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

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27 killed in US airstrikes on Syria's Dayr al-Zawr


Smoke billows after US-led bombings near Hajin, Dayr Al-Zawr Province, eastern Syria, December 15, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

The US and its allies have conducted air raids on Syria’s eastern Dayr al-Zawr province, killing more than two dozen people, including eight children.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that the deadly strikes hit the village of al-Sha'afa, situated on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, on Friday.

"At least 27 people were killed this morning in al-Sha'afa," SOHR head Rami Abdel Rahman said, adding that several people were seriously injured in the US-led coalition attacks.

He further noted that eight children were among the civilian victims of the airstrikes.

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Al-Shaafa and Hajin are the two main villages in the last pocket of territory still occupied by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in Dayr al-Zawr near the Iraqi border.

The Syrian army managed to liberate Dayr Al-Zawr city from the grip of Daesh in November 2017.

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The US and its allies have been bombarding what they call Daesh positions inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Damascus government or a UN mandate.

The aerial assaults have failed to fulfill their declared aim of countering terrorism, but destroyed much of Syria's infrastructure and left many civilian casualties.

The fresh US air raids came two days after President Donald Trump announced an abrupt decision to pull out American troops from Syria after claiming victory over Daesh there.

The Pentagon also confirmed that it had started the process of withdrawing all 2,000 American troops from Syria.

Trump's announcement, however, raised concerns among Washington's European and regional allies, which have long been supporting a myriad of anti-Damascus militants.

Analysts described US forces' withdrawal from Syria as a victory for Damascus and its allies, which was made possible through the resistance of the Syrian nation and government during the foreign-sponsored militancy in the Arab country.


Syria: Bodies of More Victims of ISIL, US Attacks Found in Raqqa


The bodies of almost 30 civilians killed in the US-led coalition airstrikes and the ISIL attacks were found from debris of ruined buildings and also in mass-graves in Raqqa, media sources reported on Friday

Media activists in Raqqa reported that the corpses of 13 civilians, including 2 children and a woman, have been found from under the debris of a building in al-Qataar street ruined in the US raids.

They further said that the dead bodies of 12 other civilians were unearthed from a mass grave in Panorama neighborhood in Western part of Raqqa city, adding that 2 more bodies of the victims were discovered from under the debris of a ruined building in al-Harmiyah neighborhood in Raqqa city.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said last month that the bodies of over 8,000 Syrians killed in the bombing raids carried out by the US and the coalition led by it had been found in mass graves in Syria’s Raqqa after the rubble was partially cleared away.

"Last week, the Syrian government, in its letters addressed to the UN secretary general and the UN Security Council president, provided the tragic statistics on the victims of the coalition’s bombing raids in the city of Raqqa during its ‘liberation’ from ISIL (known as ISIS or Daesh)," she noted.

"The bodies of over 4,000 people were found while clearing away the rubble in two of the city’s residential neighborhoods left over from the airstrikes and also around the stadium and the zoo. Those were mainly women, the elderly and children. In addition, a mass grave where more than 2,500 people were buried was uncovered at a farm near a pediatric clinic and the National Hospital, while another burial site was opened near Al-Panorama where 1,500 bombing raids’ victims were buried," Zakharova added.

"The letters stressed that to date just two percent of the rubble had been cleared away in Raqqa, which had been literally razed to the ground," Zakharova emphasized.

According to the diplomat, the statistics turned out to be in stark contrast with "the hysterical reaction expressed by the US and other Western countries with respect to protecting Syrians’ rights", and "the information provided in recent reports by various Western NGOs on the situation in Raqqa".


Update: Tiger Forces to begin offensive against ISIS in east Deir Ezzor

On Friday, the elite Tiger Forces branch of the Syrian military was given orders to redeploy to eastern Syria, where they will post up along the eastern countryside of the Deir Ezzor Governorate.

According to a military source in Damascus, the reason for the redeployment is due to the growing Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS/Daesh) that is posed by the upcoming Turkish Army offensive east of the Euphrates.

The source said that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who are fighting ISIS right now, will be forced to redeploy much of their troops to northern Syria as they attempt to deal with the looming Turkish Army threat.

The Tiger Forces are expected to clear a small Islamic State pocket that has remained near the border-city of Albukamal.

ISIS has launched several attacks on the Syrian Arab Army’s positions from this pocket near Albukamal; it has become a major issue due to the constant shelling from the terrorist group on the city.


Syrian Army launches powerful attack against foreign jihadist group

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) launched a powerful attack against a foreign jihadist group in the western countryside of the Idlib Governorate this evening.

Led by their Republican Guard, the Syrian Arab Army unleashed a barrage of surface-to-surface missiles towards a base belonging to the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) in the western countryside of the Idlib province.

According to a military report, the Syrian Arab Army targeted the Turkestan Islamic Party’s base in the western Idlib town of Najiyah, which is located just east of the Turkish border.

The Syrian military said they managed to score several direct hits on the enemy base, causing loud explosions that could be heard from several kilometers away.

The Syrian Arab Army’s attack on Friday evening comes in response to the Turkestan Islamic Party’s unprovoked shelling of their positions in the Al-Ghaab Plain of northwest Hama.


Three Syrian soldiers wounded in shellings by militants — Russian reconciliation center


© Timur Abdullayev/News Team/TASS

Three Syrian servicemen were wounded in shellings by militants in the Latakia governorate, chief of the Russian Center for reconciliation of the conflictign sides in Syria Sergei Solomatin said on Friday.

"During the day, shelling attacks by militants operating in the Idlib de-escalation zone were reported from the settlements of Bshafa (twice), Safsafa (twice), Akch Baer, Jubb al-Zarur, Nahshebba, Dahr Abu-Assad, Sandran, Beit Ziwan and Masasna in the Latakia governorate; the settlements of Zor Mahruka, Zellaqiyat, Tell Maraq, Kherbet Marin, Achan, Hamamiyat, Tell al-Maqtaa and Kornaz in the Hama governorate; and Aleppo’s Suqqari neighborhood (twice), western (twice) and northwestern suburbs, and the area around the research center. As a result of shellings, three Syrian servicemen were wounded in the settlement of Masasna in the Latakia governorate," he said.

According to Solomatin, work is continued to amnesty people dodging military service. As of now, as many as 19,068 people were amnestied, he said.

Throughout the day, officers of the Russian reconciliation center conducted a humanitarian operation to deliver 500 bags with food products to the settlement of Kum al-Visiya in the al-Quneitra governorate.

"Efforts are continued to restore infrastructure facilities and create conditions for the return of refugees. As of December 20, 2018, as many as 30,900 residential houses, 713 educational and 119 medical facilities have been restored. A total of 944 kilometers of motorways have been repaired," he noted.

The Russian reconciliation center continues to fulfill assigned tasks after the completion of the military campaign in Syria. The center’s officers regularly travel around the country's liberated areas to assess the humanitarian situation. The main efforts of the Russian military are now focused on assistance to the refugees returning to their homes.


Heavy clashes breakout between Turkish-backed rebels and Kurdish forces in northern Syria

A series of heavy clashes broke out on Friday when the Turkish-backed rebels launched a powerful assault on a group of fighters from the Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units (YPG) in northern Aleppo.

According to local reports, the clashes took place between the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) and YPG at the town of Ayn Daqna.

Neither group advanced their positions in northern Aleppo; however, hostile gunfire was reported for a long duration on Friday afternoon.

With the U.S. military’s impending withdrawal from Syria, the Turkish military has taken the opportunity to launch several attacks against the Kurdish-led forces before they launch their large-scale offensive east of the Euphrates.



SDF SPOKESPERSON: WE DON’T MIND IF ASSAD GOVERNMENT RETURNS TO MANBIJ

Jihan Ahmad, a spokeswoman for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), told Sputnik on December 21 that the SDF does not oppose the return of the Damascus government’s institutions to the northern city of Manbij and stressed that self-administration is the only demand of the Kurdish-dominated group.

“We are a part of Syria and we don’t call for separatism, but we want agreement on self-administration as part of free Syria to be reached,” Ahmad said, when asked by the Russian news agency if Manbij could be handed over to Damascus.​

The SDF spokeswoman added that the group’s leaders have held talks with representatives of Damascus on several occasions. She added that the SDF has no problem with the “regime” or the Syrian flag.

“Today our efforts are aimed at protecting the region and warding danger away from it,” Ahmad said.​

A day earlier, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) revealed that the SDF and the Damascus government are holding talks on the future of northeastern Syria amid the U.S. decision to withdraw its forces from the war torn country.

Local observers had predicted that the SDF will move towards Damascus and Moscow in order to prevent Turkey from attacking northeastern Syria in the aftermath of U.S. forces withdrawal.


Kremlin Refutes Reports About Russian-US Agreement on US Withdrawal From Syria


Russian President Vladimir Putin gives 'beaming' smile to stinky cowboy bastard © Sputnik / Sergey Guneev

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refuted on Friday media reports that the US decision to withdraw troops from Syria was a result of talks between Russia, the United States, Israel and some Arab states.

"No, that is not true," Peskov told the Vedomosti newspaper, commenting on the reports.

Earlier in the day, media reported that the conditions of US withdrawal from Syria were discussed during the talks between representatives of Russia, the United States, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Russia and the United States reportedly agreed that Moscow would make efforts to restrict Iran in Syria with Israel getting an opportunity to freely strike facilities in Syria.

Trump announced plans this week to pull 2,000 US troops out of northern Syria, where they have been backing Kurdish rebels in the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The president has also ordered the withdrawal of about half of the 14,000 US forces in Afghanistan, according to media reports.

 

[goyacobol]

Russian President Vladimir Putin gives 'beaming' smile to stinky cowboy bastard © Sputnik / Sergey Guneev

Since there is not a lot to laugh about in the chaos I just couldn't help notice the sentiment above...

 

[angelburst29]

December 22, 2018 - Syrian rebels say US Troops remain in Key Garrison near Iraq
'Neither war nor peace': Doctors targeted in Syria's lawless rebel region | Reuters

U.S. troops have not left the strategic Tanf garrison on the Iraq-Jordan border following President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of Syria, the leader of a Pentagon-backed rebel group there said on Saturday.

A man gestures at U.S military vehicles driving in the town of Darbasiya next to the Turkish border. April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Rodi Said

Colonel Muhanad al Talaa, leader of Maghawir al-Thawra whose several hundred fighters work alongside U.S. troops at the Tanf camp, said although they were notified of Washington’s decision, the situation on the ground remained as it was.

“American troops plan to withdraw completely form Syria but I don’t have details and things are as they are up until this moment,” Talaa told Reuters from the base.

The garrison is located in a strategic area near Syria’s Tanf border crossing with Iraq at the crossroad of a main Baghdad-Damascus highway, Tehran’s main arms supply route by land to Syria and Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah militia.

Russia and the Syrian government have repeatedly called on Washington to pull its troops from the Tanf base, where it has declared a 55 km (35 mile)-radius “deconfliction zone” which has become a safe haven for at least 50,000 civilians, mostly women and children, who live in the Rukban camp within it.

The garrison was first set up when Islamic State fighters controlled eastern Syria bordering Iraq but since the militants were driven out, Tanf has assumed a role as part of a U.S. strategy to contain Iran’s military buildup in eastern Syria.

Tanf is the only position with a significant U.S. military presence in Syria outside the Kurdish-controlled north, where it has much larger air bases


December 21, 2018 - 'Neither war nor Peace': Doctors targeted in Syria's lawless rebel region
'Neither war nor peace': Doctors targeted in Syria's lawless rebel region | Reuters

Doctor Khalil Agha was working at a hospital in northwest Syria when masked gunmen knocked at his door, waved a piece of paper saying he was wanted by a powerful Islamist group, and bundled him into their car, bound and blindfold.

The surgeon, whose captors demanded $100,000 for his freedom, was one of 10 medical personnel who doctors say have been seized this year in a rebel-held region sinking into anarchy.

A deal between Russia and Turkey three months ago averted a Syrian army offensive to recapture the region, centered around Idlib province. But cuts in foreign funding - both to militant groups and local police struggling to assert some order - have undermined security.

Now medical workers are feeling the impact as armed gangs compete for influence and money.
Doctors are targeted because they are well-known, comparatively well-paid and inclined to express views that put them at odds with their kidnappers.

For the first five years of the civil war, until the end of 2016, there were almost no attacks on medics, said Munther Khalil, head of the Idlib Health Directorate. “But in the last two years, there have been explosive devices that target our cars, car thefts, detentions and assassination attempts.”

Four months ago Agha was working a shift at his hospital in eastern Lattakia province, near Idlib, when he heard a knock. He opened the door to find two armed men who told him he was wanted by a court run by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which controls much of the region.

They tied his hands and covered his eyes. “It wasn’t until they released me seven days later that I saw daylight,” he said. His kidnappers accused him of working with Turkey, foreign NGOs and another Syrian opposition group and demanded $100,000 from his wife. She sold her jewelry and his car, and borrowed money from as many people as she could to pay the ransom.

NORTHWEST UNREST
The arrival of tens of thousands of fighters and civilians from defeated rebel enclaves elsewhere in Syria has made a bad situation worse in the northwest, the last major bastion of opposition to President Bashar al-Assad.

“The number of factions increased, and the fighting between factions increased as some groups took control and others went extinct,” Agha said. “Everyone started working alone, according to their own agenda - religious or political - leaving no one in complete control,” he said.

The area is held by an array of rebels, the most powerful being Tahrir al-Sham, an amalgamation of Islamist groups dominated by the former Nusra Front - an al Qaeda offshoot until it distanced itself from the group in 2016.

Other groups fight under the rebel Free Syrian Army banner with Turkish backing, in an alliance called the “National Front for Liberation”.

Foreign payments to several factions were halted following a U.S. decision to halt its funding program last year, cutting off groups that depended almost wholly on donations from outside and driving some to kidnapping to make ends meet. Earlier this year, a cut in British support ended funding for projects including an independent police force.

The Free Syrian Police, which operates only in rebel-held areas outside the control of Tahrir al-Sham, was unarmed in accordance with a deal with Western backers - the United States, Britain, Denmark, Netherlands, Canada and Germany.

Since the funding ended, some policemen have taken up arms. But they cannot defend civilians and doctors against kidnappings by armed groups in areas out of their control. “We don’t have a magic wand,” said Colonel Maher Ghrebeh.

The funding cut also forced policemen to find other jobs to make ends meet, undermining their security work, said General Fouad al-Sweid, head of the Idlib Free Police. “Policemen are being forced to leave work and go work in their olive groves, harvest potatoes, work as laborers or bakers.”

