Sitrep Iraq And Syria
A situation report gathered from public and private news sources.
In north east Syria next to the Turkish border fighters from the Islamic State are besieging the Kurdish fighters of the YPG. Up until this afternoon media in Turkey could watch right across the border and see Islamic State tanks surrounding the city. Despite clearly visible and identifiable targets there were no U.S. airstrikes to fend off the IS attack and the Turkish army kept the border close.
One mortar shell, very likely fired by the Islamic State, hit a house on the Turkish side. The army then declared the area a no-go zone and started to evacuate the village on its side. Some month ago errant mortar shells fired by the Syrian army had hit some vegetable fields in Turkey. The Turks retaliated for that with artillery fire. There was no such reaction when the IS mortar hit today.
Media in the area were told to leave and while they were leaving vans with the crews from CNN and BBC were fired on with tear gas by Turkish police/troops. Two vans had their back windows broken with tear gas grenades landing inside (vid). The Turks clearly have no interest in letting the public know what is now happening in Kobane. This evening Kurdish media reported firefights within the city.
In Iraq the Islamic State today attacked Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar, and took over most parts of it. The Iraqi Security Forces have allegedly left the city.
IS now controls the axis Hit, Ramadi, Fallujah and highway 1 between Baghdad and Jordan and highway 12 between Baghdad and Syria. The only significant town left between the IS controlled area west of Baghdad and Baghdad International Airport (BIAP) is Abu Ghraib where a quite intense IS presence has already been reported. Should IS be able to set up some of the artillery it earlier captured in Abu Ghraib it could close down BIAP and thereby make any evacuation of U.S. personal a challenge.
The U.S. today used AH-64 Apache attack helicopters to attack IS positions in Ramadi and Hit. Such helicopters are vulnerable to ground fire and would not be used unless the need is dire. The Apaches are stationed at BIAP with the sole purpose of protecting the airport.
Some U.S. paid mercenaries from the Free Syrian Army took a Syrian government position at al-Hurrah half way between the Jordan border and south Damascus. They came from a western direction where they, together with Jabhat al-Nusra, have positions next to the Golan height demarcation zone with Israel and are protected by Israeli artillery. Videos showed them using plenty of U.S. provided TOW anti-tank missiles.
A group of Jabhat al-Nusra fighters coming from the Golan zone tried to attack a Hizbullah position in east Lebanon. They were ambushed and lost some 30 fighters.
North of Aleppo the Syrian army has nearly closed the ring around Aleppo and insurgents who have occupied some parts of the city will soon be under a tight siege.
A big number of Ahrar al-Shams fighters in Aleppo province have today pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. IS will soon be the only anti-Syrian-government game in town.
Posted by b on October 5, 2014 at 19:38 UTC | Permalink
My nomination for best scare headling of the day, gotta love the Saudi's lack of "guile"
ISIS plots to seize Iran's nuclear secrets Al-Arabiya-33 minutes ago The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is planning on taking control of Tehran's nuclear secrets and urging its fighters to plan for war with Iran.see also:
Kurdish female fighter 'killed herself' to avoid being ISIS hostage
Al-Arabiya - 59 mins ago
Al Arabiya News Channel could not independently verify the authenticity of the report on her ...
Elsewhere, it sounds like the Kurds are losing patience with our promises as ISIS pummels them ... Have the Kurds been sold down the river in exchange for Turkey's "support"?
Posted by: Susan Sunflower | Oct 5 2014 20:20 utc | 2
Per the war against IS, MK Bhadrakumar of India offers some interesting insight:
India Should Insulate from War on IS
....Clearly, air strikes against IS will achieve nothing. The IS has already turned into a flat, horizontal structure with no Hqs, no command-and-control centres. As a Middle East expert put it, it has begun operating as “a rhizome-like organism.” ....
...It means the US and its allies will soon run out of ‘targets’. Already, IS continues to gain ground despite the US air strikes. It just overran an Iraqi military base with hundreds of soldiers and captured two more border towns in Syria.....
...This is not a war on terror. The decades-old US regional strategies pursued in close alliance with Saudi Arabia have inexorably led to the present explosive outcome. The US’ Faustian pact with the Saudis is unraveling. India has had no role in it, and Indian should not aspire for a role in it today, no matter what the Mephistophilis might have whispered to Modi in New York.
