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

[Aeneas]

Iraq: Popular Forces' Commander Reveals US Plots to Evacuate ISIL Leaders from Ramadi
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941003000828

"The delay in operations to liberate Ramadi and Fallujah cities in al-Anbar province is the result of the US interference," Commander of Imam Khamenei Battalion Haidar al-Hosseini al-Ardavi told FNA on Thursday.

"It seems that the US intends to evacuate the ISIL terrorist group's infamous ringleaders secretly (with helicopters) from Ramadi to unknown places," he added.

Edit: Found link as someone else had seen it and posted it on Sott:
http://www.sott.net/article/309112-Two-unidentified-helicopters-drop-off-Daesh-terrorists-in-Afghanistan

Two unidentified helicopters drop off Daesh terrorists in Afghanistan
Daesh militants have been transported to the Afghan province of Nangarhar by helicopter, according to reports.

Afghan authorities are investigating reports that two unidentified helicopters have dropped off Daesh (ISIS/ISIL) terrorists in the Afghan province of Nangarhar, Afghan Senator Haji Lutfullah Baba told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) on Wednesday.

"A number of people in Tor Ghar, Nangarhar Province have contacted me to say that unidentified helicopters have airlifted Daesh militants there," Iran Front Page reported Baba as having said.

"They asked me to follow up the issue and urge security and military officials to look into the militant movements, which pose a threat to the security of the province and the entire nation."

A spokesman for the local government in Nangarhar province confirmed reports that the helicopters had dropped off men wearing in black uniforms, and added that similar sightings had also been reported in the provinces of Kunduz, Baghlan and Badakhshan.

On December 16 Afghanistan's Khaama press news agency reported that fierce clashes between Daesh and the Taliban in eastern Nangarhar province had resulted in heavy losses for both sides.

"15 armed opponents have been killed and 36 others wounded in these clashes," said Ataullah Khogyani, spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province, who added that four of the dead were Daesh terrorists, and 11 were Taliban.

"Out of the 36 wounded, 11 of them belong to Daesh and 25 others were members of Taliban," he said, adding that two civilians had also been injured in the clashes.
His remarks came as Iraqi security forces continue to gain ground in Ramadi, and opened their way to the central parts of the strategic city where hundreds of ISIL terrorists are trapped under siege.

The Iraqi forces made a considerable advance in the strategic city of Ramadi in Anbar after they reached the Tigris River and are preparing to enter the city center after crossing al-Khor bridge, a senior commander of volunteer forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) announced on Wednesday.

"The Iraqi forces have reached al-Khor region and they are preparing to cross this bridge and the Tigris River," Raed Raisan said.

The commander said that the ISIL has planted mines all over al-Khor bridge, adding that the bridge will lead the Iraqi forces directly to the city center.

Raisan reiterated that only the Hashd al-Shaabi forces are helping the Iraqi army in the Ramadi operations.

On Wednesday, the Iraqi security forces continued to gain ground in Ramadi city, and opened the path to the central parts of the city where hundreds of ISIL terrorists were under siege.
The Iraqi forces made a considerable advance in the strategic city of Ramadi in Anbar after they reached the Tigris River and are preparing to enter the city center after crossing al-Khor bridge, a senior commander of volunteer forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) announced on Wednesday.

"The Iraqi forces have reached al-Khor region and they are preparing to cross this bridge and the Tigris River," Raed Raisan said.

The commander said that the ISIL has planted mines all over al-Khor bridge, adding that the bridge will lead the Iraqi forces directly to the city center.

Raisan reiterated that only the Hashd al-Shaabi forces are helping the Iraqi army in the Ramadi operations.

On Wednesday, the Iraqi security forces continued to gain ground in Ramadi city, and opened the path to the central parts of the city where hundreds of ISIL terrorists were under siege.

Perhaps the unknown place that the US is ferretting the ISIS militants to with the help of helicopters, is Afghanistan. I saw earlier today that ISIS militants were supposedly arriving in Afghanistan by 'mysterious' helicopters/planes, but I am unable to find the link to that story now, despite having looked across the various sites. But that would explain the uptick in violence in Afghanistan and the 'sudden need' by the UK and the US to get back into Afghanistan.

Edit: Found link as someone else had seen it and posted it on Sott:
http://www.sott.net/article/309112-Two-unidentified-helicopters-drop-off-Daesh-terrorists-in-Afghanistan

Two unidentified helicopters drop off Daesh terrorists in Afghanistan
Daesh militants have been transported to the Afghan province of Nangarhar by helicopter, according to reports.

Afghan authorities are investigating reports that two unidentified helicopters have dropped off Daesh (ISIS/ISIL) terrorists in the Afghan province of Nangarhar, Afghan Senator Haji Lutfullah Baba told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) on Wednesday.

"A number of people in Tor Ghar, Nangarhar Province have contacted me to say that unidentified helicopters have airlifted Daesh militants there," Iran Front Page reported Baba as having said.

