Russia Begins Operations in Syria: End Game for the US Empire?

[goyacobol]

_http://www.veteranstoday.com/2015/10/14/putins-wild-card-in-syria/

Kisito,

Since you did not give any opinion about this link I will just say what I think about it. While it does seem to have many pieces of the puzzle it reminds me of similar campaigns against the PTB which have been discussed in such topics as this one:

"Drake" and Mass arrests of the elite?

I feel these conjectures may be designed to create a false sense of security for people. Hoping the military will come to our rescue and be our "savior" may prove to be a let down if it does not happen. And the timing is important I think. The Cs do mention the Nordics but they are saying we have to ask questions:

Session 9 August 1997

Q: Wonderful! So, if it is a Grey or Lizzie, you know they aren't the nice guys. But, if it is tall and blond,
you need to ask questions!
A: All is subjective when it comes to nice and not nice. Some on 2nd density would think of you as "not
nice," to say the least!!!

Just issuing a manifesto is not going help much in my way of looking at the situation. FWIW

 

[angelburst29]

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has expressed his willingness for another seven year term, if elected again.

Syria’s president ready to take part in new election: Russian MP
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2015/10/25/434877/Syria-Bashar-alAssad-Presidential-elections-Russia-Alexander-Yushchenko

A Russian legislator says Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has expressed preparedness to run for another seven-year term in office in the future presidential election should the Arab nation support such a move.

“He is ready to conduct elections with the participation of all political forces who want Syria to prosper,” Russian lawmaker, Alexander Yushchenko, said following talks with Assad in Syria’s capital, Damascus, on Sunday.

Yushchenko added that the Syrian leader is ready to take part in the polls “if the people are not against it.”

“At our meeting, Mr. Assad announced his readiness to discuss changes to the Constitution of Syria, as well as hold free parliamentary elections with the participation of all political forces committed to the prosperity of the Syrian Republic,” the Russian parliamentarian pointed out.

 

[Kisito]

_http://www.veteranstoday.com/2015/10/14/putins-wild-card-in-syria/

Kisito,

Since you did not give any opinion about this link I will just say what I think about it. While it does seem to have many pieces of the puzzle it reminds me of similar campaigns against the PTB which have been discussed in such topics as this one:

"Drake" and Mass arrests of the elite?

I feel these conjectures may be designed to create a false sense of security for people. Hoping the military will come to our rescue and be our "savior" may prove to be a let down if it does not happen. And the timing is important I think. The Cs do mention the Nordics but they are saying we have to ask questions:

Session 9 August 1997

Q: Wonderful! So, if it is a Grey or Lizzie, you know they aren't the nice guys. But, if it is tall and blond,
you need to ask questions!
A: All is subjective when it comes to nice and not nice. Some on 2nd density would think of you as "not
nice," to say the least!!!

Just issuing a manifesto is not going help much in my way of looking at the situation. FWIW

The text seemed interesting, but I'm not sure to have an opinion or explain the qualities to this article. However, there seem to be two interesting points. 1. These psychopaths who run banks and wars were until the eleventh century, the kingdom of Kazarh who converted to Judaism. These psychopaths Kazarhs leaders would conflict with Russia since that time, including the Russian revolution in 1917. Today this psychopathic elite is divided mainly between Britain, the US and Israel. 2. Within 50 years, the Aliens would have helped Americans and Russians develop weapons has ufo. Both major powers have signed an agreement to never use these weapons against themselves ufo (USA / Russia). Also Putin that the terrorists in Syria are not really American, but infiltrators among Americans. These terrorists would actually kazarhs. The Kazarhs never signed the agreement of ufo weapons. Putin also attack Syrian terrorists with extraterrestrial weapons.

 

[angelburst29]

Looks like the Saudi's have been smuggling in drugs for their fighters in Syria?

Saudi Prince Arrested At Beirut Airport With 2 Tons Of Drugs
http://www.mintpressnews.com/saudi-prince-arrested-at-beirut-airport-with-2-tons-of-drugs/210651/

“The smuggling operation is the largest one that has been foiled through the Beirut International Airport,” the source said on condition of anonymity.

BEIRUT: A Saudi prince and four others were detained on Monday in Lebanon in the largest drug bust in the history of the Beirut airport, a security source said.

Saudi prince Abdel Mohsen Bin Walid Bin Abdulaziz and four others were detained by airport security while allegedly “attempting to smuggle about two tons of Captagon pills and some cocaine,” a security source told AFP.

“The smuggling operation is the largest one that has been foiled through the Beirut International Airport,” the source said on condition of anonymity.

Captagon is the brand name for the amphetamine phenethylline, a synthetic stimulant. The banned drug is consumed mainly in the Middle East and has reportedly been widely used by fighters in Syria.

The security source said the drugs had been packed into cases that were waiting to be loaded onto a private plane that was headed to Saudi Arabia.

The five Saudi citizens were still in the airport and would be questioned by Lebanon’s customs authority, the source added.

In April 2014, security forces foiled an attempt to smuggle 15 million capsules of Captagon hidden in shipping containers full of corn from Beirut’s port.

