[Centraal] Crisis in Syri� #292 Remember, no Russian

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Op maandag 21 september 2015 12:43 schreef Koskesh het volgende:

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Vervolgens gaan jouw vrienden bij Al-nusra een jihad beginnen tegen de Westerse bezetter, takbir etc. Goed plan. Nee, de professionele hakbar-removers uit Rusland zijn er en laat ze gewoon hun werk doen, daar zijn ze goed in.

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Op maandag 21 september 2015 12:44 schreef UpsideDown het volgende:

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Soms moet je toegeven dat een kunstmatige staat bijna per definitie ellende voortbrengt.

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Op maandag 21 september 2015 12:47 schreef firefly3 het volgende:

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Liever 1% kans op totale vrijheid, dan voor altijd leven in schijnvrijheid.

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Op maandag 21 september 2015 12:50 schreef UpsideDown het volgende:

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Vrijheid voor fanatisme noem ik geen vrijheid, dan liever schijnvrijheid waar je normaal kan leven.

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Op maandag 21 september 2015 12:52 schreef firefly3 het volgende:

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Zoals ik al vaak genoeg zeg: waarom zou de VN daarna al qaeda als staatshoofd toelaten terwijl er nog miljoenen gematigden zijn?

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Op maandag 21 september 2015 12:55 schreef UpsideDown het volgende:

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Omdat deze mensen met mooie praatjes en valse beloftes eenvoudig een grote massa achter zich krijgen.

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Op maandag 21 september 2015 12:59 schreef firefly3 het volgende:

Waarna het uiteindelijk overgedragen wordt wanneer het land vol staat met hoge kantoorgebouwen en met een uitgebreide uitgaansleven.

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Op maandag 21 september 2015 12:45 schreef firefly3 het volgende:

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Ik heb genoeg redenen om die russen niet te vertrouwen. MH17, Krim..

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Op maandag 21 september 2015 12:59 schreef firefly3 het volgende:

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Als de VN syrie overneemt en de boel opschoond krijgen ze ook een mensen massa achter zich. Het project zou "syrie voor syrie" moeten heten. Waarna het uiteindelijk overgedragen wordt wanneer het land vol staat met hoge kantoorgebouwen en met een uitgebreide uitgaansleven.

twitter:

LCarabinier twitterde op maandag 21-09-2015 om 13:23:51 PYD: Syrian refugee tripped by Hungarian journalist was member of radical al-Nusra Front #osamaarv http://t.co/r6IVLZZH0t v�a @RudawEnglish reageer retweet

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Op zondag 20 september 2015 21:28 schreef Aether het volgende:

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A US attempt to relaunch its much-criticised rebel training programme faced a setback yesterday when a second batch of western-trained fighters were detained by other rebel groups in northern Syria.

About 70 fighters from the US-trained group, called the 30th Division, entered the Bab al-Salama border crossing north of Aleppo in a heavily armed convoy of 12 vehicles with US air cover, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

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Op maandag 21 september 2015 14:49 schreef Intellectueel het volgende:

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Zijn alweer gearresteerd door een ander rebellengroep:

West suffers new Syria setback as US-trained rebels arrested


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http://www.thetimes.co.uk(...)t/article4562713.ece

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Op maandag 21 september 2015 14:49 schreef Intellectueel het volgende:

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Zijn alweer gearresteerd door een ander rebellengroep:

West suffers new Syria setback as US-trained rebels arrested


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http://www.thetimes.co.uk(...)t/article4562713.ece

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Op maandag 21 september 2015 14:49 schreef Intellectueel het volgende:

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Zijn alweer gearresteerd door een ander rebellengroep:

West suffers new Syria setback as US-trained rebels arrested


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http://www.thetimes.co.uk(...)t/article4562713.ece

twitter:

Terror_Monitor twitterde op maandag 21-09-2015 om 15:17:19 #SYRIAPrisoner Exchanges Between #YPG & #ISIS Included Rudaw Journalist Massud A'qeel In #Hasakah - Report. http://t.co/l5KEHGei9P reageer retweet

twitter:

jackshahine twitterde op maandag 21-09-2015 om 15:21:47 Prisoners swap deal today btwn #YPG & #ISIS in #Tel_Berak #Hasakah. 8 ppl from each side, including 2 #IS foreign militants.#TwitterKurds reageer retweet

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Russia and Iran have stepped up coordination inside Syria as they move to safeguard President Bashar al-Assad’s control over his coastal stronghold, according to officials in the U.S. and Middle East, creating a new complication for Washington’s diplomatic goals.

Senior Russian and Iranian diplomats, generals and strategists have held a string of high-level talks in Moscow in recent months to discuss Mr. Assad’s defense and the Kremlin’s military buildup in Syria, according to these officials.

This included a secret visit in late July by the commander of Iran’s elite overseas military unit, the Qods Force. Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani directs Tehran’s military and intelligence support for the Assad regime and is one of the most powerful leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif also visited Moscow last month to discuss Syria and other issues with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.
Those visits “all come within the framework of this coordination,” Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem told state media last week. “There is deep coordination on all levels between us and Moscow, and between us and Tehran, and I can say to whomever wants…they can join too.”

U.S. officials said they haven’t unraveled the full extent of the cooperation or its intention. “We assume [the Russian buildup in Syria is] being coordinated with the Iranians,” said a senior U.S. official, who said the U.S. tracked Gen. Soleimani’s trip to Moscow.

