The Syrian Crisis

[Yusuf]

Re: If Assad falls, who wins?

Saudis will be the biggest winner and their damn Wahabism will along with it.

 

[Blackwater]

Re: If Assad falls, who wins?

If Assad falls, who wins?


USA who else

 

[Yusuf]

Re: If Assad falls, who wins?

In the long run, US will lose.

 

[Blackwater]

Re: If Assad falls, who wins?

In the long run, US will lose.

kal kisne dekha ha bhai

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Re: If Assad falls, who wins?

Assad Grants Control of Kurdish Region to Militant Group

Syrian President Bashar Assad, facing a growing rebel presence in Aleppo, his country's largest city and its commercial hub, has turned control of parts of northern Syria over to militant Kurds whom Turkey has long considered to be terrorists, prompting concern that Istanbul might see the development as a reason to send troops across its border with Syria.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in comments late Wednesday, said Turkey would not accept an entity in northern Syria governed by the Iraq-based Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which has long waged a guerrilla war against Turkey, and its Syrian affiliate, the Democratic Union Party.

He said the two groups had built a "structure in northern Syria" that for Turkey means "a structure of terror."

"It is impossible for us to look favorably at such a structure," he said in a television interview.

He warned that if Syrian Kurdish militants mount an attack or some other form of cross-border provocation against Turkey, "then intervening would be our most natural right."

The prospect of a PKK-dominated zone in northern Syria appears to be an unintended consequence of the civil war between Assad and rebels of the Free Syrian Army, who are Sunni Muslims fighting, with U.S. and other nations' backing, to topple Assad's government.

Assad withdrew forces last week from six predominantly Kurdish towns and handed control to the Kurdish militants in what appears to be an effort to bolster his defenses at Aleppo, which became the scene of sustained fighting last week for the first time since the anti-Assad uprising began more than 16 months ago. Assad also reportedly has pulled forces from the Idlib region of northeastern Syria and moved them to Aleppo.

 

[Armand2REP]

Kurdish forces prevent Iraq from closing borders to help Assad

 

[Armand2REP]

 

[pmaitra]

Replacing government 101: Syrian rebels learn democracy in Germany

A group of top Syrian opposition figures took courses in governing a country in Berlin. The training, partially sponsored by the US State Department, is meant to come in handy after the Bashar al-Assad regime falls.

Source: Replacing government 101: Syrian rebels learn democracy in Germany — RT

 

[pmaitra]

Syria: residents filmed fleeing Aleppo as fighting intensifies

The amateur footage is said to show how Syrian government forces have launched air and ground attacks on rebel-held areas of the northern city of Aleppo.
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Opposition group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said military helicopters pounded the central Salaheddine district of Aleppo and reported fighting elsewhere in the city.
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Two clips, said to have been filmed on Saturday, are claimed to show what appears to be a fighter jet and a military helicopter flying over the city.
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More video, also said to be shot on Saturday, is purported to show rebels attempting to return fire with anti-aircraft weapons as well as a running battle on the streets of Salaheddine.

Source: Video: Syria: residents filmed fleeing Aleppo as fighting intensifies - Telegraph

 

[Armand2REP]

French President a War Hawk?

Francois Hollande, the French president, has called for the United Nations Security Council to authorise intervention in Syria "as quickly as possible" to pre-empt the threat of "civil war".

"The role of the countries of the Security Council is to intervene as quickly as possible," he said, specifically addressing Damascus allies Russia and China and warning that failure to do so would mean "chaos and civil war."

 

[Armand2REP]

Battle for Aleppo continues

 

[pmaitra]

^^

More likely rebel trucks. Syrian Army has been engaging rebel supply routes since last week. Rebels are also using Syrian army trucks, as seen in this picture below:

 

[pmaitra]

Aleppo: BBC journalist on Syria army moving in on city

We came into the city last night and since first light, we have been hearing the amplification of artillery bombardment.

There have been gunfights in a number of areas and helicopters flying overhead.

We are hearing that there is a government offensive targeting Salah el-Din, which has been one of the most restive neighbourhoods - perhaps the key district - and which has been in the hands of the opposition Free Syrian Army for a number of days now.

We had heard that government troops were massing outside the city, though on this occasion we believe they are coming from an area they control inside Aleppo.
[HR][/HR]
But the truth is they are outgunned and outmanned.
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The commander of one of the largest brigades operating in Aleppo was even deliberating pulling his men out because he was not getting enough ammunition.
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The rebels may insist in interviews that they will prevail, but the mood on the ground is different.
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From the perspective of military tactics, perhaps the rebels decided to strike too soon in Aleppo before they had the kinds of armaments needed to be able to resist the inevtiable counter-offensive.

Source: BBC News - Aleppo: BBC journalist on Syria army moving in on city

 

[Armand2REP]

^^

More likely rebel trucks. Syrian Army has been engaging rebel supply routes since last week. Rebels are also using Syrian army trucks, as seen in this picture below:

Since when does Syrian Army use IEDs?

 

[pmaitra]

Since when does Syrian Army use IEDs?

Those looked like mines, and Syrian Army does use them.

 

[pmaitra]

Turkey's chameleon policy toward Syria

Seyyed Asadollah Athari
Tehran Times

Since the start of the political unrest in Syria, Turkey has changed its policy toward its neighbor several times.

Initially, Turkey made efforts to maintain its strategic relations with Syria, and the two countries were expected to reap the benefits of a decade of cooperation. Then Turkish officials demanded that the Syrian government adopt a softer stance toward the opposition. However, as the internal conflict intensified, Syrian refugees flooded into Turkey, and Ankara began to officially criticize Damascus. Currently, Turkey has allied itself with the Syrian opposition, which is trying to drive President Bashar al-Assad out of power, and relations between the two countries are seriously strained.

Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has adopted very unusual policies toward Middle Eastern countries ever since they came to power in November 2002.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was once a good friend of Muammar Gaddafi and received the Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights. However, after the outbreak of war in Libya, Erdogan quickly changed his stance and began calling for the ouster of Gaddafi.

In Egypt, he took advantage of every opportunity to establish closer ties with former dictator Hosni Mubarak, but when the Egyptian revolution neared victory, Erdogan suddenly established warm ties with the Muslim Brotherhood.

In Syria, Erdogan successfully normalized Turkey's relations with its neighbor in all areas, i.e., the political, economic, security, and cultural spheres. However, after the escalation of the crisis in Syria, Erdogan criticized Assad, saying he was stifling the democratic aspirations of the Syrian people. In this criticism, Turkey aligned itself with governments like Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which are some of the most undemocratic countries in the world.

The main goal of Turkey's ever-changing foreign policy is the protection of its economic interests, and it has nothing to do with democratic values or freedom of expression. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who is the architect of Turkey's diplomacy, has been seriously criticized inside the AKP for his failure to realize the policy of zero problems with neighbors. Currently, Turkey has problems with Syria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Iraq, and instead of attempting to extricate the country from the current problematic situation, Turkey's foreign policy team is only making things worse day by day.

AKP leaders seem to have come to the conclusion that by supporting the United States' policies in the Middle East, Turkey can improve its economic and political situation. However, if the U.S. fails to realize its objectives in Syria, Turkey will have great difficulty maintaining its position in the region.

Seyyed Asadollah Athari is a senior research fellow at the Institute for Middle East Strategic Studies in Tehran and an expert on Turkey.

Source: Turkey's chameleon policy toward Syria - Tehran Times

 

[Armand2REP]

Those looked like mines, and Syrian Army does use them.

Mines don't go off simultaneously by remote detention... nor would an FSA camera be waiting for it.

 

[pmaitra]

Mines don't go off simultaneously by remote detention... nor would an FSA camera be waiting for it.

How do you know it was remote detonation? It could have been a delayed fuse. How do you know whose camera it was?

But well, you might as well be better informed about rebel tactics, so I could be wrong.

 

[pmaitra]

Russia won't comply with anti-Syrian sanctions, vessel inspections

Russia says it will not cooperate with new EU sanctions which allow searching all vessels suspected of delivering weapons to Syria. Moscow warned it will not consent to inspections of ships traveling under its flag.

"We will not consider requests and give consent to the search of ships sailing under the Russian flag, nor to the use of other restrictive measures," the statement released by Russia's Foreign Ministry on Saturday reads.
[HR][/HR]
Russia's resistance to new requirements comes a month after the the Alaed cargo vessel, under a Curacao flag, was stopped in UK waters under suspicion that it was carrying Russia-made helicopters to Syria. Washington requested to search the ship, but was refused. The Alaed was forced to turn back when the British insurer canceled its coverage. The vessel returned to Russia and swapped its flag for a Russian one.
[HR][/HR]
Lavrov said that it is "unrealistic" that the government will accept the situation and step down when "well-armed opposition forces take cities" and does not hide the fact that they plan to launch a transitional government.

"Unfortunately, our Western partners prefer to do different things. In fact, together with some of Syria's neighboring countries, they encourage, support and direct an armed struggle against the regime. The price of all this is more blood," he added.

Source: Russia won't comply with anti-Syrian sanctions, vessel inspections — RT

 

[pmaitra]

Badly armed rebels face tanks as Syria's mother of all battles begins

The attack had been awaited with growing apprehension for days. But when the Syrian army units that had been massing outside Aleppo finally unleashed a full-scale assault on rebel-held quarters of the ancient city yesterday, it still came as a shock to fighters who had hoped to defend it.

From the moment the first calls to dawn prayer echoed among the bullet-scarred blocks of residential flats where rebels had been ensconced for a week, the sound of exploding shells - a feature of life since they first moved into the area - stepped up dramatically.
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Throughout the day yesterday many hundreds of ragtag fighters opposed to the continued rule of President Bashar al-Assad were desperately mounting a chaotic last ditch defence of territory they had previously captured on two sides of Aleppo.

The ill-equipped rebels climbed aboard pick-up trucks armed only with assault rifles as they set off to battle. Their firepower was pathetically low; one bearded fighter marched out rebel headquarters with his bullets stuffed into a clear plastic bag no bigger than someone might use for their sandwiches.
[HR][/HR]
But soon the first rebel casualties returned: men who had been guarding a checkpoint on the road to the airport, which had been in rebel hands for the past eight days but was now being rolled up by government troops.
[HR][/HR]
According to one of the flustered fighters who returned with their bodies, all of which had multiple bullet wounds, the men - who included a rebel sub-commander - had been shredded by intensive fire from three sides as a squad of Syrian soldiers moved in on them.

And not everyone here is certain they want the Assad regime overthrown. In a gloomy arcade where all the shops have been closed for a week, a quietly spoken man sidled up to express his rejection of the rebels.

He said he retained faith in Mr Assad, the dynastic leader who has presided over a conflict now estimated to have cost 20,000 lives. "Bashar is good," he said. "These people are bringing us into chaos.

"Aleppo is the economic capital of the country, it is the gateway to Turkey and international trade. Everything is being destroyed by their fighting."

The rebels were welcomed by the city's poorer and largely disenfranchised Sunni Muslims, but its the commercial heart seemed to remain with the government - perhaps aware that its privilege is more likely to be maintained if the Assads survive.

Source: Badly armed rebels face tanks as Syria's mother of all battles begins - Telegraph