Lebanon’s state news agency also reported Monday’s drug bust, saying the private plane was to head to Riyadh and was carrying 40 suitcases full of Captagon.

Saudi Arabia’s large royal family has had past run-ins with authorities in various countries.

Late last month, a Saudi prince was arrested in Los Angeles for allegedly trying to force a woman to perform oral sex on him at a Beverly Hills mansion.

But authorities decided not to pursue the charge, citing a lack of evidence.

In 2013, a Saudi princess was accused in Los Angeles of enslaving a Kenyan woman as a housemaid, but the charges were also eventually dropped.

 

[angelburst29]

Compare the first article with the rest of the articles listed ....

Russian jets breaking down in harsh Syria conditions: US
http://presstv.com/Detail/2015/10/26/434990/Syria-Russia-Jets-Failing

Most of Russian aircraft recently sent on a mission in Syria have been grounded due to the dust and desert conditions in the Arab country, says a senior US defense official.

According to the official who was not authorized to speak publicly about sensitive intelligence matters, a third of Russian fighter jets and half of its transport aircraft are assumed grounded at any time as the harsh, desert conditions take their toll on equipment and the crews in charge of operating them, the USA Today reported on Sunday.

The Russians are reportedly experiencing difficulty adapting to the severe environment, and the number of airstrikes they have conducted, seems to have dipped slightly, the official added.

Moscow has deployed dozens of warplanes, including its advanced Sukhoi Su-34 Fullback ground-attack jet, along with helicopters and crews to a base near the Syrian city of Latakia. A significant number of Russian transport warplanes are also stationed there as reports suggest.

Another unnamed US Air Force commander told USA Today that for American warplanes, a readiness rate of less than 80% would attract attention from the military top brass.

The officer who seemingly has multiple combat deployment records in the Middle East noted that jets break, especially in harsh conditions. He described the mission-readiness rates of less than 80% as a matter of concern, not alarm.

Meanwhile, David Deptula, a retired three-star Air Force general who led the planning for the aerial war against Iraq in Operation Desert Storm during the early 90s in the Persian Gulf, said the mission-readiness rate for Russian jets has been less than 70% which is not surprising.

The general argued that this is because the Russians lack experience in being deployed and flying their jets hard. He also claimed that the rates for Russian cargo planes are also "pretty low."

"If those rates are accurate, it indicates that their deployed logistics function requires some attention," Deptula said.

Russia has been pounding the positions of the Daesh terrorists and other terror groups in Syria upon a request by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government since September 30.

According to Colonel General Andrei Kartapolov, the Russian air force made 669 “combat sorties” hitting over 450 Daesh positions, until October 16.


Russia hits record 94 targets in Syria in 24 hours: military
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2015/Oct-26/320317-russia-hits-record-94-targets-in-syria-in-24-hours-military.ashx

MOSCOW: Russian jets struck 94 "terrorist" targets in war-torn Syria over the past 24 hours, the highest one-day tally since Moscow started its bombing campaign Sept. 30, the military said.

"In 59 sorties in the past 24 hours, Russia's air force hit 94 terrorist targets in the provinces of Hama, Idlib, Latakia, Damascus, Aleppo and Deir Ezzor," Russian news agencies quoted defense ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov as saying.


Baghdad Allows Russia to Bomb ISIL Terrorists Running From Syria Into Iraq
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20151025/1029079639/iraq-allows-russian-airstrikes-isil.html

As Russian airstrikes push ISIL terrorists from Syria into Iraq, Moscow and Baghdad agreed to hit the militants in Iraq, said Hakem al-Zameli, the head of the Iraqi Parliament’s National Security and Defense Commission, according to Fars News Agency.

ISIL militants aren't going to find a safe haven from Russian airstrikes in Iraq after the country's parliament gave Russia the green light to conduct airstrikes against ISIL targets in Iraq.

"Iraq agreed with Russia, which leads the joint data center, to hit the ISIL militants heading from Syria into Iraq," al-Zameli said, highlighting the fact that the move would also cut off ISIL supply routes from Iraq into Syria, as cited by Fars.

The approval comes amid security coordination between the governments of Russia, Iran, Iraq and Syria — all of which seek to destroy ISIL. The four nations launched the Baghdad Information Center to coordinate their military actions against the terrorists both in Syria and Iraq.


Syrian Army Seizes Israeli backed Base on Golan Heights
http://www.inspiretochangeworld.com/2015/10/syrian-army-seizes-israeli-backed-base-on-golan-heights/

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian Armed Forces on Saturday morning stormed the 4th Battalion Base of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the Golan Heights and took full control over the base after fierce clashes with the FSA militants.

At sunrise on Saturday morning, the Syrian Army’s 90th Brigade of the 9th Armored Division, in coordination with Fouj Al-Joulani (Golan Regiment) and Liwaa Suqour Al-Quneitra (Al-Quneitra Hawks Brigade) of the National Defense Forces (NDF), launched a counter-assault at the 4th Battalion Base outside of the town of Taranjah, resulting in a series of intense firefights with the Free Syrian Army’s Southern Front Brigades.

