not want our military involved in ground operations any further in Iraq or in Syria. However, I do believe that the types of pressure that can be put on groups that do support ISIS, that have allowed ISIS to purchase military equipment, that are working with ISIS to buy on the black market oil from the oil fields that ISIS has captured - I think that’s really where ultimately the pressure points are…

SS: Which groups are you talking about? Could you be more precise?

AW: If you look at who is behind the oil, who is behind the oil from those oil fields, where it is going, through what borders is it going - some of it is going up into Turkey, so you've got to put pressure on the Turkish government to stop the flow of oil; you've got to put pressure on the Turkish government to stop allowing these large groups of international fighters that have crossed the border from Turkey for the last several years. I would say, you have to put pressure on the Saudis: the Saudis have been pouring a large amounts of money, as have the governments of Kuwait and of Qatar, into various groups of the foreign fighters.

SS: But so had the Americans, I don’t think these are the only people that are funding the foreign fighters in Syria. Americans are the ones who are funding them just as much as are the Qataris or the Saudis…

AW: Yes, I totally agree with you on that; I do not believe that they are funding ISIS, the U.S. is funding other, what they think are more moderate groups that are fighting the Assad government, but the ones I was actually talking about were those that either by turning a blind eye, or by actually funneling money and weapons into ISIS are giving it the power to gain territory and hold it.

SS: So there’s my question - the U.S. has propped up many allies that it later had to confront. The likes of Al-Qaeda, or Taliban - do you feel like it contributed to the rise of ISIS in Syria as well - involuntarily, of course - by funding the rebels?

AW: Certainly, the instability that has been caused by the U.S., starting 10, 11 years ago, from 2003, with the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq and earlier than that, the U.S. going in to Afghanistan after 9/11 - all of those events have triggered a large number of people from Arab and Muslim worlds, who have to the U.S.: “we don’t like what you’re doing in those areas”, and they have been coming in to Iraq and in Afghanistan and have been trained, and equipped and then have been available to go to other parts of the world, including Libya, to act as mercenaries for whomever wants to hire them.

SS:Now, if president Obama had launched a bombing campaign in Syria in 2013, do you think that could have stopped the rise of ISIS?

AW: One could argue that yes, bombing of not only ISIS but of other radical groups in Syria could perhaps have decimated some of their fighting force. However, the thing that people are very concerned about is that that in itself is drawing more of the foreign fighters to the fight, that indeed the U.S. bombing of Muslim fighters does draw in even more of the Muslim fighters.

SS: Just to wrap the subject of ISIS in Iraq - do you feeling like that Washington has the responsibility for the future of Iraq and what becomes of it?

AW: Part of the problem is, first, the initial invasion and occupation by the Bush administration; then, you have the Al-Maliki government that was… many people say that U.S. put that government in: Al-Maliki who brought in more Shia leaders and pushed out the Sunni leaders that should have been brought in to the government that was all-inclusive of all of the groups in Iraq. One could say that the U.S. has spent billions of dollars on the training and equipping Iraqi military and it folded against the force that was not nearly as large as it actually was. I personally, as a person that resigned initially over the theory that military force was going to resolve the issue of Saddam Hussein regime, I don’t believe that further use of our military is what ultimately going to resolve the issues in that region.

SS: Afghanistan is another unresolved issue - the U.S. troops may leave for good by the end of this year, but will the weak Afghan government be left to deal with the Taliban like Iraq was left to deal with ISIS, what do you think?

AW: You’re exactly right - here we have Afghanistan after 13 years that U.S. has been involved in there, and weak government, in fact, it is still disputed on who’s going to be the next president of the country. You have many of the people who were called warlord prior to the U.S. invasion, or the groups of people that the U.S. hired to work with it to push the Taliban and Al-Qaeda out, many of them with severe human rights abuses allegations to start with… I myself am not too optimistic that here, 13 years later and hundreds of billions of dollars later and the expenditure of tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of lives, that the future of Afghanistan is a stable secure country, where all groups will be treated honestly and fairly and that country will progress in a way that one would hope it would - I myself am not very optimistic about it.

SS: Now, ISIS is being called the “new Al-Qaeda”, but the actual Al-Qaeda has declared a new front in India. How do these groups fit together? Are we seeing expansion into new territory after ISIS took over the old “feeding grounds”?

AW: It’s kind of “targets of opportunity” it looks like that various groups are using. As ISIS fills into one area of Iraq and Syria and becomes the dominant force there, Al-Qaeda is looking for another place where it can stake its own territory. Certainly it had its inroads into Pakistan… It’s interesting here that they indeed have claimed that they are going to India.

