This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.

Syrian Showdown: Russia, Iran Rally Forces, US Rearms Rebels As "Promised" Battle For Aleppo Begins

Tyler Durden's picture




 

On Friday, we previewed the battle for Aleppo, Syria’s largest city prior to the war. 

It’s now run by a hodgepodge of rebels and militants including al-Qaeda, the Free Syrian Army, and ISIS and for the Assad regime, regaining control of the city is absolutely critical. As Reuters noted last week, "the assault means the army is now pressing insurgents on several fronts near Syria's main cities in the west, control of which would secure President Bashar al-Assad's hold on power even if the east of the country is still held by Islamic State." 

In other words, if Assad can secure Aleppo, Iran and Russia will have successfully restored his grip on the country for all intents and purposes. 

Here’s a look a map showing where Aleppo is in relation to Russia’s base at Latakia, along with the before and after images we highlighted last week which depict nighttime light emissions on the way to vividly demonstrating the effect the war has had on the city.

For reference, this is one of Syria's most war-torn areas. To give you an idea of what's taken place there since the war began, we present the following stark visuals from in and around the city ca. 2012 (as you might imagine, it's only gotten worse since):

And here's a short audio clip from NPR which explains why Aleppo matters (it's largely objective and thus worth the three minutes):

The offensive is also notable for the scale of Iran’s involvement.

Between Hezbollah and Iranian forces, the battle for Aleppo is shaping up to be the largest ground operation orchestrated by Tehran to date. Underscoring how deeply involved Iran truly is, Quds Commander Qasem Soleimani (who we profiled here) showed up near the frontlines late last week to rally the troops. Here’s GOP mouthpiece Fox News (who are most assuredly not Soleimani fans): 

Iran's shadowy top military commander has been spotted in Syria addressing Iranian military officers and members of the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, according to photos that emerged Thursday on social media.

 

Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani -- the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps or Qods Force -- was pictured rallying Iranian military and Hezbollah members in western Syria in photos that appeared on Twitter.

 

On Thursday, Reuters confirmed Soleimani's presence in the western province of Latakia in Syria. The news agency said Soleimani was seen addressing Iranian officers and Hezbollah fighters with a microphone while clad in dark-colored clothes.

Here are the images Fox references:

As WaPo, goes on to point out, some of the fighters called to Syria by Soleimani are from Iraq's Shiite militias, supporting our contention that as soon as Syria is "secure" (whatever that means in this context), Russia and Iran will take the fight across the border, where militiamen loyal to Tehran are already battling Sunni extremists:

Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the leader of Iran’s elite Quds forces and the public face of Iran’s military intervention in the region, has ordered thousands of Shiite militiamen into Syria for an operation to recapture Aleppo, according to officials from three Iraqi militias. The militiamen are to join Iranian troops and forces from Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shiite militia, the officials said. The Iraqi Shiite militia Kitaeb Hezbollah has sent around 1,000 fighters from Iraq, one said.

 

The new arrivals shore up the position of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose beleaguered forces had been losing ground before Russia began launching airstrikes three weeks ago. Pro-government forces have claimed victory in a string of villages around the Aleppo in recent days, in a conflict that Shiite militias frame as a single regional struggle between Shiites and Sunni extremists from the Islamic State.

 

“It makes no difference whether we’re in Iraq or Syria, we consider it the same front line because we are fighting the same enemy,” said Bashar al-Saidi, a spokesman for Harakat al-Hezbollah al-Nujaba, an Iraqi Shiite militia that says it has fighters around Aleppo. “We are all the followers of Khamenei and will go and fight to defend the holy sites and Shiites everywhere," he said, referring to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

 

The Lebanese group Hezbollah and the Quds Force, which is part of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, have also sent reinforcements, he said. Last week, a U.S. defense official said hundreds of Iranian troops were near the city in preparation for an offensive.


“It’s not a secret. We are all fighting against the same enemy,” said Saidi.


His militia released a photo of Soleimani, the Quds Force commander, with its fighters near Aleppo on one of its social media accounts last week.

 

“The operation is an extension for our operations in Iraq because it’s the same enemy, and when we hit them there it means that it will get results in Iraqi lands,” the Kitaeb official said. Soleimani “specifically requested they go there for the launch of the operation for Aleppo,” he said.

And here's a look at an airstrike map which delineates bombing runs by date, thus giving you an idea of the extent to which the Russians targeted Aleppo last week to soften up the rebels ahead of the offensive:

Meanwhile, as Russia revved up the Sukhois and the shadow commander rallied the ground forces, the US rearmed the rebels. Here’s Reuters:

Rebels battling the Syrian army and its allies south of Aleppo say they have received new supplies of U.S.-made anti-tank missiles from states that oppose President Bashar al-Assad since a major government offensive began there on Friday.

 

Rebels from three Free Syrian Army-affiliated groups contacted by Reuters said new supplies had arrived since the start of the attack by the army backed by Iranian fighters and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

 

A number of rebel groups vetted by states opposed to Assad have been supplied with weapons via Turkey, part of a program supported by the United States and which has in some cases included military training by the Central Intelligence Agency.

And so, with the proxy war lines clearly drawn, the battle has begun. Via WSJ:

Syrian pro-regime forces backed by Russian airstrikes have expanded their ground offensive to the strategic city of Aleppo, one of the clearest signs yet of how Russia’s recent military intervention has emboldened President Bashar al-Assad and his loyalists.

 

In the bitterly fought multi-sided war, Aleppo is among the most coveted prizes. Losing partial control of the city, which was once Syria’s largest and its commercial capital, was an embarrassment to the regime. But with the backing of Russian warplanes, Iranian forces and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, Mr. Assad’s forces could now be in position to regain large parts of the city and the surrounding countryside.

