A Mediterranean Battlefield - Syria

[David Guyatt]

Aleppo 30
13 Dec, 2016 in Uncategorized by craig
The Morning Star has today come under massive criticism for hailing the near total recapture of Aleppo by pro-Government forces as a "liberation." I would agree that the situation calls for more nuance. However a feeling of relief that the fighting that has ravaged Aleppo for four years is coming to a close, must form part of any sane reaction. If we are not allowed to feel relief at that, presumably it means that we must have wanted al-Nusra and various other jihadist militias to win the hot war. What do we think Syria would look like after that?


I am no fan of the Assad regime. It is not a genuine democracy and it has a very poor human rights record. If Assad had been toppled by his own people in the Arab spring and replaced by something more akin to a liberal democracy, which kept the Assad regime's religious toleration, protection of minorities and comparatively good record on women's rights, and added to it political freedom, a functioning justice system and end to human rights abuse, nobody would have been happier than I. Indeed I strongly suspect I have in the past done much more to campaign against human rights abuse in Syria than the mainstream media stenographers who all decry the fall of rebel Aleppo now.


But sadly liberal democracy, human rights and women's rights are not in any sense what the jihadist militias the West is backing are fighting for.


Of course it is essential that human rights are now respected in Aleppo by the government, that civilians are looked after, and that rebel fighters once identified are incarcerated in decent conditions. I add my voice to those calls. It should be noted that the threat to life and limb, and the violations and war crimes, have been on all sides, and the oppression of the government is most unlikely to be worse than the oppression of the rebels. The jhadists impounded relief supplies from the civilian population, shot those attempting to flee, and raped on a grand scale. That is not in any way to minimise the potential for mirror abuse from government supporting troops. But it is nonetheless true and must be stated.


The freedom from rebel mortar bombardment of civilian areas of Western Aleppo will also be an added mercy.


But it is not only the western media which has been hopelessly one-sided in its coverage of events. I have been deeply shocked by the heavily politicised role played by western charities and relief agencies. And sure enough, reports reaching me today from an independent source in Syria indicate that now the Syrian government has taken over most of the ex-jihadist held areas of Aleppo, those western agencies and charities that were screaming for a ceasefire so they could get aid in to the communities, have lost all interest now that it is safe to do so and the Syrian government is begging them to go in. They appear interested only in servicing rebel-held areas.


Last week saw a rare moment of truth in western diplomacy as Boris Johnson accused Saudi Arabia of financing proxy wars in the Middle East and spreading the ideology of terrorism. It is a strange world when it comes as a shock when a government minister for once says something which is true. But it was a rare moment. Boris is now in Saudi Arabia touting for more arms sales. In fact the anti-democratic regimes in the Gulf loom extremely large in the affections of the current Conservative government. Both Hammond and May have recently been to Bahrain. As I said, the Assad regime does have a poor human rights record, but the Bahraini government beyond argument has a much worse one, with torture a widespread and everyday measure of oppression. The Sunni "royal family" was only maintained in its despotic rule over its majority Shia population during the Arab spring by the invasion of the Saudi army. Torture and repression has been stepped up ever since even beyond its normal appalling standards.


To repeat, Bahrain beyond doubt has an even worse human rights record than Assad. It is also even less democratic. Yet this is the UK's close ally, and in a stunningly stupid flourish of neo-imperialism, Britain has just opened a new military base in Bahrain, indicating our desire to indulge in further disastrous military intervention in the Middle East for decades to come.


I don't think I have ever been more ashamed of my country than when reading Theresa May's speech last week to the assorted despots, torturers and head-choppers of the Gulf Co-operation Council. A plea for our relationship with "old friends" that nowhere at all gives even a passing reference to democracy or human rights, to the extent that it even references the East India Company as a good thing in our history! A litany of begging for their cash, while at the same time focusing on the "security" and "terrorist" threats they face, the "terrorists" in question being their own disenfranchised populations.


Shameful, shameful stuff. yet where is the condemnation from those mainstream media journalists waxing lyrical today on the evils of Assad?


The game goes on. With financing and ideological underpinning from these Gulf states, and covert intelligence aid from the West, ISIS forces are allowed to slip out of Iraq, regroup and retake Palmyra as "retaliation" against Russian/Syrian success in Aleppo, and as a propaganda counter to ensure the West's jihadist "allies" are not demoralised. The cynicism of it all is sickening. The Morning Star may indeed have not been sufficiently nuanced; but compared to the lies and elisions of mainstream media it is a beacon of truth.

