
November 4th, 2015.
A Long and Grinding War.
The Russians initially mentioned a time frame of three to four months for this operation. The SAA initially tried to conduct a blitzkrieg style operation but the anti-tank rockets in the rebels hands made a mess of the Syria Armour so the blitzkrieg was shelved and the grinding war of the past four years resumed.
The Russian estimate of an operation that lasts three or four months is more likely to morph into an operation that lasts three or four years, at least in the absence of a political deal.
The delusion and sheer evil of the governments of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Israel mean that a political solution is highly unlikely. The Saudis are going to fight Iran down to the last Syrian Sunni fighter it seems.

Videos.
International Military Review – Syria-Iraq Battlespace, Nov. 03. 2015
International Military Review – Syria-Iraq Battlespace, Nov.04.2015
International Military Rewiev – Syria-Iraq Battlespace, Nov.05.2015
International Military Rewiev – Syria-Iraq Battlespace, Nov.06.2015
International Military Rewiev – Syria-Iraq Battlespace, Nov. 8, 2015
International Military Review – Syria-Iraq Battlespace, Nov. 9, 2015
Syrian rebel fighters in the outer Damascus region of Eastern Ghouta thought it would be a cute idea to kidnap a bunch of civilians and drive them around in cages as human shields. This type of thing makes me a big joke of the idea that these people are some type of liberal democrats.
An armed man who places a female civilian in a cage in the hope that it may help him stay alive is nothing but a putrid worm begging to be put down in my opinion.
The antics of the rebel fighters have become most wearing.
Syrian rebels cage people as human shields: activists
These videos are propaganda, selected and sanitised, but they do give some idea of what is happening in Syria.
The Syrian/Hezbollah operation mirrors the operations in the Qalamoun mountain region of earlier this year.
Hezbollah seek to seize the elevated positions and control an area from there. Once the difficult hills are under their control, they use their superior firepower and surveillance ability to overlook the surrounding valleys and destroy enemy fighters as they traverse the valleys.
These tactics appear to work very well in the open areas. When towns and cities are the objective the situation is far more difficult and complicated.
This video is somewhat novel as it portrays the same battle from the viewpoint of both sides.
GoPro POV Footage Of Fierce Confrontation Between Syrian Army And Syrian Rebels South Of Aleppo
Airstrike cam: Bombs rain down on supposed jihadist hideout in Syria
Airstrike on terrorists’ ammunition depot (Raqqah province)
Strike against an ISIS militants’ training camp (Idlib province)
Russian aviation hit an ISIS fortified strong point (Idlib province)
Syria: Drone footage captures Syrian army advance in Latakia Governorate
Syria: Territory of Telb-Gmam and surrounding area under Syrian army control
Footage from the South Aleppo battlefield were Syrian Army (SAA) and Hezbollah are making progress against the terrorist gangs in the surrounding areas of Al-Hadher town.
Syria: Army continues successful offensive against militants in Douma
Syria: Damascus troops exchange fire with militants in Ghouta
Russian strikes for terrorists isis in Palmyra
Airstrike on a militants’ column of armored and automobile hardware in Latakia province
Destruction of a workshop used for fitting automobiles with explosives in Aleppo province
Airstrike on a bridge, controlled by militants (near Raqqah)
Airstrike against terrorist training camp in Aleppo province
Airstrike on a strong point (Lattakia province)
ISIS blockade ceased: Assad forces retake key highway to Aleppo
Battle on! Syrian forces target ISIS near city of Sadad
Syrian army recaptures sole road to government -held side of Aleppo from ISIL
Syria: RuAF Mi-24Ps Providing CAS near Eastern Rif Homs
Syria: SAA/NDF Re-secure The Ithriya – Khannaser Road 11-4-15
Syrian Army retakes 8 Aleppo villages from militants in 24 hours
خاص الإخبارية – عمليات متواصلة للجيش على طريق أثريا – خناصر و
التنظيمات الإرهابية تتكبد خسائر كبيرة
Syrian TV News Frontline report.
Hezbollah Sniper
Su-34 performed strike against a plant, which produced explosive devices in Aleppo province
Airstrike against hangar with 10 cars fitted with explosive devices in Eastern Ghouta
Syrian Army and Hezbollah – Khanasser- Aleppo
Syria: SAA/NDF/Hezbollah Operations In South-West Aleppo: Part 4
Russia started to use 3 times more powerful bombs in Syria (laser guided KAB-1500)
Syrian army and Hezbollah
Great article as usual, James. But that video of Syrian rebels putting people in cages; how recent is that? I hadn’t seen that before.
Thank you for a very kind comment Burning Blogger of Bedlam, the cage incident is from this week. I am not 100% when the footage was filmed but the story dates from the past two days. This is al Jazeera’s account from yesterday:
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/11/syrian-rebels-caged-captives-human-shields-151102203114417.html
I think the Western media may not like the story as it somewhat contradicts the narrative of plucky democrats standing up to tyranny etc.
Many thanks for comment.
Thanks very much. And thanks for the great work.
Likewise and thanks for being so kind.