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Syria Sitrep – ISIS Defeats U.S. Proxy Force – Again
The U.S. backed proxy force in east Syria again lost positions to the Islamic State.
The map shows the positions of ISIS (grey), the US. proxy force SDF (yellow) and the Syrian army (red) at the border with Iraq on October 19.
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Here are the positions as of today.
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The U.S. proxy force lost the towns Susah, Hawi al-Susah, Safafinah, Mozan, Shajlah and Baghuz Fawqani and ISIS is back at the Iraqi border. The Iraqi forces were alarmed and sealed the border on their side.
The immediate cause of the loss was another sandstorm which ISIS used to counterattack. A similar counterattack during a sandstorm happened two weeks ago. That makes this U.S. spokesman's statement laughable:
“The sandstorm allowed an ISIS counterattack, which was surprising given the conditions, but now the air is clear and the Coalition will continue to increase air and fire support to assist our partners,” Col. Ryan said …
Sandstorms disable air and artillery support. That is why ISIS, which lacks an airforce, has for years used each and every sandstorm to attack. That is not surprising at all, but one of its signature forms of fighting. Sandstorms mean that one can expect an ISIS attack. That one has to double one's guard and be ready to defend one's position. The U.S. special forces who are supposed to lead their proxies seem to have neglected that.
ISIS jihadis attacked during the sandstorm in their usual manner. A suicide bomber blew up the first position at the frontline and more than 100 fighters stormed through and rolled up their enemie's lines. Since Friday some 60 to 80 SDF were killed, more were wounded and at least 20 were taken prisoners. Others simply fled in panic and ISIS could recapture several villages without a fight. ISIS claims that all the captured fighters were Arabs, not Kurds.
The Kurds decided long ago that the fight at the Euphrates is not their main problem. They prepare to fight against a Turkish invasion. The SDF ground force attacking ISIS is mostly Arab. Some were hired by the U.S., but many of them were pressed into service. They are not that interested in risking their life. They will only attack after the U.S. air force bombs their enemies to smithereens.
After the high losses of the Arab SDF the Kurdish YPG was told to sends some 300 of its fighters to regain the lost positions and to continue the general attack on ISIS which for months yielded no gains.
ISIS still holds some 700 prisoners and hostages. It had threatened to kill them if it does not receive food and medical supplies. There has been no news of their fate.
On Friday the presidents of Russia, France and Turkey and the German chancellor Merkel met in Istanbul. The French and German sides have given up on regime change. They have a refugee problem and want the war to wind down. They still insist that Syria should change its constitution but Damascus has no reason to follow such calls. The former Indian ambassador to Turkey, MK Bhadrakumar, has a deeper analysis of the summit. The big question to him is how the Turkish-American relations evolve.
There is little reason to think that these will get better. Erdogan wants the U.S. out of Syria nearly as much as Damascus itself. Erdogan threatened recently to invade the northeastern part of Syria that the U.S. controls. Yesterday Turkish artillery hit positions of the U.S. proxy force in Syria near the border with Turkey.
The U.S. keeps insisting that 'Iran-backed militias' leave Syria before the U.S. leaves. But the 'Iran-backed militias' in Syria are nowadays Syrians. Iran supported groups with Afghan and Iraqi fighters and Iranian soldiers have left the country some time ago. There are at most some Iranian officers left who train local groups which Iran has put on its payroll. The demand makes no sense. It likely originates from Israel which wants the U.S. to stay in Syria as long as possible.
The situation in Idelb governorate and elsewhere has not changed. The upcoming U.S.-Russia summit on November 11 will discuss the Syria issue. Until then everything is on hold.
“anyone else think europe is finally coming around to making a break with uk/usa, or am i just being overly idealistic?”
Posted by: james | Oct 29, 2018 3:35:49 PM | 2
IMO Europe will not break from the US and will stay with them to the end, unless the US collapses. And they will mourn the collapse.
Western Europe’s religion is liberalism, and liberalism can not exist without the power of the Empire. They will have to become normal nations without the US, and the problem is that they don’t want to be normal nations. They don’t want going back to 19 century power politics. They want a Big Daddy to take care of them and bring order, as order and security is what they crave.
Not surpsisingly, the most liberal countries, the Scandinavians, or the dutch, became recently the biggest fans of the US. They beg for Big Daddy to take care of them, otherwise they will have to return to nationalism and militarisation, and they do not want that. They can not live without liberalism now. So they will beg the US to come to Europe and bring “order” and to “protect” them.
Europe sees the era of US domination as a Golden Era, and the era before that as evil.
Liberal Europeans hate Russia – due to its return to “normal politics”, return to religion, anti gays stance, traditional values stance, national culture, patriotism, militarisation, hard power, etc. For them all of this is primitive. They want to build Utopia, and the “primitives” and “barbarians” like Russia stand in the way.
Not surprisingly, Council of Europe warned that it could expulse Russia and the European Parliament is a hotbed of Russophobia, recently urging new sanctions against Russia.
