Syria

[blindpig]

The situation in Syria for August 13-24, 2023
August 25, 2023
Author10



The Israeli Air Force from the airspace over the Golan Heights again launched rocket attacks on the outskirts of the Syrian capital city of Damascus .

Mutual shelling of government forces with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militants and other groups continues in northwestern Syria . The Russian Aerospace Forces carry out airstrikes on illegal armed formations.

In the territories not controlled by the central government of Bashar al-Assad, there is a struggle for power between field commanders.

Israeli air strikes on Damascus
By the end of August 21, the Israeli Air Force launched airstrikes on the southeastern outskirts of the city of Damascus. The strikes were launched from the airspace over the Israeli-controlled part of the Golan Heights.

Syrian air defense managed to intercept the attack and shoot down part of the missiles. The SANA news agency reported that one soldier of the SAR Armed Forces was injured as a result of the raid. The objects that came under fire suffered material damage.

According to media reports, the targets of the strikes were air defense crews and Iranian “proxy” facilities in the SAR, the fight against which against the backdrop of the political crisis helps Israel rally its own population and distract it from internal problems.

fighting
Mutual shelling and clashes between government forces and militants of Hayat Tahrir ash-Sham and other groups continue in northwestern Syria.

The Ministry of Defense of the Syrian Arab Republic reported on the downing of three drones equipped with explosives in the provinces of Idlib and Hama . With their help, the terrorists tried to attack the objects of the Syrian army.

In order to prevent attacks on Russian patrols and positions of government troops of the Russian Aerospace Forces and the SAR Air Force, they launched joint air missile strikes on the positions of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militants on the western outskirts of the city of Idlib.

One of the airstrikes hit the headquarters of the Ali ibn Abi Talib brigade , a unit that is part of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. According to Syrian opposition sources, as a result of the strike, 3 members of the terrorist organization were killed and 7 were injured.

At the same time, artillery crews of the Syrian Arab Army, using reconnaissance drones, detected the enemy’s movements in the provinces of Idlib and Hama and delivered targeted strikes against him.

The next day, the Russian Aerospace Forces launched air strikes on the headquarters of the Talha ibn Ubaydullah brigade from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in the vicinity of the city of Ash-Sheikh Bahr, northwest of Idlib.

Local sources and activists reported that 6 militants were killed and 11 were injured. In addition to hitting the target, vehicles, ammunition and equipment were also destroyed.

Two days later, on August 24, strikes were carried out on militant positions in the vicinity of the city of Jisr al-Shugur, west of Idlib and north of Hama.

Recently, members of illegal armed groups have fired at the areas of Sarakib, Al-Malyaja, Maaret an-Naasan, Urum-al-Kubra and Kafr Nabel , which are under the control of government troops . Units of the Syrian Arab Army responded with rocket and artillery strikes on militant positions.

In the border areas, the Turkish Armed Forces continue to strike the positions of the Kurdish formations, as well as local clashes of the latter with militants of pro-Turkish groups. Recently, Turkish troops have carried out strikes along the line of contact against Kurdish targets, including Tell Rifat, Shawarga, Menbij, as well as Ain Issa, Abu Rasin, Umm al-Keif and Tell Tamr .

Also, the UAV of the Turkish Armed Forces hit the car near the settlement. Az-Zahra . Presumably, a Kurdish delegation was in the car, which was negotiating with representatives of pro-Iranian formations.

On the Kurdish-controlledIn the part of the province of Deir ez-Zor Syrian Democratic Forces " , clashes took place between the " Military Council of Deir ez-Zor " and the operational units of the SDF. The conflict was provoked by domestic causes.

The situation in the territories controlled by the militants
In the "Greater Idlib" continueDemonstrations against Hayat Tahrir al-ShamThe most frequent protests take place in the districts of Atma, Safuhon, Kafr Takharim, El-Atarib, Tarmanin and Deir Hassan .

Among the demonstrators are members of the Syrian branch of the terrorist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir , dissatisfied with the arrest of their supporters by the "security service" of the HTS- controlled Salvation Government .

Over the past few days, opposition Syrian sources have been reporting on an internal conflict in Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Thus, Abu Marya al-Qahtani, person number 2 in the leadership of a terrorist organization, was allegedly arrested.

in a grouping acknowledged his removal from duties, adding that nothing serious was happening. One of the charges brought was that a high-ranking functionary entered into "unnecessary contacts with certain parties."

Meanwhile, the decision of the US Department of the Treasury to put on the sanctions list two commanders of the pro-Turkish groups "Al-Hamza Division" and "Sultan Suleiman Shah Division" Saif Abu Bakr and Muhammad Jasim ( Abu Amsha a public outcry .

High-ranking militants of the Turkish-backed "Syrian National Army" have been rightfully accused of numerous human rights violations, kidnappings and extortion, which are affecting, in particular, the Kurdish population of Afrin .

The leader of the Ahrar ash-Sharqiya group, Abu Hatim Shakro, did not stand aside either. , who fell under US sanctions back in 2021,He believes that his being on this list is unreasonable and declares his readiness to discuss this issue with the international community.

diplomatic background
A meeting of the Arab Liaison Committee on Syria was held in the capital of Egypt, Cairo , with the participation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the SAR , Faisal al-Mikdad . The participants of the meeting discussed the development of the situation in the country. The final statement stressed the need to take practical and effective steps to gradually and comprehensively resolve the crisis in Syria.

Syrian Prime Minister Hussein Arnous met with Tunisian Ambassador Mohamed al-Mahdabi and Algerian Ambassador Kamel Bouchama in Damascus . The talks touched upon the resumption of cooperation between the countries.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mikdad and his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodriguez held a telephone conversation during which the two sides discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations.

Other news
On the occasion of World Humanitarian Day, Russian troops in the Syrian Arab Republic distributed food aid to residents of a number of settlements in the Al-Qamishli and Tartus regions .

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad received a delegation of Armenian Catholic bishops led by Patriarch of Cilicia Rafael Bedros XXI of Cilicia , who arrived in the Republic on a pastoral visit.

August 24 marks the 7th anniversary of the start by Turkey in 2016 of the military operation "Euphrates Shield" against the "Islamic State" (the organization is banned in Russia). Turkish proxies from the Syrian National Army have already congratulated her on her anniversary , including in the language of sponsors.

On the occasion of the Day of the State Flag of the Russian Federation, a solemn ceremony was held on Umayyad Square in Damascus. The participants of the event reaffirmed their solidarity with Russia, which supported Syria in the fight against terrorism.

Author10

https://rybar.ru/obstanovka-v-sirii-za- ... 2023-goda/

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The US, Russia, and Iran butt heads in Syria and Iraq
Amidst the influx of thousands of US troops into West Asia, Syria is once again at the heart of a multifaceted battle for control, which will likely be played out on its troubled, contentious border with Iraq.


Ahmed al-Rubaie
AUG 23, 2023


Photo Credit: The Cradle

In a significant development last month, US military convoys rolled into Iraq via the Arar crossing with Saudi Arabia. This visible display of foreign force movements saw a portion of the convoy making its way to the Ain al-Assad base in western Iraq, while the rest headed toward the US occupation base of Al-Tanf in Syria.

In July, the US Department of Defense unveiled its plan to deploy approximately 2,500 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division, stationed at the Fort Drum military base. Their mission: Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), the codename for the US-led military campaign against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

Given the fact that US troops were assumed to be gone from Iraq since last year, pro-US media and political commentators went into overdrive trying to convince a cynical Iraqi public that these new troop movements suggest a healthy development in Washington's policies toward Baghdad. But will it work?

Syria’s strategic significance

Today, the focal point of the Russian-American-Iranian power struggle in West Asia is in Syria. This strategically located country serves as a pivotal Meditteranean gateway for Russia's military presence, and is the Arab cornerstone for the Axis of Resistance which extends from Iran to Lebanon and Palestine.

Geopolitically, Syria's significance derives from its vital location at the crossroads of three continents, and shares borders with five countries: Turkiye (822 km), Iraq (605 km), Jordan (375 km), Lebanon (370 km), and Palestine (76 km). Moreover, Syria's coastal stretch along the Mediterranean Sea, spanning 192 km, holds tremendous strategic sway in the realm of global security, politics, and economics.

For these multifaceted reasons, Washington has stayed fully engaged on the Syrian file as an important arena from which to curtail Russian and Iranian influence throughout the region. As such, regime change scenarios have played an outsized role in US policy in West Asia.

In 2011, spurred on by the euphoria and optimism of the so-called Arab Spring, anti-government protests erupted in Syria and were very quickly infiltrated by western weapons and agendas.

A plethora of armed factions emerged during this turbulent period, each backed by different foreign states and interests, including the Free Syrian Army, Al-Nusra Front, ISIS, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and various other armed extremist groups.

By 2012, it became clear that chief among the countries involved in supporting terrorist militias in Syria were the US, Turkiye, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. In a direct display of support, Washington threw its weight behind the Kurdish-led SDF, offering training and weaponry to help ethnic Kurds carve out an autonomous zone in eastern Syria, emptied of much of its Arab population.

These machinations were not lost on Russia and Iran, who entered the fray upon the request of the Syrian government, and rallied support from the likes of Lebanese Hezbollah and Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU).

For much of this conflict, western powers turned a blind eye to the burgeoning activities of terrorists along the Syrian-Iraqi border - and by 2014, ISIS managed to seize control of Mosul and three Iraqi provinces.

The Iraqi-Syrian border, stretching over 605 km, fell under ISIS's dominion as it severed supply lines to Iraqi factions fighting in Syria. This strategy aimed to force Iran to withdraw its support of Syrian President Assad.

But in an unexpected countermove, mostly Iran-backed Iraqi forces launched campaigns to reclaim territory from ISIS's grasp. After an arduous 1,200 days of battles, they emerged victorious, wresting control of the Iraqi borders from the grip of the self-proclaimed caliphate.

Disputes on the border

On the Syrian side of the border, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), aided by Russia and other allies, successfully reclaimed a vast swathe of territory from armed opposition militias, leaving only pockets of militias in eastern Syria, notably in the city of Idlib, where Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Al-Nusra Front) dominates.

Of particular concern to the US has been the prominent presence of the Iran-supported PMU along Syria's borders with Iraq. In order to control that border, the US-led international coalition - occasionally joined by Israeli forces - has launched countless targeted operations against the PMU along the Iraqi border. Washington argues that it does so in “self-defense,” to prevent attacks against US forces stationed at bases like Syria's al-Tanf and Iraq's Ain al-Assad.

It is a position unsupported by international law: US forces illegally occupying a sovereign state cannot claim self-defense.

Nevertheless, these dynamics have compelled the US to prioritize the Iraqi border within its broader Syria strategy. As strategic expert Hazem al-Sharaa tells The Cradle:

“These borders are not only part of the Syrian war game but have become part of the Ukrainian war and Washington's conflict with both Moscow and Tehran.”

Today, control of the al-Qaim (Iraq's side) border crossing are held firmly by the PMU. When the US feels a need to undermine that control, it makes claims of PMU attacks against US bases and troops, in order to launch a lethal US retaliation at PMU positions.

In the broader picture, Russia - as a steadfast ally and strategic partner to Damascus - also plays a role in tightening the grip around the illegal US occupation of Syria, with Russian forces now reaching a point of contact with the US-backed SDF.

A proxy theater for Russia and the US

This has “raised the American side's fears of a decline in its influence in Syria,” says Ali al-Shammari, a researcher at Al-Rafidain Center for Strategic Studies. "Washington lost on the Ukraine front, and does not want another loss on the Syrian front," he tells The Cradle.

For Vladimir Vasiliev, a senior researcher at the Institute for the United States and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a US loss in Ukraine may ratchet up confrontation in Syria quickly: Washington “is attacking Russia with Ukrainian hands. The failure of this attack will prompt America to resort to a backup plan in Syria."