"They asked me to follow up the issue and urge security and military officials to look into the militant movements, which pose a threat to the security of the province and the entire nation."

A spokesman for the local government in Nangarhar province confirmed reports that the helicopters had dropped off men wearing in black uniforms, and added that similar sightings had also been reported in the provinces of Kunduz, Baghlan and Badakhshan.

On December 16 Afghanistan's Khaama press news agency reported that fierce clashes between Daesh and the Taliban in eastern Nangarhar province had resulted in heavy losses for both sides.

"15 armed opponents have been killed and 36 others wounded in these clashes," said Ataullah Khogyani, spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province, who added that four of the dead were Daesh terrorists, and 11 were Taliban.

"Out of the 36 wounded, 11 of them belong to Daesh and 25 others were members of Taliban," he said, adding that two civilians had also been injured in the clashes.
His remarks came as Iraqi security forces continue to gain ground in Ramadi, and opened their way to the central parts of the strategic city where hundreds of ISIL terrorists are trapped under siege.

 

[angelburst29]

Syrian Army Use Military Robots Made In Russia
http://fortruss.blogspot.fr/2015/12/syrian-army-use-military-robots-made-in.html

For the first time in the world, an attack on a fortified area of militants was conducted by battle robots. In the province of Latakia, army units of the Syrian army, with the support of Russian specialists and Russian combat robots, took the strategic tower of "Syriatel", 754m in height.

More recently, the chief of the General staff of the Russian armed forces, General Gerasimov, stated that Russia seeks to completely automate the battle, and perhaps soon we will witness robotic groups independently conducting warfare.

Using the latest high-tech equipment enables the command centre to provide continuous guidance to troops performing combat training tasks on unfamiliar grounds, and the command of the Navy to exercise control over their actions. Being more than 5 thousand kilometers from locations, they can receive from, the area of exercise, not only a stream of graphical pictures, but also a video of their actions in real time.

Systems required for the tasks can be mounted on two-axle chassis of KAMAZ, BTR-D, BMD-2 or BMD-4. In addition, given the specificity of the airforce, "Andromeda-D" is adapted for loading the aircraft, its flight and landing.

This system, as well as combat robots, were deployed to Syria and tested in combat conditions.

In the attack on the tower, six robotic complex "Platform-M" and four complex "Argo" were used. A friendly robot was recently deployed to Syria featuring self-propelled artillery installations (SAU) "acacia" that can destroy enemy positions.

Military robots, guns and drones were linked to the automated control system "Andromeda-D". The commander of the attack on the tower, in real time, was directing operations, while in Moscow, operators of military robots led the attack, each seeing the field of battle, and the whole picture.

The first attack robot went as close as 100-120 meters to the fortifications of the militants, who then opened fire itself, and detected firing points when immediately attacked.

Behind the robots, at a distance of 150-200 meters, the Syrian infantry arrived, clearing the tower.

The rebels did not have the slightest chance, as all their movements were traced by drones, when the detected militants applied artillery strikes. Literally 20 minutes after the start of the combat robot's attack, the militants fled in terror, leaving behind the dead and wounded. On the slopes of the tower, there was approximately 70 of the killed militants and the Syrian soldiers who perished there, with only 4 wounded.

"Platform-M"

The Izhevsk enterprise "NITI "Progress"" have created a remote-controlled robotic complex called "Platform-M" on a tracked chassis. The armored vehicle is armed with 4 rocket launchers and a Kalashnikov machine gun which is controlled remotely. The main purpose of the system – strikes against stationary and moving targets. In addition, the "Platform-M" can carry out reconnaissance and patrols on the territory. Also, it can ensure passage through a minefield. Work on the system was carried out for several years. Now mass production has started.

Combat cross-country vehicle "Argo"

Central research and experimental design Institute of robotics and technical Cybernetics has developed a combat robotic complex called "Argo". It can be controlled remotely. "Argo" is designed to conduct reconnaissance and offer support fire for landings. The weapons system was created for the destruction of equipment and manpower. In addition, the ATV can be used for delivery. "Argo" weighs about 1 ton. The machine's length is 3.4 m, width — 1,85 m, height — 1,65 m. On the ground it has a top speed of 20 km/h, on water — 4.6 km/h. "Argo" may to work more than 20 hours continuously. The combat robotic system is armed with a 7.62-mm tank machine gun, three grenades RPG-26, grenade launchers two RShG-2.





ISIL Terrorist Group Executes Many of Own Members in Iraq's Ramadi
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941004000538

TEHRAN (FNA)- The ISIL executed many of its own members in Ramadi in Anbar province on charges of refusing suicide attacks in the battle against the Iraqi forces, popular forces said Friday.

The Iraqi popular forces of Hashed al-Shaabi confirmed that the ISIL executed 50 of its own fighters because they refused to carry out suicide missions against the Iraqi armed forces.

On Thursday, the Iraqi forces captured a senior leader of the ISIL in Ramadi as the terrorist group's ringleaders were escaping from their hideouts in the strategic city of Anbar province.

