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[KurtSloane]

The Kurdish militant nationalism genie ain't getting back into the bottle. If anyone thinks that a small stroll by the Turkish army and a little finger wagging by the US is going to stop the Kurds from having a nation they're wildly deluded. Especially after having kicked ISIS ass so convincingly. Unless the US while trying to please Turkey and Iraq manages to swap an islamist death cult for a heavily armed Marxist guerrilla army.

Without US air cover, the Kurds where getting rolled by ISIS.

 

[TheRealTalker]

bloody Kurds and Turks killing each other right now

and then you wonder why Iranian paid militias are running wild everywhere without no worries, while ISIS is able to just live longer then expected.

The kurds even have that dude from Northern Iraq that is basically an Iranian lapdog

what a mess this is

unity means nothing when personal ambitions blind you

Oh and then you have the US being useless... I mean Obama is fine and all but his foreign policy was basically a disaster for the ME

he literally didn't back his own words was weak when the time needed him to defend his backed allies of whatever kind and now basically Syria, Iraq and God knows what is next is under Iran's control


no sovereign states at all to the point that now Human right groups are tweeting about large exodus of people from their land and being replaced with loyal Afghans and Pakistanis that are under the Iranian milita wing.


I have a feeling an even bigger refugee crisis is in a midst

 

[ZealousD]

The Kurdish militant nationalism genie ain't getting back into the bottle. If anyone thinks that a small stroll by the Turkish army and a little finger wagging by the US is going to stop the Kurds from having a nation they're wildly deluded. Especially after having kicked ISIS ass so convincingly. Unless the US while trying to please Turkey and Iraq manages to swap an islamist death cult for a heavily armed Marxist guerrilla army.

Is it really a good idea for the Kurds to hold Arab towns like Manbij? I am not necessarily against the idea of a Kurdish state but I would think it would make the most sense for a Kurdish state to be composed of traditionally Kurdish towns and areas.

 

[TheRealTalker]

Is it really a good idea for the Kurds to hold Arab towns like Manbij? I am not necessarily against the idea of a Kurdish state but I would think it would make the most sense for a Kurdish state to be composed of traditionally Kurdish towns and areas.

at first it was speculated that they had these town to be used as a future bargaining chip when everything is done and over and peace negotiations begin

but it seems that they have also been kicking out these citizens out of their lands so we don't even know anymore

but that is mostly in Iraq


basically I have a feeling that after Deash kicks the bucket (which they will) it is literally going to be a game of empire

maps will be redrawn

 

[Golden_Pigeon]

I read yesterday that Iran worked as a intermediate between Damas and Ankara to coordinate the attack.

Could be pretty big implication for the future of the conflict is true.
Maybe they would agree to divide the country between Damas for shi'a and christians and Aleppo as the capital of the sunni syria. It could explain the recent clash between Assad forces and the YPG.

 

[sphagnum]

Read somewhere that the US asked the Kurds to start moving towards Raqa and they just went "Nah screw that".

Makes sense for the Kurds (why go do the heavy work fighting ISIS when it'll be the biggest battle in the war so far and the US won't/can't back you up against the Turks and is asking you to abandon your gains west of the Euphrates?) but it does make me wonder what the US's strategy will be. Try to get the Arab SDF forces to go there? Convince Turkey to do it (although it seems that their main preoccupation is preventing the Kurds from linking their cantons and providing a buffer zone for the FSA to take advantage of)? Hope Russia and Assad do it?

 

[GSG Flash]

bloody Kurds and Turks killing each other right now

and then you wonder why Iranian paid militias are running wild everywhere without no worries, while ISIS is able to just live longer then expected.

The kurds even have that dude from Northern Iraq that is basically an Iranian lapdog

what a mess this is

unity means nothing when personal ambitions blind you

Oh and then you have the US being useless... I mean Obama is fine and all but his foreign policy was basically a disaster for the ME

he literally didn't back his own words was weak when the time needed him to defend his backed allies of whatever kind and now basically Syria, Iraq and God knows what is next is under Iran's control


no sovereign states at all to the point that now Human right groups are tweeting about large exodus of people from their land and being replaced with loyal Afghans and Pakistanis that are under the Iranian milita wing.


