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Re: Regional geopolitics
Thank vulnerability in urban warfare
Thank vulnerability in urban warfare
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Re: Regional geopolitics
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Re: Regional geopolitics
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Re: Regional geopolitics
Russia deploys advanced anti-missile system to Syria for first time, US officials say
By Lucas Tomlinson Published October 03, 2016 FoxNews.com
Tuesday, Oct 4 edition of 'Special Report'
EXCLUSIVE: Russia has deployed an advanced anti-missile system to Syria for the first time, three US officials tell Fox News, the latest indication that Moscow continues to ramp up its military operations in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad.
It comes after Russia's actions led to the collapse of a cease-fire and the cut-off of direct talks with the U.S.
While Moscow’s motives are not certain, officials say the new weapon system could potentially counter any American cruise missile attack in Syria.
Components of the SA-23 Gladiator anti-missile and anti-aircraft system, which has a range of roughly 150 miles, arrived over the weekend “on the docks” of a Russian naval base along Syria’s Mediterranean coastal city of Tartus, two US officials said.
It is the first time Russia has deployed the SA-23 system outside its borders, according to one Western official citing a recent intelligence assessment. The missiles and associated components are still in their crates and are not yet operational, according to the officials.
The U.S. intelligence community has been observing the shipment of the SA-23 inside Russia in recent weeks, according to one official.
While the purpose is not clear, one US official asked sarcastically, “Nusra doesn’t have an air force do they?” speaking about the Al Qaeda-linked group in Syria. The Islamic State also does not fly any manned aircraft or possess cruise missiles, in a sign that Russia is directing its actions to protect itself against any potential attack from the United States or its allies.
The SA-23 can fire two different types of missiles. A smaller missile is used against aircraft and cruise missiles and is known by NATO as Gladiator. The larger missile is used against intermediate-range ballistic missiles and jamming aircraft and is known as Giant. Both missiles use the same type of warhead containing over 300 pounds of explosives, according to military-today.com.
Three years ago, President Obama weighed military action against the Assad regime’s chemical weapons facilities as well as airbases housing the regime’s attack helicopters and jets. US Navy ships in the eastern Mediterranean were prepared to launch Tomahawk cruise missiles in a limited strike to cripple the regime.
Russia deployed a separate air defense system, the S-400, to Syria after a Russian jet was shot down by a Turkish warplane last November. Since the S-400 deployment, the U.S. military has been careful about flying manned aircraft inside the range of the system, despite repeated pledges by the US military that its airstrikes in Syria are focused on ISIS, not the Assad regime.
Monday, the Pentagon announced it conducted an airstrike potentially killing a “prominent” al-Qaeda linked operative in Syria. Officials said they were still assessing the strike and have not released the name of their target.
Hours after the State Department announced it was cutting off talks with Moscow, President Vladimir Putin said he had suspended a Russia-U.S. deal on the disposal of weapons-grade plutonium. Putin's decree released by the Kremlin cited Washington's "unfriendly actions."
Top US officials have recently accused Russia and the Syrian regime of indiscriminant bombing in Syria using incendiary and bunker busting bombs on civilians. Two weeks ago, a UN aid convoy was bombed, killing dozens of aid workers attempting to deliver critical supplies to the more than 200,000 Aleppo residents trapped inside the eastern portion of the city, once Syria’s most populated. In the past week, hundreds of civilians, including children, have been killed, according to local reports.
Russia began its air campaign in Syria on Sept. 30, 2015 following a weeks-long buildup of fighter jets and attack aircraft. Long-range bombers flying from Russia and Iran have also been used to attack Syrian rebels, some backed by the United States.
Days after Russian bombs started falling in Syria, President Obama predicted that Russia and Iran would find themselves mired in a “quagmire.”
“[A]n attempt by Russia and Iran to prop up Assad and try to pacify the population is just going to get them stuck in a quagmire. And it won’t work,” he told reporters in a White House press conference on Oct. 2, 2015.
On Friday, the one-year anniversary of the Russian strikes, the State Department acknowledged that Russia had succeeded in its goal of propping up the Assad regime.
“It is a grim anniversary…It is hard not to assess that they have succeeded in bolstering the regime,” said Mark Toner, a State Dept. spokesman.
Lucas Tomlinson is the Pentagon and State Department producer for Fox News Channel. You can follow him on Twitter: @LucasFoxNewsComment
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Re: Regional geopolitics
A good summery of the life of Stepan BANDERA, for those interested by Ukrayina.
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Re: Regional geopolitics
By Sinan Salaheddin and Suzan Fraser | AP October 5 at 6:50 AM
BAGHDAD — Turkey and Iraq summoned each other’s ambassadors on Wednesday to protest statements by one country’s prime minister and the other’s parliament, a move reflecting growing tensions between the two neighbors, both fighting the Islamic State group.
Iraq’s Foreign Ministry summoned Turkeys’ ambassador to Baghdad to condemn allegedly “provocative” comments made by Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Tuesday about the planned operation to dislodge IS militants from the northern city of Mosul, said the ministry’s spokesman, Ahmad Jamal.
Yildrim told ruling party legislators in parliament that the Iraqi operation could spark Shiite-Sunni sectarian tensions if the majority Sunni region around Mosul were to be placed under Shiite militia control after the offensive.
However, it is still unclear if the Shiite militias, the core of the Iraqi paramilitary forces battling IS, will take an essential part in the Mosul operation.
Relations between Iraq and Turkey have become strained since late last year when Turkey sent unauthorized troops to the region of Bashiqa, northeast of Mosul to train anti-IS fighters there. Baghdad considers this a “blatant violation” of Iraq’s sovereignty and has demanded Turkish withdrawal, a call Ankara has ignored.
