Iraq & Syrian Civil Wars - Page 29

On October 05 2012 08:27 -Archangel- wrote:

You are kidding right? And the Russian fleet there would do what in the meantime?!

Syria and Turkey exchanged artillery fire for a fifth straight day on Sunday, while insurgents struck police headquarters in Damascus, in the third high-profile attack in the Syrian capital in recent weeks.

The escalating pressure in the capital and along the border present a rising pair of challenges for the Assad regime, which already accuses outside forces, including Turkey, of working with the rebels to destabilize the country.

A bomb in the Damascus police headquarters' parking lot caused the powerful blast that killed a police officer, said an official at the interior ministry.

In Turkey, there were no immediate reports of casualties in the early afternoon after a shell landed close to a grain-storage facility, witnesses said, several hundred yards from the town center in Akçakale, the border town where Syrian artillery killed five Turkish citizens on Wednesday.

Another thing to consider if Moscow will react if Turkey invades Syria on it's own, them trying to defend Assad in the case of a UN intervention is rediculous, but against a single country which only advantage is knowing the terrain better, that might change things.
It's not like the UN will do shit, Russia and China will make sure of that, and if Turkey faces Russian opposition, I could see the US getting drawn into this and it turning into a full blown proxy war like Vietnam.

On October 09 2012 03:53 DeepElemBlues wrote:


Russia is going to stop Turkey how? By sending an army through the countries in the Caucasus between it and Turkey? By bombing Turkey? By using Ukrainian territory (Sevastopol) not just as a base for the Black Sea Fleet, but a staging area for that fleet to attack Turkey from? Ukraine is just going to say okay to that? I think that takes the Russian-Ukrainian lease agreement on the naval base there a bit farther than intended.

Turkey isn't some half-rate ass-backwards power, they have a modern and sizable military. Russia in its current state could not win a war against Turkey. The only way Russia could even try to get at Turkey is through the air and Russia's air force got embarrassed against Georgia 4 years ago. Turkey has the same American anti-air missile and radar technology that Georgia has (which resulted in Georgia downing 9 Russian jets in the brief war, something that was of big concern to the Russian high command).

On October 09 2012 06:07 zalz wrote:
Turkish army is stronger than the Russian army.

Turkey is part of NATO and would not stand Russian agression against a NATO member.

Russia doesn't give a shit about Syria.

A Syrian-bound passenger plane intercepted by Turkey was carrying Russian-made munitions destined for Syria's defence ministry, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.

"This was munitions from the Russian equivalent of our Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation being sent to the Syrian Defence Ministry," Erdogan told a news conference on Thursday.

"Their examination is continuing and the necessary will follow," he added.

Turkish jets forced the plane, en route from Moscow to Damascus, to land in Ankara.

Meanwhile, a large bomb exploded in an area housing security and army compounds west of Umayyad Square in the centre of the capital, Damascus, according to activisits. There is no confirmation of any casualties.

On October 09 2012 06:07 zalz wrote:
Turkish army is stronger than the Russian army.

Turkey is part of NATO and would not stand Russian agression against a NATO member.

Russia doesn't give a shit about Syria.

Syrian rebels have captured an air defence base east of Aleppo as government forces battled fighters on several fronts across the country, activists say.

The air defence base seized by the rebels was located in al-Tana village by the Koris military airport on the road east from Aleppo to al-Raqqa, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday.

Clashes were also taking place at a military barracks close to Maarat al-Nuaman, a town on the main highway to the
northwestern city of Aleppo, which was seized by rebel forces earlier this week, the Observatory said.

The pro-opposition Observatory said rebels had gone on the offensive killing more than 100 soldiers in two days.

Fourteen soldiers died in an attack on an army post in the southern province of Daraa on Friday, it said, a
day after the army suffered 92 losses, the highest daily total for the military of the 19-month conflict.

The Britain-based watchdog gave a death toll for Thursday of more than 260 people, including civilians and fighters on both sides in violence in the capital and the north, west and east.

The official SANA news agency also reported fighting nationwide and said dozens of rebels, which it called "mercenary terrorists", had been killed.

The reports could not be independently verified but they indicate a rapidly intensifying conflict, with the death tolls of the past several weeks far exceeding previous months.

Syria has said its military command is still studying a proposal for an Eid al-Adha ceasefire with rebels, contradicting international mediator Lakhdar Brahimi's announcement that Damascus had agreed to a truce.

With the Muslim holiday beginning at sunset the day before, Thursday will be the first test of whether either side intends to silence their guns, at least temporarily.

Brahimi, the joint UN-Arab League special envoy, told a news conference in Cairo on Wednesday that both the government and most rebel groups would observe the truce for the Muslim holiday.

Within an hour, Syria's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the proposal was still being studied and that "the final position on this issue will be announced (Thursday)".

A previous ceasefire arrangement in April collapsed within days, with the government and the opposition each accusing the other of breaking it.

Susan Rice, the American envoy to the United Nations, told reporters that "many are duly skeptical about prospects for even a temporary ceasefire, given Assad's records of broken promises".

She said the United States "strongly supports" Brahimi's call for a ceasefire, but she added that the "government must make the first move".

Syria's army command has said it will suspend military operations to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, declaring a ceasefire from Friday morning to Monday.

But the army said it reserved the right to respond to rebel attacks and bombings, in a statement on state television on Thursday.

The statement said the military would also respond to "terrorist groups trying to reinforce their positions by arming themselves and getting reinforcements" as well as neighbouring countries facilitating the smuggling of fighters across borders during the ceasefire.

Just after the government's announcement, a commander in the opposition Free Syrian Army told the Reuters news agency that its fighters would commit to the truce, but demanded the release of opposition prisoners on Friday.

The truce was brokered by Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN-Arab League envoy, who said that the four-day ceasefire could lead to a longer truce and political negotiations between the sides.

On October 12 2012 16:32 Pika Chu wrote:
I had no doubts you're living in another world of your own... but it takes a whole new level to say that the turkish army is stronger than russia's which is (if) only second to US's.

Also the NATO treaties involve defense reasons not offensive reasons to activate it. Meaning that if Turkey declares they are on their own unless the full NATO goes with them.

Israel's military says its tanks have scored "direct hits" on Syrian artillery units after Syrian mortar shells fell near an Israeli army post.

It comes a day after Israel fired warning shots after it said a Syrian shell hit another of its army posts on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The episode is the most serious between the two countries since the Arab-Israeli war of 1973.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "We are closely monitoring what is happening and will respond appropriately.

"We will not allow our borders to be violated or our citizens to be fired upon."

'Tough response'
It was not clear if the tank-fire caused any casualties, Israeli Army Radio reported. "The Assad army asked Israel to stop firing," it added.

While significant development, the episode does not mean Israel is being dragged into Syria's civil war, says the BBC's Wyre Davies in Jerusalem.

In fact, he adds, Israeli political and military leaders say the tank-fire is exactly the opposite - a tough but clear message to Syria that Israel will not tolerate any more bullets and mortars landing in its territory.