On 23 July, 2023, a potentially dangerous episode unfolded as a Russian Air Force fighter jet narrowly avoided a collision with a drone from the US-led coalition. These past months have seen subtle yet palpable tensions grow between US and Russian forces in Syria.

Syrian intelligence sources tell The Cradle that US forces in Syria have increased from 500 to 1,500 soldiers, all of whom have entered the country via the Al-Waleed border crossing from Iraq. Meanwhile, a high-ranking officer within the Iraqi border guards reveals that there are "indications of an upcoming military operation by the US army on the Syrian side of the border with Iraq."

A senior security source in the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), on the other hand, reports to The Cradle that “the Americans whom we meet at the Joint Operations Command weekly, and who inform us of all their movements and air strikes inside Iraqi territory against ISIS, did not inform us of any military operation inside Iraqi territory.”

Stakes and alliances

Suspicions over US military ploys grew further on 7 August, when Iraqi Defense Minister Thabet al-Abbasi paid a secret visit to Washington, accompanied by prominent army commanders and the head of the CTS.

Although the details of the visit remain undisclosed, private sources tell The Cradle that Iraqi officials were presented with a new deployment strategy for US forces in eastern Syria. Implementation of this strategy is expected upon the conclusion of US reinforcement efforts.

The sources add that the Americans emphasized the necessity of neutralizing Iraqi Shia armed factions and preventing their involvement in potential clashes between US forces and the SAA along the Iraqi border. As Ghazi Faisal, director of the Iraqi Center for Strategic Studies, tells The Cradle, US interest in Syria appears not to have diminished a whit:

"Washington's plan in Syria has three axes: forcing Moscow to bring in more forces to Syria to relieve pressure on Ukraine, blocking the Iranian presence in Syria, and cutting off Iran's supply of advanced missiles to Hezbollah in Lebanon."

Qamishli, a city situated in northeastern Syria approximately 680 km from Damascus, emerges as a potential epicenter for the brewing confrontation between US and Russian interests, due to the coexisting spheres of influence between US forces and the SDF on one hand, and on the other, the Russian military position at a local airport.

In this intricate mix, several military factions aligned with both Tehran and Damascus also stake a claim on these areas. Kirill Semenov, an expert from the Russian Council for International Affairs, notes that "In the event of any provocation from any party, all possibilities will be available."

https://new.thecradle.co/articles/the-u ... a-and-iraq

[blindpig]

US calls for stop to deadly clashes between Kurdish, Arab allies in eastern Syria

At least 45 people have died since violent fighting started between two US-backed groups in Deir Ezzor five days ago

News Desk
SEP 1, 2023


(Photo Credit: Deir Ezzor 24)

US officials called for an end to five days of clashes between their allies in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Arab tribes from Deir Ezzor governorate who had previously partnered with Washington's occupation army.

The clashes, which broke out late on Sunday, have left at least 45 dead and dozens more injured.

The violence started when the SDF detained the leader of the Deir Ezzor Military Council (DEMC), Abu Khawla, as well as other council members, after inviting them to a meeting in Hasakah. He was accused of “multiple crimes and violations,” including drug trafficking, and of making contact with "external entities hostile to the revolution,” in reference to the Syrian government and its Russian and Iranian allies.

Abu Khawla later posted a video asking the prominent Al-Akidat tribe to rescue him and besiege all SDF headquarters to force them to release the council’s leaders, stressing that “it is not about Abu Khawla anymore, but a conflict between Arabs and Kurds.”

In response, Arab tribal fighters burnt tires, ambushed vehicles, and shelled SDF positions in towns across the province, as well as taking over several checkpoints and attacking SDF patrols.

Local news outlet DeirEzzor24 reported that on Thursday, US choppers were seen flying over areas where the fighting had taken place the day before.

“Distractions from this critical work create instability and increase the risk of [an ISIS] resurgence,” the US military said in its statement. “The violence in northeast Syria must cease, and the effort returned to creating peace and stability in northeast Syria, free from the threat of ISIS.”


While the White House claims its troops are present in Syria to confront ISIS, Russian intelligence and Syrian locals say Washington's forces house and train extremist militants in the 55-kilometer-zone surrounding the Al-Tanf occupation base in southeast Syria.

Furthermore, local reports from Syria say recent ISIS attacks in Syria have been carried out from the direction of US-occupied oil fields in Deir Ezzor and Hasakah governorates.

According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR), Syria is witnessing the "most violent" escalation in ISIS activities since it was "eliminated geographically" in 2019.

https://new.thecradle.co/articles/us-ca ... tern-syria

Turkish withdrawal from Syria 'inevitable and necessary': Assad
The Turkish army and armed groups affiliated with Ankara control large chunks of Syria's northern regions

News Desk
AUG 31, 2023


Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. (Photo Credit: Syrian Presidency Facebook page via AP)

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Damascus on 31 August to discuss bilateral relations, the situation in the West Asian region, the return of the Syrian refugees, and efforts to end the Turkish occupation of territories in northern Syria.

Assad stated, "Our policies were sound, which indicates that the international picture has become clearer due to the impact of events and changes taking place in the world, and it enhances our confidence in the approach we are taking."

With Iranian and Russian support, Syria has been able to withstand a US-led proxy war that has lasted over a decade. The US and its regional allies used Islamic extremist groups, including the Nusra Front and ISIS, in an effort to topple the Damascus government starting in 2011.

“The Syrian government, nation, and army emerged victorious from a global terrorism war against them, and now Syria is in its best condition, and we are happy that today the region and the world realize Syria’s real power,” Amir-Abdollahian told President Assad, a day after he arrived in the Syrian capital on a two-day visit.

He added that the enemies of Syria are still pursuing their political goals through sanctions and economic pressure on the Syrian government and people.

The US and Israel have attempted to take advantage of recent protests in the Druze-majority region of Suwayda in southern Syria to encourage separatism and calls for overthrowing the government in a campaign similar to the one that sparked war in 2011. The protests started earlier this month due to the difficult economic situation facing Syrians amid ongoing US sanctions.

Additionally, large parts of Syria remain occupied by foreign powers and their local proxies. The Turkish army occupies areas in northern Syria near Aleppo along with the Syrian National Army (SNA), which has former ISIS elements in its ranks. Ankara claims it is maintaining a buffer zone to protect Turkiye from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which has links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and which occupies northeast Syria with US troops.

President Assad emphasized in his meeting with the Iranian foreign minister that "Turkish withdrawal from Syrian territory is inevitable and necessary for the return of normal relations between Damascus and Ankara.”

Russian-brokered negotiations are ongoing between Syria and Turkiye to normalize relations. Still, Turkiye has refused to end its illegal occupation and support for proxy armed groups Damascus views as terrorist organizations. This includes Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), formerly the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, which occupies parts of northwest Syria in Idlib governorate.

The meeting between Assad and Amir-Abdollahian comes as the US-backed SDF in northeast Syria is facing a rebellion by Arab tribes it had previously partnered with. On 27 August, the SDF detained the leader of the Deir Ezzor Military Council, Abu Khawla, as well as other council members, after inviting them to a meeting in Hasakah.

Abu Khawla posted a video asking the prominent Al-Akidat tribe to rescue him and besiege all SDF headquarters to force them to release the council’s leaders, stressing that “it is not about Abu Khawla anymore, but a conflict between Arabs and Kurds.”

https://new.thecradle.co/articles/turki ... sary-assad

The Suwayda protests: A foreign-backed plot to fragment Syria?
There are parallels between these Suwayda protests and the 2011 ones that morphed into a countrywide military conflict - namely, the foreign exploitation of sincere grievances strategically aimed at dividing Syria along sectarian and ethnic lines.


The Cradle's Syria Correspondent
AUG 29, 2023


(Photo Credit: The Cradle)

Thirteen years after the onset of the war on Syria, a domestic political eruption backed by foreign states has resurfaced, threatening to once again ignite conflict in the country despite years of relative calm.

Economic woes today underpin the public grievances expressed on the street. The much-heralded May 2023 reinstatement of Syria in the Arab League has thus far failed to deliver any significant political or economic relief for the beleaguered Levantine state.

Instead, Syria's economy continues to deteriorate with the devaluation of the national currency against the dollar. Concurrently, a renewed US initiative to partition and weaken Syria is gaining traction, as Washington strives relentlessly to undermine Damascus' centrality as a pivotal regional state and geopolitical player.

Underpinning all this is stifling western unilateral economic sanctions imposed on Syria, as well as the territorial encroachments of US, Turkish, and Israeli military forces.

The illegal occupation of Syrian lands, coupled with the loss and theft of vital oil, water resources, and agricultural bounty by foreign occupation troops and their local proxy militias, further compounds the crisis, as does the recurrent Israeli aggression and missile strikes targeting Syrian infrastructure.

Within the context of all this devastation, some tough-love decisions made by the central government in Damascus have unsurprisingly ignited a fresh wave of protests that have now assumed a distinctly "separatist" character.

SDF backs Suwayda secession

The initial protests emerged in Syria's Suwayda governorate following the removal of fuel subsidies, which caused a hike in public transportation costs and raw material prices. These grievances rapidly evolved into political demands, centering on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2254 and policies of decentralization.

The latter concept implies a form of “self-administration” akin to the separatist Kurdish Autonomous Administration that receives support from the US in the northeastern region of the country.

The Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), representing the political arm of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) - bolstered by the US military occupation and the cover it provides - has overtly endorsed the Suwayda protests and their transformation from socio-economic aspirations into calls for secession.

The SDF openly seeks to attract western assistance to replicate its Kurdish self-governance model - but in Suwayda. Importantly, this isn't the first time the SDF has attempted to exert political influence in Suwayda. In 2019, amidst ISIS assaults on the southern governorate, the SDF pursued relations with Druze leaders, engaging in both public and secret talks to garner support for the self-governance initiative in Suwayda.

The initial protests in Suwayda were modest in scale, and attempts by Syrian government opponents to portray these as a massive uprising fell short. The numbers involved continue to be small in comparison to Suwayda’s total population, and have thus far failed to incite a broader nationwide wave.

Comparisons with the 2011 uprisings

Others tried to ride the Suwayda momentum. In the north of the country, at the very same time, Al-Qaeda affiliate Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) began to organize large-scale demonstrations in various cities and villages under its control in Idlib province - again, drawing parallels to the 2011 events that led to the Syrian war.

In the southern governorate of Daraa, which borders Jordan, armed individuals took to the streets and launched attacks on a number of army positions, but these were rapidly quelled. In Suwayda, security forces monitored the movements without immediate reaction.

Today, the momentum of the protests has dwindled, and the situation across other governorates remains largely unchanged despite a rush of rumors about a potential reenactment of the 2011 events.

A Syrian security source informs The Cradle that Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri played a pivotal role in Suwayda's narrative shift from local demands to separatist aspirations. His discord with the Syrian government has led him to establish ties with parties in the Persian Gulf, while internally fostering support for Suwayda's separation. However, Hijri has since backed off, reiterating the need to preserve the unity of Syria and supporting the legitimacy of the government in Damascus.

According to the source, some local factions in Suwayda support "the process of transforming the protest movement into demands for secession, such as the traditional opposition close to the coalition, the so-called Ahrar al-Jabal movement, the Karama faction led by Sheikh Laith al-Balous and some smuggling gangs."

After the protests spread in Suwayda and Daraa, participants demanded decentralization and the implementation of UN Resolution 2254 to end the 12-year war in Syria.

Not a populist movement

Some clerics and "local factions" in Suwayda have expressed solidarity with the protesters' demands, and local news outlets have described the protests as “civil disobedience.” But the clerics do not speak with one voice, as some refuse to turn the demands into political ones, a development which reportedly prompted Sheikh Hijri to tone down his separatist rhetoric.