“NEITHER WAR NOR PEACE”
Over the summer, doctors in Idlib went on a three-day strike to protest against the kidnappings and rampant insecurity. Some doctors started carrying small arms for protection, though others said that would not protect them. “What good would a light weapon be in the face of an armed group?” said one pharmacist who was recently abducted.

The pharmacist, who asked not to be named, was doing his rounds in a village in Idlib when he was stopped by masked men. Armed and riding a pickup truck with a mounted rifle, the seven men forced him to abandon his car, blindfolded him and took away his phone.

They then drove him to an unidentified location and put him in a dark, guarded room, where he was held for five days and tortured. They sent recordings of the torture to his wife and demanded $150,000 in exchange for his release.

The pharmacist’s wife sold all her jewelry and borrowed money until she had $18,000, negotiating the armed group down to that amount and won his release.

Agha didn’t go back to his hospital for three months after being freed, and he now has a list of 29 people he owes money. He says he’s still afraid, but despite friends warning him against returning, he’s back doing surgery at the hospital.

In the relative lull which followed September’s truce, Agha says they almost miss the bombs. “We wish for bombardment and clashes, because people get distracted,” he said with a weak laugh. “The situation we’re in, neither war nor peace, is a disaster.”


December 22, 2018 - Turkey says nearly 300,000 Syrians return Home after military operations
Turkey says nearly 300,000 Syrians return home after military operations | Reuters

Nearly 300,000 Syrians have returned to their country after Turkey’s two cross-border operations in northern Syria, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu was quoted as saying on Saturday.

Turkey has carried out two operations, dubbed “Euphrates Shield” and “Olive Branch”, against Kurdish YPG militia and Islamic State in northern Syria. Ankara regards the U.S.-backed YPG as a terrorist organization.

Turkey hosts more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees who have fled the conflict in their homeland. Some Turks view them as an economic burden and a threat to jobs.

“The number of Syrians that returned to their country after the Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations is 291,790,” Soylu was quoted by state-owned Anadolu news agency as saying.



December 21, 2018 - Turkey says it will take over fight against IS after US pull-out
Turkey says it will take over fight against IS after U.S. pull-out | Reuters

Turkey will take over the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria as the United States withdraws its troops, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, in the latest upheaval wrought by Washington’s abrupt policy shift.

FILE PHOTO: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a joint news conference with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani (not seen) after their meeting in Ankara, Turkey, December 20, 2018. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

For Turkey, the step removes a source of friction with the United States. Erdogan has long castigated his NATO ally over its support for Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters against Islamic State. Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist group and an offshoot of the armed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), fighting for Kurdish autonomy across the border on Turkish soil.

In a speech in Istanbul, Erdogan said Turkey would mobilize to fight remaining Islamic State forces in Syria and temporarily delay plans to attack Kurdish fighters in the northeast of Syria - shifts both precipitated by the American decision to withdraw.


2018-12-22 - Many Countries Have Won Wars Against Terrorism in The 21st Century, The US And Its European Allies Have Not
Many Countries Have Won Wars Against Terrorism in The 21st Century, But The US And Its European Allies Have Not - Eurasia Future

During the nadir of America’s war on Iraq – a war which was portrayed by US politicians to their domestic audiences as part of the infamous US “war on terror”, as more and more terror groups did in fact rise to prominence in Iraq in the aftermath of the legally recognized government’s downfall, it became increasingly popular for Americans exasperated with the war to say that it is simply impossible for a state military to win wars against terrorist organizations. As the American public witnessed the dead bodies of US soldiers returning from Iraq by the score, few could see the point of fighting a losing battle against terrorism in the Middle East, especially when it was unclear how these foreign groups could have ever realistically threatened US soil even if they sought to.

Therefore, a narrative at the time developed which postulated that wars against terror groups cannot be won by any regular state military force. In hindsight though, this theory has proved to be one designed to console a US public aghast at the carnage caused by terror groups in an American theatre of war in the early 2000s. It was certainly not an accurate statement regarding the nature of fighting terrorist groups.

Since many Americans began stating that it is impossible to beat terror groups, the following countries have in fact won wars against terrorism in the 21st century:

Pakistan
Beginning in 2004, multiple terrorist groups converged upon what was then known as Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province as well as what was then known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. These groups sought to effectively turn back the clock on Pakistan’s modern statehood by establishing terrorist controlled khanates in which feudal extremist ringleaders would rule over legally defined Pakistani territory in the most violent ways imaginable.

The war’s terrorist aggressors took advantage of the instability in neighbouring Afghanistan while many terror agents also took advantage of Pakistan’s supreme generosity towards genuine Afghan refugees. Moreover, many of Pakistan’s enemies in Kabul and in other major regional capitals with a long time grudge against Pakistan’s existence, funded and aided the terrorists who made life a living hell for the civilians of north-western Pakistan.

And yet while in the early 2000s things looked almost hopeless, beginning in 2007, the tide started to turn as Pakistan’s Army began scoring hard won victories against the extremist groups. As terrorist organisations including Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, proto-Daesh/al-Qaeda elements and the notorious Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan tasted defeat after defeat, normalcy was slowly returned to the region while over time, the ability of such organisations to stage attacks outside of the north-west slowed to a trickle.

Since 2013, a progressive PTI led regional government has held power in the province now known as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Normalcy has largely returned as state institutions replace those once controlled by the extremists, while civilian governance and a modern rule of law replaces the rule of the neo-feudal mob. KP’s fortunes have been transformed by using both a tough military and intelligence approach to neutralising terror that has been combined with the PTI government’s ability to resurrect the hopes, dreams, moral strength and patriotism of a once neglected and depressed population. This has turned every sound minded civilian in the region into an important asset in the fight to preserve peace.

In Pakistan’s big cities that were once hot targets for terrorists, life has long since been restored to peace and today,the terror threat in Pakistan’s major urban centres is no greater than in any European city while Pakistani authorities have a track record of neutralising terrorists that is far more convincing than any European security force.

In many ways though, it is the private rather than governmental sector which can offer the best indication that a terrorist group has been defeated. This week it was announced that for the first time since 2008, British Airways will resume flights to Pakistan. This development has widely been seen as an acknowledgement from a major foreign private air carrier that Pakistan’s security situation has normalised and peace has returned in a manner from which there is no going back.

After years of supreme human and material sacrifice, Pakistan has beaten the terrorist plague that threatened the country’s stability in the early part of the millennium.

Sri Lanka
While still disputed by India, it is now common knowledge that elements of India’s national intelligence agency, the RAW helped to fund, arm and train the Sri Lanka based LTTE terror group in its early years. This short sighted attempt to gain leverage over the political situation in Sri Lanka was however ultimately ill advised as it was always foolish for India to think that Tamil ethno-nationalists would cease their ambitions having carved out a separatist enclave in Sri Lanka without then seeking to do the same in southern India.

In an attempt to gain leverage over the situation in Sri Lanka though less objectively devious measures, India sent a peace keeping force to Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990, although the mission was widely perceived as an abject failure. While India failed to help Colombo end its conflict with the LTTE, many LTTE loyalists in India became infuriated and began committing atrocities against prominent Indian officials due to their “betrayal” of the LTTE case. Most notably former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by an LTTE member in 1991.

The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi resulted in the inevitable plummeting of support for the LTTE in India while throughout the course of the last decades of the conflict, Sri Lanka’s all-weather partners China and Pakistan continued to provide much needed material support to the war effort.

Ultimately Sri Lanka was able to neutralise the LTTE and bring an end to the decades long insurgency in 2009. The victory was achieved through a combination of persistence in terms of an unrelenting political and military campaign against the extremists as well as the fact that as the conflict wore on, many peace loving Tamil citizens of Sri Lanka became enraged at the LTTE making their lives a living hell. As a result, some Tamils gave crucial intelligence to Colombo, while others openly rebelled against forced conscription into the LTTE by local terrorists.

This combined with India realising that it effectively burnt its own bridge in the 1980s and could no longer meddle in the situation as it once did, along with the continued political and logistical support of China and Pakistan, helped Sri Lanka defeat the LTTE militarily in a victory that was considered resounding even by observers with a pro-separatist bias.

Turkey
As recently as 2016, the Fethullah Terror Organisation (FETO), sometimes known as the Gülenist Terrorist Organisation threatened the very existence of Turkey. After steadily infiltrating elements of the army, judiciary, educational sector, police and local governments, FETO used its sleepers in the Turkish Army to stage a lawless coup against the legitimate government in July of 2016.

The coup was ultimately stopped when President Erdoğan rallied his supporters to defend Turkey with whatever resources they could muster. When FETO terrorists saw that they were surrounded by patriotic Turks willing to give their lives for the freedom of the nation, the coup ended. As a result, Turkey’s government declared a state of national emergency which lasted until 2018. Throughout that time, thousands of FETO members were brought to justice and state institutions were cleansed of the terrorist infiltration that had been systematically built up for years.

Today, a terror organisation specifically designed to inflict harm on Turkey operates mostly from foreign soil. While some FETO members are still occasionally brought to justice in Turkey, the group’s ability to threaten civilians, state institutions and the Republic of Turkey itself has been totally neutralised and was done so during a state of emergency under which the lives of normal Turks were not ultimately inconvenienced in any significant way. In other words, Turkey was able to devote state resources to a fight against terror while still allowing for normal civilian life. All the while Turkey’s increasingly robust economy continued to grow.

The result is that the situation in Turkey is becoming more secure while battles against the PKK terror group that has set up operations in both Syria and Iraq, look to at long last neutralise the other major unique terror threat to Turkey.

The Philippines
While The Philippine war against terror is not over, government action has made it impossible for terrorist groups to attempt and achieve their aims. When the independent minded President Rodrigo Duterte was first elected President of The Philippines in 2016, terror groups took advantage of international forces trying to undermine Duterte’s legal authority by launching a terrorist assault on the Mindanao city of Marawi in May of 2017. Duterte immediately declared martial law throughout all of Mindanao and by October of 2017, Marawi was liberated and the Daesh aligned Maute terror group was fully neutralized.

Duterte’s approach to his native Mindanao remains one that combines a sustained state of martial law which is not unlike Turkey’s prolonged state of emergency used to cleanse the country of FETO, along with a simultaneous political process that has seen former Moro (Philippine Muslim) insurgents lay down their arms and embrace a progressive political process for autonomy within the framework of the Bangsamoro Organic Law that Duterte signed in 2018. Beyond this, Duterte has empowered local Moro leaders and encouraged them to take ownership of a war on terror which effects their safety directly. Duterte has said that his government is a friend of the Moro people as indeed Duterte is the first modern Philippine leader with Moros in his extended family. Thus, just as the normalised political situation in Pakistan’s KP province has helped to fight terror at a social level while the military remains vigilant, a similar model is being used by Duterte in The Philippines.

At the same time, Duterte’s refusal to deal with the far-left terror group NPA until they renounce violence has led to a policy wherein the NPA is slowly dying of suffocation. Apart from dealing drugs, the group no longer has any real ability to raise funds from foreign regimes or from domestic criminals outside of its own narco-circles. Just as the Maute group has been neutralised, it appears that the disappearance of the NPA is now a matter of “when” rather than “if” thanks to Duterte’s decisive stance.

Syria
Syria’s war against terror is still not over but the most notorious terror gangs that had been operational in Syria since 2011 have largely been neutralised. The Daesh terror organisation that once threatened to take over all of Syria has been defeated as a para-military group and all that now remains of the group are some besieged Daesh loyalists in Syria’s hinterlands who no longer pose a threat to the country’s large population centres. Likewise, other terrorist groups such as the al-Nusra Front have seen most of their terrorist fighters and resources eliminated.

While Syrians still face threats from the YPG/PKK terror group and the remnants of Takfiri terror groups, while such terror organisations once threatened to erase Syria from the map, such an ambition is now impossible. While Donald Trump has awkwardly taken credit for the elimination of Daesh in Syria, it was in fact an international coalition working with legal authorities, of which Russia was the largest member, that ended up doing the lion’s share of the fight against Daesh – a fight that was ultimately won decisively.

Conclusion
If there is one common theme throughout the aforementioned successful fights against terrorism, it is that the nations that fought and won against the terrorists did so on their own soil, by trusting their own people and mobilizing their domestic resources to maximum effect. Beyond this, the aforementioned victories against terror were at times achieved through close cooperation with nearby allies as well as constant vigilance against foreign regimes that sought to aid the terror groups in question.

While the United States and some European countries have tried and failed to fight terrorism in distant lands – lands about which both the political and military classes of North America and Europe know little, indigenous efforts of legitimate states fighting barbaric terror groups have in fact paid off in the fight against 21st century terrorism.

It is of significance that all of the countries on this list are Asian. Thus, when it comes to fighting 21st century terror threats, it is not the west from which the world must learn valuable lessons in counter-terrorism, but from the aforementioned Asian states that have confronted the threat to peace and in so doing, have successfully restored peace.


2018-12-21 - Turkey Patches Things up With USA While Hosting Historic Summit of Iranian Officials
Turkey Patches Things up With USA While Hosting Historic Summit of Iranian Officials - Eurasia Future

Anyone stuck in a Cold War style zero-sum mentality might be confused by events in and around Turkey over the last several days. On the one hand, the United States agreed to withdraw troops from Syria not long after Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a phone conversation with Donald Trump in which he explained Ankara’s position that the presence of YPG/PKK terrorists on the Syrian border with Turkey is an unacceptable threat to Turkey’s security and sovereignty.

Rather than risk splitting the NATO alliance, the United States took the opposite approach and decided to withdraw its troops from Syria which likely paves the wave for a Turkish anti-terror operation in northern Syria aimed at neutralizing the YPG/PKK east of the River Euphrates once the US withdrawal has been compelted. In a further sign of good will directed towards Turkey, the United States has clinched a deal to sell the Patriot missile system to Ankara for $3.5 billion.

And yet Turkey’s early stage but nevertheless significant rapprochement with the United States is only half of the story. For the last two days, President Erdoğan has hosted a large Iranian delegation of dignitaries headed by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Erdoğan set the tone for the meetings by reciting a friendship poem by the Iranian poet Hafez Shirazi and beyond this, he did so in Farsi. This elicited load applause from the Iranian President and his colleges as Iranians tend to remain deeply proud of their profound poetic traditions.

Published on Dec 20, 2018 (0:20 min.)

