Syrian Civil War: News #9

KoTeMoRe wrote:

Zivo wrote:So, Incirlik... It'll be interesting to see if the Turks allow the US and NATO to use their airbase to support the guys who just blew up Turkey's tanks and killed their soldiers.

Maybe this was Erdogan's plan for a Turkexit.

Incirlik isn't needed for ISIS work, it was done so Turkey could not feel offended. As it is the US operates from CV and Al Dhafra or straight out Qatar.

A-10 doesn't have the range. Much easier to operate from Incirlik than some ad hoc operating base.

JohninMK wrote:

KoTeMoRe wrote:

Zivo wrote:So, Incirlik... It'll be interesting to see if the Turks allow the US and NATO to use their airbase to support the guys who just blew up Turkey's tanks and killed their soldiers.

Maybe this was Erdogan's plan for a Turkexit.

Incirlik isn't needed for ISIS work, it was done so Turkey could not feel offended. As it is the US operates from CV and Al Dhafra or straight out Qatar.

A-10 doesn't have the range. Much easier to operate from Incirlik than some ad hoc operating base.

A-10 not needed for CAS in absolute. Most missions are done by F18/F16/15. A-10 statement.

Also previous speculation about Kornet was premature. The containers seen in those pictures are from Mortar rounds and the FSA have captured more from the area.

Map for today

Hassan Ridha ‏@sayed_ridha 4h4 hours ago

Map #Jarablus
Yellow: SDF/YPG
Green: Turkey/FSA
Blue: Turkey/FSA advances today
Black: ISIS

Bit of a change in six months in Darayya. Animated map

https://imgur.com/hMF5DcK

Map number 3. A new one from Peto

JohninMK wrote:Map number 3. A new one from Peto

Surprise...The Turks aren't even attempting to take out ISIS positions.

magnumcromagnon wrote:

JohninMK wrote:Map number 3. A new one from Peto

Surprise...The Turks aren't even attempting to take out ISIS positions.

No and there are now claims that they have crossed the river. Looks like the start of a 'cut off the SDF' manoeuvrer down the west side of the Euphrates. Well the Kurds were warned not to cross it!

#EuphratesShield (updated map): #FSA crossed Sajur River & seized its 1st village on #Manbij side: Awshariyah (red).

Could this be the plan?

JohninMK wrote:Could this be the plan?

Probably.

Like I said before, east Ghouta, and after that Northern Homs.
Leave Alepo for now.




What Next for the SAA's Republican Guard?
http://www.insidesourcenews.com/#!What-Next-for-the-SAAs-Republican-Guard/cjds/57c2e2804730e9a21673343c

After 5 grueling years of urban fighting , plagued with mass devastation and widespread cases of death, the Western-Damascus suburb of 'Darayya" has finally fallen to government forces; following a withdrawal agreement between rebel forces and the local government. With up to 3,000 elite SAA (Syrian Arab Army) soldiers deployed on this crucial front, along with scores of heavily armoured vehicles now freed, one begins to wonder where this surplus of men and equipment will be redeployed to.

The battle of Darayya required large amounts of SAA firepower which came in the form of constant aerial bombardment and ground assaults backed by artillery. The rebels in Darayya successfully resisted all SAA attempts to seize the suburb completely, subsequently forcing the government to commit large amounts of resources to subdue the pocket; resources which could of been used on more vital fronts.

These resources consisted of a variety of gunships, which would launch daily aerial raids on the suburb, approximately 2,900 soldiers from the Republican Guard and 42nd Brigade of the 4th Mechanized Division, dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles such as BMP's and a large range of artillery support.
The fall of Darayya has now freed these forces and allows them to redeploy to another front. An injection of a force of this magnitude can potentially tip the scales of any front in Syria which would be a real game changer.
Speculation continues to mount regarding the re-location of these forces with many rumours circulating across social media at the moment. There are various fronts which would benefit from the reinforcement including:

1. Eastern Ghouta
Being a front that already harbours up to 15,000 SAA soldiers according to some reports, Eastern Ghouta is seen as a major contender to receive this vital reinforcement. The pocket has been steadily shrinking over the last few months as figures show the pocket has shrunk by about 30-35% since the beginning of the year. The injection of these elite SAA forces, gunships and heavy armoury would certainly speed up the collapse of this front and potentially free up to 15,000 more soldiers. Although its an ambitious thought, it's definitely not out of reach if the SAA central command plays its cards right.