The FSA has now lost all of their previous gains from the September offensive that put them in position to attack the Syrian government strongholds of Khan Arnabeh and Hadar inside the Golan Heights of the Quneitra province.

The Syrian Arab Army’s 90th Brigade and the National Defense Forces were able to impose full control over the 4th Battalion Base after they overran the Free Syrian Army’s defensive positions; this forced the aforementioned militants to withdraw to Tal Taranjah in order to regroup after their frontlines crumbled at the base.


Russia's Mid-East Takeover Continues As Afghanistan Requests Military Assistance From Moscow
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-10-26/russias-mid-east-takeover-continues-afghanistan-requests-military-assistance-moscow

Earlier this month, in what amounted to a dramatic shift in strategy, the Obama administration announced that the US would not be pulling all of its troops out of Afghanistan after all. Under Obama’s previous plan, Washington would withdraw most of the 9,800 troops operating in the country by the end of next year, leaving a force of just 1,000. Now, all 9,800 troops will remain for “most” of next year and 5,500 troops will remain in 2017.

The apparent change of heart comes as some “experts” remain concerned about the security situation amid recent territorial gains by the Taliban. According to the United Nations, insurgents now control more territory than at any other time since 2001 (so... “mission accomplished”?).

For better or worse, The Kremlin has apparently decided to try its hand at cleaning this mess up once and for all, and as we noted in “Russia Takes Over The Mid-East: Moscow Gets Green Light For Strikes In Iraq, Sets Up Alliance With Jordan,” Moscow looks set to effectively underwrite the expansion of Iranian regional influence on the way to establishing a presence in Syria, Iraq, and even Sunni Jordan.

That marks a disastrous turn of events for Washington who’s now been effectively kicked out of the playground that the US has sought to control for decades.


US defense companies purchase Russian helicopters despite sanctions
http://english.pravda.ru/news/business/23-10-2015/132407-russian_helicopters-0/

It has transpired that US defense companies bypassed US sanctions to purchase several Russian helicopters. It goes about Mi-8 and Mi-17 choppers.

Reporters of the Slovak publication Actuality conducted their own journalistic investigation on the subject. According to them, US companies spent not less than $500 million on Russian helicopters. The choppers will be reportedly used in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Slovak organization Air Transport Europe (ATE) supposedly provided assistance to US defense companies.

According to Slovak journalists, the US Department of Defense decided to purchase Russian military helicopters for the armies of Afghanistan and Iraq, as Iraqi and Afghan military men are more familiar with Soviet military technology.

According to the above-mentioned publication, the US first acquired "civil" Russian helicopters with the mediation of the Slovak company, before they were resold to the US to be redesigned into army helicopters.

 

[angelburst29]

Syrian Army Seizes Israeli backed Base on Golan Heights
http://www.inspiretochangeworld.com/2015/10/syrian-army-seizes-israeli-backed-base-on-golan-heights/

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian Armed Forces on Saturday morning stormed the 4th Battalion Base of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the Golan Heights and took full control over the base after fierce clashes with the FSA militants.

At sunrise on Saturday morning, the Syrian Army’s 90th Brigade of the 9th Armored Division, in coordination with Fouj Al-Joulani (Golan Regiment) and Liwaa Suqour Al-Quneitra (Al-Quneitra Hawks Brigade) of the National Defense Forces (NDF), launched a counter-assault at the 4th Battalion Base outside of the town of Taranjah, resulting in a series of intense firefights with the Free Syrian Army’s Southern Front Brigades.

The Syrian Arab Army’s 90th Brigade and the National Defense Forces were able to impose full control over the 4th Battalion Base after they overran the Free Syrian Army’s defensive positions; this forced the aforementioned militants to withdraw to Tal Taranjah in order to regroup after their frontlines crumbled at the base.

Genies and Genocide: Syria, Israel, Russia and Much Oil
http://journal-neo.org/2015/10/26/genies-and-genocide-syria-israel-russia-and-much-oil-2/

The geopolitical stakes in the Middle East have just gotten higher by an order of magnitude. Take a little-known Newark, New Jersey oil company, the contested Golan Heights between Syria and Israel, add a reported major oil discovery there just as Russia’s bombing campaign in Syria goes into high gear, shake it vigorously and we have a potential detonator for World War III.

Initially–going back more than a decade when Washington neo-conservative think-tanks and the Bush-Cheney Administration were devising their Greater Middle East regime-change agenda–competing natural gas pipelines through Syria to Turkey or via Lebanon to the Mediterranean played a definite “supporting” role in Washington’s war on Syria’s Assad. Now oil, lots of oil, comes into the play, and Israel is claiming it’s theirs. The only problem is that it isn’t. The oil is in the Golan Heights which Israel illegally took from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War.

