Syria Disintegrating: Part 2

[Eddie Teach]

Government might be on the verge of retaking Palmyra.

Hurray for Assad? 

[The Brain]

Is Assad the Trump of Syria?

[Berkut]

Government might be on the verge of retaking Palmyra.

Hurray for Assad? 

Yeah, pretty hard to root for the regime that has butchered a couple hundred thousand of their own citizens taking back over some place from jihadists.

[Tonitrus]

DoD beats CIA....

http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/in-syria-militias-armed-by-the-pentagon-fight-those-armed-by-the-cia-1.401400

Syrian militias armed by different parts of the U.S. war machine have begun to fight each other on the plains between the besieged city of Aleppo and the Turkish border, highlighting how little control U.S. intelligence officers and military planners have over the groups they have financed and trained in the bitter five-year-old civil war.

The fighting has intensified over the last two months, as CIA-armed units and Pentagon-armed ones have repeatedly shot at each other while maneuvering through contested territory on the northern outskirts of Aleppo, U.S. officials and rebel leaders have confirmed.

In mid-February, a CIA-armed militia called Fursan al Haq, or Knights of Righteousness, was run out of the town of Marea, about 20 miles north of Aleppo, by Pentagon-backed Syrian Democratic Forces moving in from Kurdish-controlled areas to the east.

[Berkut]

JFC

[CountDeMoney]

It's like some squirrelly Third World bullshit plotline you'd expect from the 60's or 70's. 
Oh wait, that's because we keep going back to the same fucking playbook.

For all the crap Obama gets about his policy, he does have a point: at what point are we going to wake up and realize that we get nowhere with the same bad ideas?

[Maladict]

Looks like they got Palmyra without any further destruction? That's unexpected.

[Berkut]

It's like some squirrelly Third World bullshit plotline you'd expect from the 60's or 70's. 
Oh wait, that's because we keep going back to the same fucking playbook.

For all the crap Obama gets about his policy, he does have a point: at what point are we going to wake up and realize that we get nowhere with the same bad ideas?

I dunno, I think Bush had a new idea - stop supporting dictators for the purpose of "stability" and try and see if people really do want to live in democracies if given the chance.

There were some minor problems with the execution of his strategy, however.

Seems to me like the "same playbook" is what got us the ME we have today...supporting the regimes of people like Assad the Sauds and Mubarak because they are "stable".

[Razgovory]

It's like some squirrelly Third World bullshit plotline you'd expect from the 60's or 70's. 
Oh wait, that's because we keep going back to the same fucking playbook.

For all the crap Obama gets about his policy, he does have a point: at what point are we going to wake up and realize that we get nowhere with the same bad ideas?

I dunno, I think Bush had a new idea - stop supporting dictators for the purpose of "stability" and try and see if people really do want to live in democracies if given the chance.

There were some minor problems with the execution of his strategy, however.

Seems to me like the "same playbook" is what got us the ME we have today...supporting the regimes of people like Assad the Sauds and Mubarak because they are "stable".

That was Carter's idea.

[mongers]

People need to stop posting articles and failing to accurately attributing them to the Onion. 

[CountDeMoney]

I dunno, I think Bush had a new idea - stop supporting dictators for the purpose of "stability" and try and see if people really do want to live in democracies if given the chance.

There were some minor problems with the execution of his strategy, however.

Seems to me like the "same playbook" is what got us the ME we have today...supporting the regimes of people like Assad the Sauds and Mubarak because they are "stable".

There are new ideas, and there there are naive, stupid ideas that fly in the face of all conventional wisdom, knowledge of a region, its culture and its history.  Dictatorships and strongmen, for all their ugliness, prevent destructive conflicts and bring order to the galaxy. 


But no, let's keep throwing guns at This Week's Least Worst of the Bad Guys, while the CIA and the Pentagon keep doing their own shit for the sake of anonymous mid-level careerists who want to "retain ownership" or whatever buzzwords they use now in their inter-agency dick measuring rivalry bullshit.

[celedhring]

DoD beats CIA....

http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/in-syria-militias-armed-by-the-pentagon-fight-those-armed-by-the-cia-1.401400

Syrian militias armed by different parts of the U.S. war machine have begun to fight each other on the plains between the besieged city of Aleppo and the Turkish border, highlighting how little control U.S. intelligence officers and military planners have over the groups they have financed and trained in the bitter five-year-old civil war.

The fighting has intensified over the last two months, as CIA-armed units and Pentagon-armed ones have repeatedly shot at each other while maneuvering through contested territory on the northern outskirts of Aleppo, U.S. officials and rebel leaders have confirmed.

In mid-February, a CIA-armed militia called Fursan al Haq, or Knights of Righteousness, was run out of the town of Marea, about 20 miles north of Aleppo, by Pentagon-backed Syrian Democratic Forces moving in from Kurdish-controlled areas to the east.

That's a whole new kind of proxy war.

[DGuller]

Seems encouraging, actually.  Wasn't the knock against CIA that they didn't actually manage to train anyone?  Judging from this story, they certainly have.

[Savonarola]

Uh oh...

Obama announces an additional 250 special operations forces to Syria

(CNN)President Barack Obama announced Monday an additional 250 special operations forces will be sent to Syria in the coming weeks in a speech in Hannover, Germany, in an effort to stem the influence and spread of ISIS.

"Just as I approved additional support for Iraqi forces against ISIL, I've decided to increase U.S. support for local forces fighting ISIL in Syria, a small number of special operations forces are already on the ground in Syria and their expertise has been critical as local forces have driven ISIL out of key areas," Obama said, using another acronym for the jihadist group.