I have a feeling an even bigger refugee crisis is in a midst

No offense, but this entire post is a massive Iranian boogeyman conspiracy theory bullshit. Saudi Arabia and Qatar's militia(the Arab and Islamist portion of the rebels) are just as complicit in this fuckery as Iran's "militia" (ie. The Syrian army and Hezbollah). And this is the first time I've heard any nonsense about some Iranian Pakistani militia, which is a total load of crock.

In other news, the US has told Turkey to back off from attacking the Kurds.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-37212256

The Kurds are the only side I actually support in this conflict as they're the only side I actually have faith would build a stable nation free of religious bullshit.

 

[Golden_Pigeon]

Read somewhere that the US asked the Kurds to start moving towards Raqa and they just went "Nah screw that".

Makes sense for the Kurds (why go do the heavy work fighting ISIS when it'll be the biggest battle in the war so far and the US won't/can't back you up against the Turks and is asking you to abandon your gains west of the Euphrates?) but it does make me wonder what the US's strategy will be. Try to get the Arab SDF forces to go there? Convince Turkey to do it (although it seems that their main preoccupation is preventing the Kurds from linking their cantons and providing a buffer zone for the FSA to take advantage of)? Hope Russia and Assad do it?

I really think that US policy is basically watching to get some opening and praying for a good outcome.

Clinton election will change a lot of thing though.

 

[CHEEZMO™]

And this is the first time I've heard any nonsense about some Iranian Pakistani militia, which is a total load of crock.

Maybe you should pay more attention

 

[Oriel]

No offense, but this entire post is a massive Iranian boogeyman conspiracy theory bullshit. Saudi Arabia and Qatar's militia(the Arab and Islamist portion of the rebels) are just as complicit in this fuckery as Iran's "militia" (ie. The Syrian army and Hezbollah). And this is the first time I've heard any nonsense about some Iranian Pakistani militia, which is a total load of crock.

The Iranians are shipping in Shi'ites from Afghanistan to Syria and have been for years. Oh, and Iranian IRGC officers are now heading up the Assadist forces, even ordering the execution of Assad officers who've been found "guilty" of cowardice or some such shit. Assad is a mere puppet of Soleimani, the real ruler of Assadist Syria.

 

[GSG Flash]

Maybe you should pay more attention

Hmmmm first I've heard of this, never even heard of that group in the article before. Will read some more into them...

The Iranians are shipping in Shi'ites from Afghanistan to Syria and have been for years. Oh, and Iranian IRGC officers are now heading up the Assadist forces, even ordering the execution of Assad officers who've been found "guilty" of cowardice or some such shit. Assad is a mere puppet of Soleimani, the real ruler of Assadist Syria.

Where did I say anything to the contrary? Iran is complicit in this fuckery, as is Saudi Arabia and Qatar and Turkey.

 

[TheRealTalker]

No offense, but this entire post is a massive Iranian boogeyman conspiracy theory bullshit. Saudi Arabia and Qatar's militia(the Arab and Islamist portion of the rebels) are just as complicit in this fuckery as Iran's "militia" (ie. The Syrian army and Hezbollah). And this is the first time I've heard any nonsense about some Iranian Pakistani militia, which is a total load of crock.

In other news, the US has told Turkey to back off from attacking the Kurds.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-37212256

The Kurds are the only side I actually support in this conflict as they're the only side I actually have faith would build a stable nation free of religious bullshit.

SA should leave the region alone as well

the whole place literally became a proxy war fest with all these nations suffering from it

The amount of foreign players in Syria is staggering and none of it has helped.

With more backstabbing then you can count... Still on the Western/GCC proxy side they are aiding Kurds and Sunni Syrians which are the larger demographics of the country. Plus these sides are slow to react usually, relative to the Russian/Iranian quickness to act and it ends up mostly being a countering tactic.

If every single person let the Syrian civil war play out without any foreign intervention then Assad would've been dead long ago seeing as he wouldn't have had a chance against the majority and the fact that early in the uprising top generals left Assad's side. What let him live was the west and ME powers incompetence and Iran's quickness to act.

