SANA interviews victims of Israeli attack on residential building in Mezza
 
12 November 2019
 
Damascus, SANA – The people of the Western Mezza area in Damascus were roused from their sleep on Tuesday morning by an Israeli missile attack that targeted a residential building, martyring two and injuring a number of civilians, including women, children, and elderly people.
 
The attack, which was carried out by Israeli warplanes, also caused massive material damage to the building and nearby buildings, including the home of the Ambassador of Pakistan.
 
SANA visited some of the injured people who had been admitted to al-Muwasat University Hospital, where one of the injured, a woman in her 80s named Rabia Hashem Safad al-Halabi, said she had suddenly felt as if the building was collapsing on top of her head, and started crying out in fear for her children, then she passed out and woke up in the hospital.
 
Bashar al-Hayek said he and his family were asleep when the first explosion occurred, shattering windows and doors, then came a second, stronger explosion, and he found his children, wife, and mother under rubble, adding that his mother and wife suffered from broken bones as a result of the attack.
 
Ten-year-old Ala’a al-Hayek, whose face showed bruises and wounds, said he was asleep when an explosion sent him flying from his bedroom to the guests’ room, then the house collapsed, and he found himself among wreckage with injuries in his hands and feet and eyes, adding that his brother was also injured.
 
Assistant Director General for Medical Affairs at al-Muwasat University Hospital Ammar al-Raei said two martyrs have been admitted to the hospital, along with eight injured people.

Vince Dhimos answered a question at Quora.
 
https://www.quora.com/What-existing-foreign-policy-objectives-should-the-Trump-administration-revise-and-improve-upon/answer/Vince-Dhimos
 
WHAT EXISTING FOREIGN POLICY OBJECTIVES SHOULD THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION REVISE AND IMROVE UPON?
 
What objectives? It is not just Trump. The US has never been able to articulate a single foreign policy objective.
 
For example, in the Middle East, the US supposedly pursued the objective of fighting terror. Yet, the more it supposedly fought, the more territory ISIS claimed in Syria. It obviously was not a good faith objective. In fact it was non-existent and blatantly fake.
 
Then there was a stated objective of overthrowing Assad (which was in fact the unstated objective from the start) based on unproven allegations that he was using chemical weapons.
 
Then, checked by Russian power, they sort of scrapped that objective and pretended the troops were there to protect the Kurds. Oddly, though, the Kurds were deployed in oil-rich Deir Ezzor, nowhere near Kurdistan, the only turf to which they might have a legitimate claim.
 
Then the US declared it had defeated terror and it was time to go home. So they pulled troops out of parts of Syria but left them near the oil deposits and then invented a new objective: stealing the oil from the impoverished war weary Syrians, who in a just world, would be entitled to sue for billions in damages.
 
Now, could the asker of this question kindly tell us how in heaven’s name you can “revise” or “improve” on objectives that are either non-existent or inconsistent, or absurd or, more recently, utterly immoral and criminal?
 
Would a judge in a criminal court suggest that a hardened criminal revise or improve his thuggish objectives? Or would he order him to jail to force him to abandon these objectives?
 
I had written before at Quora that the US’ real objectives in the Muslim world had nothing to do with the security of the US people and were focused almost exclusively on pleasing 2 allies:
 
Saudi Arabia and Israel:
 
https://www.quora.com/What-were-the-US-and-Wests-interests-for-the-removal-of-Mr-Bashar-al-Assad-and-the-funding-and-arming-of-the-groups-that-opposed-him/answer/Vince-Dhimos
 
https://www.quora.com/Which-of-the-USAs-global-interventions-were-purely-well-motivated/answer/Vince-Dhimos

Vince Dhimos answered a question at Quora.
 
https://www.quora.com/Should-countries-such-as-Japan-Korea-and-China-be-compelled-to-patrol-the-Persian-Gulf-given-their-dependency-on-middle-eastern-petroleum/answer/Vince-Dhimos
 
Should countries such as Japan, Korea, and China be compelled to patrol the Persian Gulf, given their dependency on middle eastern petroleum?
 
Vince Dhimos, Editor-in-Chief at New Silk Strategies (2016-present)
 
Answered just now
 
Questioners need to learn to draft their questions plainly.
 
The first question in our minds is: who is doing the compelling? The UN? The US? NATO?
 
Only one country has tried in the recent past to compel its allies to patrol the Gulf and that was the US. And the result was a catastrophe, because it was not limited to simply patrolling. It went much further. The UK, trying desperately to please the confused individuals who hatched this ill-begotten scheme, seized an Iranian vessel which they claimed was headed for Syria, supposedly making it fair game to be seized. The trouble is, they had no legal right to seize the vessel. The US, Israel and Saudi all have long created the illusion that the US is responsible for writing and enforcing international law. Yet international law is written at the UN and only there. The US is not authorized to compel other countries to seize vessels that are not their own, and it is not authorized to prohibit all other countries from sending hydrocarbons to Syria. The UN recognizes Syria and its Assad government as sovereign. Therefore, it was illegal for the US to demand that UK seize the vessel and it was illegal for UK to seize it.
 
This irrational and disastrous scheme of giving the US all power to claim any property regardless of its owner and the notion that US allies can be empowered by the US to seize property that is not theirs is much more dangerous than any of Iran’s actions. In fact, the US’ pull out from the Iran Deal was an act of war, and yet, Westerners are so indoctrinated that they simply allow the US to write its own laws enjoining them to do illegal things. Because they just assume without giving it much thought, that the West, led by the US, is moral and always justified while the East is evil or at best misled. They think this way because they have never been forced to think otherwise. Before now, that is.
 
So if the questioner was thinking along the lines of allowing the US to compel them to patrol the Gulf to protect the oil from Iran, then he or she is part of the problem and is partly responsible for the havoc wrought by the US throughout the Middle East by its irrational and, let’s admit it, immoral and even criminal, actions.
 
But if we are speaking of patrolling the Gulf, then there need to be patrols not aligned with the Western criminal enterprise that believes it is entitled to simply seize other people’s property without any basis in law or rationality. The brazen statement by Donald Trump that he simply plans to steal oil belonging to the impoverished and downtrodden people of the war torn country that has already endured so much at the hands of the Western warmongers is a perfect illustration of why nations must unite militarily to protect their interests from what the Russians justifiably call US banditry.
 
