- Joined
- May 26, 2010
- Messages
- 31,122
- Likes
- 41,042
Syrian Army on Attack at Al Qousair, Homs:
Last edited by a moderator:
The Syrian Crisis
- Thread starter Someoneforyou
- Start date
pmaitra
Senior Member
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2009
- Messages
- 33,262
- Likes
- 19,594
^^
So what do we see here?
Good find Kunal!
So what do we see here?
- ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" - shooting intermittent rounds and swinging its turret. It is actually an Ack-Ack weapon, but is very effective in disabling armour.
- BMP - the one behind the sand bags.
- BMP - from where the video is being shot. This one also fires one round.
Good find Kunal!
- Joined
- May 26, 2010
- Messages
- 31,122
- Likes
- 41,042
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2009
- Messages
- 2,626
- Likes
- 1,670
Damn this is one of the rare times I wish I was a Syrian diplomat.
- Joined
- May 26, 2010
- Messages
- 31,122
- Likes
- 41,042
This must be 240mm shell, Watch a human body flying not so Graphic though..
--------------
Tanks flushing out Snipers..
Last edited by a moderator:
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2009
- Messages
- 2,626
- Likes
- 1,670
^^This is sad. What's wrong with young Muslim men that they are willing to throw their lives away in useless conflicts such as these? They still seem to be stuck in the Middle Ages...and their regressive religion offers no hope towards liberalism, modernity and progress. :shocked:
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2009
- Messages
- 13,811
- Likes
- 6,734
I don't believe that figure at all. The position is of no significance.Damn this is one of the rare times I wish I was a Syrian diplomat.
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2009
- Messages
- 2,626
- Likes
- 1,670
^^It's not necessarily the position, but the symbolism that is of significance. The defections if done on a mass scale can be used for propaganda, and affect the Syrian government's ability to influence public perceptions internationally. A few hundred million dollars are chump change for the GCC and western countries.
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2009
- Messages
- 13,811
- Likes
- 6,734
Ambassador of Mauritania offered a $6 million defection package... never happened. If you are going to bribe diplomats do it in Iran, Russia and China. That would make a statement. Mauritania ambassador is so insignificant it isn't even worthy of mention.
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2009
- Messages
- 13,811
- Likes
- 6,734
Rebels hold firm in Damascus
(Reuters) - At least 11 people were killed in fierce fighting that broke out in a Damascus suburb on Saturday when Syrian forces mounted an armored attack to try and regain the area from rebels, opposition activists said.
After three days of heavy army shelling and helicopter bombardment, tanks and armored carriers advanced on the conservative Sunni Muslim suburb of al-Tel on the northern edge of Damascus but were repelled by the rebels, two activists in the suburb said by telephone.
Eleven killed in Syrian army attack in Damascus area | Reuters
(Reuters) - At least 11 people were killed in fierce fighting that broke out in a Damascus suburb on Saturday when Syrian forces mounted an armored attack to try and regain the area from rebels, opposition activists said.
After three days of heavy army shelling and helicopter bombardment, tanks and armored carriers advanced on the conservative Sunni Muslim suburb of al-Tel on the northern edge of Damascus but were repelled by the rebels, two activists in the suburb said by telephone.
Eleven killed in Syrian army attack in Damascus area | Reuters
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2009
- Messages
- 13,811
- Likes
- 6,734
CIA stopping weapons crossing border to aid Syrian rebel forces
DESPITE mounting calls in Washington for a more aggressive US military role in Syria, the CIA has been quietly working along its northern border with Turkey to limit the supplies of weapons and ammunition reaching rebel forces, according to Syrian opposition officials.
"Not one bullet enters Syria without US approval," one official complained in Istanbul. "The Americans want the [rebellion] to continue, but they are not allowing enough supplies in to make the Damascus regime fall."
Details of the CIA's policing activities offer a rare insight into the complex struggle for regional advantage that is rapidly developing at the margins of the Syrian civil war. Conducted mostly by clandestine agents from America, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Iran, the conflict has turned Turkey's rugged border provinces into a hotbed of arms dealers, spies and would-be fighters.
Over the past 10 months, a Syrian opposition official told The Sunday Times, the CIA has blocked shipments of heavy anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, which rebel units of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) have long described as vital to their efforts to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
At the same time, they have approved supplies of AK-47 Kalashnikov rifles, and just over a month ago they gave the green light to a shipment of 10,000 Russian-made rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs).
"The weapons are being carried across the border on donkeys, which are especially good for carrying ammunition," the official said. Since the fall to rebel forces of Azaz, a Syrian town near the Turkish border, guns have begun to arrive by truck.
The weapons are either bought on the black market in Istanbul or supplied by the rebels' allies in Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. "Qatar sends money and usually says, 'go and buy what you want'," the official said. "The Turks just give the weapons free of charge, especially light anti-tank weapons."
