Syrian Civil War: News #6

PapaDragon wrote: And like everything before, it will not matter one bit in practice regardless of media white noise. SAA will take back entire Syrian territory and Kurds will rejoin the country with autonomy they requested and well earned but that does not mean that Assad can go around advertising the game plan to everyone.

Did Zhukov mail Kursk plans to Guderrian back in WW2?

Suck it like a good Doggie.

Bolt wrote:NATO Concerned over Possible Russia-Turkey Hostilities

In an effort to prevent further escalation, NATO has made it exceedingly clear to the Turkish government that it cannot count on alliance support should the conflict with Russia head up as a result of a Turkish attack. "NATO cannot allow itself to be pulled into a military escalation with Russia as a result of the recent tensions between Russia and Turkey," says Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn.

Should Turkey be responsible for escalation, say officials in both Berlin and Brussels, Ankara would not be able to invoke the NATO treaty. Article 4 of the alliance's founding treaty grants member states the right to demand consultations "whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened." Turkey has already invoked this article once in the Syrian conflict. The result was the stationing of German Patriot missiles on the Syrian border in eastern Turkey.

NATO Gets Nervous

The decisive article, however, is Article 5, which guarantees that an "armed attack against one or more of (the alliance members) in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all." But Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Asselborn notes that "the guarantee is only valid when a member state is clearly attacked."

Ankara was already rebuked following the shooting down of the Russian warplane, with NATO diplomats speaking of a Turkish overreaction. "We have to avoid that situations, incidents, accidents spiral out of control," warned NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg.

Berlin agrees. "We are not going to pay the price for a war started by the Turks," says a German diplomat. Because decisions taken by the North Atlantic Council, NATO's primary decision-making body, must always be unanimous, it is enough for a single country to exercise its veto rights, the official says. But, the official adds, it won't get that far: there is widespread agreement with the US and most other allies that Turkey would get the cold shoulder in such a case.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/nato-worried-about-possible-turkey-russia-hostilities-a-1078349.html

Project Canada wrote:according to the translation, Obama spoke with Erdoturd over the phone reassuring Turkey of NATO's support in its self defense against possible aggression.

http://tvzvezda.ru/news/vstrane_i_mire/content/201602200053-m9b8.htm

Obama Backs Turkey Against Syrian Government, PKK in Call to Erdogan

http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160220/1035073488/obama-erdogan-syria-pkk.html

AlfaT8 wrote:

Obama Backs Turkey Against Syrian Government, PKK in Call to Erdogan

http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160220/1035073488/obama-erdogan-syria-pkk.html

Apparently, the U.S has betrayed the Kurds, this must be a record, how long were they allies with the Kurds , a few months??  

Erk wrote:... US out of the Rmeilan airfield?

BKP wrote:Report: Syrian Army Completes East Aleppo Cauldron; 800 ISIS Fighters Trapped
SAA seizes last key village along Aleppo-Raqqa highway, trapping almost 1,000 ISIS terrorists

Islamic State fighters are commonly referred to as 'ISIS rats' on the internet. That unflattering designation may have gone from being one of mere pejorative to one being literally true.

It is being reported that the Syrian Arab Army has seized the last remaining village along the Aleppo-Raqqa Highway, thus completing the encirclement of 800 ISIS members in East Aleppo and trapping them like, well, rats.

It is an especially cruel and ironic twist of fate for these sad souls as a great number of them were no doubt part of the siege of the Kuweires airbase located in the same region. The Syrian Army somehow managed to hold out for 18 grueling months until Russian air power eventually broke it down in November 2015.

If the encirclement is as complete as is being reported, ISIS is in for a very painful experience. There is nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. No one will be coming to help them and there is no escape. There is just the wait. Waiting under Russian jets and surrounded by an enraged army - an army so many members of which were subjected to some of the most appalling war crimes imaginable. With ISIS' limited skills in negotiation, this could be a very harsh and brutal end of the road.

http://russia-insider.com/en/military/report-syrian-army-completes-east-aleppo-cauldron-800-isis-fighters-trapped/ri12964

George1 wrote:Lengthy SDF footage of their fighters taking Tishrin Dam in northern Syria from ISIS.

ultron wrote:reports coming in Russia agreed to ceasefire

https://twitter.com/zvezdanews/status/701063670814658560