What I am saying is, on one side there is Assad with his foreign militias, Iran Hezbollah, Russia and now even China and on the other there is the US with its allies and then SA/Qatar, and Turkey, etc...

Everyone wants a piece of that country and wants to divide it up.... no one is truly there for the Syrians. It has came to the point that unlike the Assad side the large scale coalition is literally a cluster of people not trusting each other and later backstabbing each other compared to the Assad alliance.

and Iran is indeed cranking up a pseudo empire ideology... idk about you but Iran has been flexing its muscle in multiple regions post sanctions, while SA has been scaling down (other then Yemen) due to and ailing economy.

It is even resettling foreigners into the country to live and maintain livelihood there... there is no conspiracy going on literally all the stuff I said can be seen via Human Rights watch and other rights groups.

And this is the first time I've heard any nonsense about some Iranian Pakistani militia, which is a total load of crock.

it is common knowledge
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_involvement_in_the_Syrian_Civil_War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liwa_Fatemiyoun
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liwa_Zainebiyoun

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/syrias-other-foreign-fighters-irans-afghan-pakistani-14400
https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/01/29/iran-sending-thousands-afghans-fight-syria
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-36035095
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-pakistan-iran-idUSKBN0TT22S20151210
even Iran recently acknowledged it existed

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/08/iran-shia-liberation-army-par-160821091935110.html

 

[TheRealTalker]

Sorry for the double post but I have to update with the latest escalation, de-escalation and progress of the situation


first the map

MAP: Military situation in N. Aleppo province in #Syria. ISIS has almost lost entire #Turkey border. - @Nrg8000
113 retweets 42 likes

basically the Turkish border, west of the Euphrates is under Turkish control... you can see a larger amount of deeper gains on YPG secured territories as well


US is getting even more involved as well

TURKEY: @USEmbassyTurkey claims the US has begun using HIMARS rocket artillery against ISIS targets in N. #Syria.

Turkey isn't lighting up either

TURKEY: More howitzers arrive to border between Turkey & Syria on 11th day of Euphrates Shield. - @EuphratesShield

MORE: Photo claims to show Turkish tanks near the town of al-Rai in northern #Syria.

after finishing this operation we will see what Turkey does next

go all out against the YPG....

will they try to push south all they way to Aleppo?

Did they change relations with the Assad Regime?


The most likely imho is maybe if they are even more paranoid, they'll just go east of the river and continue to fight the YPG after pushing ISIS away

either that or they might just bunker down for now seeing as they are currently building a wall on the border area

http://www.dailysabah.com/nation/2016/09/03/turkey-continues-to-construct-syria-border-wall

clashes are happening at Kobane though

 

[Phantast2k]

Footage of Turkish forces crossing the border / fighting side by side with FSA (featuring M60A3, Sabra, ACV-15, Kirpi, Cobra):

• Sultan Murad Division:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL94IHh4Gtw
• Levant Front:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqjKxAS66lg
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt_3Q7Xvaqg
• Al Hamza Brigade:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9cNxGB2abM
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wgcn1o0jlIA
• Nour Al Dein Al Zenkey:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS9qLliWKl8

Independent footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g9nu0yH_CQ

For a list of FSA groups: https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2016/08/13/syrian-opposition-factions-in-the-syrian-civil-war/

Meanwhile Assad's hybrid forces have re-encircled Eastern Aleppo under heavy Russian bombardment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CppvKIcDEt4


/ Sham Legion claims the border is completely sealed now:

//

 

[KDR_11k]

Took them long enough to get ISIS off the Turkish border. That should've happened like 1 week after the war started.

It's pretty pathetic that the border to a NATO country acted as a supply line for an organization like ISIS for this many years.

 

[Bam Bam Baklava]

What are the odds of a coordinated push into Raqqa and Mosul in the next 2 months? Not by Turkey but the forces fighting Daesh?

 

[archnemesis]

What are the odds of a coordinated push into Raqqa and Mosul in the next 2 months? Not by Turkey but the forces fighting Daesh?

I'm guessing pretty low. Assad (with the support of Russia and Iran) is more concerned about fighting other rebel groups. The Kurds are probably more concerned about Turkey at the moment.