However, the questioner inadvertently raised this possibility in his question and it is no longer just a plan because Iran, China and Russia have in fact joined forces and are planning joint naval drills in the Gulf in the unspecified future.
 
The US has been pretending to be the world’s boss for so long that it forgot there are other powers out there that can counter its compulsive seizure of things that do not belong to it.
 
Washington needs to adjust to a new world with a new set of rules and new enforcers. And as it does so, the rest of the world must also begin to think for itself and not be led around by the nose by an aging hegemon who, like the bully on the school yard, has long forgotten the golden rule.
 
Answer requested by Harry C Bash

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Vince Dhimos answered a question at Quora.
 
https://www.quora.com/Why-dont-the-Russian-troops-in-Syria-aid-Assad-in-taking-back-the-oil-fields-held-by-the-US-military/answer/Vince-Dhimos
 
WHY DON’T THE RUSSIAN TROOPS IN SYRIA AID ASSAD IN TAKING BACK THE OIL FIELDS HELD BY THE US MILITARY?
 
Russia started immediately in its quest to restore the Syrian oil to its rightful owners by issuing a statement, via foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, that the US seizure of the oil fields is banditry.
 
Meanwhile the US has warned that it will destroy any forces that try to seize the oil from it. That is an unusual warning, although it may be another bluff. One reason to take it serious, trhough, is that Deir Ezzor, home of the biggest oil reserves in the country, is where the US armed forces murdered Russian mercenaries advancing on its illegal base there. Before that, in the Obama administration, the US air force had murdered Syrian army troops in the same area. The US obviously is really serious about keeping this oil. [Added after posting at Quora: And not without reason: Trump had been gambling on US shale oil as a means to revive the US economy, and, after investors lost billions, it turned out to be a bust, as NSS had reported here.]
 
Regarding this latest announcement of US intentions to steal the oil, A Russian military expert said at iafan.ru (my translation):
 
“I think that Syria will turn to the United Nations; the UN, of course, will meet and try to resolve these issues - however, the Americans, as always, block any resolutions, calling on the NATO countries for help.
 
All this will continue in slow motion until some major military clash takes place east of the Euphrates - US ground forces may clash with the armed forces of Syria or Iran. This territory will become the zone of a new conflict situation. ”
 
This expert may well be right about the UN, but all crises of this kind have always been resolved by Russia leading from a position of strength. This pattern started when Trump had threatened in 2018 to launch a third missile strike on Syria and Russia warned that if a US or allied missile struck any Russian assets or personnel, Russia reserved the right to destroy the naval ship whence the missile came. There were no further missile strikes after that.
 
Then when Trump threatened to invade Venezuela, Russia landed several military planes there and sent some advisers. Predictably, there was no US invasion – though several more threats ensued.
 
Then Trump surprised the world with a weird tale of having planned a strike on Iran but calling it off at the last minute. It was hardly believable because in the past, all US strikes were preceded by warnings, while this one was not. Wasn’t it really just political theatre?
 
Then even after the US blamed a Houthi strike on Saudi Aramco on Iran, Trump pretended to be awaiting “instructions” from Saudi Arabia before striking, but never struck. The whole US government has known for some time that Russia is actually standing in the way of any invasion or attack by the US against any of Russia’s partners. Whenever any crisis occurs, the US issues loud blustery warnings and then does nothing, with the exception of virtually ineffective sanctions (because Russia and China continue to buy Venezuelan and Iranian oil on the QT.
 
Generally, there is in each case some indication that the Russians are up to something either overtly or in the background.
 
So what are they up to this time?
 
The answer was not long in coming.
 
As I was drafting this response, I received an automatic alert from Al Masdar News with the headline: “Russia’s S-500 to enter service ‘soon’ to combat US F-35.”
 
This is analogous to Russia’s delivery of the S-300 system to the Syrian forces following the crash of a Russian Il-20 due to Israeli skulduggery. The delivery was accompanied by a Russian MoD warning that any aircraft invading Syria from the east would have its on board instruments and navigation system blocked by the Russian EW system.
 
Consequent to this turn of events, Israel held off on attacking so-called “Iranian” targets in Syria  and stopped sending aircraft into Syrian air space (in a recent interview, Assad said that Israel had been attacking Syrian forces in southern Syria for years).
 
I mention all this because the S-500 air defence system is rumoured to be capable of detecting so-called “stealth” aircraft like the US F-35 and shooting them down at an unprecedented long distance. Whether or not this rumour eventually turns out to be true, the US will definitely be wary of it because US media, including the National Interest, has already reported on this rumour and has struck fear in the hearts of Pentagon officials.
 
This alert was followed closely by another report by Al Masdar that the Iranian IRGC (Islamic Revolution Guard Corps) troops are soon to be armed with high-precision missiles and drones.
 
Iran is known to be working on highly advanced missile and other weapons systems and these precision arms are no doubt part of the reason the US and Israel have not yet screwed up the nerve to make good on their loud promises to attack Iran.
 
If the old pattern repeats itself, the US will resume its bluffing and posturing and then, hopefully do nothing, as usual.
 
Of course, there are never any reliable assurances in geopolitics and war, and a black swan event could set fire to the Middle East once again.
 
Finally, though, the question is still how does Russia prevent the US from continuing its oil theft in Deir Ezzor province?
 
One promising option is to simply take control of all the routes by which the oil could be transported out of the country. The combined Syrian and Russian forces would probably deter the thieves along the transport route through the creation of patrols.
 
Of course, the attack on Saudi Aramco shows that an actor other than Russia or Syria could get involved and, at least theoretically, fire missiles at the US base in Deir Ezzor. Would the US escalate a conflict this close to elections? Trump knows that dragging the US into a hot war at this point could spoil is plans for re-election. Thus, an attack on the US base at Deir Ezzor could be off the table in the real world, though perhaps not in the arena of political bluster.

https://www.quora.com/Does-the-Russian-Army-trust-their-president-more-than-in-any-country/answer/Vince-Dhimos
 
Does the Russian Army trust their president more than in any country?
 
