In Syria

[Marcello]

 

.

It's amazing how people seem to forget that the whole mess of ISIS has been caused by the meddling of Gulf States (and/or rich individuals therein) and Western States interfering in Syria and giving extremists a spring board into the area.

 

Any states admitting their mistakes ?

 

Im not a state but i would say it was a mistake from the beginning to not support Assad (who is not his father, just look at his biography) against the Terrorists and gain concessions in the return (like the exact position of one or more of his more insane siblings he got as leftovers from his fathers regime for a convinient drone mistake). Then the civil war in Syria would be already a footnote in history and IS would never have gained such a big foothold.

 

 

There was no reason to actually actively support what was still a thuggish regime in cahoots with Iran,nor was every guy the security forces shot at in the early days a "terrorist", but frankly some sanctions pro forma for public consumption should have been the extent of western involvement. Failure to understand that the opposite of a bad guy is often a worse guy has been a sore spot in western ME policy. If some pissed syrian wanted to try something stupid abroad against the backers of his oppressor let the russians have him for once.

Edited October 10, 2014 by Marcello

[Colin]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/10/07/syrian-rebels-seize-russian-spy-station-near-israeli-border.html

 

When the Free Syrian Army pushed Assad’s soldiers out of a town south of Damascus, the last thing they expected to find was a Russian spy post, a few miles from the Golan Heights.

Syrian rebels have overtaken a joint Russian-Syrian secret facility that they claim was a covert intelligence collection base. Opposition fighters say the post was used to snoop in on the communications of opposition groups -- and perhaps even the nearby Israelis.

Free Syrian Army officials, U.S. officials, and independent experts told The Daily Beast that the evidence of Russian involvement in the facility, just a few miles from Syria’s border with Israel, if verified, would show a level of Russian involvement in the Syrian civil war that was not previously known. Free Syrian Army officials posted several videos on YouTube showing both the outside andthe inside of the facility, which the FSA captured over the weekend during a battle near Al Harah, south of Damascus, next to the Golan Heights.

The videos and accompanying photos show insignias representing a branch of Syrian intelligence and the Russian Osnaz GRU radio electronic intelligence agency. The FSA found photos and lists of senior Russian intelligence and military officials who visited the facility, pictures of Russian personnel running the base, and maps showing the location of Israeli military units. Israeli news reports earlier this year said the Russian government had upgraded an advanced surveillance and intelligence gathering station in that area which could snoop on Israel, large parts of Jordan, and western Iraq, potentially to warn Iran in advance of an Israeli strike. Initial reports said documents from the facility suggested the Russian equipment was used to spy on Israel, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

[Sikkiyn]

Since the IDF knew of the place, I would have to guess they were feeding it a healthy stream of BS?

[Marek Tucan]

I think what it shows the best is that if the West wants to intervene in civil wars, it should intervene FAST while there is still some faction that wants to talk left. While FSA were hardly the heralds of democracy, they might have been the best of the bunch, but protracted fighting leads usually to the "moderates" being killed off or turning to the fanatics for support. And when then, years later, someone comes in, he finds only the dictator thugs or fanatics - and a lot of people caught in the middle.

 

Doesn't help that any movement not focused on one ideology or one leader is usually splintered or not a movement at all once the enemy is gone - see Afghanistan warlords for a prime example.

[Brian Kennedy]

For anybody interested, rudaw.net is doing really good work -- it's a Kurdish news site but not propaganda or anything.

 

Interesting interview with a senior Kurdish official where he mentions a U.S. air strike blowing up an ISIS-captured US-made armored artillery vehicle capable of hitting targets 30 miles away. Wonder what that was -- I didn't think we were giving the Iraqi army mobile artillery? http://rudaw.net/mobile/english/interview/16092014

[Roman Alymov]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/10/07/syrian-rebels-seize-russian-spy-station-near-israeli-border.html

 

When the Free Syrian Army pushed Assad’s soldiers out of a town south of Damascus, the last thing they expected to find was a Russian spy post, a few miles from the Golan Heights.

Syrian rebels have overtaken a joint Russian-Syrian secret facility that they claim was a covert intelligence collection base. Opposition fighters say the post was used to snoop in on the communications of opposition groups -- and perhaps even the nearby Israelis.

Was discussed here (in Russian, byt with photos). This signal intelligence center was evacuated in 2012

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/1016915.html

[Marcello]

I didn't think we were giving the Iraqi army mobile artillery? http://rudaw.net/mobile/english/interview/16092014

 

They got M109s.

[Brian Kennedy]

Thanks Marcello!

[Simon Tan]

Mortars. I note that these tend not to be properly used in Syria and Iraq as a whole. Any movement under observation should be rapidly met by airburst. This is probably one of the force multipliers that I would focus on for client forces in theater. With GPS, radios and even commercial grade optics, a few tubes can dominate a lot of terrain.

 

The difference between a militia rabble and effective infantry is the correct use of heavy weapons and supporting fires. IS has some capability in this regard but the YPG and others lack both the equipment and the knowledge to use it effectively.

Edited October 12, 2014 by Simon Tan

[Panzermann]

In the meantime:

Turkish fighter jets strike PKK targets in southeast Turkey

 

October 14, 2014, Tuesday/ 10:01:03/ TODAYSZAMAN.COM / ISTANBUL

 

 

Turkish military planes hit terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) positions in southeastern Turkey in response to continuous attacks on a military outpost, the Hürriyet daily reported Tuesday.

