Saudi Arabia preparing attack on Syria

[Bengal_Tiger]

UPDATE:

Syrian government forces take Homs.

The fact that the core of Syria’s third largest city is back in government control is a major triumph for President Bashar Assad and the latest setback for rebels fighting to oust him. In a deal with Syrian authorities, some 2,000 insurgents agreed to leave the Old City last week and were given safe passage out.

http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-syria-homs-bashar-assad-20140512-story.html

Saudi Arabia wants the Iranians to send delegates to visit their country.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/saudi-arabia-extends-historic-invitation-to-iran/

- Saudi Arabia's war against Syria is essentially a war against Iran. If it was not in a de facto cold war against Iran then Saudi Arabia would not be attempting to remove Assad. If it ends hostilities with Iran there is no need for it to remove Assad.


- Saudi and Iran have already seemed to reach some sort of compromises in both Lebanon and Bahrain.




Syrian army retakes Homs.

[Bengal_Tiger]

Saudi bid to Iran, admission of defeat

By Finian Cunningham

It sounds as if the House of Saud is finally admitting to defeat in its regional proxy terror wars.

This week the Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al Faisal bin Abdulaziz made an apparently surprise announcement indicating that the oil-rich Arab kingdom wanted to improve relations with Iran.

Western media reports suggested that the Saudi rulers are sending a friendly overture to Iran. 'Saudi Arabia moves to ease regional tensions with Iran,' read a headline in the London-based Financial Times.

For decades, the Wahhabi House of Saud, with its extreme Takfiri religious beliefs and its repressive monarchial system, has viewed Shia Iran as its archenemy, ever since the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

Saudi Arabia, for example, bankrolled the US-backed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to launch a gratuitous war against Iran between 1980-1988, with the objective of destroying the Iranian Revolution. That war resulted in more than one million total deaths.

The Saudi rulers are always accusing Iran of fomenting secret plots to destabilize the autocratic kingdom or its Persian Gulf Arab allies. They claim with absolutely no proof that an Iranian hand is stirring unrest in Bahrain, Yemen and in the oil-rich Eastern Provinces of the kingdom itself.

Now, it seems, a new era of conciliation is suddenly upon us, with the Saudi foreign minister this week sending an invitation to his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, saying that he is welcome "any time he chooses" to visit the capital, Riyadh.

"Iran is a neighbor, we have relations with them, and we will negotiate with them," Al Faisal told reporters.

This is a marked shift in Saudi attitude. At the end of last year, following the landmark interim nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group of six world powers, the Iranian foreign minister's proposal to visit Saudi Arabia as part of a Persian Gulf tour of neighboring states was reportedly snubbed then by the House of Saud.

The Saudi rulers were fuming at the success for Iranian diplomacy and the prospect of a breakthrough in the nuclear deadlock, which would normalize Iran's international relations and greatly enhance the country's regional prowess.

So, what has changed? It seems most likely that the failure of the Saudi-backed covert war of terror in Syria has prompted this sharp reassessment of attitude in Riyadh.

This week sees the beginning of the end of the Western and Saudi-backed regime change operation in Syria. That foreign-backed covert terror war has been running for more than three years with an estimated death toll of 150,000. The Saudi rulers have spent billions of dollars funding Takfiri extremist groups in a bid to topple the government of Bashar Assad, a close ally of Iran.

But this week, the main base of the militants - Homs Old City in Central Syria - was finally retaken by government forces, and thousands of residents were able to return to reclaim their homes and other property. There were bittersweet scenes as droves of civilians returned to war-strewn homes.

Homs, which was cloyingly mislabeled in the Western misinformation news media as the "cradle" of the so-called revolution, is now the graveyard for the foreign-sponsored covert terror war.

With this crucial logistical loss of Homs to the mercenary groups, the Syrian Arab Army is now gaining further momentum to retake other last remaining areas held by the foreign-backed militants around the northern city of Aleppo and in Idlib Province.

Moreover, Syrian citizens are rallying in massive numbers to support incumbent President Assad, ahead of the country's elections on June 3. Assad is expected to win another third term in office.