One website quoted an unnamed source as saying that "the slogans raised in all villages and towns of Suwayda carry political ideas far from economic demands, most notably the overthrow of the regime."

Samira Moubayed, a member of the Syrian Constitutional Committee representing the civil society bloc, told North Press that "the movement will continue until security is achieved in southern Syria. This is part of the process of political change needed and necessary across Syria."

This narrative introduced a regional aspect, positioning "the security of southern Syria" as distinct from that of Damascus and its surroundings. Riad Drar, co-chair of the SDF, countered this view more explicitly, asserting that Kurdish separatists endorse the popular movement and maintain direct communication with its leadership in the south.

Drar urged protest leaders to safeguard the movement, liaise with Syrian territories outside Damascus' control, and establish collaborative initiatives with northeastern Syria. He also offered up the US-backed Kurdish administration as a conduit to galvanize international support for a southern secessionist movement.

The HTS-SDF crossover

The US role in Syria's southern governorates is still unclear, unlike its overt military and financial roles in the country's north.

In June, Syrian opposition media outlets aligned with Turkiye disclosed a US-supported plan to integrate areas controlled by HTS in northwestern Syria with territories directly governed by the Turkish occupation army in the north (northern Aleppo countryside and parts of Raqqa and Hasakah countryside), as well as the Kurdish separatist domains in northeastern Syria, all under a single civilian administration.

HTS has shown that it is willing to establish channels of communication with the SDF when common economic interests emerge. Confidential sources told Syria TV at the time that HTS had hosted several delegations from al-Hasakah in recent months, including security leaders from the SDF.

The talks touched on the possibility of forming a joint civilian administration between the two parties, if HTS gains control over areas held by the Turkiye-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) - previously known as the Free Syrian Army. The SDF, for its part, indicated that the US supports the unification of the northeastern and northwestern regions of Syria.

In a revealing investigation for The Grayzone, journalist Hekmat Aboukhater detailed discussions within the Syrian opposition "lobby" in the US, where a former US official discussed the scenario of Syria's division. This envisaged creating a "canton" in the northwest of the country under the administration of HTS, albeit with a different name to disassociate the group from its Al Qaeda origins.

Earlier this month, HTS accused its second-in-command Abu Maria al-Qahtani, of unauthorized communication with the US-led "International coalition." Qahtani was purportedly attempting to expand into areas controlled by the so-called SNA and the "eastern sector" within the organization.

Rebranding Al Qaeda, yet again

A Syrian security source tells The Cradle that this raised concerns within a faction of Turkish intelligence linked directly to HTS, which seeks to oversee the group's activities and avoid involvement in US-led projects.

The actual intention, says the Syrian security source, is to rebrand the organization and reshape its structure, potentially for eventual integration into the Turkish-backed “SNA” confab, followed by discussions with the international coalition or other entities. It is worth noting that HTS has undergone several re-inventions, having previously been known as Jahbat al-Nusra, and, before that, Al Qaeda.

Meanwhile, on Syria's eastern border, the SDF has denied participating in military campaigns targeting the bordering (with Iraq) city of Albu Kamal in cooperation with US forces, but the recent visit of former US Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller to its areas suggests otherwise.

Despite himself being illegally in Syria, Miller called for supporting stability in the region, and discussed with the Autonomous Administration the limitations it faces, the threats against it, and the necessity of supporting it economically and politically, according to a statement by the Department of Foreign Relations.

Dogged pursuit of de facto division

On 27 August, a high-level delegation from the US Congress visited the Turkish-occupied areas in northwestern Syria, particularly the northern countryside of Aleppo. This visit seems to confirm Washington's intentions to establish a de facto presence in Syrian territory.

Concurrently, the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat published a report detailing a Turkish project aimed at the Turkification of northern Syria, which involves teaching the Turkish language to approximately 300,000 Syrian children.

These developments collectively raise the possibility of the US administration supporting efforts to "impose a reality" that could lead to the division of Syria. This prospect could gain traction amid the economic challenges faced by Syria, the waning authority of the central state, and Ankara’s determination to remain in Syrian territory while engineering local demographics.

Turkiye has been constructing cities for refugees with Qatari funding, a move that lays the groundwork for scenarios similar to what's transpiring in Suwayda - and mirroring the model of the US-funded Kurdish Autonomous Administration.

Given the existing security, military, and political landscape in Syria, it becomes evident that returning to the 2011 model of popular protests, which eventually transformed into an armed rebellion, remains an uphill task for the US and its allies.

Despite their inability to overthrow the government through military means, these actors - comprising the US, its European partners, Turkiye, Qatar, and Israel - remain undeterred in pursuing a de facto division of Syria.

Their strategy entails surrounding and economically strangling key areas under the control of the central government in Damascus. Although this may not immediately threaten the government’s stability, it poses an existential threat to the integrity of the Syrian state itself.

https://new.thecradle.co/articles/the-s ... ment-syria

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China is a friend and strategic ally of Syria

Chinese embassies around the world organised celebrations for the 96th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which fell on August 1st.

At a reception held in the Syrian capital Damascus on July 25, China’s Defence Attaché said in his speech that the friendship between the two countries has a deep-rooted history, noting that despite the changes in the international and regional situation, they have always supported each other.

Describing Syria as a “loyal friend” of China, he noted that the practical cooperation between the Chinese and Syrian armies has witnessed continuous development in recent years and exchanges in the security and military field have yielded fruitful results.

He confirmed that his country will continue its strong support for the Syrian army’s struggle to preserve national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and for its efforts in combating terrorism and restoring national security and stability.

Responding, Syria’s Defence Minister, Major General Ali Mahmoud Abbas praised China’s stance, army, people, and leadership for its standing by Syria and its just causes during the unjust and aggressive war that was waged against it.

Director of the Diplomatic Institute at the Syrian Foreign and Expatriates Ministry, Dr. Imad Mustafa told reporters that China is a friend and strategic ally of Syria and it serves as the guarantor of a new multipolar world, which puts an end to US hegemony in the international arena.

The following report was originally published by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).

Damascus, SANA- The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China held Tuesday a reception ceremony on the 96th anniversary of founding of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.

The Defense Attaché at Chinese Embassy in Damascus said in a speech that the friendship between Syria and his country has deep-rooted history, noting that despite the changes in the international and regional situation, the two countries have always supported each other.

The Defense Attaché described Syria as a “loyal friend” of China, and that the relationship between the two countries is a model for friendly relations between countries with different locations, cultures and systems.

He noted that the practical cooperation between the Chinese and Syrian armies has witnessed continuous development in recent years, and exchanges in the security and military field have yielded fruitful results.

He confirmed that his country will continue its strong support for the Syrian army’s struggle to preserve national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and for its efforts in combating terrorism and restoring national security and stability.

He expressed his country’s desire to push forward the practical cooperation between the two armies in various fields.

In turn, Defense Minister, Major Gen. Ali Mahmoud Abbas praised China’s stance, army, people, and leadership for its standing by Syrian and it’s just causes during the unjust and aggressive war that was waged against it.

Minister Abbas stressed that Syria seeks to constantly boost the relationship between the two countries, which extends back decades, in a way that serves the common interest to achieve prosperity for the two peoples and achieve a better future.

The Minister of Defense congratulated China and its people on the anniversary of the establishment of its army, which coincides on 1 August with the 78th anniversary of the founding of the Syrian Arab Army.

He pointed out to the commitment of the two armies since their establishment to a good relationship that reflects the deep-rooted relation binding both countries.

Director of the Diplomatic Institute at the Syrian Foreign and Expatriates Ministry, Dr. Imad Mustafa told the reporters that China is a friend and strategic ally of Syria, and it serves as the guarantor of a new multipolar world in which it puts an end to American hegemony in the international arena.

https://socialistchina.org/2023/08/29/c ... -of-syria/

[blindpig]

Former US allies in Syria’s north-east clash over control of region’s oil resources

The presence of US troops in the country’s north-east has been termed as occupation by the Syrian government, which accuses them of stealing the region’s oil resources and backing anti-government forces to prolong the war in the country

September 08, 2023 by Peoples Dispatch


(Photo: via Rudaw)

At least 90 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in over a week of fighting between local tribal groups affiliated to the Deir Ez Zor Military Council (DEMC) and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Syria’s north-east region which includes the oil-rich Deir Ez Zor province.

The SDF announced it has taken back control of some of the villages taken over earlier by the DEMC, and declared the end of its military operations on Wednesday. However, fighting is still ongoing in different parts of Syria’s north-east, according to reports by Al-Jazeera.

The fighting has caused fresh displacement in the region, with thousands of people forced to leave their homes and move to safer places.

The local tribal groups have raised questions about the SDF taking sole control of the region’s oil resources and facilitating its looting by the occupying US forces, apart from guarding their larger geopolitical interests.

Fighting between the groups broke out on August 30 when the SDF arrested one of the tribal commanders, Ahmad al-Khbeil or Abu Khawla, in Hasakah. The DEMC was a long-time ally of the SDF in the fight against ISIS, but in recent times has objected to the US presence in the region.

The SDF and the DEMC, with the backing of the US, were among the forces that defeated ISIS in the region in 2017. However, US forces refused to leave the region despite officially announcing victory against ISIS. US forces claim to be protecting the oil resources in the region from falling into the hands of ISIS.

Meanwhile, the Syrian government has accused the US of stealing the country’s oil resources through the Iraqi border, and even supporting the anti-government forces to keep the war alive.

According to a report in the Cradle, the US has tried to mediate between the DEMC and the SDF to end the fighting, with the promise of addressing the grievances raised by the local tribes.

Around 900 US troops are currently stationed in one permanent and several temporary bases in the region without the consent of the Syrian government. Their presence has led to the occasional outbreak of popular resistance and violence in the past.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/09/08/ ... resources/

Arab League reiterates its demand for withdrawal of all unauthorized foreign troops from Syria

In a statement issued after its contact group meeting in Cairo, the Arab League also underlined the need for better coordination among the host countries to facilitate return of Syrian refugees

August 16, 2023 by Peoples Dispatch


(Photo: Ahram)

The Arab League Contact Group meeting in Cairo, Egypt, issued a statement on Tuesday, August 15, demanding the withdrawal of all unauthorized foreign troops from Syria as per international law and in line with the UN charter and reiterated the need for a political solution.

The meeting was attended by Syria’s Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, along with the foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon, and the Secretary General of the League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Al-Mayadeen reported.

The Contact Group was formed in May following the return of Syria to the League after over a decade-long suspension. It was formed to coordinate with Syria in matters of illegal drug trafficking and other relevant issues like the return of Syrian refugees.

The statement on Tuesday noted the need for coordination with the countries which host Syrian refugees so that their voluntary and safe return is assured.

During the meeting, Mekdad claimed that his country “welcomes the return of all Syrian refugees to their country and it has taken a number of procedures and facilitation they need to return home.” He reiterated that Syria’s economic recovery is necessary to hasten the return of refugees and this could be done with greater cooperation with the international community and the UN, SANA reported.

Due to the war in the country, which has gone on for over a decade, more than five million Syrians have been forced to become refugees, mostly in neighboring Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq. The Syrian government claims that nearly half a million refugees have returned home recently, but the return of others has been stalled primarily due to large-scale devastation in the country and the poor economic conditions.

The Syrian government claims that the recovery process is hampered due to the war and the sanctions imposed by the US and its allies.

The Arab League Contact Group also expressed support for the Syrian government’s efforts to end the war and terrorism and its attempts to consolidate power across all the regions of the country.

Mekdad also noted that it is necessary that the Turkish occupation of the country end soon. The illegal presence of US forces in Syria is also a major reason for the continued war-like situation in the country.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/08/16/ ... rom-syria/

********

For Second Time in Two Days, SDF Announces ‘End’ to Battles with Syrian Arab Tribes
SEPTEMBER 11, 2023


SDF fighters in Deir Ezzor. Photo: SOHR.