Vince Dhimos, Editor-in-Chief at New Silk Strategies (2016-present)
 
I can’t speak for all other countries, but I can speak for the US. Thinking people in the US know by now that US wars are contrived by the government and NATO to keep the war bureaucracies and arms sellers in business. In other words, the Establishment relies on invented “enemies.” Russia, for example, is not an enemy of the American people and many Amercians sense that. Moreover, almost every Westerner knows that some or all of the wars waged by America are based on false narratives, such as the WMDs in Syria or the Gulf of Tonkin incident, a false flag designed to give the US a pretext to enter a war that killed 50,000 Americans and over 300,000 innocent civilians.  When presidents lie to make a war | DD Guttenplan.
 
Most Russians, however, know about the fabricated narrative that Russia is a supposed enemy and they realize that it threatens their very existence, with NATO frequently holding major drills right at their doorstep (Russia does not do likewise and stage drills off the coast of N Jersey, right?). In the brief history of the RF, here is no known history of any Russian false flag starting a war. Russians die because of real enemies.
 
And I might add, with Maria Butina just returning from the US from a horrible ordeal with 18 months in prison including over 100 days spent in solitary confinement in a federal prison on trumped up charges of being a foreign agent when she was not, we have just witnessed another hideous abuse of a Russian national on a false charge. Just prior to her return home, she was made to sit in a male-only holding cell with a glass-enclosed toilet. She is proof that the US is the enemy not only of the Russian government but the racist enemy of the Russian people.
 
Russians learned of the gross Russophobia of the Germans in Leningrad, when no Western power came to their aid, allowing them to die of starvation and exposure. So Russians know that they must rely on their armed forces to keep them safe and secure. They are keenly aware that their armed forces and their air defences and other weapons are their only hope of survival. Westerners, by contrast, sense no such real threat and must be constantly indoctrinated by their warmongering government to artificially maintain the the scare
 
Putin has done his utmost to keep his people safe, not to pretend there is an enemy that does not exist. They trust him because they must.

The following is a bit of a compilation, consisting of two translations with commentary and notes [in brackets] by Vince Dhimos and some quotes from Twitter and msm.
 
I will start with a tweet by military affairs expert Babak Taghvaee from October 13.
 
#BREAKING: I just got confirmation that on request of #SDF, #Russia has agreed to establish No fly-zone over NE #Syria to prevent #Turkish Air Force from bombing #SDF/ #YPG/ #Rojava [Rojava is the Kurdish name for Kurdistan]. #RuAF's Su-35S fighter interceptors left #Hmeimim Air Base to confront Turkish F-16C/Ds & F-4Es!
 
Just prior to this Taghvaee had tweeted:
 
#BREAKING: #Russia has not yet established No-Fly Zone over NE #Syria due to the fact that withdrawal of #US SOF is Now delayed for another 12 hours! Tomorrow when #Syria Arab Army will start its offensive against #Turkish Army & its terrorists, No-Fly zone might be established! – End tweet.
 
This shows that the US was, as usual, indirectly endangering the lives of Syrians, including the Kurds it purported to protect, by staying in Syria and standing in the way of the Russians and Syrians, who, instead of flapping their jaws about democracy and war on terror, actually protect human lives in Syria. Yet US politicians and msm uphold the utter absurdity that only the US – which in fact arms terrorists when it thinks it can get away with it – is capable of defending anyone. Trump is accused of endangering the Kurds when in fact – wittingly or not – he is protecting them by finally giving the Russians a free hand. According to rambler.ru, quoting BBC, journalist Jeremy Bowen has called Putin the most influential person in the Middle East. (The British reporting site has restricted access so I quoted the Russian source.) Yet the US was stifling his influence in ways that promoted terror and Turkish insolence.
 
The essential difference between the US and Russia is that the US divides groups and nations into good guys and bad guys, while Russia takes no sides – except against terrorists – and tries to achieve a balanced harmony among all sides. Westerners are struggling to understand this concept and most are failing. They constantly strive to determine whose side Putin is on. Some insist he favours the Assad “regime” when in fact, he wants the best for the Syrian people, as he keeps saying. Meanwhile, the US keeps supporting the Kurds for the purpose of breaking up the integrity of the Syrian territory. Russia, of course, aims for an intact Syria. Intuitively we know that discriminating against some groups while favouring others is a recipe for failure. Yet the US does this on behalf of the 2 nations that shape its foreign policy, namely, Saudi Arabia and Israel, and for the reasons outlined here. Is it any wonder that this policy is failing colossally?
 
RUSSIAN SU-35S SCARE OFF TURKISH F-16S VIOLATING SYRIAN AIR SPACE
 
The following are translations of two articles appearing at lenta.ru on August 8 and October 15, respectively, of this year with commentary and notes [in brackets] by Vince Dhimos.
 
https://lenta.ru/news/2019/08/20/turc/
 
BEGIN TRANSLATION
 
Russian Su-35 drove Turkish F-16s from Syria
 
August 20, 2019
 
Russian Su-35S fighters allegedly intercepted Turkish F-16s and forced them to leave Syrian airspace. As reported by Al-Masdar News.
 
It is known that Turkish fighter jets were forced to leave the sky above Idlib, having already covered a distance of 30-40 kilometres. This clearly indicates either a warning from the [Russian] aerospace forces or the detection of Russian combat aircraft on radar.
 
After this incident, the Su-35S aircraft were seen in the vicinity of the city of Khan Sheikhun. It is noted that the goal of Russian planes that flew from Khmeimim is to "deter Turkish planes from rash actions." Other details are not reported.
 
On August 19, the Syrian Air Force hit the Turkish column invading the country. According to the Turks, the shells exploded in the immediate vicinity of military vehicles, but no losses were reported.
 
Turkish armoured personnel carriers violated the Syrian border and entered the city of Sarakib on August 19. Military equipment was headed towards Khan Sheikhun.
 