[...] The Israeli government gave the concession to Genie in the disputed Golan Heights in 2013 when the US-led destabilization of the Syrian Assad regime was in full force. Conveniently, Israel also began building fortifications at that time to seal off the illegally-occupied Golan Heights from Syria, knowing there was little Assad or Syria could do to stop it. In 2013, as Genie Energy began moving into Golan Heights, Israeli military engineers overhauled the forty-five mile border fence with Syria, replacing it with a steel barricade that includes barbed wire, touch sensors, motion detectors, infrared cameras, and ground radar, putting it on par with the Wall Israel has constructed in the West Bank.

Now, as Damascus fights for its life, apparently, Genie has discovered a huge oil field precisely there.

The Golan Heights, however, are illegally occupied by Israel. In 1981, Israel passed the Golan Heights Law, imposing Israeli “laws, jurisdiction and administration” to the Golan Heights. In response the UN Security Council passed Resolution 242 which declared Israel must withdraw from all lands occupied in the 1967 war with Syria, including the Golan Heights.

Again in 2008 a plenary session of the UN General Assembly passed a resolution 161–1 in favor of a motion on the Golan Heights that reaffirmed Security Council resolution 497, which was passed in 1981 after the Israeli de facto annexation, declaring the Golan Heights Law, “null and void and without international legal effect,” and called on Israel to desist from “changing the physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure and legal status of the occupied Syrian Golan and, in particular, to desist from the establishment of settlements…from imposing Israeli citizenship and Israeli identity cards on the Syrian citizens in the occupied Syrian Golan and from its repressive measures against the population of the occupied Syrian Golan.” Israel was the only nation to vote against the resolution. As recently as June 2007 Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sent a secret communique to Syrian President Bashar Assad saying that Israel would concede the Golan Heights in exchange for a comprehensive peace agreement and the severing of Syria’s ties with Iran and militant groups in the region.

Genie claims huge discovery

On October 8, into the second week of Russian airstrikes against ISIS and other so-called “moderate” terrorists at the request of the Assad government, Yuval Bartov, chief geologist from Genie Energy’s Israeli subsidiary, Afek Oil & Gas, told Israel’s Channel 2 TV that his company had found a major oil reservoir on the Golan Heights: “We’ve found an oil stratum 350 meters thick in the southern Golan Heights. On average worldwide, strata are 20 to 30 meters thick, and this is 10 times as large as that, so we are talking about significant quantities.”

This oil find has now made the Golan Heights a strategic “prize” that clearly has the Netanyahu government more determined than ever to sow chaos and disorder in Damascus and use that to de facto create an Israeli irreversible occupation of Golan and its oil.
A minister in the Netanyahu coalition government, Naftali Bennett, Minister of Education and Minister of Diaspora Affairs and leader of the right-wing religious party, The Jewish Home, has made a proposal that Israel settle 100,000 new Israeli settlers across the Golan in five years. He argues that with Syria “disintegrating” after years of civil war, it’s hard to imagine a stable state to which the Golan Heights could be returned. Further a growing chorus in Tel Aviv is arguing that Netanyahu demand American recognition of Israel’s 1981 annexation of the Golan as an “appropriate salve to Israeli security concerns in the wake of the nuclear deal with Iran.”

Energy war has been a significant component of US, Israeli, Qatari, Turkish, and, until recently, Saudi, strategy against Syria’s Assad regime. Before the latest Golan Heights oil discovery, the focus on Assad pivoted on the huge regional natural gas resources of both Qatar and of Iran on opposite sides of the Persian Gulf, comprising the largest known gas discovery in the world to date.

 

[Windmill knight]

Compare the first article with the rest of the articles listed ....

Russian jets breaking down in harsh Syria conditions: US
http://presstv.com/Detail/2015/10/26/434990/Syria-Russia-Jets-Failing

Most of Russian aircraft recently sent on a mission in Syria have been grounded due to the dust and desert conditions in the Arab country, says a senior US defense official.

According to the official who was not authorized to speak publicly about sensitive intelligence matters, a third of Russian fighter jets and half of its transport aircraft are assumed grounded at any time as the harsh, desert conditions take their toll on equipment and the crews in charge of operating them, the USA Today reported on Sunday.

Ah, the mysterious anonymous source strikes again! I think they probably made this one up to cover for the embarrassement of NATO humvees stuck on a sandy beach in Portugal.

 

[angelburst29]

Can't fix - stupid!

ISIS in Iraq getting more supply drops from America
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9a9_1445908588#kpmYsFAJct7f2VpM.99

American government dropping more and more supplies to ISIS to make sure they don't lose too much ground in Iraq.

 

[goyacobol]

Can't fix - stupid!

ISIS in Iraq getting more supply drops from America
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9a9_1445908588#kpmYsFAJct7f2VpM.99

American government dropping more and more supplies to ISIS to make sure they don't lose too much ground in Iraq.

I am really starting to believe the Cs' answer to the session comments:

Q: (L) So, I guess that's kind of what you've been doing. You noticed the changes in the American position. It changes one day to the next. They tried to launch this whole anti-Russia campaign, and then they backed away. "Get out of Syria!" and then they backed away from that. It's just crazy.

