Here it comes: Syria
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Israel has repeatedly attacked and destroyed targets in Syria they believe to be a direct threat - whether the reactor many years ago or convoys of rockets for movement to Lebanon and Hezbollah.
This site is, perhaps deliberately, close to the Russian airbase and its SAW defences. It will be interesting to see if they do attack it - and if the Russians let them.
This site is, perhaps deliberately, close to the Russian airbase and its SAW defences. It will be interesting to see if they do attack it - and if the Russians let them.
Last edited by ORAC; 18th Aug 2017 at 07:36. Reason: Sp
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lot of if's and buts in that article TBH -
explosives - probably,
missiles? No evidence....................
And Netanyahu needs a distraction form teh multitiude of legal actions he's embroiled in
explosives - probably,
missiles? No evidence....................
And Netanyahu needs a distraction form teh multitiude of legal actions he's embroiled in
Not sure what to make of this report, given its taint of UN blathering, but the report calls out Syria having used chemical weapons a few dozen times.
I guess they took their cue from Trump to make sure that they could argue that there were violations by both sides. (Then again, there are a whole lotta sides in this mess, in Syria).
Syrian forces have used chemical weapons more than two dozen times during the country's civil war, including in April's deadly attack on Khan Sheikhoun, U.N. war crimes investigators said on Wednesday.
A government warplane dropped sarin on the town in Idlib province, killing more than 80 civilians, the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria said, in the most conclusive findings to date from investigations into chemical weapons attacks during the conflict. The Commission also said U.S. air strikes on a mosque in the village of Al-Jina in rural Aleppo in March that killed 38 people, including children, failed to take precautions in violation of international law.
A government warplane dropped sarin on the town in Idlib province, killing more than 80 civilians, the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria said, in the most conclusive findings to date from investigations into chemical weapons attacks during the conflict. The Commission also said U.S. air strikes on a mosque in the village of Al-Jina in rural Aleppo in March that killed 38 people, including children, failed to take precautions in violation of international law.
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Erdogan launches attack on Kurds’ stronghold in Syria
Turkey has launched an attack on a US-backed Kurdish militia operating in northwestern Syria after President Erdogan vowed to “tear down” the group’s border strongholds. Convoys of Turkish tanks are lining up outside Afrin, a small island of territory in Idlib province controlled by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). Ahead of an all-out assault, the Turkish army is pounding the area with artillery from its positions inside Idlib. “Our preparations have been completed. The operation could start at any time, and then will come the turn of other regions,” said Mr Erdogan.
The implicit threat against not just Afrin but the swathe of northern Syria controlled by the Kurds — with US military support — could bring two Nato allies into armed confrontation. The US announced at the weekend that it is helping the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition dominated by the YPG, to set up a 30,000-strong border force to protect the area it has captured along its frontlines with Turkey, Iraq, and Syrian regime forces. The YPG, for its part, promised Turkey a fight. “The Kurdish people will rise up as a whole. It will be total warfare,” said Saleh Muslim, former head of the group’s political wing.
An assault on Afrin would be the biggest Turkish operation inside Syria since the summer of 2016, when special forces soldiers crossed the border to confront Isis. That brought the Turkish military and its rebel allies up against US-backed Kurdish forces in the same area, taking two Nato member states to the brink of battle for the first time since the 1974 Cyprus conflict......
Kurdish officials have told The Times that they will not relinquish any of the territory they have won. Mr Erdogan, however, has grown increasingly pugnacious as it has become clear that the US will not be scaling down its support for the SDF. “Here is what we say to all our allies and friends: lower your flags on the terrorist organisation yourselves so that we won’t have to hand those flags over to you ourselves,” he said yesterday. “Rip your insignia off the terrorists’ uniforms so that we won’t have to bury them alongside terrorists.”
Until recently, the various state players involved in Syria’s conflict had taken steps towards peace. Turkey and Russia had agreed to guarantee ceasefires in four de-escalation areas, including Idlib. The details came through the Astana process, brokered by Turkey, Russia and Iran, which has overtaken the UN-backed Geneva negotiations as the main forum for dialogue between President Assad and the opposition. Turkey, which has supported the opposition and some armed rebel groups since the start of the conflict, has established military lookout points inside the province as part of the agreement.
However, that détente is now unravelling. The Syrian army, backed by Russia and Iran, is advancing into the rebel-held areas of Idlib province from the south, sending hundreds of thousands of civilians fleeing from their homes towards the Turkish border. That has breached the de-escalation agreement and provoked anger from Ankara. Binali Yildirim, the Turkish prime minister, warned on Friday that the assault could have “dire consequences” for the Astana process.
Russia, although opposed to the setting up of an SDF border force, has invited Kurdish representatives to peace talks in Sochi next month, a move that Turkey opposes.