2. Northern Homs Pocket
The Northern Homs pockets has been subject to calm frontlines throughout the last few months other than inconsistent clashes in the countryside north of the pocket. Unconfirmed reports suggest 20k SAA soldiers are stationed in and around the pocket. The injection of elite republican guard units may spur the SAA into a large scale ground offensive, which if successful, will free up an unprecedented amount of men and equipment.

3. South-West Aleppo
After the large scale rebel offensive on Southern Aleppo, which lead to the lifting of the siege on Eastern Aleppo and large amount of losses among SAA ranks, the SAA and its allies are on the counter attack. Days of heavy clashes has lead to the SAA capturing the strategic hill of Umm AlQara and 70% of the 1070 apartments. However the main goal of seizing back the Ramousah district and artillery battalion seems unrealistic if things stay the same. Injecting 3,000 elite SAA soldiers would be a game changer and turns the Aleppo situation on its head. However, many believe there is an abundance of SAA soldiers in Aleppo and the reason why they are unable to recapture the artillery base and Ramousah district is due to tactical failure rather than a lack of men.

Sources close to us claim the likely destination of these elite SAA soldiers is South-West Aleppo in order to reverse recent rebel gains and re-implement the siege on Eastern Aleppo. Ultimately the redeployment of these units will be crucial in the SAA's chances of regaining military initiative across the country and producing solid gains.

Why don't SAA use Su-24 to bomb the artillery base? I don't imagine it can withstand 500 kg bombs no matter how tough it is.

calm wrote:Like I said before, east Ghouta, and after that Northern Homs.
Leave Alepo for now.




What Next for the SAA's Republican Guard?
http://www.insidesourcenews.com/#!What-Next-for-the-SAAs-Republican-Guard/cjds/57c2e2804730e9a21673343c

After 5 grueling years of urban fighting , plagued with mass devastation and widespread cases of death, the Western-Damascus suburb of 'Darayya" has finally fallen to government forces; following a withdrawal agreement between rebel forces and the local government. With up to 3,000 elite SAA (Syrian Arab Army) soldiers deployed on this crucial front, along with scores of heavily armoured vehicles now freed, one begins to wonder where this surplus of men and equipment will be redeployed to.

The battle of Darayya required large amounts of SAA firepower which came in the form of constant aerial bombardment and ground assaults backed by artillery. The rebels in Darayya successfully resisted all SAA attempts to seize the suburb completely, subsequently forcing the government to commit large amounts of resources to subdue the pocket; resources which could of been used on more vital fronts.

These resources consisted of a variety of gunships, which would launch daily aerial raids on the suburb, approximately 2,900 soldiers from the Republican Guard and 42nd Brigade of the 4th Mechanized Division, dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles such as BMP's and a large range of artillery support.
The fall of Darayya has now freed these forces and allows them to redeploy to another front. An injection of a force of this magnitude can potentially tip the scales of any front in Syria which would be a real game changer.  
Speculation continues to mount regarding the re-location of these forces with many rumours circulating across social media at the moment. There are various fronts which would benefit from the reinforcement including:

1. Eastern Ghouta
Being a front that already harbours up to 15,000 SAA soldiers according to some reports, Eastern Ghouta is seen as a major contender to receive this vital reinforcement. The pocket has been steadily shrinking over the last few months as figures show the pocket has shrunk by about 30-35% since the beginning of the year. The injection of these elite SAA forces, gunships and heavy armoury would certainly speed up the collapse of this front and potentially free up to 15,000 more soldiers. Although its an ambitious thought, it's definitely not out of reach if the SAA central command plays its cards right.

