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ISIS update 12/18/2015..’Plan B’
International Military Review – Syria, Dec. 18, 2015
Russian black sea fleet flagship Moskva in Syria
Russia shows its flagship cruiser, S400 missile system in Syria to foreign media
US seeking to undercut Putin’s campaign in Syria: Analyst
Turkey tried to “lick America’s private parts” by downing Russian jet, President Putin says
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/turkey-tried-lick-americas-private-7031323
The Russian president has stoked tensions between the two nations following the incident, which has caused a diplomatic crisis between the two neighbours.
In a speech Putin said Turkey had acted contrary to its own interests by downing a Russian war plane, adding that he sees no possibility of overcoming the diplomatic strain under the current Turkish leadership.
Speaking with emphasis and gesturing energetically throughout a marathon news conference that lasted more than three hours and was televised live, the Russian president said Turkey tried to “lick the Americans in some of their private parts” by downing the plane.
……..Did they think that we will leave? Russia isn’t that kind of a country. We only have increased our presence there.”
He said that Russia has responded by sending additional war planes to a base in Syria and deploying the long-range S-400 air defence missile systems there, putting an end to what he said were regular violations of Syrian airspace by Turkish jets.
TURKEY WARNS RUSSIA: WE CAN OCCUPY YOU IN SEVEN DAYS
John McCain Shaking So Badly He Barely Turn The Pages Of His Of His World War III Propaganda Speech
Security Council adopts resolution against Daesh
‘Russia & US not in line on Syria’s peace deal’ – White House spox contradicts John Kerry
UNSC still divided ahead of Syria talks
Syria’s Rep to the UN Support SC Resolution Against ISIL
Lebanon’s Hezbollah questions nature of Saudi-led coalition
Syria Stunner: German Intelligence “Cooperating” With Assad, Berlin May Reopen Embassy In Damascus
“Germany’s spy agency is working again with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s secret service to swap information on Islamist militants,” Reuters writes, citing the German daily.
Reuters continues: “Citing well-informed sources, the mass-circulation newspaper said German foreign intelligence BND agents had been traveling regularly to Damascus for some time for consultations with Syrian colleagues.”
Bild goes on to say that the BND intends to establish a station in Damascus imminently where agents will take up permanent positions. That could pave the way for the reopening on the German embassy, which was shuttered in 2012. As Sputnik reminds us, “diplomatic relations were broken off three years ago when, the then Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, expelled the Syrian ambassador from Germany [and] the German ambassador to Damascus was withdrawn and the embassy closed for safety reasons.”
You’ll recall that Germany is gearing up to join the military effort in Syria. Initially, Berlin will send one warship (to “protect” the French carrier), 1,200 troops, and six Tornado ECRs to the country.
The idea behind the BND’s cooperation with Damascus is to establish a fixed communication channel for use in the event a German Tornado pilot is downed.
Apparently, Berlin isn’t keen on seeing one of its pilots executed in mid-parachute by US-armed FSA fighters or, alternatively, burned alive by one of Qatar’s proxy armies.
If Bild’s report is accurate, it raises all manner of interesting questions about the West’s ongoing military campaign in Syria. If Germany, France, and Britain adopt a more conciliatory stance vis-a-vis Damascus than the US, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, Washington will need to figure out how to reconcile its hardline stance towards cooperating with Assad in the war on terror with the divergent approach adopted by America’s Western allies.
Ultimately, this is yet more proof of just how senseless all of this is. Hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost and millions of people have been displaced only for the entire debacle to come full circle with Western powers looking to cooperate with the same government they sought to overthrow.
Crackdown on Kurds: Turkish PM promises more ops, locals fear massacre
Turkey send tanks to bomb Kurdish Civilian
Iraqi army gains more ground against Daesh
Western media use Russian strikes footage to show US bombings in Syria – MoD
Iraqi Airforce strikes Daesh
Fort Russ – 17th December, 2015
http://fortruss.blogspot.com/2015/12/iraqi-airforce-strikes-daesh-video.html
Bloomberg: Obama Afraid Of Bombing Syria Due To “The Beech”
http://fortruss.blogspot.com/2015/12/bloomberg-obama-afraid-of-bombing-syria.html
The United States has ended manned flights in Northern Syria because of the fear of the Russian “Beech”. As was reported by the outlet Bloomberg, the Obama administration does not know how to react to the placement of SA-17. If this is the case, the cause of American fears are not entirely clear.
