The following is a selection of coverage from Russian, Arab, Iranian and alternative media. Some of it may be more accurate than other parts.
Send in the Chechens: Ramzan Kadyrov Ready to Go to War in Syria
Send in the Chechens: Ramzan Kadyrov Ready to Go to War in Syria
Chechen
leader Ramzan Kadyrov is ready to send his men to Syria to fight
Islamic State terrorists there, Russian media reported Friday
On
Thursday morning, a Russian naval vessel carrying over 200 Marines
arrived at the densely populated port-city of Tartous in order to
bolster the total number of military personnel on the ground in
Syria’s western countryside.
According
to a senior officer in the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) that is stationed
in Jableh (Latakia), the Russian Marines number over 1,250 military
personnel on the ground in Syria; this does not include the dozens of
military advisors that are spread around the country.
The
officer added that Russian Federation is expected to double their
number of military personnel on the ground in the coming weeks, as
they look to proliferate more weapons and soldiers in anticipation
for a potential ground assault against the Syrian Al-Qaeda group
“Jabhat Al-Nusra” and the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham
(ISIS).
Will
Russia participate in a ground assault against ISIS and Jabhat
Al-Nusra? This is becoming more likely everyday; furthermore, the
Russians have reached out to a number countries to for their own
anti-terrorist coalition that would include countries like Lebanon,
Egypt, China, Iran, and Iraq.
The
U.S. and Russia have agreed to host a meeting to discuss the latter’s
increased role in this Syrian Conflict; these latest airstrikes have
agitated the U.S. military due to the allegations that the Russians
targeted the “moderate” rebel militias.
On
Friday afternoon, the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” and
their allies from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) attempted to retaliate
against the Russian Air Force after the latter destroyed their
hideouts inside the town of Deir Hanna in the Latakia Governorate’s
northeastern countryside.
However,
the four grad rockets they fired towards the Bassel Al-Assad
International Airport in the Jableh District fell short of their
target; this prompted the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) to launch a flurry
of mortar shells and rockets into Deir Hanna before the Syrian Air
Force topped off the Al-Qaeda militants with a powerful series of
airstrikes in the aforementioned town.
Jabhat
Al-Nusra, Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham, and the Free Syrian Army have
recently found themselves as the target of the Russian Air Force’s
recent airstrikes in the Hama and Idlib Governorates; this aggression
has infuriated their financial and military backers from the Gulf
countries, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The
Russian Federation has not concerned itself with the opinions of the
Arab League countries that spoke-out against the their airstrikes in
Syria.
Among
those countries protesting Russia’s participation in Syria is the
Saudi government – the same government that is currently bombing
Yemen daily, killing over 5,000 civilians in three months.
WARNING: This is from Israeli DEBKA Files
Russia’s
military intervention in Syria has expanded radically in two
directions. debkafile’s military and intelligence sources
report that China sent word to Moscow Friday, Oct. 2, that J-15
fighter bombers would shortly join the Russian air campaign that was
launched Wednesday, Sept. 30. Baghdad has moreover offered Moscow an
air base for targeting the Islamic State now occupying large swathes
of Iraqi territory
Russia’s military intervention in Syria has five additional participants: China, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Hizballah.
The
J-15 warplanes will take off from the Chinese Liaoning-CV-16 aircraft
carrier, which reached Syrian shores on Sept.
26 (as debkafileexclusively
reported at the time).
This will be a landmark event for Beijing: its first military
operation in the Middle East as well the carrier’s first taste of
action in conditions of real combat.
Thursday
night, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi, made this comment on the
Syrian crisis at a UN Security Council session in New York: “The
world cannot afford to stand by and look on with folded arms, but
must also not arbitrarily interfere (in the crisis).”
A
no less significant development occurred at about the same time
when Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, speaking to the US PBS
NewsHour, said he would welcome a deployment of Russian troops to
Iraq to fight ISIS forces in his country too. As an added incentive,
he noted that this would also give Moscow the chance to deal with the
2,500 Chechen Muslims whom, he said, are fighting with ISIS in
Iraq.
debkafile’s
military sources add that Al-Abadi’s words came against the
backdrop of two events closely related to Russia’s expanding role
in the war arena:
1.