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on 8 September that its military operations in Syria’s Deir Ezzor governorate were completed after recapturing lost to fighters from local Arab tribes.

This was the second time in two days that the SDF has announced the “end” to clashes that raged for two weeks in the US-occupied region.

According to sources that spoke with the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), on Friday, SDF troops entered the villages of Abu Hamam, Al-Kishkiyah, and Gharanij in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor “without resistance by local gunmen and tribesmen.”

Calm is also reported in areas controlled by the US-sponsored Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). On Wednesday, the SDF claimed its operations in Deir Ezzor were finished following the recapture of the town of Dhiban on the east side of the Euphrates River.

However, clashes with local tribes soon resumed.

Friday’s announcement from the SDF was made one day after the militia’s general commander, Mazloum Abdi, pledged to meet the demands of local Arab tribes who live under Kurdish and US occupation.

“We reaffirm our commitment to finding solutions to the problems of Deir Ezzor through dialogue, with peace, stability, and development as our ultimate goals,” Abdi said, adding that AANES would “issue a general amnesty for those involved” in the clashes.

Heavy clashes between the SDF and formerly allied Arab tribes raged in Deir Ezzor since 27 August, when the US proxy arrested Ahmed al-Khabil, also known as Abu Khawla, an allied commander of the Deir Ezzor Military Council (DEMC), and four of his colleagues. The SDF accused Abu Khawla of corruption and drug trafficking.

At Least 25 Dead in Heavy Clashes Between Us Proxy Militia, Arab Tribes in Eastern Syria


The SDF then launched a security operation to target Abu Khawla’s forces under the pretext of targeting ISIS cells in the region. This sparked a broader uprising from Arab tribes led by Ibrahim al-Hafel, the head of the powerful Akeidat tribe.

In response to the tenuous situation surrounding its occupation bases in Syria, the Pentagon has been deploying heavy reinforcements from Iraq to prepare for possible coordinated attacks by local resistance groups, the Syrian army, Iranian forces, and the Russian air force.

The Pentagon started reinforcing its occupation bases in Syria’s oil-rich northeast weeks before the clashes began, deploying hundreds of new troops from Iraq, mobilizing Sunni and Kurdish allies in the region, and even sending High Mobile Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).

https://orinocotribune.com/for-second-t ... ab-tribes/

[blindpig]

THE US HAS LOOTED $115 BILLION FROM SYRIA
Sep 13, 2023 , 4:00 pm .


Currently, the United States occupies about a third of Syria and has looted billions of dollars in oil and food from the country (Photo: AFP)

The Syrian Foreign Ministry revealed that the total cost of aggression, looting and sabotage by US forces in the Arab country has reached $115.2 billion. This figure represents losses suffered between 2011 and mid-2023, including $27.5 billion in direct losses suffered by the Syrian oil sector.

In the breakdown, the losses are detailed as follows:

*Looting, waste and burning of an estimated 341 million barrels of oil, including the theft of an average of between 100,000 and 130,000 barrels per day, which recently increased to 150,000 barrels per day.
*The theft and waste of some 59.9 million cubic meters of natural gas and 413 thousand tons of national gas resources.
*Vandalism and theft at energy production facilities worth $3.2 billion.
*Damage caused by the bombing of Syrian oil and gas facilities by the US-led coalition amounts to $2.9 billion.
*Furthermore, according to the government, secondary losses worth almost $88 billion were due to decreased production "below levels expected under normal working conditions."

The United States currently occupies about a third of Syria and has looted billions of dollars in oil and food from the country. He arrived with the excuse of fighting terrorism, but reality shows that he is trying to suffocate Damascus economically while stealing its resources. The war against the Arab republic, the Syrian people and the government of President Bashar Al-Assad continues.

https://misionverdad.com/eeuu-ha-saquea ... s-de-siria

Google Translator

******

Syria Slams UN Inaction Over US Looting Billions Worth of Syrian Oil
SEPTEMBER 13, 2023


A US occupation soldier patrols near an oil well in al-Qahtaniyah in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province, June 14, 2023. Photo: AFP.

Syria calls on the United Nations to take action, seeking accountability from the United States for ongoing oil, gas, and wheat looting.

Syria has strongly condemned ongoing violations of its sovereignty and extensive resource plundering by the United States and affiliated terrorist organizations and militias, state-run Syrian news agency SANA reported.

The Syrian government has called for American officials to be held accountable for these actions and for the US administration to be forced to compensate for them.

In a formal communication addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the President of the Security Council, Syria urged the international community to intervene and put an end to the aggressive practices that are being perpetrated by the United States.

These practices, according to the letter, violate the principles of international law and the provisions of the UN Charter. The violations primarily pertain to the presence of US military forces on Syrian territory, as an occupying force, notably in the northeast and the al-Tanf region in the southeast of the country.

The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates indicated that the US, along with its proxies in the form of terrorist organizations and militias, continue to violate Syrian sovereignty and exploit the nation’s wealth and strategic resources.

The United States’ plundering of billions worth of Syrian oil and wheat exacerbates the impact of its illegal unilateral sanctions on the country which have led to suffering among Syrians.

According to the Ministry, the cumulative damage inflicted on Syria’s oil and mineral wealth sector as a result of aggressive acts, looting, and sabotage carried out by US forces and their associated groups amounts to a staggering $115.2 billion. This damage has been accrued over the period from 2011 up to the first half of 2023.

The Ministry provided a breakdown of the losses within the oil sector, with direct losses estimated at $27.5 billion. These losses were attributed to several factors.

The Ministry pointed to the theft, waste, and destruction of approximately 341 million barrels of extracted oil, totaling $21.4 billion. The rate of theft ranged from 100,000 to 150,000 barrels per day, along with 59.9 million cubic meters of natural gas and 413,000 tons of domestic gas.

Next, Syria revealed vandalism and the theft of production facilities as a factor that has resulted in damages estimated at $3.2 billion. Airstrikes by the US-led coalition on Syrian oil and gas facilities caused approximately $2.9 billion in damages.

Additionally, the Ministry pointed out that indirect losses, amounting to $87.7 billion, represent the value of lost benefits due to reduced production rates below the norm under typical working conditions.

Syria is now demanding accountability from American officials for these alleged thefts and is calling on the US administration to compensate for the losses by putting an end to the illegal occupation of Syrian territories and compensating for stolen natural resources to the Syrian state. Such measures, Syria stresses, are essential to improving the humanitarian and living conditions of the Syrian people.

https://orinocotribune.com/syria-slams- ... yrian-oil/

[blindpig]

Files expose Syrian ‘revolution’ as Western regime change
By Kit Klarenberg (Posted Sep 28, 2023)

Originally published: MintPress News on September 27, 2023 (more by MintPress News) |

Throughout August and September, anti-government protests have rocked Syrian cities. While the crowds are typically small, numbering only a few hundred, they show little sign of abating. Demonstrators are motivated by increasingly unlivable economic conditions spurred by crippling U.S.-led international sanctions against Damascus. These have produced hyperinflation, mass food insecurity, and many daily hardships for the population. They also prevent vital humanitarian aid from entering the country.


Anti-government protesters flash victory signs in the southern city of Daraa, Syria, March 23, 2011. (Photo: Hussein Malla | AP)

The media has given the unrest blanket coverage. No reference to Washington’s central role in imposing the misery under which average Syrians suffer today, let alone that several key figures in the protests are former opposition fighters who laid down their arms under a government-approved reconciliation deal in 2018, can be found in the reporting.

By contrast, mainstream news outlets appear positively exuberant at the prospect of a new Syrian ‘revolution’ erupting, and many comparisons have been drawn to the protests in March 2011 that turned into an all-out war by the year’s end. In the process, the long-standing, indomitably established narrative that those demonstrations were initially peaceful and only turned violent after many months in response to brutal repression by authorities has been endlessly reiterated.

This is despite the reality of what happened during that fateful time being spelled out in the Syrian government’s own internal documents. Namely, records of the Central Crisis Management Cell, created in March 2011 by Damascus to manage responses to the rioting that began a few weeks earlier.

While mainstream outlets have previously reported on this trove, dubbing them “The Assad Files,” they have universally misrepresented, distorted or simply falsified the contents to wrongfully convict Syrian officials of horrific crimes. In some instances, quite literally. The documents show that Assad and his ministers struggled valiantly to prevent the upheaval from escalating into violence on either side, protect demonstrators, and keep the situation under control.

Meanwhile, sinister, unseen forces systematically murdered security service officials, pro-government figures, and protesters to foment catastrophe in a manner similar to many CIA regime change operations old and new. This shocking story has never before been told. Now, with dark insurrectionary clouds again pullulating over Damascus, it must be.

‘THIS OPPOSITION IS ARMED’
Over the first months of 2011, the Arab Spring spread revolutionary fervor rapidly throughout North Africa and West Asia. Mass protests dislodged long-reigning dictators Ben Ali in Tunisia and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. Libya was plunged into civil war, and even the hyper-repressive Gulf monarchies appeared threatened. There was one exception, however.

For the most part, the streets of Syria remained stubbornly calm.

This was despite relentless calls for upheaval by local opposition elements. Repeated demands for a “day of rage” against the government of Bashar al-Assad were widely publicized in the Western media but locally unheeded. As “Al Jazeera” explained in February of that year, Syrians had no appetite for regime change. For one, the country’s ethnically and religiously diverse population cherished their state’s secularism and feared unrest would create potentially violent tensions between them all.

Inconveniently, too, Assad was extremely popular, particularly with younger Syrians. He was widely perceived as a reformer who encouraged and protected diversity and inclusion and oversaw a system that, while far from perfect, delivered extremely high standards of education, healthcare, and much else. Unlike many other leaders in the region, his refusal to accommodate Israel was also greatly respected.

Peace in Damascus finally shattered in mid-March when massive demonstrations broke out in several major cities following weeks of sporadic, small-scale bursts of public disobedience across the country. Reports of thousands arrested and an uncertain number of protesters killed spread widely. This was the spark that ignited the West’s proxy war in Syria. Ominously, mere days earlier, a truck carrying vast quantities of grenades and guns was intercepted at Syria’s border with Iraq.

Pater Frans was a Jesuit priest from the Netherlands who, in 1980, established a community center and farm near Homs where he preached harmony between faiths and cared for people with disabilities. When the crisis erupted, he began publishing regular observations of events that were deeply critical of both the government and the opposition.


An FSA fighter holds a bullet riddled poster of President Assad in Aleppo, Syria, March 30, 2013. (Photo: Sebastiano Tomada | SIPA)

Along the way, Frans repeatedly noted that “from the start,” he witnessed armed demonstrators fire on police. “Very often,” he once recorded, “the violence of the security forces has been a reaction to the brutal violence of the armed rebels.” In September 2011, he wrote:

From the start there has been the problem of the armed groups, which are also part of the opposition… The opposition of the street is much stronger than any other opposition. And this opposition is armed and frequently employs brutality and violence, only in order then to blame the government.

It is unknown whether such problematic insights motivated Frans’ murder by armed militants in April 2014, not long after he refused an offer of UN evacuation.

‘NO DROP OF BLOOD’
If peaceful protesters were killed in the initial stages of the failed “revolution,” the question of who was responsible remains unanswered. The Central Crisis Management Cell records indicate that in the days leading up to the mid-March protests, government officials issued explicit instructions to security forces that citizens “should not be provoked”:

In order to avoid the consequences of continued incitement… and foil the attempts of inciters to exploit any pretext, civil police and security agents are requested not to provoke citizens.