Posted by: OleImmigrant | Oct 5 2014 20:28 utc | 3
Sources: U.S. air strikes in Syria targeted French agent who defected to al Qaida
IRBIL, Iraq — A former French intelligence officer who defected to al Qaida was among the targets of the first wave of U.S. air strikes in Syria last month, according to people familiar with the defector’s movements and identity.Two European intelligence officials described the former French officer as the highest ranking defector ever to go over to the terrorist group and called his defection one of the most dangerous developments in the West’s long confrontation with al Qaida.The identity of the officer is a closely guarded secret. Two people, independently of one another, provided the same name, which McClatchy is withholding pending further confirmation. All of the sources agreed that a former French officer was one of the people targeted when the United States struck eight locations occupied by the Nusra Front, al Qaida’s Syrian affiliate. The former officer apparently survived the assault, which included strikes by 47 cruise missiles.
Wow!
On Syria: Kobane is not getting the air support it needs because PYD has not joined the Anti-Assad camp. Angry Arab explained the cynical moves by Turkey and likely the US to get the Kurds into the Anti Assad camp by withholding assistance.
On Iraq: Some speculation that IS are hitting Anbar so hard is because once the province is secured it will allow them to push into Jordan. Jordan is certainly the weak link with an almost 100% Sunni population and a poor economy, support for IS there is higher than any other country. If IS were planning on starting a Baghdad offensive they would instead be surging men into Southern Baghdad around Al Madain/Mahmoudiyeh/Jurf Al Sakhur and into Northern Baghdad.
Posted by: Colm O' Toole | Oct 5 2014 21:34 utc | 6
According to my info, ISIS has stepped up military action in response to the US air attacks.
Posted by: Willy2 | Oct 5 2014 22:00 utc | 7
@5: O.M.G. It will create only more & more instability.
Posted by: Willy2 | Oct 5 2014 22:02 utc | 8
We should notice the difference between how well a nationalistic Syrian army fights as compared to an army belonging to a government established by the U.S. Our guys never fight like their guys, because our guys fight for us (or our proxy) and their guys fight for their country. It was the same in Vietnam, and it is the same in Iraq and Afghanistan.
So it's already over, on both countries. We know how it will turn out.
Stripes, Oct 3
US: Militants use beheadings to make up for losses
"Certainly since the bombing campaign, the reverses, they're no longer boasting of taking places — because they're not taking places. They're losing places," Alberto Fernandez, who heads the State Department's office for counterterrorism propaganda, said in a recent interview. "So what do they do? They boast about cutting people's heads off. They're trying to substitute that for military victory."
McClatchy, Oct 3
Islamic State reportedly on Baghdad’s outskirts after week of victories
A diplomat in Irbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region, said an Islamic State presence in Abu Ghraib would put Baghdad International Airport within artillery range of the militants.
“We know they have captured substantial numbers of 155 mm howitzers,” said the diplomat, whose country is participating in the U.S.-led anti-Islamic State coalition. The diplomat spoke only on the condition of anonymity.
Punishing the PYD is also a way of strengthening Barzani in the eventuality of some stupid autonomous Kurdish zone
Posted by: Crest | Oct 5 2014 22:30 utc | 11
Reuters, Oct 3
Obama envoy sees long road ahead in war with Islamic State
The U.S. envoy charged by President Barack Obama with building a coalition to fight the militant group Islamic State warned on Friday that the war against the jihadists was in its early stages....
Allen cautioned that launching a campaign to take Mosul was not on the immediate horizon. "It will kick off within a year. I can't be more specific. It's not a single battle. It's a campaign," Allen said.
State, Oct 2
Special Presidential Envoy John Allen Travel to Iraq, Belgium, Jordan, Egypt and Turkey
Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL John Allen and Deputy Special Presidential Envoy Brett McGurk arrived in Iraq on October 2 to meet with Government of Iraq officials and regional leaders on U.S. support for and cooperation with Iraq in the fight against ISIL.
GCTCI--Global Coalition to Counter ISIL
"Global" being rather restricted to the usual suspects.
President Stepin Fetchit could buy 40 acres and a mule for every displaced person in Iraq and Syria with the cost of all these cruise missiles. Then he could get a tattoo of his Nobel "Peace" Prize right on his a-hole, as it should be publicly taken away from him in the most embarrassing manner. He can be given instead a golden shoe-shine box, and maybe, depending on how the rest of his Presidency goes, they can give him a nice monogrammed mop bucket as well, to show their appreciation that he was a Good Boy In Da House.