A joint Russian-Iranian-Syrian-Iraqi war room has been working
since last week out of the Iraqi Defense Ministry and military staff
headquarters in Baghdad to coordinate the passage of Russian and
Iranian airlifts to Syria and also Russian air raids. This command
center is also organizing the transfer of Iranian and pro-Iranian
Shiite forces into Syria.
2.
Baghdad and Moscow have just concluded a deal for the Russian air
force to start using the Al Taqaddum Air Base at Habbaniyah, 74 km
west of Baghdad, both as a way station for the Russian air corridor
to Syria and as a launching-pad for bombing missions against ISIS
forces and infrastructure in northern Iraq and northern Syria.
Russia
has thus gained a military enclave in Iraq, just as it has in Syria,
where it has taken over a base outside Latakia on the western coast
of Syria. At the same time, the Habbaniyah air base also serves US
forces operating in Iraq, which number an estimated 5,000.
But
no word about the untold thousands killed so far in the war they have
been supporting before Russia got involved
A
senior member of Russia’s parliament says an ongoing air campaign
by Moscow against militants operating in Syria is going to intensify.
Alexei
Pushkov, who serves as the chairman of the Committee for
International Affairs at the Russian State Duma (the lower house of
the parliament), said Friday that Moscow will be intensifying its
attacks against the militants in Syria while studying the risks
associated with an extensive operation.
“There
is always a risk of being bogged down, but in Moscow, we are talking
about an operation of three to four months,” Alexei Pushkov said,
Reuters reported.
No
such thing as a ‘moderate’ terrorist
The
Russian strikes have drawn criticism from Western governments and
their allies in the Middle East, which have been supporting the
militants operating in the region.
In
a post on his twitter account on Friday, Pushkov had criticized the
opponents of Russian airstrikes in Syria and rejected the Western
practice of distinguishing between different militants operating in
the Arab country.
“The moderate opposition is largely a myth invented by the United States. Its fighters are not fighting with ISIS (Daesh), they have gone to al-Qaeda, and fired at the Russian embassy. Is that moderation?” wrote Pushkov.
‘Brothers-in-arms’
reveal true nature
In
mid-August, a group of militants that receives training from the US
military to fight the Syrian government and is touted by Washington
as being “moderate” used
telltale wording to
refer to the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front terrorists.
In
a statement that appeared on social media, the US-backed group, which
goes by the name “Division 30,” called al-Nusra terrorists
“brothers.”
"
A militant fires heavy artillery during clashes with government forces on the outskirts of Syria’s northwestern Idlib Province, September 18, 2015. (Photo by AFP)
Reports
also emerged in mid-September showing that dozens of militants from
the so-called Division 30 submitted
their equipment to
the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front in exchange for “safe passage.”
Officials in the US military initially denied the reports but were
later forced to confirm them.
Russia
started to launch coordinated airstrikes on the positions of
militants in Syria on Wednesday. The move came shortly after members
of the Russian upper house of the parliament, the Federation Council,
authorized the operations in Syria.
Meanwhile,
the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday that its fighter jets have
destroyed a Daesh command center in Hama Province and a
training camp run by the terrorist group in Idlib Province. The
Russian ministry also released new footage of its airstrikes in
Syria.
12
Daesh militants reportedly taken out in Raqqa
Separately,
the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a dozen members of Daesh
were killed in Russia’s first air strike on the positions of the
group in its main bastion in the western Syrian city of Raqqa.
The
London-based monitoring group said that the Russian strikes on the
western edges of Raqqa, near the Tabqa military airport, killed 12
Daesh militants last night.
‘Russia
doing right thing’
Meanwhile,
a political commentator told Press TV’s website in an interview
that “Russia is doing the right thing” by going into Syria to
fight terrorists.
Russian
President Vladimir Putin “is doing this with the authority given to
him by the legitimate governments of... Syria,” John Miranda said.
He
said Moscow’s campaign to fight terrorists in Syria is based on a
well-planned strategy.
