A Mediterranean Battlefield - Syria

[Magda Hassan]

Yep, that's what really amazes me about this whole regime change story. They do act and talk as though their decisions to regime change anyone they don't like are not just legal but completely proper and above board. They've all waved farewell to international law, which now makes the UN a dinosaur. PS, I've been told the arrival of 1,000 Chinese marines is false?

Well, FWIW there is some information. Not sure about the 1,000 marines exactly nor what they will do but certainly some presence and all recent sources. Could still be false though. Israel's Debka reports a Chinese ship there:

A Chinese aircraft carrier docks at Tartus to support Russian-Iranian military buildup DEBKAfile Exclusive Report September 26, 2015, 1:17 PM (IDT) Tags: China, Aircraft carriers, Syria, Russian forces in Syria, Iran in Syria, John Kerry, As US President Barack Obama welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to the White House on Friday, Sept. 25, and spoke of the friendship between the two countries, the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning-CV-16 docked at the Syrian port of Tartus, accompanied by a guided missile cruiser. This is revealed exclusively by debkafile. Beijing is not finding it hard to dance at two weddings, wooing the US for better relations, while at the same time backing Russia in its military intervention in Syria. Coupled with the warm smiles and handshakes exchanged at the lavish reception on the White House lawn, Beijing was clearly bent on showing muscle not just in the South China Sea, but by allying itself with the Russian-Iranian political and military buildup in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad and his regime. debkafile's military sources report that the Chinese aircraft carrier passed through the Suez Canal on Sept. 22, one day after the summit in Moscow between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. When they talked, Putin made no mention of the Chinese warship entering the eastern Mediterranean or its destination. Its arrival has upended the entire strategic situation surrounding the Syrian conflict, adding a new global dimension to Moscow and Tehran's military support for Assad. This was grasped at length by US Secretary of State John Kerry. On Sept. 25, he sent Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who also led the US negotiating team for the nuclear talks with Iran, to announce that the Obama administration is ready for dialogue with Iran about the situation in Syria, and this topic would be raised when Kerry's met Iranian Foreign Minister Muhammad Jawad Zarif in New York on Sept. 26. But if the top US diplomat hoped to bypass the Russian initiative in Syria by going straight to Tehran, he was too late. Iran is already moving forward fast to augment its military presence in the war-torn country, buttressed by the ground, air and sea support of two world powers, Russia and China. This turn of evens has a highly detrimental effect on Israel's strategic and military position. It also strengthens Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in his determination to turn the nuclear deal concluded in July into a tool for isolating the US politically, militarily and economically in the Middle East, rather than a milestone on the road to a breakthrough in ties with Iran, as the Obama administration had hoped. Our military sources find evidence that the Chinese forces are digging in for a prolonged stay in Syria. The carrier put into Tartus minus its aircraft contingent. The warplanes and helicopters should be in place on its decks by mid-November - flying in directly from China via Iran or transported by giant Russian transports from China through Iranian and Iraqi airspace. This explains the urgency of establishing a Russian-Syria-Iranian "military coordination cell" in Baghdad in the last couple of days. This mechanism, plus the Russian officers sighted in Baghdad, indicates that the Russian military presence is not limited to Syria but is beginning to spill over into Iraq as well. The coordination cell - or war room - was presented as necessary to begin working with Iranian-backed Shiite militias fighting the Islamic State in both places. But more immediately, it is urgently needed to control the heavy traffic of Russian, Iranian and Chinese military flights transiting Iraqi air space. Our sources report that the Chinese will be sending out to Syria a squadron of J-15 Flying Shark fighters, some for takeoff positions on the carrier's decks, the rest to be stationed at the Russian airbase near Latakia. The Chinese will also deploy Z-18F anti-submarine helicopters and Z-18J airborne early warning helicopters. In addition, Beijing will consign at least 1,000 marines to fight alongside their counterparts from Russia and Iran against terrorist groups, including ISIS. debkafile's counterterrorism sources point out that just as Russian marines will be instructed to single out rebel militias with recruits from Chechnya and the Caucasus, the Chinese marines will seek out and destroy Uighur fighters from the northern predominantly Muslim Chinese province of Xinjiang. In the same way that Putin has no wish to see the Chechen fighters back in Russia, so too Chinese President Xi wants to prevent the Uighurs from returning home from the Syrian battlefields.

http://www.debka.com/article/24909/A-Chi...y-buildup- More here from Lebanese Arab media:

Chinese Military Advisors Expected to Join the Russians in Syria

2 By Leith Fadel on September 27, 2015 Featured

Last month, the Syrian civilians living in the government-controlled parts of Syria had little be optimistic about: the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) was spread too thin and on the defensive at most fronts, while the humanitarian crisis inside the country spread to the provinces that were once relatively unaffected by the violence (i.e. Al-Sweida). Well, "hope springs eternal" when hundreds of Russian Marines and dozens of Russian jets enter your country; this was the case in the overcrowded provinces of Latakia and Tartous, as large crowds gathered near the coast to welcome these Russian naval infantrymen and their advanced military hardware. Those previously depressed civilians in the government-controlled part of Syria are now oozing with optimism, thanks in large part to the recent news of China's military partnership with their Russian allies.

