Syria

[Midwest Spy]

I saw the aftermath. I'm not blase' about it but I've seen the aftermath of many beheadings at this point, they still shock me but not to the degree they did in the beginning. None of them ever appear to fight which still blows my mind, I always wonder if they are drugged. I'd be a wildcat or as much of one as I could be. I'm not going quietly, that's for sure.

I share your opinion that I'd rather die trying to escape rather than "just sit there."

I agree that there's some drugging going on, or maybe the doomed are so mentally defeated that they'd rather just do it that way rather than trying to resist?

I just hope the Western world doesn't get too blasé toward these evil cowards. They'd kill anyone of us in this forum if they had the chance.

I hope the coalition fighting them stays steadfast and ultimately ISIS is wiped out.

They are a plague that needs to be eradicated.

[username]

Drugging them would be a kindness that I don't think those fuckers would offer. I imagine those people are literally paralyzed by fear. The only thing you could hope for by fighting or thrashing around is that they decide to shoot you instead. But they'd probably just injure you and cut off your head anyway.

God damn barbarians.

[HairOfTheDog]

I don't know if the hostages are drugged before execution. It wouldn't surprise me in the cases of those who are commanded to read messages to the US and Britain before their beheadings. Then again, we know from released prisoners that they're tortured and starved, so they might just be unable to mentally and physically fight back by the time they're executed.

I do think IS drugs its recruits/fighters.

Some IS fighters who became hostages were questioned by an American detainee and journalist.

One of them spoke of how IS preys on those living in poverty, promising them great things and luring them with religion.

Another talked about IS torturing its fighters and drugging them before battles so that they don't care if they live or die.

Interesting quick read: http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/28/world/meas...rs-watson/

It's easier for me to understand how Muslims surrounded by IS and its influence could be recruited; harder for me to understand all of the volunteers from the western world joining IS's ranks.

I think most of the foreign fighter population is probably comprised of violent pieces of shit just seizing an opportunity to kill and destroy + very gullible and lost individuals looking to belong to something bigger than themselves + mentally ill and on a kind of suicide mission. There are so damned many of them from so many countries. Whatever is driving them, they're a bunch of seriously messed up individuals.

[HairOfTheDog]

First U.S.-trained fighters and U.S airstrikes in Syria to combat Islamic State (IS)

The United States has decided to allow airstrikes to defend Syrian rebels trained by the U.S. military from any attackers, even if the enemies hail from forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, U.S. officials said on Sunday.

The decision by President Barack Obama, which could deepen the U.S. role in Syria's conflict, aims to shield a still-fledging group of Syrian fighters armed and trained by the United States to battle Islamic State militants -- not forces loyal to Assad.

But in Syria's messy civil war, Islamic State is only one of the threats to the U.S. recruits. The first batch of U.S.-trained forces deployed to northern Syria came under fire on Friday from other militants, triggering the first known U.S. airstrikes to support them.

U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to confirm details of the decision, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, said the United States would provide offensive strikes to support advances against Islamic State targets. The United States would also provide defensive support to repel any attackers.

U.S. officials have long played down the idea that Assad's forces - which have not fired on U.S.-led coalition aircraft bombing Islamic State targets in Syria - would turn their sights on the U.S.-backed Syrian rebels. But they cannot rule out the possibility, perhaps in an unintentional clash.

The Pentagon and the White House declined to discuss the decision on rules of engagement or confirm comments by the unnamed U.S. officials.

White House National Security Council spokesman Alistair Baskey said only the U.S.-trained forces were being provided a wide range of support, including "defensive fires support to protect them" and pointed to Friday's U.S. airstrikes as proof.

"We won't get into the specifics of our rules of engagement, but have said all along that we would take the steps necessary to ensure that these forces could successfully carry out their mission," Baskey said.

Pentagon spokeswoman Commander Elissa Smith also declined comment on the rules of engagement, saying only that the U.S. military's program focuses "first and foremost" on combating Islamic State militants.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/us-a..._ref=world

[Maggot]

4 yrs so far.......

[HairOfTheDog]

Russia Military in Syria

The U.S., Europe, Israel, and several ME countries share a common enemy in ISIS and are participating in joint efforts to quash the extremist terrorist group in Syria, while making it clear they are not defending Assad or his regime (who they say has no place in a reformed Syria). Still, defeating ISIS helps Assad in the short term as his regime is also fighting against ISIS.

Putin is a staunch supporter of Assad and his regime. The ramp up of Russian surveillance drones, aircraft, and reportedly some boots in Syria represents a risk to the allied forces fighting against ISIS in Syria (if efforts aren't well-coordinated and Russia starts targeting Syrian "rebels" backed by the allied forces).

So, for the first time since Russia's Ukraine invasion, US officials and Russian officials are communicating and coordinating their strategies. Netanyahu has already met with Putin to agree on parameters to avoid "misundertandings". U.S. and Russian defense chiefs agreed on Friday to explore ways to avoid accidental interactions, also known as "deconfliction" in military parlance.

Syria's civil war has killed an estimated 250,000 people, and many continue to flee their homes, with 4 million refugees and another 7.6 million displaced inside the country.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said over the weekend the United States welcomed Russia's involvement in tackling Islamic State militants in Syria. But he said a worsening refugee crisis highlighted the need to find a compromise that could also lead to political change in the country.

