Cyprus-Forum.com

[Robin Hood]

The Syrians and the Iraqi’s have both declared ISIS defeated (as a military entity) although there are scattered remnants still to be mopped up in barren desert regions. President Putin has said the same. ISIS will still remain as a terrorist threat for some time to come but the Caliphate is history. But the US coalition is still ‘fighting’ them or are they shooting at shadows?

Moon of Alabama gives another synopsis of the current situation. (Only his opinion of course .)

Syria - ISIS Is Defeated - The U.S. Is Next In Line - Moon of Alabama

The Islamic State in Syrian and Iraq is officially defeated. The UN resolution which allowed other countries to fight ISIS within Syria and Iraq no longer applies. But the U.S. military, despite the lack of any legal basis, wants to continue its occupation of Syria's north-east. The attempt to do so will fail. Its Kurdish allies in the area are already moving away from it and now prefer Russian protection. Guerrilla forces to fight the U.S. "presence" are being formed. The U.S. plan is shortsighted and stupid. If the U.S. insists on staying there many of its soldiers will die.

Two days ago the Syrian Arab Army closed the last gaps on the west bank of the Euphrates. Having fought all the way from Aleppo along the river towards the east the Tiger Force reached the liberated Deir Ezzor from the west. All settlements on the way are now controlled by the Syrian government. The remaining Islamic State fighters were pushed into the desert where they will be hunted down and killed.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/48387.htm

[Robin Hood]

Now the real story of the Syria/Russian success will come out ...... but as this article says you won’t see much about the present scenes of jubilation on the ground and the pictures of Assad and Putin held up by the Syrians.

Russia’s Victory and the Western Denial Habit – ICH Editorial

It’s hard to overstate the historic significance this week of Syria’s victory against foreign-backed mercenaries.
We can dismiss Western official narratives that the nearly seven-year was some kind of “pro-democracy uprising”. The conflict was nothing of the sort.

It was a classic American-led covert war for regime change, of the kind that dozens of countries around the world have been subjected to over the decades.

In Syria, the criminal enterprise involved the clandestine support from Western governments and their regional partners to a whole host of mercenary groups. These groups were largely dominated by extremist self-styled jihadists who descended on Syria from all over the world; armed, paid and directed by a US coalition of governments, to carry out the most horrific violence against civilians.

The supreme irony here is that the Americans, British and French, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Israel were sponsoring Al Qaeda-type terrorist mercenaries, despite their ostentatious claims of fighting a “war on terror”.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/48422.htm

[repulsewarrior]

...as mainstream as you get,

http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/24/middleeas ... index.html

...Russia and Turkey plan to evacuate civilians near Damascus, in Ghouta.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mide ... EI09R?il=0

[Robin Hood]

RW
The Reuters report is simple factual and without embellishment. It does not refer to ‘the Assad regime’ or make any sensational claims. The intent is to impart that factual information so, I see absolutely nothing to criticise or question in that report.

That report now lands on the CNN News Desk and is suitably embellished to fashion a desired impression on the reader, to create a scenario and point the finger of blame! I did a scan first such as many do .... headline, then a quick 10 sec. scan of the rest of the paragraphs ..... and if I had an already clouded impression of events the story is very clear. But the report does not stand up to a more detailed study of the content.

So, in brief, according to CNN; We now have 400,000 civilians that have been brutally besieged by the Assad regime for four years. They should be safe as this is a protected de-escalation zone, but infer that Assad is still bombing and shelling them. Some 400 women and children, that is one in every thousand, are in urgent need of food and medical supplies but heartless Assad is not bothered ..... ‘call me on Tuesday’!

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon OBE, the source of this additional information, is a chemical weapons expert and chief operating officer of SecureBio Limited. He was formerly a British Army officer for 23 years and commanding officer of the UK's CBRN Regiment and NATO's Rapid Reaction CBRN Battalion. So, of course his report would be completely unbiased or influenced in any way , even though his main customer would be the UK/EU military (Members of the US Coalition)......... who else is interested in his ‘chemical weapons’ expertise?