Monogram will read
Barack H. Obama
Hope And Change Gave Millions A Ride
Best Slogan Ever
Congratulations
Posted by: Farflungstar | Oct 5 2014 22:39 utc | 13
The jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party Abdullah Ocelan said "The siege of Kobani is far from being just an ordinary siege," Ocalan said in a message relayed by supporters from his prison on the island of Imrali.
"It does not only target the democratic gains of the Kurdish people but would lead Turkey to a new era of coups.
"If this attempt at a massacre succeeds, it will not only end the peace process, but will also pave the way for a new and long-lasting coup," he said, according to the pro-Kurdish Firat news agency.http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/10/02/Jailed-Kurdish-leader-warns-ISIS-victory-would-end-Turkey-peace-process.html The Turks have gone from no disputes with neighbors, to disputes with all neighbors, internal and external.
Posted by: harry law | Oct 5 2014 22:59 utc | 14
The (alegedly) former (alegedly French) officer apparently survived the assault, which included strikes by 47 cruise missiles.
Billion dollar Whack-a-Mole.
Posted by: Fast Freddy | Oct 5 2014 23:26 utc | 16
So why isn't Assad dropping anti tank weapons for the Kurds? That will get him more likeness from the Kurds. May the Kurds survive this attack!
Posted by: Shoes | Oct 6 2014 0:52 utc | 17
The (alegedly) former (alegedly French) officer apparently survived the assault, which included strikes by 47 cruise missiles.Billion dollar Whack-a-Mole.
Posted by: Fast Freddy | Oct 5, 2014 7:26:37 PM | 16
It isn't even Whack-a-mole,
IF such an individual even exists in the first place, (a BIG "if") hes most likely still working for the french/mossad/cia etc, and most likely informed about the bombing well in advance
You have to be a little bit retarded to even believe that crap b posted @4 anyway
Posted by: you're welcome | Oct 6 2014 1:39 utc | 18
○ Joe Biden's Own Words In a Moment of Truth; Our Arab Allies Funded ISIS!
So Joe got all allies of the Arab coalition angry and the White House send multiple apologies …
to Erdogan and Turkey and to UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Assad regime ‘to blame for ISIL’, Syrian opposition leader tells UAE | The National |ABU DHABI – The Assad regime is responsible for the rise of ISIL and both must be destroyed, Syria’s moderate opposition leader said in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Hadi Al Bahra, chairman of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, met senior UAE officials responsible for dealing with the Syrian conflict, including Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
The Islamist extremist group that has captured swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq “emanated from the womb of this despotism, this regime that governed Syria for more than half a century”, he said. “The main cause of terrorism in despotism.”
The Daily Show - Hadi al-Bahra Extended Interview
Jon Stewart embarrasses Hadi al-Bahra with questions why Assad would support Sunni extremists, ISIS or Islamic State. Hadi al-Bahra explains ISIS started in Syria under Assad … pure propaganda from Saudi Arabia!
○ Flawed Reasoning and Misleading Projection On ISIL Origin
Posted by: Farflungstar | Oct 5, 2014 6:39:42 PM | 13
Nice word cartoon...
Obama, labelled Property of the 1%, shining the shoes of Jabba The Hutt, eating Arabs alive and labelled The 1%.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Oct 6 2014 3:49 utc | 22
even BBC and CNN arent immune to being tear gassed by turkish police:
'Media in the area were told to leave and while they were leaving vans with the crews from CNN and BBC were fired on with tear gas by Turkish police/troops. Two vans had their back windows broken with tear gas grenades landing inside (vid). The Turks clearly have no interest in letting the public know what is now happening in Kobane. This evening Kurdish media reported firefights within the city.'
Posted by: brian | Oct 6 2014 4:13 utc | 23
'A big number of Ahrar al-Shams fighters in Aleppo province have today pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. IS will soon be the only anti-Syrian-government game in town.'
and antisyrian as how many of these IS types are syrian at all?
imagine if the same sort of chaos was let loose in US...how long would washington hold out?
Posted by: brian | Oct 6 2014 4:23 utc | 24
@18 you're welcome... it's interesting but i tend to agree with you.. i guess it is in my nature to be contrary.. i just don't buy that whole story. it sounds like a bogus set up..
on the other hand turkey and the usa turning a blind eye to the kurds seems more likely, although i can't figure out what this means for israels recognition of the kurdish state with irbil as the capital and all that.. bottom line i think harry laws post @14 is on the money in regards to this..
i also think Colm O' Toole's post @ 6 is also in the money..