There is thus an unequivocal sense that Syria is slowly but surely emerging from the foreign-backed nightmare that the country was plunged into back in March 2011.

The scenes of victorious recovery for the Syrian nation dispel the Western propaganda myths of a "democratic uprising". The retaking of Homs, under a deal brokered by Russia and Iran last week, also spells the abject failure of the Saudi plot to destroy Syria, along with their other Western, Turk and Israeli terror sponsors.

That's why the Saudi minister sounded this week like he was trying to negotiate the terms of surrender with Iran, without actually uttering the word "surrender" of course.

"We will negotiate with them [Iran]," said Al Faisal, as if the mere act of diplomatic talking was a major concession to the enemy.

"We will talk with them in the hope that if there are any differences, they will be settled to the satisfaction of both countries," added the senior House of Saud figure.

In other words, the Saudi rulers are not approaching Iran out of any genuine conciliatory motive. They are desperately trying to limit the damage stemming from their proxy terror wars that they have fueled in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon. And they want Iran to somehow help them smooth this process of damage limitation.

"Our hope is that Iran becomes a part of the effort to make the region as safe as possible," Al Faisal said.

The audacity of this statement is the implication that Iran is the country that has instigated violence and conflict, when it is the Saudis who have unleashed murderous mayhem across the region targeting Shia, Sunni, Alawites, Armenians, Christians and any other people who have courageously stood in the way of Takiri totalitarianism. And now the Saudis want Iran to "make the region as safe as possible".

The House of Saud needs to realize this: those who are defeated are in no position to dictate terms. And especially when the defeated ones are guilty of vast crimes against humanity.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/05/14/362660/saudi-bid-to-iran-admission-of-defeat/

1. The article may largely be accurate but PressTV is an Iranian propaganda mouthpiece and the following quote from the article is nonsense:

The Saudi rulers are always accusing Iran of fomenting secret plots to destabilize the autocratic kingdom or its Persian Gulf Arab allies. They claim with absolutely no proof that an Iranian hand is stirring unrest in Bahrain, Yemen and in the oil-rich Eastern Provinces of the kingdom itself.

The Iranians have a hand in both Yemen and Bahrain, everyone knows this. This is like denying Saudi involvement in Syria.

The Saudis do have genuine concerns about Iran and Shia expansionism.


2. The Saudis seem to have accepted that they have lost the war in Syria.


3. The Iranians themselves however have in their turn seem to accepted that they need to compromise on many things due to western sanctions and the fear of internal unrest overthrowing the Khomeneist regime there.

Iran cannot continue to engage in destabilizing Muslim countries, promoting terrorism and adventurism. Both Iran and Saudi are seen as negative influences by the wider Muslim world though Iran is far more isolated.

[Bengal_Tiger]

Reshufflement in Saudi Arabia



Following his meeting on 14 May 2014 with U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia proceeded to reshuffle his cabinet:
- Prince Salman bin Sultan (half-brother of Prince Bandar) was relieved of his duties as Deputy Defense Minister. He supervised the formation of an army in Jordan to invade Syria.
- Two deputy defense ministers were appointed: Prince Khaled bin Bandar (former Governor of Riyadh) and Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Ayash.
- General Hussein Al-Qubail, Chief of Staff, was removed from office and pensioned off. He was replaced by General Ben Abderrahman Al-Saleh Boniane. General Al-Fayadh Ruwili was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff.
- General Mohamed Al-Shaalan was promoted to commander of the Air Force.
- General Abdullah Al-Sultan was appointed Commander of the Navy.

Then, Secretary Chuck Hagel attended the first meeting of the Joint Defense Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

These military appointments presented the King with the opportunity to strengthen the ascendancy of his branch of the family branch. Henceforth:
- While Prince Salman is still crown prince, the King’s half-brother, Prince Muqrin, is deputy crown prince.
- Prince Turki bin Abdullah (son of the King) was named governor of Riyadh.
- Prince Mishaal (son of the King) is governor of Mecca.
- Prince Miteb (eldest son of the king) is the commander of the National Guard.
- Prince Abdulaziz (son of the king) is Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

http://www.voltairenet.org/article183838.html

- Bandar bin Sultan has been kicked out of his position by Abdullah Al-Saud, the "King" of Saudi Arabia.



