US forces setting up airbase in northeast Syria: sources.....

Yeah, I know about the ROE's. The thing is if you are going to fight a war, fight it to win and get it over with. That saves lives in the long run.

 

From Giftedone's previous post.

"The DIA document further details:

The weapons shipped from Syria during late-August 2012 were Sniper rifles, RPG’s and 125mm and 155mm howitzers missiles. The numbers for each weapon were estimated to be: 500 Sniper rifles, 100 RPG launchers with 300 total rounds, and approximately 400 howitzers missiles [200 ea – 125mm and 200ea – 155 mm.]

The heavily redacted document does not disclose who was shipping the weapons.

The level of detail presented suggests that the Obama administration, in the least, was in a position to stop any transfers.

Why is the weapons transfer issue important? Because the Libya fiasco was allowing weapons to move into a jihadist madhouse in the Syria-Iraq region.

http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-r...bout-benghazi/

Another DIA report, written in August 2012 (the same time period the U.S. was monitoring weapons flows from Libya to Syria), said that the opposition in Syria was driven by al Qaeda and other extremist Muslim groups: “the Salafist, the Muslim Brotherhood, and AQI are the major forces driving the insurgency in Syria.” The growing sectarian direction of the war was predicted to have dire consequences for Iraq, which included the “grave danger” of the rise of ISIS:..."

NOT surprising this DIA document was heavily redacted and does not disclose who was shipping the weapons, because it was THE US doing the shipping, etc...and the lower states the US was 'monitoring weapons 'flows..."

Obama and HRC strike again.

 

Compared to Saud ? - Syria is a bastion of individual liberty and freedom. Compared to what the rebel opposition wants? - Assad is Thomas Jefferson.

This is the major point I have been getting at. The regime in Syria is a "secular". This is the primary reason for the call to Jihad against the Assad regime.

You have 2 main groups. 1) Those who want Strict Sharia Theocracy in Syria and 2) those who want Secularism.

Group 1 = Al Qaeda, Al Nusra, Salafi, ISIS and a bunch of other extremists that make up the rebel opposition
Group 2 = Assad Regime and the people of Syria who are not extremists.

We are allies with Group 1. We have been arming and supporting Group 1.

You seem to be having trouble accepting this reality.

 

The US tried to take out Assad by arming the terrorists, but it hasn't been successful. As for saying that they wouldn't allow airstrikes on ISIS oil trucks because civilians might be driving them is a bunch of bullsh*t. The US has been arming terrorists in Syria who were beheading Christians and Alawites and couldn't care less. It has been arming and helping Saudi Arabia kill Yemeni civilians. It is arming the Turks knowing they are killing and ethnically cleansing the Kurds in the Eastern part of their country, and it has been arming Ukraine knowing they were killing civilians in the Donbas.

The US also bombed Belgrade illegally for 78 days and killed 5,000 civilians, and they invaded Iraq illegally and again killed tens of thousands of civilians as we all know. The US drones have been killing civilians in Pakistan continuously not to mention Afghanistan, and the US attacked and bombed Libya under false pretenses...killing civilians and destroying that country.

The people who were driving those tankers were Turks, and they were carrying contraband. If they bombed them it would upset Turkey, so they couldn't say that. They had to spin it to the American people and pretend they were good guys and that they concern themselves about human lives, while at the same time making up lies about Russia bombing non existent hospitals and killing civilians. Yet they are not able to provide even one ounce of proof. Every accusation the US has made about Russia bombing civilians has been denied by the Red Cross. .

 

No not compared to the Saud.....or anyone else.


Islamist Rebels Create Dilemma on Syria Policy.....

In Syria’s largest city, Aleppo, rebels aligned with Al Qaeda control the power plant, run the bakeries and head a court that applies Islamic law. Elsewhere, they have seized government oil fields, put employees back to work and now profit from the crude they produce.

Across Syria, rebel-held areas are dotted with Islamic courts staffed by lawyers and clerics, and by fighting brigades led by extremists. Even the Supreme Military Council, the umbrella rebel organization whose formation the West had hoped would sideline radical groups, is stocked with commanders who want to infuse Islamic law into a future Syrian government.

Nowhere in rebel-controlled Syria is there a secular fighting force to speak of.

More than two years of violence have radicalized the armed opposition fighting the government of President Bashar al-Assad, leaving few groups that both share the political vision of the United States and have the military might to push it forward.

Among the most extreme groups is the notorious Al Nusra Front, the Qaeda-aligned force declared a terrorist organization by the United States, but other groups share aspects of its Islamist ideology in varying degrees.