“Erdogan might have thought the window of opportunity for an attack on Afrin might be closing if the Astana process fails. This is one of the main reasons he chose this moment to signal the operation,” said Guney Yildiz, from the European Council on Foreign Relations. “However, there isn’t enough international support for a Turkish operation against Afrin. The operation is also militarily extremely risky.”
Turkey has launched an attack on a US-backed Kurdish militia operating in northwestern Syria after President Erdogan vowed to “tear down” the group’s border strongholds. Convoys of Turkish tanks are lining up outside Afrin, a small island of territory in Idlib province controlled by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). Ahead of an all-out assault, the Turkish army is pounding the area with artillery from its positions inside Idlib. “Our preparations have been completed. The operation could start at any time, and then will come the turn of other regions,” said Mr Erdogan.
The implicit threat against not just Afrin but the swathe of northern Syria controlled by the Kurds — with US military support — could bring two Nato allies into armed confrontation. The US announced at the weekend that it is helping the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition dominated by the YPG, to set up a 30,000-strong border force to protect the area it has captured along its frontlines with Turkey, Iraq, and Syrian regime forces. The YPG, for its part, promised Turkey a fight. “The Kurdish people will rise up as a whole. It will be total warfare,” said Saleh Muslim, former head of the group’s political wing.
An assault on Afrin would be the biggest Turkish operation inside Syria since the summer of 2016, when special forces soldiers crossed the border to confront Isis. That brought the Turkish military and its rebel allies up against US-backed Kurdish forces in the same area, taking two Nato member states to the brink of battle for the first time since the 1974 Cyprus conflict......
Kurdish officials have told The Times that they will not relinquish any of the territory they have won. Mr Erdogan, however, has grown increasingly pugnacious as it has become clear that the US will not be scaling down its support for the SDF. “Here is what we say to all our allies and friends: lower your flags on the terrorist organisation yourselves so that we won’t have to hand those flags over to you ourselves,” he said yesterday. “Rip your insignia off the terrorists’ uniforms so that we won’t have to bury them alongside terrorists.”
Until recently, the various state players involved in Syria’s conflict had taken steps towards peace. Turkey and Russia had agreed to guarantee ceasefires in four de-escalation areas, including Idlib. The details came through the Astana process, brokered by Turkey, Russia and Iran, which has overtaken the UN-backed Geneva negotiations as the main forum for dialogue between President Assad and the opposition. Turkey, which has supported the opposition and some armed rebel groups since the start of the conflict, has established military lookout points inside the province as part of the agreement.
However, that détente is now unravelling. The Syrian army, backed by Russia and Iran, is advancing into the rebel-held areas of Idlib province from the south, sending hundreds of thousands of civilians fleeing from their homes towards the Turkish border. That has breached the de-escalation agreement and provoked anger from Ankara. Binali Yildirim, the Turkish prime minister, warned on Friday that the assault could have “dire consequences” for the Astana process.
Russia, although opposed to the setting up of an SDF border force, has invited Kurdish representatives to peace talks in Sochi next month, a move that Turkey opposes.
“Erdogan might have thought the window of opportunity for an attack on Afrin might be closing if the Astana process fails. This is one of the main reasons he chose this moment to signal the operation,” said Guney Yildiz, from the European Council on Foreign Relations. “However, there isn’t enough international support for a Turkish operation against Afrin. The operation is also militarily extremely risky.”
OH man, that's a hornet's nest of trouble just waiting to burst out. Keep your eyes peeled for air to air de-confliction issues to crop up very quickly. Not a good development.
While I completely understand the Turk's problem with the Kurdish issue, and were I in Erdogan's shoes I might feel moved to act similarly, my sympathies are with the Kurds ... but why, I ask, does the UN not provide the Kurds with the kind of support that the Bosniaks, Palestinians, and a whole host of other national identity groups? What's their core unattractiveness as a people? Not miserable enough?
While I completely understand the Turk's problem with the Kurdish issue, and were I in Erdogan's shoes I might feel moved to act similarly, my sympathies are with the Kurds ... but why, I ask, does the UN not provide the Kurds with the kind of support that the Bosniaks, Palestinians, and a whole host of other national identity groups? What's their core unattractiveness as a people? Not miserable enough?
The UN provides support to the Palestinians?
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Some food for thought: geography and history about Kurds in this region:
http://i.imgur.com/phjaGdb.jpg?2
The issue is indeed difficult. If they were given a "strong autonomy" in one country, the neighboring ones would blow up demanding the same, and since the spots of their living are adjucent, it would quickly result in unification and demand for a new country.
http://i.imgur.com/phjaGdb.jpg?2
The issue is indeed difficult. If they were given a "strong autonomy" in one country, the neighboring ones would blow up demanding the same, and since the spots of their living are adjucent, it would quickly result in unification and demand for a new country.