Similarly, on April 18, the Cell ordered the military to only “counter with weapons those who carry weapons against the state, while ensuring that civilians are not harmed.” Four days later, though, “at least” 72 protesters were allegedly shot dead by authorities in Daraa and Douma, the highest reported daily death toll since the demonstrations began. Condemnation from rights groups and Western leaders was fiery.

Three months later, a number of Syrian Arab Army officers defected and formed the Free Syrian Army. Claiming to have become disaffected, they threw their weight behind the opposition due to the April 18 slaughter and alleged the shooting was expressly ordered by their superiors, which they refused to fulfill. However, if orders to execute protesters were given, they evidently weren’t approved by Assad or his ministers.

Contemporary Cell records show that the highest echelons of the Syrian government were extremely unhappy about the killings in Daraa and Douma, with one official cautioning this “difficult day” had “created a new situation… pushing us into circumstances we are better off without.” They went on to lament,

If the directives previously issued had been adhered to, we would have prevented bloodshed, and matters would not have come to this culmination.

An obvious suspicion is that the use of lethal force was directed by Army commanders planning to defect who wanted to concoct a valiant pretext while creating significant problems for the government. This interpretation is amply reinforced by the defectors who claimed that soldiers who refused the order to kill civilians were themselves executed.

That narrative was eagerly seized upon by Western media, rights groups, and the Syrian opposition as proof of Assad’s maniacal bloodlust. Yet, even the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory of Human Rights has dismissed it as entirely false “propaganda” intended to create divisions within government forces and encourage further defections. More sinisterly, it also provided a convenient explanation for why Syrian security operatives were dying in large numbers after the “peaceful” protests began.

From late March onwards, targeted killings of security operatives and soldiers by unknown assailants became routine before the military was formally deployed in Syria. By early May, the Cell requested daily updates on casualties among “our own forces.” Publicly, though, the government initially remained silent on the slaughter. The Cell records suggest officials were afraid of showing weakness, inflaming tensions, and encouraging further violence.

It was not until June, with the slaughter of at least 120 security forces by armed militants who’d taken over the town of Jisr al-Shughour, that Damascus—and the Western media—acknowledged the killing spree. Cell records show that by this time, government supporters were being abducted, tortured, and murdered by opposition actors. This led to the formal deployment of the military to handle the crisis, which subsequently became even more deadly. Despite the carnage, the Cell’s instructions remained unambiguous.

“Ensure that no drop of blood is shed when confronting and dispersing peaceful demonstrations,” an August memo states. The following month, an order to “prohibit harming any detainee” was issued. “If there is evidence” that any security official “fell short in carrying out any mission,” the Cell dictated, “any officer, head of branch or field commander” implicated would have to explain themselves to the government “to hold them accountable.”

‘TOPPLING DOWN THE REGIME’
Some of the most compelling passages in the Cell documents refer to unidentified snipers lurking on rooftops and buildings adjacent to protests from the upheaval’s beginning, firing on crowds below. One memo records that in late April 2011, a sniper near an Aleppo mosque “shot demonstrators, killing one and injuring 43,” and “the situation of some injured is still delicate.”

As such, “focusing on arresting inciters, especially those shooting at demonstrators,” was considered a core priority for the Assad government for much of that year. Around this time, the Cell also hit upon the idea of capturing “a sniper, inciter or infiltrator” and presenting them publicly in a “convincing” manner. One official suggested that “surrounding and catching a sniper alive or injured and exposing him in the media is not impossible” and would “restore public trust in security agencies and the police.”

But this never came to pass. Damascus also neglected to publicly present a bombshell document circulated among “the so-called Syrian opposition in Lebanon” that its intelligence services intercepted in May 2011. The remarkable file, reproduced in full in the Cell records, lays bare the opposition’s insurrectionary plans, providing a clear blueprint for precisely what had happened since March, and what was to come.


A Syrian anti-government fighter aims a sniper rifle inside a classroom at a school in Homs, Syria, Feb. 22, 2012. (Photo: AP)

The opposition proposed convening mass demonstrations so that security forces “will lose control of all regions,” be “taken unaware,” and become “exhausted and distracted.” This, along with “honest officers and soldiers” joining “the ranks of the revolution,” would make “toppling down the regime” all the more straightforward, particularly as any crackdown on these protests would encourage a Western “military strike,” ala Libya. They foresaw mainstream news outlets playing a significant role in making this happen:

Everyone should be confident that with the continuation of demonstrations today, media channels will have no choice but to cover the events… Al Jazeera will be late due to considerations of mutual interests. But we have Al Arabiya and Western media channels who will come forward, and we will all see the change of tone in covering the events and demonstrations will be aired on all channels and they will have wide coverage.

The document is the most palpable evidence to date that the entire Syrian “revolution” unfolded according to a pre-prepared, well-honed script. Whether this was drawn up in direct collusion with Western powers remains to be proven. Still, the presence of snipers picking off protesters is a strong indication among many that this was the case.

Unidentified snipers are a frequent fixture of U.S.-orchestrated ‘color revolutions’ and CIA coups, such as the attempted overthrow of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez in 2002 and the 2014 Ukrainian ‘revolution.’ In both cases, the shooting of unarmed protesters by snipers was pivotal in unseating the targeted government. In Kiev, demonstrations that began months earlier started running out of steam when 70 protesters were abruptly slain by sniper fire.

This turned the entire crowd violent while triggering an avalanche of international condemnation, which made President Viktor Yanukovych’s downfall a fait accompli. In the years since, three Georgian mercenaries have claimed they were expressly ordered by nationalist opposition actors and a U.S. military veteran embedded with them to carry out a massacre “to sow some chaos.” Officially, the crime remains unsolved today.

‘BURN ENORMOUS SUMS’
The Central Crisis Management Cell documents would have forever remained a Syrian government secret were it not for the enterprising work of the Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA). This shadowy organization was founded in May 2011 by Western military and intelligence veterans to prosecute Syrian officials for war crimes. Its first act was to train Syrian investigators “in basic international criminal and humanitarian law” in service of a “domestic justice process in a future transitional Syria.”

For years, CIJA enjoyed glowing profiles in major news outlets and connected journalists and rights groups with material that formed the basis of several hard-hitting investigations exposing purported Syrian government atrocities. At no point was any concern raised about the Commission’s collaboration with dangerous armed groups to smuggle sensitive documentation out of abandoned government buildings in opposition-occupied areas of the country.

CIJA chief Bill Wiley claimed in 2014 that his organization worked with every Syrian opposition group “up to but excluding Jabhat al-Nusra and Islamic State.” However, an investigation by “The Grayzone” indicates that the Commission’s staff in Syria were frequently in extremely close quarters with both groups and, in fact, paid them handsomely for their assistance in securing documentation. This included material seized in the city of Raqqa after its January 2014 capture by ISIS, when the terrorist group was massacring Alawites and Christians.

“We burn enormous sums of money moving this stuff,” Wiley told The “New Yorker” in 2016. Accordingly, CIJA received tens of millions of dollars for these efforts from a number of Western governments, including states at the forefront of the Syrian proxy war.


Anwar Raslan, center, stands in the courtroom at the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz, Germany, Jan. 13, 2022. (Photo: Thomas Frey | AP)

The Commission’s work produced no prosecutions for many years. This changed in late 2019 when Anwar Raslan and Eyad al-Gharib, two former Damacus’ General Intelligence Directorate members, were indicted in Germany for crimes against humanity.

Raslan headed the Directorate’s domestic security unit, while al-Gharib was one of his departmental lackeys. The pair defected in December 2012, with Raslan and his family fleeing to Jordan, where he would play “an active and visible role in the Syrian opposition.” He was part of the opposition delegation to the Geneva II conference on Syria in January 2014. In July of that year, he was granted asylum in Germany.

Following his escape, Raslan told numerous tales of abuse and atrocities perpetrated by his unit and the Syrian government during his 20 years of state service. He claimed his defection was spurred after learning of an apparent opposition attack in Damascus that he was investigating was, in fact, staged by security forces. Significant doubts about his accounts and whether his defection was principled or just cynical opportunism have been raised.

In a bitter irony, Raslan’s loudmouth tendencies were his undoing. His assorted claims provided grounds for his arrest by German authorities and were used against him in his prosecution, which heavily relied on documents seized by CIJA, including the Cell records. An expert statement submitted to the court by Commission operative Ewan Brown, a British Army veteran, falsely frames these as indicative that Assad’s government sanctioned and encouraged brutality and repression against peaceful protesters.

Al-Gharib was found guilty of aiding and abetting crimes against humanity and received four-and-a-half years in prison in February 2021. A year later, Raslan was given life imprisonment for crimes including mass torture, rape, and murder. The pair were convicted not for personally perpetrating these horrors but for serving in the General Intelligence Directorate when they were allegedly committed. Details of these purported crimes were, in some cases, provided to the court by highly unreliable witnesses.

The conclusion that Al-Gharib and Raslan were prosecuted because they were within easy reach, and CIJA and its Western backers needed something to show for all their efforts, is ineluctable. The Commission had good reason to be nervous about failing to fulfill its founding objective. In March 2020, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) formally accused the organization of “submission of false documents, irregular invoicing, and profiteering” in connection with an EU “Rule of Law” project it ran in Syria.

CIJA’s crusade to punish Syrian officials could only succeed in the event of regime change. Its launch in May 2011 shows that foreign actors were laying the foundations for that eventuality from the earliest days of the ‘peaceful revolution.’ The recent protests may indicate that Western powers haven’t given up on the objective yet.

https://mronline.org/2023/09/28/files-e ... me-change/

[blindpig]

8 years of the Syrian operation
September 30, 18:17

Today marks 8 years since the official start of the Russian military operation in Syria.
What is worth remembering in relation to this operation and its results.

1. Thanks to the victory in Syria, the friendly political regime in Damascus was preserved, which now controls most of the country and is in the process of international legitimization.
The Syrian people were saved from the domination of Islamic terrorists. Russia's authority in the Arab world has risen sharply.

2. The victory in Syria made it possible to modify relations with the Arab world, thanks to which a number of Arab countries previously friendly to the United States are now helping Russia to circumvent sanctions through various “gray” and “black” import schemes
and profit from oil prices thanks to the OPEC+ cartel deal. All this allows the Russian economy to successfully resist Western pressure.

3. Russia received permanent military bases in Syria, which secured Russia's position in the eastern Mediterranean for decades to come.
Based on these bases, Russia can operate in the Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean and Africa.

4. Based on these bases, Russia was able to successfully deploy its African strategy, which yielded results in the 20s, including the collapse of the French neocolonial empire,
and also provided Russia with an explosive growth in military-political and economic influence on the continent.

5. It was in Syria that the Wagner PMC in its modern understanding was formed. An ordinary PMC became a unique assault structure that could achieve, among other things, operational goals.
This was demonstrated in Syria and the same was demonstrated in Ukraine. In Africa, with the help of the Wagner PMC, strategic goals were achieved.
A unique tool that surpassed the unforgettable BlackWater PMC in its effectiveness.

6. The Islamic State, which declared war on Russia in 2015, was defeated in Syria. Nowadays this state does not exist, only rare terrorist attacks remind us that it once existed.
The terrorists, of course, remained, but their state, which led an entire network of vilayats around the world, was defeated.

7. Syria became the theater of war where our army first began to actively use loitering ammunition, including Lancets, which proved their lethality during the military offensive.
Also in this war, the full-fledged debut of “Calibers”, “Cubes”, new electronic warfare systems, etc. took place. and so on.
For Russia, Syria has become a very important testing ground, where new types of weapons, which are now actively used during the Northern Military District in Ukraine, were tested in battle with a real and dangerous enemy (who received assistance from the United States and NATO), against the same strategic enemy.

