DEVELOPMENTS (May 21) >Al-Zara power plant recaptured >Southern part of East Ghouta pocket almost completely taken as SAA&Hzb reach center of Hastara al-Qantarah >YPG/SDF take al-Hisha in Raqqa province >Azaz pingpong continues as ISIS recaptures towns >Assad appointed Major General Salim Harba to lead Gov. offensives in nothern Syria, based in Aleppo city >400 SSNP fighters (of Qaryatayn, Shadad offensives) travel from Shadad to Shaer fields to aid in battle against ISIS
For my UAE friend (from last thread): Have been a few times. To each his own, if you are earning good dosh and having fun, good for you.
I just found the "luxury" over the top, like a gaudy attempt to mix las vegas and disney world together and it all somehow felt...decadent in the truest sense of the word.
I'll take a summer day in Alps where I can hike in the mountains with 75F any day over over a stay in the Burj Al Arab. It just..doesn't feel like home to me.
Not meant as a knock at you, fuck my mate also loves it there and even married a local bird (cute one, and a lot more loyal than any Western girl probably), I just could never get into it.
Daniel Richardson
>dem thic legs in tight jeans hunng this is my think
Jose Perez
>ITT post crazy combat videos please
Tyler Collins
>govt recently took Palmyra and is pushing to take over Shaer gas field >SDF recently made gains near Deir Ezzor and is preparing to push in the direction of Raqqa >FSA/Ahrar/Nusra have taken and lost the same 10 villages over and over for months despite massive material, manpower, and artillery support from Turkey Why are the "moderates" such a joke?
Anthony Lopez
>FSA/Ahrar/Nusra have taken and lost the same 10 villages over and over for months despite massive material, manpower, and artillery support from Turkey
They also get a moral support from USA, in a sense that they prevent SDF to unite cantons.
David Ortiz
mods were always a joke its just that the SAA has stopped being a joke it self and now is just a pun...a decent pun..while moderates are killing each other like a bad joke .... bad analogy i know
Christian Cruz
Assad was so right when he said that without foreign support this war wouldve been a lot shorter
Jaxon White
I'm not talking about that kind of luxury which is mainly for tourists. I'll take a british pub over a fancy lounge any day or hike in the mountains over a luxury spa.
I'm talking about the quality of life here for me and my family. I don't have to do anything by myself here, there are always someone I can call for everything. That means all my free time is actually free and I can spend much more time with my family. That combined with short working hours, a great school and my wife being able to be a housewife is just amazing. There is a lot more to it of course, but it's just great for us here.
Colton Miller
>u also can use today's Iran as a better example for middle east, what we are experiencing here is something new in my eyes. we have all the institutions a secular state should have and constitutions but also it merged with shia view of Islam. you may ask how it works. when a law or a bill get passed in our Parliament it will need to pass also in a upper hand council who determine if the new law is against shia views of sharia laws or our other current legislation or not. also sharia law is more flexible in our views to other versions I think. so in a way there is a balance here.
and for welayate faqih since it get mentioned here. although our supreme leader is 1 person but he has to act according to laws of state and there is a big institutions behind him mad of many organizations with hand picked experts on it. for example our international relationships and strategy.
for example I can talk about our rules about transgender issue which is seems to be a problem in US.
--------------------------------------------------------------- (I know, this is a very awkward copy of a post from another thread)
Ok, for the record, I like Iran and Persians, and I think you clearly got fucked over by the US and the Brits with the Shah and a lot of other stuff that caused a conservative/regressive reaction to the chances.
I just don't see how you can survive in your geo-stratigic location where the Israelis, the Saudis, and the wealthy Gulf Sheikdoms all want you dead.
You are going to need a nuclear bomb, bc in the longterm that is the only thing that can keep the Israelis (who are terrified of an Iran-Hezbollah-Assad arc of power, bc unlike the Sunnis you actually fight) from trying everything in their bag of tricks to overthrow your gvt or to send you into civil war.
I never thouhgt I'd be grateful a nigger was elected leader of free world, but given that McCain-- Satanic dupe of the Jews that he is-- would have started a war with Iran, thank Christ.