Posted by: james | Oct 6 2014 5:41 utc | 25
There is a game changer in town, the revolution and victory of Iran and it's allies in Yemen. This gives Iran a front to attack Saudi, (P)GCC states. There is panic in Saudi. Iran and it's allies now have 2 fronts.
Posted by: papa | Oct 6 2014 7:37 utc | 26
IS gains sunni recruits from uzbekistan
RIA Novosti @ria_novosti 15m15 minutes ago
Uzbek Islamic Movement joins #IS militant group
'Earlier, it was reported that 17 Uzbek citizens fighting tor IS militants were killed in US-led airstrikes conducted in Iraq and Syria.
The IMU group was formed in 1991. Its headquarters are located in Taliban-controlled areas of northern Afghanistan. Its main objective is to topple Uzbek President Islam Karimov and to create an Islamic State under sharia law.
Over the past few months, the IS has seized vast territories in Iraq and Syria, and declared an Islamic caliphate on the territories under its control. Up to 50,000 militants are currently believed to be fighting for the IS, with many of the group"s fighters being foreign nationals.'
http://bit.ly/1vIuiri
religion of peace?
Posted by: brian | Oct 6 2014 9:16 utc | 27
Posted by: papa | Oct 6, 2014 3:37:24 AM | 26
any article on that about iran and yemen?
Posted by: brian | Oct 6 2014 9:17 utc | 28
Brian, there was an article about this on al akhbar english website - google iran in yemen + al akhbar and it should come up. The gist seems to be, the Saudis allowed the Houthis to take Sanaa to punish the Yemeni branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Houthis are in a alliance with various Sunni parties to get their demands met.
Posted by: Irshad | Oct 6 2014 10:12 utc | 29
@brian and @ Irshad
○ The Price of Abandoning Yemen | Alsahwa Net |
○ Houthi Rebellion In Yemen - US and the Shia/Sunni Divide
You can also check the Yemen times.
For b's story about the French "agent", it is the same fairytale as once invented by the US about the "triple agent"
They have to justify the fact dgse has been working with people like Merah and the guy who committed the Brussels killings recently. It is BS I would say.
Why is it that i cannot trust macclatchy which explains in each article that "daesh" is the street name/slang word for IS, while it is simply the acronym in arabic?
Posted by: Mina | Oct 6 2014 13:19 utc | 31
France denies U.S. media story on al Qaeda defector agent: source
PARIS Mon Oct 6, 2014 9:53am EDT
PARIS (Reuters) - A French defense ministry source denied on Monday a U.S. media report that a French intelligence officer had defected to al Qaeda's branch in Syria and was being targeted for elimination by U.S. air strikes.
McClatchy DC, a Washington DC-based news web site, reported citing several European intelligence sources that the former French officer was the highest ranking defector to go over to al Qaeda and that coalition powers had failed to kill him in several air strikes.
"After checks this morning, we can assert that the information concerning supposed links between the jihadist cited by the press and French intelligence services is totally erroneous," the French defense source said.
McClatchy cited sources saying the man, described as a former member of military intelligence, special forces or the external intelligence services, had survived attacks on eight locations held by the al Qaeda-linked Nusra front in Syria.http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/06/us-syria-crisis-france-idUSKCN0HV19A20141006
Posted by: okie farmer | Oct 6 2014 14:18 utc | 32
No matter if the French agent is or was a double agent,it still cost at least many millions to whack the mole,or not the mole.It was my first thought also.
Greasing the MICs stocks.
Hey,Yahoo says America is unAmerican for critiquing Israleli settlements,as if the wild west was subject to modern international law,as Israel is or should be held to account.Ah,another low blow from our bane.
As with Mr.Bacon,I agree the jig is up,this Islamic state will happen,it's inevitable,unless we nuke the region to nada,which I'm sure Sam Harris and Bill Maher would self or group ejaculate for,but the fallout would expose dem Israelis as human beings,subject to nuclear radiation,which has been obscured lately.
Posted by: dahoit | Oct 6 2014 15:05 utc | 34
@dahoit … "yahoo says …"
○ Netanyahu says US criticism of settlements is 'against American values' | The Guardian |
All the articles about Kobane in Le Monde have sensational titles insisting on the future? virtual? positive role of the Turkish army.