This is humiliation for Bandar and the Saudi regime in general. In the past a Saudi terrorist thug using the internet handle "Yzd Khalifa", and a high-level Saudi regime official, was boasting of Saudi Arabia's ability to carry out terrorism against Russia a threat which Bandar was well known for. Now Bandar has been kicked out and the Saudi regime thug "Yzd Khalifa" went on to defence.pk to deny that it was a dismissal and claimed that Bandar had been "promoted".




- Abdullah Al-Saud is locked in a power struggle with other "princes" of the Saud tribe and wants to concentrate power in the hands of his own immediate family e.g. his sons. He has promoted his sons to key positions.

Bandar was seen at one time a potential future king, or at least a very important person. However his failure to realize the Saudi agenda in Syria has led to his demise and humiliation.

It remains to be seen whether the Saudi regime will stop sponsoring terrorism in Syria.






New Saudi law banning criticism of the country or regime.



Saudis know they are losing the war in Syria.

[Da Bannu Mazdigar]

funny,the bangali is supporting syria even though assad is responsible for thousand of innocents muder in syria

I know the majority of the people of Bangladesh support the sunni club.

Whether KSA was involved in syria or not but no one can deny that Assad doesnt deserve to atleast kill the people that has tolerated them for 4 decades(his father also).

respecting the 80%+ sunni majority of Syria.He shoudl have step down himself instead of the bloodshed done by his forces.

[Bengal_Tiger]

Da Bannu Mazdigar
This message is hidden because Da Bannu Mazdigar is on your ignore list.

I don't know if this is another of your regular personal attacks or insults against my family but stay away from my threads.

I do not insult you or your family. Nor do I waste my time taking part in any threads you start (in fact I boycott them), I simply ignore you.

Bye.

[Da Bannu Mazdigar]

I don't know if this is another of your regular personal attacks or insults against my family but stay away from my threads.

I do not insult you or your family. Nor do I waste my time taking part in any threads you start (in fact I boycott them), I simply ignore you.

Bye.

lpc

[Bengal_Tiger]

JISR SHOUGHOUR



Syrian journalist, Shiba Mansour reporting from near Jisr Shoughour.






SyAF (Syrian Air Force) is bombing any vehicle coming near the hospital in Jisr Shoughour where Syrian soldiers are besieged which they suspect might be a suicide bombing attempt, lots of militants reportedly killed.

Some say the hospital siege is actually a trap set up by the SAA (Syrian Arab Army) to suck in lots of militants who will then be bombed and killed thus depleting militant manpower.



SAA troops near Jisr Shoughur.




QALAMOON

Lebanese organization Hizbullah has made major gains in the Qalamoon region bordering Lebanon.





NDF (National Defence forces) after capturing Talat Musa in Qalamoon.



Weaponry captured off Jubhat an Nusra by Hizbullah.









PALMYRA


Clashes between SAA forces and militants.


DEIR AZ-ZOUR



SAA tank personnel.



OTHER PICTURES OF SAA PERSONNEL















SAA personnel stuck in Jisr Shoughur hospital in what some believe is a deliberate ploy to suck in and wipe out as many militant fighters as possible.

[Bengal_Tiger]

The SyAF does not enjoy air superiority but complete air supremacy, complete control of Syrian skies and thus ability to inflict massive aerial damage on anti-government militant forces.









The Syrian Arab Army is said to be fighting at 70 different points through out the country against foreign-backed militants, as well as defending the country from potential foreign aggressors e.g. Turkey.


It is however backed militarily by Iran, Russia and China.

This probably includes satellite images from Russia used on a daily basis.



Russian satellite.



Russian military personnel.

[Bengal_Tiger]

- The western media (propaganda machine) have for years been saying that Assad is on the verge of collapse, the truth is he isn't at all.

- A lot of people are unaware of the military successes (as well as setbacks) of his regime.

However the war really needs to end, the people of Syria are suffering.