Yildrim comments on Tuesday echoed those of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan days earlier during a parliamentary session in which Turkish legislators extended the mandate of Turkish forces in Syria and Iraq for one more year. Erdogan expressed Ankara’s willingness to join the imminent battle for Mosul.
In Iraq, the parliament on Tuesday adopted a resolution denouncing the extension of Turkish troops’ presence and asking the government to consider them as “occupation forces.” Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi later told reporters the presence of Turkish troops “is one of the challenges” ahead of the Mosul operation, warning that Ankara’s insistence could lead to a “regional warfare.”
In Ankara, the Iraqi envoy was summoned for a protest over the Iraqi parliament resolution. The Foreign Ministry said Turkey has for years suffered from terror threats arising from instability in Iraq and had strongly supported Iraq’s territorial integrity, stability and security.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus defended the Turkish presence in Iraq and also Syria, saying it’s “not meant as an invasion.”
“We have no intention of interfering in those countries’ interior affairs,” he said.
Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city about 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad, is the last remaining IS urban stronghold in Iraq. The government is now gearing up for a major offensive to retake Mosul from IS and has pledged to recapture the city this year.
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Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey.Hayastan or Bust.Comment
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Re: Regional geopolitics
15:05 05.10.2016
(updated 16:23 05.10.2016)
The September 19 attack on a UN humanitarian convoy in Aleppo was "a well-prepared hoax", according to a group of independent military experts attached to the International Syria Support Group (ISSG).
On September 19, a UN-Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoy carrying humanitarian aid forxthe Aleppo province was hit byxa strike, according toxthe International Federation ofxRed Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). As a result, 18 ofx31 trucks were destroyed and atxleast 21 individuals were killed.
According toxthe report seen byxRIA Novosti, the experts studied the video recording made byxthe Russian drones accompanying the convoy, where "a car withxa trailer clearly carrying a large-caliber mortar" can be seen. They also noted that al-Nusra Front-controlled militants were active inxthe region, when the convoy was attacked.
"Urm al-Kubra is located inxthe region controlled byxal-Nusra [Front] militants, moreover, this territory is noted asxa region withxhigh concentration ofxmilitants. If you consider reports ofxSeptember 19, you will see that al-Nusra militants carried outxa large-scale offensive supported byxmass artillery fire, tanks and volley fire rocket systems inxthat very region atxthat time," the report read.
The experts analyzed the footage and photos ofxthe attack inxthe media and came toxa conclusion that "the attack" was staged: inxparticular, the cabin ofxone ofxthe trucks was not affected and "has no trace ofxa close explosionx— traces ofxdebris or holes, only the cargo damaged." Furthermore, the edges ofxthe holes inxdamaged trucks are covered withxrust. The road surface was also inxperfect condition, while according toxthe experts it would have been damaged if it were hit byxan airstrike.
The degree ofxdamage contradicts the airstrike version: the blast inxa confined space would atxleast have overturned the trucks withxcargo while explosions would have left shards inxthe walls ofxnearby buildings. But judging byxthe photos, the trucks only lost its canvas, their tires remained intact, the cardboard boxes remained inxtheir places, and the nearby buildings have no cracks.
The experts were also puzzled overxthe crater allegedly left byxthe purported airstrike.
"The central part ofxthe crater pulls objects inxinstead ofxscattering them around. Is it a black hole?"
"In summary ofxthis preliminary analysis, we can conclude that we are dealing withxa well-prepared staged or ‘fake’ attack," the report reads.
A diplomatic source told RIA Novosti that this report was sent toxrepresentatives withxthe United States who "expressed their disagreement withxthe conclusions."
© REUTERS/ Ammar Abdullah
US Apologizes to Bashar Assad for Airstrike on Syrian Army's Position Near Deir ez-Zor - Lavrov
Western countries have accused Russia and Syria ofxthe attack. Moscow has refuted the allegations and proposed toxcarry outxan investigation ofxthe incident, butxthe Russian proposal has not been met withxinterest byxthe West. The Russian Defense Ministry, commenting onxthe attack, said that a US Predator drone operated nearxUrum al-Kubra area north ofxAleppo atxthe time ofxthe deadly attack and had left the area only a half an hour afterxit.Hayastan or Bust.Comment
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Re: Regional geopolitics
"Turkey ready to supply new corvettes to Azerbaijan Navy
Turkey is ready to share with Azerbaijan its experience in shipbuilding, including warships’ production, and help to modernize and re-equip Azerbaijan’s Navy, General Director of Turkey’s STM Defense Technologies Engineering and Trade Inc."
That's good news! The more turks and shekels irritate Iran the better off we are.Comment
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Re: Regional geopolitics
OPEC Deal Fails to Lift Oil Price Forecasts
"Analysts are lowering their oil price forecasts despite OPEC’s promise to cut crude production, underscoring widespread skepticism about the cartel and its agreement.
A survey of 13 investment banks by The Wall Street Journal predicts that Brent crude, the international oil-price gauge, will average at $56 a barrel next year, down by more than a dollar from last month’s survey."
That will keep the azeri economy at 40% lower to break-even. Meaning they will need around 5 billion a year to drain from that fund. They have 3 to 4 years of oxygen instead of 2-3 if it was around $40 a barrel.Comment
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Re: Regional geopolitics
Let us hope prices will take a dive cause of this
"An oil explorer just made what could be one of the biggest discoveries in the history of Alaska ... site is expected to hold 6 billion to 10 billion barrels of oil"
Energy in Azerbaijan
According to industry journals and government sources, proven oil reserves totaled between 7 billion and 13 billion barrelsComment
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