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The US is actively preparing public opinion for a direct military aggression against Syria. The White House claimed on Monday that it has a “potential” evidence that the Bashar Assad government was preparing for another chemical weapons attack that “would likely result if the mass murder of civilians, including innocent children.” Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that if “Mr. Assad conducts another mass murder attack using chemical weapons, he and his military will pay a heavy price.” US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley further accused Russia and Iran for any future “chemical attacks” that may take place in Syria. However, no evidence was provided.
UK Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said on Tuesday that the US had not shared any specific evidence with the British Government, but the UK is ready to support any US military actions against Syria.
Earlier this month, Army Col. Ryan Dillon, spokesman for the US-led coalition, admitted that the US and its allies had lost a race for the Syrian-Iraqi border to government forces and that the Pentagon has no problems with the anti-ISIS operation of the Syrian-Iranian-Russian alliance in the area. But, it looks that somebody in the White House has a problem with this.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Army and its allies have further advanced against ISIS terrorists in the countryside of Palmyra and along the border with Iraq. An intense fighting took place near the Arak field while another group of government fighters continued pushing towards the T2 pumping station.
Tensions increased between Turkey-led forces and Kurdish militias that compose a core of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Turkish artillery units have shelled Tell Rifat, Sheikh Issa, Harbul, Maranaz, Minaq and Ayn Daqnah in northern Aleppo.
Earlier this month, reports appeared that the Turkish military deployed a large number of military equipment, including T-155 Firtina howitzers and ACV-15 armoured vehicles, to the area of the militant-held town of Azaz. According to multiple pro-Kurdish media outlets, Turkey and pro-Turkish militant groups were preparing for a large advance against Kurdish militias in the area of Afrin. However, no large attack has taken place so far.
The SDF media wing has not reacted to the recent shelling but some unofficial Kurdish sources indicated that the SDF is not going to halt the Raqqah advance even if Ankara launches the expected operation in the Afrin area. If this is true, this will open a window of opportunities for the Erdogan government that has a long-standing aim of retaking Tell Rifat from Kurdish units.
In the city of Raqqah, the SDF continued clashing with ISIS terrorists encircled in the urban area. However, the ISIS resistance did not allow the US-backed force to make gains. The US-led coalition increased airstrikes on ISIS targets in the provinces of Raqqah and Deir Ezzor.
The Monday airstrikes on Mayadeen hit the ISIS prison and killed at least 42 prisoners and only 15 the terrorist group’s members according to the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a hardcore anti-Assad media outlet. In turn, the US-led coalition described the target as ISIS “command and control” facilities.
Sputnik reporting White house spokesperson saying they believe the warning was “successful,”……fortruss carrying an article that 50 civilians killed by usa coalition near Dheir ez Zour……..
Here’s what I think is going on, however “politically incorrect/inconvenient” it may be to say, and which was just proven by “Israel’s” third strike against the SAA in less than a week and immediately following Lavrov’s promise to respond with “dignity and proportion” if the US would have done something similar:
“The last thing that Moscow wants, especially this late in the “game” right when all sides are finally approaching the “finish line” in getting ready to agree to a “political solution”, is for Damascus to “screw it all up” by following through on President Assad’s promise to liberate “every square inch” of Syria.
This, as has already been demonstrated several times across the past month, would thereby prompt high-profile “humiliations” in which Russia would have “no choice” but to “stand down” out of its own will and have the rest of the world watch its ally get bombed over and over again in order to save the speculated “gentleman’s agreement” with Washington.”
http://regionalrapport.com/2017/06/27/syrias-10-day-countdown-begins/
Well should Assad have said, that he wont be seeking to reclaim every inch of Syrian territory?
Sounds like you are recommending that Syrians “live on their knees” instead of standing up and “dying on their feet” , if that is what it takes to have dignity
Every inch of Syrian soil must be liberated including the Golan Heights.
By holding back, Syria’s enrmies are encouraged.
Now Israel dont only want to steal the Golan Heights outright, they are now trying to impose a “buffet zone” between the illegally -occupied Golan Heights and Syria proper.
So you see the audacity? You give them an inch and they end up taking a mile.
Assad must not relent. All of Syria must be linerated.
The unfortunate thing is thst most persons still dont seem to understand that Syria is in a struggle for its survival.
As such, there can be no compromise as itvrekates to Syrian sovereignty.
Syria must stand firm. And if If Russia balks, Iran will have Syria’s back.
If Syria falls, Iran is next.
And if Iran falls, the jihadists will in short order be sicced on Russia via the Caucuses.
No compromise…
What could Syria look like if it attempts to defy the Hegemon.
?
A: Libya. (If it’s lucky!) or Somalia or Congo.
________
Tis very human to feel the sting of humiliation and the rage of betrayal.
But Syria can survive with “useful” Syria.
All will understand what a humiliation that is.
The US is the global equivalent of the 800lb alpha male gorilla.
