Aleppo siege marks dramatic upheaval on Syrian battlefield

cnn.com ^ | 11:33 PM ET, Sun February 7, 2016 | Tim Lister, CNN

[Trumpinator]

Since Russia began its air campaign, most of its strikes have been on cities and towns held by the rebels in western Syria.

These are not areas where ISIS has much of a presence; al Nusra, Ahrar al Sham and elements of the Free Syrian Army are the main groups.

In the process, senior rebel commanders have been killed in Homs, Idlib and Aleppo provinces.

"Their ultimate objective is to force the world to make an unconscionable choice between Assad and ISIS," says Hokayem. For now, ISIS is waiting out the battle for Aleppo and watching its rivals get pummeled. It is crowing that it is the only real defender of Sunni Muslims against the Shia-dominated forces now on the offensive.

The Syrian Kurds, whose attitude toward the Assad regime might be described as ambivalent, also appear to be taking advantage of the situation, chipping away at rebel-held villages north of Aleppo. According to diplomats in the region, they are being encouraged by Russia -- keen to antagonize Turkey at any opportunity.

Some analysts compare Russian President Vladimir Putin's strategy in Syria with the Russian campaign in Chechnya in 1999, which he directed as Prime Minister. All opposition figures were marked as terrorists, and Russian forces destroyed cities such as Grozny in which insurgents lived, as well as the insurgents themselves. By some estimates, 80% of Grozny was rendered uninhabitable.

Putin pursued an exclusively military solution against the Chechen insurgency, and ultimately it worked. It took six years and an unknown number of Russian military casualties, but today acts of resistance in Chechnya are few and far between, and the republic is run by a Putin loyalist.

U.S. President Barack Obama said of the Russians' view of the rebels: "From their perspective, they're all terrorists."

[Trumpinator]

This article confirms what I had posted last week - that the Russians were to use tactics honed in Chechnya in Syria. Plus it confirms my earlier observations that Russia was taking out senior jihad rebels leaders and their families - sometimes at the expense of a whole rebel town.

Last but not least is the focus on ISIS and ignoring al-Nusra, which is al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria (notice how CNN ignores that). Western news sources do this all the time. As nuts as ISIS is - al-Qaeda is still the real threat out there. ISIS will fall apart as soon as they lose the territory they hold as a caliphate and the remnants would then fall back into the al-Qaeda fold. ISIS can't exist as ISIS unless it holds land per Sharia law. That is why al-Qaeda has criticized the ISIS set up.

[DeathBeforeDishonor1]

Iran is waiting to pick off Iraq and Turkey once this is completed.Al Queda stronholds.

[mouse1]

There are no good guys only bad guys. Another reason, and the main reason, the US needs no boots on the ground.

[Trumpinator]

Iran is not that strong.

[Trumpinator]

There are no good guys only bad guys. Another reason, and the main reason, the US needs no boots on the ground.

----

The bad guys on the Assad side of the fight at least protected indigenous Christians and other minorities.

[baltimorepoet]

I’ve noticed before how the press glosses over al-Nusra, and ignores the fact (usually) that they are al-Qaeda. Did something change and al-Qaeda are good now? lol

[MinorityRepublican]

[Trumpinator]

That could easily be an Obamactopus. .