So Russia must be destroyed, in order for Utopia to be built. And any other “primitive” country, eventually. They hope that via a transatlantic western empire they can eventually take control of the world and then proceed to build Utopia. So they need to stay with the US in order to empower the transatlantic empire. If they break from the US, all of their big dreams for one world liberal utopia will be lost. So they have to stay with the US no matter what.
For a good take on this here:
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2018/08/20/metaphysics-to-our-present-global-anguish.html
Btw, it is not Trump’s America they want, but the Dems America, California type. They want to work with liberal America, not to destroy the transatlantic alliance. They want to be the second pilar of a liberal alliance with the US. A liberal world order. So they hope that Trump will go away eventually and bite their tongues, waiting.
This is what Heiko Maas, the German FM said recently:
“The partnership with the United States has brought Germany a unique phase of peace and security since the end of World War II. America became a place of longing.”
Do you understand now? The EU is feminised, behaves like a woman, and women seek protection, order and security. They need big Daddy. The big system that takes care of everything. Not surprisingly feminist Sweden and Norway recently became big fans of the US. They fear multipolarity, and long for the order, predictability and security of strong unipolarity.
The long presence of Merkel, a pro-US politician who even expressed support for the Iraq war, is emblematic of the fact that Germany remains a US puppet country. In general, that remains the case, as long as Germany is part of NATO and has US bases and troops on its soil. The Merkel replacements will not be better and the rising greens hate Russia. Btw, greens all over Europe hate Russia.
Polls exist that show dislike for Putin and Russia in all european countries. as well as strong support for the US during the Obama Admin years. Putin’s rating in Europe is very low, and so is Russia’s. Rusophobia is also a european phenomenon, as Guy Mettan showed.
Polls shows that europeans hate Trump, love Obama.
You think that Trump will repulse them enough to break with the US? No. G. W. Bush was despised in Europe too. There was huge resistance against the Iraq war as well. And so what? Do you know what happened next? After Obama became a president, europeans suddenly turned around and became big fans of Obama, and bombed Libya together. The US was not liked during Bush’s times (according to various polls), then it suddenly became a liked country in Europe during Obama.
Scandinavia is seen as something to be followed by progressives, as the best example possible, and as Scandinavia is anti-russian, this could mean that many liberals in the West will be influenced by that anti-russian view of the “best utopia on Earth”.
Have you noticed (again) that green parties hate Russia? And greens are becoming popular in Europe these days. (see the recent Guardian article)
The leaders of “progressivism”, the Scandinavians, who are traditionally seen as a model to follow by “progressives” around the West, joinded by Eastern Europe, and Britain, are begging for the US to come to protect them from Russia. Then there is the deep dutch colaboration with the US secret services (they were described as ready to do anything for the CIA), while France has returned in NATO’s integrated command, that De Gaul left, and entusiastically supported the wars in Syria and Libya. Italy, Austria and Hungary are bright spots, but they are not enough.
Such european reaction shows a severe abnormality in Europe, as the decline of the US should have caused the opposite reaction. Yet Europe is begging “big daddy” to come and protect her and bring security, just like a battered wife.
if you study human psychology you would know that even a lots of damage is not enough to stop some relationships, in other words the EU may be having a “battered wife syndrome”. Then there is the Stockholm syndrome.
Europe was not free for such a long time that it forgot what is to be free, it has a guilt complex, and it would prefer the well known reality of its abusive husband, instead of the frightening reality of going its own way into the unknown.
Look at what Maas said: “The partnership with the United States has brought Germany a unique phase of peace and security since the end of World War II”
In other words, there is a belief among euro elites that the partnership with the US caused the best time in history for Europe. So they will still hope that the “golden time” will somehow return, and will try to stay the course.
The EU is like those animals where even after you open the cage, the animal does not want to leave the cage.
While various trajectories do show that the US will lose power with time, my view is that Europe is so poisoned, that it will stay with the US to the end.
This is a good take on i agree with:
“many US allies have “strong vested interests in preserving America’s geopolitical reach,” adding that “former colonial powers like the United Kingdom and France” find it easier to dominate surrounding countries and “project themselves as a ‘superior civilization'” by collaborating with other NATO members alongside Australia.
“These former colonists never want the US to economize [America’s] global security policy as they would lose global influence, especially with civil unrest growing at home due to disastrous domestic policies,”
“If China asserts itself in the South China Sea, then countries like Australia [and the US] will fear China’s rise as a global power,” he said, whereas the UK and France still possess colonial networks throughout the world “which are also allied with the US post-World War II.”
“These networks may also refuse to accept China’s prominence in the South China Sea or anywhere else in the world, and nor would they accept China’s rise unless the US declines further and China accepts them under new multipolar order,” he continued.
“The former Anglo-French-Dutch networks will determine how fast the US can economize its geopolitical reach, not only in the South China Sea, but throughout the world.”
https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201810091068699509-south-china-sea-interview/
Posted by: Passer by | Oct 29 2018 21:23 utc | 11
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