Military experts, in an interview with the publication, said that the deployment of Russian air defense systems allegedly “complicates the fight a coalition with ISIS”. In addition, some of them consider it a provocation by Russia.
A source in Washington said they are already looking for ways to respond to the placement of SA-17 and to resume manned flights, and that the U.S. has no other choice but to make concessions to Russia.
Talks About A “Political Transition” In Syria Are Not Serious – Yet
The combined air defense of Russian S-400 long range air defense in Latakia and Syrian SA-17/BUK medium range systems in other areas for now protect against air incursions into Syria. To knock them out means all out war. Putin says he will not allow any outside force to decide who rules in Syria and he is backing that up with all of Russia’s capabilities. “Western” diplomats’ claims that Russia is ready to dumps Assad are just face saving rumors. It is Russia that is calling the shots. The Russian support has now reached a level that enables the Syrian army to slowly defeat and destroy the various terrorist forces attacking its people. Meanwhile more anti-Syrian propaganda gets debunked and public support for the Syrian government’s position increases.
In Iraq the army is also back on its feet and is
making progress against the Islamic State. The Iraqi government has rejected U.S. offers of its Apache helicopters and more U.S. special forces. It is rightly suspicious that the U.S. is aiming at splitting up Iraq and Syria. Today the U.S. again bombed and killed Iraqi government forces that were moving against the Islamic State. That surely will be explained away as an “accident” but too many such “accidents” have happened. Should the U.S., with its support for the Kurds and Sunnis, continue its ambiguous stand in Iraq it will be kicked out and Russia will get invited to move in.Washington’s ‘Plan B’ in Syria: Renewed military intervention to oust Assad?
By Finian Cunningham
December 17, 2015 “Information Clearing House” – “RT” – US top diplomat John Kerry appeared to offer cooperation during lengthy talks in Moscow this week with President Vladimir Putin. Kerry said that US policy was not trying to isolate Russia, neither was it seeking regime change in Syria.
Rhetoric aside, Kerry’s expressions of goodwill simply do not cut it.
During a walkabout in Moscow, the US Secretary of State chanced on a little Christmas shopping, with Kerry buying a Babushka stacking doll among other souvenirs. The iconic Russian doll containing six shelled figurines could serve as a metaphor for Washington’s elusive rhetoric.
Following his three-hour discussion with Putin, Kerry said: “While we don’t see eye to eye on every aspect of Syria, we see Syria fundamentally similarly.”
US government-owned media outlet Voice of America added: “He [Kerry] said the US and Russia identify the same challenges and dangers, and want the same outcomes [in Syria].”
That, to put it bluntly, is simply not true. Washington and Moscow do not see Syria fundamentally similarly nor want the same outcomes.
Washington wants regime change, no matter what Kerry may declare. From the outset of the conflict in Syria in March 2011, the Obama administration has been demanding that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “must go”.
Indeed, it is well documented that Washington and its NATO partners have been seeking regime change against Russia’s long-time Syria ally going back to 2007 during the George W Bush presidency. The whole foreign-backed war in the Arab country – resulting in 250,000 deaths and millions of refugees over the past five years – has been orchestrated for the precise purpose of destabilizing Syria.
Certainly, Kerry’s latest visit to Moscow marked a softening of the “Assad must go” line. Washington is now saying that the Syrian president may remain in office until a political transition is negotiated. But at the end of the so-called transition, the US still wants Assad gone, as Kerry again noted. That is regime change no matter how you slice it.
Like Kerry’s coy claim that the US is not trying “to isolate Russia as a matter of policy,” the bottom line is that Washington has imposed unilateral economic sanctions on Russia as a result of provable US regime change in Ukraine in February 2014, and cajoled its European allies to follow suit. Withdrawing unilaterally from arms control treaties and expanding NATO forces on Russian territory are hardly the actions of a party “not seeking isolation” of Moscow.
Washington sure wants regime change in Syria, just as former US General Wesley Clark disclosed back in 2007 – a policy that the American military-industrial complex formulated in 2001 following the 9/11 terror events. There is no reason whatsoever to believe that the same US hegemonic ambitions for the Middle East and beyond have changed under Obama.
