Saudi Arabia preparing attack on Syria

[Bengal_Tiger]

Syria: Iraqi forces killed eight Al-Qaeda fighters on border

last update: November 18, 13:59

Baghdad, 18 Nov. (AKI) - Iraqi soldiers killed eight Syrian jihadists from Al-Qaeda's Al-Nusra Front in clashes at the border, Arabic satellite TV network Al-Jazeera reported Monday.


The clashes took place when the Al-Nusra fighters tried to overrun the Makr al-Thib border crossing, Al-Jazeera said.
The Iraqi army has ratcheted up security at the border amid fears of a fresh attack.

Syria: Iraqi forces killed eight Al-Qaeda fighters on border - Adnkronos Security






Syrian government troops rushing forwards in captured territory.

Syrian forces have allegedly eliminated under a 100 rebels from foreign backgrounds around Idlib and the main port city of Lattakia.

[Bengal_Tiger]

SYRIANS TAKE QARA

The Syrian army has taken control of Qara, a town near the Lebanese border.

The area is strategically significant, as it was on one of the opposition's last remaining supply routes.

The army launched its offensive on Friday, carrying out a series of air strikes and helicopter attacks. Thousands of Syrians fled into Lebanon.

Rebel group Jabat al-Nusra said that it and other groups had withdrawn from the area, and many rebels are reported to have been killed.

Qara lies 100km (60 miles) north of Damascus.

The Syrian government now controls the road linking the coast to the capital.

This means that the rebel-held suburbs around Damascus, which are already under siege and bombardment, will now be under even more pressure, correspondents say.

BBC News - Syrian army captures key town of Qara from rebels

[Bengal_Tiger]

Though I do not support Wahabi extremists in Syria, backed by the Saudi regime I am also no fan of the Assad regime in Damascus.

1. Assad's Baathist regime made the people live in fear which caused the resentment and then subsequent rebellion in Syria.

2. Assad's regime oppressed many of the Kurds and refused to give them citizenship or passports.

3. There was a corrupt elite in the country.

4. Also today the Assad regime official in the UN went mad lashing out at Saudi Arabia in a long rant and tirade which included showing his - and thus by implication his regime's -support for homosexuality.



Bashar Al-Jaafari the Assad regime apparatchik at the UN, who went beserk today in a long and vicious attack on Saudi Arabia.

Having lived in Syria and having been to the elite areas of Damascus such as Sha'laan, Abu Romaneh and even Maliki itself (the most elite area) I know how arrogant and stuck up the western-wannabe Syrian elites are and also how racist they are. Jaafari comes across as one of the arrogant Abu Romaneh/Maliki types after having heard this individual speaking (in Arabic) on a video I watched about his verbal rant against Saudi Arabia.


Even if Assad wins the war, he will be supported by some not because he is not a brutal dictator (he is) but because though he is bad he is not as bad as the Al-Qaeda affiliated Wahabis.

However Assad needs to clean up his act if he does win.

He also needs to establish war crimes trial or some process for those in his army who have carried out atrocities.

For the short/mid-term Assad will do as the only thing stopping a Wahabi takeover of Syria and the ethnic cleansing of Christians and others that will follow if the Wahabis take control, however in the long run he himself is a criminal and should ultimately leave Syrian politics.



Dictator Assad wanted for the crimes of his regime. For now however the Baathist regime is the only thing standing between Syria and the even worse catastrophe of a Saudi Arabia style Wahabi state or turning Syria into a collection of zones ruled by warlords.

[Bengal_Tiger]

Though I don't support Assad, I support ordinary Syrians who are against Wahabi extremists and Saudis.

As Salam Alaykum Souriya, May peace be upon Syria,,

Jumaa Mubarak, Friday blessings and may peace be upon all,,

We want to say a special prayer for our people who are being targeted by cowardly terrorists due to their major losses in the face of our brave Army, may God protect our people and our brave homeland defenders, Amen ... - J

https://www.facebook.com/HNN.english

(The photo above is of members of the Syrian Arab Army praying).