Easton Johnson
are we sure there is any actual fighting going on in there or is it just shelling and people retreating
Oliver Ortiz
I get you, if it works for you, esp with the nightmare going on back in the UK, I can't blame you.
See these are the type of posts where I wish we were on "Kikebook" so I could ask you more about your life and what you do, etc..
But a lot of Brit expats seem to be happy there. Cheers.
Christopher Scott
>JUST RARE MY SHIT UP
Lincoln Scott
So where is the assault on Mosul we've been hearing about for over a month now that was coming?
Last I heard, the kurds caught the "Iraqi soldiers" running away. And why wouldn't they? They have no loyalty to "iraq" as a nation, which was an arbitrary line drawn on a map by some Brit.
An Arab will fight for his tribe or klan, and against Sunnis or Shias (depending on what he is). What what the fuck do they care about the "nation" of Iraq?
God, the jews must still get a laugh that they talked Bush into that one. The fact that his brother had the balls to try to become the Rep. nominee for president shows just how little respect they have for the intelligence of their people.
He should have been hiding out somewhere, hoping he would not be caught and lynched.
Elijah Moore
Afaik Islamists takes it in a daylight, losing it over a night to ISIS. So, probably latter.
>Important audio statement by ISIS Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi will be released shortly Oh man, he is still alive
Christopher Robinson
SYRIA: Jaish al-Fatah announces an end to the rebel infighting in Ghouta and announces a joint operations room.
There sure are a lot of brits here. Are you in the military since you're posting from there?
Joshua Campbell
>They have no loyalty to "iraq" as a nation, which was an arbitrary line drawn on a map by some Brit.
>An Arab will fight for his tribe or klan, and against Sunnis or Shias (depending on what he is). What what the fuck do they care about the "nation" of Iraq?
those 2 paragraphs are the core of understanding most ME-related topics, be it the wars or the refugees or the religious extremism. that is our main difference with the people living in the middle east and most westerners cant grasp it. i keep saying it to people and they refuse to believe it.
also who do you think located first self proclaimed caliphate of ISIS?
>Iran-Hezbollah-Assad arc of power
Hezbollah is under control and acting mature the reason of this arc is balance of power dont forget that Israel used to be very hostile toward Lebanon not Lebanese feel safer.
>overthrow your gvt or to send you into civil war. as Ive said people are aware of all of this and in our Iranian culture in time of danger we actually unite like noone else like with war with Saddam.
>nuclear bomb I dont think that make Iran safer desu. our military doctorate and strategy is clear.
>the Saudis, and the wealthy Gulf Sheikdoms they know if they attack us they are going down with us, so there is a balance of power. you made a point >unlike the Sunnis you actually fight so there is that.
and about the shah and so called revolution you have to dig deeper in peoples intentions. actually a lot of groups involved where not Islamist only a part one many others where communists or secular intellectuals liberals all sorts of groups and parties were involved.
Grayson Edwards
I agree, it took me a while and a number of books for the concept to really sink in, but the only reason any "Iraqis" were loyal to "Iraq" was bc they were united in their fear of Saddam.
Take that away, and what do you have? Dr. Michael Scheuer has a ton of great videos where he confronts liberals and neo-cohens on this insanity of spreading "democracy" and women's rights to people who don't fucking want anything to do with it.
Juan Campbell
>Are you in the military since you're posting from there? nope, not military, work in a civ industry, just here for a few months.
If you think being quadriplegic is being alive then yes.
Jack Sanchez
is the humble kurd guy still here? I wanna know how much kurds tribes feel as a nation. we have heard all about their dream of state of Kurdistan but in reality it seems kurds cant get along, what do you think if you're lurking?
Blake Campbell
VIDEO: Fastaqim Kama Umirt target a sniper with a SPG-9 recoilless rifle in Aleppo, #Syria.
>where communists or secular intellectuals liberals all sorts of groups and parties were involved. This is very true, until Khomeni retunred anf then the embassy hostage crisis. then it was "you are either on the side of Iran or on side of the Great Satan and the empire, no inbetween.
I still think (mostly bc Dr. Scheuer thinks so, and he has been shown to be correct) tat the Iranians are pursuing and will end up with a nuclear weapon. And, they probably should have one bc the Jews do, the Saudis almost certainly do (rumored to have been part of their deal with Pakistan).