However, much of the activity from both sides in recent months have been concentrated in the coastal region of Latakia, the stronghold of Mr. Assad’s family and his Alawite sect, which has come under pressure from rebel forces to the north, threatening to cut it off from the capital Damascus.

U.S. officials have said the Russians have been deploying fighter aircraft and attack helicopters outside the Latakia airport, as well as tanks and armored personnel carriers.

IRGC military advisers and soldiers are also deployed in Latakia, as well as soldiers from Tehran’s close political and military ally, the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, they said.

A U.S. defense official said the Pentagon believes Gen. Soleiman’s trip to Moscow was “very important” in relation to the Russian buildup in Latakia. “What we are seeing now is the manifestation of that meeting, and that there is some sort of Iran nexus,” the official said.

The coordinated Iranian and Russian support for Mr. Assad poses a formidable obstacle to the diplomatic aims of the Obama administration, which wants to remove the Syrian dictator from power.

As support from Moscow and Tehran pours into Syria, the U.S. has moderated its demands that Mr. Assad go before a transition takes place. Secretary of State John Kerry said over the weekend that Mr. Assad may be able to remain as part of a transition to a new government.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow that his government is concerned that Iran and its allies could be seeking to open a new military front against Israel from within Syrian territory.

“I’m here because of the difficult security situation, which is becoming increasingly complex on our northern border,” the Israeli leader said at Mr. Putin’s home outside Moscow.

Senior U.S. and European officials said they suspect there is significant cooperation between Moscow and Tehran inside Syria.

Mr. Putin, they said, appears to be using the Syria conflict to try to increase the Kremlin’s influence in the Middle East and in the international diplomacy focused on finding a post-Assad government.

Tehran, meanwhile, wants to maintain Syria’s coastal region and the areas adjacent to the Lebanese border as the key supply route for arms going into Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.

Russia and Iran have staunchly supported Mr. Assad since the uprising began in Syria in early 2011. Their presence in the Latakia region isn’t new: Russian personnel have been seen transiting through the airport since 2014. Hezbollah and IRGC commanders have been based in the coastal hotels.

But over the past three months, Moscow and Tehran have appeared to be preparing to bolster the region’s defenses, according to Syria analysts and Arab officials.

Syrian rebel forces have made substantial territorial gains in the northern province of Idlib during this time and have been pressing down into Latakia. Further victories by the insurgents could cut off Damascus from Mr. Assad’s home base, they said.

Gen. Soleimani visited a front line battlefield north of Latakia in June that was adjacent to the Turkish border and Idlib, according to Arab media reports. There he said Iran’s and Syria’s leadership were jointly planning an operation that would “surprise the world.”

Weeks later, Gen. Soleimani visited Moscow and met with top Russian security officers, according to U.S. and European officials. These included Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu and the heads of Russian military intelligence and defense industries.

The Kremlin denied Gen. Soleimani’s visit, which Washington charged was a violation of a United Nations travel ban.

But over the weekend, Syrian opposition activists released a video showing Russian tanks and soldiers at the same front visited by Gen. Soleimani. They said it was recorded at around the time he visited in June.

The U.S. and other Western governments are closely watching for what actions Russia, Iran and the Syrian regime take now.

One possibility, said analysts, is an operation around the eastern, ancient city of Palmyra to target Islamic State militants.

Mr. Putin has described the Russian presence in Syria as a counterterrorism operation, and he is scheduled to address the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Sept. 28. He could cite Palmyra to back his claims.

Syrian warplanes have intensified airstrikes against Islamic State in Palmyra in recent days, according to opposition activists monitoring the conflict as well as Syrian state media.

Another target could be al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front in Idlib province. The militia and its allies control almost the entire northwestern province with the exception of two Shiite villages, where Hezbollah and other Iranian-trained militias are deployed.

“The first major operation will tell us what their intentions are,” said Elias Farhat, a retired Lebanese army general and military strategist, referring to Iran and Russia.

He said evidence from the ground indicates the Russians, Iranians and Hezbollah are establishing a joint-operational command center in Latakia, near the airport.

The increasing Russian-Iranian defense of Mr. Assad is placing the Obama administration in a diplomatic and strategic bind.

U.S. officials had said they hoped the landmark nuclear agreement forged in July between Washington and Tehran, with the assistance of Russia, could pave the way for cooperation in ending Syria’s civil war. They specifically raised hope that a new diplomatic process could start to ease Mr. Assad from power.

Mr. Kerry and other U.S. officials have voiced concerns in recent days that Russia’s deployment could further destabilize Syria and place Moscow’s troops in conflict with a U.S.-led air campaign. But Mr. Kerry also has indicated that the U.S. remains interested in joining with Russia in combating Islamic State.

A Syrian army officer who has defected and who is in contact with the Russians said the Kremlin’s buildup could open the way for a diplomatic solution in Syria. He said the Russians know Mr. Assad won’t survive long term, and that the Kremlin is staking its claim to negotiate with the Americans.

“It is like having a broken vase that you want to sell. You have to glue it together and then try to sell it,” said the exiled former general.

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Op maandag 21 september 2015 19:46 schreef Intellectueel het volgende:
Russia, Iran Seen Coordinating on Defense of Assad Regime in Syria


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http://www.wsj.com/articl(...)-in-syria-1442856556