Also:

ALEPPO - WARPLANES STRIKE AL-NUSRA COMMANDERS !! ..

More than 20 Terrorists, including Commanders with "Al-Nusra Front" were killed when Syrian Warplanes conducted air strikes targeting their positions in the Town of Hraitan in rural Aleppo ... - J

https://www.facebook.com/HNN.english

SAA (Syrian Arab Army) capture rebel held territory and a rebel truck.



Syrian Airforce.

Syrian airforce apparently using cluster bombs in Ar-Raqqah. This is wrong and could kill many civilians. We would expect a regime like the American regime to bomb civilians and then call it "collateral damage", however Syrians shouldn't do this.

Syrian air force drops cluster bombs over A-Raqqa - YouTube

‫شام ادلب البارة تØ*ليق الطيران الØ*ربي في سماء البلدة 21 11 2013‬‎ - YouTube

[Bengal_Tiger]

‫بيت سØ*Ù… قريبا الى Ø*ضن الوطن - الدفاع الوطني‬‎ - YouTube

Uploaded 2 hours ago. In Arabic and essentially starts off saying by "Operations by the Syrian Arab army...National defence... against terrorists continue..."

The most interesting part of the video (not for the squeamish) is from 1.03-1.12 when the fighters whose limbs are bleeding red all over calmly get bandaged.

These troops seem to be calm and professional. If it was western soldiers whose entire arms were bleeding they would be crying.

As for videos I've seen of the "rebels" they seem to be mentally weak and not able to cope under pressure unlike the soldiers in the video above.



The Syrian army is continuing to make more and more gains and has eliminated quite a few rebel commanders. The seven main rebel militant groups have now agreed to unite as one.





Syrian army troops moving forward. SAA (Syrian Arab Army) troops have mobilized to the town of Deir Attiyeh as apparently 5,000 fighters for the rebel side have come in from Lebanon.

[Bengal_Tiger]

Iraqi group threatens attacks in Saudi Arabia

Six mortar shells landed near a remote Saudi border post close to neighboring Iraq and Kuwait on November 20, 2013.



An Iraqi group says it will launch attacks on Saudi targets if the kingdom continues to provoke sectarian violence in the region.


The group, which calls itself the Mukhtar Army, also claimed responsibility for a Wednesday mortar attack, which targeted an uninhabited area of Saudi Arabia near the Iraqi border.

It says the attack was carried out in retaliation for decrees issued in Saudi Arabia that insult Shias and encourage people to kill them.

Wathiq al-Battat, the head of the group, said also on Thursday that the attack was "a warning strike" to Saudi Arabia to stop "interfering" in Iraqi affairs.

"We did not mean for our missile to reach a residential area because we value people's blood," said Battat. "But next time, if Saudi Arabia continues the same course, we will go farther, little by little."

Saudi state news agency SPA quoted General Mohammed al-Ghamidi, the border guard media spokesman, as saying that six mortar rounds hit "in an uninhabited area near Al-Awja border crossing... in Hafr al-Batin in Eastern Province, and no damage was caused."

The spokesman added that he had been in contact with border guards of "neighboring countries" for investigations into the source of the attacks.

Riyadh stands accused of promoting sectarian violence in Iraq. The country has also been one of the vocal supporters of Takfiri militants fighting against the Syrian government.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/11/23/336153/iraqi-group-threatens-to-hit-saudi-targets/

1. This action is either the work of one group or is part of a co-ordinated Shia plan including Shias from Lebanon, Iraq and Iran against the Saudi regime.

2. If it is indeed backed by Iran it is a warning message to the Saudi regime that if they continue destabilizing Syria and causing bloodshed there, the war may come to them.

3. Saudi cannot invade Iraq as any invasion will bring in Iran, which is militarily superior to Saudi. On paper Saudi has better forces and equipment but their actual troops (I have met a Saudi pilot) are poor whereas the Iranians are far better soldiers and would demolish the Saudis.