The 500 people he says he ‘rescued’ from Aleppo were the families of the anti-Assad terrorists and the ‘Deal’ was initiated by Assad and Russia and agreed with the US coalition ...... I think that is what these 500 are too!

Look at other sources and in reality .......... Assad has this area in lockdown to prevent arms and ammunition entering the de-escalation zone (that makes sense): the Syrians and the Russians provide aid to this enclave but what happens to it once it enters, is not known (so they are not attempting to starve the people): neither Assad or the Russians bomb or shell the area (it would be pointless) they just wait for the terrorists to surrender or to run out of ammo! They just make sure they have a secure perimeter to prevent ammo/weapon replenishment .... although I believe Trump has maybe put a stop to that? There are sometimes clashes between the SAA and these terrorist groups but as far as I can find out air-strikes are not used.

The genuine rebels have for many months, had the chance to lay down their arms and surrender and, provided they are not wanted men or foreign fighters, they are given their freedom to return home. (tens of thousands have taken this offer) Assad and Russia learned from their experience in dealing with US Coalition brokered truces in Aleppo ...... they didn’t work because the US every time used the truce to replenish the rebel’s military supplies.

The bulk of the 400,000 are civilians who are kept as hostages by the terrorists. (as we heard time-and-time again after Aleppo was liberated) The Syrians/Russians have created open corridors for civilians to use to get out but they are often shelled and always covered by snipers.

The bombing and shelling is mainly due to the continuous in-fighting between the numerous terrorist groups, each of whom are trying to carve up and protect ‘their’ territory. They also frequently launch mortar attacks on liberated Damascus from this enclave.

Assad also knows that these so called rebels have access to chemical weapons, including SARIN, as they demonstrated in this region 2013! Although the western press created a different story and accused Assad. That was later debunked by the UN and other experts that eventually got access to all the available information. Thankfully, Obama decided on the advise of his military, that there was no evidence to support an invasion and invoke the destruction of Syria. So he made at least one good decision.


If you read these CNN type stories without questioning them it is very easy to get swept up into a completely false scenario ........ and in this war it has happened many, many times. Not all independent news sources are 100% accurate and some are biased just like the MSM is, but if you have a modicum of common sense and a desire to get closer to the truth sorting out the wheat from the chaff is not too difficult.

Try........ for example:

https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-eastern-ghouta-on-december-4-2017-syria-map-update/

[repulsewarrior]

Economically ascendant China, meanwhile, is positioning itself as a central player in the reconstruction of the war-torn country between President Bashar al-Assad’s cash-strapped Iranian and Russian friends and the richer Western powers that banked on his defeat and lost. “China will put forth its own effort for this,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi vowed in November. The Chinese are also worried about the conflict’s impact on the country’s marginalized Uighur Muslim minority, many of whom fought in Syria and are now returning home with battlefield skills and experience.

[email protected]

[Robin Hood]

Maybe next time the Russians will just use an S-400 to deal with a hostile aircraft.

I wonder if the P-8 had filed a flight plan and if it had its transponder switched on? The Russians don't say. The 13 drones were either shot down or ‘taken over’ and brought down, I wonder how much longer Russia will keep its calm when dealing with coalition airspace incursions ?

“A Strange Coincidence”: US Spy Plane Circled Near Russian Naval Base in Syria During Massive Drone Attack Launched by Terrorists - By Zero Hedge

On Tuesday, we reported that the Russian military in Syria thwarted a massive drone attack at the Khmeimim air base and Russian Naval point in the city of Tartus on January 6, intercepting 13 heavily armed UAVs launched by terrorists.

Shortly after, the Russian Ministry of Defense released new information, noting “strange coincidences” surrounding the terrorist attack: these included a US spy plane spotted in the area, namely a US Navy’s Boeing P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft on patrol between the Khmeimim airbase and Tartus naval base in Syria during the time of the attack.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/a-strange-coincidence-us-spy-plane-circled-near-russian-naval-base-in-syria-during-massive-drone-attack-launched-by-terrorists/5625583

[repulsewarrior]

GENEVA (Reuters) - Syrian government forces and their allies have killed at least 85 civilians since Dec. 31 in stepped-up attacks against the besieged rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta, the U.N. human rights chief said on Wednesday.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mide ... t%20Minute

Conditions in the enclave, the last major rebel-held zone near Damascus and where at least 390,000 civilians have been besieged for four years, amount to a humanitarian catastrophe, Zeid Ra‘ad al-Hussein said.

