Putin Orders Withdrawal Of Russian Forces From Syria

[Camp]

Islamic State operative al-Shishani believed dead

Another one bites the dust

Chechen ISIS commander survives US airstrike after receiving treatment in Raqqa
Russian Air Force resumes airstrikes over Syria

Putin is a pussy, leaving the heavy lifting to Obama

The Russian Federation’s total number of airstrikes are likely to diminish in the coming weeks; however, it does not appear that their air force is completely pulling out from Syria

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/russian-air-force-resumes-airstrikes-syria/ | Al-Masdar News

And? The number of Russian air strikes conducted in 6 months is twice the number of air strikes the coalition launched in two years.

Furthermore, your "great" President is just going to replace his fleet with two of these, that will continue his utterly failed campaign:

That means, that the Russian air presence will now even outnumber the American despite the withdrawal of aircraft.

What is your source for what appears to be complete nonsense? Can you provide a link?

Nothing easier than that:
Obama Activates 50 year old Aircraft to Fight ISIL

That does nothing to back up your claims. That old warhorse was brought into the mix because it still performs a task needed and of value in that particular environment. You said the air fleet would be replaced with two of these and that the Russian air fleet would outnumber the US and coalition presence. You also made some silly claims about Russia conducting more strikes in six months than the US and coalition in two years.
Looks like your post is what I said it appeared to be, complete nonsense.
The most recent data shows coalition air strikes have his 21,501 ISIS targets, none of them by saturation and indiscriminate bombing of the type used by Putin.

 

[rightwinger]

Syria airstrikes: everything you need to know

There have been almost 3,000 airstrikes against Isis targets in Syria since a US-led campaign began in September 2014. More than 95% of these have been conducted by the United States, according to the US monitoring group Airwars. From the start, America’s Gulf allies – Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar – have all taken part in some of the airstrikes. In September, France joined the campaign, and has since stepped up its airstrikes in Syria in the wake of the Paris attacks with a “massive” attack on the Isis stronghold of Raqqa in the north-east of the country.

In September, Russia also launched airstrikes “against terrorist groups” in Syria. Fewer than 10% of its initial strikes were against Isis targets, the majority have been against anti-Assad groups, some backed by the US and Turkey.

 

[Bleipriester]

Chechen ISIS commander survives US airstrike after receiving treatment in Raqqa
Russian Air Force resumes airstrikes over Syria

Putin is a pussy, leaving the heavy lifting to Obama

The Russian Federation’s total number of airstrikes are likely to diminish in the coming weeks; however, it does not appear that their air force is completely pulling out from Syria

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/russian-air-force-resumes-airstrikes-syria/ | Al-Masdar News

And? The number of Russian air strikes conducted in 6 months is twice the number of air strikes the coalition launched in two years.

Furthermore, your "great" President is just going to replace his fleet with two of these, that will continue his utterly failed campaign:

That means, that the Russian air presence will now even outnumber the American despite the withdrawal of aircraft.

What is your source for what appears to be complete nonsense? Can you provide a link?

Nothing easier than that:
Obama Activates 50 year old Aircraft to Fight ISIL

That does nothing to back up your claims. That old warhorse was brought into the mix because it still performs a task needed and of value in that particular environment. You said the air fleet would be replaced with two of these and that the Russian air fleet would outnumber the US and coalition presence. You also made some silly claims about Russia conducting more strikes in six months than the US and coalition in two years.
Looks like your post is what I said it appeared to be, complete nonsense.
The most recent data shows coalition air strikes have his 21,501 ISIS targets, none of them by saturation and indiscriminate bombing of the type used by Putin.

You cannot refute what I say. The article is clear. The decision to use the OV-10 is based on cost concerns. Thus, if it would be used additionally, it would only increase the costs.


And the the number of airstrikes is clear:

 

[Camp]

.

Putin is a pussy, leaving the heavy lifting to Obama

The Russian Federation’s total number of airstrikes are likely to diminish in the coming weeks; however, it does not appear that their air force is completely pulling out from Syria

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/russian-air-force-resumes-airstrikes-syria/ | Al-Masdar News

And? The number of Russian air strikes conducted in 6 months is twice the number of air strikes the coalition launched in two years.

Furthermore, your "great" President is just going to replace his fleet with two of these, that will continue his utterly failed campaign:

That means, that the Russian air presence will now even outnumber the American despite the withdrawal of aircraft.