"The ISIL emir of Ramadi, Abu Bakr, was arrested in a joint operation by Iraqi army's 16th Infantry Division and the military intelligence unit," a source close to the Iraqi army said.

The Iraqi army's massive attacks against the ISIL in Ramadi have made the terrorist group's ringleaders escape from their hideouts in the city.

"Several ISIL ringleaders and the terrorist group's members have fled the remaining areas in Ramadi towards Soufiya and Sajariya regions in the Eastern parts of the city," Yasser al-Dulaimi, the spokesman of al-Anbar police, said.

"The intensive and continued attacks of the Iraqi forces, their artillery fire and airstrikes have forced the ISIL terrorists to flee Ramadi," he added.

 

[sToRmR1dR]

Game Changer: Russia’s Actions Drastically Changed Situation in Syria

http://sputniknews.com/world/20151225/1032317355/syria-russia-us-turkey-reaction.html

Russia’s military capabilities displayed during the military operation against Daesh in Syria “were a shock to the US”, head of Russian upper house of parliament’s International Committee Alexei Pushkov said.

"I’m certain that the military capabilities displayed by Russia were a shock to the US which apparently believed that only the United States and NATO can wage such a war," Pushkov told Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper.

According to Pushkov, the reaction of many of the US presidential candidates who demand to punish Russia serves as proof of his conjecture. The US elite acts offended and appears perplexed by this development, as Russia’s actions have drastically changed the situation in Syria, he added.

Furthermore, the Russian military operation against Daesh in Syria also managed to upset Erdogan’s plans as Turkey sought to use the terrorist movement "as a tool to spread its influence across the Middle East," Pushkov said.

"When our Aerospace Forces targeted that mechanism (the Daesh oil exports), Erdogan became nervous and made an absolutely inadequate, reckless and purely reflexive decision," Pushkov said regarding the downing of a Russian Su-24 attack aircraft in Syria by Turkish forces.

Russia has been launching airstrikes against Daesh targets in Syria at the request of Syrian President Bashar Assad since late September. Russia has also called for the creation of a broad anti-Daesh coalition.

 

[goyacobol]

A Merry Christmas from the US Defense Dept. and the Pentagon to Russia?

Pentagon refuses to share intel on ISIS until Moscow’s stance on Assad changes

Published time: 26 Dec, 2015 01:30
Edited time: 26 Dec, 2015 03:06

Washington will not share intelligence data on Islamic State positions in Syria and will not accept Moscow’s offer to cooperate on rooting out terrorism until Moscow changes its position on Syrian President Bashar Assad’s future, the Pentagon said.

Ever since the start of the Russian campaign in Syria in late September, Moscow has been offering to share information with the US-led coalition against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), urging Washington to reciprocate. After months of extensive diplomatic efforts by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defense, and the Kremlin, the Pentagon is still refusing to enter the proposed cooperation.

“We are not going to cooperate with Russia on Syria until they change their strategy of supporting Assad and instead focus on ISIL,” US Defense Department Spokesperson Lt. Col. Michelle Baldanza told Sputnik on Friday.

Moscow has persistently insisted throughout the course of the Syrian conflict that it is only up to the Syrian people to decide who governs them. Russia has repeatedly spoken out against foreign intervention in the domestic affairs of any country, including Syria.

he Kremlin has also made it clear that the government forces of Bashar Assad are the main fighting force against IS on the ground. Since September 30, Russian forces have been helping the Syrian army recapture the territories controlled by IS and other terrorist and jihadi groups.

At the same time, Russia has occasionally been helping the clandestine moderate opposition, such as the Free Syrian Army, when they come forward to request help in their battles against the jihadists, and provides coordinates for airstrikes.

Washington and their Middle Eastern allies do not consider the elected president of Syria to be a legitimate authority and want him gone, claiming only his unconditional departure can ignite a political process in the war-torn country.

However, recently Washington has softened its rhetoric, saying that Assad might play a certain role in the “transitional period” while “how and when he goes” is being decided.

So which is it "transitional period" or same old stance of non-cooperation? It seems kind of obvious to me. FWIW

 

[Ca.]

A Merry Christmas from the US Defense Dept. and the Pentagon to Russia?

So which is it "transitional period" or same old stance of non-cooperation? It seems kind of obvious to me. FWIW

No problem'o as Mother Russia Keeps up the pace to work around the USSA's BS.

Special Delivery

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTcvsaw9fp8

12/25/2015. Syria. Russian air strikes on terrorist targets / Syria. Russian air strikes
Published on Dec 25, 2015

http://<iframe width="420" height="...cw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[angelburst29]

RT - Combat cam: Russian airstrikes target gasoline trucks convoy in Aleppo province
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxSfG-ZZmFo

Published on Dec 24, 2015
Russian Air Forces carried a series of airstrikes in Syrian Aleppo province targeting a convoy of gasoline trucks.