(Pierre) They're desperate.

(Perceval) There's been talk before of a kind of secret government that is not the overt government. Is it possible that they are in some way restraining the Americans like you just described?

A: The secret government did not anticipate Putin.

Desperate people do "stupid" things I think.

 

[angelburst29]

Some how, the words "Conflict-of-Interest" seem mild compared to this "screwed-up-drama?"

Washington's Syria "Strategy" In Complete Disarray As "Ally" Turkey Bombs US-Armed Rebels
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-10-27/washingtons-syria-strategy-complete-disarray-ally-turkey-bombs-us-armed-rebels

Following the comical demise of the latest “train and equip” program, the US is out of options for supporting the opposition in Syria and so Washington decided to go back to Old Faithful: the Kurds.

But that presents a problem.

The US is now flying sorties from Incirlik and Turkish autocrat President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hates the Kurds and has gone out of his way to make it clear that Ankara doesn’t distinguish between the PKK and the YPG. For the uninitiated, here’s the problem broken down in bullet points:
•The US is flying from a Turkish airbase
•Access to that airbase came with NATO’s tacit approval of Erdogan’s move to crack down on the Kurdish PKK operating in Turkey (that crackdown is designed to bolster support for the government ahead of elections next month)
•Both the US and Turkey designate PKK as a “terrorist” group
•BUT while Ankara equates the PKK with the Kurdish rebels battling ISIS in Syria, Washington actually supports those same rebels, setting up a conflict of interest

Now clearly, this is beyond absurd. That is, Turkey only got NATOs support for the politically motivated crackdown on the PKK because Ankara agreed to bundle said crackdown with a military campaign against ISIS. But the Syrian Kurds are the most effective ground force of them all when it comes to combating Islamic State. Because those Syrian Kurds are aligned with the PKK, Turkey is effectively trying to say its army is fighting ISIS, the PKK, and YPG all at once even as both the PKK and the YPG are also fighting ISIS.

[...] So just to drive the point home, US ally Turkey is now firing on a group that the US just handed 50 tons of ammo and weapons to earlier this month and that same group has traditionally proven to be exceptionally effective at fighting ISIS.

Needless to say, this is incoherent to the point of absolute absurdity. Washington is spending millions if not billions in taxpayer dollars to both i) fly sorties from a Turkish airbase ostensibly with the aim of hitting Islamic State, and ii) supply Syrian Kurds with hundreds of tons of weapons and ammo even as "ally" Turkey shoots at those same Kurds.

This has become so convoluted and self-defeating that one wonders how long it will be before someone in Congress decides it's time to take a look at exactly what's going on here and why it seems like this entire debacle is simply too bad to be true.


IS militants airlifted from Syria to Yemen, Saudi Arabia — Syrian army spokesman
http://tass.ru/en/world/832207

According to the reconnaissance data, on October 26 four planes from Turkey arrived to the airport of the city of Aden (Yemen) with more than 500 IS militants taken from Syria on board

The Islamic State (IS) militants have been airlifted from Syria by Turkish aircraft to save them from Russian airstrikes, spokesman for the Syrian Armed Forces Brigadier General Ali Mayhub said on Tuesday.

"On October 26, according to the reconnaissance data, four planes from Turkey arrived to the airport of the city of Aden (Yemen). Two of them belong to Turkish Airlines, one — to Qatar Airways and one more aircraft owned by an airline of the United Arab Emirates," said the Syrian army spokesman. "There were more than 500 militants of the Islamic State terrorist organization on board, they were taken from Syria to save them from Russian airstrikes," General Mayhub said.

According to him, "the militants were met by officers of the Saudi coalition that took them from the airport in three groups. The first went to the city of Al-Bab in Mandeb province (Yemen), the second — to Marib (Yemen), the third — to the Saudi regions of Jizan and Asir."

 

[angelburst29]

Ashton Carter: U.S. to Begin 'Direct Action on the Ground' in Iraq, Syria
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sec-carter-direct-u-s-action-ground-iraq-syria-n452131

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Tuesday that the U.S. will begin "direct action on the ground" against ISIS forces in Iraq and Syria, aiming to intensify pressure on the militants as progress against them remains elusive.

"We won't hold back from supporting capable partners in opportunistic attacks against ISIL, or conducting such missions directly whether by strikes from the air or direct action on the ground," Carter said in testimony before the Senate Armed Services committee, using an alternative name for the militant group.

Carter pointed to last week's rescue operation with Kurdish forces in northern Iraq to free hostages held by ISIS.

This may mean some American soldiers "will be in harm's way, no question about it," Carter said last week.

After months of denying that U.S. troops would be in any combat role in Iraq, Carter late last week in a response to a question posed by NBC News, also acknowledged that the situation U.S. soldiers found themselves in during the raid in Hawija was combat.

"This is combat and things are complicated," Carter said.

During Tuesday's Senate hearing, Carter said Wheeler "was killed in combat."

A feisty Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, said on Tuesday in the Senate Armed Services committee hearing that the U.S. effort in Syria is a "half-assed strategy at best," and said that the U.S. is not doing a "damn thing" to bring down Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.

Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged that the "balance of forces" has tilted in Assad's favor.


EXCLUSVIE: Russian Fighter Jets Hit Militants' Positions in Southern Syria for First Time
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940805001144

The Russian airstrikes targeted positions of the ISIL and al-Nusra Front in the Golan Heights in Quneitra province near the border with Israel.

Russia's airstrikes were the closest to the occupied Palestinian territories since it started its airstrikes in late September.

Political observers believe that he Russian fighter jets' attacks have an important message for Israel while Tal Aviv is trying to pretend that it has reached an agreement with Moscow on Syria's Southern skies.


US officials: Iran invited to next round of Syria talks
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_UNITED_STATES_IRAN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-10-27-13-03-03

-- Iran has been invited to participate for the first time in international talks over Syria's future, U.S. officials said Tuesday, a shift in strategy for the United States and its allies as they seek to halt the four-year civil war and eventually ease President Bashar Assad out of power.

Iran has yet to reply, the officials said.

The next diplomatic round is expected to start Thursday and continue Friday in Vienna, with Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and several top European and Arab diplomats attending.

 

[Voyageur]

Looks like the Saudi's have been smuggling in drugs for their fighters in Syria?

Saudi Prince Arrested At Beirut Airport With 2 Tons Of Drugs
http://www.mintpressnews.com/saudi-prince-arrested-at-beirut-airport-with-2-tons-of-drugs/210651/
[...]

Captagon is the brand name for the amphetamine phenethylline, a synthetic stimulant. The banned drug is consumed mainly in the Middle East and has reportedly been widely used by fighters in Syria.

This older Guardian piece cites: Captagon: the amphetamine fuelling Syria's civil war . So the Saudi pipeline makes sense, which ties to the Journalist who made the documentary in Syria (which was on the forum and SoTT) whereby a theme kept reemerging, the drug induced predisposition of the thugs.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2014/jan/13/captagon-amphetamine-syria-war-middle-east

Of course the Guardian hints that it must be from Iran via Hezbollah

A former US Treasury official, Matthew Levitt, pointed out that the Iranian-funded, Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah, which is robustly backing Syria's Assad regime, "has a long history of dabbling in the drug trade to help with funding".

But they do mention this:

Captagon, the trademark name for the synthetic stimulant fenethylline, was first produced in the 1960s to treat hyperactivity, narcolepsy and depression, but was banned in most countries by the 1980s as too addictive. It remains hugely popular in the Middle East; Saudi Arabia alone seizes some 55m tablets a year, perhaps 10% of the total thought to be smuggled into the kingdom.

Indeed, Saudi capture and release tactic.

Finally:

...A Lebanese psychiatrist, Ramzi Haddad, said that Captagon had "the typical effects of a stimulant", producing "a kind of euphoria. You're talkative, you don't sleep, you don't eat, you're energetic." {perfect for the head-choppers}

Those effects explain why fighters from most of the warring parties in the conflict – with the exception of al Qaida-linked groups, which mostly hold to a strict interpretation of Islamic law – are now said to be making extensive use of Captagon, often on night missions or during particularly gruelling battles. But doctors and psychiatrists say use of the drug is also becoming widespread among Syria's increasingly desperate civilian population.

Ya right, the al-Qaida "exception" of Captagon's use as they are holding to "strict interpenetration of Islamic law". And then the Guardian sows the seeds that it is the Syrian's themselves that it's use is "widespread".

 

[angelburst29]

And while Russia's Military are using "State of the Art" surveillance and jamming equipment ....... back home on the American turf .......

F-16s Scrambled To Track Down NORAD Surveillance Blimp Which Is Loose Somewhere Over Pennsylvania . . .
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-10-28/f-16s-scrambled-track-down-norad-surveillance-blimp-which-loose-somewhere-over-penns

While the world was focused on just what excuse Yellen will come up with not to hike rates after 7 consecutive years of ZIRP, and how many new “mandates” the Fed would come up with to justify its now traditional lack of action, moments ago a far more unexpected development took place when a blimp used by NORAD in its surveillance of the east coast has become untethered from its mooring in Maryland and it’s now flying somewhere over Pennsylvania, according to NORAD spokesman Lt. Joe Mavrocki.

The airship broke free around 11:45 a.m. Wednesday and has approximately 6,700 feet of tether attached to it.

DefenseOne adds that the Air Force has scrambled two F-16s from the Atlantic City Air National Guard base to track the blimp, which officials say is holding at 16,000 feet.

The blimp, which is also known as a Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System aerostat or JLENS, broke free at 12:20 eastern time. “NORAD officials are working closely with the FAA to ensure air traffic safety, as well as with our other interagency partners to address the safe recovery of the aerostat,” NORAD said in a statement.


The aircraft is part of a Pentagon plan to create a net to hunt enemy drones and cruise missiles along the Eastern seaboard of the United States. The Pentagon has spent $2.55 billion on the program.