8. The war in Syria has shifted relations with Turkey into the current “nothing personal, just business” format, when Russia and Turkey regularly conclude various deals in different regions of the world, without the participation of the United States.
In 2016, Russia helped Erdogan survive an attempted military coup, which led to a change in Turkish policy in Syria and led to the collapse of the anti-Assad coalition that existed until 2015.

9. Russia and its allies won the longest battle of the 21st century - the battle for Aleppo, it was not as large-scale and bloody as, for example, the battle for Artemovsk, but the battles for the city lasted almost 5 years.
And it was this battle that became a radical turning point in the Syrian war. It is important to note that in Syria, Russia fought a coalition war, acting together with the Syrian army, Iranian proxies and Hezbollah.

10.The victory in the Syrian war became the largest war won by Russia since the Soviet victory over the United States in Vietnam. In Syria, the United States suffered a strategic defeat and the “Greater Middle East” plan for which the “Arab Spring” was launched was put an end to.
Instead of increasing US influence in the Middle East, the world saw the increasing influence of Russia, Iran and Turkey. This also contributed to the collapse of the Washington world order, which began in the 20s and was accelerated with the beginning of the Northeast Military District in Ukraine.

https://t.me/boris_rozhin/98967 - zinc

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/8671906.html

Google Translator

[blindpig]

Death toll from terrorist attack in Homs, Syria rises to 89


According to Syrian media, the attack on the military academy in the city of Homs has been the deadliest terrorist action in recent years. | Photo: @ShehabiFares
Published October 6, 2023

In response to the attack, the Ministry of Defense launched an attack against 60 terrorist targets in the northwest of the country.

The Syrian Ministry of Health raised the death toll to 89 and the number of injured to 277 from a terrorist drone attack against the Military Academy in the Syrian city of Homs.

The Syrian Health entity added that both the number of dead and injured could continue to increase.

Drones equipped with explosives attacked the military installation on Thursday shortly after a parade and graduation ceremony ended.


Syrian Defense Minister Ali Mahmoud Abbas was among the Syrian officials present at the military academy, but he left the place about twenty minutes before the attack took place.

The Government claimed that the attack was carried out by terrorists, although so far no rebel group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Following the attack, the Ministry of Defense launched an artillery and missile attack against 60 terrorist targets in the northwest of the country, most of which belong to the Turkistani Party and the terrorist group Ansar.


According to Syrian media, the attack on the military academy in the city of Homs has been the deadliest terrorist action in recent years.

The Syrian Government decreed three days of public and official mourning, starting this October 6, a period during which flags will fly at half-mast throughout the country, as well as at the headquarters of Syrian diplomatic representations abroad.

Syrian media reported the beginning of the funerals for the victims of the aggression in the city of Homs, explaining that the events began in front of the town's Military Hospital.


Images broadcast by state television Al Ijbariya showed the development of the first events, in which a military music band participated and some of the coffins, covered with the country's flag, were carried on the shoulders of uniformed men amid visor salutes from the assistants.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/siria-el ... -0006.html

Google Translator

******

Syrian jets pound Idlib extremists in retaliation for Homs massacre
The Idlib-based Turkistan Islamic Party and Emigrants Brigade reportedly received drone technology from France a few months ago

News Desk
OCT 6, 2023


(Photo credit: Getty Images)

The Syrian air force continued its targeting of the northern Idlib governorate on 6 October, striking the positions of extremist groups in response to a deadly drone attack in Homs the day before, which killed dozens of people and injured over 250, among them women and children.

Airstrikes pounded the positions of the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) and the Emigrants Brigade, foreign extremist militias consisting of Chinese Uyghur and Chechen militants, on 6 October.

URGENT – Syria: The Syrian army is striking positions of the Turkistan Islamic Party this morning in the Gab plain in southern Idlib.

FOLLOW https://t.co/VBrsZEh5nn#BREAKING #Syria #Idlib #MENA pic.twitter.com/EthraHCyeb

— Congratent Intel (@Congratent) October 6, 2023

Syrian fighter jets, in coordination with the Russian air force, targeted the Al-Ghab plain and the town of Areeha in the Idlib governorate, as well as the city of Jisr al-Shughour – which fell to US-backed extremist groups in 2015.

The airstrikes have been ongoing since the massacre in Homs on 5 October.

Soon after the attack, Syrian warplanes began shelling and bombing the Idlib governorate. The airstrikes persisted late into that evening, targeting the positions of the TIP and other extremist factions.

Terrorists in Idlib - Syria get hammered by SAA forces after that terrorist attack in Homs - where over 80 people died and over 250 were injured - including children.
Damascus knows how to treat red lines - the answer will be devastating. pic.twitter.com/AyKOzR0UMb

— -- GEROMAN -- time will tell - -- (@GeromanAT) October 5, 2023

According to unconfirmed reports, a Turkish military outpost was hit during strikes against extremist militants backed by Turkiye.

The SAA launched artillery strikes on the positions of pro-Turkish gangs in Idlib. According to some reports, one of the observation posts of the Turkish army came under attack. pic.twitter.com/KQ5gogLSwm

— Sprinter (@Sprinter99800) October 5, 2023

Thursday’s attack on Syria’s central governorate of Homs targeted a Syrian military college during a graduation ceremony. A drone struck at the end of the ceremony as graduates were taking photos with their families.

The Syrian Health Ministry announced on 6 October that the death toll has reached 89, with over 250 injuries. Among those killed are 31 women and five children, the ministry added.

UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) and Al-Arabiya reported 123 deaths so far. The death toll is expected to rise.

Sources told Al-Mayadeen on 6 October that the TIP and Emigrants Brigade “are the two armed groups that have the technological capabilities to conduct drone attacks.”

“Advanced UAV equipment was transported to the two terror groups in question around three months ago, with France having supplied them with the technology,” Al-Mayadeen wrote, adding that drones were detected leaving TIP territory ahead of the deadly attack on the military college.

In a statement released right after the attack, the Syrian army said that the strike was carried out by “armed terrorist organizations supported by well-known international parties."

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), formerly known as Al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front, is also known to possess drones.

Despite the presence of ISIS cells in the Syrian desert and small pockets under militant control across the north, Idlib governorate is considered the last stronghold of extremist militants in Syria.

The Nusra Front conquered Idlib at the head of a US, Turkish, Saudi, and Qatari-supported coalition in 2015. Foreign support for extremist armed groups began in 2011 as part of the US-led covert war to topple the Syrian government.

Syrian troops are stationed on the frontlines on the outskirts of Idlib. In 2019, the army captured the town of Habeet, the largest town in Idlib’s southern countryside, marking Damascus’ first advancement towards the militant-held governorate.

https://new.thecradle.co/articles/syria ... s-massacre

Killing Lebanon to punish Syria
No country can survive without its sole land connection to markets, trade, and connectivity corridors, but the US will see Beirut collapse before allowing Damascus back in.



Mohamad Hasan Sweidan
OCT 4, 2023


As only one of two Levantine states flanking the Mediterranean Sea, Lebanon's geographic location is of great interest to the various road, rail, and waterway connectivity projects emerging in West Asia - not only in connecting the region, but as a bridge between Asia and Europe.

A second look, however, reveals a massive land access problem for Lebanon, which can only be reached via the territories of Syria and Occupied Palestine. Clearly then, for Lebanon to actively participate in West Asian connectivity initiatives, it must establish robust links with either of these two countries.

Following the 1948 Nakba, the Palestine land route had effectively been severed due to Israel's occupation and regional legislation. In 1954, the League of Arab States drafted a unified law for boycotting Israel, and a year later, Lebanon enacted the Boycott of Israel Law, prohibiting any transactions with Israeli entities. Article 285 of Lebanon's Penal Code stipulates that:

“Every Lebanese and every person residing in Lebanon shall be punished by imprisonment for at least one year and subject to a fine, or who attempts to enter directly or through a borrowed person into a commercial transaction or any purchase.”

Syria: Lebanon's only land access

While Palestine is not a practical or feasible option for the time being, Syria remains Lebanon's only territorial means for the import and export of goods. However, more than a decade of conflict in Syria, persisting foreign occupation of its territories, and US-imposed Caesar Act sanctions have posed immense challenges to historic Lebanese-Syrian political and economic relations.

Lebanon's primary land access to the entire Arab region lies through Syria, and historical data reveals the economic significance of the Syrian transit route for Lebanese goods. Before the 2011 onset of the foreign-backed war, over 25 percent of exports and nearly 24 percent of imports passed through Syrian territory, with significantly lower transportation costs than the equivalent maritime routes.

In the aftermath of the Syrian conflict, Lebanese exports through Syria fell by 30 to 40 percent, contributing to a 12 percent drop in total exports. This decline also affected tourism, causing a 14 to 15 percent decrease in 2012.

Any impartial assessment of Lebanon's current economic crisis points to an urgent need to reopen its land routes with Syria. This need becomes all the more imperative if Lebanon wishes to be included in the myriad regional connectivity projects already underway or recently initiated.

Following its triumphant return to the Arab League last May, Syria has sought to reengage economically with major global powers like China and Russia, and regional ones in the Persian Gulf. For Beirut to remain isolated from Damascus, as the latter's relations evolve independently from the west, would mean isolating Lebanon from the entire region.

US "Caesar Act" punishes Lebanon directly

The US sanctions imposed on Syria under the Caesar Act, which came into force in mid-2020, also affect Lebanon. The goal of isolating Syria, Lebanon's only de facto land corridor, means isolating Lebanon from its Arab surroundings. Washington is fully aware of the ramifications of its Syria sanctions on Lebanon's economy: despite the magnitude of Lebanon's energy sector crisis in the past few years, the US still refuses to grant sanction exemptions so that Egyptian gas and Jordanian electricity can flow into Lebanon via Syria.

Confronting such blatantly coercive US measures requires the Lebanese state to take a firm sovereign stance in defense of its national interests and open cooperation initiatives with Syria. Sadly, one of the factors allowing Washington to isolate both Syria and Lebanon is the Lebanese political position itself, which fears confrontation, kicks the proverbial can down the road, and prefers to obey US diktats even if they pose an existential threat to the state.

Moreover, US sanctions prevent major companies and wealthy countries from investing in Syrian infrastructure as part of economic connectivity projects for the West Asian region. Given that any Lebanese participation in new trade corridors means traversing through Syrian territory, the US Caesar sanctions are a frontline obstacle to Lebanon's participation in all such projects in West Asia.

Regional connectivity projects for Lebanon

In today's rapidly evolving multipolar world, major powers are seeking efficient and cost-effective transport routes to move goods between not just countries, but continents. Merely being present in the Eastern Mediterranean is insufficient; Lebanon must ensure cost-effective transport to and from its ports, which necessitates direct cooperation with Damascus.

As things stand, there are several transportation corridors Lebanon can potentially join. One is the Iraqi Dry Canal, connecting the port of Faw in Basra to the Turkish and Syrian borders, set to link the Persian Gulf to Europe. Lebanon could participate by facilitating goods transportation through its ports.

Another ambitious project is the extensive railway connecting Iran, Iraq, Syria, and potentially Jordan and Saudi Arabia, ultimately linking the Persian Gulf to the eastern Mediterranean.

Additionally, Lebanon has a unique opportunity to align local connectivity projects with China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which Beirut joined in 2017. The country’s strategic location on a major waterway bridging Asia and Europe offers significant value to Beijing’s global economic vision, making Lebanon an attractive partner for BRI projects in the Levant.

China's willingness to cooperate with this part of the Levant was evident during Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's September visit to Beijing, where the two states emphasized shared development opportunities. Damascus joined the BRI in January 2022, in defiance of US efforts to sanction and isolate the Syrian government. Today, Lebanon can seize this chance to enhance its presence under China's regional radar.

Ahead of the upcoming Third BRI Forum, China’s Ambassador to Lebanon, Qian Minjian, told Al-Mayadeen last month that Beijing will work to strengthen the convergence between the BRI and its development plan in Lebanon.