The Islamist character of the opposition reflects the main constituency of the rebellion, which has been led since its start by Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority, mostly in conservative, marginalized areas. The descent into brutal civil war has hardened sectarian differences, and the failure of more mainstream rebel groups to secure regular arms supplies has allowed Islamists to fill the void and win supporters.

The religious agenda of the combatants sets them apart from many civilian activists, protesters and aid workers who had hoped the uprising would create a civil, democratic Syria.

When the armed rebellion began, defectors from the government’s staunchly secular army formed the vanguard. The rebel movement has since grown to include fighters with a wide range of views, including Qaeda-aligned jihadis seeking to establish an Islamic emirate, political Islamists inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood and others who want an Islamic-influenced legal code like that found in many Arab states.

Another prominent group, Ahrar al-Sham, shares much of Nusra’s extremist ideology but is made up mostly of Syrians.....snip~

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/w...reate-dilemma-for-us.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1

You might want try again when attempting to bring it my way. I probably have forgotten more links that you can come up with.

 

Here is a bit more on it.

As extremists rose in the rebel ranks, the United States sought to limit their influence, first by designating Nusra a terrorist organization, and later by pushing for the formation of the Supreme Military Council, which is linked to the exile opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition.

Although led by an army defector, Gen. Salim Idris, the council has taken in the leaders of many overtly Islamist battalions. One called the Syrian Liberation Front has been integrated nearly wholesale into the council; many of its members coordinate closely with the Syrian Islamic Front, a group that includes the extremist Ahrar al-Sham, according to a recent report by Ms. O’Bagy, of the Institute for the Study of War.

In the past, United States officials saw the Islamist groups’ abundant resources as the main draw for recruits, said Steven Heydemann, a senior adviser at the United States Institute of Peace, which works with the State Department.

“The strategy is based on the current assessment that popular appeal of these groups is transactional, not ideological, and that opportunities exist to peel people away by providing alternative support and resources,” he said.

Mr. Heydemann acknowledged, however, that the current momentum toward radicalism could be hard to reverse.

We all want an Islamic state and we want Shariah to be applied,” said Maawiya Hassan Agha, a rebel activist reached by Skype in the northern village of Sarmeen. He said a country’s laws should flow from its people’s beliefs and compared Syrians calling for Islamic law with the French banning Muslim women from wearing face veils.....snip~ same link.

 

My apologies for misreading our misunderstanding your previous post. Good link !

 

NOT BS Jennette, it's a FACT that Obama SAID that...and it was only after Russia moved in that BHO said he decided to get more serious. (My initial statement, "Remember, BHO SAID he wouldn't allow air strikes on ISIS oil trucks because, "civilians may be driving them".)

The US says, and does alot of things, so does Russia.

You are welcome to select the Propaganda of your choice, and to believe, or not believe it.

 

do yo have more information about it?

 

Heya litwin. A little bit.

Origins of the Syrian Democratic Forces.....

Aron Lund writes: The Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, is a coalition of Kurdish, Sunni Arab and Syriac Christian fighters, but is completely dominated by its Kurdish element, which is a powerful and well organized militia known as the Popular Defense Units, YPG, with an all-female branch called the Women’s Defense Units, or YPJ. These organizations, in turn, are Syrian front groups for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party or PKK. The other militias involved in the Syrian Democratic Forces are either long-standing PKK allies or proxies, such as the armed wing of the Syriac Union Party, or more recent allies drawn from the Sunni Arab tribal landscape in this part of Syria and from the remains of small Sunni Arab rebel groups crushed by the so-called Islamic State.

The coalition as a whole receives American air support for operations against Islamic State, as did the YPG/J before it. That started in the Battle of Kobane that began in autumn 2014, which was enormously successful — really the first major battlefield defeat inflicted on Islamic State. It has provided the template for US-PKK cooperation. In addition, the Pentagon has picked out a number of these little Arab groups that work under the SDF umbrella as favored recipients of arms and support. It terms them, collectively, the Syrian Arab Coalition, though no one else seems to use that name.

The coalition is equally useful for the YPG/J and the PKK more generally, not only because they get arms and other kinds of support. It also helps rehabilitate them politically and provides a great platform to engage in public diplomacy. Since the creation of the Syrian Democratic Forces, they've set up a political branch called the Democratic Syrian Assembly, DSA. This is made up of two main components.

The first consists of representatives from the various Kurdish groups ruling northern Syria, including the Rojava self-governing cantons and the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM) and a few others. These are all PKK proxies like the YPG/J. You also have the Syriac Union Party's corresponding political fronts, and other local allies that are more or less closely linked to the overarching PKK-backed structure in this part of Syria.