What is your source for what appears to be complete nonsense? Can you provide a link?

Nothing easier than that:
Obama Activates 50 year old Aircraft to Fight ISIL

That does nothing to back up your claims. That old warhorse was brought into the mix because it still performs a task needed and of value in that particular environment. You said the air fleet would be replaced with two of these and that the Russian air fleet would outnumber the US and coalition presence. You also made some silly claims about Russia conducting more strikes in six months than the US and coalition in two years.
Looks like your post is what I said it appeared to be, complete nonsense.
The most recent data shows coalition air strikes have his 21,501 ISIS targets, none of them by saturation and indiscriminate bombing of the type used by Putin.

You cannot refute what I say. The article is clear. The decision to use the OV-10 is based on cost concerns. Thus, if it would be used additionally, it would only increase the costs.


And the the number of airstrikes is clear:

You claimed Russia had done twice the number of airstrikes is six months as the coalition had done in two years. That is not true and the graph you are providing does not address your false claim.

 

[Bleipriester]

.

And? The number of Russian air strikes conducted in 6 months is twice the number of air strikes the coalition launched in two years.

Furthermore, your "great" President is just going to replace his fleet with two of these, that will continue his utterly failed campaign:

That means, that the Russian air presence will now even outnumber the American despite the withdrawal of aircraft.

What is your source for what appears to be complete nonsense? Can you provide a link?

Nothing easier than that:
Obama Activates 50 year old Aircraft to Fight ISIL

That does nothing to back up your claims. That old warhorse was brought into the mix because it still performs a task needed and of value in that particular environment. You said the air fleet would be replaced with two of these and that the Russian air fleet would outnumber the US and coalition presence. You also made some silly claims about Russia conducting more strikes in six months than the US and coalition in two years.
Looks like your post is what I said it appeared to be, complete nonsense.
The most recent data shows coalition air strikes have his 21,501 ISIS targets, none of them by saturation and indiscriminate bombing of the type used by Putin.

You cannot refute what I say. The article is clear. The decision to use the OV-10 is based on cost concerns. Thus, if it would be used additionally, it would only increase the costs.


And the the number of airstrikes is clear:

You claimed Russia had done twice the number of airstrikes is six months as the coalition had done in two years. That is not true and the graph you are providing does not address your false claim.

Yes it does. Open calculator and calculate 3000 x 2. It will tell you it is 6000. Maybe, however, you use alternative mathematics...

 

[Stratford57]

Unless I am mistaken, the core reason of the Russian military operation in Syria – according to the officials – was the elimination of ISIS. It seems that ISIS has already been eliminated, at least in Russian parallel reality. Thanks. Go home, victors.

Putin had little interest in ISIS. All he wanted was to keep his dictator in power. Putin knows ISIS is no threat, and that they are a JV team surrounded by enemies and have few capabilities outside of the tiny strip of land they control. American conservatives will be reduced to puddles over this news.

I'm fascinated with hypocrisy of some people: the same ones who were screaming about "Putin's intervention in Syria" now are unhappy with withdrawal of Russian troops. Unbelievable!

The latest update:
The Russian air force will continue bombing targets in Syria linked to Isis and other terrorist groups despite a partial withdrawal of ground troops, according to a senior defence minister.
"But it is still early to talk about victory over terrorism. The Russian aviation group has the task to continue carrying out strikes on terrorist facilities," deputy defence minister Nikolai Pankov said.
Russia says it is pulling out of Syria - but that doesn't mean it will stop bombing it
*
White House officials were left scrambling, with press secretary Josh Earnest punting on questions during the briefing and others trying to quickly gather information. “We have seen reports that President Putin has announced a planned withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria. We expect to learn more about this in the coming hours,” said one senior administration official on Monday afternoon.

A speedy Russian exit from Syria would confound President Obama's talking point that Putin had walked into a "quagmire" in that country's civil war that he would come to regret. Obama made the case most recently in aninterviewwith the Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, in which Obama said Russia was "overextended" and "bleeding" in Syria.
Did Putin once again outfox Obama?
*
“The first group of Russian planes has left the Khmeimim base and flew towards their respective bases in Russia. The formation is led by a Tu-154 and includes Su-34 multipurpose bombers,” the ministry said in a statement.
Hours later the group landed at a military airfield in Voronezh, where it was welcomed by chief of the Russian Air Forces, Colonel General Viktor Bondarev.
Russian warplanes start leaving Syria on Putin's orders

video

*
Global political figures have welcomed the Russian military pullout from Syria, and while many have called the Kremlin’s decision “unexpected,” it is seen as clearing the way for dialogue while a truce in the five-year-old war is negotiated in Geneva.