They don't know how to accomodate their best friends, the Turks and the Qataris, now that even Biden blames them.
Now they affirm that "Bashar al Asad has caused 200,000 dead".
Amazing.
http://www.lemonde.fr/proche-orient/article/2014/10/06/les-renseignements-francais-ont-essaye-de-retablir-un-lien-direct-avec-la-syrie_4500993_3218.html
Posted by: Mina | Oct 6 2014 15:56 utc | 36
Could this story about the French defector be the result of disinformation planted by ISIS? They could have been sending one another all sorts of messages (that NSA intercepted) attributing all sorts of successes to the help of a fictional French defector. They could even have been planting the story to confirm their suspicions about someone on their side they suspected might be secretly working for the U.S.
Posted by: lysias | Oct 6 2014 16:03 utc | 38
In Joe Biden's Own Words of Truth; Our Arab Allies Funded ISIS!
Biden may be dumb but he's not stupid. The whole truth would have been that the US had a hand in arming ISIS of course, not only because of "Arab allies" doing it, but because the US was generally arming all anti-Syria military forces.
re 26. There is a game changer in town, the revolution and victory of Iran and it's allies in Yemen. This gives Iran a front to attack Saudi, (P)GCC states. There is panic in Saudi.
According to my daughter who works on Yemen, it's not quite like that. The Houthis have succeeded of their own accord, and the Saudis have switched to get in bed with them, even though they're Shi'a. The big loser is the previous strongman, Ali Muhsin, but the Saudis are handling the situation, because they have to.
Posted by: Laguerre | Oct 6 2014 16:16 utc | 40
It's 13 km from Abu Ghraib to the airport. But ISIS haven't got it all yet.
Posted by: Laguerre | Oct 6 2014 16:17 utc | 41
re 37. Thanks for the take on ISIS weapons, Don. It confirms my memory, that they're equipped with Humvees and Soviet era armour, not more.
Posted by: Laguerre | Oct 6 2014 16:22 utc | 42
@33 pat.. the verdict is out. it looks like the intel people trying to sow seeds of confusion to me..cheap tactic to use..
Posted by: james | Oct 6 2014 17:08 utc | 43
Posted by: Mina | Oct 6, 2014 11:56:41 AM | 36
Now they affirm that "Bashar al Asad has caused 200,000 dead".
The same renseignement Français who did n't know where their three lascars were going to land when the Turks kicked them out - they were waiting in Orly when the three were already in Marseilles.
The French govt and media are whores of the Qataris - they expect to make money when Qatar can send LNG through Turkey and Syria w/o Al-Assad.
Posted by: Yul | Oct 6 2014 17:12 utc | 45
Kobane is finished. We can only hope for an appropriately horrible end for Erdogan's band of Turkish Islamists sometime in the future.
Posted by: ThePaper | Oct 6 2014 17:31 utc | 46
Here's the Pentagon propaganda website on the feeble US anti-ISIL effort, with a link to the State propaganda site.
It's all good news.
Airstrikes, as many have said, won't be productive in the uS goal of defeating ISIL.
“Air strikes alone are really not enough to defeat Isis in Kobani,” said Idris Nassan, a senior spokesman for the Kurdish fighters desperately trying to defend the important strategic redoubt from the advancing militants. “They are besieging the city on three sides, and fighter jets simply cannot hit each and every Isis fighter on the ground.”He said Isis had adapted its tactics to military strikes from the air. “Each time a jet approaches, they leave their open positions, they scatter and hide. What we really need is ground support. We need heavy weapons and ammunition in order to fend them off and defeat them.”
So the "targeted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as part of the comprehensive strategy to degrade and defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)," which is the major part of the US strategy, can not and will not succeed.
Admiral Kirby, Oct 3: "We've seen them change some of their tactics. They, not surprisingly, have gotten better at concealment....They have dispersed. Whereas before they were more structurally cohesive in certain places, almost acting like, in some ways, an army. We've not given them credit for being an army, of course, but we have talked about the military-type organizations and skills that they had been developing....We understand that they still have not only the desire for taking ground and infrastructure, but the capability to do so."
After being pro-revo for more two long years, Matthew Barber of Syria Comment starts to realize how things function in the real world.
http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/yazidis-getting-support/
Posted by: Mina | Oct 6 2014 18:56 utc | 49
Raytheon expects to see solid earnings growth going forward...