Earlier this week, a Chinese naval vessel crossed through Egypt's Suez Canal and entered the Mediterranean Sea; its destination was unknown, but that did not make a difference to the Syrian people because the news circulating around the country indicated that China's participation in this brutal conflict was imminent. According to a senior officer in the Syrian Arab Army that is stationed inside the coastal province of Latakia, "the Chinese will be arriving in the coming weeks." When asked to elaborate, the officer responded that Chinese military personnel were expected to join the Russians Marines stationed around Syria's western countryside. The officer could not provide anymore details regarding their deployment; however, he did state that the Chinese military personnel were expected to arrive at Tartous' ports in the next six weeks.

http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/chin...-in-syria/ And some info from Russia Today:

China's military advisers heading to Syria to help fight ISIS' report

Published time: 28 Sep, 2015 04:27Edited time: 29 Sep, 2015 07:49 Get short URL Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning. © Wikipedia China will be helping out the Syrian government in the fight against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIL/ISIS) by sending "military advisers," media reports have claimed. TrendsIslamic State "The Chinese will be arriving in the coming weeks," a Syrian army official told the Lebanon-based news website Al-Masdar Al-Arabi. The report claims that a Chinese naval vessel is on its way to Syria with dozens of "military advisers" on board. They will reportedly be followed by troops. The ship is said to have passed the Suez Canal in Egypt and be making its way through the Mediterranean Sea. According to the website, the advisers will be joining Russian personnel in the Latakia region. Meanwhile, an Israeli military news website, DEBKAfile, has cited military sources as saying that a Chinese aircraft carrier, the Liaoning-CV-16, has already been spotted at the Syrian port of Tartus on the Mediterranean coast. It was said to be accompanied by a guided missile cruiser. The news comes after Russia, Iran, Iraq and Syria agreed to establish a joint information center in Baghdad to coordinate their operations against Islamic State militants, according to sources. "The main goal of the center will be gathering, processing and analyzing current information about the situation in the Middle East primarily for fighting IS," a military-diplomatic source told Russian news agencies on Saturday.

Russia, Iran, Iraq, Syria setting up joint information center' for anti-ISIS operations http://t.co/Lcifjkzph1pic.twitter.com/VZI378QXKp RT (@RT_com) September 26, 2015

Russian President Vladimir Putin was recently asked about Russia's presence in Syria, to which he replied that Russia's activities are limited to supplying weapons to the Syrian government, training personnel and providing humanitarian aid for the Syrian people. "We act based on the United Nations Charter, i.e. the fundamental principles of modern international law, according to which this or that type of aid, including military assistance, can and must be provided exclusively to the legitimate government of one country or another, upon its consent or request, or upon the decision of the United Nations Security Council," Putin told CBS's 60 Minutes' show. Putin reiterated his support for Syria's regular army the army of President Bashar Assad. "He [Assad] is confronted with what some of our international partners interpret as an opposition. In reality, Assad's army is fighting against terrorist organizations," Putin said.

Assad's enemies may be portrayed as opposition, but he fights terrorists #Putinhttp://t.co/OUbplTnAORpic.twitter.com/2AExni8WDe RT (@RT_com) September 27, 2015

Russia's president added that US attempts to train a Syrian opposition to take on Islamic State have failed. The US had aimed to prepare up to 12,000 fighters, but only 60 managed to complete the training and only four or five actually fought with the opposition, while others fled to IS with American weapons, Putin said, citing US Senate hearings. "In my opinion, provision of military support to illegal structures runs counter to the principles of modern international law and the United Nations Charter," he said. © Stringer / Reuters Back in December, 2014, China offered to help Iraq in fighting Islamic State militants, volunteering to assist with airstrikes, but said it would not join the US-led coalition against ISIS. In one of the latest atrocities committed by IS, the terror group used an online magazine to post pictures of two hostages, one Norwegian and one Chinese, putting the men up "for sale."

https://www.rt.com/news/316705-china-syria-isis-fight/