"So given their success I've approved the deployment of up to 250 additional U.S. personnel in Syria including special forces to keep up this momentum," he said.

Obama stressed that U.S. troops will not be leading the fight on the ground but they will be essential in training and assisting local forces.

"So make no mistake these terrorists will learn the same lesson as others before them have, which is 'your hatred is no match for our nations united in the defense of our way of life,' " he said, adding that the increase would bring the number of U.S. special forces in the country to as many as 300 troops, including special forces.

But the President said he would continue to pursue diplomatic solutions to ending the Syrian civil war.

"Just as we remain relentless on the military front we're not going to give up on diplomacy to end the civil war in Syria because the suffering of the people in Syria has to end and that requires an effective political transition," he said.
Supporting Syrian allies

The troops will be expanding the ongoing U.S. effort to bring more Syrian Arab fighters into units the U.S. supports in northern Syria that have largely been manned by the Kurds, an official told CNN earlier.

The plan calls for the additional U.S. forces to "advise and assist" forces in the area whom the U.S. hopes may eventually grow strong enough to take back territory around Raqqa, Syria, where ISIS is based.

These troops are not expected to engage in combat operations or to participate in target-to-kill teams but will be armed to defend themselves, one official said.

"As we have noted in recent days, the President has authorized a series of steps to increase support for our partners in the region, including Iraqi security forces as well as local Syrian forces who are taking the fight to ISIL," a senior administration official CNN. "The President during his remarks at the Hannover Messe fairgrounds on Monday will speak to this additional step."
The official said the President was persuaded to take this additional step because of recent successes against ISIS.

JFK would be so proud.   

[Monoriu]

Is the Syrian civil war coming to an end with victory for Assad in sight?

Aleppo siege: Why latest developments are so significant
By Clarissa Ward, CNN
Updated 1621 GMT (0021 HKT) July 28, 2016

(CNN)Syrian and Russian forces are to open humanitarian corridors for people to flee Aleppo, the day after Syria's army announced that it had encircled the besieged city -- cutting off supply lines and creating relief sites to distribute food and medicine to civilians.

But what does the relief operation mean for the desperate citizens of Aleppo and the future of the city?

The Russians and Syrian government forces have been pounding Aleppo relentlessly for months now in an effort to take back the eastern part of the city which has been in rebel hands for nearly four years.

Aleppo has seen many of its neighborhoods come under fire for 80 consecutive days, with more than 6,000 people -- mainly civilians -- killed or injured. Four hospitals have been hit. Rebel fighters have been hitting back with artillery and bombings but they simply can't match the firepower that government forces have since the Russian intervention.

Why are the latest development such a big deal?

Aleppo is the country's largest city and a vital economic hub. When rebels first launched their attack on the city in July 2012, it sent shock waves through government-held parts of Aleppo. Regime strongholds were no longer seen as impenetrable.

People began speculating that the downfall of President Bashar al Assad was imminent. For rebel forces it was a jubilant moment. They have since invested huge amounts of resources and blood in holding onto their hard fought gains. To lose that now would be devastating symbolically. It would send a signal that President Assad has reclaimed his hold over the country and that the rebel movement is on its last legs.

What do we know about how many people are still there?

There are an estimated 200,000-300,000 people still inside rebel-held Aleppo, though exact numbers are very tough to come by. Many of them are elderly people who are too sick or too stubborn to leave. Living conditions are extremely tough.

Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to apocalyptic wastelands.

Basic services like running water and electricity are sporadic. Prices have soared because of the difficulty of getting in food and aid. The World Food Programme says the food security situation in Aleppo is extremely fluid with the crisis severely disrupting supply routes. It says the cost of rice has increased by 32% in three months and by 142% from a year ago.

And with the entire area now under siege, food and diesel shortages are likely imminent. That diesel is needed to power generators and those generators are needed to power hospitals.

What would surrender look like for those still inside?

There is still fresh produce in the market stalls but it is more difficult to bring into the city, and much more expensive than even a few weeks ago.

Fliers have been raining down on rebel-held areas, offering amnesty to those who turn themselves into government forces and encouraging people to leave in the next 3 months. But for most of the people I have spoken to, surrender is not an option.

Those who have stayed this long, who have endured bombardment day in and day out, have made a conscience decision to stay.

I interviewed one elderly woman in the rebel-held Suqquri neighborhood back in February. She told me that she plans to stay in Aleppo until she dies because it is her home. There are others who have stayed because they simply don't have the means to leave, but surrender is still not an option for most.

There have been numerous instances where the government has offered amnesty to people living in rebel-held areas. Typically, when people surrender, the men are separated from the women and children and the men are taken away, never to be heard from again. So while you may see some women and children and perhaps some elderly people turning themselves in to government forces, it is highly unlikely that many men will do the same.

The heart of Aleppo has been ravaged by Syria's civil war. From the ancient citadel to the bustling souk, there is little left of the historic, beautiful city that was once visited by tourists from all over the world.

Entire city blocks have been flattened by round-the-clock aerial bombardment. The buildings that are left are pockmarked with shrapnel and bullet holes.

Government-held areas are certainly in better shape than rebel-held areas.

It can be surreal to watch people celebrate a wedding party in a luxury hotel in one part of town, while just a mile away, the streets are desolate and dark with people hunkered down in basements to escape bombing raids.

When and if the Syrian civil war finally comes to an end, it will hopefully be possible to rebuild some of Aleppo's most beloved monuments and historic sites.

But the vibrant soul of the city has been decimated. And that cannot be replaced.