 

“I suspect Assad always wanted to take back Aleppo because it is such an important city and retaking it has such strategic and symbolic importance,” said Emile Hokayem, a Middle East analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based military and security think tank. “And it would deny the rebels a foothold in any major city.”

 

Since Friday, the regime has netted a number of villages on the southern outskirts of the city and thousands of civilians are fleeing fighting in the area. On Sunday, the regime captured one additional village and U.S.-backed rebels destroyed two regime tanks using American-supplied weapons as they tried to stem the regime’s progress.

 

The regime appears to be advancing westward toward the strategic highway linking Aleppo with the capital Damascus, rebels said.

 

In a rare move, the offensive is being led by regime-allied Iranian fighters, according to Ahmad al-Ahmad, a spokesman for the moderate Islamist rebel group Faylaq al-Sham, which is involved in the battles.

 

The city of Aleppo is now divided in two, with an array of rebel factions controlling the eastern half and the regime holding the western half.

 

The regime’s ground offensives over the past two weeks have been led by fighters and military advisers from Iran and forces from Hezbollah, supplemented by Syrian security forces.

 

So far the battles in Aleppo are concentrated in the southern countryside on multiple fronts pushing toward the crucial highway that links the city with the coastal province of Latakia and the central provinces such as Hama, rebels said.

 

One of the goals of the offensive could be to prevent rebel reinforcements from Aleppo being sent to help fighters along other fronts. Rebels also report an amassing of pro-regime forces elsewhere in Aleppo province that could be aimed at cutting off the rebel supply route from Turkey.

 

Such moves could severely weaken the array of rebel forces in Aleppo, which include Islamist groups such as Ahrar al-Sham and al Qaeda affiliate Nusra Front as well as U.S.-backed rebels.

Note how shockingly close this is to an actual shooting war between the US/NATO and the Iran-Russia "nexus."

CIA-trained rebels are now using weapons supplied by the US to kill Iranian soldiers backed by Russian airstrikes. The fact that the ground invasion is now clearly run by Iran and Hezbollah means that one side of the "rebels vs. SAA" proxy label has been removed. This is now "rebels vs. Iran and Russia", meaning there's literally but one degree of separation from an outright NATO vs. Russia-Iran armed conflict. And don't forget: the nation through which the US is suppliying the rebels at Aleppo (i.e. Turkey) just shot down a Russian drone. 

And so, as we wait to see whether the US will finally step in on behalf of its proxy armies before they are routed in the most critical battle yet in the war for Syria, we leave you with a few still shots taken over the weekend in Aleppo.

 

- advertisements -

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:05 | 6685540 RawPawg
RawPawg's picture

Game On?

Just shooting the can down the road?

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 16:06 | 6686434 Ignatius
Ignatius's picture

Tyler, a number of comments have been disappearded, mine included.  What's up?

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 17:17 | 6686747 Alvin Fernald
Alvin Fernald's picture

What type of comments have disappeared?

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 17:23 | 6686774 Ignatius
Ignatius's picture

The comments were running pretty strong anti-war, otherwise I have no idea.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 17:36 | 6686830 Took Red Pill
Took Red Pill's picture

War! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing! See if this disappears.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 17:42 | 6686858 Ignatius
Ignatius's picture

I was thinking of flipping, instead.  You know, "Fuck Syria, man," "Sow salt in their soil," "This time drop 100 tons of Ammo to ISIS, fuck Russia and Assad's chemical weapons."

How'd I do?

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 18:51 | 6687153 NidStyles
NidStyles's picture

Desert rats doing what desert rats do best, kill each other over spaghetti monsters in the sky. 

 

All of these middle-eastern assholes are the same, they are pro-their tribe, and will kill anyone that doesn't bow to them. Jew, Sunni, Shi-ite. Doesn't matter they are all the damn same. 

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:10 | 6687227 Chupacabra-322
Chupacabra-322's picture

The headline is completely wrong. The Crimjnal Fraud UNITED STATES, CORP. INC. & Pure Evil Psychopaths at the CIA arm Terror Organization is more like it.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:27 | 6687288 logicalman
logicalman's picture

Reality....

Joe Syrian and his wife Joan just want to have a place to live, food on the table and clothes on their backs with enough to spare to look after their kids.

All being fucked over by total fucking arseholes who think they have the right to play criminal and evil games with other people's lives.

Fuck, what a world.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:48 | 6687408 NidStyles
NidStyles's picture

It isn't easy being a choosenite, God's work is thankless and hard... 

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:55 | 6687441 johngaltfla
johngaltfla's picture

Yeah, this isn't going to end well for Obama's friends. In the mean time, enjoy watching how a war is fought, to win that is;

And More Bad Ass Video from Russia’s Attack on Islamofacists in Syria
Mon, 10/19/2015 - 21:02 | 6687727 Charles Wilson
Charles Wilson's picture

JGF-

One thing missing from your stirling analysis: The Double-Cross.

You know it's there when an old Alzheimer's victim is dying from a Coup (Not "Croup".  Not Andropov's, "He had a cold..."  He's dying from  COUP!  Look it up!).

 

"I am the Ruler of the House of Saud. All I see I own.  All I own I...I... Urrrrupp...Aaaaackk....Splliiiishh..."Uhhhh"..." <Head smashes on marble floor>

Follow-up: ""Hey, Joe, howd'ja like to represent the US at the State Funeral of the King of Saudi Arabia, huh?..."

Uhhh...I'm kinda like all full up schedule wise, ya'know? 