When things got down to business, the fraternal attitude remained strong. The meetings proved that Turkey’s non-aligned, independent and robustly multipolar foreign policy is able not only to balance between countries with minor disputes but is able to do so between the US and Iran, two countries which detest one another but which are both partners to Turkey. This is not only the case in respect of Turkey’s warm relations with Iran but it also applies to Turkey’s warm relations with both China and Russia.

Speaking at a news conference beside Rouhani, Erdoğan stated,

“There are so many steps that Turkey and Iran can take together to end the clashes in our region and ensure a peaceful environment.​

…We will continue to be in solidarity with brotherly Iran at a time when pressures on Iran mounts which we find unjust”.​

The two countries are currently set to agree on a means of currency exchange that will skirt US sanctions on Tehran while the Turkish President pledged to increase the level of bilateral trade with Iran from $11 billion per annum to $30 billion. In spit of the present thaw in Turkey-US relations, Erdoğan made his country’s position on its Iranian neighbor and partner explicitly clear:

“We must stop the U.S. sanction decision on Iran from impeding us to reach our target….​

​

…Nobody should think that we will end our economic and commercial relations with Iran because of sanctions. I believe we will turn sanctions against Iran into an opportunity in our relations”.​

​

In many respects, this week’s high-level Turkey-Iran summit encapsulates the great strides that the bilateral and neighborly partnership has made over the last year. Now that the conflict in Syria is entering a political process, past disagreements on a Syria strategy regarding Iran and Turkey’s positions will likely be minimized to the point of eventually disappearing entirely, while even before the announcement of the US pull-out, both countries along with Russia had been successfully cooperating in efforts to bring peace to Syria in the Astana format.

In geopolitical relations, partnerships are formed as much on the basis of having shared goals as they are on the basis of facing shared challenges. While the modern histories of Iran and Turkey are highly divergent and while prior to the 20th century the Ottoman and Persian empires were great rivals, today, circumstance has drawn Ankara and Tehran closer than at any time prior to 1979.

The most immediate cause of the expanding partnership between Iran and Turkey is a desire on the part of both nations to expand their economic avenues within the wider Eurasian space. This is the case in respect of Turkey as the country looks to make inroads into markets that had been neglected in recent decades while for Iran, the desire to ‘look east and south’ has been motivated primarily by a post 1979 history of being largely cut off from western markets in spite of recent efforts of the European Union to preserve the status quo of the JCPOA (Iran nuclear deal) era.

During this year in particular, both nations found themselves on the receiving end of measures that Turkey’s President Erdoğan has described as “economic warfare” from the US. In the case of Iran, the country has experienced the re-imposition of “mega-sanctions” in line with Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the 2015 JCPOA. At the same time, Washington has doubled its steel and aluminium tariffs against Turkey, something which is significant as Turkey is among the top ten steel importers to the US. Even though the US lifted sanctions against two Turkish government ministers in the aftermath of the release of convicted terrorists and CIA asset Andrew Brunson, the tariffs remain, thus helping to bolster the attraction of Turkey’s economic partnerships throughout Asia.

The result of the aforementioned mechanisms of hybrid economic warfare in addition to speculation against both the Turkish Lira and Iranian Rial has meant that both nations have found that the US has caused a profound domestic inflationary spiral while working to cut of the international trading outlets of both nations. Although Turkey has worked to and largely succeeded at stabilizing its currency in the final quarter of 2018, the lessons from a summer of negative speculation will not be forgotten, nor will their long term geopolitical implications be ignored. Because of this, in spite of the current thaw in Turkey-US relations, Turkey looks set to accelerate its partnerships in western Eurasia, south Asia and east Asia.

Against this background, both Turkey and Iran have drawn closer to each other throughout 2018. Today, Turkey continues to restate its pledge to continue transacting business with Iran in spite of sanctions while Turkey’s President went so far as to state that sanctions president the neighbouring powers an opportunity to enhance relations.

Furthermore, throughout a difficult summer for both nations, Iran consistently supported Ankara during the nadir of Turkey’s disputes with the United States.

Trump’s jubilation in inflicting economic hardship on its NATO ally Turkey is shameful. The U.S. has to rehabilitate its addiction to sanctions & bullying or entire world will unite — beyond verbal condemnations — to force it to.​

We’ve stood with neighbors before, and will again now”.​

This statement of course came at a time when the PKK terror group’s Iranian branch PJAK continues to heighten tensions in north-western Iran. As a result, Iran and Turkey are not only threatened by similar hybrid economic warfare from the US, but both countries are also now threatened by a terror group whose Syrian division YPG, the US is actively allied with in Syria.

Just as Iran and Pakistan share a common enemy in the form of terrorists operating in the Pakistani province of Balochistan and the neighbouring Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan, so too do Iran and Turkey share a same cross-border enemy on the other side of the country in the form of the radical Kurdish terror group PKK and its Iranian branch PJAK.

In respect of this threat, Iranian authorities recently announced the murder of 10 Islamic Revolutionary Guards stationed in the Iran’s Marivan district near the Iraqi border. According to an official statement,

“The attack by the evil rebels and terrorists against a revolutionary border post and the explosion of a munitions depot caused the martyrdom of 10 fighters”.​

This vicious act of terrorism ought to serve as a signal that it is necessary for Iran and Turkey to intensify their security partnership against a singular threat.

Given that Iran faces the same threat to its security and unity that Turkey faces, one would assume that it would behove Iran to publicly offer support for Turkey’s operations against the PKK near Iran’s border. Furthermore, as Iran is keen to retain its presence in Syria against the objections of both the United States and Russia, Iran coming out in opposition to the YPG/PKK’s presence in northern Syria could not only strengthen bonds between Tehran and Ankara but could convince many of those calling for Iran’s withdrawal from Syria to at least soften their tone.

In many ways, Turkey is already Iran’s most valuable regional partner and recent indications are that the partnership is already being strengthened now that Turkey and Iran face similar economic and security challenges which are largely from the same sources.

Turkey and Iran may have very different and at times confrontational histories, but the win-win mentality of the 21st century is the one thing that can help both neighbours develop a more positive relationship that will help create a more hopeful future for both the Iranian and Turkish peoples. The partnership has undoubtedly been strengthened by recent events, but more can yet be done to build further trust and cooperative mechanisms to ensure a long lasting positive partnership.

This week’s summit helps to draw a profound year in respect of widely growing Turkey-Iran relations to a close in a manner that will likely set the tone for a future of productive neighborly relations, irrespective of Turkey’s other commitments and partnerships within the framework of multipolarity.

 

[angelburst29]

December 22, 2018 - Syrian rebels say US Troops remain in Key Garrison near Iraq
'Neither war nor peace': Doctors targeted in Syria's lawless rebel region | Reuters

U.S. troops have not left the strategic Tanf garrison on the Iraq-Jordan border following President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of Syria, the leader of a Pentagon-backed rebel group there said on Saturday.

I suspect, when US troops finally leave the strategic Tanf garrison on the Iraq-Jordan Border - they will be transported to this military airport in Iraq's Kurdistan Region?

Sat Dec 22, 2018 - US Army Sets up Military Airport in Iraq's Kurdistan Region
Farsnews

The US Army has set up a military airport in Iraq's Kurdistan Region to ease and speed up its forces' movement in the region, a media outlet reported on Saturday.

The Arabic-language al-Ma'aloumah news website quoted a well-informed source as disclosing that the US army has built a military airport in Arbat region in Sulaymaniyah province in Iraq's Kurdistan Region.

It went on to say that the US spent almost $8mln to build the base that will solely work on monitoring movement and traffic of the US forces.

It further said that the airport has a very large runway which is suitable for the landing and take off of military and non-military planes, adding that the US army has claimed that ... (the airport has been built for agricultural purposes. )

It takes almost 35 minutes of flying from the new airport to Sulaymaniyah airport.

Local sources reported last week that the US military was trying hard to transfer Kurdish Pishmarga fighters from Iraq to deploy them at Syria's Northern border with Turkey amid Ankara prepares to launch a major offensive on the Kurds on the Eastern bank of the Euphrates River.

The sources in Qamishli in Northern Hasaka reported that a 50-member military delegation, including Kurdish Pishmarga commanders accompanied by US army officers, arrived in Northeastern Hasaka from Iraq on Sunday via Simalka border crossing.

The sources further said that the delegation arrived in Romeilan region in Hasaka, adding that the move is aimed at holding a meeting with the Kurdish militia under the supervision of the US forces over the deployment of Pishmarga gunmen at Syria's border with Turkey.


Sat Dec 22, 2018 - US to Withdraw Troops from Military Base in Syria's Al-Tanf
Farsnews

The United States will withdraw troops from its military base in the Southeastern Syrian town of Al-Tanf, near the Jordanian border, a militant commander at Al-Tanf disclosed.

Muhannad al-Talla told BuzzFeed that the US troops, who had been training and fighting alongside Al-Tanf's militants, would withdraw from the base, specifying that he was helping to remove equipment.

An anonymous US official confirmed the information, emphasizing that this move came as part of US President Donald Trump's decision to pull US troops out of Syria.

Trump announced this decision on 19 December, claiming that the ISIL terrorist group had been defeated, and since the US troops were present in Syria exclusively for the fight against ISIL, they now had no reason to remain there.

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin Spokesman, believes that the US military presence in Syria does not contribute to a political and diplomatic settlement of the crisis.

On December 5, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the Russian General Staff, said that Russia had suggested to the United States to eliminate the military base in Al-Tanf and to establish joint Russian-US control over the zone instead. According to Gerasimov, Washington has not provided an answer.


Sat Dec 22, 2018 - Russian Forces to Set up Military Base Near Al-Tanf in Southeastern Syria
Farsnews

The Russian Army is planning to set up a military base near the US-run base in Al-Tanf region in Southeastern Homs near the border with Jordan, field media activists reported on Saturday.

The activists in Syria's Desert reported that a number of Russian military vehicles along with military hardware and pre-fabricated rooms have been dispatched to the Syria Desert in Southeastern Syria.

They further said that a number of Syrian soldiers have been accompanying the Russian convoy.

The sources went on to say that the Russian convoy was sent to Zaza strategic region between Syria Desert and the small towns of Eastern Qalamoun along the Damascus-Baghdad international highway almost 50 km away from the US-run Al-Tanf base.

In the meantime, Arabic Sky News pointed to the Russian convoy, and said that the Russian forces are planning to build a military base in the region.

The commander of Maqawir al-Thowrah terrorists announced that his forces will soon leave Al-Tanf for Northern Syria after the US President announced withdrawal of forces from Syria.

A militant commander at Al-Tanf disclosed earlier today that the United States will withdraw troops from its military base in the Southeastern Syrian town of Al-Tanf, near the Jordanian border.

Muhannad al-Talla told BuzzFeed that the US troops, who had been training and fighting alongside Al-Tanf's militants, would withdraw from the base, specifying that he was helping to remove equipment.

An anonymous US official confirmed the information, emphasizing that this move came as part of US President Donald Trump's decision to pull US troops out of Syria.


Sat Dec 22, 2018 - Syrian Army Dispatches Large Convoy of Fresh Forces to Southeastern Border with Iraq
Farsnews

The Syrian Army forwarded a large number of fresh soldiers and military hardware to Deir Ezzur province near the border with Iraq on Saturday to counter ISIL's threats.

The Army sent 2 convoys of military vehicles to regions near the town of Albu Kamal in Southeastern Deir Ezzur near border with Iraq.

The convoys included a large number of forces from the 5th Division along with a large volume of arms and ammunition and armored vehicles.

The army's decision to reinvigorate positions in Southeastern Deir Ezzur came after ISIL intensified attacks on the Western bank of the Euphrates River.

In the meantime, a number of Russian and Syrian forces were sent by military planes to Deir Ezzur airport.

Meanwhile, the army men engaged in fierce clashes with ISIL in Albu Kamal and managed to repel their attacks after inflicting major losses on the terrorists.

Last month, the army sent hundreds of fresh forces and more military equipment to Southeastern Deir Ezzur on the Western banks of the Euphrates River to reinvigorate its combat capabilities to counter ISIL terrorists.

In the meantime, field sources said that the army sent its forces, deployed in Lattakia, Idlib and Hama to Deir Ezzur, including to Albu Kamal region.

They said that the army's move came after ISIL's recent attacks on the army to advance on the Eastern bank of the Euphrates River and seize control over border regions with Iraq.

 

[Ca.]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1076745754675429382

https://twitter.com/x/status/1076523695244525570

Syrian War Report – Dec. 21, 2018: US Evacuates Base In Al-Tanf, Prepares To Halt Aerial Operation

Published on Dec 21, 2018

https://twitter.com/x/status/1076594129994477573

https://twitter.com/x/status/1076528923884834818

Sputnik on RT on Twitter
"The Russians, the Iranians and the Chinese have come together over the Syria conflict and created a new alliance" @snarwani on tomorrow's Sputnik - Don't miss it!

Enrique on Twitter
Here is Putin's response to the withdrawal of US troops from Syria, this response was widely commented by the US media, taken out of context and used against Trump. Video

 

[sToRmR1dR]

Not so fast: US troops remain in Al-Tanf despite Trump’s withdrawal announcement

The head of the US-backed Maghawir al-Thawra group in Syria, Muhanad al Talaa told Reuters that American troops’ presence at the al-Tanf camp remains at the same level so far, despite the recent announcement about the US contingent’s withdrawal from Syria.

“American troops plan to withdraw completely from Syria but I don’t have details and things are as they are up until this moment”, he said.

Earlier, Muhanad al Talaa told BuzzFeed that US troops were preparing to leave the al-Tanf base, whose presence there have been criticised by Russia.

The chief of the Russian General Staff announced on 5 December that Moscow had offered to establish a joint Russian-US control over the zone instead.

The al-Tanf garrison is situated at a strategic point close to Syria’s borders with Jordan and Iraq, on a crossroads with the Baghdad-Damascus highway.

This is the only point of major US troop presence in Syria’s south with the rest of the American troops located in the north along with Kurdish forces.

Damascus earlier slammed the US presence in al-Tanf as illegal and demanded Washington withdraw its troops from there, since they were not invited by the Syrian authorities and do not have a UN mandate.

The US announced that is was withdrawing its forces from Syria on 19 December. US President Donald Trump noted that since defeating Daesh* was the only goal of US military, the troops must now return home since the terrorists had been eliminated.