2. Northern Homs Pocket
The Northern Homs pockets has been subject to calm frontlines throughout the last few months other than inconsistent clashes in the countryside north of the pocket. Unconfirmed reports suggest 20k SAA soldiers are stationed in and around the pocket. The injection of elite republican guard units may spur the SAA into a large scale ground offensive, which if successful, will free up an unprecedented amount of men and equipment.

3. South-West Aleppo
After the large scale rebel offensive on Southern Aleppo, which lead to the lifting of the siege on Eastern Aleppo and large amount of losses among SAA ranks, the SAA and its allies are on the counter attack. Days of heavy clashes has lead to the SAA capturing the strategic hill of Umm AlQara and 70% of the 1070 apartments. However the main goal of seizing back the Ramousah district and artillery battalion seems unrealistic if things stay the same. Injecting 3,000 elite SAA soldiers would be a game changer and turns the Aleppo situation on its head. However, many believe there is an abundance of SAA soldiers in Aleppo and the reason why they are unable to recapture the artillery base and Ramousah district is due to tactical failure rather than a lack of men.  

Sources close to us claim the likely destination of these elite SAA soldiers is South-West Aleppo in order to reverse recent rebel gains and re-implement the siege on Eastern Aleppo. Ultimately the redeployment of these units will be crucial in the SAA's chances of regaining military initiative across the country and producing solid gains.

I quite agree i posted something similar on page 13 of this thread, although i think Homs would be a waste of time at the moment its pretty quiet front and stoking the flames could just create another headache and stretch the RuAF and SyAF resources even further. I think for Homs right now it would be better to try and make deals with FSA for either truce/suspended fighting, or a deal for them to leave, considering the length of time the war has been going on it now seems the terrorists are now getting tired especially the ones in enclaves/surrounded i think their might be a chance for this in Homs. Personally i think as mentioned Aleppo has plenty just now if SAA need extra manpower in Aleppo they should be asking Iran, Hezbollah, and Iraqi paramilitary units to give more men especially Iran, they could easily give another 3,000 IRGC and send 12,000 normal ground troops and these could be used to reinforce held areas and free up experienced Syrian troops in quiet fronts so they could be free to bolster other active fronts.. I think the best bet would be Eastern Ghouta considering how quick its collapsing and i think in the end it will get to the point where another deal will be done in Douma once they see they dont have a chance of success. Also in eastern Ghouta they haven't been needing the help of RuAF and SyAF t help them make progress so stoking the flames here wont over stretch them.

at least 448 bastards KIA in southern Aleppo since battle started

https://www.reddit.com/r/syriancivilwar/comments/501n1o/update_list_of_names_of_448_rebel_militants/

current map:



If the kurds lose that crossing, all they will have left is Tishreen to the south, their entire NW territory west of the Euphrates will be vulnerable.

How many ATGMs does SAA have. SAA urgently needs 10,000 more ATGMs to blast that artillery college.

KoTeMoRe wrote:
It's simple, the US plans to shape the Middle and Near east have failed in the last 25 years. That's not something debatable. They. Have. Failed. Everything they've touched in the region has turned to shit. And unlike the old days (Iran, Egypt, Turkey) the new guys they've tried to hire are all a fiasco. The problem with the US is the long term plan. They can't win in the long term because they do not understand what a International relationship is. The US Foreign Policy is a mess and it will be so as long as the US will be the N°1 spender in military matters. When all you have is a hammer, all problems become nails.

But thats the point you dont Understand. That turning into SHIT all the middle east Is their
Intention. You really think Americans are sorry that Yemen is fighting Saudi Arabia? This makes Saudis to buy guess what? MORE WEAPONS from American defense industry.. War is a Business.
In fact Americans airforce drop bombs in empty zones.. to later have to buy them again.
Money goes from American Tax dollars ,to the pockets of the Defense Industry and American Politicians. Is good business for the 1% of the american elite..and bad for the average American citizen.  