The helium-filled airship, or aerostat, is intended to provide early detection of cruise missiles over a large swath of the East Coast, from Norfolk, Virginia, to upstate New York, during a three-year test, according to military officials.

According to WFMZ, there are reports of the blimp being over the area of Berks and Lancaster counties.

“People are warned to keep a safe distance from the airship and tether as contract with them may present significant danger,” The Aberdeen Proving Ground said in a statement.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf issued the following statement: “The governor’s office is in communication with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, the Pennsylvania State Police, the National Guard, and the appropriate authorities with the federal government. We are closely monitoring the situation, and we will work with the appropriate authorities to respond to any resource requests and assist in any way possible.”

Some more details on the program:


The much-maligned Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated netted Sensor System, or JLENS, is not technically a blimp because it it has no propulsion, rather it is a tethered aerostat. Similar but smaller aircraft have been used for overwatch surveillance to protect U.S. bases overseas for years, including in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The JLENS has been in testing since 2009. Raytheon, the manufacturer, has billed the JLENS program as a meant to detect missile and large drones via radar. Raytheon demonstrated that the X-band radar could pick up multiple ballistic missiles back in 2012. The JLENS’s ability to track other other objects like drones is much less clear.

Any readers who spot the blimp are kindly requested to call 911.

BREAKING NEWS: The blimp has been spotted over Bloomsburg, PA.
http://risenews.net/2015/10/military-blimp-on-the-loose-and-drifting-over-pennsylvania/

A Baltimore TV station is reporting that the blimp is on the ground in an unpopulated area of Millville Pennsylvania.

Two fighter jets from a nearby National Guard base are tracking the untethered Army blimp according to information from NORAD.

Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg, PA has cancelled classes for the day due to a “widespread” power outage. There have been multiple reports that the blimp’s tether knocked out power in parts of the town.

 

[Aeneas]

And while Russia's Military are using "State of the Art" surveillance and jamming equipment ....... back home on the American turf .......

F-16s Scrambled To Track Down NORAD Surveillance Blimp Which Is Loose Somewhere Over Pennsylvania . . .
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-10-28/f-16s-scrambled-track-down-norad-surveillance-blimp-which-loose-somewhere-over-penns

While the world was focused on just what excuse Yellen will come up with not to hike rates after 7 consecutive years of ZIRP, and how many new “mandates” the Fed would come up with to justify its now traditional lack of action, moments ago a far more unexpected development took place when a blimp used by NORAD in its surveillance of the east coast has become untethered from its mooring in Maryland and it’s now flying somewhere over Pennsylvania, according to NORAD spokesman Lt. Joe Mavrocki.

The airship broke free around 11:45 a.m. Wednesday and has approximately 6,700 feet of tether attached to it.

[...]

Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg, PA has cancelled classes for the day due to a “widespread” power outage. There have been multiple reports that the blimp’s tether knocked out power in parts of the town.

Now there will soon be a sequel to the movie "What the Bleep Do We Know!? "coming to a theatre near you called: "Where is that blimming blimp?"

 

[angelburst29]

The author of this article, Jim Dean gives details on the combat tactics used on Syrian ground to push ISIS and the terrorist out.

How Russia and Syria Turned the Tide on Terror
http://journal-neo.org/2015/10/28/how-russia-and-syria-turned-the-tide-on-terror/

The world has watched in surprise as the leader of Syria, who would not abandon his country in war time, and the leader of Russia, a country that refused to be isolated, stood together in Moscow against the arrogant powers.

Iran and Iraq watched from the wings, taking care of business on their end from similar geopolitical aggressions from the Western-Israel-Gulf State musketeers, who have been wreaking havoc across the region.

America’s fall from grace as the spreader and protector of freedom and democracy is almost complete. A small Russian air wing, but a highly competent one, has turned the whole Syrian terror war upside down, with a combined operations display with the Syrian army that no one saw coming. And the most bitter pill of all, they have done this completely within the United Nations charter and international law, which their persecutors have treated with contempt.

But today I wanted to cover the combat tactics that were so crucial to turning the Syrian situation around as the blizzard of short combat action reports have blended into a blur for most readers. What we have seen happen is something that will be taught in military academies for a hundred years, like Confederate generals still are from our own unfortunate Civil War tragedy.

The first surprise came when the ground assault began after only a week of airstrikes from a modest number of planes, but long enough for Russia to put its precision bombing skills on display, that avoided civilian casualties and collateral damage that we have not seen from other parties. We learned soon after that the planning for this offensive had been going on for some time, timed to be kicked off after the recent UN event speeches just before the battle began.

Central Syria had to be cleared first to have safe lines of resupply for the major battles awaiting in the north. The jump off point was from Homs, heading north on highway 5, the city that I was assigned to as an elections monitor in June of 2014, a memorable day in my life as I watched an undefeated people re-elected a war time president. And it was an honor to help with the English translation of the final report of the monitors certifying the election as representing the Syrian people.