SS: So, what are we going to see? Jihadist corporate rivalry unraveling?

AW: Indeed, “Jihadist inc.” When we really look at it, sadly, throughout the North Africa and the Middle East and then going on into South Asia, you do see the rise of various types of militant groups, to include not only Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Al-Nusra; you've got the Afghan Taliban, the Pakistani Taliban. It is a growth industry. You look also to Libya, where there are many groups, each fighting for different parts of the territory of the country, to the extent that the U.S. had to close its embassy there, because none of the locations where we had embassies or consulates are safe enough, in the opinion of the State Department, that we can leave our diplomats. So, it is a tragic function in this era, that we see the growth and expansion of these jihadist groups.

SS: You've mentioned earlier on in the program that the pressure should be put on groups that are actually helping ISIS to get money from the oil sales - it’s true that ISIS is raking in billions through things like oil. Could this movement be more about money than establishing a religious state?

AW: I think it certainly is a movement about money, it’s a very well-funded organisation, but from I gather, it is a group that is intent on establishing a geographical location for it’s beliefs, the caliphate that they talk about. They intent to hold territory and indeed they have, to the extent that they control major cities, that they are generating their own income through oil and I think it is going to be a challenge for the international community to go in and push them back from these established areas that they've had some of them for almost a year now.

SS: Israeli-Palestinian conflict is something that you've also spoken a lot about, spoken strongly against the Israeli offensive in Gaza. Is there any way that international pressure can push Israel into a genuine peace process?

AW: It’s a very good question. How the international community has pressured Israel - has been ineffective, mainly because it really hasn't used the full force that it has at its disposal. The U.S. itself could do much more to pressure Israel to stop the illegal settlements of which they have just announced that they are annexing a thousand acres of Palestinian land into Israel. The pressure to stop the occupation of the West Bank and to lift the siege of Gaza - these are things that have been demands of the Palestinians for the longest time. The U.S. is the greatest pressure point of Israel, because we give Israel almost $3 bn a year in military assistance alone, plus all sorts of economic incentives. The U.S. is allowing itself to be pressured by very large and well-funded Zionist lobby that works for the protection of the State of Israel, and works primarily in the U.S. Congress to threaten the U.S. Congress people that if they don’t vote for pro-Israeli issues then they will be turned out of office; we've seen that AIPAC, the American-Israeli Public Affairs committee, the big lobby for Israel, has been very effective at threatening and scaring and then trowing out of office people that say that they are going to look honestly at what’s happening there, and may support the Palestinian cause in cases.

SS: I want to talk a little bit about Hamas. You know how the appearance of ISIS with its deliberate focus on cruelty and no compromises, does it make you feel like it’s easier to treat groups like Hamas with more respect? As a matter of fact, you know, “we don’t negotiate with the terrorists” - that attitude is almost universal, but do you feel like maybe these days there are groups of terrorists that you can talk to and that slogan actually should change?

AW: Yes, I certainly think so, and the latest of this week, the Israeli propaganda is that “ISIS is Hamas, Hamas is ISIS” - well, that’s just not true. Hamas was elected as the governing body of Gaza. I don’t agree with the rockets that Hamas and other groups in Gaza have sent into Israel, but the level of violence that is between Palestinians and Israelis is overwhelmingly from the Israeli side towards the Palestinian side - there’s no doubt about that. Over 2000 Palestinians were killed versus 64 Israelis in this latest attack, and in 2009, fourteen hundred Palestinians versus 11 Israelis… Hamas does not have 24 hour drone coverage over Israel, it does not have F-16 that are bombing Israel every single day as is happening with the Israelis in their naval attacks and ground attacks, and air attacks on Gaza. So, there’s a very distinct difference in the level and the proportion of violence in there.

SS: Thank you so much for this wonderful interview. Colonel Ann Wright, U.S. veteran and former diplomat. We were talking about what brought upon the spread of ISIS and could it be contained, and also are there terrorists that we can talk to, and are there groups that we can’t. That’s it for this edition of Sophie&Co, we’ll see you next time.

https://www.rt.com/shows/sophieco/185848-us-invasion-iraq-isis/

“By the beginning of March the militants had over 4,000 fighters, at least 25 tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, over 20 artillery pieces and rocket launchers, over 50 mortars, some 100 guided anti-tank missile launchers, over 50 off-road cars with heavy weapons mounted on them. The terrorists also had more than 10 trucks rigged with explosives and manned by suicide bombers and a number of drones,” he said

Now... how did the Russians know all this? Remember "Saddam's Weapons of Mass Destruction"? It appears that the Russian intelligence is far more accurate than our fabrication of Saddam's WMDs...