The war in Syria is not over yet.  Americans are 13 years in Afganistan already..and ISIS
presence is growing there.. This is not a failure.. is Working as Intended. The only only thing
not working is that Russia is defeating their terrorist ,and threatening to put an end to the war that .. is supposed to last Forever   .  If i tell you ,that the plan is to keep the war Going
F O R E V E R. then where is the failure?  Forever a war in afganistan.. forever a war in Syria,
forever a war in IRAQ.. then were is the failure?  

The only major failure here ..is Russia reversing all the gains of Alqaeda and ISIS ,defeating them and saving Syria from being over Run and strengtening pro Russian nations capabilities to fight back.. This is collapsing all their plans of a permanent presence in middle east with very weak nations that cannot defend its sovereignty.

Once Syria liberate 90% of its territory. NATO will have to go. There will be no more ISIS
to justify their presence. and it will be impossible for them to justify their fly over for nothing.
the same is for IRAQ. This means that ending the violence , is the danger for NATO.. and not the other way. Without an enemy , in a zone of peace ,NATO presence is not justified.

So the Syrian war ,was originally working as intended by NATO until Russia came ,and began to
really fight ISIS and Alqaeda and strenghten Syria and IRAQ. Since both shares information with Russia and Russia provide logistics and weapons to IRAQ too.

If Russia did not moved to help Syria.. the war will have been endless.. Because after Syria defeated.. Israel will then invade anex all golan and 1/3 of Syria and move Palestine to Syria . and get rid of the non loyal terror factions to NATO. NATO will make sure,
that the war never ends. after that ,they could blame all the terror to Saudi Arabia and replace
that government.

TUrkey ,Saudi Arabia and Israel,Americans,France.. they all agree in removing Assad and disbanding Syria.. but at the same time they also have their own interest of the repartition
of Syrian lands.. Turkey will like to get all Northen Aleppo and Latakia..

but is very likely Turkey will also will be split ,because NATO does not tolerate Independent allies. and will remove Erdogan too is a matter of time. and the next map ,shows the most
likely new borders of Syria if Russia allowed Assad to be removed by force.

This is how the new middle east will look like if NATO not stopped by Russia.



So Turkey will be victim too ,of the same policies ,they played against Syria.
because Israel is aiming at weakening Turkey too. Americans and Jews do not like
Strong Competition and ERdowin will learn that the hard way.. they also will experience
their own Free Turkey army and "moderates" too. Americans will arms Kurds to weaken
Turkey and blackmail Erdogan and in the end get rid of him and replace it for a loyal puppet like Gullen.

Simply NATO use ISIS as a trojan horse to justify their invasions ,and anexation of lands.
First nato infiltrate ISIS in the territory they want to take.. and later they invade with the pretext to fight them..and after ISIS "defeated" , with a shake of hands and wink..they relocated to another zone and repeat. and the "liberated lands by NATO" given to puppets moderates ,that they fully control .
If all things goes perfect for NATO ,and Russia does not interfere, israel will take control of all the Oil and Gas of middle east and a pipeline to Europe to bypass Russia ,and Palestine moved to Syria. and the wars will be endless. This is how they will justify their presence. Later they will say.. they will take the oil fields because ISIS was selling the oil..

but the wars will never end.. thats the point. thats the goal . Russia in the other hand
is ending the wars by really fighting ISIS. and Alqaeda too. and streghtening its allies.
So the NATO plan was working as intended ,until 2015 when Russia comes to the aid of Assad.
That managed to handle the fight with a limited force .and not a full scale invasion.  oh wait
this is what Russia doing in Ukraine too.

Russia tactics are weak ,because cause civilians casualties ,but it can work ,and as long they
can freeze the conflict and with NATO and the terrorist taking the worse part and much bigger losses.

Regardless what you think but to the core Vann7 is correct. It is about to diminish any arab/persian state so one small nation can become Regional power and later super power.

