Syrian Civil War (Graphic Photos/Vid Not Allowed)

[500]

Putin and Assad keep bombing Mar3a which is surrounded from 3 sides by ISIS, thus they effectively act as ISIS air force.

 

[ultron]

Putin and Assad keep bombing Mar3a which is surrounded from 3 sides by ISIS, thus they effectively act as ISIS air force.

 

[Serpentine]

Rebels have retaken Marj al Sultan town

No they haven't.

 

[Solomon2]

Saturday, December 19, 2015
There will be no "Goldstone" for airstrikes killing Syrian civilians, UN says

​

From Al Arabiya:

A United Nations team of war crimes investigators will not probe air strikes by foreign countries in Syria, its chairman said on Wednesday, despite concerns that some attacks by foreign militaries could have violated the laws of war.

The U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria is not intended to investigate air strikes in Syria by foreign nations, Chairman Paulo Pinheiro said.

“It is not our mandate to investigate the behavior of powers involved in the crisis of Syria,” Pinheiro told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a telephone interview.

It would not probe potential cases of violations of international human rights law involving nations conducting military strikes in Syria, he said.

“There is no possibility that we will investigate the American air strikes or French or British or Russian,” he said.

The decision reflected a desire not to meddle into the affairs of powers outside Syria as well as limited means at the group’s disposal, Pinheiro added.

Some observers have cited instances that disproportionately hit civilians and civil infrastructure, and Pinheiro and his three co-commissioners have repeatedly cautioned powers to follow the laws of war.​

"Besides," UN officials would have loved to add, "we all know that there is only one Western nation that we hold to any standards whatsoever. And even when that nation exceeds all standards that we set for ourselves, we find them guilty anyway!"

I love the "limited means" argument. The UN holds meetings practically every week all over the world to denounce Israel (we mentioned one in Jakarta last week), it has multiple committees and groups dedicated to nothing else but demonizing Israel, yet they can't scrape the money together to investigate any other nations that are far worse in their wartime activities. Funny, that.

 

[ultron]

Iraqis fire Iranian TOW in southern Aleppo province

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CWeHuznWoAEolKo.jpg


Assad side fires an ATGM and blows up a rebel tank

 

[Beidou2020]

Assad's Army about to recapture Palmyra from terrorists
Syrian Army approaches the gates of Palmyra as ISIS calls for reinforcements

Another victory for Syria
Syrian Army cuts the Islamists main supply route to the West Ghouta in rural Damascus

Every day is a good day, victory for Assad in every single front plus daily deaths for thousands of terrorists thanks to Russian bombs. Good job Syria, Russia, Iran and Iraq.

Syrian army is retaking positions in Latakia and Aleppo.

This war will finish soon. ISIS, Turkmens and Al Nusra are losing big time.

 

[pak-marine]

Syria war: Report claims 'third of rebels share IS aims'

• 2 hours ago
  
• From the sectionMiddle East

Image copyrightReuters
Image captionAbout 100,000 Syrian rebels share the Islamic State ideology, research claims
Are there 70,000 Syrian 'moderates' ready to back UK?

• Turkey's downing of Russian warplane - what we know

• Russia to Turkey: Don't try it again

• Was jet downing an overreaction?

At least 15 rebel forces in Syria are ready to succeed so-called Islamic State (IS) if it is defeated by the US-led coalition, new research suggests.

The Centre on Religion and Geopolitics, linked to former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, also says that 60% of the rebels could be classified as Islamists.

It argues that attempts by world powers to distinguish between moderate and extremist factions are flawed.

Western countries have stepped up air strikes against IS in Syria and Iraq.

But the Centre on Religion and Geopolitics said the greatest danger to the international community was groups who share the IS ideology but are currently being ignored.

They number about 100,000 fighters, the centre said.

"The West risks making a strategic failure by focusing only on IS," the centre said. "Defeating it militarily will not end global jihadism. We cannot bomb an ideology, but our war is ideological."