4. Any attack on Iraq might even bring the Russians in and it might even be a trap set up for the Saudis.

What the Russia-Iran-Syria axis did with Turkey is they made it clear they were all too happy to spread the war in to Turkey and assist the PKK. The Iranian-Syrian alliance also used the heavily Alevi Turkish left to cause riots in Istanbul against the Erdogan government.



Turkish rioters from the heavily Alevi (Shia sub-sect) Turkish left.



Rioter beaten by Turkish police.







The Turks have now backed out.

It seems the Russia-Iran-Syria axis may now be sending the Saudi regime the same message, that if Saudi continues down this path of spreading hatred, spreading terror and bloodshed that there will be war.

The Saudis, the princes of Riyadh, are fundamentally cowards who use other people to do their fighting and use extremists and militants as tools for their foreign policy, if they are faced with a real frontal war with a real army they will back down.

‫آل سعود هم المفسدون في الارض‬‎ - YouTube

Drunken Saudi Prince Nayef Pushing $Millions inside the Blouse of Night Club Singer - YouTube

[Bengal_Tiger]

Update:

- There are claims that ISIS have reported the death of their leader, Abu Jihad al-Najdi.

- Reports that Saudi prince, Bandar bin Sultan, was in Israel in a meeting with the French and Israelis on how to deal with Iran.

- The US has made a deal with Iran to drop important sanctions in exchange for Iran carrying out some measures in regard to its nuclear program. Syria was always meant to be the stepping stone for a more important attack on Iran. Syria had to be neutralized in order to disable any Iranian ability to strike Israel through Hizbullah. If Iran will no longer be attacked by the US and Russia and China have shown they may even go to nuclear war over Syria it is possible that the US has in effect decided to drop the anti-Assad campaign in Syria.

- China has declared an air defence zone off its coast stating Japanese military craft cannot enter it. Japan declared an air defence zone in the 1960s which is 3/4 times bigger than the one China has declared. However it will be seen as a warning sign to the Japanese and Americans.







This Chinese move has nothing to do with Syria.

However it does impact the Syrian war, because the US was backing anti-Assad rebels. The time, energy and resources it devoted to doing that was a lot. Now the US has to worry about a far more powerful military, the PLA (People's Liberation Army). Also it shows that the Russia-China-Iran-Syria axis is too powerful for Assad to be removed.



China's powerful military is arming heavily and it is said that the US will shift military resources away from the middle east and Europe to the Asia-Pacific region as part of its "Pivot to Asia" policy. China sent in warships off the Syrian coast a few months ago to deter a US strike on Syria.

- French writer, Thierry Messyan, based in Damascus claims that Geneva II in January, i.e. in 2 months will formalize Assad's control of Syria and the end of the war.

How correct he is will remain to be seen.

Truth as an Issue | "Before our eyes"



Meyssan.

[Bengal_Tiger]

A Saudi government official on a Pakistani website has started making more conciliatory comments regarding the Iranian government.

Previously he had spoken of punishing the regime and was very hostile to it.

Since this deal his tone has been very different, and seems to accept that the Saudi agenda to destroy Iran has been defeated.

On the same forum this official has also made comments against Russia stating how Saudi can attack Russia by using terrorist proxies.

He is also anti-Bangladeshi and has virtually mocked the Bangladeshi genocide of 1971, which Saudi supports and still supports to this day as it engages in proxy-bullying of Bangladesh on behalf of the Pakistanis.

His name is YzdKhalifa.

The change in tone by this Saudi regime official might indicate that Saudi knows it cannot do anything against Iran now. This regime thug seems to be privy to many regime decisions and policies. Iran is the main backer of Assad and the Saudi multi-billion campaign against Syria was to deal with Iran, now that the Iranian issue has been "resolved", Saudi may feel it is no longer necessary to overthrow Assad and in fact counterproductive as it will just increase the strength of "Jihadists" who may come back one day to target the Saudi regime itself, as the TTP are now targeting Pakistan.

[Bengal_Tiger]

Update:

- The Syrian army is now on an offensive to capture Ar-Raqqah from rebel hands.