He
reaffirmed that Russia is striking the right targets thanks to the
intelligence it has received. “Obviously, they are getting the
correct targets through information, through... the Syrian
government.”
He
expressed hope that Russia’s anti-terror bid will rid Syria of
terrorists in a matter of months.
Elsewhere
in his remarks, the commentator said that Washington is sponsoring
terrorists in Syria and Iraq. He said the US allocated 500 million
dollars to the militants operating in Syria, saying, “Obviously
most of that [money] was put into weapons to these rebels.”
He
said the American people are “clearly seeing through this,” and
that they “realize that the United States has been funding
terrorists in Syria and Iraq.”
Syrian
Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem says Israel is arming the Takfiri
terrorists in Syria and treating the injured militants in its
hospitals, criticizing the international community for watching the
regime’s actions in silence.
In
an address to the 70th session of the UN General Assembly in New York
on Friday, Muallem said Israel continues attacking Syria, while the
world is standing by and watching the regime arming terrorists and
treating them in its hospitals.
Whenever
the terror groups suffer losses on the battlefield with Syrian
soldiers, the Tel Aviv regime intervenes directly through airstrikes
or artillery shelling on the Syria soil, added the Syrian official.
The
top Syrian diplomat stressed the significance of the anti-terror
battle as a top priority for the Syrian government, warning about
increasing terror activities by Takfiri militant groups, such as
Daesh and al-Nusra Front, in the Middle East.
The
United States spent a whole year bombing the desert instead of
hitting terrorist targets in Syria, the head of the Russian
parliament’s international affairs committee wrote on Friday.
“[Senator
John] McCain accused us of striking out at US-trained insurgents…
However, since they have either run away or joined al-Qaeda, hitting
them is a mission impossible,” Alexei Pushkov wrote on his Twitter
account.
In
an interview with France’s Europe 1 Radio Pushkov said that the
Russian aerial campaign in Syria would take three to four months.
“The
US-led coalition spent a whole year pretending they were striking
ISIL targets but where are the results of these strikes?” Pushkov
wondered.
The
White House had earlier said that the Russian air forces was
targeting areas in Syria where ISIL militants were nowhere in sight.
Besides,
John McCain, chairman of the Senate’s Armed Services Committee,
said that he could “absolutely confirm” that Russian air strikes
had hit Free Syrian Army recruits who had been armed and trained by
the US, a claim that was later denied by the Pentagon.
Briefing
reporters in Moscow on Wednesday, a defense ministry spokesman said
that the Russian air force had flown twenty sorties targeting ISIL
military equipment, communication facilities, arms depots, ammunition
and fuel supplies — and did not hit civilian infrastructure or
areas nearby.
Quality
vs. quantity: while the US continues to accuse Russia of striking
US-trained rebel areas in #Syria,
Russia is destroying #ISIL HQs
and training camps....
Eric
Margolis returned to the Scott Horton Show on Wednesday for another
intriguing interview regarding international relations and war. In
the interview, Margolis, a Ron Paul Institute Academic Board member
and international affairs writer, lifted the lid on the ongoing fight
of the United States and coalition members against the Islamic State
(ISIS), referring to ISIS as a “covert western asset” and the
US-supported fight against ISIS as a “big charade.”
Eric
Margolis, author of American
Raj: Liberation or Domination,
discusses the “inevitable” and “perfectly predictable” US
blundering in Syria, and how Russia is taking action to support the
Assad government
To
hear podcast GO
HERE
Russian aviation monitoring its implementation after the raids in the mountain corner
Syria:
Air Duel between the Sukhoi SU-30 SM Russian and F-15 israeli
Syrie:
Duel Aérien entre des Sukhoi SU-30 SM russes et des F-15 israéliens
2
October, 2015
Six
fighter multi-role Russian-type Sukhoi SU-30 SM have put to flight
fighter israeli of the type McDonnell Douglas F-15 off the syrian
coast.
Devices
the israelis fly over for months, the air space of syria and more
particularly the naval air station of Latakia, a bridgehead of
Russian forces in Syria. The apparatus israelis in general follow a
flight plan to be quite complex and approached Latakia from the sea
In
the night of 1 to 02 October 2015, six Sukhoi SU-30 SM russians have
taken off from the air base syrian Hmimim in the direction of Cyprus
before intercept in a position to attack the four fighters israeli
F-15.