 

[CHEEZMO™]

What are the odds of a coordinated push into Raqqa and Mosul in the next 2 months? Not by Turkey but the forces fighting Daesh?

Raqqa, no. Mosul could come under pressure in the near future, however.

 

[Phantast2k]

Update:

• Russia (wants you to know it) is not happy over the Turkish offensive: @mfa_russia
  
  
  
  
• Syrians begin returning home, two weeks into Turkish offensive | Reuters
  
• Erdogan Says Turkey, U.S. Mull Effort Against IS in Raqqa - Bloomberg
  
• Syrian Kurdish fighters still not pulled back in north Syria: Turkey's Canikli | Reuters
  
• Video of a strike on ISIS positions: http://aa.com.tr/tr/vg/video-galeri/daese-ait-5-hedefin-imha-edilme-ani by a Bayraktar UAV
  
• IS rocket attack kills Turkish soldiers in Syria - BBC News
  

  "Two of our hero comrades were martyred and five were wounded in a rocket attack on two of our tanks by Daesh (IS) elements," the army statement said.

• ISIS has published video of said attacks today:
  @trbrtc
  

  ʻAmāq footage of IS targeting two Turkish M60Ts with an ATGM near al-Waqf (الوق&#1601, Syria, on 6-Sep-16; 3 KIA, 5 WIA.

 

[TheRealTalker]

Saw this article as something interesting so I'll post it here

Ten new wars that could be unleashed

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/w...d-as-a-result-of-the-u-s-led-one-against-isil
This is post ISIS/Deash/ISIL

WAR NO. 1: U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces and Turkish-backed Arab forces.

This is one of the wars that have already started, and it is also one of the more complicated ones. Turkey, which is fighting a war at home against separatist Turkish

Kurds, has watched with alarm as Syrian Kurds have capitalized on U.S. support to expand Kurdish control over northeastern Syria. Syrian Arab rebels allied to Turkey are also opposed to the Kurdish expansion, which is encroaching on Arab areas. So when Turkey intervened in Syria two weeks ago to help Syrian rebels capture Islamic State territory, it was clear that the Kurds were as much of a target as the Islamic State. Fighting has since erupted, and though the United States has asked both sides to stop, it is unclear whether the it has enough leverage over its rival allies to prevent a deepening conflict.

WAR NO. 2: Turkey and the Syrian Kurds.

This war would be similar to war No. 1, but bigger. For now, Turkey has confined its incursion into Syria to an area of Syria occupied by the Islamic State that is mostly Arab. But Turkey is just as worried about the de facto Kurdish state emerging along its border farther east. Kurds declared an autonomous region there earlier this year, and Turkey is now building a wall along the border to try to seal it off. If the tensions persist, a direct Turkish invasion of the Kurdish area – where a small number of U.S. troops also are based — can’t be ruled out.

WAR NO. 3: Syrian Kurds and the Syrian government.

The Syrian government also feels threatened by the territorial ambitions of the Kurds. Until recently, they had maintained an uneasy alliance, and Syrian President Bashar Assad boasted on a number of occasions that his government provides the Kurds with arms. But the relationship has soured since the autonomy declaration by the Kurds, and the two sides have fought brief battles in areas where they both have forces.

There is now a cease-fire, but the Kurdish aspirations to self-rule are directly at odds with Assad’s proclaimed goal of reasserting Syrian sovereignty over the whole country.

WAR NO. 4: The United States and Syria.

This is a war that could have erupted on any number of occasions in the five years since President Barack Obama called for the ouster of Assad. That it hasn’t is testimony to how much both sides want to avoid conflict. It still seems extremely unlikely. But there are a few front lines where the Islamic State war could at some point bring U.S.-backed groups into direct conflict with Syrian government forces. Among them is the Islamic State’s Syrian capital, Raqqa, where in June the United States and Syria were both backing rival offensives from opposite directions. Last month, the U.S. military scrambled jets to deter Syrian warplanes from bombing the Kurds.

WAR NO. 5: Turkey and Syria.

The Turkish intervention in Syria has for now been confined to fighting the Islamic State and Kurdish forces. Turkey has also taken steps to mend fences with both Russia and Iran, Assad’s most important allies, who appear to have given a green light to Turkey’s intervention in northern Syria.

