By (Ret.) Col Pat Lang
October 31, 2017
Sic Semper Tyrannis
[Emphasis mine]
This is the situation in NW Syria and the east on 31 October.
- The situation in Eastern Syria has become relatively stable. The US government's proxy forces (SDF) have advanced to the east bank of the
Euphrates and as a result sovereign Syria will be limited to the country west of the river for some unforeseeable period. - The SDF and R+6 are engaged along with Iraqi forces in a race along both banks of the river to determine who will control the Albukamel border crossing on the Deir al-Zor to Baghdad highway. The US coalition apparently wants to keep that highway communication out of SAG hands so as to continue to weaken the government. The Iraqi government wants the crossing open and in Syria's hands, so this is bound to be a cause of friction between the US and Iraq.
- The large IS pockets in central Syria have been eliminated with some jihadis being allowed to evacuate into the Albukamel area and others seeking to flee into Idlib Province where they are being given a hostile reception by HTS (Al-Qa'ida).
- This has freed up a large number of Syrian troops who are being re-deployed either to the Euphrates or to the coming offensive in Idlib Province.
- The Syrian general command has appointed new commanders to the north overall and to the offensive that will drive into Idlib Province from the south.
- Action on the axis astride Route 5 from the south has begun. Secondary attacks should be expected from Aleppo City and from Latakia Province going east.
- Such action is facilitated by the fact that both HTS and IS are excluded from the terms of the de-escalation agreement in Idlib Province.
- The situation will become really interesting when R-6 forces reach the outposts now manned by the Turks in northern Idlib Province. pl
Here are two initial comments from the SST Comment Section in discussion of the above post; the second, by Col. Lang, contains the quote in the title of this post:
b [Moon of Alabama author] said...
There is something new coming to the conflict that is not reflected in the above.
This has been rumored for a while but the Saudis now made it official:
/quote/
Firebrand Saudi State Minister for Gulf Affairs Thamer al-Sabhan on Monday called for “toppling Hizbullah” and promised “astonishing” developments in “the coming days.”
/quote/
Firebrand Saudi State Minister for Gulf Affairs Thamer al-Sabhan on Monday called for “toppling Hizbullah” and promised “astonishing” developments in “the coming days.”
“Those who believe that my tweets are a personal stance are delusional and they will see what will happen in the coming days,” al-Sabhan said in an interview with MTV.
Referring to his Sunday tweet about the Lebanese government, the minister said: “I addressed my tweet to the government because the Party of Satan (Hizbullah) is represented in it and it is a terrorist party. The issue is not about toppling the government but rather that Hizbullah should be toppled.”
“The coming developments will definitely be astonishing,” al-Sabhan added.
/endquote/
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/237517-al-sabhan-calls-for-toppling-hizbullah-promises-astonishing-developments
/endquote/
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/237517-al-sabhan-calls-for-toppling-hizbullah-promises-astonishing-developments
Thamer al-Sabhan had recently been invited to Raqqa by Brett McGurk. He met "tribal leaders" and the Kurdish U.S. proxies. He then went to Lebanon.
The U.S. continues to provide an unnecessary huge amount of vehicles and weapons to the SDF. There is also way more U.S. personal in Syria than the 500 officially admitted.
Something is up - a renewed offensive with Hizbullah being one of the dedicated targets and extended over Lebanon and Syria. It could involve Israel.
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turcopolier [Col. Lang] said...
b et al
"As is now well-known, the CIA was directly involved in leading regime change efforts in Syria with allied gulf partners, as leaked and declassified US intelligence memos confirm. The US government understood in real time that Gulf and West-supplied advanced weaponry was going to al-Qaeda and ISIS, despite official claims of arming so-called "moderate" rebels. For example, a leaked 2014 intelligence memo sent to Hillary Clinton acknowledged Qatari and Saudi support for ISIS."
If this man is not lying it is now clear that Obama and his various CIA directors were involved in supplying both IS and AQ from the beginning. The CIA as an institution would merely have been executing orders as they are now. Like Mr. Jefferson "I fear for my country when I think that God is just." pl
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