My guess is that the Russians have precise satellite photography and no fancy interpretations alla Rumsfeld of whatever unknown. As well, the Russians and Assad's troops would have collected information coming out of Palmyra itself from people loyal to Assad who wanted to get rid of ISIS. Because it's not only knowing what ISIS had but knowing where these weapons are posted and moved to. 

 

Meanwhile, the Turks are playing the double game still...

Celik, the second-in-command of the Turkmen Coastal Division, said his group killed the pilot of a Russian Su-24 bomber after the warplane was shot down by Turkish fighter jets on November 24, 2015.

The Russian officer, later identified as Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Peshkov, was shot dead as he was parachuting to the ground, according to the militants that fought against the Syrian Army. 
Celik justified his actions by saying it was rightful retaliation for the alleged bombing of Turkmens in Syria.

“That pilot bombed us five minutes [before Turkey downed the Russian jet] and our brothers were killed or wounded by these bombs. There is no place for a person who has bombed civilian Turkmens every day in my conscience,” the radical said in an earlier interview.

Celik is a Turkish citizen, the son of a former district mayor elected from Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and a member of the party’s unofficial youth military arm, Bozkurtlar.

Moscow demanded that Ankara arrest Celik and try him for the killing of the Russian pilot, and for being a member of an unlawful armed group. 
However, Turkey ignored the demand and the ultranationalist has continued to give interviews and travel freely in Turkey and across the border into Syria.

The downing of the Russian warplane caused a major rift in Russian-Turkish relations and led to a wave of sanctions introduced by Moscow against Ankara.

Turkey was never able to back up its claims with hard proof that the Su-24 violated its aerospace before the attack.

Moscow has denied that any breach occurred, calling the incident a staged provocation and accusing the Turkish government of supporting terrorist forces in Syria.

-------------------------

Turkey’s direct support for terrorists fighting in Syria makes them President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s own army, Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an exclusive interview with Sputnik, adding that his country is ready to counter the aggression.

Turkey, as well as Saudi Arabia, have "crossed all possible red lines, possibly from the first weeks of the Syrian war," Assad said. 

"Today, the war against Erdogan and against Saudi Arabia is a war against terrorists. The Turkish army, which is not even Turkish, is Erdogan's army that is fighting today in Syria," he added.

Everything that Ankara and Riyadh “have done from the very beginning can be considered aggression. Aggression in a political sense or in a military sense – providing terrorists with arms – or direct aggression with the use of artillery, and other military violations," he stressed.

 

https://www.rt.com/news/337877-assad-turkish-troops-syria/

 

 

Let's hope some sense will come from all the participants but with the crackdown on the media in Turkey one can only see the worst to come.

After the liberation of Palmyra the Syrian Army, backed by National Defense Forces, is pushing on to recapture the strategic town of Al-Qaryatayn – the home of a large Christian minority, which has been under Islamic State terrorists’ control since August last year.

By the end of Saturday, after fierce fighting with jihadists, the Syrian army managed to capture the Suniyat-Homs mountain range, that lies two kilometers away from the strategic town in the Homs countryside. Al-Qaryatayn will become a major strategic loss for Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) because of the town’s location along the Damascus-Homs highway.

 

read more: https://www.rt.com/news/338210-syrian-army-christian-town-isis/

The Syrian army, backed by Russian air strikes, has taken control of the town of al-Qaryatain after driving out Islamic State militants, Syrian state television said.

Key points:

• State media reports army has "fully restored security and stability" to al-Qaryatain
• Victory follows recapture of Palmyra by government forces
• Monitoring group says fighting continuing but regime controls surrounding hills

It said the army and its allies "fully restored security and stability to the town after killing the last remaining groups of Daesh terrorists" in the town, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.

The town is 100 kilometres west of Palmyra, which government forces recaptured from Islamic State militants last Sunday.

Al-Qaryatain has been held by the militant group since late August, who proceeded to release footage showing the destruction of cathedrals and heritage sites like in Palmyra.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been trying to retake al-Qaryatain and other pockets of IS control to reduce the jihadist group's ability to project military power into the heavily populated western region of Syria, where Damascus and other main cities are located.

Government forces entered the town of al-Qaryatain from a number of directions, Syrian media said.

A Syrian military source said the army was clearing the town of explosives planted by IS militants.