Source: Sputnik


US-STYLE “TROOPS WITHDRAWAL”: PENTAGON PLANS TO KEEP SPECIAL FORCES IN SYRIA

The Pentagon is planning to use small units of Special Forces to carry out missions against ISIS inside Syria after withdrawing its troops from the country, the New York Times reported on December 22, citing U.S. officials.

Under the new plan, U.S. forces in Syria, which are estimated at 2,000 service members, will be redeployed to Iraq than “surge” into Syria to carry out special operations. The plan will also allow the Pentagon to continue its support for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and its aerial campaign against ISIS in Syria.

U.S. officials told the New York Times that the Pentagon will submit these plans to President Donald Trump before Secretary of Defense James Mattis leaves office in the end of February. Mattis resigned after he had allegedly clashed with Trump on several issues, including the decision to withdraw American troops from Syria.

The Pentagon has not commented on the New York Times’ report yet. However, Dana W. White, a spokeswoman for the Department of Defense, said on December 21 that the military “will continue working with our partners and allies to defeat ISIS wherever it operates.”

“The campaign against ISIS is not over,” White added, according to the New York Times.​

It remains unclear if Trump would approve these plans, especially that the cost of operations in Syria and the high pressure from Turkey, were among the key reasons that pushed him towards pulling the plug on military presence in Syria. The Pentagon’s new plans don’t address any of these problems.


France Reportedly Promised Kurdish SDF Support Amid US Withdrawal from Syria

The White House has announced the withdrawal of its troops from Syria within the next 100 days with President Trump stating that the US had managed to defeat Daesh* and thus should no longer stay in the Arab Republic.

Advisers to French President Emmanuel Macron met with representatives of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Kurdish militants and assured them of future support from Paris, Iranian PressTV reported, citing anonymous French official.

The advisers passed on a message of support and solidarity and explained to them the talks France had with US authorities to continue the fight against Daesh", the official reportedly said.

The information surfaced soon after the US announced the withdrawal of its military forces from the Arab Republic. The US president noted that Washington had deployed its troops in Syria to eliminate Daesh* and that with the competition of that task, they can finally return home.

At the same time, France has decided to keep its presence in Syria and continue the fight against the remaining terrorist forces.

*A terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.


SDF BLAMES TRUMP FOR NEW WAVE OF ISIS ATTACKS IN HAJIN (VIDEO)

On December 22, ISIS fighters launched several new counter-attacks inside the town of Hajin in middle Euphrates River Valley, according to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The group blamed U.S. President Donald Trump for these attacks in a statement and said that they are a “direct reflection” of his decision to withdraw American troops from Syria.

“The terrorist organization took this chance to reorganize its troops and intensify its terrorist attacks on the positions of our forces,” the SDF added.​

Despite blaming the U.S., the SDF acknowledged that its forces were able to repel the attacks with the support of the US-led coalition, whose warplanes conducted 82 airstrikes on the terrorist group in the last 24 hours.

According other SDF press center, 169 ISIS fighters were killed by US-backed fighters and coalition warplanes. An armored vehicle and a heavy machine gun were also captured from the terrorist group during the clashes.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1076461037929619456

The SDF fears that the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria will jeopardize the ongoing anti-terror operation in the Euphrates Valley. However, the withdrawal is scheduled to happen during the next four months. This is more than enough to end the operation successfully.


Kurdish Militia Likely to Hand over Manbij to Syrian Army

The sources said that the Syrian Army dispatched hundreds of forces along with tens of military vehicles to the village of Tal Aswad Southern of Manbij in Northeastern Aleppo.

The sources further pointed to several meetings between the SDF and the Syrian Army commanders, and said that the Damascus forces will likely enter the SDF-held town and region according to the coordination made between the two sides.

The sources went on to say that the US army has dispatched a new convoy, including 18 military and armored vehicles to the South of Manbij after revelations about the Damascus forces' deployment in the region.

In the meantime, Jeihan Ahmad, a Spokesman for the SDF, claimed that the SDF forces do not oppose hoisting Syrian Army's flag on government centers and buildings in Manbij.


Syrian Army sends large convoy to southern Manbij as Turkish military prepares for offensive



The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) sent a large military convoy to the southern countryside of the Manbij on Saturday, a source told Al-Masdar News.

According to the source, the Syrian Arab Army’s convoy arrived in the town of Ta Aswad earlier today, as they prepare for the upcoming Turkish military operation.

The Syrian Army’s convoy reportedly consisted of hundreds of soldiers and tens of tanks and armored vehicles, the source added.

This move by the Syrian Arab Army comes just three-days after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he was withdrawing his country’s troops from Syria.

While they have yet to receive approval from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to jointly control their territories in northern Syria, the Syrian Arab Army has taken precautionary moves to protect their lands from the Turkish military.


ARMY UNCOVERS LOADS OF WEAPONS INCLUDING TOW MISSILES AND MANPADS IN SOUTHERN SYRIA (VIDEO)



On December 22, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) uncovered a large ammo depot during a search operation in a newly-liberated area in southern Syria, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).

“An underground ammo depot was uncovered, it was equipped in a way that would insure the ammo will last for a long period,” a military source told SANA.​

The ammo depot contained a Soviet-made Fagot anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), four US-made TOW ATGMs, a Soviet-made SA-7 man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS), a a Yugoslav-made M79 Osa anti-tank weapon, several mortar cannons, several heavy machine guns and loads of ammunition.

Most of these weapons were supplied with help from the U.S. to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in southern Syria under a “train and equip” program which was authorized by former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2014. The program was halted by President Donald Trump in 2017. However, most of the weapons found its way to the black market or even to the hands of terrorist groups.

UN General Assembly overwhelmingly votes in favor of Syrians’ permanent sovereignty in occupied Golan over their natural resources



The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution on the permanent sovereignty of the Syrians in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources.

The resolution was adopted based on the recommendations of the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) as 159 states voted in favor of the resolution and only 7 states voted against it while 13 states abstained from voting.

Through its resolution, the General Assembly reaffirmed the inalienable rights of the Syrians in the occupied Syrian Golan to sovereign over their natural resources including the land, water and energy resources.

The resolution demands that Israeli occupation authorities stop exploiting, damaging, depleting and endangering natural resources in the occupied Syrian Golan.

It also calls upon UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to submit a report during the next session on the implementation of the resolution including issues related to the accumulating impact of exploiting, damaging and depleting the natural resources in the occupied Syrian Golan by the occupation authorities and their repercussions on achieving the goals of sustainable development.

In turn, the delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic to the UN asserted the necessity of that the report of the UN Secretary-General should include an accurate legal description based on the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and the General Assembly, particularly the resolution No. 497 on the practices of the Israeli occupation authorities in the occupied Syrian Golan.

Members of the delegation affirmed that the description shouldn’t only review some practices of the Israeli occupation authorities which violate the international law, but it should also adopt a clear stance that denounces these practices or defines the stance of the UN towards them.

They particularly indicated to one of the most dangerous of those practices such as holding the so-called “local council’ elections” for the first time by the occupation authorities in the villages of the occupied Syrian Golan.

They asserted that those elections represent a blatant violation of the Security Council’s resolution No. 497 for the year 1981 which affirms that decision of the occupation authorities to impose their laws and jurisdiction and administration over the occupied Syrian Golan as null and void and without international legal effect.

 

[angelburst29]

US-STYLE “TROOPS WITHDRAWAL”: PENTAGON PLANS TO KEEP SPECIAL FORCES IN SYRIA

The Pentagon is planning to use small units of Special Forces to carry out missions against ISIS inside Syria after withdrawing its troops from the country, the New York Times reported on December 22, citing U.S. officials.

Under the new plan, U.S. forces in Syria, which are estimated at 2,000 service members, will be redeployed to Iraq than “surge” into Syria to carry out special operations. The plan will also allow the Pentagon to continue its support for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and its aerial campaign against ISIS in Syria.

U.S. officials told the New York Times that the Pentagon will submit these plans to President Donald Trump before Secretary of Defense James Mattis leaves office in the end of February. Mattis resigned after he had allegedly clashed with Trump on several issues, including the decision to withdraw American troops from Syria.

The Pentagon has not commented on the New York Times’ report yet. However, Dana W. White, a spokeswoman for the Department of Defense, said on December 21 that the military “will continue working with our partners and allies to defeat ISIS wherever it operates.”

“The campaign against ISIS is not over,” White added, according to the New York Times.
It remains unclear if Trump would approve these plans, especially that the cost of operations in Syria and the high pressure from Turkey, were among the key reasons that pushed him towards pulling the plug on military presence in Syria. The Pentagon’s new plans don’t address any of these problems.

Summed up ... typical posturing of "Trump ordering one mandate and the Pentagon, side-stepping Presidential Authority and dictating their own policy"!

As for, "It remains unclear if Trump would approve these plans" ... Perhaps, when Trump holds his next top level meeting with Pentagon Brass, it might be wise to have "a professional English language translator" present, so the Pentagon can grasp the true meaning behind Trump's mandated order? Technically, President Trump is Commander-in-Chief over all U.S. Military. According to Military established protocol, "What happens when a subordinate refuses to perform an order given by a superior?" Standard procedure is immediate arrest, demotion and legal proceedings in front of a Military Tribunal Court. (Bradley/Chelsea Manning?)

Secretary of Defense James Mattis leaves office in the end of February.
Mattis resigned after he had allegedly clashed with Trump on several issues, including the decision to withdraw American troops from Syria.

Letter of Resignation should be effective - immediately! What's with the "not until February" deal? Pull that stunt at any Corporate business in America and upon handing over "a notice/letter of Resignation" - you're promptly escorted out the door - right then and there! "Not until February" sounds more like a threat to be used as a bargaining chip, for Trump to drop to his knees & "fall-in-line"?
Maybe, the only way Trump will get any "respect" is if he seriously starts cleaning house, of all the old relics that no longer function by their user-date?


December 21, 2018 - Pentagon chief tenders resignation over disagreements with Trump
Pentagon chief tenders resignation over disagreements with Trump

The letter mentions disagreements between the President and Mattis on strategic issues, including relations with Moscow and Beijing.

US Secretary of Defense James Mattis © AP Photo/Eraldo Peres

US Secretary of Defense James Mattis tendered his resignation over disagreements with US President Donald Trump, according to
to his resignation letter dated December 20.

"Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours <…>, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position. The end date for my tenure is February 28, 2019, a date that should allow sufficient time for a successor to be nominated and confirmed [by the US Senate]," reads the letter, widely published by the US media.

The letter mentions disagreements between the president and Mattis on strategic issues, including relations with Moscow and Beijing.

"I believe we must be resolute and unambiguous in our approach to those countries whose strategic interests are increasingly in tension with ours," Mattis said, accusing Russia and China of trying to gain a "veto authority over other nations' economic, diplomatic, and security decisions - to promote their own interests."

"One core belief I have always held is that our strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships," he added. "We cannot protect our interests or serve that role effectively without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect to those allies."

As an example of a successful alliance, Mattis named the US-led coalition to fight the Islamic State terrorist group (outlawed in Russia) in Syria.

On Thursday, Trump announced that Mattis would resign in late February, and a new candidacy will be nominated in the near future. Reuters reported, citing a high-ranked White House official, that Mattis announced his resignation during Thursday’s meeting with the president, during which the US defense secretary and Trump had a disagreement on some issues.


December 21, 2018 - Diplomat comments on Pentagon chief’s resignation
Diplomat comments on Pentagon chief’s resignation

On December 19, Trump ordered a full withdrawal of US troops from Syria.

MOSCOW - US Defense Secretary James Mattis’s resignation stems directly from US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria, Russian Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told reporters on Friday.

"We need to see how this decision will be implemented because Defense Secretary James Mattis’s resignation has so far been the only direct consequence," he said in response to a question about the consequences of the US troop pullout from Syria.

On Thursday, Trump wrote on Twitter that Mattis would retire at the end of February, adding that "a new secretary of defense will be named shortly." Mattis said in his resignation letter that he was resigning because of a difference of views between himself and the US president.

On December 19, Trump ordered a full withdrawal of US troops from Syria. "After historic victories against ISIS, it’s time to bring our great young people home!" he said. Washington launched a military operation against the Islamic State group in Iraq in June 2014 and in Syria in September 2014. More than 2,000 US troops are currently deployed to Syria.


December 22, 2018 - Iran says US presence in Syria was a mistake fro the start
Iran says U.S. presence in Syria was a mistake from the start | Reuters

Iran said that the U.S. military presence in Syria had been “a mistake, illogical and a source of tension”, in Tehran’s first reaction to President Donald Trump’s planned pull-out.

Trump has begun what will be a total withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, saying on Wednesday they had succeeded in their mission to defeat Islamic State and were no longer needed in the country.

“From the start, the entry and presence of American forces in the region has been a mistake, illogical and a source of tension, and a main cause of instability,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying by state media on Saturday.


December 22, 2018 - Iraqi PM discusses US withdrawal from Syria with Pompeo
Iraqi PM discusses U.S. withdrawal from Syria with Pompeo | Reuters

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi attends the celebration ceremony of the first anniversary of defeating Islamic state in Baghdad, Iraq, December 10, 2018. Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office/Handout via REUTERS

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo assured Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi that the U.S. is still committed to fighting Islamic State in Iraq and other areas despite its planned troop withdrawal from Syria, Abdul Mahdi’s office said on Saturday.

“Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi received a phone call from U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who explained the details of the upcoming withdrawal from Syria and affirmed the United State’s is still committed to fight Islamic State and terrorism in Iraq and other areas,” Abdul Mahdi’s office said in a statement.

Abdul Mahdi and Pompeo also discussed Washington’s decision to extend for 90 days a waiver granted to Iraq from sanctions against Iran that would allow Baghdad to keep importing Iranian gas that is critical for Iraqi power production.

The Trump administration reimposed sanctions on Iran’s energy exports in November, citing its nuclear program and meddling in the Middle East, but has granted waivers to several buyers to meet consumer energy needs.

Washington gave Iraq a 45-day waiver for imports of gas from Iran when it reimposed sanctions on Iran’s oil sector on Nov. 5. Iraqi officials have said they need around two years to find an alternative source.

Iraq relies heavily on Iranian gas to feed its power stations, importing roughly 1.5 billion standard cubic feet per day via pipelines in the south and east.


December 23, 2018 - Turkey bolsters military on Syrian Border as US readies pull out: media
Iraqi PM discusses U.S. withdrawal from Syria with Pompeo | Reuters

ISTANBUL - Turkey is sending reinforcements to its border with Syria, Demiroren News Agency (DHA) reported on Sunday, adding that some 100 vehicles including mounted pickup trucks and weaponry had made their way to the area.