Sees banana. Wants banana. Takes banana.
And again.
The rest of the troop can screech and fling sticks, but no one is game or able to stop the alpha taking that banana.
Might gets “right if way”, even if it’s not “right”.
The US cares nothing for international law, morality, ethics, humanity.
If it wants Syria it’s gonna take and/or break Syria.
It’s the law of the jungle.
We’re all just apes with (expensive) shoes.
So basically your article says that either through weakness in ability, or weakness in will, Russia has picked the route of appeasement (once more) in dealing with US aggression. That should explain why Russia’s very few allies (China and Iran) can’t trust them enough to fully back them against the US.It explain’s why China “hedges their bets” with the US constantly.If your article is proved correct (we will see in a few months),then that will put a closure to Russia having allies.After seeing Syria fall for lack of action,any other “ally” would be a fool to count on them again.
Rather the Russians realize it or not (I doubt they do),Syria is the “litmus test ” for Russia. Tehran and Beijing will be looking at Syria closely.And they’ll make their determinations from what they see.If they see Russia “stand aside” in Syria. They’ll know they would when they are threatened as well (and as important,the US will know that too).They won’t say that openly of course. And they’ll work diplomatically with Russia. And try to get all the military technology they can get from Russia. They’d be stupid to not do that. But they’ll know that “when push comes to shove” Russia won’t be there with them.So that means they won’t be there with Russia either.
The US offers countries a choice,”obey us or we destroy you”. And after Syria,countries Worldwide will be thinking “can we stand on our own,or must we obey”. Iran has no choice,the US wants them destroyed. So they have to totally submit or fight. Unless there is some sort of coup in Iran. I figure they will fight on their own.They’ll know not to count on support.But they’ll fight.The fight will probably be horrible and long. But the US knowing they will only have to worry about fighting Iran,they’ll end up with a repeat of Iraq when its over. Certainly Russia and China will “go to the UN”,and condemn the US aggression. But that is worthless,and won’t help.As far as military help “it ain’t happening”.When its all over the US forces will be on the Caspian and Caucasus borders.And their jihadi forces of chaos and destruction will be poised to spread terror throughout Central Asia and be on the border of China’s Western provinces,and Russia’s soft underbelly.
Maybe then Russia will understand what their actions,actually lack of action in Syria,cost them.But it will be to late to cry over that by then.They’ll be too busy trying to fight jihadis inside Russia.And China will have their Western provinces under constant threat.They’ll be trying to see what kind of deal they can cut with the US.History only gives countries a certain number of options to do the right thing. And when they pick the wrong one,” History”, is an unforgiving mistress.
Agreed, it does not look good – and if you read the Korybko article cited in an earlier topic on this site, it looks very bad in every way with significant loss of territory for Syria and no end to the wars in fact they’ll ramp up.
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201706221054867138-us-coalition-syria-plan/
And believe me I share your trepidation at what this may all portend.
However where I would disagree is in conflating Russia’s refusal to shoot back at US attacking planes with the loss of the war for Syria which I see as more likely than ever though not inevitable.
If what it is coming down to now, east of the Euphrates in Syria, is sheer American military power to enforce an occupation , as many now suspect, there is nothing anyone can do.
Russia has done a lot, a colossal amount, along with only 2 other countries fighting to physically stop this US war machine.
There is one country in the world however, which could have won this in a relatively short time frame going in with Russia and before the west got re-organised and that of course is China.
OK – they chose not to.
And thus there are not powerful enough forces to stop a determined US military occupation and partition – and the west won.
Not Russia’s fault at all – the fault instead of everybody else who never showed up to help.
Why not be more positive and see where this goes? Nothing is lost yet and we should realize that the US has a very long supply route whilst Iran, Hizbollah and Russia are nearby. Russia needs to play it carefully and is playing a lethal kind of chess, the US is the schoolyard bully having a fit.
Remember that at times matters looked very grimm for the Vietcong and the Vietnamese suffered terrible losses, but they finally won the war.
My train of thought goes on a similar steam and follows similar lines. When we cut this knot with the Occam’s Razor the only logical conclusion is that RF and its allies are ready for war with the Hegemon in the Syraqian theater but they want to bring diplomatic solution to the conflict but not military one. But I think that all forces and pieces are in place for the Hegemon invasion and if/when that invasion happens the US will find its assets in a tinder box. Just think what Hezbollah made during 2006 and multiply that with the added capabilities of Iran (and all Iranian backed MPUs) and Russia (we all know that cream de la creme of Russian special forces are in Syraq). It is true that the west have expanded its knowledge of how to wadge war by proxy but I think that the Russians entered this theater only after they craft a plan for when the SHTF. If Vladi and Seryoga didn’t have plan in case of major/extreme escalation by US and friends the RF army would have been kept on the bench at home. Russia is not US or SA, Russia does not have immense financial assets, Russia enters conflicts only after all conservative estimates show that Russia will win.