The de-escalation zone in Idlib is one of four existing in Syria. It was created [jointly] by Russia and Turkey in 2017. Most of it is still not demilitarized and is under the control of the Khayyat Tahrir al-Sham group (HTS, created on the basis of the banned Jabhat al-Nusra in Russia [Jabhat al-Nusra is a terrorist organization associated with al-Nusra]) and the armed Syrian opposition. Moscow and Damascus consider most of the rebels on its territory to be terrorists.
 
The civil war in Syria began in the spring of 2011. The main participants in the conflict are government forces supporting acting President Bashar al-Assad, the so-called moderate opposition and Islamic groups. The opposition is supported by the United States and European countries, while Russia helps the Assad government.
 
END TRANSLATION
 
http://avia.pro/blog/novosti-sirii-15-oktyabrya-2019-goda-rossiyskie-istrebiteli-perehvatili-tureckie-f-16-nad
 
BEGIN TRANSLATION
 
October 15, 2019
 
http://avia.pro/news/rossiyskie-su-35-perehvatili-tureckie-istrebiteli-f-16
 
October 15, 2019
 
Syria News October 15, 2019. Russian fighters intercepted Turkish F-16s, Russian flag hoisted above Manbij [Turkey is contesting this city. Its population is mostly Arab, with some Kurdish presence]
 
The latest news of the fighting in Syria on October 15, 2019
 
Russian Su-35 fighters intercepted Turkish F-16 combat aircraft, preventing the latter from delivering air strikes at the headquarters of the Syrian Democratic Forces in Manbij.
 
According to several sources, terrorists, with the support of the Turkish army, tried to storm the city of Manbij, where in addition to the Syrian democratic forces and the Syrian army, the Russian military is also located.
 
TWEET
Babak taghvaee
@BabakTaghvaee
#BREAKING: However #Russia Air Force has just 6 Su-35S fighter interceptors in #Hmeimim Air Base, #Syria. But seems they have done a good job this afternoon well protecting #SDF & #SAA from danger of #Turkish Air Force fighter jets in #Manbij. (Archive video by #Russian Air Force) https://twitter.com/BabakTaghvaee/status / 1183859849223913475 ...
 @BabakTaghvaee
FollowFollow @BabakTaghvaee
 
13 October
More
#BREAKING: I just got confirmation that on request of #SDF, #Russia has agreed to establish No fly-zone over NE #Syria to prevent #Turkish Air Force from bombing #SDF/ #YPG/ #Rojava [Rojava is the Kurdish name for Kurdistan]. #RuAF's Su-35S fighter interceptors left #Hmeimim Air Base to confront Turkish F-16C/Ds & F-4Es!
 
Babak taghvaee
@BabakTaghvaee
 
#BREAKING: According to my #Russian military sources #Russia Air Force successfully provided top cover for #Syria Arab Army & #SDF this afternoon during which at least in one case, #Turkish F-16Cs which were about to bomb a #SDF HQ in #Manbij were chased away by 2 #Russian Su-35s! 
 
Initially, it was planned [by the Turks] to carry out the bombing of the headquarters of the Syrian Democratic Forces, which would start a ground attack, however, thanks to the Russian air forces, the Turkish air strikes were disrupted.
 
It should be noted that in the area occupied in the north of Syria, the Russian aerospace forces are present almost constantly.
 
The Russian military raised the Russian flag over Syrian Manbij.
 
Despite the absence of official statements regarding the presence of the Russian military in Syrian Manbij, this afternoon photos were published showing Russian flags raised above the city.
 
According to unofficial data, up to 150 Russian troops may be in the territory of this northern Syrian city. [The presence of Russian troops will undoubtedly deter the Turks, who are not keen on starting a conflict with Russia.]
 
Read more at: http://avia.pro/blog/novosti-sirii-15-oktyabrya-2019-goda-rossiyskie-istrebiteli-perehvatili-tureckie-f-16-nad
 
END TRANSLATION
 
For the sake of completeness, Al-Masdar has reported on October 20:
 
“The battle for the strategic border city of Ras Al-‘Ayn has ended in a victory for the Turkish-backed militants as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) made the decision to withdraw their troops and the civilians from the area.”
 
Now this incursion by Turkey had to have been tacitly allowed by Russia, but let’s back up and consider who are the SDF, which is known to be a Kurdish-controlled US-backed and armed military group.
 
Human Rights Watch reported in August 2018 that the YPG, a branch of the US-backed SDF had recruited children from refugee camps in Syria.
 
TRT World reported in May 2019 on the abuse of protesters by US-backed militants:
 
“Instead of non-violently dispersing the protesters, residents say the US backed force, which is mostly made up of YPG fighters (a local branch of the PKK terrorist group) [YPG and PKK are components of SDF] and a smaller Arab contingent, opened fire on the demonstrators, wounding several.”
....
“...cases of robberies, kidnappings, and other crimes were on the rise, and that in his eyes there was only one suspect.
 
‘Me and everyone in the village believes that the SDF are in one way or another connected to these cimes,” Hussain said, adding:
 
“’They control everything, their fighters are everywhere...who would dare to commit these crimes unless they were protected by the SDF?’”
 
Kyle Orton reports in March 2018:
 
“The SDF has arrested the relatives of members of the Syrian opposition and IS alike. ‘Several of those detained were women and children, including a 16-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy,’ the Commission reports, adding that the SDF tortured some of its captives to get them to give up their relatives. ‘Some male detainees were reportedly beaten and burnt with cigarettes and did not receive medication for chronic illnesses such as diabetes,’ the IICI report notes.
 
Just a little insight into why Trump said the Kurds, who lead, and make up the bulk of, the SDF, were “no angels.”
 
And this just in from Al-Masdar, shows why the US pull-out has aided in making advances in fighting terror. Note that the Russian engineers were shelled by terrorists, as reported below, giving the lie to the absurd reports that the US had cleared out the terrorists. In fact, the US was blocking the progress of the Russians and Syrians in their fight against terror. It is thanks to the US pull-out that this progress is being made.
 
Russian military builds bridge in record time to deploy heavy arms, aid across Euphrates
 
October 20, 2019
 
Russian road service military experts have erected a bridge across the Euphrates River, a few kilometers away from Deir ez-Zor in northeastern Syria. It will be used to deploy military equipment and troops to the eastern river bank.
 