What has changed is that Russia’s dramatic military intervention in Syria two months ago has shredded the US-led plans.
This week, President Obama made a speech at the Pentagon in which he made the laughable claim that the US was leading the global fight against the Islamic State terror group. “We are hitting them harder than ever,” he said.
Such claims by the US commander-in-chief are just downright delusional. It is the Russian aerial bombardment in close cooperation with the Syrian Arab Army that has completely turned the military tables on Islamic State (IS) and other illegally armed groups.
Moreover, it is Russian airstrikes which have wiped out the oil smuggling and weapon supply routes to the jihadists from Turkey.
These jihadists – whether they go by the shell names IS, Nusra, Army of Conquest or Free Syrian Army – are all part of the foreign-backed mercenary force that the US has deployed for sacking Syria.
Washington’s losing streak in the covert military objective has forced the US to seek a political track to achieve the same end result of regime change. That explains why Washington is now softening its rhetoric in order to inveigle Moscow into a political transition, euphemistically called a “peace process”.
Kerry said that the US and Russia have reached “common ground” on which Syrian opposition groups would be invited to peace talks in New York this Friday. The aim is to create a political opposition to the Assad government ahead of negotiations for a transition beginning in January.
A preview of these “opposition” groups was given last week when Saudi Arabia invited more than 100 so-called leaders of political and militant factions. As the New York Times reported the formation of this front was deemed by Washington as a “prerequisite” for the future talks. John Kerry welcomed the summit in Saudi capital Riyadh as “an important step forward”.
Although Al Qaeda-linked groups, IS and Al Nusra, did not attend the Saudi-sponsored and US-countenanced gathering, the NY Times admitted that delegates included “hardline Islamists”. Those in attendance included Ahrar al Shams and Jaish al Islam. The latter gained notoriety for holding civilian human shields in cages, as well as being linked to the chemical gas atrocity near Damascus in August 2013.
The Saudi-sponsored opposition that Washington is trying to line up against the Syrian government are braying for Assad’s immediate departure. John Kerry may say belatedly that US policy has shifted to permit Assad to remain in power for the duration of a transition, but it should be obvious that Washington is setting up a framework under the guise of a peace process in which Assad’s departure is put on the agenda.
But what gives the US and its NATO and Arab cronies any right to make such demands on Syria’s political future?
Washington does not seem to get it that its arrogant assertions about political change in Syria are null and void. Russia has time and again rightly pointed out that Syria’s political future is for the Syrian people to decide as a matter of sovereignty. Russia’s position is fully supported by Iran.
As for Syria’s President Assad he has said that there will be no negotiations with the Saudi-sponsored political opposition, labeling them with reasonable justification as “terrorists”.
In a parallel development, Saudi Arabia also announced the formation of a 34-nation alliance of Muslim countries supposedly dedicated to fighting the “disease of Islamic terrorism”. The newly formed bloc comprises in addition to Saudi Arabia: Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Turkey – all countries associated with the funding and arming of extremist groups in Syria and elsewhere. Strangely, or perhaps not, Iran, Iraq and Syria were not invited to join the bloc.
US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter welcomed the new alliance. And the Saudis said that troops from the 34-nation coalition could be sent into Syria and Iraq to “combat” the IS network. Washington also endorsed that, saying that it wanted more regional “boots on the ground” to help fight terrorism.
What that suggests is that if the political track does not go well for ousting Assad, then the US and its allies are giving themselves the license to openly intervene in Syria – ostensibly to fight terror groups, which they have covertly fomented. Such a renewed military intervention can be seen as Plan B, where Plan A – the covert use of terror groups – has failed.
Putin on S-400 Deployment in Syria: Let Turkish Aviation Fly Now
Think US Is Not Seeking Regime Change in Syria? Think Again
Syrian Forces Seize Large Batch of Military Hardware in Militants’ Positions in Lattakia
Hezbollah, Syrian Army Remain Undefeated from Qusayr to Aleppo
Militants Withdraw From More Heights North of Syria’s Lattakia
UNODC: ISIL Supplying Militants with Captagon Drug for Ultimate Violent Acts
Syrian Forces Win 56 Battles in Nearly Two Months in Lattakia
Russian Fighter Jets Continue to Pound Militant Centers North of Lattakia Province
Source: http://blogdogcicle.blogspot.com/2015/12/isis-update-12182015plan-b.html
