And Turkey i'm guessing shelling isis and killing some as well. But i cant follow the news due to RL issues.
Iraq & Syrian Civil Wars - Page 366
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Please guys, stay on topic. This thread is about the situation in Iraq and Syria. | ||
lastpuritan
United States540 Posts
And Turkey i'm guessing shelling isis and killing some as well. But i cant follow the news due to RL issues. | ||
xM(Z
Romania5257 Posts
Islamic State fighters killed a US navy Seal in northern Iraq on Tuesday, when the militants pushed through a forward line of Iraqi Kurdish forces, officials said. He is the third American killed in direct combat since a US-led coalition launched a campaign against the jihadist group in 2014. “It is a combat death, of course, and a very sad loss. I don’t know all the circumstances of it,” US Defense Secretary Ash Carter told reporters during a trip to Germany. - after some 4 hospitals bombed/missiled(claimed to be done by both the regime and the rebel factions), 250 - 300 dead and ~550 wounded in Aleppo, the temporary ceasefire was extended, initially for 24 hours, then later for another 48(which carried on) to include Aleppo. a fragile cessation of hostilities was in place 'till 12May; the airstrikes restated today. - there are ~60.000 refugees stranded inside Syria at the border with Turkey. - a map, broadly showing the factions operating in Syria(allegedly current) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Syrian_Civil_War_detailed_map#Hanano_Army_Base - the rebel factions in Aleppo keep merging and re-merging + Show Spoiler + (Zaman Al Wals)- Nine rebel factions operating in northern Aleppo province merged Thursday in one armed group, such a move aims to increase the effectivity of the brigades and to facilitate a unified military work, according to statement posted online. The political office of the newly-formed al-Safwa al-Shamiyeh Battalions said its ready to cooperate with all formations of the Free Syrian Army in their battle against the Syrian regime and its allied militias. Recently, Merging of rebel factions has been increased in rebel-held areas to come over rifts to face the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces and Russia-led regime forces. On February 21, al-Muthanna battalions and Tajamou' Ahl al-Sunnah merged in Nour ed-Din al-Zinki Brigade, key rebel group in northern Syria. - Russia tried to have Ahrar ash-Sham and Jaysh al-Islam put on the UN terrorist list but it failed last week with countries like US, UK, France, Ukraine(?) opposing it; - ISIS leaders and Hezbollah leaders/military commanders in Syria are being snipped/killed/looked for; - Germany entrenches itself deeper in Turkey with Spiegel reporting that "german soldiers will soon receive their own air base in Turkey—a move that reveals Germany’s long-term plans in the region. ... Spiegel reported that the German Army expects a long-term operation in Turkey. It referenced a planning paper from the Defense Ministry, which listed $75 million to be spent for: an air control area ($12 million), accommodations for German soldiers ($17 million), and a fully equipped combat headquarters ($39 million)". - Erdogan is flexing his free speech rights: Turkey is prepared to take unilateral actions against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria to protect its southern border town Kilis from IS attacks, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday. + Show Spoiler +"We are making necessary preparations in order to clear across the border," he said. Erdogan complained that the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition has not provided Turkey with the desired support. "Turkey will not wait... while we have martyrs every day," Erdogan said. "I'd like to say that we will not hesitate to take unilateral steps on this issue. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-05/12/c_135354752.htm - aid programs are being investigated for fraud (by the Office of the Inspector General within the U.S. Agency for International Development, in this case) http://www.wnd.com/2016/05/probe-catches-agency-in-corrupt-deals-to-help-syrian-refugees/ An NGO that gets tens of millions in U.S. taxpayer money to resettle foreign refugees into dozens of U.S. cities is being investigated for corruption involving contracts with Turkish companies. The International Rescue Committee is one of the nine volunteer aid agencies, also called VOLAGs, that contract with the federal government to resettle refugees into the United States from Syria, Somalia, Burma, Iraq, Bhutan, Afghanistan and elsewhere. New York-based IRC, headed by former British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, is being investigated by the Office of the Inspector General within the U.S. Agency for International Development for bid rigging and bribery that allegedly took place among its staff members lining up supplies and services for displaced Syrians in Turkey, according to government documents turned over to WND from the Inspector General’s Office. In November 2013, Miliband’s organization gave billionaire George Soros its highest award, the Freedom Award, and Soros responded by donating $1 million to the IRC. Miliband is also a close friend of Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of state at the same time he was foreign secretary. But his organization is now under the microscope for its alleged involvement in a corruption scandal that so far has not been reported in the establishment media. - somewhat fun? factor http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/12/europe/russia-embassy-tweet-video-game-trnd/ "Syria, or a video game? Internet amused by Russian embassy's tweet" | ||
