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What a contrast to US statements on Syria.
Washington is populated by mentally deficient and corrupt degenerates.
Lol yeah it’s a little surreal to listen to a press conference, that actually gives relevant information. Come to think of it, I can’t even remember the last time that was the case in US news.
What is the logic behind sending all the captured fighters to Idlib?
you put all the rotten apples in the same chest.
1.- they start kill themselves as ideological differences and contradictions (which there are a lot) and scarcity of resources (access to money, weapons, ammo, patrons) start hitting them.
It is actually happening on quite an extent, the fact is there is constantly a war between factions with more or less intensity.
2.- their enviroment is reduced, phisically speaking their territory is a defined and confined space, which makes them more easy to identify and target (Bombings, Special Operations) as their density becomes bigger everytime a bunch of them is sent there.
It will be easier to flush them when the time comes. It is better to left an exit to your enemies, after all they will understand at some point their fight is without hope, better fly than die for nothing.
They will probably end all in Turkey and later in Europa as refugees (welcome! next Civil war and Riots in Europa in about… 5 or 10 years?)
Also at this point whichever neutral civilians left over in there, is surely hating them deeply, because they are simply like a plage of locust. and there is a limit as how much a non combatant civilian population can suffer “for the cause”.
Thanks.
Very interesting. What are the terms and conditions of being allowed to move to Idlib?
The other options seem to be- accept amnesty and go back to your old life or join the Syrian government army.
What is the advantage to the fighter of taking the Idlib option?
I presume these are the options available for Syrians. There must be a substantial number of foreigners (from other Arab/muslim countries, Russia and even Europe). No mention is ever made of them- it is always Idlib or amnesty. What happens to them?
I can’t imagine non-Syrian fighters being offered Idlib or amnesty. Or are they?
Think of it as a way of taking out of the way the diehard extremist.
Those who stay are (normally) not involved in atrocities or warcrimes,
and usually have a chance of reintegrate in the syrian society.
On the other hand, those implied in warcrimes and atrocities,
are the extremist ones and the more willing to fight, the majority
(if not a very big part) of them are also foreigners, not syrians.
this policy of amnesties and surrenderings is showing all that the
syrian government is a reasonable and trustworty part, and that their main concern
is the syrian people. It also avoids unnecesary casualties in the civilian population not to mention the
destruction in infrastructure.
If you look at the number of militants and families that leave, they are consistently about 10%
or less of the population in the zones they control. This mean that they have been efectively
sequestering the civilians in the zones they control and using them for their purposes, and as human shields.
Much of the militants that stay (after being checked) get into the National Defense Forces (some kind of national guard) or ar conscripted into the syrian Army, and are very much willing to fight against their old “friends”. No doubt becasuse they know them well.
As I said before, sending these extremist to Idlib is a good option,
specially because of the points mentioned in my first answer.
Seems to me civvies are leaving Idlib via corridors and terries are moving in….
When it’s all just terries – – – they do a Yankee Mosul?
They were not captured, just encircled I think.
You could “corner the rat” or leave them a path to escape.
In the first case they would make last stand, caring only to cause maximum damage and carnage before taken down.
In the second case they are inclined to flee with no or little added destruction.
I guess, Putin told about his personal childhood experience of literally cornering the rat
Or, Saker recently had an article what drunk men should NOT do with venomous snakes
Putin’s story crossed mind too. I still chuckle at it. It was a great learning experience though he may not have appreciated it at the time.
Sun Tzu recommended always leaving the enemy a way out.
Where does the “way out” of Idlib go?
Turkey then on to Europe or back to whatever country they came from. A lot are not Syrians. The mercenaries will stop fighting when they stop being paid.
Thanks for posting…appreciate the news.Amazing work being done…note Turkey Russia and Iran keeping Idlib under control as guarantors of peace, belying Israels claim of Irans military intentions…maybe “international organisations” will listen to the appeal for assistance?
Hats off to the RF General Staff for this briefing.
This operation in Syria is going to be a classic lesson on how to solve an insurgency. If I were Dunford, I’d take a leaf off this book and apply it to US/Nato operations in Afghanistan and Iraq; perhaps it will help them to get out of the quagmires they’ve gotten themselves into. But of course, the Americans won’t, no siree. Cause they’re the US armed forces, the greatest military on earth, and anyways it ain’t the American way of conducting war. Nope, they prefer to flatten a town, and all the people in it, in order to liberate it. Yup, bombard the town, don’t let the civilians leave, and promote the general responsible as head of the Pentagon. And if the (badly conceived) operation lasts more than 5 years, and the American public grows restless, why just call it the ‘Long War’ as the military genius David Petraeus did. In ten or twenty years’ time when people start asking why isn’t Afghanistan sorted out yet, just say, hey it’s the Long War we’re fightin’ in Efguneestan and Eyerack and yer see, Long Wars have a habit of turnin’ into Generational Wars too. And never mind the financial cost. What? we’ve spent more than one trillion dollars already? Never mind, it’s worth it cause we’re fightin’ for freedom.
The RF and her allies are doing the right thing in Syria. Stop the bloodshed, restore normal life in the liberated areas, move civilians away from contested zones and shepherd the militants to a designated area. The Syrian govt’s probably got plans to eliminate them later but when we find psychopaths of all stripes living close to each other we can at least hope that the militants (who still have small arms) will do the job themselves.
basil
Yup ..lots of assassinations in Idlib between the various groups…
Afghanistan is insoluble because it is not a country, it is an overlap of regional cultures rapped by a Pakistan border the Pashtun do not accept. Americans are peculiar, they proclaim their right to bear arms then get frustrated that Pashtuns see AK47s as their natural right to defend their tribal lands from invaders.
