In the immortal words of Condoleezza Rice, One war at a time

So can we please kindly focus? Yes I have seen the headlines. I don't live in a cave. I do live in the District of Columbia, which should be renamed the District of Jumping Bean. If Riyadh and Tehran start World War Three, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, won't we. For now, Sputnik is giving into irrational exhuberance with this headline today:

The End is Near: Syrian Opposition Forces on Offensive in Raqqa

The Syrian Democratic Forces - an alliance of Syrian Kurds and Arab rebel groups - backed by US coalition airstrikes, have captured several villages 30 kilometers north of the de facto Daesh capital of Raqqa, Reuters reported. ...

Reuters, eh? I wish they'd stick to financial reporting.  

... The units of the SDF, which are also supported by Russia, have been advancing on the Daesh forces near the town of Ain Isa in the country’s northern Al-Raqqa province, SDF spokesman, Colonel Talal Selo, said.  

"We no longer think as we did before that Daesh cannot be defeated," he added.

In June the Kurdish popular defense forces managed, with US air support, to seize Ain Isa only to be forced out by the terrorists two weeks later.

Selo said several thousand fighters from the Democratic Forces of Syria had inflicted heavy losses on the Daesh forces. He did not say when a major assault on Raqqa would begin.

Russian warplanes have been assisting the Syrian opposition forces in an offensive on the de facto Daesh capital of Raqqa."With the support of the Russian aviation group, the Syrian Democratic Forces' units… are conducting an offensive on the Daesh capital, the city of Raqqa," chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Sergei Rudskoi told reporters late last month.

The Syrian Democratic Forces are an alliance between Kurdish, Arab, Assyrian and other militias that was founded in October 2015.

[END REPORT]

[chuckling] Reuters hates mentioning the Syrian Army. Anyhow, we don't know how near the end is because there is no indication when the assault could begin.  
Criminey, it's past 9 in the morning; I need to get some sleep. Bye for now. Check in with FARS; they have several reports on the latest in the impressive progress beng made by the Syrian Army.  oh, and don't forget to listen to Batchelor's discussion with Steve Cohen tonight about Russia. 10:05 Eastern Time. Be there or be square.  

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