The MARM small motorway panel bridge was erected in less than two days under continuous shelling, Head of the Russian Defense Ministry’s Road Service Vladimir Burovtsev told reporters.
 
“Unmanned aerial vehicles were used. Explosive substances and grenades were falling on us from the air during the installation work. However, we have no losses. No injured or affected. Everything was erected in the set terms,” he specified.
 
The bridge is 210 meters long. It can serve 8,000 cars a day. The bridge supports heavy armored vehicles, such as tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and multiple-launch rocket systems, Burovtsev said. The bridge will also be used for aid convoys to liberated communities and medical evacuations.
 
Syrian state forces liberated most part of Deir ez-Zor in early September. IS’ (Islamic State, a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia) main forces were forced to retreat to the opposite, or eastern side of the river bank.
 
Ahead of the bridge’s construction, only the advance detachments of the Syrian army crossed the river with the use of pontoons. Now the main government forces are preparing for mass crossing of the Euphrates.
 
Source: TASS
 
Finally, the following report shows that the US pull-out has enabled an agreement to be made between the Russian-Syrian side and the Kurdish SDF, which will now, finally, fight as a unit. Previously, the US, fearing losses of US personnel, had refused to fight alongside of the SDF it supported. And since SDF had no support other than American, it has no incentive to negotiate with the Syrian government. But now the terror-fighting SDF has greatly increased the size of its forces, while providing monitoring and supervision to avoid the kinds of abuses described above.
 
From my previous writings, you all know that I am no fan of Trump. But, whether he knows it or not, his sudden unexpected pull-out has hastened the progress toward a final settlement –partly political and partly military – in Syria.

The below article from Southfront supplies a clue as to a possible reason why the current administration was in such a hurry to exit Syria. Commentary is by Vince Dhimos.
 
Turkey seems to have substituted Israel as the US proxy-designate on the front lines of the Syrian regime-change war. (For years, Israel had regularly launched missile attacks on Iranian targets in Syria until Russia politely asked them to stop. Or else).
 
Of course, the anti-Trump Congress made a fuss and many legislators agreed that the surprise pull-out was a bad move. But was this perhaps part of a well-rehearsed show for public consumption? We must back up and consider what the US Establishment hoped to achieve when it entered Syria in the first place. You will recall that by 2011, not only Obama but also major European leaders were shrieking “Assad must go,” while pretending that their main goal in Syria was only to fight terror – which they obviously only pretended to do because the terrorists gained more ground than ever under the US and allied occupation. Then a few months after Russia entered the fray in September 2015, at a moment when the terrorists threatened to push the Syrian army into the sea, the Western shrieking class was forced to tone down the rhetoric a bit, but you can bet they never once backed away from their fond dream of regime change.

I strongly suspect that, at the deepest level of the Deep State, these regime change zealots now see the latest Turkish attacks in Syria (BTW, the Trump Erdogan 5 day ceasefire agreement was already violated within the first 24 hours) as their chance to rid themselves of Assad at last. But why the insane desire to get rid of a popular elected Middle East leader who has never threatened anyone in the West? If you still wonder, then you probably haven’t read our analysis of Washington’s true motivation in foreign policy. Here it is once again, and current events add more proof of its validity.
 
So now the anti-Assad campaign goes into its next, hopefully last, phase. It is unlikely that Russia will allow Turkey to come anywhere near to Damascus. It is in fact likely it will nip Turkish aspirations in the bud. But don’t worry, you probably will never hear about it in the Western media. (Please be sure to read NEAR-TOTAL NEWS BLACKOUT ON SYRIAN WAR http://www.newsilkstrategies.com/military-affairs/near-total-western-news-blackout-on-syrian-war).
 
Thus we think Trump probably knew good and well that Turkey would be the next regime change proxy in Syria. So why, you will ask, would almost every Democrat in Washington and even many Republicans, shriek so loudly in protest of Trump’s pull-out? Firstly, the Democrats want to discredit Trump so they can win the 2020 election. Secondly, they need to pretend they care about the Kurds.
 
Here is the report from Southfront, possibly the only source on this. Please give them a donation if you can. They are the best source for Syrian war news.
 
TURKISH-FUNDED SYRIAN NATIONAL ARMY AND MYTH OF UNITED SYRIAN OPPOSITION
 
Turkey’s Operation Peace Spring once again drew wide attention not only to the so-called Kurdish question, but also to attempts of Ankara to create a unified Syrian opposition as an alternative to the Assad government. According to official Turkish statements, the goal of the operation is to secure the southern Turkish border defeating “the terrorism” and allow up to 2 million of refugees to return to their homes. Nonetheless, there are no doubts that the operation, like previous military actions in the provinces of Aleppo, Lattakia and Idlib, will be used by Turkey to expand its own influence.
 
The Turkish-based Syrian Interim Government headquartered and Turkish-affiliated militant groups would be used as a tool of projecting Turkish military and political influence in the area. The Syrian National Army (SNA) are a brand of militant groups participating in the northeastern Syria offensive. Turkey’s Operations Olive Branch and Euphrates Shield demonstrated that the main goal of such groups is to serve as cannon folder on first line of the battle, while aircraft, battle tanks, artillery and special forces units of the Turkish Armed Forces do the main work. This allows Ankara to pretend that its actions in Syria are not military occupation, but a move needed to return the territory to the moderate Syrian opposition that opposes the ‘illegitimate regime’ of President Bashar al-Assad.
 
In the area of Greater Idlib, Turkish-backed factions formed the National Front for Liberation in May 2018, which was promoted as a moderate opposition coalition that would limit the influence of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and other al-Qaeda-linked groups. Despite claiming to have 70,000 fighters (sic), the coalition immediately lost a struggle for power to its al-Qaeda counterparts and became a subordinate to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. In 2018 and 2019, groups from the National Front for Liberation repeatedly participated in al-Qaeda operations against the Syrian Army.
 