Export challenges: Pipeline dependency

In light of increased normalization between Israel, and Arab monarchies, some in Lebanon have advocated for striking their own deal with the occupation state, but completely neglect the practical economic benefits of connecting with Syria instead. Any Lebanese focus on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), which includes Israel, serves Washington's interests rather than Lebanon's urgent economic needs.

On 16 August, Lebanon's caretaker Minister of Public Works Ali Hamie announced the arrival of an oil and gas exploration vessel in Lebanon’s offshore Block 9. At the time, it was reported that results of the drilling were expected within two to three months.

While it typically takes several years to extract oil and gas and transition into an energy-exporting country, it is crucial that Beirut begins to plan the transportation routes required to deliver Lebanon's energy exports to market. Lebanon faces a challenge in this regard, as pipeline projects for exporting Eastern Mediterranean gas to Europe involve Israel and are, therefore, not a viable option.

Beirut is left with two possible alternatives. The first involves exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) via ships departing from Lebanese fields or liquefaction platforms to facilities in Egypt, Cyprus, Turkiye, and subsequently to Europe.

This proposition will significantly raise the cost of Lebanese gas because of the expense involved in establishing gas liquefaction stations. Additionally, shipping gas by sea is comparatively expensive to land routes, with costs varying according to the distance between exporter and importer.

In general, countries tend to favor gas transportation via pipelines due to lower costs. Russia's influence over Europe's energy sector, for instance, was bolstered by its extensive pipeline network, which delivered gas to various European countries.

Energy link to Europe

Over the years, the EU has greatly benefited from this cheap source of gas. Transitioning to LNG will take a significant toll on the European economy, and, crucially, its energy security.

Hence, Beirut's best option remains a territorial energy link extending from Lebanon to Syria, Turkiye, and ultimately to Europe. Lebanon could also establish connections to Iraqi pipelines through Syria, which will provide yet another land route to Europe via Turkiye. This approach would allow Lebanon to export its gas and oil through pipelines, ensuring access to energy sources at minimal costs.

While Israel actively seeks out new routes to export its stolen Palestinian gas, Lebanon has yet to take steps in this direction. In early September, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that a decision regarding the export route for Cypriot and Palestinian gas would be made within the next three to six months. As such, Lebanon needs to work proactively on realistic export routes to avoid missing out on critical revenue-producing opportunities.

Smart diplomacy is the only way forward. As Washington learns its coercion policies are no longer effective and are leading to the increasing alignment of Arab allies with China and Russia, the US is being compelled to offer incentives to halt this trend. This is exemplified by its latest IMEC project, which on paper, provides an alternative to Chinese connectivity initiatives by recruiting another Asian power, India, as a substitute.

Dependent on Damascus

For now, though, Lebanon remains outside this strategy - acting as an unapologetic punching bag for every coercive policy in Washington's playbook. While many Global South states are beginning to capitalize on the growing Great Power competition to secure what benefits they can, some, like Lebanon, Jordan, and even Iraq, continue to concede their interests to Washington without seeking reciprocal benefits. This lack of political resolution at the top will guarantee Lebanon's exclusion from most of the highly competitive regional connectivity projects.

Beirut's political weakness is evident at its very first hurdle: Syria serves as Lebanon's sole land gateway, and restoring relations with Damascus should be a top Lebanese priority - which it is not. Improved Syria-Lebanon relations can jumpstart their mutually beleaguered economies and benefit the entire region, from the Persian Gulf's shores to the Mediterranean coastline.

Any glance at West Asia's current proposed connectivity projects reveals that most of them include Syria. Regrettably, Lebanon has chosen US-imposed isolation over cooperation with Damascus for fear of further American punishments and unilateral sanctions.

As a bridge between Asia and Europe, a politically stable Syria is in West Asia's best interest, yet illegal US military presence along the Syrian-Iraqi border constitutes a significant impediment to connectivity projects in the region, including those involving Lebanon.

The success of regional trade corridors necessitates concerted efforts to end the US occupation there and reconnect Lebanon with the beating heart of Al-Sham.

https://new.thecradle.co/articles/killi ... nish-syria

[blindpig]

U.S. Deploys Large Force - Eyes On Syria

The U.S. has recently moved way too many troops to the Middle East to be of peaceful purpose or to simply deter others from action.

Who does it intend to fight?

Arms Airlift to Israel, Bombers in Jordan, Two Carriers: U.S. Deploying More Forces to Mideast - Haaretz

Last week, the United States deployed the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford and its strike group to the eastern Mediterranean. The USS Ford carries about 80 combat aircraft, electronic warfare and intelligence planes. It is accompanied by five advanced missile-guided ships, armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles capable of hitting targets inside Iran. According to satellite images, the USS Ford is about 180 kilometers south-west of Cyprus. P-8 maritime reconnaissance aircraft with anti-submarine, anti-ship capabilities are patrolling around the group.
...
Over the weekend, a second carrier strike group, led by the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, was dispatched to the Eastern Mediterranean and is due to arrive later this month.

Each carrier strike group also includes one or two submarines. Next to various support planes each carrier has a 'wing' of fighter planes consisting of four squadrons with 12 fighter jets each.

There is more ...


Since the Hamas attack on October 7, the U.S. has dispatched a large number of jets to the Middle East in order to “bolster the U.S. defense posture,” as the U.S Central Command has put it.
A squadron of U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle bombers based in Britain was deployed over the weekend at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base east of the Jordanian capital of Amman. Another squadron of A-10 attack aircraft has also been deployed there.

An impressive airlift to Israel should be added to this list. According to online aviation tracking websites, at least 11 U.S. C-17 heavy-transport aircraft landed over the past 10 days at Israel's Ben Gurion airport and Israeli Air Force’s Nevatim base.
...
In addition to fighter and transport aircraft, two Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft belonging to the U.S. and British air forces have been operating off the coast of Israel in recent days.

Each regular Air-Force squadron has 24 fighter planes.

That's not all yet ...

Amichai Stein @AmichaiStein1 - 15:39 UTC · Oct 16, 2023
WSJ: US military has selected roughly 2,000 troops to prepare for a potential deployment to support Israel in missions like advising and medical support. They aren't intended to serve in a combat role and no infantry have been put on prepare-to-deploy order.

The above troops are probably not really relevant unless they come under fire and get killed. But the following ones are real combat ground forces and not just support:

OSINTdefender @sentdefender - 15:59 UTC · Oct 16, 2023

According to multiple U.S. Defense Officials, the the Bataan Amphibious-Ready Group consisting of the USS Bataan (LHD-5) and USS Carter Hall (LSD-50) as well as roughly 2,500 Marines with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit are now en-route towards the Eastern Mediterranean from the Arabian Sea, where she will link back up with the USS Mesa Verde (LPD-19) who has Finished her “Mid-Deployment Repair Period” in Spain early and is already steaming across the Mediterranean.

There are also several thousand U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria and on several bases in Turkey and in various Gulf countries.

I agree with Will Schryver:

Will Schryver @imetatronink - 17:10 UTC · Oct 16, 2023
So ... a large amphibious assault flotilla will join the two carrier battle groups assembling in the eastern Mediterranean. Many believe this is just "power-projection posturing". I find that explanation deficient.

This is a war fleet. And Hamas is NOT its target.

Hamas isn't the target.

On Sunday, in a stilted 60 Minutes interview, President Joe Biden pointed north:

Scott Pelley: Would you support Israeli occupation of Gaza at this point?
President Biden: I think it'd be a big mistake. Look, what happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas don't represent all the Palestinian people. And I think that...It would be a mistake to...for Israel to occupy...Gaza again. We...but going in but taking out the extremists the Hezbollah is up north but Hamas down south. Is a necessary requirement.
...
Scott Pelley: And you believe Israel would pursue [the two state solution] that after what's occurred--

President Biden: Not now. Not now. Not now, but-- but I think Israel understands that a significant portion of Palestinian people do not share the views of Hamas and Hezbollah. Hezbollah is a powerful Islamist militia to Israel's north which is armed and trained by Iran. Iran also supports Hamas.

Scott Pelley: There's limited fighting already on the northern Israeli border, and I wonder what is your message to Hezbollah and its backer, Iran?

President Biden: Don't. Don't, don't, don't.

Scott Pelley: Don't come across the border? Don't escalate this war?

President Biden: That's right.

If attacked Hizbullah, with 100,000 missiles, would destroy Israel. I therefore do not believe that Hizbullah in Lebanon is the real operational target Biden has in mind.

Hizbullah can not be deterred from attacking Israel. If it wants and needs to it will inevitably do so, and do so successfully. It has hidden its forces and weapons either underground or within the population of Beirut and southern Lebanon. Bombing them does not make sense. There is also the fact that the last U.S. intervention in Lebanon infamously ended with lots of dead Marines and an embarrassing retreat from the country. I do not think that the U.S. wants to repeat that experience.

Iran, another potential target, is too difficult to attack. It can effectively retaliate over a large area causing huge damage to any U.S. installation in the Middle East. It could also hike oil prices at a time when the Biden administration is urgently trying to lower them.

That is why I believe that the real aim of this build-up is to finally 'regime change' Syria and to kick out the Russian forces who are there to support its government.

Israel Radar @IsraelRadar_com - 17:39 UTC · Oct 9, 2023
Israeli warning to Hezbollah: IDF will destroy Damascus, target Syrian President Assad if Hezbollah joins war; US warships will support Israel in war. Message relayed via France (@ynetalerts)

Israel Radar @IsraelRadar_com - Oct 9
IDF instructs Israelis to prepare for 3-day stay in bomb shelters/secure rooms, ensure supply of food, water, battery-run devices in case power is down. This is a clear indication of imminent escalation into larger war.

The recent Israeli bombing attacks on the airports of Aleppo and Damascus, disabling both of them, point into this direction.

The neo-conservative lunatics in the White House may well think that they now have a chance to eliminate Russia's presence in the Middle East.

They will think of this as a revenge for their loss of the the war in Ukraine. They also believe that it will prevent, or compensate for, their geopolitical defeat in Gaza.

Russia is undoubtedly prepared for that. Still, its contingent in Syria is too small. A combined attack by all U.S. forces in the area, more than 150 airplanes, would certainly defeat it.

The question then will be: "What's next?"

But I for one do not dare to answer it.

Posted by b on October 17, 2023 at 9:31 UTC | Permalink

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/10/u ... .html#more

Christonacrutch, is Biden so demented as to make Trump look favorably? The USA is bankrupt in every conceivable way:financially, morally, intellectually...It's a sad day when right wing Russian commentators got our number.

[blindpig]

Syria: An Example of Russian Army’s Professionalism
NOVEMBER 2, 2023


Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu speaks at the ceremony of laying the foundation stone of the future hospital for medical support of military personnel in the Arkhangelsk oblast in 2021. Photo: Sputnik/File photo.

By Batko Milacic – Oct 30, 2023

On September 30, 2015, Russia launched one of the most successful military operations in history on the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic. It was the first time in Russia’s post- Soviet history that the country’s Armed Forces were taking part in a military operation outside the former USSR. No matter what some analysts say, Russia has obviously achieved military success in Syria. In addition to their assigned tasks, the Defense Ministry, headed by Sergei Shoigu, managed to demonstrate to the world not only the power of Russian weapons, but also an understanding of military affairs, proved by the victory over terrorism in Syria.

Bombers and attack aircraft operated non-stop, day and night. In November 2015, the aviation group set a record flying 134 sorties a day. At the close of 2015, the “heavyweights” – strategic Tu-160, Tu-95 and long-range Tu-22M3 – joined in the fray. Paired up with the long-range Tu-22Ms, the strategic bombers flying at high altitudes destroyed concentrations of enemy manpower, command posts and militant training camps in the provinces of Idlib and Aleppo.

