Sirija

[Muwan]

Pa imaju spavače sigurno. To je bio urbani teroristički napad sa jednim bombašem, nisu bile u pitanju vojne jedinice.

[borris_]

Sirijska vojska je juce bombardovala predgradje Damasa, 45 civila je ubijeno (od toga dosta dijece).

[fikret selimbašić]

Šta su ovo pogodili? Nisam do sad vidio da je ijedan TOW pogodak ovakav zijan napravio. I sa tri kilometra razdaljine eksplozija strašno izgleda.


              http://youtu.be/LVHSle1G6is

[Prospero]

Liči na neke sanduke, možda je skladište municije...
 
 
Nego, Stars&Stripes;
 
 

ANALYSIS

US-backed Syrian rebel group on verge of collapse
 
IRBID, Jordan — The main Western-backed Arab rebel group in Syria appears on the verge of collapse because of low morale, desertions, and distrust of its leaders by the rank and file, threatening U.S. efforts to put together a ground force capable of defeating the Islamic State and negotiating an end to the Syrian civil war.

 

“After five years of this war the people are just tired … and so are our fighters,” said Jaseen Salabeh, a volunteer in the Free Syrian Army, which was formed in September 2011 by defectors from the army of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

 

The Free Syrian Army, or FSA, some of whose members are trained by the Central Intelligence Agency, is the biggest and most secular of the scores of rebel groups fighting the Assad government. Although defeating the Islamic State is the focus of Western attention, the U.S. believes there can be no lasting peace in Syria, and no elimination of the Islamic State there, as long as Assad remains in power.

 

In order to deal with both the Islamic State and the future of Assad, Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov have brokered a plan to bring the Syrian government, which Russia supports, and all “moderate” rebel groups to the negotiating table in Vienna next month. The aim is to build a coalition to wage a counterterrorism campaign against the Islamic State militants and prepare for democratic elections within the next 18 months.

 

With an estimated 35,000 fighters, the FSA remains the biggest rebel group and is a key element in the U.S. strategy. Islamic State fighters are believed to number about 30,000 but spread over a wider area of both Syria and Iraq.

 

If the FSA can’t be relied on as a strong partner, however, the U.S. and its Western partners would have to turn to an assortment of smaller hardline Islamic militias — backed by Saudi Arabia and Qatar — that the West fears are too militant to reconcile with the secular government. Kurdish rebels, known as the YPG, have fought well in Kurdish areas but are not considered a viable option in Arab parts of the country.

 

Unlike the Islamic State and other more extremist groups, however, the FSA has failed to achieve any significant victories or create a “liberated” zone of its own. On many occasions, its former fighters say, FSA units have cooperated closely with the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, which is strong in the north and shares the same battlespace as the FSA in southern Syria.

 

“The lack of battlefield success has mitigated against them,” Ed Blanche, a Beirut-based member of London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies and an expert on Middle Eastern wars, said of the FSA. “They haven’t been getting significant (outside) support because they haven’t been showing results.”

 

Among other problems, Salabeh and others say, FSA fighters are losing faith in their own leaders.

 

“They regularly steal our salaries,” said Salabeh, who came to this city in northern Jordan after being wounded in battle and now intends to stay here. “We’re supposed to get $400 a month, but we only actually receive $100.”

 

 

He also complained of lack of support for those killed or wounded in battle. Fighters who lost legs in the fighting were reduced to begging inside the massive refugee camps in northern Jordan.

 

“If somebody is wounded, they just dump him in Jordan and abandon him,” he said. “Widows of martyred fighters also receive nothing after their deaths.”

 

As a result, many FSA men in southern Syria were abandoning the group, usually leaving for Jordan or joining the estimated 15,000-strong Nusra Front, according to Saleh and other Syrians interviewed in northern Jordan. By contrast, the Nusra Front reportedly pays its fighters $1,000 a month and cares for its wounded members, paying their medical bills and providing for the families of those killed in combat.

 

The situation has gotten so bad, Salabeh said, that some FSA fighters are questioning the reason for continuing the conflict. He said a growing number believe the time has come for a ceasefire even it means cooperating with Assad.

 

“After all, Bashar isn’t all that bad,” Salabeh said.