The terrain and the primitive nature of the “civilisation” outside the plains together with the restricted supply routes on the NW Frontier make it a futile exercise to join the list of empires that have come to grief in Afghanistan. Pakistan and India are fighting a proxy war there and US and UK are simply engaged in a protracted folly because they cannot admit defeat. It is significant that the US has never in military medical history suffered so many spinal injuries (followed by head injuries) in combat – all down to IEDs – 38% deaths are down to spinal bursts.
Aye, I agree with your assessment Paul. I too think that Afghanistan is not a country but a conglomeration of tribes who, although they were subjects of great empires in the past, are not quite used to being governed by a central authority or even appreciate the notion of Afghanistan being a country at the moment. They had a chance to understand that notion for a while, I think, under the ‘leadership’ of Mullah Omar and his Talibs once but that was paid put by Bush’s criminal invasion in order to fight GWOT and impose ‘democracy’. The vast majority of Afghans are illiterate, poor, hungry and practice a sincere but simple form of religion. Their illiteracy puts them at the mercy of their ‘educated’ Mullahs and tribal elders. Externally, the country desperately needs goodwill from all sides but unfortunately that’s not forthcoming. Third parties are in the country for their own ends. As you say, India and Pakistan are waging proxy war there. US/Nato are unable to articulate their aims clearly and at every turn shout ‘Democracy’ knowing full well Afghans only understand simple democracy as practiced in their durgas. No more than that.
That’s why I think an approach similar to that in Syria might work. The vast majority of Afghans just want the things we want: security, justice, order, a better life. Copy the RF’s reconciliation centre — more negotiations and less force of arms. Less insistence on the need to search for ‘partners’ who speak for everybody; just talk to the guy who wants to talk peace and get on with it. Get reconciliation going, restore normal life, piecemeal, and through the tribal power structures, if need be. Once they see what peace can bring, then perhaps they’ll be convinced to stop fighting. It has been done before: Mullah Omar did it (restoring justice and normal life) in his village at first, fighting against the tyranny of the warlords at a roadblock set up to extort ordinary Afghans. The movement spread village by village in his neck of the woods and it soon spread throughout the country. There was some semblance of central authority; economic life returned; children, including girls, got educated (the Talibs were against mixed schooling but were not against separate schools for girls and boys); there was peace and order enforced via practical, if somewhat brutish, justice. In the main, Afghans rallied to his movement’s call.
Cheers.
basil
Lots of American corporations are still making money off of Afghanistan. Providing the privatized services to the US military bases is one example. I’m not sure if the “build-a-school’ scam is still running. But, that’s why Afghanistan is still an ongoing US operation. The people who buy the US politicians are still making money off of it.
In Canada the government excuse is largely that we are in Afghanistan to educate girls.
What a smart way of waging a war ! To force an enemy to capitulate . That’s it . Never thought this could be possible . Well done , Mr.Putin !
RF Stavka had definitely mastered the art of Weaponizing The Peace, acronymically: “WTP”.
And they have shown the general Yuriy Evtushenko in charge of troops, strategy and general organization
of WTP, who laid it out all in rather simple terms. This will go into the history of war(peace)fare shortly.
That is really the 5-th generation war, or rather pieceware, as I understand it.
Regards to all
Spiral
Makes me wonder how the Yankee rebuilding of Mosul and Raqqa is going…
….have they even removed the bodies they buried the rubble of their airstrikes yet?
Just a dumb question to ask of those who only destroy and never rebuild.
I am happy for the people of Damascus who now get a chance to live in peace, without having radical Islamic jihadists shell them with their democracy-mortars every day.
I do believe the terrorists only take personal weapons to Idlib. They have to give up their SAMS and ATGMs. As well this spares the loyal Syrian civilians from the rigors of house to house fighting. Eventually the Syrians will no doubt drive on idlib and liberate the country.
Tis a contrast to the Pentagon briefings. the pentagon ones are full of liars, as the US does not admit the real reason we are where we are. The briefers are usually lying to themselves as well as to the reporters.
The Syrian map behind General Rudskoy is interesting, e.g. at 12:40 in the video. The region in the south east – Omar oil fields – is colored in orange. It is no the same color as the SDF held area to the north east nor is it the blue color of Turkish or American held areas in the north or south. I wonder which kind of fraction this represents? By the way there is no ISIS area in the center of the Deir ez-Zor desert marked.
Fascinating run down translated into English what exactly the Russians are doing there. Everything! Remembering the old man telling the Duran news, how the Russians who were the ones, only ones, who won WW11. It was the Russians who liberated the Holocaust prisons, not the Americans he said.
In fact the Russians lost about 40 million if you count the starving, the diseases of the starving, The old, the weak, the babies starved and slaughtered for their blood to be used to save Nazi soldiers. Number of U.S. soldiers died is under five hundred thousand…and no harm to any American cities or homes. Russia was decimated as was Germany, Britain all Europe, much of Asia, Africa.
And President Obama ordered Europe not to attend the joyful/tragic ceremonies and marches in Russia celebrating the end of Nazi-ism, because he stated: They did not win WW11, America won it!” Obama really stating that America was going to take over the world, one thing being in the way being real history so the U.S was going to rewrite it. As they have already done in Netherlands archives. Probably Japanese too.
In fact the Japanese Emperor is stepping down when Japanese Emperors never step down (for the last one thousand years) because his aides are telling him all the time he remembers his history all wrong. He,very sweet, quiet, his Empress still with him. He has been stating in next year he thinks he will “retire.” Who will replace him?
If someone chosen by the Americans the Japanese backlash will be unstoppable.