Posted by: dh | Oct 6 2014 19:10 utc | 50
back to square one
http://rt.com/usa/193592-pentagon-syria-rebel-forces/
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/112471/Egypt/Politics-/Libyan-prime-minister-to-visit-Egypt-on-Tuesday.aspx
Posted by: Mina | Oct 6 2014 20:40 utc | 51
The 1890 and 1817 massacres all over again
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29515431
with the international djihadists brigades and no one accountable
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-29504924
Posted by: Mina | Oct 6 2014 20:46 utc | 52
life in Mecca
http://angryarab.blogspot.de/2014/10/flag-of-isis-raised-in-mecca-under.html
Posted by: Mina | Oct 6 2014 20:56 utc | 53
Please stop being naive and so gullible. It is so obvious that ISIS is just one of many CIA/MI6/Mossad death squads that carry out their dirty work and is just another boogeyman to justify the hundreds of billions that we spend on the military industrial complex which is a modern-day killing machine for profit.
Who Is REALLY Behind ISIS?
http://youtu.be/8LSIwvE0Nvo
ISIS revealed as ISRAELI SECRET INTELLIGENCE SERVICE
http://youtu.be/lMUlTSmNu0c
US used ISIL to separate oil-rich Kirkuk, Basra from Iraq: Analyst
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/09/11/378418/us-made-isil-to-separate-kirkuk-basra/
'ISIS is CIA false flag op, pretext for war inside Syria & Iraq'
http://youtu.be/j5OYeBQdrFE
10 Signs That ISIS is a Scripted Psyop
http://www.activistpost.com/2014/09/10-signs-that-isis-is-scripted-psyop.html
Former CIA contractor Steven Kelley says that the ISIL terrorist group is a completely fabricated enemy created and funded by the United States.
http://youtu.be/FlJsFNLt5Ac
Gen Mcinenery We Built ISIS Short Version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOUqUh9o_vQ
A photo showing John McCain with ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ab6_1407931713
John McCain Revealing Slip on Fox News - " Obama Didn’t Want to Arm ISIS " - 9-2-14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMHnFERYv3w
Al-Qaeda Backers Found With U.S. Contracts in Afghanistan
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-30/al-qaeda-backers-found-with-u-s-contracts-in-afghanistan.html
Al Qaeda-Linked Syria Group Enjoying USAID? You’ve Got to See This to Believe It
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/09/24/al-qaeda-syria-enjoying-usaid-youve-got-to-see-this-to-believe-it/
Rebel Arms Flow Is Said to Benefit Jihadists in Syria
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/15/world/middleeast/jihadists-receiving-most-arms-sent-to-syrian-rebels.html?pagewanted=all
Syrian rebels pledge loyalty to al-Qaeda
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/04/11/syria-al-qaeda-connection/2075323/
Syrian Qaeda wing pledges loyalty to ISIL in border town
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/25/us-syria-crisis-border-idUSKBN0F014M20140625
Iraq Crisis: ISIS Terrorists were Trained by US in 2012 for Syria Conflict
http://www.ibtimes.co.in/iraq-crisis-isis-terrorists-were-trained-by-us-2012-syria-conflict-602594
US, Al Qaeda Join Forces in Syria
http://www.thenation.com/blog/173808/us-al-qaeda-join-forces-syria#
The terrorists fighting us now? We just finished training them.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/08/18/the-terrorists-fighting-us-now-we-just-finished-training-them/
Hillary Clinton We created Al Qaeda
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd0fLAbV1cA
Hillary Clinton: 'We Created al-Qaeda'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnLvzV9xAHA
Syria: Arming the Rebels
http://video.pbs.org/video/2365255024/
Bait and bleed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bait_and_bleed
Posted by: Jacob Solace | Oct 6 2014 21:24 utc | 54
Turkish behavior re Kobani is reminiscent of the Soviets sitting outside of Warsaw while the SS crushed the Uprising. The blowback will be fearsome in this case.
Posted by: chuckvw | Oct 6 2014 22:59 utc | 55
I'm with Jacob S. It looks like a backdoor ploy to eventually attack Assad. Call me when ISIS attacks Israel or SA.
Posted by: Kraken | Oct 6 2014 23:13 utc | 56
now heres a revolution!...lets see how the europeans like it
RT @RT_com 3h3 hours ago
URGENT: Kurdish protesters storm Dutch parliament in The Hague http://on.rt.com/p8eo0f
Posted by: brian | Oct 7 2014 0:14 utc | 57
@61 Kraken
ISIS serving Israeli interests doesn't have to be a conspiracy. Saudi and Israel are allies. The proxy force created by Saudi intelligence would reasonably be expected to behave according to the interests of these allies.