UN Mediator of the Syrian peace talks Staffan de Mistura said the Russian pullback would give impetus to the process."The announcement by President Putin on the very day of the beginning of this round of Intra-Syrian Talks in Geneva is a significant development, which we hope will have a positive impact on the progress of the negotiations in Geneva aimed at achieving a political solution of the Syrian conflict and a peaceful political transition in the country," he claimed in a statement Tuesday.

Obama welcomed the“much-needed reduction in violence” since the cease-fire took effect late last month, the White House said in astatementabout Monday’s phone call. “The president underscored that a political transition is required to end the violence in Syria,” the White House added.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also welcomed Moscow’s announcement saying it will put additional pressure on parties in Geneva to negotiate a peaceful transition to end the Syrian turmoil.

“This will increase the pressure on the al-Assad regime to finally and seriously negotiate a peaceful political transition in Geneva,”Steinmeier said in a statement.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry was also positive about developments.

"The fact that a semi-ceasefire has been holding in Syria is welcome news, it's something that we've been asking for at least two-and-a-half, three years,"Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said at a meeting with his Australian couterpart Julie Bishop in Canberra.

"The fact that Russia announced that it's withdrawing part of its forces indicates that they don't see an imminent need for resort to force in maintaining the ceasefire,"he added."That in and of itself should be a positive sign. Now we have to wait and see."

While Russia plans to maintain a military presence at its naval base in Tartous and the Khmeymim airbase, Moscow's decision to reduce its military involvement in Syria has already been welcomed by the Syrian opposition currently negotiating in Geneva.
Russia’s ‘surprise & unexpected’ Syria withdrawal welcomed as signal of ‘true peace process’
*
RT has gathered 10 of the most dramatic videos of Russia’s strikes over past six months.
War on ISIS: Russia’s Syria anti-terror op in 10 intense videos

 

[LastProphet]

Russian fighter jets leave Syria - for dummies: Back to the original script: Turkey on the ground to crush the rebels
Back to the original script, changed in 2013. Russia bombing since Sept 2015 was part of the alternative script.

Turkey replaces Russia in attempt to crush freedom loving syrians
To let the fake sunnis of turkish gov put officially boots on the ground to do what iranian/hezbollah on the ground and russian and US jets were not able to do.

The orginal script that was first modified in 2013
It was the fake sunni government of Turkey that was oringally scripted to supress the revolt in Syria.
Reason: the enemy is much easiert to destroy if it perceives the incoming force as friends (alias traitors) rather than enemies.
The script was modified because after the rebels abandoned Al-Qusayr first and Homs later, illuminati became convinced that it was possible to defeat the rebels with iranian and lebanese Hezbollah alone.
As in Sep 2014 it became clear that this would not be the case the Illuminati were forced to
- start the air strikes by the US led coalition, supposedly targeting ISIS but in fact the real rebels.
- increase yet again the number of sh'ia militias, resorting even to iraqis.
As despite all this one year later it became clear that things were in fact getting worst (Idlib, Ariha) illuminati had to resort to Russia instead of Turkey.
Reason: there were already too many iranian, iraqis and lebanese shia on the ground.
This made it less grotesque to have for the first time attacking the same enemy the first rather than the second of these alternatives:
1. both Russia and the US for the first time air bombing in the same skies
2. supposedly sunni Turkey and the shis shock troops on the ground.

Crushing syrian rebels script same as disarm citizens at the end of the day
2013 Syria: Increasing the number of foreign shi'a troops (and adding russian Sukhois, MIGs and cruise misssiles since Oct 2015) instead sending the turkish army:
this was exactly what happened with the orginal "Disarm US citizens" script.
it was McCain who was oringally scripted to becomes president 2008, same for with Romney, when the act had to be repeated in 2012 because the script had to be changed.
After having disarmed US citizens the actor in the role of "republican impostor" would be stripped, to let "democrat" Hitlery Clinton become the 44th president, successor of Bush.
At the end of the day it's Obama who had to start playing this role.