I really hope an end to this civil war comes before the end of 2015.

Story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/russ...e8b0ceed81

[Maggot]

Russia has entered the arena. Things are getting hotter. A bomb was lobbed at them in Damascus which gives them every reason to take the next step. News at 11:00

[Jimbone]

The failure in Syria gets worse each day for Obama. Putin wants to keep Assad in power so Russia will have a base in the Mediterranean. Looks like he aims to do just that.

[HairOfTheDog]

Bombs Away Comrades...



Russia said it launched air strikes against Islamic State in Syria on Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin secured his parliament's unanimous backing to intervene to prop up the Kremlin's closest Middle East ally (Assad).

Moscow gave Washington just an hour's notice of the strikes, which set in train Russia's biggest play in the region since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, a U.S. official said.

Targets in the Homs area appeared to have been struck, but not areas held by Islamic State, the U.S. official said. The Russian Defense Ministry said however that its attacks were directed at Islamic State military targets.

Putin said the only way to fight "terrorists" in Syria was to act preemptively. Russia's military involvement in the Middle East would only involve its air force and would be temporary.

The Homs area is crucial to President Bashar al-Assad's control of western Syria. Insurgent control of that area would bisect the Assad-held west, separating Damascus from the coastal cities of Latakia and Tartous, where Russia operates a naval facility.

A U.S.-led coalition has already been bombing Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, but Putin derided U.S. efforts to end the Syria war at the United Nations on Monday, suggesting a broader and more coordinated coalition was needed to defeat the militants.

"The military aim of our operations will be exclusively to provide air support to Syrian government forces in their struggle against ISIS (Islamic State)," Sergei Ivanov, the Kremlin's Chief-of-Staff, said before reports that the strikes had begun.

Full story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/us-o...3706de9c5c

[username]

We ought to just let go of this notion that we are going to somehow oust Assad in the midst of battling Daesh. Look how well we've done toppling leaders in Iraq and Libya. We can't battle on all fronts (attempt to support the rebels fighting Assad and simultaneously work to defeat Daesh).

I say we prioritize and right now Assad's departure shouldn't be at the top of our list.

[Maggot]

I would like to smash their testicles with 2 bricks but am not sure which one deserves it more. I remember now. Any old man in Afghanistan that is walking down the road hand in hand with an 8 yr old boy.

I say let Russia spend some money, kill some people, bomb some homes for a change. Lord knows the U.S. is to P.C. to get the job done.

[Duchess]

He gives me the willies.

[HairOfTheDog]

Various news stations are reporting that Putin's forces in Syria targeted the U.S. and coalition-backed rebels instead of ISIS and that 36 civilians were killed by Russian airstrikes today. Waiting for more reports/confirmations; but I don't like where this is going in any case.

Putin wants his buddy Assad's enemies defeated. ISIS is one of Assad's enemies and one the U.S. and multi-national coalition's enemies too.

But, the rebels backed by the U.S. and the multi-national coalition are also Assad's enemies. I don't trust Putin to keep his word about not targeting them.

[Maggot]

Obama should draw a line in the sand!!!!

[username]

I think there's a resemblance and they both have that damn pouty lower lip:

[username]

This situation is fucked up. On the one hand, I don't think we should have stated in the first place that "Assad must go". As I said previously, we keep sticking our foot in deposing middle eastern leaders and it's not going so well.

However, Obama did say that so assuming that Russia is targeting the U.S. backed rebels opposing Assad--we're fucked. If we sit idly by and allow that to happen we do appear as weak as a newborn ant.

Backed in to a corner. Do we really want to potentially go to war with Russia? Yeah, between Ukraine and this, they're asking for it (I do believe Putin would like to revive some form of the USSR) but crap on toast-not something that was high on my immediate to-do list.

[Maggot]

Today in 1939 Winston Churchill said this about Russia.
"Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”

I agree with user in that we should not even be messing around in Syria, I really don't care if a government is abusing its own citizens, eventually the citizens rise up and take over at some point. We should just back off from the stupid mistakes that have been made already and step back for a moment. Leave whatever guns we have there and let the rebels deal with whatever comes.

[Maggot]

After seeing what Russia is doing in Syria Afghanistan has asked for help. Second times a charm? They're not dragging their knuckles.

link

The U.S. is a little busy at the moment.............

[HairOfTheDog]

Backed in to a corner. Do we really want to potentially go to war with Russia? Yeah, between Ukraine and this, they're asking for it (I do believe Putin would like to revive some form of the USSR) but crap on toast-not something that was high on my immediate to-do list.

I see news reports that Russia has agreed to help the U.S. support "patriotic" Syrian rebels. I'll believe it when I see it.

And, today, Secretary of Defense Carter told the Senate Armed Forces Committee that the U.S. soldier killed on the ground in Iraq a few days ago died in "combat" as part of a joint mission with the Kurds to rescue hostages.

He says the U.S. is now engaged in "direct ground action" in both Iraq and Syria and will continue ground raids if opportunities with solid partners arise.

Story: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sec-...ia-n452131

Well, that sounds like a segway into boots on the ground to me.

[Maggot]

America should have left at least a presence in Iraq and not moved them out so quick for political reasons. Most of the mistakes in the middle east over the past few years have been because of political mis steps not military. Iraq would have been a perfect place to inhabit. It has a geographically and militarily strategic vantage point. It is the jewel of the middle east.