 

Karim Jamal Sobeihi, a refugee from southern Syria and a self-described FSA supporter, said the opposition’s main problem was that various groups owed their allegiance to foreign governments that provide the money and, therefore, the rebels cannot agree on unified positions. This included the FSA, which itself consists of many different factions, he said. That made the radicals — with their Islamist ideology and independent streak — more attractive to those willing to fight the regime, he said.
 
“There is total disunity. Syria has become a battleground for America, Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and other countries and terrorists of all kinds,” Sobeihi said.

 

Analysts in Jordan and Lebanon, which both host huge numbers of Syrian refugees, have blamed the FSA for allowing the revolution that broke out in early 2011, to be taken over by hardline jihadist groups.

 

Hisham Jaber, a retired Lebanese general and military analyst, said the international focus on fighting the Islamic State rather than ousting Assad indicates the West and its Arab allies recognize that Assad cannot be overthrown by military means — especially after Russia’s intervention on the Syrian president’s behalf.

 

This has in turn demoralized FSA troops, Jaber told Stars and Stripes during an interview in Beirut. He said FSA units in both the north and south were cooperating more closely with the better-organized and better-funded Nusra Front, regardless of its al-Qaida connections.

 

“In contrast, Nusra is winning the hearts and minds of the people, and positioning themselves as moderates despite their al-Qaida links,” said Elias Hanna, a former Lebanese general and professor of geopolitics at the American University of Beirut.

 

[Muwan]

“There is total disunity. Syria has become a battleground for America, Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and other countries and terrorists of all kinds,” Sobeihi said.

 

Došlo iz dupeta u glavu posle samo 4 godine.

 

Elem, potpuno je tačno ovo za "istrošenost" vojske. Mislim da istovetan problem ima i SAA, ne može ovakav rat da se izdrži duže od 3-4 godine. Nusra i ID još i najbolje stoje sa moralom trupa ali su em politički izolovani em debelo zavise od stabilnog priliva keša. Budaletine koje su ovo započele sad hitno moraju da ga privode kraju inače će stvarno da se otme kontroli i neko će negde da izgubi strpljenje u najgorem mogućem trenutku.

[vathra]

Na snimku je verovatno neki kamion bomba. Čiji je,i zašto je odlučio da predahne na ničijoj zemlji je već za diskusiju.

[Peter Fan]

Moguce i da je propagandni snimak, pa se meta  "dotjera" gorivom i eksplozivom radi vizuelnog efekta.

[Prospero]

Švedska osudia dvojicu zbog zločina u Siriji:

 

Two men sentenced to life in prison for terror crimes in Syria

 

Two men have been on trial at the Gothenburg district court for terrorist crimes in Syria.
Photo: Erica Hedin/Sveriges Radio


Two men from Gothenburg are sentenced to life in prison for terrorist crimes in Syria, Gothenburg district court announced today.

The strongest evidence against the two men, aged 30 and 32, was a film where the throats of two prisoners were slit. The court found that the prosecution could prove that the two men were actively taking part in the murders, even though they were not the ones holding the knife.

According to the verdict, the murders and the filming of the murders were intended to install fear in those people in Syria and other countries who do not follow what the murderers claim to be "the true muslim faith". The court thus shares the prosecution's view that this was a terrorist crime.

The court also deems that is it proven that the two men fought in Syria during the spring of 2013.

The verdict is welcomed by Haisam A-Rahman, who is one of two coordinators of the work against violent extremism in Gothenburg. He says it is important to Sweden as a whole, to show that people can be put on trial for what they do also in other countries.

"This will be a positive signal to the work that we are already doing today in trying to stop individuals from joining the Islamic state, or even committing any kind of crime - within our borders, bit also abroad," A-Rahman told Radio Sweden.
 
This is the first time that the difference between terrorist crime and crimes against international law has been tried in a Swedish court. In order to convict someone of a terrorist crime, the prosecution must prove that the intention was to cause fear among others. That is somewhat more complicated than a crime against international law, where it must be proven that the men had fought with a group in an armed conflict. 

During the trial, both men denied all charges. The 30-year-old man said it was not his voice in the film. He accused the prosecution to jump to conclusions just because there are similarities between his clothing and the clothes worn by the man in the film, and just because the usb-stick was found at his house. There are also pictures of him posing with weapons, but he said he was in Turkey and Syria as a volunteer doing relief work.