BASICS
Turkey downs russian jet hoax computer graphics video same as 9/11 planes or almost all videos "Russia and US led coalition bombing ISIS oil wells trucks".
Exceptions: grain silos in rebel held areas marketed as ISIS refineries, trucks supplying oil to rebel held areas (Azaz) marketed as attacks to ISIS trucks exporting oil to Turkey.
To what lengths illuminati mock human cattle with agents Erdogan, "Putin", Netanyahu:
Illuminati Theater: Turkey downs russian jet hoax computer graphics video same as 9/11 planes

Disarm the US citizens - the ONE and ONLY task that still must be completed in the US and EU, ever since systemic collapse in July 2007.
The changes in script ever since show
- how weak the illuminati are;
- how totally brainwashed the human cattle is, allowing the illuminati, despite their weakness, to transport them to the slaughterhouse.
Citizens Disarmed Agenda: TRAITORS role in DISARM SCRIPT: NRA to republican impostor

 

[Bleipriester]

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also welcomed Moscow’s announcement saying it will put additional pressure on parties in Geneva to negotiate a peaceful transition to end the Syrian turmoil.

“This will increase the pressure on the al-Assad regime to finally and seriously negotiate a peaceful political transition in Geneva,”Steinmeier said in a statement.

Such figures should not put their two cents in. If the talks should be genuine and serious, such figures must be excluded. They turn the truth around and do not care anyhow about Syria but only how to serve their puppet masters best.
Fact is that the Syrian government, called "Assad regime" by wannabe head of the Jaish al-Islam group Steinmeier, never refused to negotiate conditions for peace with the "opposition" but the opposition did.
The Russians literally bombed the "oppostion" to the negotiation table. After the "opposition" refused to negotiate in Geneva for over two years, they are now very eager!

December 2, 2013

"Hassan Abdul-Azim, a veteran opposition figure in Syria who leads the Syria-based National Coordination Body for Democratic Change, said his group was ready to go to Geneva with a unified delegation made up of internal and external opposition group. But he said the coalition rejected the idea because it considers itself the only legitimate representative.

“The coalition will form the whole opposition delegation and it will lead this delegation. This is not up for discussion,” senior coalition member Ahmad Ramadan said. “The coalition is the only side responsible for that.”

Gen. Salim Idris, the commander of the coalition’s military wing known as the Free Syrian Army, said his faction will not take part in the talks and will not stop fighting until Assad is brought down by force."

Syrian opposition splintered ahead of peace talks

 

[Stratford57]

A few more updates:

New York Times: Mr. Putin has achieved many of his main goals: bringing Russia back to center stage as a global power; preventing regime change by outside powers, particularly Western ones; gaining a stronger foothold in Syria; picking off Russian jihadists on the Syrian battlefield and strengthening Mr. Assad.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/15/world/middleeast/putin-syria-russia-withdrawal.html?_r=0

*
Foreign MinisterSergei Lavrov: Mr President, in addition to the results that were achieved directly on the ground during military actions to repress terrorists, our Aerospace Forces operation helped create conditions for the political process.

We have consistently advocated establishing an intra-Syrian dialogue in accordance with the decisions made in 2012. Our suggestions were met with a lack of will on the part of all our partners working on this process. But since the start of the operations by our Aerospace Forces, the situation began to change.

The initial steps were gradually taken, first based on your talks with US PresidentBarack Obama: the Russian-American group began to prepare a broader process for external support for intra-Syrian talks. An international Syria support group was created, which included all the key players without exception, including regional powers. Agreements on the parameters for the Syrian political process achieved in this group were approved by two UN Security Council resolutions, which confirmed the three-way process of ceasing hostilities, broadening access to humanitarian supplies in previously besieged areas and starting intra-Syrian talks.

Thanks to these decisions, including your latest agreement with President Obama, today intra-Syrian talks between the Government delegation and delegations of multiple opposition groups have finally been launched in Geneva. The work is difficult and we have yet to see how all these groups can gather at one table. For now, UN representatives are working individually with each of them, but the process has begun, and it is in our common interest to make it sustainable and irreversible.