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 21:28 | 6687828 johngaltfla
johngaltfla's picture

The Saudis have a bigger problem:

They are running out of US Treasuries to sell. The Camel Rapists may soon have to liquidate all of their US equities to raise cash. NOW THAT will be fun to watch. Beer and popcorn city baby.

Tue, 10/20/2015 - 01:20 | 6688344 Fish Gone Bad
Fish Gone Bad's picture

All that blood. Must be progress. That is so messed up.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 17:44 | 6686871 emersonreturn
emersonreturn's picture

ignatius,

agree, i've been wondering if paveway IV (whose posts are succinct, brilliant & to straight to the bone), has caught the attention not merely of the trolls but TPTB?  fearing his observations are not simply dead on but classified?  we've all known we are observed.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 18:26 | 6687063 new game
new game's picture

my comments don't hit "nerve central", HA

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 20:40 | 6687644 conscious being
conscious being's picture

Classified? You think the Pentagram calls up Tyler and says, " Hey, son Uncle Sam here. You have some classified material in your comments section. Pull it now."? And Tyler jumps on that? Tyler would be in on it too!?! Oh, no.

In any case, Paveway, if you see this, can you repost?

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 20:49 | 6687675 emersonreturn
emersonreturn's picture

cb,

i hope you are right & paveway responds.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 22:17 | 6687961 Paveway IV
Paveway IV's picture

"...i've been wondering if paveway IV...has caught the attention not merely of the trolls but TPTB?..."

I spent six months at a CIA black site getting waterboarded, rectally fed and scopolamined... yeah, I would have to argue that they finally caught on. 

"...fearing his observations are not simply dead on but classified?..."

Of course they're classified - I work as a limited hangout for the U.S. government now. Everything I write is scripted. Do you think I want to be rectally fed hummus again? They can't even make their hummus right - it's only suitable for rectal feeding.

I can't remember all of my original reply to Latina Lover. It went something like this: Original attack on the Aleppo Thermal Power Plant was last week. That plant powers pumps that fill the water canal that runs from the Euphrates to Aleppo. No city water means Aleppo is drinking filthy, polluted well water. Imagine drinking from a shallow old water well dug in the middle of New York City or Chicago. Now add a thousand years to that - Aleppo is old.

Interesting thing about the U.S. bombing is that tweets about it were deleted from Twitter and those accounts deleted. Facebook - same thing. Google is not doubt also 'managing' search results, but I haven't been tracking that specifically any more. You're not suppose to know about 1) U.S. committing war crimes by targeting civilian infrastructure, and 2) the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo compounded by loss of electricity and running water. This is to ensure 3) no connection is made between the U.S. bombing and Aleppo residents increasingly dying of renal failure, dysentery or cholera. 

People have speculated that this is all meant to cause people still in Aleppo to panic and flood west towards Turkey/border refugee camps. This would mask head-choppers fleeing as well, or otherwise mask opposition activity from the intense Russian surveilance. Lack of clean water also affects SAA/Hezbollah/Iranian troops as they have nothing like U.S. logistics networks - they depend on local water.

Tue, 10/20/2015 - 05:13 | 6688453 conscious being
conscious being's picture

Thanks PW. Two observations about the BBC map. 1) I see the "rebels" have the Golan Heights border with Israel covered. What a bad joke. The ready for matyrdom jihadis won't attack Israel. Istead they hide under Israeli protection ... for now. 2) I read the USAF attacked the Allepo power station twice. The last one just a few days ago on 10/18, but 2nd, recent strike doesn't seem to have made it to the BBBC map.

More on the two Aleppo power stations bombed by USAF from moonofalabama.org

 

Tue, 10/20/2015 - 10:37 | 6689373 emersonreturn
emersonreturn's picture

paveway, pleased you survived...yes, thank you for your observations, clearly i need to examine my paranoia. ;-/

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:17 | 6687253 corsair
corsair's picture

Someone got banned (it seems to be The Indelicate Genius). That person's comments got deleted together with all other embedded posts.

As for the reason of banning, AFAIK the only reason that will get someone banned on ZH is spamming.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 20:42 | 6687646 conscious being
conscious being's picture

Thanks for the explanation.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 21:02 | 6687728 Blankone
Blankone's picture

BS on the reason.  I can personally attest that you can have your postings and be banned without doing any spamming.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 23:43 | 6688176 Socratic Dog
Socratic Dog's picture

He hasn't been around long if he thinks spam is the only thing you get banned from the Hedge for.

The best posters  get banned.  it's a badge of honor.

Tue, 10/20/2015 - 03:29 | 6688457 corsair
corsair's picture

One year is more than enough to observe a pattern.

You can say anything you want on ZH, but if you keep pushing a single agenda over the edge by posting the same thing ad-nauseam, eventually you will get banned.

Tue, 10/20/2015 - 10:16 | 6689284 Socratic Dog
Socratic Dog's picture

Only if it's an anti-zio agenda.

Tue, 10/20/2015 - 03:40 | 6688467 corsair
corsair's picture

BS on your attest. What you consider spamming and what owners of this site see as spamming might not be the same thing.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:29 | 6687317 NoPension
NoPension's picture

Somebody remind me. Who are the " good guys" , again please?

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 20:43 | 6687650 conscious being
conscious being's picture

The Russians of course. Besides, they do make the best videos.

Tue, 10/20/2015 - 01:53 | 6688381 Peak Bull
Peak Bull's picture

The Russians will not look like heroes when the war is over, and they remain in the region.