xM(Z
Romania5257 Posts
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1605/S00044/us-financial-regulations-increase-starvation.htm As of May 15, 2016, according to Save the Children and an assortment of UN agencies and NGO’s, nearly 7 million people are displaced within Syria, half of them are children and more than two million of the youngsters are at risk of becoming ill, malnourished, abused, or exploited. In rural areas of Damascus one in 20 children is severely malnourished with 14 per cent classed as acutely malnourished. ...One inexcusable action that is today targeting Syria’s children, even if inadvertently, are the US economic sanctions against the country’s leadership by the US Treasury Department and its enforcement arm, the Office of Financial Assets Control (OFAC). ...A couple of examples. ...In southern Turkey, Islamic Relief has delivered 150 million dollars of aid to 6.5 million Syrian refugees, most of them children. Even though it had previously partnered with the United Nations and Western countries in providing aid to more than 30 countries over the past 32 years, it is experiencing repeated delays in getting food to Syria children after banks refused to transfer funds to pay for any supplies that might be sent to Syria. Last year, former UK Ambassador to Lebanon, Ms. Frances Guy was close starting a major program to feed hundreds of displaced children and others in war-torn Syria. Guy, the Middle East head of Christian Aid, had secured funds and found partners. But there was one obstacle she couldn’t overcome: The charity’s bank, Standard Chartered Plc, refused to transfer $50,000 to put the project in motion. According to Ms. Guy “The unintended consequence here is that aid is being denied to people in desperate need of assistance. If this continues, it is possible to see a situation where Syria children and those most in need of humanitarian aid are least able to access it.” Dozens of other charities wanting to help vulnerable Syrians are also being blocked. After U.S. authorities levied billions of dollars in fines against Standard Chartered, HSBC Holdings Plc and BNP Paribas SA for violating sanctions on Syria, banks have been unwilling to send money and have even shut accounts. Charity Finance Group, a London-based trade association with 1,350 members, says 200 to 300 charitable organizations have had their accounts canceled or faced long delays and rejections of money transfers. An idea to somehow lessen some of the harsher OFAC regulations seen as targeting charities was offered recently by some industry lawyers that represent major lending institutions. The plan would be to create a sort of safe harbor where banks could avoid punishment if any money inadvertently ended up in the wrong hands, as long as prescribed due diligence measures were followed. OFAC quickly rejected this idea. Jennifer Fowler, assistant secretary for terrorist financing, affirms that the US government is not going to roll back any restrictions, insisting that “We have these rules in place to protect our financial system.” One solution could perhaps be for the UN and its specialized agencies to get involved and take advantage of an OFAC regulation exemption. But this idea is complicated by OFAC’s refusal to permit humanitarian funds transfers to Syria except those made, pursuant to section 5420513, and done by United Nations organizations or its contractors. Even then, the general license prohibits any blocked entity from touching the funds, setting up additional compliance fears for the banks involved and their unwillingness to risk yet another mega-fine from OFAC. The Obama administration acknowledges that closing the accounts of clean charitable organizations is a problem. The US Treasury Department has been informally passing the word to U.S. and foreign banks that they won’t be indicted for innocent mistakes. But few if any financial institutions are likely to be much convinced given OFAC’s record. Consequently, much needed food aid for Syria’s most vulnerable will likely continue to be blocked. | ||
Redox
Germany24792 Posts
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xM(Z
Romania5257 Posts
is just depressing now; i'm hoping karma exists and dream of some kind of (divine)retribution for all of this. anyway, - https://www.afp.com/en/news/15/moscow-proposes-joint-syria-air-strikes-us-pentagon-rejects-proposal Moscow on Friday proposed that Russia and United States, which have been flying separate bombing campaigns in Syria, launch joint air strikes against jihadists from next week, a proposal the Pentagon swiftly rejected. the exchange+ Show Spoiler +Russia "We are proposing to the US, as the head of the International Syria Support Group, to take part as of May 25 in joint operations between the Russian air force and the air force of the coalition," Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said in televised comments. USShoigu said that the proposal included strikes against Jabhat al-Nusra and other illegal armed groups that do not support a frail truce brokered by Moscow and Washington in February. He