Putin: The truly effective work by our troops has created conditions to start the peace process. I feel that the objectives set before the Defence Ministry and the Russian Armed Forces in the Syrian Arab Republic have generally been fulfilled.
Meeting with Sergei Lavrov and Sergei Shoigu
*
The two leaders [Putin and Obama] exchanged opinions on the progress in implementing the statement by Russia and the United States, as co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group, on cessation of hostilities in Syria. The leaders stated that the Russian-US initiative, supported by UN Security Council Resolution 2268, has allowed for a sharp decrease in the scale of bloodshed on Syrian land.

The President of Russia told the President of the United States that after fulfilling the primary objectives set before the Russian Armed Forces in the fight against international terrorism, a decisionwas made to withdraw the main part of the Russian Aerospace Forces troops. This will certainly serve as a good signal to all conflicting sides and create conditions for the start of a true peace process.
http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/51513

*
Wonderful video: Russian pilots returning home from Syria

 

[waltky]

Where's the pull-out?...

Pentagon: Russian Warplanes Continue Bombing in Syria
Mar 15, 2016 | Russian warplanes continued bombing in Syria and "fewer than 10" departed the region following President Vladimir Putin's stunning announcement that his forces had accomplished their mission and a partial withdrawal had begun, Pentagon officials said.

"We have seen some Russian aircraft depart Syria and return to Russia but we have not seen a large contingent of Russian forces" pulling out, said Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook. "So we'll have to wait and see like everybody else what the Russians do in regard to President Putin's reference to a partial withdrawal." Cook said that the remaining Russian aircraft carried out airstrikes Tuesday. He did not say how many strikes were conducted or specify where the targets were located, but said that the airstrikes appeared to be aimed at areas controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). "I'm not aware that any of these strikes technically violated" the Feb. 27 cessation of hositilities" that was agreed to earlier this month by the U.S., Russia and other nations through the mediation of special United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura. The cessation of hostilities excluded ISIS and the Al-Qaeda- affiliated Al-Nusra Front.

Cook said he could not give a figure on the number of Russian planes that have left Syria but "fewer than 10 is what we've seen." Russia was believed to have 45-50 warplanes in Syria, including advanced Su-34 bombers, Su-24M bombers and Su-25 attack aircraft. Most of them have been flying out of the Russian-controlled Hmeymim airbase, also known as Khmeimim, near the northwestern city of Latakia. Despite the announced withdrawal, Russia has said that it will maintain control of the Hmeymim airbase and the small Russian naval base near Latakia that has been its only base in the region for decades.

Russian Sukhoi Su-34 fighter jet​

Putin's announcement initially appeared to catch the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as much off guard as the West but a Syrian official later claimed that al-Assad had been kept in the loop. "We were not surprised because the decision was made in coordination and consultation with us," Bouthaina Shaaban, a senior adviser to al-Assad told CNN. "We knew beforehand that this is what was going to be announced because the Russians came here to achieve certain jobs, and we and they agreed that most of the jobs have been achieved," she said. In making the announcement Monday, Putin said that "the task that was assigned to the Ministry of Defense and the armed forces as a whole has achieved its goal."

Putin's move came as Syria entered its sixth year of a civil war that has claimed at least 250,000 lives, sent more than four million refugees into neighboring countries and caused a refugee crisis in Europe. Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday that he would go to Moscow next week to meet with Putin to discuss the way ahead but added that "we have reached a very important phase in this process." In a statement Tuesday, Russia's Ministry of Defense said that its troops in Syria were loading equipment and gear into cargo planes to prepare for the withdrawal. The ministry said that the warplanes leaving Syria would be accompanied by military transport aircraft and would be making stops at airfields in Russia for refueling, as some were homebased more than 3,000 miles from Syria.

Pentagon: Russian Warplanes Continue Bombing in Syria | Military.com

 

[Stratford57]

British Conservative MPDaniel Kawczynskisays he hopes Russia’s actions in Syria and the results its operation has achieved will become“a catalyst for reassessment of how NATO and the West can effectively engage with Russia”.
“I think our own government here in the UK and many commentators have to catch up with the new position that Russia has taken internationally. Russia has decided to take this risk by intervening in the conflict in Syria. And it would appear it has really paid off. Russian activity in Syria has been a catalyst for bringing about a cessation to the appalling tragedy that has unfold itself in that country over the last five years. The sooner my government starts to realize that we have to work constructively with Russia and other permanent members of the UN Security Council to work collaboratively together to take on ISIS and other trouble spots around the world, the better.”
The withdrawal also coincides with the Syrian peace talks currently being held in Geneva.
“And I think that the actions of Russia in Syria and it’s now pulling its troops out after the job has been done, I very much hope this is the catalyst for reassessment of how NATO and the West can effectively engage with Russia. Some of the anti-Russian sentiment that came out from people like Senator John McCain and others at the beginning of this conflict was absolutely breathtaking and I very much hope that they will have to swallow their words now,”said Kawczynski.