If IS is defeated, dispersed fighters and other extremists could attack targets outside Syria under a rallying cry that "the West destroyed the Caliphate", the centre warned.

Such new groups could compete for the spotlight to ensure allegiance from the global fighters and financing that IS currently attracts.

By contrast, fewer than a quarter of the rebels surveyed were not ideological, the centre said.

But many of those were willing to fight alongside extremists and would probably accept an Islamist political settlement to the civil war, it claimed.

In response, the military campaign against IS must be accompanied by an "intellectual and theological defeat of the pernicious ideology that drives it", the centre said.

It also said that unless Syrian President Bashar al-Assad leaves or is removed from office, the war in the country is likely to spread further.

 

[500]

Since Syrians refuse to fight for Assad, Iran sends swarms of foreign Shia cannon fodder non stop:

 

[Serpentine]

Allied troops captured Qarasi and Khan Tuman strategic town, cutting off Damascus-Aleppo international highway (distance to the highway is 1.5 km which is easily within firing range of ATGMs).

 

[500]

Allied troops captured Qarasi and Khan Tuman strategic town, cutting off Damascus-Aleppo international highway (distance to the highway is 1.5 km which is easily within firing range of ATGMs).

As I said several times before that road is not active for over 3 years. Capturing its piece has no whatsoever importance.

Funny that tonight Israel eliminates 2 terrorists with pinpoint strike and Ayatulas call is "state terror". Meanwhile today Assadists murdered 50 civilians in Idlib

Thats after yesterday's massacre in Jisr.

 

[ultron]

Assad side captured Khan Tuman. Graphic. Viewer discretion is advised.

 

[HAIDER]

Assad side captured Khan Tuman. Graphic. Viewer discretion is advised.

Its sad Suadi tracks in this mess.

 

[patientlion212]

I think that the most important news lately, is the so called "Islamic military coalition" announced by the Saudis, and how serious the Saudis are in their war against terror, given their History of non military interference, but after tasting blood in Yemen , they seem to have liked the proxy wars game and that they are now ready to move hundreds of armies to the "middle earth" to face Daesh orcs, news say Sen McCain and Sen Graham said in a visit to Baghdad that there will be a ground war, but when asked about the American public opinion about it, they affirmed that 90% of the troops will be Arabs and 10% will be western, the war is gonna be against the terrorists of Daesh and Nusra, the sources says the war is gonna be in late 2016 .

so do you think these two are delutional, or the ground war is gonna happen ?

 

[Madali]

I think that the most important news lately, is the so called "Islamic military coalition" announced by the Saudis, and how serious the Saudis are in their war against terror, given their History of non military interference, but after tasting blood in Yemen , they seem to have liked the proxy wars game and that they are now ready to move hundreds of armies to the "middle earth" to face Daesh orcs, news say Sen McCain and Sen Graham said in a visit to Baghdad that there will be a ground war, but when asked about the American public opinion about it, they affirmed that 90% of the troops will be Arabs and 10% will be western, the war is gonna be against the terrorists of Daesh and Nusra, the sources says the war is gonna be in late 2016 .

so do you think these two are delutional, or the ground war is gonna happen ?

Most of the armies of the "Islamic military coalition" haven't yet agreed to be militarily be involved. Plus, some countries don't even have armies (what army is Palestine going to contribute?). Plus, plus, some of the countries aren't even considered "islamic countries" in that coalition.

 

[patientlion212]

Most of the armies of the "Islamic military coalition" haven't yet agreed to be militarily be involved. Plus, some countries don't even have armies (what army is Palestine going to contribute?). Plus, plus, some of the countries aren't even considered "islamic countries" in that coalition.

exactly, but the US wants it n is pushing for it, Saudis gave Sisi 30 billion with 5 years of basically free oil, they wouldn't do it for free, imagine how many soldiers around the world they can mobilize if they want