Tue, 10/20/2015 - 06:17 | 6688579 QuisnosRepublic
QuisnosRepublic's picture

No one will be heros when the real weapons fall on these nations. These new Nuclear weapons leave no prisoners. The US plays a deadly game of cat and mouse with the region and who will pay? The people will, as they will be taxed into oblivion and set upon by the trained terrorists of the CIA. 

control where you live get to know your neighbors, your city councils, your county commissioners your sheriff. People working together will win this but individuals will become fair game.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 21:09 | 6687757 logicalman
logicalman's picture

Looking more and more like there aren't any.

I used to believe in the tooth fairy and Santa Claus

Tue, 10/20/2015 - 06:25 | 6688585 nmewn
nmewn's picture

The cavalry is not going to come galloping over the hill to the rescue, the good guys have always died alongside the bad guys with their hands around each others throat, locked in the eternal embrace of their last moments on earth.

Yes, there is no tooth fairy, no Santa Claus, no Superman and there will always be times when you see a man drenched in the blood & gore of another and wonder to yourself, is this victorious warrior the good or the evil standing before me?

Either way, it's best to prepare yourself ;-)

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 16:36 | 6686561 junction
junction's picture

If Nixon was President and he was caught arming ISIS rapist murderers, he would be charged with treason, since the chief backers of ISIS were responsible for 9/11.  You know, the Saudis.  Nixon would never do that, though, he believed in the U.S. Constitution, not Sharia law.  Unlike Obama.

---

Disappearing in 9,8,7,. . .

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 17:22 | 6686766 Macon Richardson
Macon Richardson's picture

When the Osama-did-it story began to fall apart, the Saudis-did-it story began to take shape, pushed along by Daniel Hopsicker. But that is just a fall-back story. We can take a pretty good guess who really did 911.

I wonder how Dick Cheyney is doing these days?

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 17:47 | 6686876 Ignatius
Ignatius's picture

Cheney?  I hear those Iraqi, Palestinian and Syrian children body part replacements were just what the doctor ordered.  He'll be fine.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:09 | 6687225 willwork4food
willwork4food's picture

Hopefully getting a little nervous about his coming invite from Hell.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:25 | 6687293 Baby Bladeface
Baby Bladeface's picture

Does not want in Hell or in Heaven Mr. Cheney.

Purgatory does not kick and those poor souls such punishment not deserved.

While supernatural can kicking and Mr. Cheney lives still.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:31 | 6687324 logicalman
logicalman's picture

If the devil did, in fact, exist, he'd be repulsed by Cheney.

 

 

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:54 | 6687431 nosam
nosam's picture

Theres no point in driving a stake thru Cheneys heart, He will just go out and get another one.

Tue, 10/20/2015 - 00:21 | 6688254 jeff montanye
jeff montanye's picture

cheney yes, but rumsfeld too.  and larry silverstein had to have been brought in pretty early, rabbi dov zakheim too.

i wonder when young bush learned of the plan.  when he was listening to my pet goat?  i think earlier considering the interesting look on his face when the spelling words immediately prior were Kite, Hit, Steel, Plane, Must.  kite plane must hit steel? what are the chances?

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:10 | 6687229 Antifaschistische
Antifaschistische's picture

The Syrian blasting is terrible, but we have nothing to be sorry for....KBR is standing by waiting to help them rebuilt about $20 billion worth of infrastructure.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 21:23 | 6687806 Trogdor
Trogdor's picture

When the Osama-did-it story began to fall apart, the Saudis-did-it story began to take shape...

I'm sure there are a lot of participants, but the architects were probably the same ones as have authored multiple false-flag attacks on the United States: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVHstSrC1CQ

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:28 | 6687307 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

No. Soleimani is like Patton. Men will follow him into battle. He is a Leader and a soldier.

As will the Russians follow Vlad, also a stone killer (if he needs to be).

The alciaduh should just give up. These guys won't waste time chopping off heads for videos. They will just kill you and blow up your stuff.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:06 | 6685542 Soul Glow
Soul Glow's picture

If the actual US MIC rode in then it would be a real war, but Russia and Iran will kick the shit out of these US led rebel groups.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:30 | 6687319 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

They would just as likely kick US ass all the way back to their pink barracks.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:59 | 6687463 dark pools of soros
dark pools of soros's picture

If they did, they would obliterate Syria but then Israel and the Saudis would get nuked... then what?

 

 

Tue, 10/20/2015 - 00:17 | 6688247 FIAT CON
FIAT CON's picture

The US has not fought a real enemy with missles and fighter jets for a long long time. My guess is they are not willing to make that happen anytime soon.

 

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:06 | 6685544 Zero-Hegemon
Zero-Hegemon's picture

Cursed by geography, and even worse by the money power

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:11 | 6685570 MFL8240
MFL8240's picture

A close up look at these photos, especially the woman with blood on her face look fake! Download them and look for yourself!

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:14 | 6685586 Teh Finn
Teh Finn's picture

Brought to you by Paliwood.  Where is green helmet guy, grieving grandma, and islamic rage boy?

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:15 | 6685600 Latina Lover
Latina Lover's picture

All Re called to the Ukraine to clean toilets, after their contracts ran out.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:19 | 6685605 Teh Finn
Teh Finn's picture

.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:32 | 6685682 Latina Lover
Latina Lover's picture

Nothing else to say? Good. Better to shut your mouth and be thought a fool, than to open and confirm it.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 20:54 | 6687693 Iwanttoknow
Iwanttoknow's picture

son, welcome to ZH.not quite 10 weeks.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:59 | 6685813 BarkingCat
BarkingCat's picture

"Ukraine" not "the Ukraine" dumb ass.