Yet rebel frustration is mounting at the CIA's reluctance to allow heavy weaponry across the border, for fear that it may eventually be used against America's allies.
"The RPGs aren't enough," the opposition official said. "You have to be close to the tank to make any impact, and often the fighter using it gets killed."
The CIA's activities highlight an awkward contradiction in Washington's approach to Syria. While President Barack Obama's administration supports the rebel uprising, has called for Assad to step down and is supplying opposition forces with millions of dollars in non-lethal aid, it has shied from a more forcible military intervention.
Suggestions that Washington is deliberately prolonging the conflict while it attempts to identify a friendly successor to Assad were described by one former CIA official as "a little too Machiavellian" last week.
Yet Washington's hesitant strategy is increasingly coming under fire from both Republicans and Democrats who fear US inaction will encourage Al-Qa'ida and other extremists to build a power-base in a post-Assad Syria.
William Perry, a defence secretary under President Bill Clinton, warned that if America continued to sit on its hands, "we'll be in no position to influence the post-Assad government". He recommended that US forces impose a no-fly, no-drive zone in northern Syria.
Other experts noted that Mr Obama's policy appeared to be driven by fear of what one former CIA official described as "negative unintended consequences".
Bob Grenier, a former director of the CIA counterterrorism centre, said the CIA's policing activities along the border were intended to protect the administration from future embarrassment if the rebel groups it supports today turn out to be hostile to Israel or America should they gain power.
"It would not be good if it was later established that weapons reached people identified with al-Qa'ida, and we could have done something about it," Grenier said. He described the administration's current policy as "hiding behind the CIA".
Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said in Turkey yesterday that measures to assist the rebels, including the possible imposition of a no-fly zone, were being considered. "It is one thing to talk about all kinds of potential actions, but you cannot make reasoned decisions without doing intense analysis and operational planning," she said.
CIA agents have been active along the border, attempting to prevent jihadists sympathetic to Al-Qa'ida from joining the Syrian fray. "The CIA vetoes Al-Qa'ida and it's not very keen on the Muslim Brotherhood," a Syrian opposition official said.
Khaled Khoja, from the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC), said American fears of an Islamist takeover were unfounded. "Islamists in Syria are a very minor group, no more than 2000 soldiers compared with more than 100,000 FSA members," he said. "They can be controlled. This won't be a new Iraq [where US forces found themselves confronted by a flood of Islamic insurgents]".
Senior SNC members said Britain was supplying neither money nor arms to the FSA. "The Brits are at the end of the line, we ask them for money and military assistance, they tell us to submit projects as if we were talking about business plans," said one frustrated official.
With both the CIA and Israel's Mossad attempting to locate Syria's stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and Iranian agents keeping a close eye on western intervention, southern Turkey is beginning to resemble a desert version of cold war Berlin - teeming with spies engaged in a largely secret battle for scraps of intelligence from a distant war.
Cookies must be enabled. | The Australian
DESPITE mounting calls in Washington for a more aggressive US military role in Syria, the CIA has been quietly working along its northern border with Turkey to limit the supplies of weapons and ammunition reaching rebel forces, according to Syrian opposition officials.
"Not one bullet enters Syria without US approval," one official complained in Istanbul. "The Americans want the [rebellion] to continue, but they are not allowing enough supplies in to make the Damascus regime fall."
Details of the CIA's policing activities offer a rare insight into the complex struggle for regional advantage that is rapidly developing at the margins of the Syrian civil war. Conducted mostly by clandestine agents from America, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Iran, the conflict has turned Turkey's rugged border provinces into a hotbed of arms dealers, spies and would-be fighters.
Over the past 10 months, a Syrian opposition official told The Sunday Times, the CIA has blocked shipments of heavy anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, which rebel units of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) have long described as vital to their efforts to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
At the same time, they have approved supplies of AK-47 Kalashnikov rifles, and just over a month ago they gave the green light to a shipment of 10,000 Russian-made rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs).
"The weapons are being carried across the border on donkeys, which are especially good for carrying ammunition," the official said. Since the fall to rebel forces of Azaz, a Syrian town near the Turkish border, guns have begun to arrive by truck.
The weapons are either bought on the black market in Istanbul or supplied by the rebels' allies in Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. "Qatar sends money and usually says, 'go and buy what you want'," the official said. "The Turks just give the weapons free of charge, especially light anti-tank weapons."
Yet rebel frustration is mounting at the CIA's reluctance to allow heavy weaponry across the border, for fear that it may eventually be used against America's allies.
"The RPGs aren't enough," the opposition official said. "You have to be close to the tank to make any impact, and often the fighter using it gets killed."
The CIA's activities highlight an awkward contradiction in Washington's approach to Syria. While President Barack Obama's administration supports the rebel uprising, has called for Assad to step down and is supplying opposition forces with millions of dollars in non-lethal aid, it has shied from a more forcible military intervention.