A wall along the border between Turkey and Syria is seen in Kilis province, Turkey, January 30, 2018. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

The heightened military activity comes days after President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would postpone a planned military operation on Kurdish YPG militia east of the Euphrates river in northern Syria following the United States’ decision to withdraw from Syria.

DHA said the Turkish convoy, headed toward the southern border province of Kilis from another border province, Hatay, included tanks, howitzers, machine guns and buses carrying commandos.

Part of the military equipment and personnel are to be positioned in posts along the border while some had crossed into Syria via the district of Elbeyli, DHA said.

Elbeyli is situated 45 kilometers (27.96 miles) northwest of the northern Syrian town of Manbij, which has been a major flashpoint between Ankara and Washington.

In June, the NATO allies reached an agreement that would see the YPG ousted from Manbij but Turkey has complained the roadmap has been delayed.

Footage from broadcaster TRT World showed parts of the convoy entering Syria via the Turkish border town of Karkamis in the southeastern province of Gaziantep, 35 kilometers north of Manbij.

The convoys are crossing into area controlled by the Free Syrian Army (FSA), a Turkish ally, and are heading to the frontlines of Manbij, TRT World said.

Turkey, with support from the FSA, carried out two cross-border operations in northern Syria, dubbed “Euphrates Shield” and “Olive Branch”, against the YPG and Islamic State.

The military offensives were focused on areas to the west of the Euphrates and Turkey has not gone east of the river, partly to avoid direct confrontation with U.S. forces. The operations carved out de facto buffer zones, which are currently under the control of Turkey and the FSA.

Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey will take over the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria as the United States withdraws its troops, adding that the planned operation would also target the YPG.

Ankara considers the U.S.-backed YPG militia a terrorist organization and an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency in Turkey since the 1980s.

 

[angelburst29]

Letter of Resignation should be effective - immediately! What's with the "not until February" deal? Pull that stunt at any Corporate business in America and upon handing over "a notice/letter of Resignation" - you're promptly escorted out the door - right then and there! "Not until February" sounds more like a threat to be used as a bargaining chip, for Trump to drop to his knees & "fall-in-line"?

Maybe, the only way Trump will get any "respect" is if he seriously starts cleaning house, of all the old relics that no longer function by their user-date?

Sunday December 23, 2018 - After criticism, Trump pushes out Mattis sooner than planned
After criticism, Trump pushes out Mattis sooner than planned

WASHINGTON — Irritated with the criticism and fallout from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' resignation, President Donald Trump on Sunday pushed the Pentagon chief out the door two months earlier than planned, an acrimonious end to a tense relationship that had been eroding in recent months.

In a series of tweets, Trump appeared to question why he had put Mattis in his Cabinet in the first place, and said deputy defense secretary Patrick Shanahan will take over as acting secretary on Jan. 1 to cover the accelerated departure.

The sudden change strips Mattis of any chance to further frame national security policy or smooth rattled relations with allies through the originally planned transition at the end of February. And it reflects White House displeasure with the retired Marine Corps general's blistering resignation letter, which he delivered to Trump on Thursday.

Mattis resigned in protest over Trump's decision to pull all U.S. troops out of Syria. U.S. officials, however, said that the reaction to his decision to leave — including the shock and dismay expressed on Capitol Hill — annoyed Trump and likely led to Mattis leaving earlier than planned.

"When President Obama ingloriously fired Jim Mattis, I gave him a second chance. Some thought I shouldn't, I thought I should," Trump tweeted Saturday, foreshadowing his displeasure and the Sunday announcement. He also fumed over the media coverage of his Syria withdrawal order, suggesting he should be popular for bringing troops home.

"With me, hit hard instead by the Fake News Media. Crazy!" Trump tweeted.

A White House official said Trump decided Mattis should leave the administration earlier than planned to avoid a drawn-out transition when someone on hand whom they consider a qualified deputy capable of running the Pentagon in an acting capacity. The official, who asked not to be identified publicly discussing personnel matters, said it made sense to have a quicker transition and not create problems.

The official said Mattis was notified of Trump's wishes prior to today's tweeted announcement.

Lt. Col. Joseph Buccino, a spokesman for Shanahan, said the former Boeing Co. executive will accept the appointment as acting secretary.

"Deputy Secretary will continue to serve as directed by the president, and the Department of Defense will remain focused on the defense of the nation," Buccino said on Sunday.

It is unusual for the Pentagon to have an acting secretary of defense. Historically when a secretary has resigned, he has stayed on until a successor is confirmed. For example, when Chuck Hagel was told to resign in November 2014, he stayed in office until Ash Carter was confirmed the following February.

While Mattis' resignation followed Trump's announcement that he would soon pull all of the approximately 2,000 U.S. troops out of Syria, officials said that the decision was the result of an accumulation of disagreements.

In a stunning resignation letter, Mattis made clear he did not see eye to eye with a president who has expressed disdain for NATO and doubts about keeping troops in Asia. Mattis was also unhappy with Trump's order to develop plans to pull out up to half of the 14,000 U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Earlier Sunday, Trump's acting chief of staff said that Trump had known for "quite some time now" that he and Mattis "did not share some of the same philosophies ... have the same world view."

Mick Mulvaney told ABC's "This Week" that the president and his defense chief "just could never get on the same page" on Syria, adding that Trump had said since his presidential campaign that "he wanted to get out of Syria." Mulvaney said the president "is entitled to have a secretary of defense who is committed to that same end."

Asked whether Trump wanted a Pentagon leader willing to challenge him or someone in lock step with his views, Mulvaney said "a little bit of both."

"I've encouraged him to find people who have some overlap with him but don't see the world in lockstep with him," Mulvaney said.

The Pentagon on Sunday would only say that Mattis serves at the pleasure of the president.

Other officials said it wasn't clear whether Mattis had spoken directly to Trump about the accelerated departure. Mattis had been at work on Friday, and defense officials had insisted he was planning to stay through February, when he would attend a NATO defense ministers meeting.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., joined leading Republicans on foreign affairs in urging Trump to reconsider his decision to withdraw American forces from Syria.

"We believe that such action at this time is a premature and costly mistake that not only threatens the safety and security of the United States but also emboldens" the Islamic State group, President Bashar Assad's government, Iran and Russia, according to the letter, signed by McConnell and eight other senators, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who organized it.

They asked Trump to "not make any final decision for 90 days to allow time to adequately study the impacts of this decision on our partners, our allies and the re-emergence of ISIS and other terror groups, to ensure our nation's strategic interests are secured."

But Mulvaney, asked on ABC whether there was any chance the president might change his mind on Syria decision, said: "No. I think the president has told people from the very beginning that he doesn't want us to stay in Syria forever. You're seeing the end result now of two years' worth of work. But keep in mind it's not unusual for a president to lose members of the Cabinet over these types of disagreements."

Just after tweeting the announcement about Shanahan, Trump said he had had "a long and productive call" with Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Trump said they discussed IS, "our mutual involvement in Syria, & the slow & highly coordinated pullout of U.S. troops from the area. After many years they are coming home."

Shanahan, a longtime Boeing Co. executive, was nominated for the deputy job in early 2017.

He moved up through the management ranks at Boeing over a career that began in 1986. The Puget Sound Business Journal called him a Boeing "fix-it" man in a March 2016 report. He oversaw the company's global supply chain strategies and use of advanced manufacturing technologies. Shanahan was central to getting the 787 Dreamliner on track after production problems in the program's early years, the report said.



President Donald Trump

The latest news on President Donald Trump's presidency
After Criticism, Trump Pushes Out Mattis Sooner Than Planned

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/politics/Trump-Mattis-Out-Deputy-Acting-Chief-503410321.html

(Assorted Videos in article.)

 

[angelburst29]

Friday, 21 December 2018 - Security Council Extends UNDOF Mission in Occupied Golan for Six Months
Security Council Extends UNDOF Mission in Occupied Golan for Six Months

NEW YORK – The Security Council on Friday extended the mission of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the occupied Syrian Golan for six months, SANA reported.

The UN had announced the return of a number of UNDOF personnel to their positions in Syria in November 2016, after it had withdrawn a number of its personnel from several positions in the occupied Syrian Golan in 2014 after terrorists from Jabhat al-Nusra kidnapped more than 40 UNDOF Fijian soldiers from and besieged other Filipino soldiers.


Friday, 21 December 2018 - Success of Any Political Process in Syria Needs International Commitment, Close Cooperation with Syrian State: Al-Jaafari
Success of Any Political Process in Syria Needs International Commitment, Close Cooperation with Syrian State: Al-Jaafari

NEW YORK, (ST)- Syria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Bashar al-Jaafari has reaffirmed that the constitution is a sovereign Syrian issue that can e decided by the Syrians themselves without any foreign interference, urging the countries which backed terrorism in Syria to realize that they won't achieve in politics what they couldn't achieve through supporting terrorism.

During a Security Council session on Thursday dealing with the situation in the Middle East, al-Jaafari said "Syria is open to all initiatives that help the country emerge from the ongoing crisis and it is ready to take part in all sincere efforts aiming to reach a political solution in which only the Syrians can decide their future and options through a Syrian-led national dialogue based on the principle of preserving Syria's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity in accordance with the International Law, the UN Charter and all the Security Council resolutions on Syria."

He reiterated that the success of any political process in Syria necessitates working and coordinating closely with the Syrian state on all issues. It also necessitates international commitment and real political will by all to entirely eliminate terrorism, end the illegal presence of foreign troops in the Syrian territories and work to stop hampering the efforts being exerted by the Syrian government in cooperation with its allies to reach the hoped-for political solution. In this regard, al-Jaafari noted Syria's full and continuous cooperation with UN efforts represented by the missions of the UN chief's special envoys for Syria and stressed readiness to work and cooperate with the new UN Chief's Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pederson.

He stressed Syria's keenness on witnessing the formation of the Committee on discussing the constitution as soon as possible.

Al-Jaafari criticized the political hypocrisy practiced at the Security Council by some countries which dedicated all its military, media and political capabilities over the past eight years to support and invest terrorism in Syria in a flagrant violation of international resolutions.

He affirmed that it is time for all to read the situation in Syria in an objective and correct way that helps the country end the terrorist war imposed on its people instead of adopting extremist stances aiming to blackmail the Syrian government and people and to prolong the war and expand its destructive impacts on Syria and the entire world.


Saturday, 22 December 2018 - Patriarch Aphrem II: Return of Security has Brought Joy Back to Syria
Patriarch Aphrem II: Return of Security has Brought Joy Back to Syria

DAMASCUS- Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Supreme Head of Universal Syriac Orthodox Mor Ignatius Aphrem II said that the return of peace and security to Syria thanks to the sacrifices of the Syrian Arab Amy have granted the opportunity for people this year to express happiness and joy on Christmas and the New Year, according to SANA.

The Patriarch’s remarks came while he was presiding over a divine mass at St. Georges Patriarchal Cathedral in Bab Touma neighborhood, Damascus.

His holiness added that celebrating the Christmas and the New Year come in coincidence with celebrating the 2nd anniversary of liberating Aleppo from terrorism.

He affirmed that the Syrian people who have remained steadfast in the face of terrorist organizations will soon celebrate the return of peace and stability to every inch of the Syrian territories.


Saturday, 22 December 2018 - Christmas Mass Held in Quneitra for First Time in 44 Years
Christmas Mass Held in Quneitra for First Time in 44 Years

QUNEITRA- Christmas mass was held and a Christmas tree was lit up in the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George in Quneitra city, with the participation of official, religious, and public figures from Damascus, Damascus Countryside, and Quneitra provinces, according to SANA.

Bishop of Damascus Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Mousa al-Khoury said that the mass is being held for the first time in 44 years at St. George Church, the first such mass since 1974 following the liberation of Quneitra, which was destroyed by the Israeli occupation.

MP Janseit Qazan affirmed that the Syrians’ determination, particularly citizens of Quneitra, to bring life back to the city through holding religious and political activities that affirm their keenness to liberate the occupied Syrian Golan as a national priority.


Saturday, 22 December 2018 - Largest Christmas Tree in Damascus Lit up at Abbasiyyin Square
http://syriatimes.sy/index.php/news...-tree-in-damascus-lit-up-at-abbasiyyin-square

DAMASCUS – The biggest Christmas tree in Damascus, standing 30 meters tall, was lit up on Saturday evening at Abbasiyyin Square, as part of a festivity organized by Action Project to celebrate Christmas and the New Year, according to SANA.

The festivity included a Christmas parade starting from Bab Touma Square, passing through al-Qasa’a neighborhood, and ending at Abbasiyyin Square, featuring Christmas tunes and songs by the Action Project’s scouts troupe, and handing gifts to children and passersby by volunteers dressed as Santa Claus.

Action Project’s manager Rein al-Maila told SANA that the event seeks to revive Syria’s holidays after the defeat of terrorism and create an atmosphere of happiness, in addition to sending a message to the world saying that Syria is recovering, and happiness and joy will return to it.

She noted that the decision to hold the event at Abbasiyyin Square was made because it was one of the areas that was most targeted by terrorist attacks, and now it is decked in Christmas colors and decorations thanks to the sacrifices of the Syrian Arab Army.

Action Project is a development project that has several programs, including ones for vocational training, a volunteer team, youth support, and the happiness program that organizes events on special occasions.

 

[sToRmR1dR]

Erdogan Pledged to Eradicate 'Whatever Left' of Daesh in Syria, Trump Says


© REUTERS / Kevin Lamarque

On Wednesday, Trump declared Daesh defeat in Syria and subsequent withdrawal of US troops from the Arab country, where they had been staying solely to counter the Daesh. On Saturday, he added that "local countries, including Turkey" should be able to "easily take care of whatever remains."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to wipe out the remaining forces of the Daesh* from Syria, US President Donald Trump said on Monday.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1077064829825966081

Late on Sunday, Trump said that he had held a "long and productive" phone conversation with Erdogan, during which they discussed their "mutual involvement" in Syria and the planned withdrawal of the US troops from Syria. According to Erdogan, the two officials pledged to "expand coordination" on Syria.

The United States and a number of its allies launched their campaign against Daesh in Syria in 2014, in what was approved neither by the UN nor Damascus.

*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia


MATTIS SIGNS ORDER TO WITHDRAW U.S. FORCES FROM SYRIA: REPORT

Outgoing Defense Secretary James Mattis have signed an executive order to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria on December 23, the CNN reported citing defense official.