Assuming Israel expands to cover all of MENA area, then what? 1400 years of Islamic rule have not done the region anything good and in fact, have turned it from the centre of civilization into the most intelectually backward area of the world, and one with a strange religious psychosis. If Jews ruled that land, they would quickly make it flourish as they did with Israel.

Before Jews started mass migration to Palestine, the region was virtually medieval. There were just 4 cities with population above 15,000 people and towns of 1,000 people were considered large.

A nazi jew has spoken... what new?

God complex will certainly bring good to the world were 99% of all humanity are deemed worthless life because goyim. Fucking hate jews and their mental illness called religion.

... and therefore "worthless" Druze people serve as parliamentarians, government ministers and one was even a commander of the Golani Brigade.

... any more questions?

Apologise for posting such a big article but it raises some interesting points, which you may like to comment on hence cutting and pasting it here.

Turkey has intervened in Syria, as expected, under the guise of fighting ISIL. Turkey’s desire to have a larger buffer zone has been known for some time, but it has little to do with ISIL. Turkey wants to protect itself from its own Kurdish population, and from being obliged to treat those Kurds with basic dignity. It has now been manoeuvred into a position where the best way it can achieve this is by helping create a new Kurdish state, as the US has long desired, on terms as favourable to both Turkey and the US as possible.

The timing of this intervention is highly suspect. It is related to the US elections and gives a boost to the US, the Obama administration and Obama’s preferred successor, Hillary Clinton. But it also gives the Turkish military the green light to do what they have long been waiting with bated breath to do.

The US strategy is to let the Turks occupy territory in Syria which would otherwise have fallen to the US-backed Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which have until now been the spear point in securing the Turkish-Syrian border areas still under the control of the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL). This presents Turkey as the conqueror of the Kurdish terrorists who threaten it.

It also means that a “legal” Kurdish state can be established within territory occupied by “legal” powers, rather than a rogue state set up by terrorists. This latter was the first stage in the original plan, but ISIL having failed to deliver this, we have moved on to Stage Two – the takeover by legal forces, which had always been the endgame.

Who is friend and who is foe?

This latest intervention was made necessary by the events of 2014. In that year, ISIL allegedly seized a large quantity of US military equipment when it captured Mosul. This last ditch attempt to arm and equip ISIL to finish the job in Syria went wrong because Russia knew what was going on and stepped in at the right time to support the Syrian government.

This illegal Turkish incursion into a sovereign country, supported by the US, is designed to kill two birds with one stone. As a reward for helping create the new US-sponsored Kurdish state Turkey has been given free rein to go after the Kurds who control the area at present. From the Turkish viewpoint, the Kurds are trying to steal Turkish territory. From the US viewpoint, they are succeeding in driving back ISIL and creating a contiguous Kurdish State on their own terms, not the Kurdish State envisioned by the US.

As a recent article stated, “by seizing territory from IS, the Peshmerga (Kurdish militia) is establishing control over “disputed territories” – areas both claimed by the autonomous Kurd region of Iraq, the Central government in Baghdad and has been held by US-sponsored terrorists, IS. Their motivation (the Kurds’) is clear, and it has little to do with restoring the territorial integrity of one country or another.”

It thus comes as no surprise to hear that a No Fly Zone in Syria is being urged by people closely linked with US intelligence. We have already witnessed the PR softening up for the Turkish invasion, and have heard the grounds for establishing the so-called “exclusion zone”, the enlarged buffer zone for Turkey which is in effect a Kurdish exclusion zone.

Common cause

Kurds have always been denied self-determination and a state of their own. Their present grudges date back to the secret Sykes-Picot agreement of 1916, which divided what was left of the Ottoman Empire into French and British zones of influence, splitting Kurdish majority areas between the main two players, and ultimately spreading the Kurds across several artificially created new states.