I will keep repeating this until you fucking get it.., which is a shame as I agree with majority of your posts.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 16:22 | 6686507 Baby Bladeface
Baby Bladeface's picture

It is commendable. Gauleiter of the Ukraine approves.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 17:16 | 6686742 Latina Lover
Latina Lover's picture

Hay Barkingcat, why do you care if it is "Ukraine" vs "the Ukraine"?  What does this 'difference' mean to you?

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 17:41 | 6686853 gmrpeabody
gmrpeabody's picture

It's Hey..., not "Hay"...,   ;-)

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 18:14 | 6687016 Odegaard Falls
Odegaard Falls's picture

unless you're a gay horse.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 18:39 | 6687108 Latina Lover
Latina Lover's picture

It was a typo.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 16:26 | 6686525 Allen_H
Allen_H's picture

I think Mordor has a better ring to it.

Tue, 10/20/2015 - 05:12 | 6688540 ebear
ebear's picture

One does not simply walk into the Mordor.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:24 | 6685637 Teh Finn
Teh Finn's picture

lol

http://www.pallywood.com

WE DO NOT PRODUCE LOVE STORIES ... only fake dramas
Mon, 10/19/2015 - 14:34 | 6685971 Max Steel
Max Steel's picture

Msm sheeple peddling presstitutes diatribe without verifying it. How convenient isnt it apologist?

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 16:03 | 6686420 Implied Violins
Implied Violins's picture

?

Did the whole first page of comments just disappear? I was commenting and got the message that "the comment you are responding to does not exist." Bizarre.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 16:30 | 6686528 emersonreturn
emersonreturn's picture

yes, implied V, it appears a page is missing.  i hope paveway IV & indelicate have not been bannished. i appreciate the tylers courage & clarity, their insight into the market is stella, and now they are leading the way in bringing us clear reporting on events currently unfolding in the ME & pacific. it's not surprising that they may be experiencing extreme opposition.  i for one hope they can continue to give us such insightful articles. despite the dark forces.  

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 16:37 | 6686572 Creeps
Creeps's picture

Paveway has some of the most thought provoking posts I've seen on the Hedge in a long time, not as verbose as Radical Marijuana but certainly as good.  Indelicate might be the latest incarnation of F_S and if so I tip my hat to him.  F_S helped me pull my head out of the sand as to the who our elite rulers are.  The odds that such a small minority should have so much control over a population that is foreign to them is staggering and leads the mind to asking more questions.   

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 16:59 | 6686666 Blankone
Blankone's picture

I can still find Paveway.  I cannot find - The Indelicate Genius"

I you read between the lines over the last 6 months a certain storyline and bias is clear.  Others who did not violate the rules have been banned or wiped.  Something to consider.

Indelicate - If you were also F_S, I give my thanks because you documented what was implied in concrete terms.  Just wish it was all together somewhere to be copied now.

 

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 17:39 | 6686847 Took Red Pill
Took Red Pill's picture

Those comments will be back. The NSA is just borrowing them for awhile.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:17 | 6687252 Chupacabra-322
Chupacabra-322's picture

Fuck the NSA. THEY CAN HAVE THAT ONE.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:31 | 6687327 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

OMG, Tylers have caught a Zionist Virus!

Tue, 10/20/2015 - 02:30 | 6688414 Allen_H
Allen_H's picture

They dirty terrorist viruses those, hard to get rid of, somewhat impossible without some death involved.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 16:32 | 6686549 Grimaldus
Grimaldus's picture

Yeah, thought I saw green helmet in there somewhere.

 

 

 

Grimaldus

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:24 | 6685635 Perimetr
Perimetr's picture

Maybe it's because you have a bag over your head.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:24 | 6685636 poland spring
poland spring's picture

Then plan your next family vacation over there if you really feel it is fake.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:27 | 6685650 Sanity Bear
Sanity Bear's picture

any photo that comes out of a Western news organization should be assumed to be staged unless verifiable uninterested or adversarial third-party evidence verification demands a different conclusion

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:33 | 6685688 Jack Burton
Jack Burton's picture

Very true. The CIA uses several entire production teams inside nations of interest to produce fake youtbe videos with aid of local traitors. Very common in Syrian fake chemical attacks etc.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 14:01 | 6685820 AmericanFUPAcabra
AmericanFUPAcabra's picture

This years new flavor in Syria is "The White Helmets" who seem to be on the scene when a child or elderly person is injured with perfectly timed shots that look like something out of National Geographic

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 18:40 | 6687111 Latina Lover
Latina Lover's picture

One day, someone may write a book detailing the connections between Hollywood and the CIA, both masters at manufacturing a consensus reality.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 20:19 | 6687556 Herd Redirectio...
Herd Redirection Committee's picture

They can start with: Chapter 1: The Apollo PROGRAM

Hell, I will even write the chapter for them!

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 22:57 | 6688070 Rhett72
Rhett72's picture

They already have.  You can order "The CIA in Hollywood: How the Agency Shapes Film and Television" from Amazon.com:  

 

http://www.amazon.com/CIA-Hollywood-Agency-Shapes-Television/dp/0292754361

Tue, 10/20/2015 - 03:51 | 6688474 conscious being
conscious being's picture

Dave McGowan writes a lot about the CIA film studio on Lookout Mountain, above Laurel Canyon in LA. Dave makes a great case that popular music is a psy-op. That hippies and folk-rock were invented in LA to redirect the anti VN War movement. Check out Vito Paulekas. LA hippie dance troup maestro with Aleister Crowley-like characteristics. Scene created out of whole cloth.

Everyone from Frank Zappa to David Crosby came from a military or inteligence family.

Vito's Dancers Freak Out with The Mothers of Invention

Tue, 10/20/2015 - 05:59 | 6688564 ebear
ebear's picture

Hey, this is secret knowledge you are not supposed to talk about, man.