The one Shia power there should have one. Maybe I'm wrong, but we all see israel is trying to redraw map of the mideast to find somewhere they can dump the Palestinians before their Apartheid becomes even more obvious. The new Israeli defense minister was campaigning on a platform to literally ethnically cleanse all muslims.
So now that Iran has reached peak oil input, what do you see your country doing as far as industry in the next 20 years?
Technology? you could probably get some decent number of tourists just based on the uniqueness factor since few westerners have been there in a long time.
i am not sure if thats me lmao but i can try to answer.
>I wanna know how much kurds tribes feel as a nation. we have heard all about their dream of state of Kurdistan but in reality it seems kurds cant get along, what do you think if you're lurking?
Geography of Kurdistan have been both curse and blessing for Kurds. Blessing, because it generally has been self sufficient and and it allowed Kurds to not assimilated and retain their ethinicity, culture or whatever you call it. Curse, because we are lagged in nation building,commerce, intellectuality and what not. Also it has always been playfield for more numerous and powerful empires.
Tribalism is pretty much dead, albeit religious influences allows states hold significant power on Kurds. A Sunni pious Kurd would feel loyalty to Turkish state, providing state gives them benefits and shits. A Shia pious Kurd(in Feylis case) would feel loyalty to Iran or Iraq since they are fellow Shias as well.
ISIS pretty much killing Islam in Kurdish societies, thus makes it easier to enable some degree of nationalism on populace. We can get along quite well, although it would be better, but our prime geography won't allow happen, Turkey influencing KDP, Iran influencing PUK etc. Mostly Kurdish leaders give lip services though, like Turkey forces embargo Rojava but border is pretty much open, ''embargo'' is pretty much joke.
It all depends on Kurdish leaders, they have to exploit different parties and not rely on only one. I think they are doing okay job. Tribalism is pretty much dead imho, at least compare to last decades.
Xavier Hughes
Found this gem when visiting Budapest, Hungary :^)
Luke Collins
>embassy hostage crisis actually they were some students who attacked embassy after hearing about US leting shah in and not sending him to Iran and in any book I have read about this from all sides it seems back then establishment were really surprised. I dont want to get more in detail but dig in there are so many new revelations.
>I still think (mostly bc Dr. Scheuer thinks so, and he has been shown to be correct) tat the Iranians are pursuing and will end up with a nuclear weapon. And, they probably should have one bc the Jews do, the Saudis almost certainly do (rumored to have been part of their deal with Pakistan).
I remember this stories but look at the situation now, we dont have an atomic bomb and still are in good position compared to saudis. I kinda feel you're imlying that if neocons or Hillary comes to power. but if you look at what happened after 2008 until today in relations between iran and the west you see many things have changed. check wikileaks for more info.
Im not even worry about Israel as Ive said their people have their internal problems and not all are thinking like netanyahu, they have their struggles too.
about the economics well irans infrastructure is one of the best in region we have heavy industry etc and after lifting of sanctions our banks and companies are reforming to adapt after years of no connection so eventually we join WTO. everyday officials with huge convoys are visiting our country since last Feb so this is a good sign right?
(pic is a tip for our relation with Israel)
Asher Adams
Syrian Pound is absolutely horrible anyway, shit is fucked.
Henry Roberts
>>Battles around Khan ash-Shih | May 19th 2016 | Western Ghouta
holy shit these people fight like shit. also is there any actual syrians fighting in the war? it seems like the rebels are all tunesian/saudi/moroccan sunnis and the saa are iraqi and iranian shias. where are the tiger forces and the russian trained battalions? are they taking a break or are they so depleted they are relying on foreign militias to fight other foreign militias?
Matthew Cook
I was talking about the flag they used for syria
Henry Gonzalez
Seems like a big chunk is foreigners, especially on the rebels' side.
Matthew Wright
Oh, sorry brat.
Robert Wright
>where are the tiger forces In Palmyra
>the russian trained battalions Those are NDF and not very well trained. I think they are mainly around Latakia.
> are they so depleted Yes they are actually depleted after 5 years of war.