also proposed that joint strikes target "convoys containing weapons and ammunition (and) armed units that illegally cross the Syrian-Turkish border." "We believe that adopting these measures will ensure the transition to a peace settlement process over all of Syria's territory," Shoigu said. "Of course, the leadership of the Syrian Arab Republic has agreed to these measures." Hours later Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis rejected Moscow's proposal, saying the US military does "not collaborate or coordinate with the Russians on any operations in Syria." - Russia 'enabling' Assad - "Russian operations are supporting and enabling the Assad regime and our focus is solely on degrading and defeating ISIL," Davis said, referring to the Islamic State jihadist group. Davis added that the Pentagon had received "nothing formal" from its Russian counterpart regarding the proposal. Russia and the United States pledged earlier this month to redouble efforts to find a solution to the Syrian conflict, which has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions since 2011, and extend a truce across the war-torn country. a possible/likely outcome of this circle jerk: Shoigu said Friday that Russia would reserve its right to unilaterally strike "international terrorist and illegal armed groups that have not adhered to the cessation of hostilities" starting from May 25. that would include strikes against rebel factions US supports/uses for its interests, rebel factions backed by Turkey+Saudis. who the fuck knows how that will turn out; one thing is certain tho, more people will die, thousands or tens of thousands more will be displaced and no one who matter will give a fuck. - US is dropping leaflets in Raqqa urging residents to leave http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=76946 (IS is preparing for an assault on Raqqa for about a week now) - Erdogan had Davutoglu resign: Political rivalry between Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and President Erdogan has culminated in the resignation of Davutoglu, prompting fears that Erdogan will be able to grab even more power. - a take on the EU-Turkey bullshit refugees deal from "Anthony Skinner is Director and Head of Political Strategy at Verisk Maplecroft." http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/20/why-the-eu-migrant-deal-matters-to-turkeys-erdogan--even-if-it-fails.html ... but who knows how much is that worth when the greeks deem it illegal from the start http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/press-releases/greek-decision-highlights-fundamental-flaws-in-eu-turkey-refugee-deal Prime Minister Davutoglu resigned from his role on Thursday amid reports of growing tensions with Turkey's president, however he told a press conference that he bore "no grudges" as his party leadership came to an end, Reuters reported. A Syrian national who arrived on the Greek island of Lesvos has won an appeal against a decision that would have led to his forcible return to Turkey, underscoring the fundamental flaws in the migration deal agreed in March between the European Union and Turkey, Amnesty International said today. - Foreign ministers from the 28 members of NATO meet on thursday for a two-day summit in Brussels with obviously not peaceful things in mind http://www.ibtimes.com/nato-foreign-ministers-2-day-summit-kick-brussels-2371125In the first such decision Amnesty International has seen since the deal, an appeals committee in Athens overturned an initial decision considering Turkey a safe third country on the grounds that Turkey does not afford refugees the full protection required under the Refugee Convention. The committee also ruled that Turkey does not guarantee the principle of non-refoulement, which forbids returning someone to a country where he or she is at risk of serious human rights violations. “This decision goes to the heart of why the EU-Turkey deal was so deeply flawed to begin with,” said Gauri van Gulik, Deputy Europe Director at Amnesty International. - US activated its military base in Deveselu, Romania; meaning, the ballistic missile defense site(modeled based on United States' Aegis ships) becomes operational and is pushing for a second one in Poland http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/romania-defense-anger-russia/2016/05/12/id/728464/ DEVESELU, Romania — The United States switched on an $800 million missile shield in Romania on Thursday that it sees as vital to defend itself and Europe from so-called rogue states but the Kremlin says is aimed at blunting its own nuclear arsenal. seriously...Iran?, you made a deal with Iran few months back ...To the music of military bands at the remote Deveselu air base, senior U.S. and NATO officials declared operational the ballistic missile defense site, which is capable of shooting down rockets from countries such as Iran that Washington says could one day reach major European cities. Staffan de Mistura, the forever optimist, is hoping for intra-Syrian peace talks to resume in late May - early July. i wish him luck in his endeavors but it looks grim however you try and spin it. Edit: to topple it all, i forgot to mention that in some circles, there are rumors of Obama trying to secure himself a pension by ways of getting Saudi money(as did Clintons and Blairs); what the fuck do you say to that?... +1 for House of cards?. | ||
zeo
Serbia6175 Posts