And just in case of someone willing to pulverize my conclusions – I am only speculating, we don’t have even a 1% of the real information, i.e. we are only capable of guessing albeit educated one.
My military guru and I have a game called “What would you do next if you were Putin?” Strictly a game, mind you.
His was: 1. Put Iskanders with Nukes on them in Syria, very openly and publicly.
2. Mine was: Run a disaster drill Russia-wide to see how up-to-date the civil defense
network is, dust off the cobwebs in the underground shelters, and iron out the kinks. Done very publicly. Say that it is in the event of a asteroid strike.
We then argued about which one to do first and if B. Assad would even sign off on making his country ground zero which it actually already is de facto.
Unthinkable has become insanely thinkable.
Self defense drills in Russia have taken, Russians are ready.
Give enough s300 and s400 to Assad, let him go to work.
From Ziad Fadel, editor of SyrianPerspective.com: “It’s now official, the Syrian military has unchallenged control over the Syrian-Iraqi nexus-point at Al-Dhulay’aat on the outskirts of Hameema Village. Attacking ISIS from the Third Oil Station to the Second Oil Station, the army has done what nobody expected which is to block any attempt by the American-supported cannibals at Al-Tanf to move northward and establish a rump state designed to impede Iran’s effort to extend its natural gas pipeline all the way to Syria’s coast. The army, as you all know now, has cleared out all obstacles in the way of the Baghdad-Damascus Highway, essential to moving weapons from Iran to Syria, and to HZB. As I write this note, SAA engineers are dismantling a network of IEDs and land mines planted by the escaping ISIS rodents. Trump’s Zionist-conceived plans in Syria appear to be at a crossroads. With no strategy in sight, Trump is now relying on his instinct while distancing himself from his senior advisors.”
Now that their terrorists are on the ropes, with their leadership also seriously depleted (thanks to Russian airstrike), the israeli’s appear poised to order their american/eu proxies go all out to try and salvage israel’s faultering war against Syria et al.
Very important article at RT that needs to be seen and distributed.
‘US info campaign against Syria is intervention warning sign’ – Russian Foreign Ministry
https://www.rt.com/news/394571-syria-intervention-russia-us/
“The US information campaign on Syria is a warning sign that an American-led intervention may be in the works, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
“The campaign, which was started by the US and is being backed by London and Paris, on the alleged chemical attack that is claimed to be prepared by Damascus, is not original, it’s a textbook script, which has already been used in several countries in the region,” Zakharova said.
In 2013, for example, “a provocation with the alleged use of chemical weapons became an excuse for a [potential] direct Western intervention in Syria. The situation was salvaged only by Russia’s decisive stance,” the official said.
Following the incident in April of this year, when the US leadership claimed a chemical weapons attack had been carried out by Syrian government forces in Khan Shaykhun, Washington is not doing anything that hasn’t been seen before, Zakharova added.
“The current information attack is very likely a warning sign of an intervention. The story will be the same: an incident happens on the territory controlled by the terrorists, civilian casualties follow. The so-called opposition – de facto the same jihadists, not very different from IS [Islamic State, formerly ISIS/ISIL] and Al-Qaeda, but who are still getting help from the US and allies – announce yet another ‘crime by the regime,’” Zakharova said.
The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman even pointed out potential locations for such incidents: Sarrakab and Ar-Riha, where Moscow “believes that such a staged [chemical weapons] attack is being prepared.”
The US’ claims on an alleged chemical attack being prepared by Damascus aren’t only aimed against the Syrian authorities, but also against Russia, the Zakharova said.
“The situation seems to be a massive provocation, both military and information-wise, a provocation which targets not only the Syrian leadership, but also Russia,” the spokeswoman said.
“These accusations and threats sound cynical amid the background of the blatantly illegal activities of the US-led anti-ISIS coalition fighting against the sovereign state of Syria,” the official added, referring to the US attack in April on the Shayrat airbase, as well as “mass civilian casualties in the coalition strikes in Raqqa and elsewhere.”
“Only during Ramadan, AFP reported the death toll of 500 civilians, who weren’t connected to the terrorists in any way,” Zakharova said.
On Wednesday, Moscow warned Washington against any “incendiary, provocative action” in Syria, stating there is no threat from the Syrian military.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Gennady Gatilov, slammed the potential action as “unacceptable” and something that “breaches Syria’s sovereignty [and] isn’t caused by any military need.”
The defender of justice and morality in the world, the defender of the weak and oppressed, the defender of democracy, the US regime caught red handed in Iraq :
“7 US helicopters landed in ISIS controlled areas in Hawija south of Kirkuk, near Peshmerga positions & after an hour headed toward Erbil.”
https://twitter.com/iraqi_day/status/880346409794506752
It has happened many times in al Qaim and al Bukamal, but never caught on camera….until now.