Surprised
by a situation as unexpected and probably not prepared for an aerial
battle with one of the best hunters versatile Russian, israeli pilots
have quickly turned back to the South flying over at very high speed
the Lebanon.
The
lebanese army has officially announced at 2313 Z (local time) that
four "enemy aircraft" (the israelis) had crossed the
airspace of Lebanon.
This
"incident" between Russian fighter jets and israeli has
struck the command of the air forces of israel, which has estimated
that a potential air combat between the F-15 israelis and the Su-30
the russians would have resulted in the destruction of four aircraft,
the israelis. Israel has strongly protested to Moscow of this
incident, but the russians have demanded explanations for the
presence of combat aircraft the israelis in the open air space of
syria. This incident shows that the protection of the airspace in
syria is now under the protection of the air force Russian. This
causes gnashing of teeth in Washington.
The
incident was hushed up by the major news agencies but the relay
policies and the media of Israel in the United States, in Europe and
in the arab world will intensify their efforts to demonize the
Russian support to the syrian government.
Earlier on Thursday, Western media reported that Russian airstrikes allegedly hit US-trained Syrian rebels.
One
of the Syrian rebel groups backed by the US, the so-called
Free Syrian Army, said their commander was killed by a Russian
bomb in the province of Hom. US Senator John McCain was
quick to pop out and accuse Russia of killing
CIA-trained rebels.
During
another Russian attack, a rebel commander of the Liwa Suqour
al-Jabal group, trained by the CIA, said their entire training
camp was hit by over 20 Russian missiles in the Idlib
province, the Guardian reported.
It
seems real scary, eh? Those "bad" Russians are doing no
good in Syria, harming "good" Syrian militants trained
by the CIA. Except a few weeks ago the US Department of Defense
(DoD) announced that they had no idea where "their" rebels
were.
Furthermore,
there were fears that those missing rebels could have joined the
al-Nusra terrorist group, the al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria.
Oops, turns out the Pentagon trained al-Qaeda fighters in Syria.
Good job, America.
Then,
even more amusing things happened. US Commander of Central
Command (CENTCOM) Gen. Lloyd Austin said that out of all
US-trained Syrian rebels only nine individuals were fighting ISIL.
Back
in July, US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter reported
that the United States had successfully trained 60 Syrian fighters.
If
only nine out of these US-trained rebels are actually fighting
ISIL, while the rest are "missing" somewhere in the
Syrian desert, and even worse have joined al-Nusra or perhaps other
jihadist groups, including ISIL, then the US government is doing an
awful and counterproductive job, to say the least.
And
just when Russia started the anti-ISIL airstrike campaign, Western
media reported that all those US-trained rebels, who were previously
missing, suddenly appeared out of the desert and said that their
entire training grounds were hit and commanders killed. Sounds
absurd, right? Especially considering that not long ago Gen. Austin
himself said there were only nine US-trained rebels out there
in the whole of Syria.
Now
comes the best part — later today the Pentagon confirmed that
Russian planes didn't hit any Syrian opposition forces. Of course
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the same thing, stating
that the earlier media claims were false, but when did Western
media listen to him?
Syria
is a mess. Everyone knows this much is true. It seems like the
US government hasn't the slightest idea of what's really going
on in Syria: where the CIA-trained rebels are and to which
jihadist group "their" rebels ended up joining and
even what is Russia doing in Syria. Bombing US-backed rebels,
as Senator McCain claimed or not bombing them, according to the
official Pentagon report
Al-Nusra, Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda, became "anti-Assad opposition moderate rebels"
Russia
strengthens its alliance with Middle Eastern countries and provides
the Lebanese army with military equipment, media reported.
Russia
wants to promote modernization of the Lebanese armed forces and law
enforcement agencies, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on
Wednesday at a meeting of the Lebanon Support Group.
The
US government has torpedoed European proposals for a multilateral
peace conference on Syria. Washington supports the idea of peace
talks, but without the EU at the negotiation table, DWN wrote.
