September 19th, 2015.
The Russian Military are operating in Syria.
A Video has emerged that appears to show Russian soldiers in Latakia, Western Syria, operating and firing an ancient T 55 tank.In the video a round is fired towards a surrounding hill. It is probably simply a test but there are Russian troops in Syria preparing for some kind of combat.
Twin track.
At the same time we have seen a major escalation in Russian media involvement in the Syria issue. A group of Russian state media journalists were dispatched to Damascus to interview Syrian President Assad.
Towards the end of the interview Assad is asked whether he would be willing to leave for the good of the country.
Question 14– “If you don’t mind, I would like to go back to the question about Syria’s political future. Mr. President, your opponents, whether fighting against the authorities with weapons or your political opponents, still insist that one of the most-important conditions for peace is your departure from political life and as president. What do you think about that – as president and as a Syrian citizen? Are you theoretically prepared for that if you feel it’s necessary?” (Assad deflected the question.)
The interview is very interesting and Assad is extremely impressive in his quiet way but my understanding is that Russia intends to persuade Bashar al Assad and his family to leave Syria in the near future.
This assessment is based upon the questions the Russian journalists asked Assad in Damascus, added to the fact that a Russian Emercom Ilyushin Il-76 was seen to evacuate Syrian citizens from Latakia in mid August and the Guardian revelations from Maarti Ahtisaari that include the fact that Russia thought the best way to end the war would include easing Assad from power into exile and it seems quite clear that Russia is looking at persuading Assad to leave, presumably for Belarus.
In addition RT has sent journalists to the hot war zones of Zabadani and Hasakeh in North and West Syria, something they have not done for several years. The military campaign has been oblique but the renewed information campaign has been very obvious.
Something big and astonishing is happening here.
Russia is quite clearly moving to manage the end of the Syrian war and the survival and retrieval of the Syrian state and position itself as the new “honest broker” and Security Guarantor in the Middle East if possible.
It is hard to imagine them doing a worse job than the United States.
Russia is also sending a very clear and powerful message to the Syrian opposition.
“You have been hoping for years that the US would bomb you to victory-forget about it” That dream is dead, military victory is now impossible for you so it is time to come to a political solution for the good of the people of Syria.
Syria: Russian T-55 Crew Stationed in Latakia
These jets could be almost anything. The craft depicted are consistent with the Ilushin IL76 and Sukhoi SU24, this video is probably authentic but I cannot verify it, the RAM Z Youtube channel has a track record of being correct but that is not something you would take to the bank.
Syria: Russian IL-76 & Four Su-24s Over Homs 9-20-15
The Russian Military are in Syria.
At the start of August a story emerged of the Russian President delivering a furious message to the Turkish President Erdogan via the Turkish ambassador to Russia. Ümit Yardim.
The story was impossible to verify but the reported high point of the conversation was the Russian President promising to provide Turkey with “a big Stalingrad”* in Northern Syria.
“..then tell your dictator president he can go to hell along with his ISIL terrorist and I shall make Syria to nothing but a ‘Big Stalingrad’, for Erdoğan and his Saudi allies”
The story was colourful and got a lot of attention, it was amusing enough but I thought Well how would he do that, given that no Russian forces are involved in combat in Syria?.
The Tartus Video.
A month later video has emerged of Russian infantry apparently preparing for combat at the Russian Naval base in Tartus, Syria. This video supports the story that Russia has decided to increase its military support to the Syrian Government in their military operations against foreign backed jihadist fighters.
The video is clearly shot in a Port and there is Arabic writing on the buildings where the troops are training. Russia has only one Naval base in an area with Arabic speakers so although this video could have been shot anywhere in theory, it is pretty obvious that they are in Tartus and they are Russians and they seem to be preparing for close quarters small arms based combat.
Syria: Russian Army Shooting Exercise in Port Tartus, Latakia
A Story that was lost in Hype.
Thierry Meyssan broke this story several weeks ago on August 24thbut his story was lost in a great tide of hype and embellishment that followed.
The Russian army is beginning to engage in Syria
This was followed by a tidal wave of hyped stories based on tendentious and phony evidence.