In northern Aleppo, Ankara was more successful because the SNA formed in December 2017 operates only in the Turkish Army area of operations and much more depends on the logistical and supply infrastructure created by Turkish special services. Since its creation, the SNA has included 30 groups with lofty names like the Army of Elite or the First Brigade Command and a very few trained personnel. Despite this, the formation, according to different estimates, includes from 15,000 to 25,000 fighters. Its members participated in Operation Olive Branch and successfully continued receiving salaries ($300-400 per month) after it. Now, they are involved in the operation in northeastern Syria.
 
Just a few days ahead of the start of Operation Peace Spring, Turkey attempted to unite the National Front for Liberation and the Syrian National Army. On October 4, the groups even released a statement claiming that they had merged. A few hours after the release, fierce clashes between the groups erupted over properties seized in the Afrin area. This put an end to the unification efforts at least for now.
 
Another problem is that the Turkish-based Syrian Interim Government and especially its Defense Ministry have no real influence on SNA detachments because it had no levers of influence over funds, weapons, ammunition or even orders that they receive. The full control over these sides of the SNA life allows Ankara to successfully manipulate them, when these groups are needed to some military action. At the same time, this approach undermines attempts to create a unified command to manage these groups because commanders of these groups are constantly engaged in an internal struggle for control over weapons and money flow from their Turkish backers.
 
This explains why immediately after the end of the active phase of Operations Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch, the SNA dispersed into competing armed groups mostly concerned by looting properties in the seized areas and protecting racketeering of local business and markets. Therefore, the Turkey-controlled part of northern Syria was turned into a safe haven for drugs and weapons trafficking, and organized crime. Turkey’s iron hand once again turned competing gangs into a united force under the SNA brand for Operation Peace Spring. However, as soon as, the active phase of operation ends, the Turkish-controlled part of northeastern Syria will experience consequences similar to those faced by territories captured by Turkish-led forces in 2016-2018.
 

Vince Dhimos answered a question on Quora. Post-publication comments by Vince.
 
Don't we associate massive manipulation of news reporting with totalitarian regimes?

There is a near-total Western news blackout on the military actions in Syria, which is evidenced by this Quora question, and which enabled Trump to claim months ago, for example, that he had completely eliminated the terrorists in Syria. It would be interesting to know how many Westerners are wondering how they can trust any Western journalist when all leave such enormous gaps in the reporting on what is possibly the most important conflict in modern history. I say that because the Syrian war marks a turning point at which the US unwillingly – largely through its own abysmal incompetence – relinquishes leadership in the Middle East to Russia.
 
https://www.quora.com/Why-do-we-never-hear-about-what-is-happening-in-Syria-It-used-to-be-in-the-news-daily-now-rarely-Is-Al-Assad-still-around/answer/Vince-Dhimos
 
QUESTION: Why do we never hear about what is happening in Syria? It used to be in the news daily, now rarely. Is Al-Assad still around?
 
Vince Dhimos, Editor-in-Chief at New Silk Strategies (2016-present)
 
Answered 11h ago
 
There is plenty of news daily about Syria, but we are told not to read it. It almost all comes from the Middle East and we are told that Middle Easterners are all Muslims so they would of course not tell the truth (like the US never lies to us). The Western US-aligned nations know that if Westerners knew the truth, they would realize that the US and its allies, especially Israel and Saudi, are involved in shady things in the Middle East. (I posted on this at Quora: https://www.quora.com/Which-of-t...). You would learn that the UN had condemned the Saudi slaughter of Yemenis because of their religion. You would wonder how the US, with its First Amendment that mandates religious neutrality, could support Sunni Wahhabist Saudi, which wages war strictly based on religion, wantonly killing Shiites throughout the Middle East. You’d wonder why Israel is slaughtering Palestinians just for holding protests, and you’d wonder why the US gives both the Saudis and Israel a pass for doing things no other country would be able to do with impunity. But you don’t know why because you read Western sanitized “news" and many Americans think they're getting "balanced" news because they read both leftwing censored news and rightwing censored news, although the problem is that both right and left in America are rabidly pro-war -- which is why Tulsi Gabbard can get no traction in her campaign.
 
You’d wonder why Russia, Syria and Iran keep having to fight terrorists even after Trump said he had had them all killed, all by himself.
 
I have to wonder how many people reading this don’t even know that Russia, Iran and Turkey had regular conferences in Astana for years to discuss strategies in the fight against terror, or that there was a de-confliction zone in the province of Idlib but that Turkey and the terrorist organizations were cheating and keeping heavy armoured vehicles and weapons there against the rules.
 
I could be wrong but I suspect that very few reading this knew that Russia had its own reconciliation centre in Syria to reconcile the rebels with the Syrian government so that things could get back to normal. If people knew this, it would would make them wonder why the US had never thought of doing something this reasonable and sensible instead of pretending that the Syrian government never existed or that Assad is poison when in fact he held the country together through 8 years of war and appears to be emerging victorious. This is the biggest embarrassment of all to the Western warlords.
 
So the media pretend nothing is happening in the Middle East that is worth reporting.
 
So what can you do to make up for the deliberate lack of reporting on things that interest you about the Middle East, a place where much of your tax money goes in the interest of “fighting terror”?
 
Here are some of the only sites that will give you the information you need:
 
SANA: https://www.sana.sy/en/
 
Al Masdar: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز
 
Middle East Eye: Middle East Eye: News, Opinion, and Analysis
 
Asia Times: Asia Times | Covering geo-political news and current affairs across Asia
 
(The latest issue tells us that Trump’s ceasefire was violated in the first 2 hr. You may not find this in Western media)
 
Southfront: https://southfront.org/ (almost daily Syrian war news. It’s not always well edited because the eye witnesses who bring this news are not journos and do not speak English as their mother tongue and they’re not Ivy League grads, but they can convey the news to you because they experienced it or learned it from sources on the ground, and it is news you can’t get elsewhere. Please support them)
 
The Saker: The Vineyard of the Saker
 
Then of course, there is Sputnik and RT, which are being sanctioned, and attempts are being made to ban them in Europe. If you were to read alternate sources like those listed above you would know that a Bulgarian journalist had done her own personal investigation and discovered that the CIA had been secretly sending arms to terrorists in Syria.
 