The Navy also participated in the operations. For the first time, the aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov joined in the battle, and small missile ships deployed in the Caspian Sea fired Caliber cruise missiles at the militants’ positions, some of which were destroyed also by Bastion coastal missile systems.

In mid-March 2016, the Syrian army, with the support of Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft and helicopters, occupied commanding heights near Palmyra. On March 28, Russia’s military chief of staff, General Valery Gerasimov, reported that, assisted by Russian pilots and Special Operations units, the Syrian government forces had completely taken control of Palmyra. Already on December 11, 2017, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the completion of the Aerospace Forces operation and the withdrawal of the strike aviation group from the country.

About 122,000 terrorist targets and upwards of 133,000 militants were destroyed, and 1,500 settlements were liberated. The Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft flew a total of 40,000 sorties, and Navy ships and submarines performed almost 200 combat missions to the shores of Syria.

The Syrian Desert has become a kind of training ground for testing military technologies in real-combat conditions, and for training personnel. As many as 63,000 military personnel, including 25,000 officers and more than 400 generals, have passed through Syria. All commanders of military districts and armies, commanders of divisions, brigades and regiments gained valuable experience in commanding troops in battle. Experts tested 231 models of modernized and advanced weapons in real-combat conditions, such as sea- and air-launched cruise missiles, precision weapons, airplanes and helicopters, as well as air defense and electronic warfare systems.

By the end of 2018, the bulk of the Russian military contingent had left the country with the Khmeimim airbase and the naval logistics center in Tartus remaining permanently in Syria. Now there are military advisers, Special Operations troopers, specialists from the Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties and military police units working there. In addition to military tasks, Russia is also implementing humanitarian ones. The Russian Center for the reconciliation of warring parties and control over the movement of refugees had overseen 3,600 humanitarian operations with over 7,588 tons of food, bottled water and basic necessities delivered and distributed among people in need in the Syrian Arab Republic.

“Russia’s position in Syria is still far from critical, but certain challenges are unavoidable,” the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace points out in the article “Forgotten Front: Why Syria is becoming a headache for Russia.” In this article, the Washington-based international affairs think tank engages in wishful thinking by trying to convince the reader that things are going very bad for Russia everywhere, including Syria.

“Indeed, Washington finally has a clear justification for continuing its campaign in Syria. The more Russia gets entangled in the Middle East, the more challenging it becomes for Moscow to handle Ukraine,” – emotionally, but honestly. However, the situation on the ground is different and Moscow is acting. About 1,000 Russian military personnel arrived in Syria in mid-October ignoring Israeli shelling of the country’s main airports. These military advisers and specialists arrived, among other things, to replace various private military companies (PMCs) that had been collaborating with the Syrian leadership for many years. Moscow and Damascus are in no way inclined to scale down their fight against Islamic terrorism either due to the situation in Israel or the war in Ukraine.

The Russian Defense Ministry, led by Sergei Shoigu, quickly and effectively took over the share of the military assistance to Syria that was provided by the Wagner PMC, focusing on maximum effectiveness in the fight against terrorism. Even though US analysts believe that replacing Yevgeny Prigozhin’s PMC in Syria won’t be easy as the war in Ukraine complicates the rotation of armed forces, the situation with war in Ukraine suggests the opposite: Russian troops are confidently moving forward and there is no reason to talk about any problems with personnel. On the contrary, it is now clear that Russia, which has successfully repulsed all Ukrainian attacks and is pushing forward, is so confident in its abilities that it can afford to considerably augment its presence in both Syria and the African countries.

https://orinocotribune.com/syria-an-exa ... sionalism/

[blindpig]

What's happening in Syria: chronicle for November 10 - 22, 2023
November 23, 2023
Rybar



In “ Greater Idlib ,” Russian Aerospace Forces bombers carry out targeted strikes on opposition groups, and in the zone of Turkish occupation in the north of the country, militants allied with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham continue to try to spread their influence. However, they are not the only ones: in the eastern part of Deir ez-Zor, several detachments of local militias united into the “ Tribal Arab Forces ” to expel pro-Kurdish forces from the province and create their own administration.

Amid the fighting in the Gaza Strip, Iranian-backed formations continue to fire at the Golan Heights and US bases in Trans-Euphrates . Israeli and American air forces respond with airstrikes on the outskirts of Damascus and Deir ez-Zor .

In the central part of the country, Islamic State sleeper cells have again launched attacks on government positions in oil and gas fields.

Mutual strikes in “Greater Idlib”
Russian Aerospace Forces hit underground shelters and camps of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Ansar al-Tawhid and the Islamic Party of Turkestan, where ATGM and UAV operators were being trained. Facilities of the Ahrar al-Sham movement also came under attack. The strikes killed 34 militants and wounded more than 60.

Government troops' ATGM crews hit a militants' excavator during the construction of defensive structures on the Taftnaz-Afes line and destroyed an HTS vehicle with rockets in the vicinity of Binnish.

In response, the militants fired at the positions of Syrian troops in Nakhshab in northern Latakia and the outskirts of Saraqib using LNG-9 recoilless rifles. They also carried out another kamikaze UAV raid, but managed to shoot down most of the drones.

Zone of Turkish occupation in northwestern Syria
Recently formed from Tajamuah al-Shahba, Al-Jabhat al-Shamiya and Al-Mu'atasim Division, the operational headquarters of Al-Quwa al-Muwahhida (United Force) is trying to attract supporters and gain popularity among civilians. population. His first step was to mediate reconciliation between the conflicting refugees from Tell Rifaat and the Al-Ajil clan. The created structure is affiliated with HTS, so residents don’t have much confidence in it. However, they accepted the United Power proposal simply because no one else even tried to mediate in this matter.

Against this background, Syrian opposition resources began to sound the alarm about the territorial ambitions of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham: according to them, another group of HTS militants, under the leadership of with a certain Abu Uday Saraya, who at one time managed to be a smuggler for the Free Syrian Army and the Islamic State.

Not so long ago, the armed conflict with Tajamuah al-Shahba over financial flows led to the fact that the leader of the Turkish-backed Sultan Murad Division, Fahim Ertugrul Issa, resigned from his post as leader of the SNA Second Corps . Friction began almost immediately among the groups included in it: for example, in the Liwa al-Izza (Glorious Brigade) group, which made the main contribution to the fight against HTS allies, a split occurred, which escalated into battles for checkpoints in the Bulbul area. The commander ultimately did not receive the necessary support from the “Turkish brothers” and other groups and was unable to defend the position of head of one of the most prestigious factions of the “Syrian Revolution.” In the zone of the Turkish Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, members of another Turkish-backed Sultan Suleiman Shah Division, led by the notorious Muhammad Jasim Abu Amsha, attacked a displaced persons camp in the town of Maabatli. The militants quickly crushed the resistance: several people were injured, others were detained. According to opposition activists, the goal of “Abu Amshi’s mercenaries” was to raid residential buildings for their families.

Militant attacks
A few days after the Islamic State attacked government positions in the desert, the terrorists resumed attacks in the vicinity of Palmyra, Sukhna and Ar-Rasafa. During the next raid near Ar-Rasafa, 3 SAA soldiers were killed, and in Deir ez-Zor, 6 city council workers were injured due to an IED explosion. In turn, the Russian Aerospace Forces carried out several airstrikes on the areas where the “sleeping” cells were present, destroying several militants.

Pro-Kurdish formations are also suffering from IS activity: Ahmad Mustafa, the commander of the Northern Democratic Brigade, a member of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), was shot dead in Ar-Raqqa . In addition, protests took place in the notorious Al-Hol camp, where families of members of the Islamic State are being held: the reason was the arrest of several women who maintained contact with the militants.

Border areas
In the northern part of Aleppo province, Turkish UAVs struck targets of the Kurdish “Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria”: on November 10, the Youth Council center in Menbij was hit , and a day later, the Syriatel communications tower south of the city. And on November 16, south of Ain al-Arab, a drone destroyed a car with SDF members: one of them was killed and two others were injured.

At the same time, the Turks launched artillery strikes on the village of Samuka east of Tell Rifaat, hitting a Syrian government target: four Syrian army soldiers were injured , one of whom later died.

In turn, Kurdish partisans from the Afrin Liberation Forces attacked the positions of pro-Turkish groups in Kimara south of Afrin: one al-Hamza Division militant was killed and three were injured. The SDF also fired MLRS at a Turkish base in the vicinity of Jarablus.

Activities of the IDF and pro-Iranian formations
Against the backdrop of the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip, pro-Iranian forces launched two missiles towards the Elliad settlement in the Golan Heights, and also attacked US targets in Tell Beidar, Al-Omar, Konoko, Al-Tanf and Khurab al-Jair with drones and homemade MLRS.

In response, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched strikes on the cities of Nafia, Nawa and Tasil in Daraa province, as well as the southern outskirts of Damascus. The American Air Force also did not remain in debt and carried out airstrikes against targets of Iranian-backed groups in Al-Mayadin and Al-Bu Kemal, west of the Euphrates.

In Trans-Euphrates, the “Popular Resistance in the Eastern Region”, created in 2018, with the goal of expelling the SDF and the United States from the region, fired at Kurdish positions north of the Euphrates. Such actions do not carry much military meaning, but they maintain the necessary degree of tension .

Conflict between Arab tribes and SDF in Deir ez-Zor
In the eastern part of the province of Deir ez-Zor, the conflict between Arab tribal militias and pro-Kurdish forces continues . It is characteristic that pro-government groups crossing the Euphrates by boat are increasingly involved in attacks on SDF checkpoints: some resources even started a rumor that in Al-Shuheil, local militias raised the flag of the Syrian Arab Republic. The Kurds are not yet able to change the trend, which does not prevent them from filming propaganda stories about full support from the tribes of Trans-Euphrates.

At the same time, the sheikh of the Al-Aqaidat tribe, Ibrahim Jadaan al-Hafel, the leader of the uprising against the Syrian Democratic Forces, released an audio statement where he announced the formation of the Quwwat al-Ashair al-Arabiya group (Tribal Arab Forces). It included at least 13 units from representatives of different tribes and clans.

The goal is the expulsion of the Kurds and their political representatives from Deir ez-Zor and the formation of an Arab civil administration there. Despite all the loud statements, the new structure should not be underestimated - it relies on the support of the local population in Diban and At-Tayan, where the local tribes are completely loyal to Al-Hafel.



Under the pretext of security problems, the SDF blocked the Semalke checkpoint on the Syrian-Iraqi border, which was not an accident: it was through it that Ibrahim al-Hafel’s brother, Sheikh Musab al-Hafel, who held negotiations with the Americans in Erbil, was supposed to arrive in Syria . The details of the meeting are unknown, but the “tribal issue” in Deir ez-Zor could well be resolved there in favor of the Arab forces. This may explain why the Kurds are so reluctant to let the sheikh home.

Protests in Suwayda province
In Es Suwayda, demonstrations by the Druze ethno-religious group against the disastrous socio-economic situation in the country have continued for almost four months. Protesters again gathered in Al-Karama Square in the administrative center of the region of the same name. In parallel, the Government Council of the Suweida Province held its sixth session in 2023, where, in addition to discussing economic problems, it set as a priority the need to confront the presence of Turkey and the United States, whose sanctions, coupled with political corruption and inaction of the official authorities, have led to the impoverishment of the population .

Bottom line
The situation in the country is on the verge of an explosion: protests break out every now and then in different provinces, pro-Iranian formations exchange blows with the International Coalition, and the number of clashes between government troops and militants is also growing. In addition, one can already observe a tendency towards the consolidation of Arab militias along tribal lines and their opposition to all current political movements and groups.

https://rybar.ru/chto-proishodit-v-siri ... 2023-goda/

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