The officials said that the order determines how and when the withdrawal of US forces from Syria will take place and declined to provide CNN with further details. However, the TV network claimed that the withdrawal will begin in the next several weeks and could take several weeks to finish.

“I just had a long and productive call with President Erdogan of Turkey. We discussed ISIS, our mutual involvement in Syria, and the slow and highly coordinated pullout of U.S. troops from the area. After many years they are coming home,” Trump said on Twitter earlier.​

Mattis, who resigned after disagreeing with Trump on the withdraw from Syria, is set to leave his post by January 1, 2019. His deputy Patrick Shanahan will replace him as acting defense chief.

Few days ago, an U.S. official told the Reuters news agency that the time-frame for U.S. troop pullout from Syria is expected to be between 60 to 100 days. However, Mattis will likely try to delay the move as much as he could before leaving his post.


Turkish Military Deploys More Reinforcement To Syria [VIDEO]

Turkish military has sent new military reinforcements, including dozens of vehicles and various weapons to its border with Syria, days after announcing its intention to postpone the launch of a military campaign against Kurdish militants.

Ankara has sent about 100 vehicles, including pick-up trucks, equipped with machine guns and weapons into borders with Syria, according to Reuters.

The agency said that the Turkish convoy heading to Kalis bordering town in the province of Hatay in southern Turkey, including tanks, guns, machine guns and buses carrying members of the special forces.

“Part of the military equipment and soldiers will be deployed at points on the border and some will cross into Syria throughout the Elbeyli area”.

Elbeyli area is 45 km in northern Manbij town, which has been a focus of tension between Ankara and Washington.

On past Wednesday, Turkey sent military reinforcements, including armored personnel carriers, to Hatay province and then to Syria to reinforce its military forces there.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said recently that his country would postpone a planned military operation against Kurdish militants in northern Syria after the United States’ decision to withdraw its troops from Syria.

RUSSIA & SDF DISCUSS DEPLOYMENT OF SYRIAN BORDER GUARDS EAST OF EUPHRATES

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) gave their initial approval to a Russian plan that would prevent Turkey from attacking northeastern Syria by deploying units of Syrian Arab Army (SAA) border guards on the Syrian-Turkish border east of the Euphrates River, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said in a report on December 23.

“The debate and discussion remain about who will manage the areas that are under the control of the Syria Democratic Forces east of Euphrates,” the SOHR added.​

According to the UK-based monitoring group, a delegation of the SDF will met with Russian officials in Moscow in the upcoming hours to discuss the plan.

The surprise U.S. decision to withdraw all American troops from Syria, which was announced on December 19, has forced the SDF to initiate a new round of talks with Damascus on the future of the northeastern part of the country. Turkey is currently planning to invade the SDF-held region under the pretext of fighting terrorism.

If the plan is agreed, it would allow to fully secure northeastern Syria and may encourage the SDF and the Damascus government to hold serious talks on the future of the country without any foreign interference.


US withdrawal from Syria will not change Israeli policy – Netanyahu (video)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the withdrawal of US troops from Syria will not influence his country’s determination to “act against Iran’s attempts to entrench itself militarily in Syria.” Netanyahu was speaking in Jerusalem on Sunday.

“The decision to withdraw 2,000 US troops from Syria will not change our consistent policy: We will continue to act against Iran’s attempts to entrench itself militarily in Syria, and to the extent necessary, we will even expand our actions there,” said the Israeli leader.

“Our cooperation with the US will continue in full and finds expression in many areas: Operations, intelligence and many other security spheres. On the Lebanese border, Operation Northern Shield is proceeding as planned,” he added.

On December 20, US President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of roughly 2,000 US troops from Syria, in what is seen an abrupt shift of US Middle East policy.

Israeli Forces Open Fire at 'Armed Suspects' on Syrian Border - IDF

Israeli servicemen opened fire at a group of armed people, who had crossed into a demilitarized area on the Golan Heights controlled by the Syrian government army, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) press service said Monday.

"Our troops spotted armed suspects crossing the Alpha Line into #Israel near the #Syrian border fence in the Golan Heights. In response, our troops fired towards them. We will continue to operate against violations of Israeli sovereignty & the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement," the press service said on Twitter.

The incident has not resulted into casualties among Israelis. The Syrian side has not provided the information about casualties so far.

The disputed Golan Heights are located between Israel's northeastern border and Syria's southwest. Most of the Golan territory has been under Israel's control since the country occupied the area in 1967 and effectively annexed it in 1981.

The fighting in the area resumed in 2013 as part of the Syrian war as a result of which the area was captured by militants, who operated in the Golan Heights for several years before being purged from the area by the government forces.

In August, Russia said its troops in Syria would assist UN peacekeepers in patrolling the Syrian side of the demilitarized Golan Heights buffer zone with Israel.


Damascus Reportedly Finds Huge Cache of US, Israeli-Made Weapons Close to Golans (photos)

Syrian militant groups have left many weapons caches behind, when they were retreating from the Syrian army, which are now being discovered during sweeping operations conducted by the country's authorities.

The Syrian army has discovered an underground militants' cache close to the border with the Israeli occupied Golan Heights to the west of Jibbat al-Khashab in Quneitra province, Syrian state news agency SANA reported. According to the media outlet, Syrian authorities discovered the cache in a dug out den during the course of a combing operation with the help of locals.

Inside it there were various types of weapons, such as anti-tank missiles, mortars, rifles and machineguns, produced in the US, Israel, and Jordan, as well as huge amounts of ammunition. Apart from the weaponry, the Syrian army found protective gear, satellite communication devices and medical equipment, which was also made in the US and Israel.

Earlier, Syrian Security Forces discovered on 21 December another big warehouse with weapons left behind by terrorist groups in Daraa province in the south of the country. It contained numerous rifles, mortars, US-made Tao anti-tank missiles and recon drones. Damascus regularly finds such caches with most of them containing US or Israeli weaponry and medical equipment.

 

[angelburst29]

Monday, 24 December 2018 - Pentagon Signs Order for US Pullout from Syria
Pentagon Signs Order for US Pullout from Syria

The US military has announced that the order to pull the American forces out of Syria has been signed.

President Donald Trump unexpectedly announced on Wednesday that the US would be pulling all its 2,000 forces out of Syria. He also claimed victory over the Daesh Takfiri terror outfit in Syria.

"The execute order for Syria has been signed," a US military spokesperson told AFP when asked about the pullout order, without elaborating.

Trump tweeted that he and Turkey’s Erdogan had "discussed (Daesh) and their mutual involvement in Syria and the slow and coordinated pullout of US troops from the area.

Washington has long been supporting the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces as its most effective partner in Syria.

On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron rebuked Trump over his decision to withdraw troops from Syria, saying "an ally must be reliable."

France, a leading member of the US-led coalition, has said it would keep troops in Syria. France’s pronouncement of support came even as the SDF said it would stop its alleged fight against Daesh terrorists.

Trump's decision has sparked turmoil within his administration, prompting the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Brett McGurk, the special envoy to the so-called anti-Daesh coalition.

Trump later named Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan as the acting Pentagon chief, saying he will replace Mattis starting January 1, earlier than previously scheduled.

*Terrorists sent to Africa, Iran's neighbors: TV

Meantime, sources also told al-Manar TV that the US had provided terrorists operating in the region, most of them Daesh members, with additional weapons, and transferred hundreds of them to areas in North Africa, Libya and Egypt's Sinai as part of a process to redistribute them after their heavy losses against Syrian army troops.

The report said that Washington had also sent a number of terrorists to Azerbaijan, Afghanistan and areas near the Iranian and Russian borders.

Washington and Arab allies, the newspaper said, claim that such moves would diminish the perceived threat posed by the presence of Iranian military advisers and Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement in Syria.

Iran has been offering military advisory support to Syria at the request of the Damascus government, enabling its army to speed up its gains on various fronts against terror outfits.

Hezbollah forces have also been assisting the Syrian government on the ground to clear areas bordering Lebanon from terrorist groups.


Monday, 24 December 2018 - More than 150 Servicemen of Russian Air Defense Missile Regiment Return from Syria
http://syriatimes.sy/index.php/news/world/39526-more-than-150-servicemen-of-russian-air-defense-missile-regiment-return-from-Syria

MOSCOW- More than 150 servicemen of the Russian air defense missile regiment of the Central Military District have returned home after successfully performing their tasks in the Syrian Arab Republic.

They were taken to Novosibirsk district by an Il-76 plane of the military transport aviation of the Russian Aerospace Force, according to Itar Tass.

The servicemen performed tasks to protect important facilities of the Russian army’s group during three months," the district press service reported on Monday.

The servicemen were met by representatives of the Central Military District’s administration, local authorities, veteran and public organizations, comrades-in-arms and relatives. The anti-aircraft gunners were given state and ministerial awards.


Wednesday, 19 December 2018 - Zakharova: US Troops’ Withdrawal from Syria to Create Prospects for Political Solution
Zakharova: US Troops’ Withdrawal from Syria to Create Prospects for Political Solution

MOSCOW- The US decision to pull its troops from Syria creates good prospects for a political solution in that Arab country, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Maria Zakharova said on Channel One on Wednesday, according to Itar Tass.

A milestone story which might evolve from this decision is a real prospect for a political solution," she said adding that the US decision aroused hopes of de-escalation in At-Tanf.

"Hope emerges that this location on the Syrian map will follow the example of Aleppo and other Syrian towns and villages which begin getting back to peaceful life," she explained. "Once Americans were there, there was no such hope".

Constitutional committee has good chances after US pullout from Syria

Zakharova also said that the initiative to set up a committee on discussing the constitution for Syria has good prospects after the US decision to pull out its troops from Syri.

She told Channel One television on Wednesday that yesterday a statement was approved in Geneva after a session of the foreign ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey, and the list of persons who may become part of the Constitutional Committee was relayed," the diplomat reminded the audience.

*'Stab in the Back'

on the other hand, the armed Kurdish-led coalition that compromises the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has commented on the US' decision to withdraw its troops from Syria, calling the move "a stab in the back," Sky News Arabia reported on Wednesday, citing an SDF representative.

"This is a betrayal and a stab in the back," Sky News Arabia cited the SDF representative as saying.

At the same time, The National newspaper reported that Kurdish forces had not received notice regarding US President Donald Trump's move to pull American troops from Syria.

*‘Russia wins’: Fury in Washington as Trump announces withdrawal from Syria

President Donald Trump’s decision to declare ISIS defeated and order a full US withdrawal from Syria has been met with anger and disbelief by the Washington establishment that hoped for "regime change" in Damascus, RT reported.

CNN’s Jake Tapper reacted to the announcement by quoting an anonymous Pentagon official who saw it as a victory for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Hillary Clinton’s former foreign policy adviser Jesse Lehrich bemoaned that the withdrawal would embolden Syrian government and strengthen Russia and Iran, while leaving the US-allied Kurdish militias“once again hung out to dry.”

Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida), known as a foreign policy hawk, also disagreed with a withdrawal, calling it a “colossal” mistake and a “grave error that's going to have significant repercussions in the years and months to come.”

Another foreign policy hawk, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) said the pullout would be “a huge Obama-like mistake,” enabling the revival of IS and putting the Kurds at "risk".

The Washington Post’s foreign policy editor Jackson Diehl wondered how Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton felt about the withdrawal, given his recent statements about the US staying in Syria as long as any Iranian-backed forces were there, meaning indefinitely.


Sunday, 23 December 2018 - Presidential Decree on Raising Compensations and Allowances of Military Personnel
Presidential Decree on Raising Compensations and Allowances of Military Personnel

DAMASCUS- President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday issued Legislative Decree No. 20 for the year 2018 on raising the compensation and allowances of military personnel.

According to SANA, the decree stipulates for raising the compensation, allowances and bonuses granted to all military personnel in general by 8 % of the monthly salary.

The decree also provides for a three-fold increase in the salaries of pilot officers to fit the difficult and dangerous tasks facing them and in a way that accords with the salaries granted in this sector.


Sunday, 23 December, 2018 - Celebration on 2nd Anniversary of Aleppo’s Triumph over Terrorism
Celebration on 2nd Anniversary of Aleppo’s Triumph over Terrorism

ALEPPO- Aleppo Governorate on Sunday held a public celebration marking the 2nd anniversary of triumphing over terrorism and liberating the eastern neighborhoods of the city from armed terrorist organization.

The celebration was held at al-Assad Stadium, with the participation of official, public, and social figures, according to SANA.

The event started with a military parade by members of the Syrian Arab Army and Internal Security Forces, followed by national songs celebrating the victory of Aleppo performed by school students, sports performances, and Armenian and Circassian folk dances.

Activities also included a sports display by individuals with disabilities, a ballet performance, and poetry recital.


Saturday, 22 December 2018 - Two years after Aleppo Liberation from Terrorism, the City's Textile Industry Overcomes Challenges and Rises Again
Two years after Aleppo Liberation from Terrorism, the City's Textile Industry Overcomes Challenges and Rises Again

ALEPPO, (ST)- Over tens of years, the Syrian textile and spinning industry has enjoyed prestigious reputation in the region and the entire world due to the great taste and vocational touch the workers in this sector enjoy. It has remarkably flourished in the Syrian province of Aleppo to be a landmark of the Syrian industry and a source of pride for all the Syrians.

Industrialists in Aleppo, over tens of years, have managed to build an empire for the textile industry through establishing hundreds of factories which are unmatched in the Middle East in terms of its modernity.

Unfortunately, the textile industry in Aleppo was a main target of the Turkish-backed terrorist groups which attacked the Sheikh Najjar Industrial Zone in the province, vandalized it and destroyed most of the industrial facilities and caused huge loss to industrialists. Those terrorists were also used by the Turkish regime as a tool to loot hundreds of factories and smuggle the equipments to Turkey with the aim of destroying the Syria economy.

However, armed with strong determination and backed by the support of the people of Aleppo, the hero Syrian army carried out a wide military operation to ride the province from terrorism and managed to liberate the city of Aleppo from the takfiri terrorists two years ago and restore security and stability there. Thus, the industrial zone breathed life and witnessed the return of industrialists to inspect the damage in their facilities as to rehabilitate them.

Industrialists of Aleppo suffered huge losses as they found the factories they had built over tens of years destroyed, but this couldn't affect their will to start again. After Aleppo liberation from terrorism, the industrialists, with the support of the government, began working hard to rehabilitate parts of their facilities and, thus, they managed within months to resume production and enter the markets again.