IS militants retreating from Palmyra had laid thousands of mines which the Syrian army is still clearing so that civilians can return.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighting continued between IS and government forces in al-Qaryatain, which is surrounded by mountains.

"Practically speaking, the town can be said to have fallen militarily, because the regime controls the surrounding hills," the monitoring group's director Rami Abdel Rahman said.

The Britain-based Observatory, which monitors the five-year-old Syrian conflict through a network of sources on the ground, said more than 40 air strikes by Russian and Syrian planes hit areas near the town on Sunday.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-03/syrian-government-forces-recapture-town-west-of-palmyra/7295578

 

'US weapons, money & activities went to radical jihadist groups in Syria’

From RT

Published time: 5 Apr, 2016
Most of the supplies that were supposed to create a stable, moderate and secular opposition to Syrian President Assad failed completely, says Gregory R Copley, editor of Defense & Foreign Affairs. Turkey also plays a major role in that failure, he added.

Senior US intelligence analysts were forced out of their jobs for warning the Pentagon's multi-million dollar 'moderate opposition' training program in Syria would eventually fail. The Pentagon doesn't seem to be learning from its mistakes, as it just started a new training program for more rebels, purportedly to fight against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

RT: Why do you think these experts were fired? Is it just taking out the bearer of bad news?

Gregory R Copley: That is not just taking about the bearers of bad news. The reality is that this is a highly political program, one with which many people in the US armed forces disagree because it involves collaborating with training and arming many Islamist fighters – jihadists – who have in the past supported the Al-Qaeda groups. And of course the Al-Qaeda groups are what spawned ISIS. There is a lot of concern that this kind of support for supposedly non-religious groups was in fact going to the wrong people. And that is exactly what happened. Most of the weapons and money which went into trying to create a stable and moderate and secular opposition to President Assad failed completely. And the weapons, money and activities all went to the radical jihadist groups.

RT: Is it true that intelligence reports on the US-led campaign against ISIS were manipulated?  

GC: There is no question that the reporting on the success and effectiveness of these so-called moderate anti-Assad groups as being widely exaggerated, and this is being used to make the fiction that the Obama administration’s campaign nominally against ISIS is succeeding. In reality, all they were trying to do was support Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar in creating forces that would overthrow Assad and not even address the ISIS issue. The only really viable operations which the US is engaged in against ISIS - apart from airstrikes, and even those have been limited - is being in support of the Peshmerga  and YPG, the Syrian Kurdish groups.   

RT: Do you think the Syrian government's recent gains against ISIS could force the Pentagon to rethink its support for the rebels?

GC: There is no question that it is causing it to rethink its support. It is also recognizing that the only viable opposition which it has supported against ISIS has been the Kurdish groups and this, of course, led it into direct confrontation with Turkey. This is actually the cause of the great schism which is now opening up very widely between President Erdogan of Turkey and President Obama, because Obama has been severely embarrassed, not only by the failure of the coalition to work against ISIS, but because it has shown the US to be supporting Turkey, which literally owes its survival on the border to the continued activities of ISIS. Because once ISIS disappears, the Kurds will be right at the Turkish border and will continue to carry the war back into Turkey, the war which Turkey started in Syria will be carried back into Turkey because of the failure of Erdogan’s plans to save ISIS.

RT: Is it possible to distinguish between moderate rebels and jihadists?

GC: There are of course, and there always have been moderate Syrians who have opposed the Baathist government of President Assad and his late father. The reality is though that most of the moderates have been forced out, a lot of the jihadi groups are not Syrian in origin, have basically pushed the moderate Syrians out of the way – whether they are secular Syrians or religious Syrians have been pushed aside by the jihadi groups which are non-Syrian in origin.

https://www.rt.com/op-edge/338527-us-moderate-rebels-failed/

 

Gregory R. Copley has worked internationally at the highest levels of government advising on strategies to achieve economic and political success. He is the founder and editor of the Global Information System intelligence service used by governments, and the Defense & Foreign Affairs series of publications, including the Defense & Foreign Affairs Handbook, hailed as "indispensable" by President Ronald Reagan's National Security Advisor, William Clark; and author of thousands of articles, classified papers, speeches, and books on strategy, defense, and aviation. He lives in Washington, D.C - See more at: http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Gregory-R-Copley/36822030#sthash.fPS3bnlU.dpuf

 