Prior to that offensive Ar-Raqqah was the only big city in Syria exclusively in rebel hands.

Ar-Raqqah is far from being an important city and the important cities in Syria are of course Damascus first of all, then militarily the port cities of Latakia and Tartus followed by Homs (in terms of military importance) as it connects Damascus to the coast.

The fact that the Syrian army is deploying troops to take Ar-Raqqah suggests that they are not messing around and want to establish complete government control of all territories.

It may also suggest that the Syrian strategy is also to destroy rebels rather than capture territory, i.e. since Raqqah has a lot of rebels in it, it would be great to get them eliminated.

This may have been the Syrian-Iranian plan (the Iranians/Persians are far cleverer than the Arabs and some fee that in reality the war in Syria is actually run by the Iranians in terms of strategy) to lure the rebels in to concentrated formations than wipe them out.

- Syrian airforce has put Turkish jet planes under radar lock again.

Syria is ready for war with Turkey which is a key supplier of rebels destroying Syria. The Syrian military believes that since their country is being destroyed they have nothing to lose if Turkey gets involved and starts being destroyed too.

If Syria and Turkey go to war Iran will join in and the regions 30+ million Kurds will also join in against Turkey alongside the PKK.

Below a link to a map of Syrian SAMS (Surface to Air Missiles):

http://www.ausairpower.net/Google-Earth/SYRIAOVERVIEW2010.jpg

- Syrian Air Force flying 100 sorties a day.

The Syrian Air Force is flying 100 sorties a day. This is total aerial war!

100 sorties a day = around 4 per hour i.e. every 15 minutes.

The Syrian government has air supremacy over Syria and satellite imagery from Russia (perhaps China too).

According to Turkish military sources who spoke to this columnist, the Syrian Air Forces are able to generate 100 sorties a day with helicopters and aircraft. Fifty percent on average comprise combat sorties and 25 percent general transport aircraft sorties, while the remaining 25 percent constitute training of Syrian army personnel. The usual suspects behind Syria regaining military strength are partly Russia and Iran as they have been giving technical assistance including training for new pilots joining the SAF.

Given that many international observers thought the SAF would soon lose capability to maintain operations, 100 sorties a day on average, which makes 700 sorties a week, is massive, says an Ankara-based Western military official.

“This is a big number. The SAF has become very effective in avoiding the Free Syrian Army [FSA] in opposition air defense, which is composed of mostly small guns, air defense shoulder-launched missiles seized from the Syrian army, as well as medium to low-range missile systems,” says a Turkish military source.

At the start of the conflict in Syria until January of this year, we have been constantly seeing on various TV channels Syrian military helicopters and aircraft being shot down by the opposition. But not anymore. The increased strength of the Syrian Air Forces has also been making it possible for Syrian ground forces to get more support from helicopters and aircraft, hence enabling good coordination between the Syrian artillery and air force.

“This is the biggest morale booster for ground forces when they get help from aircraft to drop bombs on opposition targets when they are struck,” says an Ankara-based Western military attaché.

As the Syrian military has been regaining strength, opposition fighters have been on the losing side.

Turkey should prepare itself for mass exodus of fighters from Syria - Today's Zaman, your gateway to Turkish daily news



- The rebels too have had their successes including killing a Hezbollah commander, taking villages around Aleppo and occupying areas east of Damascus where they have not been dislodged.

However fundamentally the Syrian government is stronger as:

- Control the capital
- Control the coast
- Expanding their control
- Air supremacy, 700 sorties a week
- US-Iran deal agreed, thus strengthening Assad's regime.
- Most of the rebels are foreign jihadists and there is only a limited amount of them that can go to Syria, whereas the Syrian army is mainly local and can call upon a virtually unlimited supply of Alawis, who view this a fight for their very physical survival and preservation from something akin to genocide.


* * * * * *

My prediction is: that the Syrian army will continue its offensives all over Syria and keep on blasting the rebels with air power and artillery power, seeking to suck the rebels in to places such as Ghouta where once they are all concentrated in one place they can be eliminated.