The sound of machines roaring in factories signaled the reinvigoration of industrial and economic sectors as well as a significant step towards the resumption of production following more than 3 years of enforced hiatus due to the atrocities perpetrated by the armed terrorist groups.

SANA visited some factories targeted by terrorism in Sheikh Najjar industrial zone and saw the production process two years after Aleppo liberation from terrorism.

"Al-Faisal for Spinning" factory is one of the most important facilities in Sheikh Najjar Industrial zone, It has got several international certificates for high quality and competitive production. The facility was exposed to destruction because of terrorism, but now it is rebuilt and production started with distinguished specifications not only at the local level but also at the Middle East level in terms of quality and quantity.

Bassam Dawalibi, the Administrative Manager of the facility explained to SANA the factory's situation before and after rehabilitation through some photos hanged inside the factory to tell about the horrible crimes committed against industry in Syria in general and in Aleppo in particular.

He made it clear that he managed to rebuild and rehabilitate all the machines and he was able to resume production with the same quality, pointing out that his factory produced threaded yarns which are needed domestically and in neighboring countries, but, for now, production covers only the need of the local market, because the factory can't at present work in its full production capacity.

Mohammad Sabbagh, Owner of "al-Sabbagh Group for Blankets Production", said that he owned nine industrial facilities, unfortunately all were completely destroyed except for one. He pointed out that the production of his factories has reached all over the world due its international standard specification.

Another factory for producing industrial carpets was also targeted by terrorism, but it resumed work gradually after the liberation of Aleppo.

Abdul Hafeez Sweid, an agent of al-Aqqad Factory for carpets, yarns and rugs production, said that the factory resumed work and started to restore its reputation and customers.


December, 24, 2018 - Russia Not to Ignore New US Missiles, but Not Interested in New Arms Race, Crises: Lavrov
https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/...not-interested-in-new-arms-race-crises-lavrov

Even though Russia is not interested in a new arms race or new 'missile crises,' it will not tolerate the emergence of new US missiles threatening either Moscow or its allies, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Sputnik in an interview.



"We have to warn that we cannot and will not ignore the emergence of new US missiles posing a threat to us or to our allies. There should be no doubt that we have the needed tools kit in order to ensure our security and are capable of further enhancing our defense capabilities. However, Russia, like any other sensible country, is not interested in an arms race or new 'missile crises'," Lavrov indicated.

Speaking about the situation with the US withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, Lavrov indicated that Washington had showed its reluctance to cooperate on the matter.

"We call on [Washington] to abandon blackmailing attempts and cease disseminating evidence-free accusations in favor of constructive joint work to tackle existing mutual concerns."

"We have officially invited [Washington] to begin [this work] in [Russian Defense Minister] Sergei Shoigu's letter to Pentagon Chief [Jim Mattis]; we have also repeatedly offered a professional dialogue on the INF Treaty in contacts between the Foreign Ministry and State Department. There have been no responses so far," Lavrov revealed.


December, 24, 2018 - Trump vows allies won't 'take advantage' after Mattis exit
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/...-allies-wont-take-advantage-after-mattis-exit

WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Donald Trump vowed Monday (Dec 24) that allies would no longer "take advantage" of the United States, taking a shot at Defense Secretary Jim Mattis who resigned over Syria.

US President Donald Trump is seated next to Jim Mattis, US secretary of defense, during a briefing with senior military leaders in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Oct 23, 2018. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

Trump, turning to Twitter after days of criticism over his decision to pull US troops out of Syria, denied charges that he was rejecting allies.

But he said that "these same countries take advantage of their friendship with the United States".

"We are substantially subsidizing the Militaries of many VERY rich countries all over the world, while at the same time these countries take total advantage of the U.S., and our TAXPAYERS, on Trade," he tweeted.

"General Mattis did not see this as a problem. I DO, and it is being fixed!"

Amid open concern about the Syria pullout from allies including France and Germany, Trump tweeted in all capital letters: "AMERICA IS RESPECTED AGAIN!"

Mattis, a battle-hardened retired four-star general widely seen as a moderating force on the impulsive president, in his resignation letter Thursday (Dec 20) emphasized the need to respect allies.


Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1077212559604924416
To those few Senators who think I don’t like or appreciate being allied with other countries, they are wrong, I DO. What I don’t like, however, is when many of these same countries take advantage of their friendship with the United States, both in Military Protection and Trade...
9:41 AM - Dec 24, 2018


Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1077217178322194432
....We are substantially subsidizing the Militaries of many VERY rich countries all over the world, while at the same time these countries take total advantage of the U.S., and our TAXPAYERS, on Trade. General Mattis did not see this as a problem. I DO, and it is being fixed!
9:59 AM - Dec 24, 2018

Trump has repeatedly berated close US friends and questioned the cost-effectiveness of Nato, the North American and European military alliance established seven decades ago as a bulwark against Moscow.

Mattis took his criticism public after Trump suddenly announced the pullout of all 2,000 troops from Syria, saying that the Islamic State extremist group, also known as ISIS, had been defeated.

Trump said he coordinated with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan - who has been warning that he will attack US-allied Kurdish fighters who had seized ground from ISIS.

Senator Lindsey Graham, a usual ally of Trump who has been harshly critical of the Syria decision, on Monday tried a different strategy as he appealed to the president to work off his diplomacy with Erdogan.

Graham said that the United States could reduce, but not completely pull out, troops from Syria and "partner" with Turkey.

"'Partnering' with Turkey to destroy ISIS - and ensuring protection for the Kurds who fought so bravely - is a big win," he tweeted.

(Dear ... Senator Lindsey Graham ... from a frustrated American taxpaying female ... ... Happy Holidays!)

 

[sToRmR1dR]

Russia doubts US will withdraw troops from Syria

The Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Sergei Ryabkov, said on Monday that he doubts the U.S. will withdraw from Syria, despite the recent announcement from President Donald Trump.

“The U.S.’ presence in Syria is based on a combination of interests,” Ryabkov began.

“I don’t believe the U.S. will withdraw its from Syria,” he said, adding that “we are aware of and informed enough about what is happening with regard to the withdrawal or preservation of the U.S. military presence in Syria.”

Ryabkov said that the U.S.’ actions in Syria have not changed, despite Trump’s recent announcement about their withdrawal.


Eyewitnesses Say US Troops Remain in Syrian City of Manbij, Continue Patrol (video)

US servicemen have not left the north-eastern Syrian city of Manbij, and they continue patrolling its streets, eyewitnesses told Sputnik, providing a video proving their claims.

On the video, shot on Sunday morning, one can see a column of four military cars with US flags patrolling Manbij's Jisr As-Sarb street.

"They were coming from Al-Ayoun district located near the positions of the Turkey-backed Syrian opposition," an eyewitness said.

He added that the US military was also conducting foot patrol of Manbij's streets and markets, and they were escorted by scores of Syrian Democratic Forces' militants.

Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Sputnik that it would not be easy to solve the problem of the illegal presence of US troops in Syria, stressing that time would show what the announcement of withdrawal actually results in.

Recently US President Donald Trump announced that the US forces would be pulled out from Syria since the Daesh* terrorist group had been defeated there. According to US officials, the pull-out of the US troops, with their number exceeding 2,000, will take from 60 to 100 days.

*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia


Kurdish-led forces send massive convoy to Turkish Army lines in northern Syria (video)

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) sent a large convoy of reinforcements to the front-lines of Manbij in northern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported.

According to the SOHR report, the Manbij Military Council of the Syrian Democratic Forces sent reinforcements to the front-lines after the Turkish Army and their rebel allies began amassing troops near this town in northern Aleppo.

Below is a short video from the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights that shows the reinforcements heaving to the front-lines in Manbij:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=787344814951969

Turkish forces given ‘green light’ to launch Manbij offensive: report

The Turkish military and their rebel allies have been given the “green light” to begin their offensive to capture the key town of Manbij in northern Aleppo, the Yeni Safak publication reported on Monday.

According to the Yeni Safak report, more than 8,000 Turkish soldiers and Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters were deployed to the Manbij front to capture the town from the “Kurdistan Workers Party” (PKK).

The PKK reference is for the Syrian Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and People’s Protection Units (YPG), who are considered terrorist groups by Turkey.

The Yeni Safak report claims that the primary purpose of this Manbij operation is to eliminate the “PKK’s supply line from the Assad regime.”

The YPG and SDF troops in northern Syria were embedded with the U.S. Coalition and do not have any military ties with the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in Manbij.

In response to the buildup of Turkish forces in Manbij, the Syrian Arab Army has begun amassing troops to the south of the town in order to prevent any advance into their areas.


US Coalition bombs bridge being reconstructed by Syrian Army in Deir Ezzor

The U.S. Coalition carried out a new airstrike in the Euphrates River Valley region of Deir Ezzor, today, targeting an area near the front-lines of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

According to a military source in Damascus, the U.S. Coalition bombed the Halbiyah-Zalbiyah Bridge that links the territories controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces and Syrian Arab Army in western Deir Ezzor.

The source said that the Syrian Arab Army was recently reconstructing this bridge and was nearly finished until it was bombed by the U.S. Coalition.

The U.S. Coalition has not issued any statement about this bombing.

Al-Masdar’s source in Damascus said that the Syrian Arab Army believes the reason for the bombing was to prevent them from being able to cross the Euphrates and enter the SDF’s territory.


Large Syrian Army convoy heads to east Syria as US forces pullout

A large Syrian Arab Army (SAA) convoy made their way to the eastern region of Syria, today, after receiving orders to redeploy to the Euphrates River Valley area of the Deir Ezzor Governorate.

The Syrian Arab Army convoy reportedly left the southeastern countryside of the Idlib, where they were positioned at the front-lines with the jihadist rebels of Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham near the Abu Dhuhour Military Airport.

According to reports, the reinforcements were made up of Tiger Forces, National Defense Forces (NDF), and Republican Guard personnel.

These reinforcements will be deployed to the front-lines of the Euphrates River Valley as they await orders from the Syrian Arab Army’s High Command.

The recent mobilization of Syrian Arab Army troops to the Deir Ezzor province comes just days after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that his armed forces were being withdrawn from Syria.

 

[angelburst29]

Got to love this ... Erdogan, when will you ever learn - you can't dictate conditions - to Putin?

* December 25, 2018 - Turkey's Erdogan, Russia's Putin to meet over US pullout from Syria, Erdogan says
Turkey's Erdogan, Russia's Putin to meet over U.S. pullout from Syria, Erdogan says | Reuters

* December 25, 2018 - Russia's Putin has no immediate plan to meet Turkey's Erdogan: Kremlin
Russia's Putin has no immediate plan to meet Turkey's Erdogan: Kremlin | Reuters


December 25, 2018 - Turkey determined to cross East of Euphrates as soon as possible, Hurriyet cites Foreign Minister
Turkey determined to cross east of Euphrates as soon as possible, Hurriyet cites foreign minister | Reuters

ISTANBUL - Turkey is determined to cross to the east of the Euphrates river in northern Syria as soon as possible, Ankara’s foreign minister was quoted as saying on Tuesday, after the proposed military campaign was delayed by the U.S. withdrawal.

A view shows part of Tabqa Dam on the Euphrates river, near Raqqa, Syria July 16, 2018. Picture taken July 16, 2018. REUTERS/Rodi Said

Turkey said this month it would launch a new military operation in the area. Last week, the United States announced a full pull-out from northern Syria, prompting Turkey to delay the campaign until the withdrawal is completed.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President Donald Trump have agreed to coordinate to prevent a power vacuum from developing, Turkey has said.

Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters at a briefing that Turkey aimed to cross the east of the Euphrates as soon as possible, the Hurriyet said, without giving further details.

Turkey and the United States have also agreed to complete their agreement on the Syrian town of Manbij by the time the United States finishes its withdrawal, Cavusoglu also said, according to the state-owned Anadolu news agency.

Under the Manbij roadmap, Turkey and the United States agreed to a complete withdrawal of the Kurdish YPG militia from the town. Ankara considers the YPG a terrorist organization.

Cavusoglu will travel to Russia to discuss the process of the U.S. withdrawal in the coming days, broadcaster CNN Turk said.


December 24, 2018 - President Erdogan has invited Trump to visit Turkey in 2019: White House
President Erdogan has invited Trump to visit Turkey in 2019: White House | Reuters

WASHINGTON - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has invited U.S. President Donald Trump to visit Turkey in 2019, a White House spokesman said on Monday.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump talks to Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium July 11, 2018. Tatyana Zenkovich/Pool via REUTERS

“While nothing definite is being planned, the President is open to a potential meeting in the future,” White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said in a statement.

 

[sToRmR1dR]

Kurdish forces handover town near Manbij to Syrian Army

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have handed over the control of a town located southwest of Manbij to the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), a source told Al-Masdar News this afternoon.

According to the source, the Syrian Democratic Forces handed over the town of Al-‘Arimeh to the Syrian Arab Army as they take security precautions ahead of the Turkish military’s incursion in the Manbij region.

The source added that the Syrian Arab Army is in contact with some members of the Syrian Democratic Forces in Manbij; however, there is no agreement to allow them to enter the town, nor was the transfer of this town considered a move towards handing over Manbij.

Manbij is strategically important to the Syrian military because of its proximity to Aleppo city and the Euphrates River.

The town is also located along the key Aleppo-Raqqa Highway; if lost, the Syrian Army and Kurdish-led forces will no longer have a direct route to the provincial capital of the Al-Raqqa Governorate.


Update: Russian forces enter town near Manbij with Syrian Army

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) reentered the town of Al-‘Arimeh, today, after withdrawing from it during the Turkish Army’s Afrin campaign earlier this year.

According to a source in Aleppo city, the Syrian Arab Army, alongside the Russian military, reentered Al-Arimeh after the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) agreed to hand it over to Damascus on Tuesday.

The source said that the Syrian Arab Army and Russian military entered Al-‘Arimeh with a convoy of over 40 vehicles and hundreds of soldiers.

Al-‘Arimeh is strategically located along the Al-Bab-Manbij Highway, which is also a front-line area between the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA).

With Al-‘Arimeh under their control, the Syrian Arab Army is now within distance of Manbij’s southwestern axis.

No agreement has been made between the Syrian Democratic Forces and Syrian Arab Army regarding the future of Manbij and there is a good chance nothing will be put in place before the Turkish military launches their invasion to capture the town.


SDF captures key town from ISIS in east Deir Ezzor (map)



The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have captured a key town in the Euphrates River Valley region of the Deir Ezzor Governorate after a fierce battle with the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group.