The distribution of Kurds within Turkey and the neighbouring states is the key to understanding their role in the current geopolitical fighting. Iraq’s Kurds are located in the north of the country, the ideal place from which to get to and from Syria. They were never able to get along with the Sunni regime of Saddam Hussein, which deported tens of thousands of them, destroyed their villages en masse, and killed at least 5,000 of them during the gassing of Kalabji in 1988.

Consequently the US decided they were the “natural enemy” of others in the region. They were protected by an UN-imposed no-fly zone during the toppling of Saddam’s regime, and more recently have been used as a means of getting back at disobedient Turkey. Turkey is terrified of the PKK becoming a real political force, with the backing of Syria and Iraq. The Peshmerga gains from ISIL have made this a real possibility, and although the US did not want to see these gains it has turned them to its advantage by using them to draw Turkey into this adventure.

Turkey must be hoping that if it helps the US create a Kurdish state controlled by Kurds Turkey isn’t afraid of the US will not include any part of Turkish territory in that state. If Turkey remains intact while its neighbours are carved up this will be a significant propaganda victory. It won’t help regional security, but will greatly increase the prestige of Turkey, both conqueror and benefactor. So much so that its conduct within its own borders will no longer be subject to the same scrutiny.

The incursion also has to do with buffer zones, so to make sure that a Kurdish state too close to Turkey’s borders born as a result of the misadventure in Syria. For instance, Dr. Robert Olson, University of Kentucky, and one of my former instructors, addresses the topic of a buffer zone in detail.

In the Western leaning, democratic society Turkey has traditionally aspired to be the Kurds are technically equal citizens before the law. But the recent Turkish attacks on local Kurds, described as anti-terrorism operations, are designed to instill in non-Kurds the idea that they are not equal citizens, and should not be. Turkey won’t get away with this forever. But shunting its Kurds off into a new state, obliged by its sponsors to be friendly to Turkey, would give every excuse for these attacks to continue.

As apartheid supporters used to say of South Africa’s blacks, you are all aliens anyway, so if you don’t like it you can go back to your homelands – the ones we’ve created for you. As with those South African homelands, such as Ciskei and Bophuthatswana, the creation of a Kurdish state is designed to help their sponsors portray the “freedom struggle,” as pointless; and therefore pure terrorism. But unlike those homelands this new Kurdish state is almost guaranteed international recognition, thus further diluting its ability or willingness to claim new borders which would include current Turkish territory.

Kurdistan but not Kurdish

But this is not a new process. It has been clear for some time that Turkey has been working with the Iraqi Kurds to get them onside. When Turkish troops were accused of entering Iraq illegally between December 2015 and January 2016, it was said that Barzani, President of the Iraqi Kurdistan region, gave them refuge in Northern Iraq. Turkey has also long sponsored the flow of black market oil through its own territory, with Barzani himself being one of the main beneficiaries of this process, despite being Kurdish himself.

The Financial Times has reported that sales of oil from Iraqi Kurdistan and Northern Iraq have averaged 450,000 barrels a day since May of last year, raking in some $1.5 billion in revenue from traders in a period of two months alone, according to an article in the Al Monitor on August 1, 2015.

Such proceeds are more than enough to pay civil servants’ and Peshmerga fighters’ salaries. Turkey has also helped to make up any shortfalls, via hefty cash handouts to the tune of over $1 billion.

Barzani theoretically represents the enemy, as Turkey’s Kurds can easily be supplied with personnel and weapons from there. However Turkish military success against its domestic Kurds seems to have persuaded both sides that their ambitions are dovetailing. If they work together, Barzani can have his Kurdish state and Erdogan can resolve his “Kurdish problem.” A compliant Kurdish state with international support would seem as attractive a new home for the Turkish Kurds as Israel is meant to be for global Jewry, or so it is hoped.

Not long ago Turkey was holding talks with the US on establishing a “safe zone” north of Aleppo which would be controlled by Turkey. On March 28 Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said while on a visit to Jordan, “Turkey’s security zone starts from Latakia and passes through Aleppo, Mosul and Sulaimani (Sulaymaniya)….”