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zatic
Zurich15234 Posts
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AssyrianKing
Australia2104 Posts
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xM(Z
Romania5257 Posts
they have to be natives. | ||
AssyrianKing
Australia2104 Posts
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xM(Z
Romania5257 Posts
claiming land is and always was tricky; these days you need the approval of the big G's (G2, G7, G8 w/e) and in the past you needed the approval of the church (Vatican/Rome - catholic, Constantinople - orthodox, etc). history(the mechanism of) repeats itself over and over; if only we'd stop killing the people in the process. | ||
AssyrianKing
Australia2104 Posts
But I just hate how people like the Kurds are lying and saying that they are native in areas where they weren't even in 100 years ago... | ||
{CC}StealthBlue
United States41088 Posts
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TheFish7
United States2824 Posts
On May 21 2016 05:38 xM(Z wrote: seriously...Iran?, you made a deal with Iran few months back ... They're probably really more worried about missiles from Pakistan. Iran is just the boogeyman they use to justify the $800,000,000 | ||
xM(Z
Romania5257 Posts
http://www.euronews.com/newswires/3199736-putin-vows-russian-retaliation-over-us-missile-shield/ + Show Spoiler + ATHENS (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday warned Romania and Poland they could find themselves in the sights of Russian rockets because they are hosting elements of a U.S. missile shield that Moscow considers a threat to its security. Putin issued his starkest warning yet over the missile shield, saying that Moscow had stated repeatedly that it would have to take retaliatory steps but that Washington and its allies had ignored the warnings. “If yesterday in those areas of Romania people simply did not know what it means to be in the cross-hairs, then today we will be forced to carry out certain measures to ensure our security,” Putin told a joint news conference in Athens with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. “It will be the same case with Poland,” he said. Putin did not specify what actions Russia would take, but he insisted that it was not making the first step, only responding to moves by Washington. “We won’t take any action until we see rockets in areas that neighbour us.” there used to be some negotiations every now and then between US, Moldova, Romania and Russia over Trans-Dniester region+ Show Spoiler + ; well that went to shit fast. - as US, US backed kurdish led forces(kurds plus some SDF(arab)) started pushing towards Raqqa(the caliphates alleged capital), pictures of US troops on the front lines wearing kurdish insignias surfaced. Turkey got its panties in a bunch and after some enraged protests(in media mostly) triggered an US reaction http://www.voanews.com/content/united-states-forces-syria-ordered-remove-kurdish-patches/3349384.html + Show Spoiler + PENTAGON — U.S. special forces in Syria who were wearing patches of a Kurdish fighting group have been ordered to remove them because of "political sensitivities," a spokesman for the coalition fighting Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria said Friday. - the earlier russian request of US - joint strikes in Syria, looks to be about russian (air)strikes in Raqqa which would give them some dibs rights. - IS is pushing westward along turkish border towards YPG(syrian kurds) held territories while passing through and fighting with some FSA militias along the way; http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/world/2016/05/27/isis-grabs-syrian-territory-near-turkish-border-stranding-civilians/xRurvyO44tIFYaP0lbk3NK/story.html + Show Spoiler + BEIRUT — Islamic State militants on Friday seized a string of villages from Syrian rebels near the Turkish border in rapid advances that forced the evacuation of a hospital and trapped tens of thousands of people, opposition activists and aid officials said. The advances in the northern Aleppo province brought the militants to within 2 miles of the rebel-held town of Azaz and cut off supplies to Marea further south, another rebel stronghold north of Aleppo city. politically/diplomatically that can be exploited by any party: - gives legitimacy to russians(not that they really care abut that) to attack and take that whole region(they have to pass through Al-Nusra and FSA first but still...); - gives legitimacy to turks to make more incursions/attacks into syrian territory but while Turkey says its to kill IS, syrian kurds said they are (also?)the ones attacked in Rojava http://en.alalam.ir/news/1822728 ; turks may even push for that would be UN sanctioned free-zone they've been asking for since all of this started. - gives legitimacy to US and its kurdish backed SDF rebels to take over that territory from IS(since the now ex-FSA territory couldn't be claimed by them) and maybe unite the syrian eastern and western kurdish regions; that would be a pretty major geopolitical achievement(it will depend some on the YPG(western syrian kurds since they worked with the russians on some occasions)) for US. - russians and the regime+iranians are fighting in Aleppo, Deir al-Zor, Homs, Damascus and Idlib with successes and some peace deals (pro-regime media) http://en.abna24.com/service/middle-east-west-asia/archive/2016/05/29/756955/story.html + Show Spoiler + AhlulBayt News Agency - The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the Syrian opposition forces – primarily Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham and Jabhat Al-Nusra (Syrian Al-Qaeda group) – have agreed to a 15 day ceasefire in order to collect their dead from the village of Al-Deirkhabiyah. This ceasefire agreement reportedly began with the opposition forces handing over the bodies of the dead Syrian Arab Army soldiers at Deirkhabiyah. The agreement in the Khan Al-Sheih region of the West Ghouta is set to expire on June 12th; it will be monitored by the Russian forces in the Damascus area. - there were several major bombings on Syria's western coast http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-latakia-idUSKCN0YE0PB + Show Spoiler + Bombs killed nearly 150 people and wounded at least 200 in Jableh and Tartous on Syria's Mediterranean coast on Monday in the government-controlled territory that hosts Russian military bases, monitors and state media said. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks in the cities that have up to now escaped the worst of the violence in the five-year-old conflict, saying it was targeting members of President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite minority. - there's a tropical bug spreading across Syria/Middlde East: A disfiguring tropical disease that had been contained to Syria has now spread across the Middle East as millions are displaced from the war-torn region. Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease spread by bites from infected sand flies. It can lead to severe scarring, often on the face, and regularly goes undiagnosed and untreated + Show Spoiler + - some hint of peace talks + Show Spoiler + Syrian opposition groups will resume their participation in peace talks in Geneva, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported yesterday. The official spokesman for the Supreme Syrian Commission of the negotiations Riad Nassan Agha told the news site: “It is important to resume the political process although it does not have immediate results,” noting that the political solution is the opposition’s “first choice”. Regarding media reports that Russia has been trying to write a new constitution for Syria, Agha said: “Syrians will write their own constitution.” He also revealed that the Commission would start a national dialogue with all opposition parties in order to achieve a wider representation and a “stronger” national unity. He also hinted that there might be Kurdish representation in the opposition body in Geneva. The UN Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura is expected to call for a fourth round of talks in Geneva in the middle of the next month. However, he noted that he would not do this before achieving a ceasefire. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20160528-syrian-opposition-to-resume-participation-in-geneva-3/ Amman // A new push by western and Arab-backed rebel forces is under way in southern Syria to defeat ISIL factions dug in close to the Jordanian and Israeli borders. ...The campaign has been orchestrated by Military Operations Command (MOC) in Amman, the secretive centre staffed by army and intelligence officers from the US, UK and Arab Gulf states which has played a central role in arming and organizing rebel forces fighting against Bashar Al Assad. http://www.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/us-and-arab-backed-rebels-open-new-front-against-isil-in-southern-syria | ||
Holy_AT
Austria978 Posts
All the millions of refugees should be sent directly to the US and England and we will see how long the populous tolerates the warmongering shit of their governments when they see the fallout arrive on their doorsteps... They should deploy their mighty fleet in the Mediterranean sea and take on all the refugees and set sail home for New York or florida or where ever .... | ||
TheKwas
Iceland372 Posts
On May 25 2016 17:35 AssyrianKing wrote: s. God forbid the Kurds have any autonomy, they aren't even native to that land, all of them are from Turkey -.- ...What? Kurds in Qamishlo city are mostly migrants from the troubles and the troubles account for many of their numbers, but Kurds have had settlements in Syria since before the Crusades. Saladin (a kurd) ruled his dynasty from Damascus and brought with him Kurdish tribes and chieftains. Most of the Kurdish settlements in Hasaka province trace back to Ottoman times and the Afrin region was actually a Kurdish-ran Ottoman administrative unit and specifically mentioned as such in Ottoman documents. For nearly as long as 'Kurds" have been accepted as an ethnic group, they have been living in Syria. | ||
Salazarz
Korea (South)2405 Posts
On May 25 2016 17:35 AssyrianKing wrote: God forbid the Kurds have any autonomy, they aren't even native to that land, all of them are from Turkey -.- Aside from your statement being factually wrong, how do you think Turkey treats them? | ||
lastpuritan
United States540 Posts
And for the US wearing Kurdish badges, or US wearing any opposition badge is a shame to country and what it fights for decades. They can help them, they can arm them, but wearing badge is something big. Think of a scenario KKK fighting Taliban on US soil somehow and Russia wearing KKK badges. | ||
TheKwas
Iceland372 Posts
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