Backed by U.S airstrikes, the Syrian Democratic Forces were able to overpower the last Islamic State fighters inside the town of Abu Khater after several days of intense clashes.

The Islamic State was ultimately forced to give up Abu Khater once the Syrian Democratic Forces reached the town-center and began surrounding the remaining terrorists in the area.

With Abu Khater under their control, the Syrian Democratic Forces have officially secure the key town of Hajin, which was a former stronghold for the Islamic State along the eastern bank of the Euphrates River.

The Syrian Democratic Forces are now working to capture the town of Abu Hassan from the remaining Islamic State terrorists in the area.


Large Syrian Army convoy moves to east Deir Ezzor (video)

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) sent another large military convoy to the eastern countryside of the Deir Ezzor Governorate as they continue to buildup their forces in the Euphrates River Valley.

According to a military communique on Tuesday, the Syrian Arab Army sent a large convoy from the eastern countryside of the Homs Governorate to the eastern region of Deir Ezzor.

The military convoy was comprised of soldiers from the Russian-trained 5th Legion, which has participated in several battles against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS/Daesh) in eastern Syria.

The recent buildup of Syrian military troops east of the Euphrates comes just days after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that his nation’s armed forces were withdrawing from Syria.

As shown in a short video below, a group of Syrian Army reinforcements were sent to the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor over the weekend:

Battle for Manbij allegedly postponed until Wednesday (video)

The battle for Manbij has been postponed until Wednesday after early reports from several rebel media accounts claimed that the operations started this evening.

In the short video below, a reporter embedded with the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) near Manbij says that the operation has been posted and will begin tomorrow:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1077607741814906881

PHOTOS, VIDEOS: TURKISH MILITARY BUILD UP ON BORDER WITH SDF-HELD PART OF SYRIA

Blogger colonelcassad has collected photos and videos showing the ongoing Turkish military build up on the border with the part of Syria, which is controlled by the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces.

 

[angelburst29]

December 25, 2018 - Russia: US Continues to Violate UN Resolutions on Syria
Farsnews

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has denounced as “illegitimate” the military presence of American troops in Syria, stressing that the US continues to violate the main resolutions of the UN Security Council on the war-torn Arab country despite a troop withdrawal announcement.

Lavrov made the remark in an interview with Russia's Sputnik news agency on Monday as he was commenting on a recent announcement by US President Donald Trump on the future of American armed forces in Syria.

“The solution to the illegitimate and armed presence of the US in Syria might be difficult,” Russian foreign minister said.

“Washington continually puts new conditions that violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria despite of [the fact] that these principles are mentioned by the main resolutions of the Security Council,” Lavrov said, adding, “Let’s see what the result of leaving Syria, which was announced by US President Donald Trump will be."

Last week, Trump declared victory against Daesh in Syria and announced to pull out American troops from the country, saying that US troops cannot stay in Syria "forever.”


December 25, 2018 - Lavrov: War Between Russia, US Would Be Disaster for Humankind
Farsnews

It's unlikely that anyone would deliberately push towards a Russia-US nuclear war, since such conflict can't be won, Russia's foreign minister said, adding that any mistake amid ongoing tensions could become “fatal”.

“I believe that everyone in the world realizes that an armed conflict between two leading nuclear powers, Russia and the United States, would have disastrous consequences for humankind,” Sergey Lavrov told Rossiya Segodnya in an interview.

"There is no doubt that no one can win a nuclear war, and that such a war should never be unleashed," he stated.

Washington and its allies, however, are too “fixated on their own geopolitical ambitions”, the foreign minister explained, and they are not ready to “adapt” to the changing situation on the global scene. The desire to maintain dominance pushes them towards seeking – and sowing – more and more conflicts.

“This explains their striving to hamper these processes, no matter what, and their increased aggression in foreign affairs. Confrontation is being incited, and channels for dialogue are being frozen,” Lavrov said.

Such conflict seeking can easily lead to a global disaster, which can unfold, if not on purpose, merely by accident.

“A situation could arise where the price of a mistake or misunderstanding could prove fatal,” he warned.

"Despite their different positions, Russia and Western states jointly bear tremendous responsibility for the future of the entire human race and for finding effective responses to the numerous challenges and threats of our time," he added.

Russia, on its part sticks to a strictly defensive behavior, and is set to continue bolstering its defensive capabilities. The ongoing tensions would just “fade away” if the West would stick to the international law of the UN Charter, Lavrov stressed.


December 25, 2018 - Assad deploys forces to north of Manbij
Assad deploys forces to north of Manbij

The move by Assad forces in the Kurdish-held region is seen as complementing their deal with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). (AFP)

• The SDF and representatives of the Assad regime recently held a meeting to coordinate the move
• Before the US withdrawal, American and Turkish forces were jointly conducting patrols in Manbij region

The deployment of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces to the north of Syria’s Manbij province on Tuesday, according to Turkish media reports, sparked a new debate about how regional powers, especially Turkey, would react to this abrupt attempt to fill the vacuum being left by the withdrawal of US forces.

The move by Assad forces in the Kurdish-held region is seen as complementing their deal with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a former US ally led by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).

The SDF and representatives of the Assad regime recently held a meeting to coordinate the move.

Before the US withdrawal, American and Turkish forces were jointly conducting patrols in Manbij region and the June deal between Ankara and Washington presumed the withdrawal of the YPG militia from the region, but the deal was not fully implemented.
Since Dec. 23, Turkey, along with Ankara-backed Syrian opposition forces, has amassed troops and sent reinforcements, including a commando unit, to the Manbij frontline in an attempt to encircle the area and avert Syrian regime troops from altering the status quo on the ground.

According to experts interviewed by Arab News, the YPG has been searching for a buffer since the US withdrawal and is expected to lean toward the Assad regime as a protective shield.

“However, reaching consensus with the regime bears with it some political and military costs to the YPG,” said Oytun Orhan, coordinator of Syria studies at ORSAM, an Ankara-based think-tank.

“It will have to give up its maximalist federalism claims entirely, while its security shield should be integrated within the Syrian army at some point.”
Orhan said that any potential conflict between YPG and Turkey in Manbij would incur huge losses for the Syrian Kurdish militia, which currently controls about 25 percent of Syrian territory and approximately 65 percent of the border with Turkey.

“The YPG is, therefore, focused on reaching a settlement with the regime,” he said. “However, the presence of regime forces in Manbij would not prevent Turkey from launching a currently pending military offensive within the region because it will not eliminate Turkey’s domestic security concerns.”

Ankara considers the YPG a Syrian extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.

The threat posed by the Iran-backed militia in Syria is another parameter to take into consideration while evaluating checks and balances in Manbij.

“The Trump administration said it would ensure that Iranian-backed militias don’t fill the power vacuum,” Orhan said.

“In the same vein, Moscow would prefer the presence of regime forces rather than the dominance of the Iranian militia.”

According to Orhan, regime forces are now focusing all their military clout in the eastern bank of Euphrates river, while pledging to ease the situation in Syrian city of Idlib.

Yesterday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that the Assad regime consented to Turkey’s presence in Idlib as a military entity rather than an occupying force.

“Coordination between the YPG and the regime has existed since before the US announced the withdrawal of its forces from Syria,” Navvar Saban, a military analyst at the Omran Center for Strategic Studies in Istanbul, told Arab News.
“They tried several times to re-open the negotiation channels. The clashes that broke out between them on different fronts were random acts and were not part of an organized campaign.”

Saban underlines that the regime forces were part of the Manbij military operation under the SDF.

“They decided to integrate some of their forces and dispatched them in the eastern and western sides of Al-Arimah village,” he said. “It is obvious that they do not feel the need to cover their cooperation with the YPG any longer.”

According to Saban, it is likely to see even an bigger advance in Manbij area, but the regime said it would “exercise restraint” on the southern part of Manbij and intervene in the cities as an institution and not as a security force.

The regime is testing the reactions of regional players, Saban said.
“The Kurds are not capable of handling such an area alone without the Americans and that is why they needed the regime, but the Russians will not allow the regime to do anything that would provoke the Turks,” he added.

From this point of view, Saban doesn’t think that the regime would think twice about advancing in areas that Ankara deems important, such as Tal Abyad.

The consensus between Moscow and Ankara will be crucial for the region, according to experts.


December 25, 2018 - US Senator: Syria’s Assad Has Emerged Victorious from War
US Senator: Syria’s Assad Has Emerged Victorious from War

The US Republican Senator Rand Paul expressed his support to the President Donal Trump’s decision to pull out troops from Syria, considering that his country must cooperate with Russia and Iran to tackle the Syrian cause.


No one can bury his head in the sand and ask the Syrian President Bashar Assad to depart because he has emerged victorious from the war, Paul added.

I think we should come home and out of that 50 billion dollars in savings I think we would have enough for a border wall and security,” he told CBS news network.


December 25, 2018 - Entire Russian Naval Frigate Leaves Syrian Waters for Black Sea
Farsnews

The Black Sea Fleet’s frigate Admiral Essen has accomplished missions as part of Russia’s permanent Mediterranean taskforce and has set off for its home base in Sevastopol, the Fleet’s press office reported on Tuesday.

“The warship has started to pass through the Black Sea’s Dardanelles and Bosporus straits, heading for the Black Sea Fleet’s permanent naval base – the city of Sevastopol,”
the press office was quoted by TASS as saying.
The frigate Admiral Essen performed missions as part of Russia’s permanent Mediterranean taskforce from August 2018.

In 2018, the frigate spent about 300 days at sea. During its stay as part of Russia’s Mediterranean Squadron, the Admiral Essen took part in the inter-fleet drills in the Mediterranean Sea under the direction of the Russian Navy commander-in-chief.

During the drills, the warship’s crew practiced conducting a battle by a sole ship and as part of a naval group. The frigate also held artillery fire against naval and air targets and practiced anti-submarine warfare.

The Admiral Essen represents a new series of Project 11356R/M frigates (the Project 11357 designation is also used). These frigates are designed to destroy enemy surface ships and vessels, submarines and ground installations, carry out patrols and defend sea lanes.

The frigates of this Project are armed with eight launchers of Kalibr-NK cruise missiles that are capable of striking surface, coastal and underwater targets at a distance of up to 2,600 km.

The warships of this Project are also armed with Shtil-1, Palash and AK-630M air defense missile and artillery systems, A-190 100mm universal artillery guns, torpedo tubes and RBU-6000 rocket launchers. The frigates also have a take-off and landing strip and a hangar for an anti-submarine warfare helicopter (Ka-27 or Ka-31).


December 25, 2018 - Syrian Air defenses intercept hostile missiles launched by Israeli warplanes, down most of them
Syrian Air defenses intercept hostile missiles launched by Israeli warplanes, down most of them

Damascus, SANA-A military source affirmed that the Syrian Air defenses intercepted hostile missiles launched by the Israeli warplanes from over the Lebanese territories and downed the majority of them before reaching their targets.

The source added that the Syrian air defenses confronted hostile missiles launched by the Israeli warplanes from over the Lebanese territories and downed most of them before reaching their targets , affirming that the damages of the aggression were limited to a munition warehouse and the injury of three soldiers.

Earlier, SANA reporter said that the air defenses confronted a number of the hostile targets over the space of Damascus western countryside.

The reporter added that the aggression was carried out from over the Lebanese territories and a number of the hostile targets were downed.


December 25, 2018 - Israeli warplanes bomb Syrian military site in west Damascus (video)
https://www.almasdarnews.com/articl...-syrian-military-site-in-west-damascus-video/

The Israeli Air Force bombed a Syrian military installation in the western countryside of the Damascus Governorate this evening.

According to a source from the Syrian military, the Israeli Air Force bombed a weapons depot inside the town of Qatana, causing significant damage to the site.

The source said that at least three soldiers were wounded as a result of the attack, but no one was killed.

He would add that most of the Israeli missiles were shot down by the Syrian air defense forces before they could reach the weapons depot in Qatana.

The Israeli jets had reportedly entered Lebanese airspace before attacking their targets in Qatana.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) alleged that a Syrian missile was fired into their territory, prompting them to activate their air defenses.

Below is a video of the Syrian air defense shooting down an enemy missile in western Damascus:

Published on Dec 25, 2018 (0:41 min.)


December 25, 2018 - 8,000 Turkish, FSA Forces Ready to Fight PKK in Manbij
Farsnews

In total, a 200-vehicle Turkish convoy, which was composed of various units, set out from Karkamış to Jarabulus and from Kilis to Azaz simultaneously, Yeni Safak reported.

In addition to the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF), a 60-vehicle FSA convoy was sent to the border line.

While an army corps linked to the FSA waits at the ready, 2,000 special forces, who participated in Turkey’s Olive Branch and Euphrates Shield operations, reached the Manbij countryside.

During the deployment and in the following hours, Turkish war planes and unmanned and armed aerial vehicles established an air shield in the zone.


December 25, 2018 - Turkey encourages France to get out of Syria
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/turkey-encourages-france-to-get-out-of-syria/

Turkish Foreign Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday evening that the French government’s decision to remain in Syria has “no benefit” to their cause.

Cavusoglu encouraged the French government to reconsider their strategy regarding Syria and leave the country.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Turkey-based Hurriyet Daily reported that Turkish Foreign Ministry released a statement saying that their nation’s military was prepared to enter Syria as soon as possible.


December 25, 2018 - US military establishes 2 new bases along Syrian border – report
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/us-military-establishes-2-new-bases-along-syrian-border-report/

The U.S. military has established two new bases along the Iraqi-Syrian border, the Turkish state-owned Anadolu Agency reported on Tuesday.



Citing an Iraqi official, the Anadolu Agency said the U.S. military established the two bases in the western countryside of the Al-Anbar.

The U.S. Army has established two new military facilities in uninhabited parts of the province,” Farhan al-Duleimi, a member of Anbar’s provisional council, told Anadolu Agency.

The first base, he said, had been set up in the northern Rumana subdistrict (in Anbar’s Al-Qaim district) near the Syrian border, roughly 360 kilometers west of provincial capital Ramadi.

The second base, he added, had been set up east of the city of Al-Rutbah, roughly 310 kilometers west of Ramadi and less than 100 kilometers from the Syrian border.

According to al-Duleimi, the twin bases are intended to help Iraqi forces “secure the country’s borders and prevent infiltrations by the Daesh terrorist group.”

“Scores of U.S. soldiers are currently stationed at the two bases, along with drones and other equipment,” al-Duleimi said without elaborating.