Taking
into account the current refugee crisis, the EU is bearing the major
burden of the civil war in Syria. Therefore, the US’ unwillingness
to see Europeans at the negotiation table caused much surprise among
European politicians.
There
was a dispute between European diplomats and their US counterparts on
the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, when French Foreign
Minister Laurent Fabius had proposed to set up a multilateral format
of negotiations on Syria, similar to the P5+1 talks on the Iranian
nuclear program.
Ben
Carson Takes Stand Against Letting Syrian Refugees in US
Britain,
France and Germany have been supporting the idea to resolve the
crisis together with the US, China, Russia and Iran. However, the US
is welcoming only Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey to the
negotiation table.
A
US official revealed on condition of anonymity that in the case of
Syria, US Secretary of State John Kerry “preferred to keep the
focus on countries that are directly involved,” according to Times
of Israel.
Thus,
as DWN reported, the EU made a mistake when unconditionally following
the US course and spoiling its relations with Russia.
As
for now, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has listed the United
States, Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, Iran and
Jordan among useful negotiators, without mentioning the EU.
The
Pentagon is looking into the issue of whether the use of military
force to protect the Syrian "moderate opposition"
[read: moderate terrorists - KR], if it is subjected
to Russian airstrikes, but no decision on this matter has been made,
reports the Associated Press, citing U.S. officials.
U.S. officials told the agency that high-ranking military leaders and Pentagonare researching the legal and foreign policy aspects of the issue [damn Russia tricked them into remembering about the law! - KR] and weigh the risks of using military force in response to the possible actions of the Russian air force on the backed by Washington Syrian opposition groups. The U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter declined to answer this question, when asked directly about it earlier this week, the agency said.
A senior official of the Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday that representatives of military departments of Russia and the United States discussed regular communication of experts to prevent conflict of interests in the Syrian airspace, the conversation had been constructive.
Earlier the President of Russia Vladimir Putin has declared that he expects the completion of the dialogue between Russia and the U.S. to coordinate actions to combat terrorism in Syria and the establishment of a permanent mechanism for such interaction.
U.S. officials told the agency that the issue of use of military force is discussed as one of the options of how to respond to Russia's actions in Syria. One of the officials noted that the military is assessing the possible negative consequences of such step, however, the final decision is still pending.
U.S. officials told the agency that high-ranking military leaders and Pentagonare researching the legal and foreign policy aspects of the issue [damn Russia tricked them into remembering about the law! - KR] and weigh the risks of using military force in response to the possible actions of the Russian air force on the backed by Washington Syrian opposition groups. The U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter declined to answer this question, when asked directly about it earlier this week, the agency said.
A senior official of the Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday that representatives of military departments of Russia and the United States discussed regular communication of experts to prevent conflict of interests in the Syrian airspace, the conversation had been constructive.
Earlier the President of Russia Vladimir Putin has declared that he expects the completion of the dialogue between Russia and the U.S. to coordinate actions to combat terrorism in Syria and the establishment of a permanent mechanism for such interaction.
U.S. officials told the agency that the issue of use of military force is discussed as one of the options of how to respond to Russia's actions in Syria. One of the officials noted that the military is assessing the possible negative consequences of such step, however, the final decision is still pending.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Committee on Armed Forces of the U.S. Senate, John McCain has expressed confidence that Russian planes yesterday bombed not the positions of the terrorist group "Islamic state" but units of the "Free Syrian army". The agency notes that the American-trained insurgents are active in the North, while the strikes of the Russian air force are applied in the Western part of Syria.
In September, Pentagon spokesman General Lloyd Austin, at the hearings of the Senate Committee on the armed forces acknowledged that only four or five American-trained fighters are fighting against ISIS [the rest fled to ISIS - KR]
Russia has begun air strikes on ISIS positions in Syria in response to a request from President Bashar al-Assad. The US-led coalition has been [pretend] striking ISIS since September 2014 in Syria in circumvention of the UN Security Council and not coordinating their actions with Syrian authorities. [While ISIS territory only increased - KR]
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