That story is here:
 
Journalist Interrogated, Fired For Story Linking CIA And Syria Weapons Flights
 
Zero Hedge is also a brave site that dares to report forbidden news of this kind. In view of what the West has done to Julian Assange it is a miracle that any news site dares to present the other side. Of course, there are also slipshod alternate news sites that just sort of wing it, but the ones listed here are trustworthy.
 
And, yes, Assad is still there.

 
The internet is abuzz with opinion on Trump’s pull-out from Syria, particularly at this crucial moment when Turkey is threatening the lives of thousands of Kurds, who fought with the US to defeat ISIS. Even some of Trump’s staunchest supporters, for example, some Breitbart forum visitors, are calling Trump a traitor.
 
The question in most people’s minds around the world is: why did Tump do it and why now? Yes, of course, he had sort of promised to get the US out of Syria and other quagmires, notably Afghanistan, but he stayed in for more than half his first term. Many had given up, believing he would never leave. But now that the Kurds, US former allies, need the US the most, poof!, they are gone and the dreaded Turks are rushing in to fill the vacuum. Meanwhile, Trump and Congress are playing the sanctions game, trying to do with financial measures what normally done with guns. And Erdoğan is thumbing his nose at the US, which he sees as a bevy of weaklings.
 
Stephen Lendman writes:
 
“On Monday, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said government troops are preparing ‘to confront Turkish aggression on Syrian territory,’ adding:
 
‘Turkish forces committed massacres against locals, occupied some areas, and destroyed infrastructure.’
 
“ ‘The Turkish regime forces (and ‘mercenary terrorists’) intensified aerial and artillery bombardment on villages and towns in Hasaka and Raqqa provinces in framework of their aggression on Syrian territory…occupying several towns and villages.’ ”
 
“On Sunday, SANA cited local sources, saying Turkish terror-bombing killed ‘dozens of people, including foreign journalists,’ adding:
 
“ ‘A video surfaced showing tens of bodies and injured people, most of them having been mutilated and burned.’ ”
 
One possible motive for a crafty politician like Trump, as well as his advisers and cronies on the Hill, might be to deliberately pull out at this crucial juncture to conjure up a Turkish-made crisis intended to make the world, especially the Middle East, long for the “good old days” of US occupation. A possible manipulated scenario might find, for example, the Kurds crying for the US to come back and save them.
 
If that was the motivation behind the untimely pull-out, then it was an egregious error. In fact, the upshot of the American treachery toward the Kurds was that, under the influence of Russian mediation, the Kurds are now finally doing what they should have done from the get go, namely, ally with Assad and Russia and help them apply pressure to force out the US and then Turkey, both of whom were in Syria as illegal trespassers.
 
But late is better than never, and that is indeed what the Kurds now see themselves obliged to do – or die.
 
And the irony of it is that now, for the first time, the Kurds are seeing Russia and Syria doing what for years they had hoped in vain that the US would do to protect them.
 
Indeed, the Russian site avia.pro reports [our translation]:
 
“An attempt by the Turkish Air Force to strike the headquarters of the Syrian Democratic Forces in Manbij ended in complete failure for the crews of Turkish F-16 fighters. The reason for this was the appearance in the sky of Russian Su-35 fighters, which intercepted Turkish combat aircraft, preventing the latter from completing their missions.
 
“At the moment, it remains unknown whether the Turkish Air Force fighters were in Syrian airspace, or were flying inside Turkish airspace; however, this indicates that Russian combat aircraft are ready to confront Turkey, which intends not only to invade the territory of the Arab republic, but is also capable of occupying it.”
 
This was happening even as the same site was reporting elsewhere that Erdogan had claimed that the Turkish incursion into northern Syria was done with Russia’s blessing – an obvious lie. This statement was apparently made to create the impression that Russia had betrayed Assad. But the fact of Russia’s interception of a Turkish fighter jet speaks louder than Erdoğan’s sleazy words.
 
For those who were worried about the fate of the Kurds, there is now hope, from people who would have been willing to help them from the very outset. Yet, despite this overwhelming proof of Russia’s wisdom and power, we cannot expect the political class in the US to ever stop slandering and sanctioning the Russians, no matter what they do.
 
And yet, the Russians have gotten used to this abuse. It will run off them like water off a duck’s back and they will just keep trucking along as before, fully confident, aware of what they are doing and where they are headed. Even as the US keeps stumbling along with no clear plan for the future and no moral anchor, like a goofy cat chasing its tail.

Above: WW II vintage Katryusha rockets in action. Now they're available on steroids.
 
Below you will find our translation of an article from RIA Novosti with comments and notes [in brackets] by Vince Dhimos.
 
Russia has a lot of better things to spend its limited budget on than bigger and better weapons. However, GW Bush unilaterally pulled out of the ABM treaty and Trump personally pulled out of the INF treaty. Both treaties had put a ceiling on the capabilities of lethal weapons between Russia and the US.
 
But the US has this magic printing press that makes money out of paper and ink, and it can sell Treasury bonds to retirees against their will, so money has not been a problem so far.
 
But that scam is winding down these days with Treasuries at bargain basement interest rates.
 
Yet, the extravagant spending on US arms has not slowed down to match this.
 
If the US took serious steps to limit arms in deals with Russia, and if NATO were to tone down its anti-Russian rhetoric and stop holding massive drills on Russia’s doorstep, that country would not be so desperate to design, manufacture and field death machines like the latest Tornado described below. Watching the old WWII films of the Katyusha in action, the rocket system on which the Tornado is based, gives us a hint of what this new improved system can do to NATO troops attempting to invade Russian turf. Why should the Russians worry?
 
Because a psychopathic NATO general says he is preparing his troops to invade Kaliningrad, the most heavily armed territory in Russia.
 
National Interest reports:
 
“The Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, which lies between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea and is geographically separate from the rest of Russia, practically bristles with S-300 and S-400 air-defence missiles, Oniks anti-ship missiles and Iskander surface-to-surface missiles.
 
“From Kaliningrad, Russia can threaten NATO aircraft, ships and ground forces for hundreds of miles in all directions.”
 
“But U.S. forces believe they know how to crack Kaliningrad, Gen Jeff Harrigan, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, told reporters including Breaking Defense’s Sydney Freedberg, Jr. “We train to that,” Harrigian said. “We think through those plans all the time, and… if that would ever come to fruition, we’d be ready to execute.”
 