Saudi Arabia will not increase its support for rebels as the bombing of Saudi territory by Iraqi Shias was a warning to the Saudis that things can escalate.

Also the Saudis feel betrayed by the US rapprochement with Iran and feel demotivated, and are also facing a mini-crisis at home with the expulsion of foreign workers, riots etc.

The US has already decided Russia, China and Iran are too strong to take on so Assad will continue as leader of Syria.

[Bengal_Tiger]

Graphic - The Cleaning of Der Attiyeh from Obama's Thugs - YouTube

Syrian army takes Deir Attiyeh, a town near Lebanon where Sunni rebels had been crossing from to reinforce rebel forces in Syria.

1. I don't know how genuine these speeches of support from Syrian civilians are though some definitely seem to be especially the animated elderly lady.

2. Syrians as a people are known for not being tough and seen as somewhat cowardly. A generalization maybe but the truth. This is why most of the fighters in the "Syrian" rebellion are not Syrians but foreigners.

The Syrian townspeople in that video due to nationalism/parochialism prefer the Syrian army, composed of fellow Syrians, to foreign rebels who are said to have behaved badly in the town.

3. Though I don't like the Wahabi rebels at least they had "beliefs" (no matter how incorrect) they were willing to die for and believed in some sort of Muslim brotherhood. I lived in Syria and I can tell you that the vast majority of Syrians hated Assad. The majority is Sunni, 70-80% and the overwhelming majority of them hate him.

If there were elections tomorrow, free and fair elections, Assad would definitely lose.

Assad is a brutal dictator and his regime is accused of having carried out some horrific atrocities.

4. The point is if Assad survives and continues as leader as it seems so now, then may of the Syrians (vast majority Sunnis) will have no one to blame but themselves as they did not participate in the rebellion to overthrow him.

5. Even if Assad does survive now, it is inevitable that in the future the Baathist regime and Alawi-dominated military will eventually go in the long run. In the long term this Baathist-Alawi rule is an aberration. This is the second major Sunni rebellion in 30 years, the first being Hama in 1982 which shocked the world with the ferocious bloodletting unleashed by the Baathist military.

6. In this current war, with Syrian air supremacy. artillery superiority and unlimited bankrolling of the Syrian economy by Iran and Russia, the rebels stand little chance.

[Bengal_Tiger]

Turkey, Iran call for Syria ceasefire before Geneva 2 talks

DUBAI - Reuters






Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (R) gives a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoğlu on Nov 27, 2013 on the sidelines of the two-day ministerial conference of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO), which groups 10 Asian and Eurasian countries in Tehran.

The foreign ministers of Turkey and Iran called Nov. 27 for a ceasefire in Syria before peace talks in Geneva scheduled for Jan. 22, Iranian media reported.

"All our efforts are to end the conflict and for a ceasefire if possible, even before the Geneva 2 conference takes place," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told a news conference in Tehran with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoğlu, Mehr news agency reported.

Davutoğlu said: "We should not wait for this two months" before the peace conference convenes. "The Syrian people are in a worsening situation."

Iran and Turkey support opposing sides in the 2-1/2-year-old Syrian conflict, but the joint ceasefire call suggests the regional rivals are now more willing to work together.

Iran, which along with Russia is the main backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has said it is prepared to take part in the Syria peace talks in Geneva if invited.

The Syrian government has said it will attend the talks but will not bow to Western demands for Assad to step aside.

Assad's opponents are divided over the peace talks. General Salim Idriss, who commands the rebel Free Syrian Army, said his group would not take part in them and would fight on regardless.

November/27/2013


MIDEAST - Turkey, Iran call for Syria ceasefire before Geneva 2 talks



1. As I said before the Russians sending in their naval fleet to the Mediterranean off the Syrian coast, alongside the Chinese i.e. 2 nuclear superpowers both sending ships close to Syria, as well as an alleged Russian shooting down of 2 American missiles is what finally scared the US.