Gus: This is a gigantic failed US policy that was designed to fail. On one hand, one would have to be nuts to think that weaponising "moderates" in Syria would bring an end to the conflict. We knew so. So what was the purpose of such US support? "Moderates" against Assad could not win the war against Assad. Giving them weapons was (is) actually a neat conduit to feed Al Qeada and ISIS without officially saying so. The US administration hoped (and still does) that Al Qaeda or ISIS (both Sunni Wahhabi outfits and related) take over Syria away from the Shiites — to show their "friends" the Saudis that they are eager to see the end of the Axis of Evil: Iraq, Syria and Iran... Yemen is also a case in point... The US messed up in Iraq (Iraq went to the Shiites), but tried to redeem points in Syria without sending troops, just logistics, weapons and training of forces against Assad. Th PR machine against Assad had laid the ground for this toe in the water approach.

The Russians had no bar of it. They know the game that was being played, WAS AGAINST MOSCOW IN THE END.

 

The US presence in Iraq "trying to stop the advance of ISIS in Iraq" is a US double-cross to the Iraqi government. The US will do the minimum to prevent further incursion of ISIS in Iraq. In the end, I bet that a portion of Iraq becoming independent Wahhabi Sunni country — controlling the oil fields — is the sought result of the US "game" that also includes Syria (under Sunni rule) with "cease-fire" and "peace" agreements that will "eventually" give portion of Iraq and Syria to the Sunnis.

This was the way it looked until the Ruskies came along. 

 

I also believe that the West "surprise" at the rise of ISIS in Iraq was not a surprise to the US intelligence. It would have known of it but failed to alert "in time" the Baghdad government... ISIS took over "much of the US military equipment" left behind in Sunni majority territory. What were the US thinking?... Was the US preparing the ground for an easy rise of ISIS? I do think so...

 

 

Syrian rebels seized a strategic town from ISIL near the Turkish border north of Aleppo in another important step on the march towards the armed group's de facto capital, Raqqa.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor confirmed that groups fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) captured the town of al-Rai on Thursday after fierce battles with Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS).

"This is the beginning of the end of Daesh [ISIL]. Those who have bet the FSA had been decimated are now proven wrong. It's a victory for the Free Syrian Army," said Abu Abdullah from the Nour al-Din al-Zinki Brigades, which participated in the assault on the heavily defended border town.

read more: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/04/syrian-rebels-capture-key-isil-town-north-aleppo-160409143203623.html

Al Jazeera (Arabic: الجزيرة‎ al-ǧazīrah IPA: [æl dʒæˈziːrɐ], literally "The Peninsula",[2] referring to the Arabian Peninsula), also known as JSC (Jazeera Satellite Channel), is a Doha-based state-funded broadcaster owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network, which is partly funded by the House of Thani, the ruling family of Qatar.[3] Initially launched as an Arabic news and current affairs satellite TV channel, Al Jazeera has since expanded into a network with several outlets, including the Internet and specialty TV channels in multiple languages.

read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera

 

At a desert base, Gulf state Qatar is covertly training moderate Syrian rebels with U.S. help to fight both President Bashar al-Assad and Islamic State and may include more overtly Islamist insurgent groups, sources close to the matter say.

The camp, south of the capital between Saudi Arabia's border and Al Udeid, the largest U.S. air base in the Middle East, is being used to train the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and other moderate rebels, the sources said.

Reuters could not independently identify the participants in the programme or witness activity inside the base, which lies in a military zone guarded by Qatari special forces and marked on signposts as a restricted area.

read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-qatar-syria-idUKKCN0JA1C220141126

 

 

Numerous experts flocked to Palmyra to assess the damage caused by jihadists and revive the city from which all mines were removed just last week by Russian and Syrian engineers. An RT Arabic crew reports that the restoration work is already in full swing.

Most of Palmyra’s colonnades, temples, grave sites have now been left in shambles after almost a year under savages’ control. Although the damage done to the city is unimaginable, restoration experts are doing whatever they can to return the city to its original splendor.

“Various delegations and representatives of international organizations have arrived to the city to record and assess the damage,” RT’s Sheren Ali reports.

 

https://www.rt.com/news/341434-palmyra-restoration-isis-damage/

 

 

 

A Russian symphony orchestra led by Valery Gergiev has given a unique performance in ancient Palmyra, recently liberated from Islamic State militants. The concert was devoted to the victims of extremists, and intends to instill hope that peace can triumph over war and terrorism.

The symphony orchestra concert was titled “Praying for Palmyra - Music revives ancient ruins” and was performed in the Roman Theater of Palmyra, one of the few sites still largely intact after Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) captured the city. The venue served as the main site for the annual Palmyra festival prior to the terrorists’ rampage in the region.