Suggestions that Washington is deliberately prolonging the conflict while it attempts to identify a friendly successor to Assad were described by one former CIA official as "a little too Machiavellian" last week.
Yet Washington's hesitant strategy is increasingly coming under fire from both Republicans and Democrats who fear US inaction will encourage Al-Qa'ida and other extremists to build a power-base in a post-Assad Syria.
William Perry, a defence secretary under President Bill Clinton, warned that if America continued to sit on its hands, "we'll be in no position to influence the post-Assad government". He recommended that US forces impose a no-fly, no-drive zone in northern Syria.
Other experts noted that Mr Obama's policy appeared to be driven by fear of what one former CIA official described as "negative unintended consequences".
Bob Grenier, a former director of the CIA counterterrorism centre, said the CIA's policing activities along the border were intended to protect the administration from future embarrassment if the rebel groups it supports today turn out to be hostile to Israel or America should they gain power.
"It would not be good if it was later established that weapons reached people identified with al-Qa'ida, and we could have done something about it," Grenier said. He described the administration's current policy as "hiding behind the CIA".
Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said in Turkey yesterday that measures to assist the rebels, including the possible imposition of a no-fly zone, were being considered. "It is one thing to talk about all kinds of potential actions, but you cannot make reasoned decisions without doing intense analysis and operational planning," she said.
CIA agents have been active along the border, attempting to prevent jihadists sympathetic to Al-Qa'ida from joining the Syrian fray. "The CIA vetoes Al-Qa'ida and it's not very keen on the Muslim Brotherhood," a Syrian opposition official said.
Khaled Khoja, from the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC), said American fears of an Islamist takeover were unfounded. "Islamists in Syria are a very minor group, no more than 2000 soldiers compared with more than 100,000 FSA members," he said. "They can be controlled. This won't be a new Iraq [where US forces found themselves confronted by a flood of Islamic insurgents]".
Senior SNC members said Britain was supplying neither money nor arms to the FSA. "The Brits are at the end of the line, we ask them for money and military assistance, they tell us to submit projects as if we were talking about business plans," said one frustrated official.
With both the CIA and Israel's Mossad attempting to locate Syria's stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and Iranian agents keeping a close eye on western intervention, southern Turkey is beginning to resemble a desert version of cold war Berlin - teeming with spies engaged in a largely secret battle for scraps of intelligence from a distant war.
Cookies must be enabled. | The Australian
pmaitra
Senior Member
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2009
- Messages
- 33,262
- Likes
- 19,594
^^
Many in the US, including families of servicemen, do not want the US to get involved in another war. Many others are concerned about minorities in Syria. I wonder whether a majority of Americans actually favour the US supplying weapons to the rebels, who are allied with Al-Qaida. People here are a lot more aware after 9/11.
Many in the US, including families of servicemen, do not want the US to get involved in another war. Many others are concerned about minorities in Syria. I wonder whether a majority of Americans actually favour the US supplying weapons to the rebels, who are allied with Al-Qaida. People here are a lot more aware after 9/11.
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2012
- Messages
- 6,017
- Likes
- 3,364
U.S. and Turkey to Tighten Coordination on Syria
Turkey and the United States agreed Saturday to accelerate preparations for the possible fall of Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, creating a formal bilateral team to manage helping the opposition, providing aid to fleeing refugees and planning for worst-case outcomes that include a chemical weapons attack.
At a news conference here, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Turkey's foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, said that with the situation in Syria growing more dire — as the battle for Aleppo continues to rage — it was time to create a nerve center for information sharing and planning. They said a unified task force with intelligence, military and political leaders from both countries would be formed immediately to track Syria's present and plan for its future.
"What the minister and I agreed to was to have very intensive operational planning," Mrs. Clinton said. "We have been closely coordinating over the course of this conflict, but now we need to get into the real details."
Mrs. Clinton, who also announced an additional $5.5 million in humanitarian assistance for refugees, left open the possibility of setting up a no-fly zone, suggesting that the new planning team assigned to perform an "intense analysis" of all options could be a precursor to more direct assistance. But she stopped short of describing specific plans for helping Syria's opposition fighters now, or the timing.
The day after protesters in Aleppo chanted "Arm us with antiaircraft weapons," American officials said the United States remained concerned about providing weapons or air support because it could draw a violent response, not just from Syria, but also from Russia, Iran and other allies of Mr. Assad's that have strongly opposed direct foreign intervention to topple the government.
Hinting at fears of a wider war, Mrs. Clinton said Saturday that the goal was to hasten the removal of Mr. Assad, but "not in a way that produces even more death, injury and destruction."