2. Turkey has started to tone down its anti-Assad rhetoric and seems to realize they cannot overthrow him.

Notice how Turkey did not say Assad should resign or anything like that in this declaration.

This Turkish move will infuriate the Saudis who will feel even more isolated in the region with the Americans, Turks etc all reconciling with the Iranians.

3. Russia will not back down from supporting Syria as it literally regards the war in Syria as a war for its own national survival e.g. the "Islamist" insurgency in Dagestan which the US wants to intensify in the coming years and destabilize Russia as the TTP has destabilized Pakistan.

The Russians defeated Napoleon and they defeated Hitler. When they defeated the Nazis they took enormous losses.

Over 20 million Soviets died in the second world war.

The battle of Stalingrad was the most important and biggest battle of the whole of second world war.

Some even think 1 million people died in that battle.



The Russians were able to take the losses then and as a people used to the cold and with a very harsh and bloody history they will be more than prepared to spend tens of billions or a decade or two backing the Assad government in conjunction with China and Iran.

As long as there are 0.7 million refugees in Jordan, 0.7 million refugees in Turkey, 0.8 million refugees in Lebanon this is a drain on all these US allies.

The Americans have realized the Russians mean business and will even go to nuclear war over Syria.

This is why it has now been decided to wind up the whole Syria project. Turke y is calling for the war to end. Qatar is no longer that active in foreign affairs (one reason why their ruler was overthrown was because the US and Saudi were angry with his over active foreign policy), only Saudi remains. However if the Turks wind up support and supplies from the north to the rebels, then the Syrians will take the north easily. The only active front left would be Dar'a next to Jordan but if the northern front is conquered recapturing Dar'a would be a piece of cake for the Syrians.

The Syrian war it seems will end in the next few months.

The Syrian war was only just a warm up for a bigger Iran war anyway, and with no war against Iran, there is no "need" (from a US angle) for a war in Syria.

[Bengal_Tiger]

I will no longer have time to update this thread in as much detail as I have been doing.

I would just like to say there are no good sides or bad sides in this war.

Let's hope that the war ends soon insha'Allah and the innocent stop suffering especially the children.

This war is a horrific tragedy, though it has received far more coverage than comparable or in some ways far worse wars happening in Africa.

Let's hope all this suffering ends.

Ameen, thumma ameen.

[Bengal_Tiger]

President Karazai: The US doesn't want stability To Syria ..




Dec 14, 2013

New Delhi - President of Afghanistan Hamid Karazai said that the US, western countries don’t want stability to Syria in particular, and the region in general.

In response to SANA question during a meeting with journalists in New Delhi, Karazai expressed "deep sorrow over the heinous crimes against humanity", saying that the Syrian people pay a precious price because of the policy adopted by the world countries and some regional states which seek to destroy the civilized Syria."

He added that what is going on in Syria is very regrettable, affirming "Syria is a victim and the Syrian people are the biggest loser."

President Karazai was resentful of the armed groups' acts which target the civilians, infrastructure, saying "my message to those groups is; throw away weapons and search about a peaceful solution."

Sana


President Karazai: The US doesn't want stability to Syria


Thanks to the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai for his support for Syrians.

[Bengal_Tiger]

20 Saudi militants killed in Syria army op


PressTV - 20 Saudi militants killed in Syria army op





U.S., Britain have not helped Syrian rebels enough, Saudi prince says

U.S., Britain have not helped Syrian rebels enough, Saudi prince says | Reuters




Saudis' big deal for anti-tank missiles may be meant to help Syrian rebels

"The proposed weapons deal, which the Pentagon notified Congress of in early December, would provide Riyadh with more than 15,000 Raytheon anti-tank missiles at a cost of over US$1 billion"

Saudis' big deal for anti-tank missiles may be meant to help Syrian rebels | South China Morning Post

[Karachi]

The amount of money Saudis have spent on American weapons since the inception of the Kingdom is mind boggling, the amount must be in trillions of dollar by now, and for what though? they have never even used them. What a waste