There were pointless photographs of supposedly Russian aircraft flying sorties over Syria.
There is no evidence that any of the photographs of aircraft were authentic or that Russian pilots are flying sorties over Syria.
The claim that there were Russian troops in Latakia dd not appear to be supported by any real evidence, either unless you count the presence of Russian military vehicles as evidence which is ridiculous.
As far as Zabadani goes, another place it was claimed Russians were fighting, I have watched hours of combat footage from Zabadani and it is very clear that Hezbollah are doing the fighting with some support from the Syrian Army.
The rest of the story revolved largely around military equipment, a fairly fruitless path to take as essentially all of the hardware the Syrian Army use is Russian and has been for decades.
Oryx Blog: From Russia with Love, Syria’s BTR-82A
It is no secret that Russia has continued to supply weapons to Syria, although Russia pretends that it is only delivering defensive weaponry, this is laughable.
Russia’s role in support of the Syrian Government deserves praise as this support has enabled the Syrian state to survive the NATO/Israel/Saudi sponsored barrage of barbarous jihadists.
A look at the reality of Libya, the failed state NATO created in North Africa four years ago shows that Russia has done the world and human civilisation a favor by supporting the Syrian Government and the idea that the US with its hundreds of TOW missiles in the hands of terror groups has the right to offer one word of criticism is an abomination given the chaos and suffering Western policy in the Middle East has caused over the past decade.
The Consequences.
The hype around the apparent increased Russian military presence in Syria has been dismaying.
While the US and their allies have clearly hoping they could somehow parlay the anti- IS operation into regime change in Syria as matters stand the US has been bombing Syria for 50 weeks and they have never targeted the Syrian Army or their allies.
The US has never come out and admitted it but they have been 100% fighting on the side of the Syrian Government in the Syrian Civil war. All of the US airstrikes have targeted either the al Nusra front or the IS group, the key enemies of the Syrian Government.
Therefore if Russian troops are actually going to be fighting in Syria, they are not going to be starting World War 3, as many have claimed; for the obvious reason that Russia will be joining the Syrian war on the same side as the US.
The stationing of Russian troops in Syria does not mean that they will be involved in combat. This is likely a political move aimed at outflanking the West and guaranteeing that the Syrian state will not be destroyed and that the Tartus Naval base remains.
It is highly unlikely that the Russian forces in Syria will be engaged in heavy fighting, but it is overwhelmingly likely that their presence will see an increase in weapons transfers and all types of support to Syria.
This is Russia gently edging the US aside and claiming they can do a better job against the IS group.
This is not Russia confronting the US in the slightest, this is Russia holding the US to their (insincere) word.
Russian intentions.
Russia appears to see the preservation of the Syrian state as a key goal rather than the Assad leadership. It is possible that Assad and his inner circle have agreed to leave or are planning to leave.
The Russian president Vladimir Putin recently stated that Assad was “open” to snap elections and/or a power sharing agreement.
Putin Says Assad Willing to Share Power With ‘Healthy Opposition’
Syria: EMERCOM plane flies in aid supplies, evacuates foreign and local citizens
So What Are the Russians Really Doing in Syria? | The Vineyard of the Saker
Ending the War.
The Minsk 2 formula could easily be used as a framework for ending the Syrian war. The fact tat the Ukraine government has not stopped shelling the civilians of the Donbass region does not discredit the Minsk formula.
The first step must be for all sides to agree to end offensive operations.. The territorial position must be made static.
Once the sprawling war can be contained, the IS group will have to be evicted.
If the IS group was the only group still fighting in Syria, they would cease to exist as a viable fighting force within weeks.
Once the IS group is evicted, the Syrian state must restore and secure the borders and a comprehensive political solution must be achieved.
The areas under rebel control should be offered similar provisions to those offered Donetsk and Luhansk in the Minsk accords, a deal for local autonomy and fresh elections.
There are many problems with this idea, including the fact that it would leave large areas of Syria under the control of al Nusra front, the al Qaeda Syria affiliate but the only other choice is endless war.
The Refugee Crisis.