F-16 and F-4 jets which took off from military bases in Malatya and Diyarbakır hit PKK targets which had been attacking a military outpost in the Dağlıca region. The terrorists were targeting the

outpost with rockets for three days.

According to the daily, the fighter jets took off after the terrorists resumed their attacks on Monday afternoon despite immediate response from soldiers protecting the outpost

The airstrike is the most comprehensive one since the government launched what it calls the settlement process aimed at solving the decades-old Kurdish issue, the daily said.

The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, waged a 30-year bloody war for autonomy in Turkey's rugged Southeast.

At the end of 2012, the government launched a settlement process to resolve once and for all thecountry's terrorism problem and Kurdish issue through talks with Abdullah Öcalan, jailed leader of the PKK.

Senior leaders from the group have recently threatened the collapse of the process due to Turkey's current policy of non-intervention in the battle for the Syrian town of Kobani.

[Simon Tan]

Yep....Obama really has Erdogan on side. The Turks have said that Diyarkabir is NOT open for business.

[DKTanker]

In the meantime:

Turkish fighter jets strike PKK targets in southeast Turkey

 

October 14, 2014, Tuesday/ 10:01:03/ TODAYSZAMAN.COM / ISTANBUL

 

 

Turkish military planes hit terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) positions in southeastern Turkey in response to continuous attacks on a military outpost, the Hürriyet daily reported Tuesday.

F-16 and F-4 jets which took off from military bases in Malatya and Diyarbakır hit PKK targets which had been attacking a military outpost in the Dağlıca region. The terrorists were targeting the

outpost with rockets for three days.

According to the daily, the fighter jets took off after the terrorists resumed their attacks on Monday afternoon despite immediate response from soldiers protecting the outpost

The airstrike is the most comprehensive one since the government launched what it calls the settlement process aimed at solving the decades-old Kurdish issue, the daily said.

The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, waged a 30-year bloody war for autonomy in Turkey's rugged Southeast.

At the end of 2012, the government launched a settlement process to resolve once and for all thecountry's terrorism problem and Kurdish issue through talks with Abdullah Öcalan, jailed leader of the PKK.

Senior leaders from the group have recently threatened the collapse of the process due to Turkey's current policy of non-intervention in the battle for the Syrian town of Kobani.

 

This is a fantasy, right? I mean when it was suggested that Turkey would take the opportunity to attack the Kurds, we were told it wouldn't happen because....votes.

[Mistral]

You must admit though that the Turks are putting a masterful reenactment of the Warsaw uprising from the Soviet perspective.

[BansheeOne]

This is a fantasy, right? I mean when it was suggested that Turkey would take the opportunity to attack the Kurds, we were told it wouldn't happen because....votes.

 

In fairness, it's not exactly taking opportunity of a conflict in the neighbor country when you bomb people inside your own country for allegedly shelling your army. Though I don't think it will win any Kurdish votes either.

[Yalmuk]

Fresh delivery of FN-6 MANPADS arrived to Aleppo.

 

Syrian rebel fighters have been pictured eagerly unpacking Chinese-made surface-to-air missile launchers understood to have been smuggled into the country by African arms dealers.

 

Taken in a remote area north of the city of Aleppo, the photographs show fighters from the Free Syrian Army assembling FN-6 anti-aircraft missile launchers for use against soldiers loyal to the Assad regime.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2792628/but-language-manual-syrian-rebels-eagerly-unpack-brand-new-surface-air-missiles-china.html

Edited October 14, 2014 by Yalmuk

[Roman Alymov]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na20psNxfgw

[Brian Kennedy]

Looks like ISIS has lost Kobane. If the Kurds have a film industry that's gonna be an awesome movie... junior Stallingrad right there.

[Simon Tan]

Suicide attack by YPG women fighters.

 

ETA:- + Jackass Turks picking their noses and tear gassing Kurds.

Edited October 18, 2014 by Simon Tan

[Corinthian]

Looks like ISIS has lost Kobane. If the Kurds have a film industry that's gonna be an awesome movie... junior Stallingrad right there.

 

Link? I've been out of the real world the past days (thanks to a stupid conference).

[bojan]

http://cryptome.org/2014-info/kobani-views/kobani-views.htm

[JWB]

That pic at the bottom is........all we need to know.

 

 

 

 

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

you make me happy, when skies are gray,
you'll never know dear, how much I love you,
please don't take my sunshine away....."

[WRW]

I am amazed at some of the bombing pictures

it seems a B1 doing the wok - nice payload - how does it compare to B52?

 

from some of the photos it seems that whatever they are hitting are making nice fireworks - are these secondaries or what?

[Simon Tan]

They carry more ordnance on max.

[NickM]

Suicide attack by YPG women fighters.

 

ETA:- + Jackass Turks picking their noses and tear gassing Kurds.

 

I presume you mean that YPG fighters were doing suicide attacks on ISIS? Anyway, I saw the dead woman's head at the end=a bit shocking...and weirdly enough, she seemed to be smiling.

[Simon Tan]

Yes....a few weeks ago. Before the bombing came on line. Apparently the bombers are now directed by Coalition observers on tge Turkish side. Resulting in better results. Also they now call the YPG to coordinate.