The musical show commemorates those who fell while liberating the city from IS, and also backs the tremendous efforts needed to restore Palmyra’s ruined architectural gems, the organizers said.

The works of such composers as Sergey Prokofiev, Johann Sebastian Bach and Rodion Shchedrin were performed in the concert, during which renowned cellist Sergey Roldugin and violinist Pavel Milyukov also appeared on stage.

Gergiev was among the first to offer support to the embattled city, which was devastated by terrorists during its 10-month occupation. Palmyra was liberated by Syrian troops with Russian air support in March.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he sees the concert as a sign of remembrance for victims of extremism, and as a promise of hope for victory over terrorism worldwide. 

"I regard it [the concert] as a sign of gratitude, remembrance and hope,” he said, adding that all should be grateful to “those who fight terrorism without sparing one's own life.”

Putin called on people to remember “all victims of terror” and to “hope not just for the revival of Palmyra as cultural heritage of humanity, but for the rescue of modern civilization from this terrible menace - international terrorism.”

read more: https://www.rt.com/news/341983-russia-gergiev-orchestra-palmyra/

 

But a few sour grapes from the westerners:

 

Such a musical message will be well received back home. For months now, Russian TV has been assuring viewers Russia's military intervention in Syria has benefited the world by taking on international terrorism.
But Western officials remain suspicious of Russia's intentions. Moscow has faced accusations that it has not done enough to rein in Syrian government forces. The Russians deny that and accuse America of not using its influence with the Syrian opposition to halt the fighting.
One of the soloists at the concert was cellist Sergei Roldugin, a friend of Putin's, who was recently named as the owner of offshore companies in the so-called Panama Papers. He denies all wrong-doing.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-36211449

But US critics and others see the intervention as an effort to prop up the autocratic Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. And the Russian cultural entourage was another show of support for Assad amid mounting Western pressures to make political concessions to help end the nation’s civil war.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/hmeimim-air-base-still-humming-after-russian-victory-in-syrian-intervention/2016/05/04/ea2fe936-1230-11e6-a9b5-bf703a5a7191_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_syria-russia-9am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

Gus:Hey, Assad is no more "autocratic" than the Princes of Saudi Arabia... or a US TTP or TTiP... The Saudis hang their enemies by the hand full... with the blessing of the USA. 

 

Daesh Palmyra Assaults: Syrian Tactical Blunder  or American 'Plan B'?
MIDDLE EAST

In its analysis of the recently-intensified Daesh assaults to the east of Palmyra, Russian media have noted that they might be due to government forces having redeployed from this area to Aleppo, intentionally weakening the area; however, it say, their tactical blunders should not be safeguarded with the lives of Russian servicemen.

In recent days, Daesh (ISIL/ISIS) militants have continued their assault on Syrian Arab Army (SAA) positions in the desert east of Palmyra, according to an analysis of the Russian online newspaper Vzglyad.

The outlet also refers to the recent downing of a helicopter carrying two Russian pilots which resulted in the death of both Russian servicemen.Russia responded to the deadly attack with airstrikes; Russian Tu-22M3 strategic long-range bombers were able to destroy a large terrorist encampment, three ammunition depots, three tanks, four armored vehicles, eight cars equipped with heavy machine guns as well as a large number of terrorists.

The newspaper therefore suggests that the Syrian General Staff has intentionally weakened its group near Palmyra by redeploying additional units to Aleppo and Damascus province.

It notes a successful assault the SAA conducted with the help of the Hezbollah units on leftover Al-Nusra Front units in Damascus’ East Ghouta.

At the same very time, it says, the government forces have intensified an assault on jihadists in Aleppo.

The outlet notes that while the attack on Aleppo, with the help of the Russian air strikes, looks more or less reasonable and successful, the General Staff could have well waited with the operation in East Ghouta, a region of Greater Damascus.
It argues that in order to succeed in these operations, Damascus has to redeploy a considerable number of units, exposing the area near Palmyra.The report stated that the continuous redeployment of forces between fronts has a negative impact on the overall combat effectiveness of the army. However, Damascus seems to think differently, it notes.

As a result, the tactical miscalculations of Syria's General Staff are being safeguarded with the lives of Russian pilots.

Is This the American ‘Plan B’ Washington Has Threatened Russia With?

In a separate analysis piece on the conflict, Semyon Bagdasarov, Director of the Moscow-based Center for Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, says that the militants have used the Russian-brokered ceasefire to rearm their units.