The refugee psyop was the latest installment in the disastrous Arab spring concocted by Western intelligence agencies.
Still the posed dead Syrian child on the beach worked a treat with the less critically inclined people of the world who lapped it up gratefully as they do everything they are told.
The idea that the refugees are fleeing Assad is laughable, a fact illustrated by the fact that millions of internally displaced Syrians have moved into safe Government held areas. The population of Latakia province has for example more than doubled over the course of the war from 1.3 to 3 million.
Displaced swell Syria coastal population by 50%: ICRC – Yahoo News
Syria: Thousands attend pro-Assad rally in Latakia
Of course many of the refugees fled from the bombardment of Syrian Military jets, just as many more fled the rampaging jihadists but Syrians have fled by the million into the Syrian Government held areas.
The opposite has happened in rebel held areas, the IS capital in Syria Raqqa has seen it’s population halved since the maniacal Neo-Bolshevik militants seized the town, from 200 to fewer than 100 thousand.
The refugees deserve assistance and respect but the idea that you reward the people who are willing and able to bribe their way from the dismal refugee camps while those who cannot are left to rot is an absolute joke.
The refugee psyop is also being used to tear down the last strands of independence and sovereignty in Europe.
Refugee orders are coming directly to the nation states as edicts from the EU.
EU: Compulsory quotas needed to relocate refugees – Al Jazeera English
The Syrian war has been an immense disaster and the only real solution to the refugee crisis is to end the war.
The solution to the crisis is to end the war in Syria. The millions of people in the refugee camps of Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan are never all going to be able to live in the West. The idea that upping refugee intakes slightly solves the problem is absolute rubbish.
The posturing of leaders such as David Cameron, who almost never mentions Libya these days is utterly nauseating.
“President Assad and Isis must both be defeated by “hard military force,” David Cameron has said in his strongest signal yet that Britain will soon bomb Syria.”
“We can do all we can as the moral, humanitarian nation at taking people and spending money on aid and helping in refugee camps,” Mr Cameron told MPs at Prime Minister’s Questions.
“But we have to be part of the international alliance that says we need an approach in Syria which will mean we have a government that can look after its people.
“Assad has to go, Isil has to go and some of that will require not just spending money, not just aid, not just diplomacy, but it will on occasion require hard military force.”
The very idea that these bloodthirsty vultures of the West think they can pose as the guardians of human rights even as the bleeding continues from the last campaign of “humanitarian bombing” in Libya is almost beyond belief .
Cameron and the rest of the “Bankers little helpers” are an unambiguous force for evil in the world and appear to be proud of their role.
The forces of darkness and evil are clearly desperate and it can only be hoped that Cameron and the rest of the War party are never allowed to destroy another nation with their sickening lies and pitiful sophistry and that these snakes return as soon as possible to the abyss from which they emanate.
So What Are the Russians Really Doing in Syria? | The Vineyard of the Saker
Russia sends military experts, equipment to Syria
*The Battle for Stalingrad is widely perceived as the turning point in the European segment of the Second World War. After more than a years fighting in the city a German Army of hundreds of thousands surrendered to the Soviet forces after being cut off from supplies and running out of food and ammunition. People still like to tell the story of Napoleon’s Army in Russia being forced to eat their dead horses in the winter snow lest they starve.
In Stalingrad the situation was so desperate that the German soldiers were eating their dead comrades after they starved or froze to death.
Top 10 Facts About the Battle of Stalingrad – Listverse
Slowly starving to death, they resorted to slaughtering the 10,000 horses they had brought to the battle as a source of food. The Germans also had another problem to contend with, the cold, ill equipped for winter warfare as Hitler had arrogantly thought the battle would be over by the winter, the Germans now had to face temperatures of minus 30 degrees celsius (for comparison the temperature in your freezer is about minus 18 to 19 degrees celsius). Too weak to attempt the breakout that Hitler ordered too late, those who hadn’t been killed or starved, simply froze to death.
Therefore if Putin promised Erdogan “a new Stalingrad in Northern Syria as was reported he presumably meant more than simply sending Syria more and better weapons.
Crimes of Empire 
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