So in light of Gen Harrigian’s glib words absurdly portraying Russia as an enemy poised to strike Europe, if Russia keeps developing increasingly lethal arms to kill American and European troops, let’s not show our surprised face.
 
"Sweeps away all living things." Russian artillery will be reinforced with new weapons
 
October 2, 2019
 
MOSCOW, October 2 - RIA Novosti, Nikolai Protopopov. A massive strike, a wall of flames and fragments, and a quick change of position – the Russian army is adopting the Tornado multiple launch rocket systems. The next batch of large-calibre Tornado-S will enter service by the end of 2020. Eventually, new installations will completely replace the aging Grad and Tornadoes. RIA Novosit reports on the unique MLRS [Multiple Launch Rocket System] family.
 
Flurry of rockets
 
The Tornado-S is the most powerful and longest-range multiple launch rocket system in the world. It entered service quite recently: the first brigade went into operation at the beginning of this year. Combat launches took place in April at the Kapustin Yar training ground in the Astrakhan Region – single and group missile attacks were carried out on fictional targets.
 
One installation carries twelve 300-mm missiles. They are individually aimed at targets using an automated fire control system. The operator receives the coordinates of the targets from reconnaissance satellites or drones. This feature distinguishes the new system from its predecessors and even partially raises it into the category of high-precision weapons.
 
Fragmentation and cumulative-fragmentation shells destroy manpower, equipment and fortifications of the enemy at a distance of up to one hundred and twenty kilometres. Judging by the declared characteristics, the MLRS [Multiple Launch Rocket System] fully lives up to its name. One full salvo of the Tornado-S can be compared with a tactical nuclear strike – a dozen guided missiles sweep away everything over an area of ​​sixty-seven hectares [0.26 square miles, 2.47 acres. This damage is from only one such system. The Russians will deploy several brigades].
 
The "younger sister" with the letter "G" can release forty 122-mm unguided shells at a distance of forty kilometres. The duration of the volley is twenty seconds. Russian gunners had already used the Tornado-G in Syria. According to the test results, it was decided to strengthen the armour and mine protection, as well as to increase the carrying capacity of the chassis and the engine power.
 
Three types of ammunition have been developed for this system. The first is a projectile with a detachable high-explosive fragmentation unit, six times the power of the standard Grad multiple-launch rocket launcher. Such "fire arrows" sweep away manpower in open areas and in shelters, destroy trucks and pickups. The second type - cluster warhead with cumulative-fragmentation elements - burns armoured vehicles with an armour thickness of up to 140 millimetres [5.5 inches].
 
The shells of the third type fly only twenty kilometres, but in the warheads they carry several thousand six- and nine-millimetre impact elements, literally mowing down enemy infantry.
 
Famous ancestors
 
Recall the MLRS "Tornado" - a direct descendant of the legendary BM-13 rocket launchers, popularly nicknamed the "Katyusha." These installations received their baptism of fire in July 1941, destroying in one salvo the manpower and equipment of the Nazis, concentrated at the Orsha railway station in Belarus.
 
With a second strike, the battery destroyed the crossing of the Orshitsa River with the Wehrmacht troops accumulated on it. Two volleys fired one after the other so stunned the Germans that they temporarily stopped the offensive in this direction.
 
“Katyushas" were highly manoeuvrable: after making several launches, they quickly changed positions and avoided the enemy’s retaliatory strike. The BM-13 rockets were usually used on the most difficult sections of the front, and the Germans, wanting to get at least one sample for study, started a real hunt for this weapon. To prevent capture, each machine was equipped with a self-detonating device.
 
The main advantages of rocket artillery over classical artillery have always been considered to be the colossal density of fire and the huge areas of destruction. After World War II, the Soviet army received the second generation of such systems - the BM-21 Grad. The production output of this weapon has been truly massive: more than eight and a half thousand units have left the assembly line.
 
The armies of more than thirty countries are armed with the Grad (which translates as hailstones); these units participated in many military conflicts. Upgraded versions still form the basis of the Russian army’s rocket artillery. Another type of MLRS - installation the Smerch (meaning hurricane) was a larger-calibre and longer-range analogue of the Grad. It was widely used in Afghanistan, Chechnya, and saw action in the Middle East.
 
One of the latest developments of domestic gunsmiths - the 300-millimetre systems of the Smerch MLRS – has been included by US military analysts in the list of "the deadliest Russian weapons" along with T-90 tanks, Iskander missile systems and S-400 air defence systems.
 
The Western approach
 
In the West, the development of multiple launch rocket systems began much later than in the USSR. Thus, the U.S. Army received the MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System) only in the early 1980s. Unlike Soviet systems, the American launcher is based on the tracked chassis of the M2 Bradley armoured car. The designers' intent was that such a solution would improve cross-country MLRS mobility, however, as practice has shown, the vehicles have lost a lot of mobility. In addition, caterpillar equipment is more difficult to transfer by aircraft.
 
The American launcher has no guide tubes, and the 227 mm calibre ammunition is housed in two disposable transport and launch containers of six missiles each. The unguided shells are equipped with cumulative-fragmentation or cluster warheads. In addition, anti-tank ammunition with homing heads has been developed for the MLRS. The range of fire of the MLRS is from thirty to forty kilometres, depending on the type of ammunition. A full salvo of MLRS is fired in one minute.
 
The arsenal of American gunners also includes another MLRS system – the highly mobile HIMARS. It is mounted on a wheeled chassis, making it more manoeuvrable and compact. The launcher, adopted in 2003, is similar in design to the tracked MLRS. However, there are only six 227 mm calibre missiles in the container. In addition, the machine can accommodate one ATACMS short-range ballistic missile.
 
The Americans massively used the MLRS for the first time during Operation Desert Storm in Iraq. Several hundred MLRS missiles launched tens of thousands of unguided missiles at Iraqi forces. At this time, they were found to be lagging behind the Soviet MLRS models. For example, the American systems often fell short in their range of fire, and the rockets were not powerful enough to effectively destroy armoured vehicles.