Owen Russell
>SOHR
:^)
Does rebels include ISIS? I suspect they have the highest percentage of foreigners.
Kayden Hughes
Highly likely since they're not listed separately.
The (foreign) makeup of organizations like Al-Nusra and Ahrar ash-sham aren't much different from ISIS. They get much of their manpower from Turkey/Saudi Arabia.
Nolan Miller
thank you for your reply
>playfield and today this is still going with even more international players unfortunately
>Kurdish leaders based on looking in what is going in Iraq kurdistan Im not so hopeful about them
Christian Butler
what the fuck...? Google search jew results copy-pasted or deliberate?
>saa are iraqi and iranian shias. err no, SAA, Repub. Guard, SSNP are all Syrians NDF is probably mostly Syrian or even wholly Syrian
Unlike YPG or rebels, it seems that foreigners on the Syrian gov. side usually stick to their own groups (Liwa al-Fatemiyoun, the Palestinian groups PLO/Liwa al-Quds/PFLP-GC, Hezbollah, IRGC)
Mixed groups are for example Arab National Guard, and maybe Desert Hawks has some foreign veteran mercenaries, it seems hard to tell.
Liam Scott
>Scenes of the heavy battles between Iraqi forces and ISIS at the frontline in Jabal Makhoul youtube.com/watch?v=l0PLxVSzb-E
Camden Wood
I think you're replying to the wrong poster
Benjamin Cox
Doesnt find any results for me, i took the pic with my phone
Liam Howard
Whoops, youre right. was for Well on some language versions of google, searching for either "Syrian flag" or "Flag of Syria" gets you the "FSA flag" as first image
Labib al Nahhas, foreign affairs director for the Islamist fighting group Ahrar al Sham, spent a few days in Washington in December, according to four people with direct knowledge of the trip and who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of U.S. relations with Syrian rebels.
Ryder Murphy
i meant the people doing most of the fighting on the SAA side are groups like the ones you mentioned, plus the ndf who are mostly syrian. is there any actual regular syrian army units left?
Josiah Collins
Pretty much this.
I doubt it, because without the foreign support of Iran and Russia, Assad would be much worse off.
Kayden Smith
Imagine what happend if the rebels didn't have any TOWs
Assad was doing fine by himself until 2014. He did not get much help for the first 2-3 years from anyone, except diplomatic and some financial.
But yes, eventually his army was exhausted and could no longer fight by itself.
Matthew Sanchez
Iraq seems to be going well. 400km of highway captured. There is a good chance that they may attack into Syria after defeating ISIS there since they are being led by Iran.
Adam Carter
They would have Kornets or some other soviet shit looted from a SAA weapons depot?
Hell, they would be even better off with those things, especially when the SAA runs out of armor because no infinite resupplying from Russia.
Blake Flores
Rebels received over 10'000 TOWs. Even if they looted SAA weapon depots, they would have never captured so many Kornets.
Without any foreign support and mainly TOWs, rebels would have been crushed in the first 2 years.
Nathan Gray
God I love timelapses.
Grayson Collins
I doubt Mosul will be liberated anytime soon though
Don't forget the influx of fighters they got because of foreign propaganda.
Jaxson Foster
PMU might do this, but not the western-backed ISF.
PMU is already in Syria anyway.
Gabriel Jenkins
Pic related are just the shipment of ONE country in ONE month.
Xavier Torres
Ive seen hardly any offensives without at least one SAA brigade present.
Why is this obvious ISIS supporter not banned from Twitter yet? He started off initially covering the situation in Syria well but now he is just an obvious ISIS shill.
Juan Fisher
He's been suspended several times when he becomes too obvious.
It's better that ISIS shills get to spread info anyway, it helps intelligence agencies.
Colton Campbell
Rami @RamiAlLolah May 19 #USA asks civilians to leave Raqqah (cleansing). Once taken by YPG they'll never be allowed to return #Syria #ISIS
This nigger is always so retarded. I mean I dont really like YPG but to suggest that theyll settle Raqqa with Kurds to demographically take over the area... retarded and not going to happen.
Luis Morris
>I doubt it, because without the foreign support of Iran and Russia, Assad would be much worse off.