Source

[David Guyatt]

Yet again Washington allows Palmyra to be occupied by Daesh

VOLTAIRE NETWORK | 15 DECEMBER 2016 FRANÇAIS ESPAÑOL DEUTSCH ITALIANO TÜRKÇE فارسى

Once again, Daesh has seized Palmyra following a surprise attack in the period 9 - 12 December 2016.The "High Representative" of the "Syrian Opposition", Riad Hijab, has denounced the forces of the Syrian "regime" who pounce on "unarmed civilians" at Aleppo but "jump ship like rats when confronted by the jihadists of the Islamic State at Palmyra." The reality is a very different story.In a synchronized [manoeuvre], 5,000 jihadists arrived at Rakka and Mosul to catch in a vice, the thousands of Syrian soldiers defending the city. The Syrian Arab Army had barely enough time to evacuate the civilians and to destroy its arsenal before retreating.The United States has pushed Daesh to invade the Sunni part of Iraq in June 2014, in order to cut land communications between Tehran and Damascus, the final stage in the "Silk Route". Once Mosul (Iraq) has been taken, Daesh moved on to Palmyra (Syria) in May 2015. Its troops had then crossed the border under the watch of the US forces who had not intervened and had not even sounded an alert. However, the town had been liberated in March 2016.So that Daesh might occupy Palmyra once again, the US forces [took two measures] at the same time: [first] they opened a route towards the Syrian desert from Mosulthat they were supposed to encircle ; and [second] they stopped their bombings of the province of Rakha.Assembled at Aleppo, the Syrian Arab Army has not had the time to send reinforcements to Palmyra which quickly fell confronted by assailants that are five times superior in number.

Source

[Lauren Johnson]

The US "accidentally" bombed a concentration of Iraqi trips killing a large number -- I remember 90 kia and 200 wounded.

[Magda Hassan]

The US "accidentally" bombed a concentration of Iraqi trips killing a large number -- I remember 90 kia and 200 wounded.

Hooray for those precession bombs hey?

[David Guyatt]

Whoops.

The Security Council meets in secret after the arrest of NATO officers in Aleppo


VOLTAIRE NETWORK | 17 DECEMBER 2016





Voltaire Network The Security Council meets in secret, Friday 16 December 2016 at 17.00 universal time - NATO officers were arrested this morning by Syrian Special Forces in a bunker in East Aleppo.

Source

[Magda Hassan]

BREAKING: At Least 14 US Coalition Military Officers Captured by Syrian Special Forces in East Aleppo Bunker

December 16, 2016 By 21wire 24 Comments

Syrian Army soldier holds up Al Nusra Front (al Qaeda in Syria) flag in the Umayyed Mosque, Old City, after government troop liberated terrorist-occupied East Aleppo this week (Image: Vanessa Beeley for 21st Century Wire)
[URL="http://wp.me/p3bwni-lBI"]
21st Century Wire
[/URL]SPECIAL REPORT
DAMASCUS According to two reports coming out of Aleppo today, at least 14 US Coalition military officers were captured this morning in an East Aleppo bunker by Syrian Special Forces.
This story was quietly leaked by Voltaire.net, who announced, "The Security Council is sitting in private on Friday, December 16, 2016, at 17:00 GMT, while NATO officers were arrested this morning by the Syrian Special Forces in a bunker in East Aleppo."
Fares Shehabi MP, a prominent Syrian Parliamentarian and head of Aleppo's Chamber of Commerce published the names of the Coalition officers on his Facebook page on the 15th December (emphasis added):
Mutaz KanoÄŸlu Turkey
David Scott Winer USA
David Shlomo Aram Israel
Muhamad Tamimi Qatar
Muhamad Ahmad Assabian Saudi
Abd-el-Menham Fahd al Harij Saudi
Islam Salam Ezzahran Al Hajlan Saudi
Ahmed Ben Naoufel Al Darij Saudi
Muhamad Hassan Al Sabihi Saudi
Hamad Fahad Al Dousri Saudi
Amjad Qassem Al Tiraoui Jordan
Qassem Saad Al Shamry Saudi
Ayman Qassem Al Thahalbi Saudi
Mohamed Ech-Chafihi El Idrissi Moroccan
Listen to Fares Shehabi's interview on the Sunday Wire radio show: Liberation Aleppo
In addition to Voltaire.net, the other original report was provided by Damascus-based Syrian journalist Said Hilal Alcharifi. According to Alcharifi, captured "NATO" officers were from a number of member states including the US, France, Germany and Turkey, as well as Israel. Here is his statement (translated from French):

