Syria watch...

[Tarrel]

Well, we're effectively already conducting air strikes in support of Assad. I'm sure there are spin doctors in the White House and Number 10 who would say that our bombing strategy is designed to open up space for "more moderate rebels" to gain a foothold in Syria, thus defeating both IS and Assad, but this is naive BS IMO. The two main players in Syria are the Assad regime and IS. If you're targeting IS then you're supporting Assad.

Therefore we should logically be supporting Russia's actions.

Whether we will is another matter of course. History shows there's not much room for logic in geopolitics.

[PS_RalphW]

I am quite certain that any Russian airstrikes are going to cause 'collateral' damage among the 'moderate' Islamic and Kurdish forces whilst attacking ISIS, in the same way that Turkish strikes have.

Putin is stating his clear intent that Assad is going to stay in power. He is calling Obama's bluff.

[PS_RalphW]

I am quite certain that any Russian airstrikes are going to cause 'collateral' damage among the 'moderate' Islamic and Kurdish forces whilst attacking ISIS, in the same way that Turkish strikes have.

Putin is stating his clear intent that Assad is going to stay in power. He is calling Obama's bluff.

Update to my own post before posting...

Russian air strikes reported near Holm... 50 miles by my reckoning from ISIS front line.

[raspberry-blower]

I am quite certain that any Russian airstrikes are going to cause 'collateral' damage among the 'moderate' Islamic and Kurdish forces whilst attacking ISIS

There is NO SUCH THING AS "MODERATE" ISLAMIC FORCES in the forces opposed to Assad.

Moon of Alabama: Syria: Thoughts on the Russian Air Support

Next came claims that the Russian had hit "moderate rebels" which the U.S. says are its good guys.

To which Mark Adomanis snarked:

The US couldn't find "moderate" rebels in 3 years. Apparently the Russians did in 24 hours

Indeed. Even back in 2012 the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency found:

THE SALAFIST, THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, AND AQI ARE THE MAJOR FORCES DRIVING THE INSURGENCY IN SYRIA.

"Moderates"- my ass.

[raspberry-blower]

That is no surprise as the Gulf State rulers are Sunni and Assad is Shia.

Bashar Al-Assad is Alwaite - there are different branches of Shia Islam, Ken.

He and his fellow Alawites are still considered heretics by Sunnis and should therefore be killed according to IS.

Actually, Ken, the vast majority of the Syrian military is composed of Sunnis. They are also regarded as heretics according to ISIS.

[Little John]

I am quite certain that any Russian airstrikes are going to cause 'collateral' damage among the 'moderate' Islamic and Kurdish forces whilst attacking ISIS, in the same way that Turkish strikes have.

Putin is stating his clear intent that Assad is going to stay in power. He is calling Obama's bluff.

Update to my own post before posting...

Russian air strikes reported near Holm... 50 miles by my reckoning from ISIS front line.

I don't like Assad any more than you do. But, it is and always has been blindingly obvious what would happen if his regime was rendered unstable by various USA inspired meddling. On this the Russian position is entirely logical and the one most likely to promote peace in the region, albeit an Assad imposed, blind and vindictive peace at that.

[Tarrel]

I remember a good few years ago reading Paul Theroux's travelogue, "The Pillars of Hercules", in which he travelled on a circuit through the Mediterranean-facing countries. He struck up a conversation with a guy on a train in Syria and asked him why people put up with Assad's regime. The reply was to the effect that "He's the only person who can hold the place together and stop it spinning out of control".

[raspberry-blower]

I remember a good few years ago reading Paul Theroux's travelogue, "The Pillars of Hercules", in which he travelled on a circuit through the Mediterranean-facing countries. He struck up a conversation with a guy on a train in Syria and asked him why people put up with Assad's regime. The reply was to the effect that "He's the only person who can hold the place together and stop it spinning out of control".

In a similar vein there was a programme on BBC entitled Great Railway Journeys that pre-dates Michael Portillo and his Bradshaw's Guide.
One of the journeys was through Syria (Aleppo to Aqaba in Jordan to be precise) and featured Alexei Sayle. I do remember at the end of the journey in Syria Alexei saying to the camera something along the lines of "They don't like me very much and I'm not that keen on them!"


N.B. This is not to be confused with Alexei Sayle's book Great Bus Journeys of the World

[kenneal - lagger]

I don't like Alexei Sayle very much either so they aren't the only ones.

[UndercoverElephant]

http://www.mintpressnews.com/migrant-cr ... es/209294/

[raspberry-blower]

Collateral damage that highlights Western double standards - Moon of Alabama: Kunduz Hospital Bombing Exposes US Air Strike Hypocrisy

Is the U.S. still using propaganda claims that the Syrian government is willingly bombing hospitals? Or that it uses "dumb bombs" or "barrel bombs" that cause "collateral damage"? Will its proxies prepare more fake videos that allegedly show such bombings?

While on the subject of Western hypocrisy over Syria, it is time to call a halt over barrel bomb nonsense

Civilians would have a much better chance to seek safety in a bomb shelter before some “barrel bomb” is shoved out the door of a helicopter than when a sophisticated U.S.-made bomb arrives with little or no warning, as apparently happened to the victims of that wedding in Yemen.

And that is not to mention the U.S. bombs that involve depleted uranium, napalm, phosphorous and cluster munitions, which present other humanitarian concerns. However, while U.S.-assisted or U.S.-directed slaughters of civilians attract little attention in the mainstream U.S. media, there are endless denunciations of the Syrian government’s “barrel bombs.”

The propaganda drumbeat is such that the American people are told that they must support “regime change” in Syria even if it risks opening the gates of Damascus to a victory by the Islamic State and Al Qaeda terrorists.

[Tarrel]

The thing about the term; "Barrel Bomb" is that it alliterates so nicely and forms a perfect sound-bite with which the MSM can advance the "Assad bad, rebels good" narrative.

[raspberry-blower]

Very true Tarrel.

Meanwhile, in counter to all this Russian aircraft violating Turkish airspace nonsense, Moon of Alabama has this

Here now what McClatchy reported on these air space violations in a longer piece several hours before Reuters and AFP reported the Turkish claim:

ISTANBUL - A Russian warplane on a bombing run in Syria flew within five miles of the Turkish border and may have crossed into Turkey’s air space, Turkish and U.S. officials said Sunday.
...
A Turkish security official said Turkish radar locked onto the Russian aircraft as it was bombing early Friday in al Yamdiyyah, a Syrian village directly on the Turkish border. He said Turkish fighter jets would have attacked had it crossed into Turkish airspace.
But a U.S. military official suggested the incident had come close to sparking an armed confrontation. Reading from a report, he said the Russian aircraft had violated Turkish air space by five miles and that Turkish jets had scrambled, but that the Russian aircraft had returned to Syrian airspace before they could respond.

The Turkish security official said he could not confirm that account.

So it is the U.S., not Turkey, which was first pushing the claims of air space violation and of scrambling fighters. The Turkish source would not confirm that.

[raspberry-blower]

A handy pull-out-and-keep guide to Syrian "moderate" rebels

[snow hope]

Link not working....