“Residential areas are being hit day and night by strikes from the ground and from the air, forcing civilians to hide in basements,” he said in a statement.

Zeid said warring parties were obliged by law to distinguish between civilians and lawful military targets, and reports from Eastern Ghouta suggested of the attackers were flouting those principles, “raising concerns that war crimes may have been committed.”

...more news.

[repulsewarrior]

https://geopoliticalfutures.com/turkey- ... an-russia/

interesting article, interesting site.

[Robin Hood]

https://geopoliticalfutures.com/turkey-breaks-iran-russia/

interesting article, interesting site.

I don't think and never have, that either side could trust Erdogan or rely upon him to honour any agreements.

The site looks quite well balanced but for $139 a year ???? ...........and what always p*ss*s me of is the use of 'Regime' when talking about the Syrian Government when this is never applied to any of the coalition 'Regimes' It is a bit like calling Putin ....'pootin' ....... it is a derogatory statement that immediately identifies the bias of the author.

[Robin Hood]

GENEVA (Reuters) - Syrian government forces and their allies have killed at least 85 civilians since Dec. 31 in stepped-up attacks against the besieged rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta, the U.N. human rights chief said on Wednesday.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mide ... t%20Minute

Conditions in the enclave, the last major rebel-held zone near Damascus and where at least 390,000 civilians have been besieged for four years, amount to a humanitarian catastrophe, Zeid Ra‘ad al-Hussein said.

“Residential areas are being hit day and night by strikes from the ground and from the air, forcing civilians to hide in basements,” he said in a statement.

Zeid said warring parties were obliged by law to distinguish between civilians and lawful military targets, and reports from Eastern Ghouta suggested of the attackers were flouting those principles, “raising concerns that war crimes may have been committed.”

...more news.

Come on RW .... the article is Aleppo all over again. Same White Helmets and no doubt (although not stated) the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, who are also anti-Assad. Did you watch the video, produced by the WH of their valiant rescue efforts?

The UN’s source is the White Helmets and they are not a reliable or an impartial source, quite the opposite. Eastern Ghouta, just like East Aleppo, has humanitarian corridors set up by the SAA so that the civilians can escape, but the terrorists cover them with sniper fire and launch mortars at them. So the 390,000 are not blockaded by ‘The Assad Regime’ it is the US supported terrorists that are preventing them from leaving for the relative safety of the Government controlled areas.

When Aleppo was liberated from these terrorists huge supplies of food and medicines were found in the ‘rebels’ HQ and the adjacent buildings occupied by the White Helmets. The White Helmets are a propaganda fraud!

There is fighting in the area, no doubt about that, but this article gives the impression that it is all coming from the SAA and Russian air forces. They will have killed some civilians because the terrorists use them as shields .......... just like ISIS did in Mosul/Raqqa, but that was never mentioned in the MSM. Then when the figures come out later the US and its partners deny the numbers.

All these people requiring medical help are the families of the terrorists which is why Assad agreed to take the last lot out on condition the terrorists released civilians they had kidnapped. Again the impression, without actually placing the blame, is that it is all Assad’s and the Russians actions ...... although at the end of the article they did mention one attack on the Government area of Ghouta to the west.

So, to me that article is very heavily biased and the UN guy was making accusations without a shred of independent evidence. It’s par for the course in the western press ..... blame Assad or Russia for everything.

I would go for this as a more balanced observation of what is happening on the ground in Syria. ( The last six paragraphs cover the Ghouta situation.)

https://thesaker.is/syrian-war-report-january-11-2018-syrian-army-launches-final-push-to-capture-abu-al-duhur/