Russian intel spots 12,000 oil tankers & trucks on Turkey-Iraq border - General Staff
https://www.rt.com/news/327063-russian-intelligence-oil-tankers-turkey/

Russian intelligence has spotted up to 12,000 tankers and trucks on the Turkish-Iraqi border, the General Staff of Russia’s armed forces has reported.

“The [aerial] imagery was made in the vicinity of Zakho (a city in Iraqi Kurdistan), there were 11,775 tankers and trucks on both sides of the Turkish-Iraqi border,” Lieutenant-General Sergey Rudskoy told journalists on Friday.


Syrian Air Strike Kills Commander Behind 2013 Chemical Weapons Terror Attack in Ghouta
http://www.globalresearch.ca/syrian-air-strike-kills-commander-behind-2013-chemical-weapons-terror-attack-in-ghouta/5498007

The Central Command of the Syrian Arab Army confirmed that it successfully launched an air strike in the Damascus suburb of Otaya, targeting and killing several Jihadist commanders.

Among them the leader of Jaysh al-Islam, Zahran Alloush. Jaysh al-Islam is an alliance of several Jihadist militia, including Liwa-al-Islam. Jaysh al-Islam is allied with the Syrian Al-Qaeda Franchise Jabhat Al-Nusrah.

An in-depth investigation by nsnbc international, in 2013, concluded that Zahran Alloush was the commander who gave the direct order to launch the chemical weapons attack in East Ghouta on August 21, 2013.

The investigation also concluded that command responsibility for Alloush’s decision led directly to the U.S.’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the White House, and to the Saudi government.

Alloush would also be in control over choosing the “security guards” UN inspectors had to submit to while gathering evidence after the chemical weapons attack in East Ghouta. (see details and names in the report).

Zahran Alloush, Liwa-al-Islam and Saudi intelligence also played central roles in the attempt to obstruct Syria’s decommissioning of chemical weapons by launching attacks against chemical weapons transports. The information about these transports was highly classified, leading the Syrian government to the conclusion that Saudi intelligence provided information to Liwa-al-Islam.

Zahran Alloush was since the 1990s involved in the Salafist – Wahabbist terrorist networks in Syria which led to his arrest by Syrian intelligence. He was released in early of 2011, when the Assad administration granted a general amnesty. Immediately after his March 2011 release from prison, Zahran Alloush began receiving substantial funds and weapons from Saudi intelligence, which enabled him to establish Liwa-al-Islam as a de facto Saudi Arabia sponsored mercenary brigade under the auspices of the Saudi Interior Ministry.

Zahran Alloush, Liwa-al-Islam and Saudi intelligence also played central roles in the attempt to obstruct Syria’s decommissioning of chemical weapons by launching attacks against chemical weapons transports. The information about these transports was highly classified, leading the Syrian government to the conclusion that Saudi intelligence provided information to Liwa-al-Islam.

Zahran Alloush was since the 1990s involved in the Salafist – Wahabbist terrorist networks in Syria which led to his arrest by Syrian intelligence. He was released in early of 2011, when the Assad administration granted a general amnesty. Immediately after his March 2011 release from prison, Zahran Alloush began receiving substantial funds and weapons from Saudi intelligence, which enabled him to establish Liwa-al-Islam as a de facto Saudi Arabia sponsored mercenary brigade under the auspices of the Saudi Interior Ministry.

The Saudi intelligence assets Alloush and Liwa-al-Islam also played crucial roles in the demise of the predominantly Qatari and Turkish backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) and other, predominantly Qatari-backed insurgencies. In June 2013 in the Jobar district of Damascus, for example, Alloush withdrew his Liwa-al-Islam troops during a major battle with the Syrian Arab Army without announcing the sudden withdrawal to the Qatar-sponsored First Brigade and the Liwa Jaish al-Muslimeen. Both brigades were literally wiped out by the Syrian Army.

The air strike that exterminated Zahran Alloush also exterminated one of the primary field commanders who were responsible for the transition from the primacy of Muslim Brotherhood linked insurgencies to Al-Qaeda-linked insurgencies in the Syrian theater. That includes the primacy of Jabhat al-Nusrah, Jaysh al-Islam, Liwa-al-Islam, and ultimately also the self-proclaimed Islamic State, a.k.a. ISIL, ISIS or Daesh.



Russia's Putin orders several counter-terrorism units to be set up on coasts
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-putin-defence-idUSKBN0U909P20151226

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered counter-terrorism operational headquarters to be set up in several coastal areas, the state-run RIA news agency quoted the Kremlin as saying on Saturday.

The units are to be set in Kaspiysk on the Caspian Sea, Murmansk in Russia's north-west and in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on Russia's eastern coast, Interfax news agency said.

Putin also ordered a similar operation to be set up in Crimea's capital of Simferopol - the peninsula Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

 

[goyacobol]

In the wars of the psychopaths it is difficult to gauge the depth of commitment to their rhetoric but ISIS is now threatening Israel, Saudi Arabia’s "apostate tyrants”, Russia and the US.