The other main element of the SDF is a loose network of Syrian leftists and other secular activists, most of them connected in one way or another to Haytham Manna, a Europe-based human rights activist from the Deraa Governorate in southern Syria. These groups—particularly Manna himself—are well versed in regional Syria diplomacy, with useful links to all sides, including the opposition, European states, U.N. diplomats, parts of the Arab League, Egypt, Russia and so on. On the other hand, they are not popular in the broader Sunni Arab and more Islamist-dominated Turkey- and Gulf-backed opposition that forms the mainstay of the rebellion against Bashar al-Assad. They are also very few in number and have zero relevance on the battlefield inside Syria. Nevertheless, they are useful to the Syrian Kurds as a way of raising their political profile because they provide added political influence and help obfuscate the fact that the SDF/DSA is mostly an ethnic-Kurdish thing and a vehicle for the PKK's Syrian operations. Manna and his allies would, for their part, find it very difficult to gain a seat at the table if they had not jumped on the SDF bandwagon.....snip~

http://www.syriadeeply.org/articles/2016/01/9346/origins-syrian-democratic-forces-primer/

 

YPG is the real power, i need the arab allies numbers, can they fight ?

 

Opposition groups in Syria took a new turn in 2011 during the Syrian civil war as they united to form the Syrian National Council (SNC), which has received significant international support and recognition as a partner for dialogue. The Syrian National Council has been recognised or supported in some capacity by at least 17 member states of the United Nations, with three of those (France, United Kingdom and the United States) being permanent members of the Security Council.

A new opposition umbrella group — the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces — was formed in November 2012 and has gained recognition as the "legitimate representative of the Syrian people" by the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (CCASG) and as a "representative of aspirations of Syrian people" by the Arab League.

The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces is a coalition of opposition groups in the Syrian civil war. It formed on 11 November 2012 at a conference of opposition groups held in Doha, Qatar. It includes organisations such as the SNC. Islamic preacher Moaz al-Khatib serves as the president of the coalition, Riad Seif and Suheir Atassi were elected vice presidents. Mustafa Sabbagh is the coalition's secretary-general.

The Syrian National Council, a coalition of Syrian opposition groups based in Istanbul, formed in 2011 during the Syrian civil war. Key people include chairman as of 2013 George Sabra, and former chairmen Burhan Ghalioun and Abdulbaset Sieda.

Muslim Brotherhood: Islamist party founded in 1930. The brotherhood was behind the Islamic uprising in Syria between 1976 until 1982. The party is banned in Syria and membership became a capital offence in 1980. The régime of Bashar al Assad, and others[who?], have accused the Muslim Brotherhood of being key players in the Syrian uprising that escalated into a civil war. Other sources have described the group as having "risen from the ashes", "resurrected itself" to be a dominant force in the uprising. Current leader is Ali Sadreddine Al-Bayanouni.

Coalition of Secular and Democratic Syrians: nucleus of a Syrian secular and democratic opposition that appeared during the Syrian civil war. It came about through the union of a dozen Muslim and Christian, Arab and Kurd parties, who called the minorities of Syria to support the fight against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. The Coalition has also called for military intervention in Syria, under the form of a no-fly zone similar to that of Kosovo, with a safe zone and cities. The president of the coalition, who is also a member of the SNC, is Randa Kassis.

Damascus Declaration: Opposition bloc from 2005. Twelve members were sentenced to 2.5 years in prison in 2008. Syrian journalist and activist Michel Kilo launched the declaration, after the Syrian writer and thinker Abdulrazak Eid had written its first draft. Riad Seif, another democracy activist, became the first signatory. The "five small opposition groups" signing the declaration were the Arab nationalist National Democratic Rally.

the Kurdish Democratic Alliance
the Committees of Civil Society
the Kurdish Democratic Front

The Movement of the Future. The Movement for Justice and Development in Syria (MJD) also subscribes to the Damascus Declaration. In a series of splits 2007-2009, most members left the Damascus Declaration, leaving the MJD and SDPP (see below) as the only remaining factions of any consequence, along with a number of independents.

Syrian Democratic People's Party: A socialist party which played a "key role" in the creation of the SNC. The party's leader George Sabra (a secularist born to a Christian family) is the official spokesman of the SNC, and also ran for chairman.

Supreme Council of the Syrian Revolution: Syrian opposition group supporting the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's government. It grants local opposition groups representation in its national organization.

Assyrian Democratic Organization: A party representing Assyrians in Syria and long repressed by the Assad regime, it has been a participant in opposition structures since the beginning of the conflict. Abdul-Ahad Astepho is a member of the SNC.

Syrian Turkmen Assembly: A recently formed assembly of Syrian Turkmens which constitutes a coalition of Turkmen parties and groups in Syria. It is against the partition of Syria after the collapse of Baath regime. The common decision of Syrian Turkmen Assembly is: "Regardless of any ethnic or religious identity, a future in which everybody can be able to live commonly under the identity of Syrian is targeted in the future of Syria."