Assad, Saudi, Iran, Turkey, Qatar, America none of them really care about the people of Syria, most of all Saudi, Iran, America and Turkey.

Let's make du'a this horrific war ends soon insha'Allah.

In the long run even if Assad does indeed defeat the American-backed militants, he will not be able to rule Syria for the long-term future as he has too much blood on his hands.



Syrian boy in eastern Ghouta, being starved by Assad's army.



23 children killed today by a bomb carried out by US-backed militants.


The only winner here is the USA, which gets to see innocent people dying.

The biggest loser is humanity.

[Bengal_Tiger]

- ISIS are reported to have captured the city of Palmyra (Tadmoour in Arabic) in the north-east of the country.

- Some are speculating it is now only a matter of time that ISIS will take Deir az-Zour.


- With the fall of Idlib and Palmyra, anti-Assad commentators are saying that the end of his regime is imminent.

This is ridiculous.


Assad's forces did not have control of Homs, the 3rd (some even say 2nd) biggest city in Syria for 3 years and then last year retook it.

Homs is far more important than a city like Idlib or Palmyra with its Roman ruins.



SAA forces regaining control of Syria's 3rd biggest city Homs, last year after 3 years of fighting.

The loss of Homs to Assad forces last year was a far bigger loss to militants than the loss of Palmyra or the more important Idlib is to the Assad regime.

If anyone had said that the fall of Homs to the Assad regime meant the end of the militants campaign they would have been wrong.

Also likewise the fall of Idlib and Palmyra is far from being the end of the Assad regime.



SAA forces capturing Homs last year, probably their biggest triumph in the 5 years of war.





What happens now?


This however is a major development.

The key question is what happens now.

What do the:

Russia-China-Iran-Iraq-Syria axis do?



For the sake of keeping my post short, I won't go in to detail about all the possible cards they have in their sleeves, but at the moment the Assad government runs the country i.e. the capital, coast and main cities (excluding the whole of Aleppo).

There is no real threat to their control of Damascus, the coast or Homs.

The Turks seem to have got the message that they can't engage in an all out war with Iran.

The Saudis themselves are now entangled in Yemen where they are destroying that country to pieces and thus the lives of over 20 million Arabs.

20 million hungry and starving Arabs right next door to Saudi Arabia is not good for the Saudis in the long run, even if they care little now and are happy at how much damage they can inflict with their expensive toys from America.




Some are speculating that if things really got bad for Assad - which they haven't, Iran will itself send huge amounts of troops to Syria.

After that if the Iranian option doesn't work (which it probably would), then ultimately Russian troops would be sent to Syria with Russian planes wiping the American-backed militants out.

Will the Saudi war against Syria succeed. It looks like it will be very difficult.



Iranian troops.



Russian troops.

[Bengal_Tiger]

Update:

Syrian troops have carried out operations through out the country eliminating insurgents in many different places.

- They are amassing troops just outside Palmyra to regain the city.

- They are on the verge of completely capturing Zabadani close to the border with Lebanon.

- The Iraqis are working with the Syrians and Iraq closed its border with Jordan recently in a sign of anger. The Jordanian-Iraq border is vital to Jordan and its economy.

Jordan supports anti-Assad rebels based in the south of Syria.


- Turkey has backed off from a supposed (yet again) invasion of Syria and there are reports that patriot missiles were hacked, a warning to both Germany and Turkey.


Pictures:



ISIS fighter.

Link





Syrian government troops.

[Bengal_Tiger]

Syria's Assad - Army focussing on holding most important areas

BEIRUT | BY SULEIMAN AL-KHALIDI, TOM PERRY AND LAILA BASSAM

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Sunday the army had been forced to give up areas in order to hold onto more important ones in its fight with insurgents, and the scale of the war meant the military faced a manpower shortage.

In a remarkably frank assessment of the strains afflicting the Syrian military after more than four years of conflict, Assad said the type of war confronting Syria meant the army could not fight everywhere for risk of losing vital ground.

"Sometimes, in some circumstances, we are forced to give up areas to move those forces to the areas that we want to hold onto," Assad said in a televised speech. "We must define the important regions that the armed forces hold onto so it doesn't allow the collapse of the rest of the areas."