ISIS leader threatens Israel, calls for revolt in Saudi Arabia

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of Islamic State terrorist group, allegedly issued an audio recording, threatening to turn Palestine into a “graveyard” for Israelis, and urged an insurgency against Saudi Arabia rulers he called “apostates” perverting Islam.

In the audio statement distributed via ISIS-affiliated social media accounts on Saturday, al-Baghdadi said the terrorist group has not forgotten Palestine “for a moment” claiming that Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) is getting closer to Israel “every day”. He claimed that the extremists would surround Israelis one day, which “is close” according to the terrorist group leader, Israeli media reported.

The IS leader also claimed that Palestine would become “a graveyard” for Israelis and stated that since all “the Jews of the world” had gathered in Israel, war against them would be “easy.”

In his audio message, al-Baghdadi also slammed Saudi Arabia’s initiative to create an Islamic coalition against the terrorist group. The self-proclaimed Islamic State leader said that the new coalition was “falsely” called Islamic. He added that a “truly Islamic coalition” would be aimed at freeing Palestine and fighting Israel.

He also urged Saudi citizens to turn against the country’s rulers, which he called “apostate tyrants,” AFP reported.

The terrorist group leader also used the opportunity to threaten Russia and the US and claim that the air strikes conducted by the coalitions allegedly did not weaken the jihadists. He declared that the group gets only “tougher” as the world intensifies its efforts to defeat it.

The 20-minute-long audio recording is the first statement attributed to al-Baghdadi in the last seven months as the last recording featuring his voice was published in May. The authenticity of the latest statement has not yet been verified, although the voice in the recording matched al-Baghdadi’s previous audio statements, AFP reported.

The whereabouts of al-Baghdadi still remain unknown, although it was previously reported that he was severely injured in one of the US-led coalition airstrikes. He made his only public appearance in summer 2014 in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which is held by IS.

Although al-Baghdadi mentioned Israel in his statement for the first time, this audio message was not the first one, in which IS threatened Israelis.

In October, militants claimed they would enter Al-Aqsa mosque in Palestine “as conquerors” in a Hebrew-language video attributed to ISIS. On December 4, the terrorist group released another video beginning with the images of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which the militants threaten to kill “all Jews,” the Algemeiner reports.

Israel has been fairly silent lately but maybe things are heating up a bit for it's role in the bigger picture.

al-Baghdadi is a man with many lives it seems. Having a fake name he has been reported killed more than once I think so who knows if the video is authentic.

 

[Buddy]

Authentic or not, considering the timing of the release, my personal opinion on the purpose for this audio recording is that it is an example either of 1) "giving the finger" (a symbolic "last great act of defiance") or 2) an attempt to re-moralize the currently shell-shocked-and-demoralized terrorists that still survive.

Been trying hard to keep up with all this along with everything else, so I might be missing something, but so far it appears to me that Putin's efficacy and popularity is only growing in strength, regardless of what people are saying, while other actors resisting the inevitable victory in Syria (my prediction) become more pathetic. :)

 

[Windmill knight]

ISIS leader threatens Israel, calls for revolt in Saudi Arabia

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of Islamic State terrorist group, allegedly issued an audio recording, threatening to turn Palestine into a “graveyard” for Israelis, and urged an insurgency against Saudi Arabia rulers he called “apostates” perverting Islam.

That's interesting, because ISIS in Palestine would provide a great opportunity for Israel to bomb Palestine, and to do so with the full approval of the international community.

 

[sToRmR1dR]

Militants' Main Command Center in Idlib Destroyed in Syrian Air Raid

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941006000311

"The Syrian warplanes tracked and targeted the Takfiri militants' command center near al-Tamanah town near the border of Idlib and Hama province," the army said.

"The Jund al-Aqsa militant group sustained a heavy death toll and their military vehicles and equipment were destroyed in the airstrikes," the army added.

The Syrian army and its allies, backed up by the Russian fighter jets, have been carrying out very successful operations in various parts of Aleppo province in the recent weeks.

On Friday, the Syrian army, backed by the country's airstrikes, killed at least 9 Takfiri militants in the province of Idlib.

The Syrian army destroyed terrorists' concentration centers in Khan Sheikhoun city in the Southern part of Idlib province, and killed 6 Takfiris.

The Syrian forces also killed 3 Takfiri terrorists and destroyed their weapons and military equipment in al-Fatira village in Jabal al-Zawiya area.

Also, the military sources announced on Friday that large groups of fresh forces have arrived in al-Hadher to join the Syrian Army and its allies to launch a new phase of operations to take back the strategic Aleppo-Idlib highway from militants' control.

"A massive wave of Hezbollah and Iraqi popular forces have arrived in the town of al-Hadher in order to begin the third phase of large-scale operation in Aleppo province's Southern territories," the sources said.

"The main objective for these reinforcements will be the capture of the Aleppo-Idlib axis that has been under the control of the militant groups well over two and a half years," the sources added.

The Syrian army and their allies from Hezbollah, Harakat Al-Nujaba, and the National Defense Forces (NDF) completed the second phase of their Southern Aleppo operation after they captured the strategic town of Khan Touman and the village of al-Khalidiyah; this resulted in the obstruction of the terrorists' main supply line from Idlib to Aleppo.