Turkey is a natural hub for any kind of action in Syria. A former Syrian ally, it declared its allegiance with the rebels; many Syrian opposition groups are based in Turkey, and its Syrian border has become the main distribution point for weapons and assistance to the rebels, who have opened an off-again-on-again supply corridor from the border to Aleppo.
On Saturday, Mr. Davutoglu spoke more forcefully than Mrs. Clinton on the need for action. Describing the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo and the plight of refugees fleeing on roads under attack from Syrian forces, he said, "The international community needs to take some very decisive steps to stop this."
But in practice, analysts said the United States and Turkey, along with a wider group of allies known as the Friends of Syria, continue to hold back. Saturday's announcement still amounts to a policy of life support, some argue, giving enough help to keep the rebel movement alive and minimizing intervention while figuring out what to do next.
"The friends of Syria have developed a stake in making sure the opposition is simply not wiped out," said Ilter Turan, an international relations professor at Bilgi University in Istanbul. "That becomes the ruler to measure this by."
After 17 months of conflict and at least five months of the American focus on "nonlethal assistance," some signs of international help have recently been seen. More rebel commanders in Syria have satellite phones and ways to mask their communications. Qatar and Saudi Arabia have been leading the effort to arm Mr. Assad's opponents, and United States intelligence officials have helped select recipients, according to American officials.
Rebels and activists say such assistance so far has been nowhere near enough.
"We don't want food or money; all we need are weapons. We are running low," said Abu Mohammed, a rebel brigade commander in Aleppo. "We need antiaircraft missiles and we have a big need for live ammunition."
The meeting between Turkey and the United States was part of a flurry of diplomatic activity that underlines the severity of the crisis and the fears of escalating war.
Arab foreign ministers plan to meet on Sunday in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, to discuss developments in Syria and to consider selecting a replacement for Kofi Annan, the United Nations-Arab League envoy who resigned this month. And on Thursday, Iran, Syria's main ally, hosted its own meeting of 30 countries to discuss Syria — another sign that the world's powers see Syria as a proxy for wider battles.
On Saturday, a high-ranking diplomat told Iranian news media that the country had evacuated hundreds of its citizens from Syria.
"In the past few days we have succeeded in transferring some of these dear people back to our Islamic republic," said Iran's ambassador to Syria, Mohammad Raouf Sheibani.
The move comes after the recent kidnapping of 48 Iranians, who Tehran says are pilgrims but Syrian rebels accuse of being members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
In the meantime, the war grinds on. Syria's state-run news agency reported that rebels had captured one of its television crews in Damascus, the latest indication that at least some in the opposition consider all supporters of the government their enemies.
Rebels said that there was fierce fighting Saturday not only in Aleppo, but also in Damascus.
Despite pleas for foreign help, the rebels said they would find their own ways to survive and advance. On Saturday, fighters from the main brigade in Aleppo posted a video purportedly showing the successful seizure of a government weapons arsenal. Dozens of automatic weapons stood in piles alongside steel green boxes of ammunition as rebels could be heard declaring, "God is great."
Even if the United States and its allies do not come to help, Abu Mohammed said, the revolt will survive. "I'm not worried — they haven't helped before, and yet we keep fighting," he said. "We rely on God; we are all martyrs for the revolution."
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/world/middleeast/us-and-turkey-tighten-coordination-on-syria.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
pmaitra
Senior Member
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2009
- Messages
- 33,262
- Likes
- 19,594
Syria crisis: Arab League calls emergency talks
Source: BBC News - Syria crisis: Arab League calls emergency talks
- Joined
- May 26, 2010
- Messages
- 31,122
- Likes
- 41,042
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2012
- Messages
- 6,017
- Likes
- 3,364
Just a tea party....
- Joined
- May 26, 2010
- Messages
- 31,122
- Likes
- 41,042
pmaitra
Senior Member
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2009
- Messages
- 33,262
- Likes
- 19,594
So these barbarians have taken over private properties and are breaking them so that they can fight, while government tanks have to bombard homes to take out snipers.
Interesting.
I wonder in whose mind this makes any sense.
Interesting.
I wonder in whose mind this makes any sense.
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2009
- Messages
- 2,626
- Likes
- 1,670
I wonder if Iran would start a border conflict with Turkey to distract it from its machinations in Syria. The fall of Syria would mean the disappearance of a vital Iranian ally in the region, and Iran would be isolated and surrounded on all sides by American puppet states.
Also if the situation becomes more dire, to what extent would Russia get involved in the military defence of Syria? Considering that Syria hosts Russia's only military base in the ME.
Finding a Global Solution to the Syrian Crisis | Opinion | The Moscow Times
Also if the situation becomes more dire, to what extent would Russia get involved in the military defence of Syria? Considering that Syria hosts Russia's only military base in the ME.
Finding a Global Solution to the Syrian Crisis | Opinion | The Moscow Times