What's yellow and comes pouring down out of the hills?
Highlight invisible answer below.
Lemon Kurd(s)
Highlight invisible answer below.
Lemon Kurd(s)
What's yellow...
Very clever!
What will happen to the natural Syrian Kurd inhabitants of Afrin?
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As usual, you, ORAC, are shifting the context. The Russians simply withdrew some personnel (not so many were there) from that area. That's a turkish business, why to be in the middle?
Will be interesting to see if any support for those fighters for freedom comes from the US, Turkish big brother in NATO.
Actually, no attack other than shelling has begun. The Turkish article above makes it clear that apart from the sporadic shelling this is a psychological 'de facto' phase, and Turkish troops are not involved anyway. The Turks are said to have transported thousands of FSA fighters to the border east of Afrin, but only 20 buses were observed. How is that possible?
Actually, no attack other than shelling has begun. The Turkish article above makes it clear that apart from the sporadic shelling this is a psychological 'de facto' phase, and Turkish troops are not involved anyway. The Turks are said to have transported thousands of FSA fighters to the border east of Afrin, but only 20 buses were observed. How is that possible?
Syria: Turkey war planes launch strikes on Afrin - BBC News.
No surprise, Kurdish independence is something both Turkey and Iran vehemently oppose.
So if the US actually supports the Kurds, there is likely to be a rearrangement of alliances in the Middle East.
However, precedents suggest the Kurds will again be sold out, as the Turkish invasion is also convenient for helping to remove Assad, something Secretary Tillerson has indicated is a US goal.
So if the US actually supports the Kurds, there is likely to be a rearrangement of alliances in the Middle East.
However, precedents suggest the Kurds will again be sold out, as the Turkish invasion is also convenient for helping to remove Assad, something Secretary Tillerson has indicated is a US goal.
The Turkish-leaning FSA fighters looked pretty reluctant, even sheepish, in those first shots.
Well, Lyneham Lad, I guess I must add bombing to artillery. No Turkish feet on the ground, though, not until the first pilots are shot down and captured anyway. Let us hope that Turkish/Erdogan rhetoric and pride has not generated an unstoppable impulse. I guess they would like to ask the Kurds to politely pull back to the eastern banks of the Euphrates, but would the Kurdish fighters just leave traditional Kurdish towns and villages behind unprotected in this brave new Syria?
Well, Lyneham Lad, I guess I must add bombing to artillery. No Turkish feet on the ground, though, not until the first pilots are shot down and captured anyway. Let us hope that Turkish/Erdogan rhetoric and pride has not generated an unstoppable impulse. I guess they would like to ask the Kurds to politely pull back to the eastern banks of the Euphrates, but would the Kurdish fighters just leave traditional Kurdish towns and villages behind unprotected in this brave new Syria?
Well, the situation changes hour by hour. Now it seems that the Turks will be sending in their own troops and would like a 30 km wide buffer along their border to keep the Kurds back. The Syrian government however who have traditionally been pretty tolerant of them, may see the Kurds as a safety barrier against Turkey, according to this article:
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/New...-in-Afrin.html
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/New...-in-Afrin.html
This from Al Jazeera makes Turkey's aims a little clearer:
Major Yasser Abdul Rahim, who is also the commander of Failaq al-Sham, a main FSA rebel group in the operations room of the campaign, said the rebels did not seek to enter Afrin but encircle it and expel the YPG. "We have no interest in entering the city only the military targets inside the city and the villages around it. We aim to encircle the city and ensure the militias are evicted. We won't fight in the city as we have no problem with civilians," he said. A main goal of the military operation was to recapture Tel Rifaat, a town southeast of Afrin, and a string of Arab villages the YPG captured from rebels in February 2016, driving out tens of thousands of inhabitants, Abdul Rahim said.
Tension rises as Turkey sends troops to YPG stronghold | News | Al Jazeera
Major Yasser Abdul Rahim, who is also the commander of Failaq al-Sham, a main FSA rebel group in the operations room of the campaign, said the rebels did not seek to enter Afrin but encircle it and expel the YPG. "We have no interest in entering the city only the military targets inside the city and the villages around it. We aim to encircle the city and ensure the militias are evicted. We won't fight in the city as we have no problem with civilians," he said. A main goal of the military operation was to recapture Tel Rifaat, a town southeast of Afrin, and a string of Arab villages the YPG captured from rebels in February 2016, driving out tens of thousands of inhabitants, Abdul Rahim said.
Tension rises as Turkey sends troops to YPG stronghold | News | Al Jazeera