 

[Ca.]

ISIS leader threatens Israel, calls for revolt in Saudi Arabia

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of Islamic State terrorist group, allegedly issued an audio recording, threatening to turn Palestine into a “graveyard” for Israelis, and urged an insurgency against Saudi Arabia rulers he called “apostates” perverting Islam.

That's interesting, because ISIS in Palestine would provide a great opportunity for Israel to bomb Palestine, and to do so with the full approval of the international community.

Yeah but, is not true that the ISIS is the creation of the US, ZIO agenda equating to the Political Ponerology movement across the planet for dominance?

This supposed ISIS movement into Palestine could very well indicate the massive, multiple, (municipal) false flags that are nearing the USA of Biblical proportions.


Aa-la (Bakr al-Baghdad) via (Starts with an M end's with a D).
Weapon of MD

Israel’s Connections to ISIS & Their Role in The Paris Attacks -

http://<iframe width="560" height="...pg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[angelburst29]

Supplies of S-300 air defense systems to Iran to begin in January 2016 — source

_http://tass.ru/en/defense/846876

Russia will train about 80 Iranian specialists to use the systems

MOSCOW, December 25. /TASS/. The deliveries of Russian S-300PMU-2 air defense systems to Iran will begin in January, a source in the military and technical cooperation system told TASS on Friday.

"It is planned to begin the process of delivery of the first regiment of the S-300PMU-2 air defense systems in January and to complete it in February. Iran is due to receive the second regiment of these systems in August or September 2016," the source said.

"Russia will thus fulfill its obligations to supply the S-300PMU-2 air defense systems to Iran," he added.

According to the source, about 80 Iranian specialists will be trained to use the S-300 missile systems (NATO reporting name SA-10 Grumble) at the Mozhaisky Military Space Academy.

"About 80 military specialists from Iran in January, 2016 will begin a training to use S-300 at the training centers of the Mozhaisky
Academy," the source said. "The training program will be four months long. Its cost is a part of the contract. After the course, supposedly in May, the Iranians will return home."

IRGC Navy Commander: US Warships Fearful of Iran's Speed Boats
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941006001076

"The US which has entered the Persian Gulf with all its military power obeys the rule of the Iranian speed boats," Fadavi said in the Southern province of Hormozgan on Sunday.

"Despite its military power, the US fears the Iranian speed boats since it knows that these small-size boats that are only a few meters in length enjoy such a destructive power that they can destroy their several-hundred-meter long warships," he added.

Tehran launched an arms development program during the 1980-88 Iraqi imposed war on Iran to compensate for a US weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and fighter planes.

Yet, Iranian officials have always stressed that the country's military and arms programs serve defensive purposes and should not be perceived as a threat to any other country.

Iran's naval power has even been acknowledged by foes. In a Sep. 11, 2008 report, the Washington Institute for the Near East Policy said that in the two decades since the Iraqi imposed war on Iran, the Islamic Republic has excelled in naval capabilities and is able to wage unique asymmetric warfare against larger naval forces.

According to the report, Iran's Navy has been transformed into a highly motivated, well-equipped, and well-financed force and is effectively in control of the world's oil lifeline, the Strait of Hormuz.

 

[angelburst29]

As the year draws to a close, there is just enough time to look back on a US Intelligence Agency report written 15 years ago, which tried to envision what Russia would be like in the year 2015. Let's take a look inside the US National Intelligence Council's (NIC) Global Trends 2015 report and see what they predicted, and what they missed.

Global Trends 2015: CIA Failed to Forecast Russia's Swift Geopolitical Rise
http://sputniknews.com/politics/20151227/1032363662/us-cia-failed-to-forecast-russia-swift-geopolitical-rise-2015.html

The US National Intelligence Council's 2015 report envisaged a series of challenges and important geopolitical and scientific changes; it correctly predicted the internet revolution, the increase in consumption of genetically modified products, the rise of international terrorism and even the refugee crisis in the West.

But what the US intelligence community failed to foresee was the rise of Russia and its transformation into an influential geopolitical player by 2015.

"Between now and 2015, Moscow will be challenged even more than today to adjust its expectations for world leadership to its dramatically reduced resources… The most likely outcome is a Russia that remains internally weak and institutionally linked to the international system primarily through its permanent seat on the UN Security Council," the NIC's Global Trends 2015 report predicted.

The report depicted a gloomy future for Russia and former Soviet republics: the population of the Slavic core would continue to decline, the centrality of Russia would continue to diminish and by 2015 "Eurasia" would be a "geographic term lacking a unifying political, economic, and cultural reality."

"The Soviet economic inheritance will continue to plague Russia. Besides a crumbling physical infrastructure, years of environmental neglect are taking a toll on the population, a toll made worse by such societal costs of transition as alcoholism, cardiac diseases, drugs, and a worsening health delivery system," the report stated.