One might also ague that without foreign aid the rebels (moderates, Nusra and IS all included) wouldn't have lasted long. Take away the foreign fighters and all the arms and supplies given to the rebels, and see how fast they collapse.
Ian Myers
>He did not get much help for the first 2-3 years from anyone
Dude, in 2012 alone, 10% of Russia's total arms sales were directed to Syria.
Neither would they need so many ATGMs. The SAA armored forces would dry up quickly to shit like RPGs (as they did early in the war)... and after that, it wouldn't really matter.
Not to mention that the TOWs didn't show up until 2014.
Logan Cruz
Arms SALES, yes. Do you think he gets that for free? Despite what you think of him, he is still leader of the country.
Since 2014, when Syria is effectively bankrupt, it is Iran who pays for Syrian weapons. Russian government doesn't give anything for free until the intervention.
Dylan Young
why are you faggots still creating these threads? That shit is from 2 years ago, LITTERALLY noone cares about syria. No One Cares.
Syria Nuked, reaction? No one cares Syria liberated, reaction? No one cares Syria starts butfucking dogs, reaction? No one cares
find something else to talk bout you dweebs
Nolan Green
The fuck am i looking at?
Evan Gray
>without the foreign support of Iran and Russia, Assad would be much worse off. Err yeah I was referring to the foreign support for FSA/AlNusra/AhraralSham etc
You cant compare states openly supporting sovereign internationally recognized government whom requested their help... to arms smuggling to terrorist groups, paying people to defect, etc
Angel Reyes
USA violated their own anti terror laws by supplying weapons which eventually also got into the hands of ISIS and Al Nusra.
Cameron Bailey
After Zara power plant recapture, railroad station north of Zara now recaptured too
Lucas Russell
>USA violated their own anti terror laws by supplying weapons which eventually also got into the hands of ISIS and Al Nusra.
So, what are the US going to do about it? It can't really punish itself, and McCain is not about to have the republicans in congress cancel any aid to any rebels. So if the US breaks it's own laws in pursuit of it's chosen foreign policy, nobody can do shit about it.
I wonder at which moment Turks will oppose their governments actions in Syria
The more destabilized the border areas get, the more it hurts Turkey, too.
In 2009-2010 Syria and Turkey were closer than in a long time, Assad visit Istanbul, Erdogan visit Damascus.
Assad has armed FSA fighting him, Erdogan support them Erdogan has armed PKK fighting him, Erdogan gets them killed
Nice backstab and double standards, Turkish government. Not to mention Hillary's emails which confirm communication between Turkish National Intelligence with Israel concerning Syria.
Luis White
Reminder that meme magic is real. So now again, allow me to remind you that greater Syria is everything that we need.
Noah Bennett
so ISIS has been spamming twitter hard with #AlFurqan
Apparently their Calpih Al Baghdadi will make a speech soon.
Ryan Harris
It will probably be a pre-recorded audio speech, much like many of the previous speeches al-baghdadi gave.
Andrew Murphy
>OP's pic
YPG is the only force on the ground consistently winning battles and with a possibility of coming out of this war stronger than they went in. ISIS will certainly collapse sometime before the end of this decade, and Assad will at best limp out alive but never again be what he was.
Nolan Reyes
...
Wyatt Evans
The OP pic isnt pertaining to the overall war, but only to the situation in the Azaz pocket
John Morris
baghdadi is mossadi you fuck
Elijah Jones
I can't wait until the YPG expel ISIS from their capital
Wonder how Bombdaddy will explain that one
this thread is for serious discussion, not keks
Jason Fisher
No shit you smelly paki.
Connor Clark
lads,
how can we go about destroying the Gulf economies?
Kevin Turner
this is getting old, pakis cant use computers, their curried fingers kills the keyboard. oven dodger
Grayson Nguyen
Is YPG operating actively against Assad?
I'm sad I won't be there... Probably won't be there at least.
Juan Evans
Keep the oil price low for the most part
Jace Parker
>Is YPG operating actively against Assad?
No. There has been a few clashes though, but nothing major.
Samuel Davis
>Is YPG operating actively against Assad? Nope
Although sporadic clashes happen when Syria's NDF or the Kurds' police units chimp out to eachother in Qamishli.