Assad has absorbed a series of battlefield defeats since March. He lost most of the northwestern province of Idlib to an insurgent alliance including the al Qaeda-backed Nusra Front, and important areas of the southern region along the border with Jordan to mainstream groups of the "Southern Front".

In addition, ultra-hardline Islamic State insurgents seized the central city of Palmyra from the Syrian military in May.

The Syrian government's territorial control stands at no more than 25 percent of the country, with the rest divided among an array of armed groups including Islamic State, other rebel groups and a well-organised Kurdish militia, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the war. But the state-held area is home to the majority of the population.

Assad said increased support from states backing the rebels -- including Turkey -- was the reason for recent setbacks that had created "a state of despair" among Syrians. Syria is in a war funded by the richest and most powerful states, he said.

But Assad struck a defiant tone, saying there would be no compromise solutions, and he dismissed the view that Syria was heading towards partition into areas run separately by the Damascus government and armed groups fighting him.

"Everything is available (for the army), but there is a shortfall in human capacity," Assad said. "Despite that, I am not presenting a dark picture."

Assad said an amnesty announced yesterday for men at home and abroad who have dodged military service would encourage thousands of conscripts who wanted to join the army but held back because of penalities slapped on them.

Military reversals for Assad have ever more reduced his control beyond the main population centres of western Syria that comprise the cities of Damascus, Homs, Hama, and the coastal region forming the heartland of his Alawite sect.

In the assessment of many diplomats and analysts, Assad has been forced to forgo some far-flung parts of the country to focus efforts on protecting more defensible areas in the west.

Some diplomats say that Iran, his main regional ally, has advised him to retrench.

The army still, however, has footholds in the northeast, the east, and the south, in addition to Syria's second city Aleppo.

Assad said the idea behind giving up territory was to allow for later counter-attacks. "From a military point of view, holding to this area, or that patch, would lead to the recovery of the other areas."

CREDITING HEZBOLLAH

The government's military setbacks have triggered renewed pledges of support from Assad's main regional allies, the Shi'ite Islamist government of Iran and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, which is fighting alongside the Syrian army.

Assad spoke for the first time publicly about Iranian military support, saying Tehran's role was limited to the provision of military experts. He also for the first time publicly credited Hezbollah for its "important" role.

Hezbollah is playing a central part in an ongoing offensive to drive insurgents from the Lebanese-Syrian border.

Western officials have said the military pressure on Assad could pave the way to a political deal that would see Assad step down as demanded by the United States and other Western states.

Syria's conflict began as a street uprising against four decades of authoritarian rule by the Assad family.

The U.N. envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, is due to address the Security Council next week on consultations he has held with combatants and other parties involved in the war.

But Assad stuck to the position that any political proposal for resolving the war must be based on "eliminating terrorism" -- a broad-brush reference to rebels arrayed against him.

Assad said there were "positive" changes in Western attitudes towards Syria's conflict - a reference to the U.S.-led air strike campaign against Islamic State. But he faulted the West because, he said, states were still classifying militants fighting him as revolutionaries rather than "terrorists".

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/07/26/uk-mideast-crisis-syria-idUKKCN0Q007M20150726

COMMENT:

1. Assad only exists because of Iran. Without Iran his regime would have collapsed years ago. So there is not much he can say if Iran pressurizes him to say something.

Iran (which in some ways is now the ultimate ruler of Syria) co-ordinates its Syria policy with Russia and China.

Russia and China see the war in Syria as a key national security issue and just as the US will go to nuclear war for Israel, Russia and China will go to nuclear war for Israel's northern neighbour Syria.

This is one reason why the US backed off from its 2013 plan to bomb Syria, after Russia and China warned the Obama regime.



2. This dramatic speech by Assad where he is brutally honest and says he can't control all of Syria has happened at the same time as the Iran-US nuclear deal.

A couple of things have happened since then:

- The Saudis for example have taken control of the Yemeni port of Houthi meaning that Iran may have agreed in a secret back room deal to allow the Saudis to take it and also the strategic Bab el Mandeb.