"Thanks to information received, Syrian authorities discovered the headquarters of high ranking western/NATO officers in the basement of an area in East Aleppo and have captured them alive. Some names have already been given to Syrian journalists, myself included. The nationalities are US, French, British, German, Israeli, Turkish, Saudi, Moroccan, Qatari etc. In light of their nationalities and their rank, I assure you that the Syrian government have a very important catch, which should enable them to direct negotiations with the countries that have tried to destroy them."
Although these initial reports describe the individuals in question as "NATO" officers, it's unlikely they would have been carrying NATO colors on a covert operation and might be more accurately labeled as US Coalition officers. Note that early reports suggest that these are not standard street rebel' or jihadi terrorists but actual Coalition military personnel and field commanders.
21WIRE have also received unconfirmed reports yesterday that militants had fired a missile into Ramousa area and then tried, unsuccessfully, to get cars out of East Aleppo. It's possible this incident could be related to today reports of captured western operatives.
This report from the Syrian Arab News Agency (emphasis added):
"The agreement on evacuating militants and weapons from the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo city has been suspended after terrorist groups breached it, special sources told SANA correspondent in Aleppo.
The sources said that the suspension of the agreement will remain in place until obtaining guarantees that oblige the terrorist groups to abide by all the agreement's provisions, stressing on the Syrian side's full adherence to the agreement and its keenness to end the bloodshed and restore security and stability to the entire city of Aleppo."
Earlier, SANA reporter said that the terrorist groups have breached the agreement as they smuggled heavy weapons, including TOW missiles, heavy machineguns and kidnapped people via the buses and cars transporting terrorists and their families towards the southwestern countryside of Aleppo city.
The reporter added that the terrorist groups fired shells and sniper bullets on the buses and ambulances at al-Ramousseh crossing, noting that the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) which are supervising the evacuation process had to withdraw all buses and cars from the crossing.
Over the past 24 hours, some 8079 terrorists and members of their families were evacuated on ten batches via busses and ambulances from the neighborhoods of Salah-Eddin, al-Ansari, al-Mashhad and al-Zibdiyeh to the southwest countryside of Aleppo city"
If true, then this latest news would also mean that both the Syrian and Russian governments would have additional leverage going forward in any bilateral negotiations with the US-led Coalition.
If, however, this story is kept under wraps by NATO member governments and summarily blacked out by the US and European media outlets, then it might indicate that a deal has been struck, albeit behind the scenes, for the return of captured NATO operatives in exchange for other concessions.
If today's report from East Aleppo is accurate, this might also help explain the hysterical behavior by the US State Department and western UN officials who have been demanding "an immediate ceasefire" despite the fact that 99% of East Aleppo has already been liberated by Syrian government forces.
The western establishment hysterical reactions to Al Nusra's defeat in Aleppo have included wild claims that the Syrian Army had unleashed death squads,' on its own residents in East Aleppo and were openly executing women and children in the street,' and burning children in the street,' as well what appear to be more fictional reports circulated in US media mainly by Michael Weis of The Daily Beast via CNN,claiming that Syrian Army was committing "mass rape" against residents of East Aleppo. His article entitled, "Women in Aleppo Choose Suicide Over Rape, Rebels Report," made a number of outlandish claims including:
"Activists and rebels in the besieged city say mass executions have begun and children are burned alive as Assad's Iranian- and Russian-backed forces move in."
Not surprisingly, aside from unnamed "UN sources", Weiss claims to have got his information from none other than the discredited US and UK-financed pseudo NGO' known as the White Helmets.

Back in September, numerous reports suggested that a western command center located behind terrorist-held lines had been targeted and destroyed by a Russian missile strike. Prof Michel Chossudovsky wrote:
"The US and its allies had established a Field Operations Room in the Aleppo region integrated by intelligence personnel. Until it was targeted by a Russian missile attack on September 20, this "semi-secret" facility was operated by US, British, Israeli, Turkish, Saudi and Qatari intelligence personnel."
This report was neither admitted, nor was it denied by US Coalition sources at the time. However, one mainstream Israeli source, The Times of Israel, did report the incident.

For anyone who has been paying close attention to the Syrian Conflict, seeing NATO special forces or "contractors" working with rebel' or terrorist fighters inside of Syria is nothing unusual. Numerous reports have been filed of British soldiers assigned to fighting groups to help with training, strategy and logistics. In June 2016, The Telegraph admitted that British special forces were helping one rebel group, "… with logistics, like building defences to make the bunkers safe," said one rebel' fighter. Other reports, including the LA Times which detailed CIA operations used to arm militants, including Al Nusra Front (al Qaeda in Syria) who were the terrorist force in charge in East Aleppo. Other revelations of US covert involvement include The New York Times, and also information on US (NATO by another name only) covert operations provided to the Wall Street Journal.
Throughout fighting in the Donbass in eastern Ukraine, during the period of May 2014 to the present, numerous incidents have been reported where NATO military soldiers and operatives have been both spotted, and captured by rebel forces, and in most cases these reports have been muted, more than likely because of horse trading' taking place as an extension of wider diplomacy.
Contributors to this report were Patrick Henningsen and Vanessa Beeley.
STAY TUNED FOR MORE UPDATES
http://21stcenturywire.com/2016/12/16/re...po-bunker/