If Turkey’s fight against the Islamic State goes well, however, the Turkish forces will soon find themselves up against Syrian government front lines around the contested city of Aleppo. That could get messy.

WAR NO. 6: Iraqi Kurds and the Iraqi government.

Moving east from Syria along the Islamic State’s dwindling borders into Iraq, the situation is somewhat less immediately volatile. But it is no less complicated – or dangerous. Just as Syrian Kurds have expanded the areas that are under their control in ways that challenge the Syrian government’s sovereignty, so too have Iraqi Kurds moved into areas of Iraq that were once under Iraqi government control. The U.S.-backed Iraqi government says it intends to reclaim these areas once the Islamic State has been fully vanquished. The U.S.-backed Kurds have said they won’t let go of any territory Kurds have shed blood to conquer.

These disputes predate the existence of the Islamic State, but they will reemerge with a vengeance once the militants are defeated.

WAR NO. 7: Iraqi Kurds and Shiite militias.

This would take place for reasons similar to war No. 6, except that it has already started to simmer. Shiite militias, many of them backed by Iran, have taken a leading role in some of the conquests of Islamic State territory, pushing north from Baghdad to drive the militants back. They have come up against U.S.-allied Kurdish peshmerga fighters pressing south from the Kurdish areas. In at least one location, Tuz Khurmatu, clashes have already taken place.

But, the Kurds themselves are not united, either in Syria or Iraq, which gives rise to the possibility of:

WAR NO. 8: Kurds against Kurds.

This is perhaps the most complicated of all the scenarios, but it is far from unlikely. The Kurds are bitterly divided among themselves over just about everything except their aspirations to a Kurdish state. The Kurds of Iraq are split between two factions that fought a bloody civil war in the 1990s. One of them is a sworn foe of the Kurds who control northern Syria. The other is allied to the Syrian Kurds – who themselves are far from united. Conflict between U.S.-allied Kurdish groups is possible, in Iraq or Syria or both.

WAR NO. 9: Sunni Arabs against Shiites and/or Kurds.

In pursuit of the goal of defeating the Islamic State, towns and villages that are predominantly Sunni are being conquered by forces that are mostly Kurdish or Shiite.

Many Sunnis are teaming up with them to help defeat the militants. Many are overwhelmingly relieved when their oppressors are driven out.

But there are also reports of abuses by Shiites and Kurds against the Sunni communities they liberate. These include the forced displacement of Sunnis from their homes and mass detentions of Sunni men. In the absence of genuine reconciliation, including political solutions that empower Sunnis, a new form of Sunni insurgency could emerge.

WAR NO. 10: The remnants of the Islamic State against everyone.

The Islamic State still controls a big chunk of territory in Syria and Iraq. Offensives to control its twin capitals, Mosul and Raqqa, have yet to begin. If the groups who are supposed to participate in the offensives fight among themselves, those battles could be delayed indefinitely.

Even if they don’t, these other conflicts, left unresolved, will herald long-term instability in the region. Military gains are not being matched by political solutions to the wider chaos and dysfunction that enabled the rise of the Islamic State in the first place. If the current war begets new wars, the Islamic State may yet endure.

As Turkey is literally pushing hard right now on the North you got to look at the future and what might happen...
The Syrian Opposition had a meeting with leaders in London about a transistion plan so people are already taking things more seriously and urgently about what will happen after the third wheel (ISIS) leaves the battleground.


No more excuses of ignoring different sides, and the real reality of the matter since it, at least in Syria, will eventually be Assad vs Opposition vs Kurdish Independence.


Things will likely heat up after Obama leaves the office... the key thing from the recent Opposition meeting that occurred with also foreign ministers of coalition countries is that there is no hope for Obama and that he is basically stretching things out in favor of Assad by trying to please everyone.

Russia's economy is also waning and they know they can't make this Syrian crisis a long term plan.

The whole Kurd vs Kurd stuff is also very likely since there are so many different Kurdish groups all pushing for legitimacy so that when Deash is destroyed the spoils of war which is land will be up for grabs and who controls what and who would lead what is yet to be decided.