Seriously though... not everyone followed the script.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRweyGHJ3bc

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 14:25 | 6685929 BarkingCat
BarkingCat's picture

wag the dog

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 14:46 | 6686037 InflammatoryResponse
InflammatoryResponse's picture

There aren't any injuries.  just just has "blood" on her face. 

 

no doubt she did something heroic.   like sitting in a make up chair.

 

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 14:47 | 6686042 Chris Dakota
Chris Dakota's picture

Photos looke photoshoped, fake and staged.

sorry, something is rotten

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 18:10 | 6686998 Dugald
Dugald's picture

Photos looke photoshoped, fake and staged.

sorry, something is rotten

 

I blew the image up five hundred percent and it looks like real skin damage.....

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:34 | 6687334 cowdiddly
cowdiddly's picture

Yea those two guys in the back of that truck look like somebody really Photoshopped theirs ass and good. Gee bud what do you need missing limbs?

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 14:55 | 6686075 Demdere
Demdere's picture

When you see all of the bombed-out buildings you sort of extrapolate to people having been killed, severely injured, injured.

Fake photo or not, our neocons have killed very many good people with their idiocy.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 16:35 | 6686565 Grimaldus
Grimaldus's picture

Progressives are in charge. Obirdbrain and his regime are NOT neocon. DUH!

You must have progressive taint you are ashamed of.

 

 

 

 

Grimaldus

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 17:43 | 6686862 gmrpeabody
gmrpeabody's picture

People believe what they want to believe..., sad.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 23:54 | 6688191 Socratic Dog
Socratic Dog's picture

And all that destruction just confirms that all the refugees in Europe are fake refugees.

Yeah, fucking sure.  I'd have my kids out of that place before the dust settled.  Any of you refugee-hating heroes want to move to Aleppo, show us how it's done?

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:33 | 6687330 logicalman
logicalman's picture

They've likely been toned down from reality.

Tue, 10/20/2015 - 05:19 | 6688545 hibou-Owl
hibou-Owl's picture

Yep! Your right.

I've had plenty of rugby clashes, and with that much blood your eye would be closed over with swelling.

Silly bitch why didnt you wipe it off with your scarf.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:12 | 6685574 dsty
dsty's picture

hopefuly they will be contained and not sneak off to another city

too bad that city has been wasted

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:36 | 6685712 Son of Loki
Son of Loki's picture

"It's for the children."

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:13 | 6685579 aliki
aliki's picture

gotta love obama's guns/weapons policy.

GIVE weapons (semi-automatic machine guns) to mexican drug lords (in hope of "catching bigger fish") only to have dead border agents float to the surface as a result (investigation, torpedo'd).

GIVE weapons (50 tons of ammunitions, artillery) to who the fuck ever can get to it first in the syrian desert.

STRIP weapons from law-abyding citizens of the USA.

if i didn't know better, id think he was, umm, playing for the other team.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:14 | 6685587 gatorengineer
gatorengineer's picture

Barry plays catcher on alot of different teams.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 14:27 | 6685934 BarkingCat
BarkingCat's picture

You got the wrong sport.

He used to be a tight end but now is playing wide receiver.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:34 | 6687335 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

You are both right. Barry is never the pitcher, and he likes to go long for the reception.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:28 | 6685658 TongueStun
TongueStun's picture

yore raycissests

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:52 | 6685780 Overfed
Overfed's picture

Machineguns are fully automatic. Neutered semi-autos are what the USSA serfs are allowed to own. In some places.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 18:42 | 6687118 Latina Lover
Latina Lover's picture

If you ever fired an M 4  or AK47 on full rock and roll,  you'd realize that fully automatic is a great way to waste bullets. Spray and pray doesn't really work.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 18:46 | 6687137 trulz4lulz
trulz4lulz's picture

Meh full auto is for cover and distraction fire. Operators only need one.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 16:30 | 6686535 joeyman9
joeyman9's picture

if i didn't know better, id think he was, umm, playing for the other team.

 

Really, if it walks like a duck, and quackes like a duck,  how can there be any doubt?

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:13 | 6685584 gatorengineer
gatorengineer's picture

A sad day to be an American....  We have also ceded Iraq to Iran.

The only angle I see is to fan the flames of a Shiite Shiia religious war....  Perhaps that is what Langley is ""thinking"" if it could be called thought.  The Saudis have / had alot of money to feed the western MIC....

 

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:31 | 6685675 besnook
besnook's picture

this isn't an american war. this is a zionazi war. be a proud american. fuck the zionazis running the place.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 14:11 | 6685866 gatorengineer
gatorengineer's picture

Nor should it ever have been at least 5,000 americans, and say 5T have been waisted simply feeding the MIC and the zionists.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 14:31 | 6685957 tonyw
tonyw's picture

Iraq is not America's to cede to anybody.

 

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 23:56 | 6688202 Socratic Dog
Socratic Dog's picture

We broke it.  We own it.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 21:01 | 6687720 ChanceIs
ChanceIs's picture

I think that 5 tri$$ion is a stretch.  Maybe 2 tri$$ion.

Think of what we could have done with 2 tri$$ion.

To start, the current fleet of US nuclear reactors is 100 more or less.  I think it was 103 before SONGS went tits up.  A few new ones have been built on existin campuses.

Nobody knows what a greenfield reactor costs.  A reasonable extiamte might be 5 bi$$ion.

Sooooooooo

We could have replicated the entire US fleet of nukes four times over for that 2 tri$$ion.