This narrow sea crossing is almost a natural Suez Canal and if blocked would choke world trade and be a major world crisis.

Assad's more restrained rhetoric on Syria is almost certainly approved (if not ordered) by Iran.



3. What will happen in Syria?

No one can say.

Maybe Assad will win.

What might happen is some sort of compromise by the major powers that Assad rules a rump Syria which includes Damascus, the coast, Homs and the south of Jordan. This way the Russians still have their vital base in Tartous.

The mainly desert east would be controlled by Sunnis (ISIS, "moderate" rebels, who knows).

Aleppo and Idlib become controlled by pro-Turkish Sunnis and northern Syria becomes a de facto Turkish protectorate.

Syria becomes de facto carved up in to different zones.

This could however become nothing more than a frozen conflict giving the Damascus government something like a 5 - 10 year ceasefire until with the decline of US power it regains the north and the east.

However the important parts of Syria, historically, economically and population wise would still belong to Assad.

[randolph85]

Russia and China see the war in Syria as a key national security issue and just as the US will go to nuclear war for Israel, Russia and China will go to nuclear war for Israel's northern neighbour Syria.

Russia wouldn't/won't even sell Iran the S300 anti aircraft missiles that Iran ordered to protect its nuclear sites from a potential attack, let alone commit suicide in a nuclear war over a worthless Syria. As for China, they are reluctant to even fire shots over its island problem in the pacific with Japan/Vietnam/others which actually matters to them let alone destroy itself in nuclear war over Syria which is has little to no stake in.

No state is going to engage in nuclear war against another nuclear power unless they want to commit suicide. Syria is not even important enough for world powers to commit more than some guns and rpgs to the sides they support, let alone confront other world powers.

[Insight]

Russia wouldn't/won't even sell Iran the S300 anti aircraft missiles that Iran ordered to protect its nuclear sites from a potential attack, let alone commit suicide in a nuclear war over a worthless Syria. As for China, they are reluctant to even fire shots over its island problem in the pacific with Japan/Vietnam/others which actually matters to them let alone destroy itself in nuclear war over Syria which is has little to no stake in.

No state is going to engage in nuclear war against another nuclear power unless they want to commit suicide. Syria is not even important enough for world powers to commit more than some guns and rpgs to the sides they support, let alone confront other world powers.

LOL I don't know how [MENTION=1058]Bengal_Tiger[/MENTION] feels he can speak with so much authority when he is just a mere Propagandist for failed causes and failed states. Assad has lost nearly 70% of Syria to various Syrian insurgent groups, and this guy has the galls to say China is going to go to war to save a butcher. Right, China will break away from its centuries old tradition of non-interference to save Assad and Iran!! Give me a break! This stuff is hilarious. China does not give one thought to Assad.
[MENTION=1058]Bengal_Tiger[/MENTION] should read this. Maybe he will stop pretending he knows China's intentions. China looks only at its own interests. I don't assume to know exactly what they are, but I will say they will not go to war for Assad LOL

Syrian Rebels Apparently Have Chinese Missiles « DarkGovernment

Syrian Rebels Apparently Have Chinese Missiles

"Interestingly, Chinese state TV did a report on this chopper being shotdown showing a rebel holding this very weapon — that’s a screengrab from the segment above. That’s right, Chinese government TV is running a story about a Chinese-made surface-to-air missile being used by the rebel army. What’s also interesting is that China has warned against external involvement in the Syrian conflict."

[Bengal_Tiger]

Insight
This message is hidden because Insight is on your ignore list.

Insight a.k.a. Unknown Prince a.k.a Ghundal a.k.a Lynx a.k.a Shah i Kot a.k.a Ashraf Khaljay a.k.a "I forgot my password for the twentieth name so hence my twentieth troll account"...

Taliban supporter from Pakistan (Quetta), stop mentioning me and quoting me.

Your heroes the Taliban have had to make a historic and humiliating U-turn by negotiating with the Afghan government after almost a decade and a half of saying they'd never do such a thing.

LOL.

So long sucker.

lol.