"Wait...where?"
Posted on 12/08/2016 1:40:01 AM PST by Nextrush
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said a victory for his army in Aleppo would be a "huge step" towards ending the country's five-year civil war.
But he added that the defeat of rebel groups in the northern city would not end the conflict.
The rebels called for a five-day truce to allow the evacuation of civilians, after withdrawing from their last strongholds in Aleppo's Old City.
But Mr. Assad ruled out any ceasefires, as his army continues its offensive.
This is despite new calls for an immediate truce from the US and five Western powers....
Utter ruins in recaptured districts-the BBC's Lyse Doucet in Aleppo
Rebel-held districts in east Aleppo are falling fast, faster than expected. The full story from the battlefield is still emerging.
Areas we've been able to visit are a testament to intense fighting. The district of Al-Shaar, cleared on Tuesday to enable the army's assault on the Old City, is now in utter ruin. The smoke of battle still hung in the air a day later as did the residue of explosives.
There are also reports of deals to allow rebel fighters to retreat, including from the Old City.
But the most battle hardened fighters, including forces known as the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front are vowing to fight on in what remains of the opposition enclave.
The Syrian military, an its Russian and Iranian allies, aren't listening to calls for a truce, or even for humanitarian corridors.
Monday's mortar attack on Russia's field hospital is said to have stiffened Moscow's resolve to finish the battle for Aleppo as soon as possible......
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Yemen obviously comes to mind but then there's this Syrian Civil War and those "al Qaeda linked Nusra Front" fighters mentioned in the story, "our jihadis", John McCain's buddies.
They are Saudi backed and our backing of the jihadis backed by the Saudis again reminds us that since 9/11 so much of our activity in the Middle East to 'fight terrorism' has really been about doing the bidding of the Saudis.
Saudi Arabia, the nation that gave birth to bin-Laden and al-Qaeda.
We have hope that the Bush and Obama policies will be reversed by our president to be.
Why would the winnig side agree to a truce?
This is despite new calls for an immediate truce from the US and five Western powers..
There’s five Western countries with power?
Dunno. We did it repeatedly in Vietnam and all we got was a re-armed, rested and reinforced enemy at the end of the truce.
We still haven’t learned from that (well, at least Democrat governments of the US haven’t) - but apparently the Russians did.
Exactly.
But don’t tell that the neocon, Israel-first crowd that goes along with the Saudi plot to goad us into a war with Assad & Iran.
Directly after 9/11 we should have toppled the House of Saud and dismembered Saudi Barbaria. It’s not even a state... it’s the personal property of a gang of cutthroats.
Instead we wasted America blood, treasure and political clout in Afghanistan and Iraq, later in Libya and (indirectly) in Syria for the sake of the Saudis (and their “Western” supporters).
Put General Mattis in charge of the whole mess. He will get truce when the Jihadis are utterly defeated.
PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, PERIOD.
What does Gary Johnson have to say about this?
Neither Saudi leadership nor Iranian one have any reason to stop their proxy war, and every incentive to carry on fighting.
BoJo is right to say they are using religion as a means to an end (puppeteering), and there is no accountable/responsible leadership. I disagree with him that Leadership should only come from the mentioned regimes. It must also be exercised by the West, Russia and China, in that region.
Saudi regime has been a client of Britain for a very long time, way before the U.S., and Saudi ruling class will always have to remain Islamic because of Mecca and Medina.
Iran, OTOH, doesn’t need to be led by a bunch of Mullahs or Islamic theocrats. At present the only country that is able to rein in the regime in Iran to some degree and has done so is Russia.
Cease Fire??? If they really want one, how about unconditional surrender to include surrendering all arms.
You are right on Iran.
“Saudi” Arabia as you know was forcibly cobbled together after WW1 and put under the bloody rule of the Wahhabi Sauds with British help.
It doesn’t have to be that way. Mecca & Medinas custodianship could be internationlized or put under the Hashemites, maybe even Egyptian oversight.
Or a Vatican-like “clerical rump state” without economic and military significance.
The important oil fields of SA are inhabited by Shias... which makes the Sauds nervous. The border to Yemen is eroding, the Muslim Brotherhood and reformists are restive and threatening Saudi rule from within, as are intra-family feuds and plots. The whole cardhouse will be falling in not too distant future.
It would be wise of the US
(Continued)
to disengage strategically from Saudi Arabia before it is too late.
Agree on US disengaging completely from Saudis, and in fact putting pressure on them as much as on the Iranians.
Britain is much better positioned to manage the ‘diplomatic’ angle - that’s Britain forte in general. But Britain also needs to limit their ‘other support’ to them. It isn’t only the Saudis, the Gulf States and oil there too are mostly in Shia areas.
In terms of Mecca and Medina, Jordan I think may be viewed as more of a legitimate overall custodian, because of the current king’s Hashemite bloodline. Bearing in mind that when the House of Saud was “nominated” as the custodian, it had to be endorsed by majority muslim countries.
Anyway, yes, that place needs to be confined to a ‘spiritual centre’, at most. Easier said than done. Mainly because Islam has always been very much tied to politics and military, unlike Christianity or Christendom.
Yes, the Allies should have granted Hitler a truce so the surviving elements of the Nazi army could have been evacuated to defensive positions in the Alps. /sarcasm.
But, but, but, I thought that the rebels were "moderates"?
Moderate Extremists, Moderate Terrorists, Moderate .....
The relationship with the Saudis was started by FDR in 1945 right after Yalta where Stalin got Eastern Europe and shortly before Mr. Roosevelt.
Israel started in 1948 and its relationship isn’t as old.
The Saudis, Qataris have one thing the world needs, oil, and something else the world needs even more right now, money.
So I think that is driving the insane policies of the last 15 years and even more so when the economy collapsed in 2008.
“The Great Depression of 2008” never acknowledged by business, government or media elites, but endured by us all.
More onthe hospital attack in Aleppo that killed and gravely injured Russian female doctors including a pediatrician
Wonder if the “moderate rebels” used shells provided by the U.S.
https://www.rt.com/news/369219-medic-killed-russian-aleppo/
Just imagine if bush senior didn't get the US involved in that:
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