“During the cessation of hostilities the jihadists have not only recruited new fighters into their ranks but have received modern armament,” he said in an interview with the Russian online newspaper Svobodnaya Pressa.

Turkey, he says, was one of the suppliers. For example, he says, a Man-Portable Air-Defense System (MANPADS) Stinger was used by the terrorists to bring down the helicopter carrying the two Russian pilots on July 8 near Palmyra; it was assembled in Turkey under an American license.

Syria's Minister of Information, he says, warned as early as May that the militants had received dozens of MANPADS and that Russia should brace itself for the loss of its aircraft. So here they come.The analyst warns that it will be more difficult to shut the border crossings and clean up Aleppo.  He also says that there are many Turkish professional servicemen fighting alongside the Daesh militants. Already half a year ago the Turkish Special Forces were fighting in the frontier zone, and now they have been noticed near Aleppo.

“All of this reminds us of the Plan B the US threatened us with,” he said.

“The arms supplies to the jihadists have intensified. Let us put in place our mirror-image “Plan B”, he suggested.

The expert explained that it might include assistance to the military wing of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the intensification of arms supplies to the Syrian Army and assistance to the People’s United Revolutionary Movement.  The group was only established in May but has already performed well in the fight against Turkish servicemen.

When asked whether these shipments could provoke Ankara's wrath, Bagdasarov replied that it is highly unlikely that Turkey would choose to exacerbate a proxy-conflict with Russia. It itself is nearly on the brink of the civil war and its open interference in Syria might well result in its own collapse, he concluded.

http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160713/1042884635/syria-us-russa-daesh.html

 

When the Roman Emperor Jovian ordered the burning of the Library of Antioch in the 4th century AD, there was nobody around to make him answer for what ancient Syrian culture buffs deemed a "barbaric act", according to records.

Modern history is littered with cases of wartime razing, from the levelling of Dresden to the Taliban's Buddha demolition at Bamiyan.

Politicians have been slow to crack down on ruinous acts, but experts hope that this month the curve will bend in the right direction.

Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi is expected to plead guilty to war crimes at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague after allegedly destroying holy and historic sites in Timbuktu as his al-Qaeda-linked group swept across Mali in 2012.

 

 

For heritage lovers, it is a watershed moment.

 

 

The first ICC prosecution (PDF) solely for tearing down monuments will deter other wreckers, such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, they say.

"The case sets an important precedent by demonstrating, once again, that these attacks on heritage are really attacks on people," said Tess Davis, a director of The Antiquities Coalition, which seeks to end ISIL-style racketeering.

"We've seen it before, from the Nazis to the Khmer Rouge and the Taliban, and we must end impunity for these crimes."

The ICC has probed the events in Mali since 2012, when Tuareg rebels seized chunks of the country's northern deserts and desecrated mosques, shrines and monuments in Timbuktu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/08/trial-destruction-history-conflict-160821080521445.html

 

There are concerns for the safety of civilians still in the city.

The surprise setback for the government of President Bashar al-Assad comes as Russian-backed Syrian government forces are closing in on the remaining rebel-held area of the city of Aleppo.

US urges 'grace' as Aleppo's fall nears

IS 'loses 50,000 fighters in two years'

Why IS militants destroy ancient sites

IS held Palmyra and its nearby ruins for 10 months before it was recaptured by Syrian government forces in March.

But the jihadist group launched an offensive earlier this week.

Syrian government forces were backed by the Russian military when they recaptured Palmyra and its famed ancient Roman ruins from IS. 

The two militaries have since turned their attention to fighting local opposition forces in Aleppo and Damascus.

read more:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-38275905

 

BUT:

Earlier, it was reported that the Syrian armed forces together with local militias were engaged in fierce fights against the Daesh militants on the outskirts of the ancient city.

Prior to that, media reports emerged alleging that Daesh has reentered Palmyra after being ousted from the city by Syrian troops with air support from Russia earlier in the year. “Let me repeat that Palmyra is under control of the army and militia. Daesh militants are carrying out intense attacks, but they have been repulsed,” the military source told RIA Novosti. According to Al Masdar news agency, the Daesh terrorists that entered the city were forced to flee after the Syrian Air Force's jets supported by Russian aviation bombed them. The Syrian Army with militias regained control over all slopes of the Tar Mountain near Palmyra. A number of the Daesh militants have also been reported eliminated.

Read more: https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201612111048411972-syrian-army-regains-palmyra/

Terrorists launched their previous attack on the city on Saturday. Their offensive was thwarted by the actions of the government forces supported by Russian warplanes.