Syrian Democratic Turkmen Movement: An opposition party of Syrian Turkmens, which was constituted in Istanbul on 21 March 2012. The leader of Syrian Democratic Turkmen Movement is Ziyad Hasan.

Syrian Turkmen National Bloc: An opposition party of Syrian Turkmens, which was founded in February 2012. The chairman of the political party is Yusuf Molla.

Local Coordination Committees of Syria: Network of local protest groups that organise and report on protests as part of the Syrian civil war, founded in 2011. As of August 2011, the network supported civil disobedience and opposed local armed resistance and international military intervention as methods of opposing the Syrian government. Key people are activists Razan Zaitouneh and Suhair al-Atassi.

Free Syrian Army & Higher Military Council: Paramilitary that has been active during the Syrian civil war. Composed mainly of defected Syrian Armed Forces personnel, its formation was announced on 29 July 2011 in a video released on the Internet by a uniformed group of deserters from the Syrian military who called upon members of the Syrian army to defect and join them. The leader of the group, who identified himself as Colonel Riad al-Asaad, announced that the Free Syrian Army would work with demonstrators to bring down the system, and declared that all security forces attacking civilians are justified targets. It has also been reported that many former Syrian Consulates are trying to band together a Free Syrian Navy from fishermen and defectors to secure the coast.

Al-Tawhid Brigade: an armed group of the Free Syrian Army active in the Battle of Aleppo.

Liwaa al-Umma: a paramilitary group fighting against the Syrian government in the Syrian civil war. The group was previously led by Mahdi Al-Harati, an Irish-Libyan who led Libyan rebel Tripoli Brigade during the Battle of Tripoli. In September 2012 it came under command of the Free Syrian Army.

Syrian Turkmen Brigades: An armed opposition structure of Syrian Turkmens fighting against Syrian Armed Forces. It is also the military wing of Syrian Turkmen Assembly. It is led by Colonel Muhammad Awad and Ali Basher......snip~

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_opposition

 

Here are the Kurds that are in the Opposition.....

The Kurdish Supreme Committee is a governing body of Kurdish-held regions in Syria founded by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party and Kurdish National Council following cooperation agreement between the two sides, signed on 12 July, in Erbil under auspice of the Iraqi Kurdistan president Massoud Barzani. Its member board consist of equal number of PYD and KNC members.

Kurdish Democratic Union Party: Kurdish Syrian political party established in 2003 by Arab and Kurdish nationalists in northern Syria. The party is linked with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which is listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States, the European Union and NATO. The PYD does admit that the two parties have a close relationship, with the PKK not interfering with PYD management of Syrian Kurdish affairs. It is currently not officially registered as a political party in Syria because the Constitution of Syria before 2012 did not allow political parties to be formed without permission.

Kurdish National Council: The Kurdish National Council was founded in Erbil, Iraq on 26 October 2011, under the sponsorship of President Massoud Barzani, following the earlier creation of the SNC. The organisation was originally composed of 11 Syrian Kurdish parties, however by May 2012 this had grown to 15. The key difference between the KNC and the SNC is over their approach to the issue of decentralization, with the KNC pressing for Kurdish autonomy, whereas the SNC has rejected anything more than administrative decentralization. Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria led by Dr. Abdel Hakim Bashar/ Nasreddin Ibrahim

Kurdish Democratic National Party in Syria led by Tahir Sfook
Kurdish Democratic Equality Party in Syria led by Aziz Dawe
Kurdish Democratic Progressive Party in Syria led by Hamid Darwish
Kurdish Democratic Unity Party in Syria led by Sheikh Ali

Kurdish Yekiti Party in Syria led by Ismail Hamo
Azadi Kurdish Party in Syria led by Mustafa Oso/ Mustafa Jumaa
Syrian Democratic Kurdish Party led by Sheikh Jamal
Kurdish Left Party in Syria led by Muhammad Musa
Yekiti Kurdistani led by Abdul Basit Hamo
Kurdish Democratic Party in Syria led by Abdul Rahman Aluji/ Yusuf Faisal
Kurdish Democratic Wifaq Party led by Nash’at Muhammad

Popular Protection Units: Paramilitary fighting against the Syrian government in Syrian Kurdistan. The group was founded by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party and Kurdish National Council and is responsible for maintaining order and protecting the lives of residents in Kurdish neighbourhoods.....snip~ Same wiki link.

 

Thanks for all the great info MMC.

So many, (too many) factions trying to get some recognition and political power. Interesting to see which groups will be allowed to participate in the Peace Talks, and how these Talks will affect Syria's future, IF at all.