The 32-year-old is in a wheelchair due to injuries he has suffered after being shot. He was caught on camera in several films, among others one where he filmed himself in a house where he was a sniper.

In a comment after the verdict was announced, the man's lawyer Lars Salkola told news agency TT he does not expect to be able to talk to his client about the sentence, as the man is suffering from a brain damage.

"I will speak with his close relatives. It is not possible to communicate with my client," said Salkola.

The lawyers of both men have told TT that they will appeal the verdict.

 

Ne kapiram da li su švedski državljani ali pretpostavljam da jesu.

[Prospero]

Ne znam da li je tacno

 

https://twitter.com/IvanSidorenko1/status/677058887481212928

 

Jordanci su imali zadatak da sastave neku preliminarnu listu grupa sa kojima se (ne) moze pregovarati.

 

Treba li biti iznenadjen sto je Ahrar al Sam na listi terorista, stekao sam utisak da su imali nekakvu podrsku na Zapadu...?

 

TT via LG G3

[Bane5]

Treba li biti iznenadjen sto je Ahrar al Sam na listi terorista, stekao sam utisak da su imali nekakvu podrsku na Zapadu...?

 

 

odakle si stekao takav utisak?

 

ps. ovaj spisak nisam pronasao niti na jednoj jedinoj 'pro-fsa' relevatnoj stranici. treba sacekati jos do njegove verifikacije. generalno, cak i da je tacan, ne donosi puno iznenadjenja. mada, sumnjam u verodostojnost izvora (sidorenko je cesto prenosio nebuloze)

Edited December 16, 2015 by Bane5

[Prospero]

Nemam pojma, mislim da sam nailazio na neku kuknjavu po medijima kada je AAS bombardovana, tipa "nisu oni toliko losi".

 

TT via LG G3

[Bane5]

pa bilo je kuknjave za neke frakcije, ali opet, gde je i kad u toj kuknjavi pominjan ahrar od strane zapadnih zvanicnika?

[Prospero]

Jbt, ne znam, ostalo mi u glavi a mrzi me da se igram guglanja.

 

TT via LG G3

[Prospero]

U stvari, laki peting sa guglom kaze da im je Turska glavni sponzor jer se smatraju bliskim MB, pa Kuvajt pa Katar i KSA, da su njihovi predstavnici letos davali povece intervjue WaPou, da su pojedini strucnjaci i ambasaadori preporucivali da se sa njima razgovara, da nisu bili etiketirani kao teroristicka organizacija, a sad su nepozeljni.

 

TT via LG G3

[Prospero]

In Syria, Potential Ally’s Islamist Ties Challenge U.S.

 

...

 

“They are in a gray zone, but in a civil war if you are not willing to talk to factions in the gray zone, you’ll have precious few people to talk to,” said Robert S. Ford, a former United States ambassador to Syria now at the Middle East Institute.

 

“I do not advocate giving any material support to Ahrar, much less lethal material assistance, but given their prominence in the northern and central fronts, they will have a big role in any peace talks, so we should find a channel to begin talking to them,” he said.

...

 

While some European diplomats meet with Ahrar al-Sham’s political officers, the United States has remained aloof.

 

“They’re on a charm offensive,” a senior Obama administration official, who has been briefed on Syria policy, said of the group.

The official cited statements by the group, in which it says it is focused only on Syria and supports the rule of law. The group has also said that the rise of the Islamic State, also known as ISIL and ISIS, has made the United States more “pragmatic” about its regional allies.

 

But a range of American officials said they considered the group extremist and that its cooperation with the Nusra Front, the Syrian affiliate of Al Qaeda, remained a major hurdle.

“As long as they remain close to Nusra, I can’t see us working with them,” the administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential assessments.

...

 

Other members have reached out to the West in a shift many see as driven by Turkey and Qatar, which have given the group political and financial support, according to American officials and regional diplomats.

 

Last month, Labib Al Nahhas, the group’s head of foreign and political relations, published op-eds in The Washington Post and The Daily Telegraph arguing that the group was part of Syria’s “mainstream opposition” and that the Islamic State could only be defeated by “a homegrown Sunni alternative.”

Od sive zone i "pričaćemo s njima, možda mogu da prođu" do (verovatno/možda) crne liste.