The authors of the report believed that the "effective governance" would be nearly impossible for a country as large and diverse as Russia. They did not exclude the dissolution of the state by 2015.

Needless to say, the picture drawn by the American intelligence specialists bears no relation to reality. How did they get it so wrong?

"The prognosis was made in 2000 when our country [Russia], frankly speaking, had not yet recovered after the events of 1991 [the dissolution of the Soviet Union]. Indeed, at that time it looked as if Russia had no prospects," Nikolai Shlyamin, Russian political analyst and a leader of United Youth Front civil movement, noted in his interview with Sputnik Radio.

According to the political analyst, it is not the first time the West's dismal prognoses regarding Russia's future have not come true.

It is absolutely futile to make forecasts for Russia's political and economic developments, Shlyamin believes. Things are changing swiftly in the country, and are sometimes in direct contradiction to common logic and established historical principles.

Contrary to the NIC's gloomy expectations, the Russian Federation has not only recovered from the geopolitical catastrophe of the 1990s, but has regained its status as a great regional power and influential global player.

Not in the US intelligence community's wildest dreams would Russia have re-unified with Crimea, which was meant to become the Pentagon's foothold after ultra-nationalists came to power in Kiev in 2014.

The CIA and other American intelligence agencies have also failed to foresee that the Kremlin would evade Washington's geopolitical trap in Ukraine, sustain its status quo and resist NATO's attempts to drag Moscow into an exhausting military confrontation.

It is obvious that Russia's decision to carry out a full-scale air campaign in Syria also caught Washington by surprise, as well as Russia's outstanding military capabilities demonstrated during the three months of the successful Syrian operation.

Turkey's treacherous attack on the Russian Su-24 on November 24 has not affected Moscow's operation in Syria. If it were a preplanned provocation harbored by Ankara and NATO, it evidently has gone wrong. Apparently, someone has once again miscalculated Russia.

The failures of the US intelligence agencies have not gone unnoticed. The spy community's inability to foresee the Kremlin's moves have prompted growing concerns among US lawmakers.

In October 2015, a week after Russia launched its campaign of air strikes in Syria, the intelligence committees of the US Senate and House of Representatives started probing into American intelligence agencies' repeated lapses.

The intelligence community admitted that although it did closely follow Russia's moves in Ukraine and in Syria it could not assess how far the Russians were prepared to go.

As Shlyamin noticed, it is not the first time the West has failed to properly evaluate Russia's capabilities. In the 20th century Western experts repeatedly predicted that Russia would be destroyed either by revolution or by the war. However, the country has managed to overcome all the difficulties it has faced and grow back into its status as a super power.

 

[angelburst29]

Quote from: sToRmR1dR on December 25, 2015, 09:27:50 AM

Supplies of S-300 air defense systems to Iran to begin in January 2016 — source

_http://tass.ru/en/defense/846876

Russia will train about 80 Iranian specialists to use the systems

IRGC Navy Commander: US Warships Fearful of Iran's Speed Boats
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941006001076

"Despite its military power, the US fears the Iranian speed boats since it knows that these small-size boats that are only a few meters in length enjoy such a destructive power that they can destroy their several-hundred-meter long warships," he added.


Flashback: U.S. interference with Iran
‘1953 coup against Mossadegh led to 1979 US embassy takeover’
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/12/26/443291/1953-coup-Mossadegh-1979-US-embassy-takeover/

The US-sponsored 1953 coup d'état against the government of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh led to the 1979 US embassy takeover by students in Tehran, a former US Senate candidate and political analyst says.

Mark Dankof, who is also a broadcaster and pastor in San Antonio, Texas, made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Saturday while commenting on reports that the US government will award millions of dollars to the Americans who were taken into custody at the US embassy in Tehran in 1979.

Each of the 53 detainees or their estates will receive up to $4.4 million, according to a $1.1 trillion spending bill passed last week by the US Congress. The law authorizes payments of up to $10,000 per day of captivity for each of the detainees, 37 of whom are still alive.

Dankof said that “if we were to look at the amounts of money that are being paid to these 53 people or to their estates and to compare it with what American wounded veterans are not getting from their government, and also what American POWs historically were not getting from their government in regard to everything that they went through at war time, many Americans if they understood this in that perceptive, would perceive that these payments are now going to be made to these 53 hostages of the November 1979 timeframe would be seen as excessive.”

He said that the long-term American prisoners of war (POWs) and certainly some of the injured American veterans received “far less compensation from their governments than they were entitled to.”

“There’s something else that’s going on here as well, and that’s -- once again -- what happened in November of 1979 is appearing in the American media with no reference to or contextualization in terms of what happened in Iran in 1953,” he stated.

“The average American does not know and his media and his government are certainly not going to inform him or her that in 1953, the United States Central Intelligence Agency and the British MI6 participated in something called Operation Ajax, which resulted in the overthrow of Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh of Iran – illegitimately so – and the subsequent installation of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi to his throne by the CIA and secondarily the British MI6,” the analyst pointed out.