The Turks know what is going on. “The reason why Turkey has tenaciously pushed for this safe zone plan today is not only to relieve itself of the burden of some of the 1.9 million Syrian refugees now calling Turkey home but also to prevent the establishment of a Syrian Kurdistan along its border with the PYD’s further expansion to the west of the Euphrates River, a move that would unite the three cantons of Rojava,” according to Selin NASİ in an article entitles Conquering Aleppo by Hurriyet News.

It is no coincidence that we are now witnessing a media bombardment about what is going on in Aleppo, designed to secure exactly this safe zone, allegedly for humanitarian reasons. It would in effect give Turkey a big say in the composition of a new, friendly Kurdish state which controlled all the oil transport routes and reduced the sovereignty of both Iraq and Syria. The fly in the ointment of this plan is the Syrian Kurds, who will never accept such terms. The more of them Turkey can massacre during this intervention, the more this serves the purposes of the Iraqi Kurds and their new state, whether they call it a Kurdish homeland or not.

Too clever by half

Turkey has everything to gain from this illegal intervention. It repairs relations with the US by helping it fulfil its plan and at the same time does not compromise its new friendship with Russia, as it is merely fighting terrorists, not the Syrian government which Russia supports. It will go after a number of Kurdish targets outside its borders and within and then come out of it as the joint architect of a new Kurdish state, a gift from the benevolent Turkish people, which doesn’t include any of Turkey and ensures Turkish control of the regional oil trade and a pretext for stripping Turkey’s Kurds of their remaining rights.

The problem will come when it gains too much, and rejoices in it. Turkey is being used by the US just as the Syrian Kurds have been so far. If Turkey tries to claim too much of the pie in the exaltation of victory it will find itself shut out like Italian Prime Minister Orlando was at the end of the First World War: it will only be allowed to profit if suitably grateful, as much a client as the new Kurdish state but expected to be more self-reliant when trouble comes.

Turkey may forget it has been manoeuvred into helping create this new Kurdish state. It is hoping that the Kurds will also forget this, and take Turkish assistance at face value.  It appears that history may write that Russia and Syria were set up by Turkey in collaboration with the Kurds from Northern Iraq. Now Barzani and Erdogan get what they want. It is strange, and too bad we were not able to connect all the dots weeks ago as what is now transpiring in the region. There was confusion among experts in Moscow and the region when the announcement came that Turkey intervened in Syria.

Henry Kamens, columnist, expert on Central Asia and Caucasus, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.
http://journal-neo.org/2016/08/28/will-a-kurdish-state-be-born-under-the-guise-of-fighting-isil/

He protesteth too much.

But it looks like the US SF may have been pulled out leaving the SDF on their own without the key guidance and CAS they have grown used too. If they can't pull back fast enough over the Euphrates and the Turks eliminate a Manjiib 'cauldron' its gonna make it tough to persuade what's left of them to go for Raqqa.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The United States is not involved in clashes between militias and Turkish servicemen in northern Syria and does not support them, Brett McGurk, Special Presidential Envoy for the US-led coalition countering the Islamic State [ISIL or Daesh] militant group, said Monday.

"Monitoring reports of airstrikes & clashes south of #Jarabuls b/w Turkish forces, some opposition groups, & units affiliated with #SDF [Syrian Democratic Forces]. We want to make clear that we find these clashes — in areas where #ISIL [IS] is not located — unacceptable and a source of deep concern. The United States was not involved in these activities, they were not coordinated with U.S. forces, and we do not support them," McGurk said on Twitter citing the Pentagon spokesman.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160829/1044732705/us-syria-turkey-clashes.html

SAA losing ground in northern Hama again. All thanks to Putin's ceasefire that allowed bad guys to regroup, rearms, replenish. Putin could have ended the war last year by deploying ground forces. Now Putin is stuck in Syria until the day he kicks the bucket.

Turkey will probably have the whole border soon if the current pace is maintained.



SDF lose more territory.