Posted by: Crest | Oct 7 2014 0:39 utc | 58
#60 wrote: Turkish behavior re Kobani is reminiscent of the Soviets sitting outside of Warsaw while the SS crushed the Uprising.
Nope. Historically wrong. The Red Army was at the end of a successful 600 mile offensive when they reached the Vistula. This was the result of operation Bagration. The Soviet command had prepared for an offensive that was planned for half of that distance. After crushing the Nazi troops along the original front in Northern Belarus, they realized that the Germans had no reserves to stop the offensive. Zhukov insisted that the attacking armies continue south until they met significant defenses. The Germans managed to create those defenses along the Vistula River. Basically, the red army offensive was exhausted and they had exceeded their supply lines.
This story that the red army stopped there so the Warsaw uprising would be crushed by the Germans was a story that the anticommunist Polish propagated to explain the disaster that resulted.
Posted by: ToivoS | Oct 7 2014 1:40 utc | 59
@64 Thanks TovioS. You saved me from having to do it.
How do those Soviets to go from "A Jewish Conspiracy" to "the Nazis helpers in the murder of the Jews" in the bat of an eye? It's almost like all of it is b.s...
Posted by: guest77 | Oct 7 2014 2:02 utc | 60
"Nope. Historically wrong." It's a matter of some contention. You may or may not be right. The net effect would have been and will be the same.
Posted by: chuckvw | Oct 7 2014 4:02 utc | 61
@65
The Ghetto Uprising occurred a year before the Free Polish Uprising to which I was referring.
I am neither particularly anti-Soviet or Russian. Not remotely related to the point of my original comment.
Posted by: chuckvw | Oct 7 2014 4:25 utc | 62
Posted by: ToivoS | Oct 6, 2014 9:40:20 PM | 64
The intention of the uprising - not to wait till Soviet troops were there - was done with the intention to be in place as an allied force with a claim to govern and not be overrun by the Soviets. It was a miscalculation that certainly was done for power politcs and not for humanitarian reasons. Not to advance in time would be the logical step for the Soviets. Stalin's generals were not misty eyed romantics, they would not come to help a potentially hostile force just for help's sake if it did not fit their plans. To blame the Soviets for not arriving covers up the responsibility of the Polish leadership for the miscalculation that cost their people dearly.
With Turkey the calcualtions are on record and there are witnesses. And the Kurdish leadership told their people to flee as they could not defend them. Patrick Cockburn - The independent
The leader of the PYD, Salih Muslim, is reported to have met officials from Turkish military intelligence to plead for aid but was told this would only be available if the Syrian Kurds abandoned their claim for self-determination, gave up their self-governing cantons, and agreed to a Turkish buffer zone inside Syria. Mr Muslim turned down the demands and returned to Kobani.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been expressing outrage that the US Vice-President Joe Biden should have identified Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as the states whose military and financial support led to the growth of Isis and Jabhat al-Nusra.
Mr Biden told a meeting at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics on 2 October that the Turks, Saudis and UAE “poured hundreds of millions of dollars and tens of thousands of tons of weapons against anyone who would fight Assad, except that the people who were being supplied were al-Nusra and al-Qaeda and the extremist element of jihadis coming from other parts of the world.”
For all Mr Erdogan’s disclaimers, Turkey still evidently regards Isis as a lesser enemy than Assad.
Posted by: somebody | Oct 7 2014 5:08 utc | 63
@brian
Good coverage in RT, quite similar to Dutch media coverage. The sit-in in the lobby has ended during the night. Dutch parliament will urge a quick responce from PM Rutte on the critical situation of the ISIS siege of Kobanê.
This was not a spontaneous action but part of a global awareness by Kurds for their predicament and the threat from IS in Syria and Iraq. #TwitterKurds and coordinated across Turkey, Denmark, Germany and Austria.
The Dutch have moved their six F-16s from the Eastern Front (Baltic states and Poland) to Jordan to participate in action in Iraq. States from the European Union won't fly sorties over Syria, those attacks are left to the US and its Arab allies.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/a0da17d2-4d71-11e4-bf60-00144feab7de.html?siteedition=intl#axzz3FRH3ZhiL
October 6, 2014 7:17 pm
Turkey demands US target Assad as price of co-operationDaniel Dombey in Istanbul
©Reuters
Ahmet Davutoglu: Turkey has demanded that the US take military action against the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad as a condition for Ankara to step up its co-operation in Washington’s coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, known as Isis.