The entire set of circumstances that surround that activity, which became a primer for CIA covert operations around the world after 1953, is to be found in all of the papers that have been declassified on this whole subject. It has been obtained by a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit,” he said.

“The American Free Press in Washington, DC, for which I have contributed from time to time … has published all of these available documents that had been obtained from the George Washington University National Security Archives on Operation Ajax, which give in the CIA’s own words all of the details as to who was involved in this plot, how this was undertaken, and specifically how contrary this whole situation was at the time, and was prior to 1953 and all the years since 1953 in terms of the stated values and objectives of the American government when it comes to democracy that are consequently being parroted by the American news media,” he added.

“The fact is that Operation Ajax set in motion the tragic series of events in the 25 years that followed it that led to... the November 1979 takeover of the American embassy in Tehran,” Dankof noted.

In November 1979 and in less than a year after the victory of the Islamic Revolution that toppled the US-backed Pahlavi monarchy, Iranian university students seized the US embassy in Tehran.

The students believed the US mission had turned into a center of spying aimed at overthrowing the Islamic establishment in Iran following the Islamic Revolution earlier that year.

Documents found at the compound later confirmed claims by Iranian students that Washington was using its embassy in Tehran to plot against the new Islamic Republic of Iran.


Washington to award former embassy detainees in Iran
http://presstv.ir/Detail/2015/12/25/443188/compensation/

Friday December 25, 2015 - The US government will award millions of dollars to the Americans who were taken into custody at the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979.

Each of the 53 detainees or their estates will receive up to $4.4 million, according to a $1.1 trillion spending bill passed last week by the US Congress.

The law authorizes payments of up to $10,000 per day of captivity for each of the detainees, 37 of whom are still alive.

There were originally 66 Americans held at the US embassy. Thirteen were released in November 1979, and one was released in July 1980 because of ill health. Fifty-two Americans were held for the full 444 days.

 

[angelburst29]

The Syrian air force dropped more Arabic-language leaflets reading "Surrender Now" over the militant groups in Damascus countryside on Sunday to give the Takfiri terrorists a last chance to lay down their arms and surrender to the authorities.

Syrian Planes Drop More "Surrender Now" Leaflets for Militants in Damascus
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941006001427

This is the second time over the past two days that the Syrian warplanes drop the leaflets reading "surrender now; you have nowhere to go" for the Takfiri terrorists over Eastern Ghouta in Damascus countryside.

On Friday, the Syrian air force also dropped similar leaflets for the terrorists in Eastern Ghouta.

The battle for Eastern Ghouta region of rural Damascus has proved to be one of the most violent fronts in all of Syria after almost 4 years of non-stop fighting between the Syrian forces and Jeish al-Islam terrorist group.

Recently, the Syrian army’s 102nd Brigade and the 416th Regiment of the Republican Guard seized the strategic Marj Al-Sultan Military Airport and its nearby village, marking the end of Jeish al-Islam’s presence at this strategic site in Damascus countryside.

Now, the situation in the East Ghouta has turned from bad to worse for the militants of Jeish al-Islam, as the Syrian Armed Forces are currently pushing North from Marj al-Sultan to the important city of Harasta, where the majority of the firefights in this region are taking place.

[...] Army Spokesman Ali Mayhoub confirmed on Saturday that Allouch and a number of other commanders of Jeish al-Islam and other terrorist groups, including Al-Rahman and Ahrar al-Sham, were killed in a special operation conducted by the Syrian air force on terrorists’ military positions in Eastern Ghouta.

Senior members of Ahrar Sham's Shura (consultative) Council sent their condolences on the death of Allouch, who was known as the most formidable sworn enemy of President Assad across Southern Syria, as his elimination strikes a lethal blow at Jeish al-Islam and other militant groups in Syria.

Allouch was notorious for his vast ethnic cleansing of Shiites in Syria.

Hamza Bayrakdar, Spokesman of Jeish al-Islam, and Abdel Nasser Shamir, commander of Al-Rahman terrorist group were also killed in the airstrike in Eastern Ghouta.

Jeish al-Islam is one of the largest terrorist groups in Southern Syria and the biggest one in Eastern Ghouta.

Jeish al-Islam is a Saudi-backed Takfiri terrorist group affiliated to the Islamic Front a conglomerate of tens of terrorist groups fighting against the Syrian government.



Iraqi troops seize ISIS-held complex in central Ramadi
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/iraqi-troops-isis-ramadi-1.3381288

Iraqi forces on Sunday took control of the government complex in central Ramadi, the last Islamic State stronghold in the western city, a military spokesman said.

"By controlling the complex this means that they have been defeated in Ramadi," said Sabah al-Numani, a spokesman for the force leading the fight on the government side.

"The next step is to clear pockets that could exist here or there in the city."

After Ramadi, the army plans to move to retake the northern city of Mosul, the biggest population centre under ISIS control in Iraq and Syria.

The extremists still control large swaths of land in western and northern Iraq and in neighbouring Syria. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has declared a self-styled caliphate on the territory under its control.