  Instead we have killed "a bunch" (thats obama lingo) of people, bombed four or five Middle East countries which never left the stone age further into the stone age, started an influx of refugees into the US, started a tidal wave of refugees into Europe, left the US electrical grid open to all sorts of electro magnetic attacks, jacked up the cost of electricity (instead of making it near free) by getting rid of coal.....is that enough.

This is what comes of hiring a "commnity organizer" into the CEO slot.  That fundamental change doesn't taste so very good right now.  What kind of bumf*&k country elects someone running on fundamental change w/o asking him....'just what do you mean by fundamental change?'

Of course "W" said it would cost $30 bi$$ion and we would be welcome with open arms.

Why do we keep electing these losers?  I guess tha corporate America which apparently keeps selects them for us, want to reign in hell as opposed to serving in heaven.  Wat is going to happen to Procter and Gamble, Ford,  Johnson&Johnson when there is no middle class left to buy soap, cars and Zoloft or whatever?  Speaking of mass murders, what happens when the SSIDs get too expensive?

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 16:19 | 6686493 dcohen
dcohen's picture

Shiite and Shia are the same retard

Tue, 10/20/2015 - 03:56 | 6688480 conscious being
conscious being's picture

Three downvotes. And people say we don't need captcha back.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:36 | 6687345 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

I was not aware we owned Iraq and could cede its title to anyone....

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:20 | 6685592 NuYawkFrankie
NuYawkFrankie's picture

ZIO USSA is a Sponsor Of Terrorism - a Rogue Regime with no legitimacy

That is all you need to know.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:15 | 6685596 Jack Burton
Jack Burton's picture

This is the logical first major battle that has to take place. Russian air strikes were made to degrade and throw off balance the Islamist Rebels. Now some ground force aid is in place to back up the worn out Syrian Arab Army. The push to take Aleppo requires the street to street fighting no infantry want to have to do.

The Islamists are split into many different factions. This is good, as it means a central defense command will be hard to employ. While Syria will have a united command and control of the air. This will be a bloody business anyway you look at it.

NATO and the USA seem to have come out of the closet and are lining up to back the whole Islamic Legions. Whether ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Al-nusra. etc. etc.  The USA has the entire Turkish border to use to flood new arms to Jihadists. Including more TOW anti tank guided missiles. I suspect the battle for Aleppo will be where the USA introduces MANPAD anti aircarft missiles into Jihadist units. Russia will respond by using more cruise missiles and high elevation guided munitions to avoid the envelope of MANPAD utility.

The USA is now officially and publicly the Jihadist's allies and suppliers. And that just confirms what everyone outside America already knew. US citizens are so main warped by mainstream Media that they are clueless in total.

So let the battle begin. The only question is how far the USA will escalate. Will they begin a world wide Jihadist airlift of radical to Turkey for insertion into Syria? Will they give modern MANPADS and heavy supplies of TOW's? Will they keep the ammuntion flowing into Aleppo? The ball is firmly in America's court. They will have to decide how Jihadist we really are. I expect the CIA will be buring the midnight oil using every channel it has to flood Jihadists and arms into Syria.

As for Russia, I suspect there are new and off the shelf ready to use anti terror munitions. Or at least some Russians claim that their military has worked to develop muntions designed to confront terrorists in their favorite lairs. Being able to kill everyone in a building or dugout without the widespread explosive and shrapnel damage of convetional bombs.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:28 | 6685647 Latina Lover
Latina Lover's picture

Jack Burton,  MANPADS and TOWS  mean that Russian planes wil fly higher, but do little to help against heavy artillery like the TOS 1.

I'd like to see the CIA's ISIS/Al Queda pets Allah Akbar this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfacUxfJbFI

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:36 | 6685713 Jack Burton
Jack Burton's picture

Yes, several TOS-1's were seen in Syria a few weeks ago. The Iraqi Army already employes several of these on Jihadists in the north of Iraq. Nobody survives inside the kill zone of the munnition of TOS-1.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 16:12 | 6686463 TAALR Swift
TAALR Swift's picture

"Yes, several TOS-1's were seen in Syria a few weeks ago. The Iraqi Army already employs several of these on Jihadists in the north of Iraq. Nobody survives inside the kill zone of the munition of TOS-1." -Jack Burton

In case the lesson is lost on the non-perceptive mind, the TOS-1 democratizes the specialist known as The American Sniper.  Now anyone can take out enemies, at a range that even the best snipers can't. 

When used in tandem with an Eye-in-the-Sky (drones at high altitude standoff, and small tactical drones at closer range), it changes the modern battlefield.  Russian generals may be writing new chapters into the book of ME warfare.

 

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 17:29 | 6686797 giggler321
giggler321's picture

Don't forget Putin said he wouldn't send in his ground troops - that's why the Iranian's are there.  With little time to train another fighting force to use these new weapons, it's gonna have to be Russian fighters if they are used

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:53 | 6687428 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

I suspect Vlad has inserted numerous Spetznaz units into the fight.

But no, I don't think he will use infantry. I don't think he needs to. Spetznaz can do quite a number by themselves in small groups. The only infantry is probably Marines guarding Latakia AFB, etc.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 17:42 | 6686856 Latina Lover
Latina Lover's picture

TAALR S, using TOS 1 to take out a sniper is akin to using a flamethrower to burn a scorpion.  Up to 8 city blocks will be destroyed by the fuel air explosion.  But I agree that with drones, the field changes against snipers.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:54 | 6687436 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

Russian psychology is to use a hammer to kill a fly, so, you are right.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 17:30 | 6686802 AlaricGaudiTheSecond
AlaricGaudiTheSecond's picture

So no more Chris Kyle "Heroes" THATS AWESOME!!!