Despite the defeat, the terrorists are again trying to attack the city from the northern, eastern and southern sides. Their perceived goal is to capture al-Amiriyah town northeast of Palmyra and a nearby industrial area, Syria's SANA news agency said.

The Syrian Arab Army, backed by the Russian Aerospace Forces, liberated Palmyra in March, 2016, nearly a year after it was captured by Daesh, which is outlawed in Russia, in May 2015. During the invasion, the militants destroyed a number of ancient objects, including necropolis, the Arch of Triumph, as well as the temples of Baal Shamin and Bel. Earlier in November, the Syrian Democratic Forces announced Operation Wrath of Euphrates to reclaim the city of Raqqa from the militants. Captured in 2013, Raqqa serves as Daesh's de facto capital in Syria.

Read more: https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201612111048427531-daesh-palmyra-raqqa-us-russia/

Even as the Syrian army regroups its forces in the vicinity Palmyra and plans a counterattack against the advancing Daesh elements, analysts struggle to find out exactly how the terrorists managed to amass such a large attacking force, apparently catching the city defenders by surprise.

Sabbah Zanganeh, political analyst and Iranian envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, told Sputnik Persian that when Daesh and Jabhat Fatah al Sham (previously known as the Nusra Front) terrorists face the threat of annihilation in one region they seek to redeploy their forces to another. Therefore, he explained, after the city of Mosul in Iraq was cut off and a significant part of Aleppo province was liberated by the government forces, the terrorists decided to try their luck at Palmyra; however, the maneuver would have been impossible without the consent and assistance of their sponsors.

Read more: https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201612121048475496-palmyra-offensive-troop-movements/

 

One can't do such a surprise attack in this day and age without being spotted in advance, even with 30 "men" coming from the desert. 4000 to 5000 men demands an assembly of around 400 "toyota trucks", some major planning and collecting huge amount of weapons. The USA spy network in the sky would have known about this. But I suppose they did not want to "help" the "Assad regime" against ISIS. Bugger the people and the old Roman ruins, they thought — unless they are completly blind, like in their foreign policy. But the Russians should have seen this coming. Once you gain "territory" you make sure it's defended, even against 4000 ISIS loonies, armed by their "sponsors". We know who these sponsors are.

The Syrian military, backed by the Russian Air Force, has completed its operation to liberate the key city of Palmyra from militants, Kremlin has announced.

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has reported to the commander-in-chief, President Vladimir Putin, that the historic city in Syria’s Homs province has been liberated, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.

read more:

https://www.rt.com/news/379197-syria-army-retake-palmyra/

The Syrian army’s operation in Palmyra has been a remarkable success. It has been planned and carried out under the guidance of Russian military advisers,” Sergey Rudskoy, chief of the General Staff’s operations department, said on Friday.

Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) suffered heavy casualties, having lost over 1,000 militants killed or injured in action, along with 19 tanks, 37 armored fighting vehicles, 98 pickup trucks mounting heavy weaponry and 100 other combat vehicles, General Rudskoy added.

The Russian Air Force and Special Forces played a vital role in destroying IS positions outside Palmyra, he continued.

Russia’s brand new fixed- and rotor-wing aircraft, including the newest Kamov Ka-52 attack helicopters, were deployed in the operation.

The airstrikes intentionally did not target locations of Palmyra’s historical monuments in order to preserve the city’s cultural heritage.

At this point, the city is fully cleared of IS militants, he said, while the government troops have seized strategic heights south of the city, carrying on with their offensive eastwards.

IS’s defenses around Palmyra begun to crumble on Thursday, after the Syrian Army and allied units reached the city's outskirts, supported by Russian Air Force.

read more:

https://www.rt.com/news/379303-syria-palmyra-russia-operation/

The Syrian Arab Army, assisted by the Russian Aerospace Forces and its local allies, has pushed Daesh out of the ancient city of Palmyra, bringing hope that Damascus will now be able to build on this victory and liberate the entire country, Syrian field commander Akhmad Bukhammad told Sputnik.

"Palmyra's liberation is not only a symbol of new era. This is the beginning of us going further and freeing the entire country," he said. The field commander also expressed hope that Damascus-led forces will prevent Daesh from recapturing the ancient city again.

Turki Bukhammad, who heads another unit, shared these sentiments, saying that keeping the city safe is a priority. "I hope that we will achieve this with the help of our friends from Russia and Iran," he said.

read more:

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703041051268063-palmyra-liberation...