The first Jihadi defense line was just north of Homs. The US made TOWS were waiting for the Syrian armor that had to charge straight up the road, and we hear 30 tanks were killed that day. But we have video now from both the Syrian side and the Jihadi’s, some of it from roof tops so airstrikes could be observed. The Russian planes had left the command bunkers in this defense line untouched until attack day so they would be full.

The second surprise came when the Syrians launched a left flank attack split east and west, one force blocking any jihadi reinforcement being able to come down from the hills, and the other taking the jihadi positions west of highway 5 from the rear, making them fight in two directions. The battle was mostly over the first day as the surviving terrorist units pulled back to their next line, the Hama area on highway 5, and in the process learned what is was like to be under bomber and MI-24 helicopter attack while on the roads.

We next saw elements of the Iranian trained Syrian national guard reserves quickly put into the battle doing clearing operations on both sides of highway 5 to clean out any stay behind jihadis that could ambush supply columns. This also allowed the attacking units to keep pushing north in tight formation.

The jihadis began breaking up into smaller units and spreading out to make themselves less visible to air strikes. But this also destroyed their ability to maneuver and support each other while under ground and air attack.

This week we saw some of the first jihadi footage from dead or captured jihadis who had been hoping to record some home movies to be shown to grandchildren someday. They showed poorly trained fanatics with poor radio discipline in total chaos. It almost looked like a contest as to who could recite the most religious slogans while filming bombing strikes and amazing low level MI-24 strikes that sometimes were below the minarets. I had heard they were heavily armored, and they seemed to be totally unconcerned about ground fire.

While the jihadis were filming and chanting slogans the Syrian Army was of course maneuvering around them, to cut them off from retreating north. This prevented a flow of reinforcements flowing to new terrorist defensive lines, ending the long tactic of the Syrian Army pushing them out of an area but not destroying them, so they lived to fight another day.

Anti-aircraft fire was mostly from twin 20mm technical trucks, a dual ground and air defense versatile unit. The videos show them wasting ammo at targets too far away, sometime even shooting through low hanging clouds in frustration where the poor cameraman searches for something to see.

My first big surprise was to see not only SU armored bombers at fairly low altitude but the Flankers, also. I had thought that to avoid MANPADS they would be bombing from above 15,000 feet. Some of the planes could have been Sryian Army ones, and they were definitely making low level bombing and strafing runs. I assume these may have been necessary to for quickly attacking retreating columns while they were exposed.

Some of the most dramatic footage I saw showed some of the planes flying through 20mm tracer fire, and sometimes taking some hits that had no effect. The Russian helicopters seemed to be bulletproof, and there were no MANPAD plumes in any of the footage.

To the amazement of all, the small Russian air wing, along with the remaining Syrian air force was fighting a multi-front air war, continuing the precision bombing targeting to continue degrading the terrorist infrastructure while still flying close air support for the attacking Syrian army columns.

You all have seen the footage of the Russian Navy strike by the small 2000 ton ships that had never been used as long range cruise missile platforms. Water based platforms do not come under the intermediate range missile restrictions and the smaller size allows them to be deployed on some of Russia’s rivers. The 26 missile salvo demonstrated that Russian could support Mideast allies with that firepower, which caught military experts by surprise.

The Syrian counter attack to reclaim their country continues to roll north while clearing operation south of Bagadad has had jihadis surrendering or running back to their paymasters in Jordan. Those in the Damascus suburbs have been doing the same, but where the walk to Jordan is a bit longer.

The National Guard forces are again taking over clearing operations, so the regular army troops can be fed into the major fighting still ahead in the north. The Syrians are attacking on multiple fronts, including a western line of attack designed to cut off Turkish supplies that have long been flowing into the Aleppo area. The Kurds are holding blocking line north of Aleppo and have been air supplied by the US with munitions there. The plan seems leave a possible retreat line east to Raqqa which would become a Turkey shoot for the planes if that happens.

Reinforcement convoys from Raqqa have been attacked and destroyed, even at night. The Russian drones seem to be doing a good job and denying the enemy the ability to move without losing more fighting assets. Syrian forces are within a few miles of the Kuweires airbase, close to breaking the longest siege of the war, two years now.

Turkey will do all it can to derail the current anti-terror progress in Syria, and NATO will be helping. But they would have to do this without getting caught. So far it seems the Gulf States have no such concerns. Little Qatar has floated a call for invading Syria, with Saudi help I would suspect, and the US and Israel, too? That would be a new level of aggression, openly in support of terror forces. Might that be the straw that could break the back politically of the Western-Israel-Gulf State axis of evil?

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, was in Iraq recently trying to hold that flank from using Russian anti-terrorism services, and claims he got a commitment it would not. But on the same day the Iraqi Parliament seemed poised to easily pass a resolution to request help from Moscow.

If that were to happen then Israel and “others” could not continue VIP reinforcement flights to ISIL in Mosul. I think the Russian air force would frown on that especially if the Iraqis gave them that sector to defend.

We could easily have one incident that spins this all out of control, and we know the Israelis are staying up late working on various schemes to do just that. So the dance of death continues, with a happy ending still much in doubt. Our prayers are with the righteous.