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 17:43 | 6686860 Latina Lover
Latina Lover's picture

Yeah, some hero.....

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:45 | 6687394 logicalman
logicalman's picture

Snipers.....

On the winning side, hero.

On the losing side, bad guy.

Either way, a good shot.

Nothing is simple.

 

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 14:08 | 6685854 optimator
optimator's picture

And then Manpads will suddenly show up in taliban hands.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 20:28 | 6687597 dark pools of soros
dark pools of soros's picture

or Caitlyn's

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 17:27 | 6686788 AlaricGaudiTheSecond
AlaricGaudiTheSecond's picture

Wow. Sort of Mobil-Katiushas. Wow. Shame no translation. :(

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:46 | 6687401 logicalman
logicalman's picture

Stalin's organ pipes!

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 18:54 | 6687162 Innominate
Innominate's picture

The Grad system is terrifying as well. I can't imagine that much survived this barage.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXpiB-Xcc-s

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:27 | 6685652 Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill's picture

Neither side can afford to lose, except the US has already lost in the court of public opinion

in the RoW.Removing the fig leaf of moderate rebels only makes it worse.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:38 | 6685728 Jack Burton
Jack Burton's picture

Let's hope the battle for Aleppo drags the USA fully into the public view. Let media video the massive arms and Jihadist groups being sent to Syria. US can claim it is all for the FSA, which they will. But the world does not all watch CNN.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 14:35 | 6685967 Zadig
Zadig's picture

I doubt Mordor has a significant number of "jihadis" in reserve to send to Syria.  They wanted to wrap this up and move onto Lebanon and Iran years ago, so I believe whatever mercenaries and gangs they could recruit are already there.  It's hard to imagine many more will be eager to sign up for mass incineration.

Their other problem is that any deluded Muslims who thought they had joined a resistance movement can now see who they're really working for.  Overt US/IS ties are anathema for both sides. 

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 17:04 | 6686685 researchfix
researchfix's picture

"US can claim it is all for the FSA"

´cept that FSA has no zip code. They are MIA.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 14:40 | 6686001 BarkingCat
BarkingCat's picture

If NATO keeps flying in weapons and munitions into Syria I can see the Russians declaring the entire country a no-fly zone and then shoot down anything that's not Russian or Syrian.

This could escalate to be quite ugly fast.

What happens if the Russians shoot down an American cargo plane over Syria?

What''s the US response?

Legally only those that have Syrian government's permission should be flying military aircraft in Syrian airspace,

Everybody else is committing an act of war.

Which really means that if the republicans wanted to they could impeach Obama. He has gone to war without a Congressional approval.

Of course the republicans probably want this war more than democrats, so they will not even complain.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 16:14 | 6686472 Urban Redneck
Urban Redneck's picture

Russia and Iran shouldn't divert forces to secure the Turkish border - make Turkey secure the border (and in the process escalate the "one AND A HALF degrees of separation from an outright NATO vs. Russia-Iran armed conflict" to ONE degree.... by threatening to provide the PKK with one ATGM for each Syrian or Iranian tank lost and one MANPAD for each vehicle that enters Syria from Turkey.)

No one wants to be the grand poobah of a war torn shit hole, when they (and their allies) can pillage a prosperous State and its citizens with impunity.  

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 16:41 | 6686578 silvermail
silvermail's picture

Legally only those that have Syrian government's permission should be flying military aircraft in Syrian airspace,

But but but!

If your gang calls itself the "coalition" and your leader - it is a corrupt cop, then you have the right to break any laws!

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:59 | 6687465 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

The US cannot say anything if a C17 goes down over Syrian airspace. They have NO PERMISSON to be there. Russia and Syria would be within international law if they shot one down. And, the US would have committed an overt Act of War against a sovereign state with NO declaration by the Congress!!

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 16:56 | 6686654 Z_End
Z_End's picture

Free Aleppo!

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 18:29 | 6687076 Oldrepublic
Oldrepublic's picture

Aleppo was once a very beautiful city

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 21:04 | 6687739 83_vf_1100_c
83_vf_1100_c's picture

  It will rise anew from the ashes to be a flower of the desert. Or not.

  Interesting that the pics of Soleimani show his troops disarmed. No sense taking any chances. They do this in the US military.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 18:17 | 6687024 unicorn
unicorn's picture

" They will have to decide how Jihadist we really are"

nice, J.B.;)

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 19:40 | 6687367 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

"ZATO and USA come out of the closet."

A classic, Mr Burton.

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 21:08 | 6687753 Jack Oliver
Jack Oliver's picture

Hopefully the Chinese will bring the WU-14 into play - it's nuclear capable and can cover the diameter of the planet in an HOUR - would end things for the sponsored terrorists very quickly !

Tue, 10/20/2015 - 23:20 | 6692754 tsuki
tsuki's picture

I watched Deputy Minister Dmitri Rogozin on Soloviev a few months ago.  I am posting the video here in case you might want to watch it.  https://vimeo.com/118658420

What I found interesting was his assertion that the RF had been investing in "smart" weaponry.  How they could spend less and get more than others. 

Hezbollah is very versed in urban fighting.  I suspect they will be forward in the taking of Aleppo.

The Kurds control most of the Turkish/Syrian border.  It is essential that Syria close the border north of Aleppo, the only open border left. 

I am hoping that Syria rings Aleppo, pushes north, closes the border and strangles the rebels. 

Mon, 10/19/2015 - 13:18 | 6685609 SILVERGEDDON
SILVERGEDDON's picture

Nahh, this is the future for everyone. 

Way to go, government, big business, and religion.

Good job on profits this year, at any cost, same as usual.

Your time is gonna come............ 

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!