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And next, Syria?

Need to be made clear this is Raqqa province not city - they're still 50 miles from the city (twice the distance of the SDF) and have to negotiate the Tabiq airbase to reach it. Something that won't be quick or easy. SDF have no such obstacles. They also don't have an increasingly shaky grip on deir-ezzor (ISIS adavances + the regime letting people out of jail to join the regime forces stationed there) that the regime does and who may well have to move its depleted forces there rather push on to the city - not to mention the current and ongoing defeats in south aleppo. Some are already suggesting is a short term symbolic move.
 
The SDF Manbij operation is going ridiculously well. So well that they may need to slow down a bit to keep the groups together. And remember, Erdogan warned that a single YPG foot on the west bank of the Euphrates was a red line. Whole operation loks very well planned. SDF/YPG are suggesting an attack on Dabiq to the west of Manbij at the same time - i don't believe it, but the beardies might...

bcb48c39lfqdq9tzg.jpg
 
it's useless to frame it in those terms. it means the Islamic State are pretty far up shit creak, but even if they were completely destroyed tomorrow, it would be still far from over in the Syrian Civil War, and this situation has tended to get more complicated as time goes on.
 
Idris2002 said:
butchersapron - genuine question: does this mean the good guys are winning?
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Means ISIS are being removed from large parts of north east Syria by a better force and, importantly, that it's not the worst force in the conflict (the regime) taking back the area. It's better than what went before and is the only option that opens up possible progressive routes other than a straight regime vs beardies conflict.
 
Looks like the Fsa and allies have now won back nearly all that territory they lost two weeks ago when it looked like their days were numbered. Beardies retreating towards manbij. As expected the SDF offensive there did relieve some of the pressure. Question now is if the various groups under the fsa banner can work out a more coherent and united method of working now they've seen just how perilous things can get very quickly.
 
...and on that last point:

Rebel outlets say this morning that control has been restored over the villages of Kaljibrin and Kafr Kalbin, with ISIS withdrawing its fighters. Mines are now being dismantled on the Mare’-Azaz road.

Rebels, who have been accused of losing ground to ISIS because of a lack of coordination, announced on Tuesday that they unified command with the formation of the Mu’tasim Brigade.

The formation of the Brigade appears to have spurred US supplies, with two airdrops reported so far.
 
butchersapron said:
That Tim Anderson has faked up pictures of Geri, added them to some pro-jihad poster type thing he made up (with other vocal anti-assad types) and spread it over the internet. He was also invited to speak at a syrian refugee conference in greece in the coming weeks arranged by STWC types (including that pampered clown tariq ali) that didn't feature a single refugee or syrian. His public loonery has since led to a disinvitation. Only because of bad publicity, not because of ideological rejection.

He's a proper loons loon.
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Reinvited now.

edit: and paul mason now pulled out as a result.
 
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butchersapron said:
Reinvited now.

edit: and paul mason now pulled out as a result.
Click to expand...

They seem to have pulled a fast one with the invitation to this guy. They invited him as a keynote speaker, then rescinded the invitation. But then they seem to have accepted a paper or workshop proposal from him.

This is the same fruitcake who wrote this piece arguing that the Assadists didn't bomb any hospitals but even if they did bombing unregistered hospitals is fine: http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-al...l-qaeda-massacres-in-syria-once-again/5524250
 
The regime finally allowed some aid into Darayya - a full five trucks. Wow. And all half empty as the regimes troops had already looted them for medical supplies that Assad and his jihadi nutter allies can't supply. They immediately followed up (like hours after) this generous move with...20 barrel bombs and shelling the town.

Manbij now fully encircled.
 
REPORT: The UN is Taking Sides in Syria

By choosing to prioritise cooperation with the Syrian government at all costs, the UN has enabled the distribution of billions of dollars of international aid to be directed by one side in the conflict. This has contributed to the deaths of thousands of civilians, either through starvation, malnutrition-related illness, or a lack of access to medical aid. It has also led to the accusation that this misshapen UN aid operation is affecting – perhaps prolonging – the course of the conflict itself.
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Facing this attack on their humanitarian principles, UN agencies did not unite or set out red lines or conditions for their cooperation with the Syrian government. Rather, they chose to accept the government’s constraints on their operation. As a result, a culture of compliance was born. UN agencies were unwilling to push hard for access to areas outside of government control. In the words of one recent evaluation by the UN itself, agencies were

“simply not willing to jeopardise their operations in Syria by taking a tougher stance with the government. The reasons for this are beyond the scope of this evaluation, but will surely be scrutinised unfavourably at a later point.”
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Wont be able to read as unfortunately it's a Wall street Journal article which is subscription only. My initial feelings on this are 'ain't gonna happen' and it's more a reflection of the frustration coming from officials towards the administration (as the first bit of the article that you can see says) and also a reflection of the balls-up that is the lack of co-ordination between the DoD and the CIA.

Stuff like this



Ah actually just found this

 
It was on the radio this morning that the Verfassungschutz (German MI5/Special Branch) had caught an Assadist spy among the Syrian refugees here in Sachsen-Anhalt.
 
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