Posted by: okie farmer | Oct 7 2014 6:45 utc | 65
Somebody #68. Good point but it does not change what I said above. Operation Bagration was the most successful offensive operation of the Red Army during WWII. In terms of the number of Germans killed, divisions destroyed and territory recovered it was the most successful. The Battle of Stalingrad resulted in huge losses to Germany but even those losses were less. The importance of Stalingrad was the demonstration that Germany could be defeated. Unfortunately for the Soviet Union they had only destroyed about 15% of the German forces on the eastern front. Bagration liquidated about a third of their remaining troops (those on the central front) and pinned a large number of divisions on the northern front (south of Leningrad) against the Baltic Sea where they remained until final surrender.
Very few people in the west have any idea about the size of those operations on the eastern front (of course the Germans know, but for obvious reasons do not brag about those battles).
Posted by: ToivoS | Oct 7 2014 6:55 utc | 66
"Nope. Historically wrong." It's a matter of some contention. You may or may not be right. The net effect would have been and will be the same.
Posted by: chuckvw | Oct 7, 2014 12:02:07 AM | 66
It might be contentious to Polish nationalists but it is not contentious with military historians that study the science of war in the tradition of von Clauswitz -- things like logistics and the limits of offensive operations into defenses in depth. I am not unsympathetic with the Warsaw Poles, their uprising has to inspire those who fight against tyranny but under the circumstances it was suicidal. And the Russians were not responsible. It sort of reminds of the opening days of WWII with the Polish cavalry attacking German panzer armies. One has to respect their bravery but question their military common sense.
Posted by: ToivoS | Oct 7 2014 7:14 utc | 67
you're welcome: could you anal compulsives just bug out and stop trying to control what people are interested in discussing.
Posted by: ToivoS | Oct 7 2014 8:42 utc | 68
@ToivoS #72:
In terms of the number of Germans killed, divisions destroyed and territory recovered it was the most successful. The Battle of Stalingrad resulted in huge losses to Germany but even those losses were less. The importance of Stalingrad was the demonstration that Germany could be defeated. Unfortunately for the Soviet Union they had only destroyed about 15% of the German forces on the eastern front.I'm sorry, but as someone from a White Russian background, I really don't see how someone can write about "Germans [being] killed" in such a casual manner. Given the present efforts of the Empire to destroy Russia, I think that everyone can agree that Ukrainians being killed and Ukrainian forces being destroyed are a good thing, but given that Germany and Russia normally have very cordial relations, I think that casually listing, with admiration, how many Germans Russians killed is extremely offensive, especially given that it is critical for the survival of the planet for Russia to be able to break Germany out of the spell that the US has cast on it, and to liberate Germany by making it understand that the only way it can be free is by being Russia's ally.
Interesting that neither Russian contractors nor GRU SIGINT facility did not help...
Posted by: Ulster | Oct 7 2014 13:59 utc | 70
It is important to note that according to fontanka.ru the Slavonic Corps leadership was detained by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) upon returning to Russia and charged with recruiting mercenaries. Apparently sending Russian contractors to Syria actually is not a policy supported by the Russian Government at the moment.
lol
Posted by: Münster | Oct 7 2014 14:10 utc | 71
@64: If the Soviet failure to support the Warsaw uprising was only the result of logistical difficulties after the Red Army had reached the Vistula, why didn't the Soviets allow Allied airplanes to land in Soviet airfields after they had dropped supplies to the Polish fighters? And is it plausible to say that the German line of defense on the Vistula was impenetrable even at the points where the Polish Home Army had established control? Funny how the Red Army was able to cross the Dnieper and retake Kiev at the end of 1943 after a similar lengthy offensive.
Posted by: lysias | Oct 7 2014 16:16 utc | 72
@Demian
Is it that offensive to refer to the killing of nazi soldiers? Really?
Posted by: Crest | Oct 9 2014 9:00 utc | 74
The comments to this entry are closed.
Oh I feel your frustration in seeing no US Air-Ground attack planes taking out plainly visible IS tanks on the move besieging a city. May be the GPS is down on scheduled maintenance?
Posted by: OleImmigrant | Oct 5 2014 19:52 utc | 1