[Magda Hassan]

BREAKING: 14 US-Led Coalition Military Advisers Captured by Syrian Special Forces in Aleppo

Donate

At least 14 US-led coalition military advisers have been captured by the Syrian Special Forces in a bunker in the city of Aleppo, according to media reports.
The event allegedly took place in the morning on December 16, 2016 (Voltaire.net):

"The Security Council is sitting in private on Friday, December 16, 2016, at 17:00 GMT, while NATO officers were arrested this morning by the Syrian Special Forces in a bunker in East Aleppo."

21stcenturywire.com also provided a list of names of the coalition's military advisers captured in Aleppo, citing a Syrian member of Parliament:

Fares Shehabi, a prominent Syrian Parliamentarian and head of Aleppo's Chamber of Commerce published the names of the Coalition officers on his Facebook page on the 15th December (emphasis added):
Mutaz KanoÄŸlu Turkey
David Scott Winer USA
David Shlomo Aram Israel
Muhamad Tamimi Qatar
Muhamad Ahmad Assabian Saudi
Abd-el-Menham Fahd al Harij Saudi
Islam Salam Ezzahran Al Hajlan Saudi
Ahmed Ben Naoufel Al Darij Saudi
Muhamad Hassan Al Sabihi Saudi
Hamad Fahad Al Dousri Saudi
Amjad Qassem Al Tiraoui Jordan
Qassem Saad Al Shamry Saudi
Ayman Qassem Al Thahalbi Saudi
Mohamed Ech-Chafihi El Idrissi Moroccan

Damascus-based Syrian journalist Said Hilal Alcharifi also reported on the issue in his Facebook account:

Very urgent
The Syrian authorities were able, thanks to information thorough, arrive at the headquarters of senior officers and western regional in the basement of a district of Aleppo-is, and capture them all alive.
A few names have already been ex filtered to Syrian journalists including me.
Seen the nationalities (us, French, British, German, Israelis, Turks, Saudis, Moroccans, Qatari, etc.. etc) of these scumbags and their military ranks, I assure you
Syria holds in this moment a big treasures to carry out the negotiations with the countries that have destroyed.

Earlier in December, SF already noted that the US despearate attempts to push a "diplomatic solution" in Aleppo could indicate that the Obama administration stalling for time to extricate US mercenaries and special service members from the Aleppo pocket:
Considering that US-led coalition military advisers have been widely operating across Syria, training and assisting to the so-called "moderate opposition" openly linked with al-Qaeda, the recently appeared reports are likely true.
For isntance, British military advisers have officially arrived to Syria to restore combat capability of the moderate' opposition, retreated from Aleppo:

British military advisers have arrived to Syria in order to restore combat capability of units of the moderate' opposition, retreated from Aleppo, the Izvestiya newspaper reported, citing a statement of UK Defense Minister Michael Fallon. According to Fallon, 20 British military instructors, who will train the opposition forces, involved in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, have already arrived at the destination.
The dispatch of British advisers was announced in October, long before the recapture of Aleppo by the Syrian government forces. Initially, they had a task to train recruits to conduct combined arms combat, as well as to teach them the basics of tactical medicine and combat engineering. However, the situation changed and the task was changed too.

https://southfront.org/breaking-14-us-le...in-aleppo/

[Magda Hassan]

The US Seeks To Free Its Officers From The Death-Trap In Aleppo City?

Video at link below.


The US is desperately pushing a new diplomatic proposal' to halt the fighting over the city of Aleppo.
US Secretary of State, John Kerry, made suggestions to Russia, which would ensure the withdrawal of "opposition forces" from eastern Aleppo.
But why does Kerry desire this?
Is this just a ploy intended to buy time for the militants to regroup and resupply?
Or is the Obama administration stalling for time to extricate US mercenaries and special service members from the Aleppo pocket?
If these supporters of Syrian democracy' are captured alive or dead, the Syrian-Russian-Iranian alliance will be in possession of rock solid evidence of US special operations directly supporting terrorists in Syria.
https://southfront.org/the-us-seeks-to-f...eppo-city/

[Magda Hassan]

At 32.46 foreign mercenaries are named at the UN.

So the urgency for UN humanitarian intervention and stop the bombing was so these foreigners could be extracted.

[Paul Rigby]

The best news this year:

[video=youtube_share;iLylpRn9uXQ]http://youtu.be/iLylpRn9uXQ[/video]