Jim Jatras, former US diplomat, GOP Senate policy adviser, thinks the Russian withdrawal of troops from Syria is designed to encourage the peace process.
“Let’s look briefly at two sides of this: the military and the political side. Militarily – the Russians will start withdrawing the main part of their forces but the naval and air bases will continue to operate - at least for the time being. And I take that to mean that the airstrikes against ISIS, Al-Nusra and the groups that have not accepted the ceasefire will continue. On the other hand, with regard to the political process, let’s keep in mind that we wouldn’t be talking about the political process if it were not to the Russian air intervention and support of the Syrian forces and the gains made by the Syrians that have really forced the terrorist groups on the defensive”, he added.

“Moscow obviously believes the Syrian army and Hezbollah and Iranian forces are capable of keeping the territory they’ve occupied and taken back from the rebels and perhaps even make further progress,”saysMartin McCauley, British historian and former senior lecturer at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, at University College London.
Since Russia is going to keep its air and naval bases, they can come back if the situation changes, he noted.
“So therefore from the Russian point of view, you could say: “Yes, mission accomplished.” But it is only party accomplished. It is a long agenda. And Russia has realized that there is no military solution to the Syrian imbroglio and there has to be a political solution. They in fact are taking the initiative, they are the ones who are actually acting by withdrawing some of their troops and boosting the prospects of some success in Geneva because before this all the discussions about Geneva were very pessimistic because the two sides were so far apart, because we were not even there, because ISIS and Al-Nusra are not there…But this may in fact be boost to the talks and bring the two sides together, because both sides have to make concessions,”McCauley said.


Neil Clark, a UK-based journalist and broadcaster, argues that it was quite a surprise announcement.
He thinks“obviously it is linked to the Geneva talks which resumed again [on March 14]. The Russian intervention that began last September has been a game changer: it has radically changed the situation on the ground, ISIS has been pushed back, and radical jihadists backed by the West have been pushed back.”
‘Russian Syria op should be catalyst for West’s reassessment of how to engage with Moscow’

 

[Bleipriester]

Breaking: Russian Air Force hammers ISIS in Palmyra
Breaking: Russian Air Force hammers ISIS in Palmyra

 

[Stratford57]

Job done: Russia saved Syria from US regime change… now it’s over to diplomacy
Finian Cunningham
Five years of war, five months of Russian military intervention, and now peace talks are underway. It’s as simple as that.

However, rather than acknowledging a successful Russian mission, Western media outlets immediately began speculatingthat President Putin’s surprise announcement to withdraw Russian forces from Syria indicates a “rift” between Moscow and Damascus.

This is just more of the same Western media weapon of mass distraction that has obscured the real nature of the five-year war.

The sovereignty of Syria is the central principle officially underpinning peace talks that resumed in Geneva this week. Without Russia’s military intervention, Syria would not have the chance to pursue a political settlement on a such solid footing.

By contrast, after nearly two years of US-led military intervention allegedly to “defeat terrorism”, the Syrian state was on the brink of collapse from a largely foreign-backed terrorist assault. Until, that is, Russia intervened at the end of September last year.

The touchstone is that Russia from the outset was motivated by supporting the Syrian nation and supplanting the terror threat. While the US and its allies were ultimately the source of the threat.

Western media in hock to their governments’ political line still strain the implausible narrative of a “popular uprising” in Syria that somehow descended into a “global proxy war”.

But to the rest of the world, US-led illegal regime-change is the obvious, and damning, story. This should be the focus, not speculation about Putin’s alleged ulterior motives to withdraw militarily now from Syria.

As opposition parties gather for tentative talks in Geneva, the New York Times informedits readers that it coincides with the “fifth anniversary of the beginning of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, which morphed into civil war and then a regional and global proxy war.”

This is a typical sample of Western distortion on Syria that persists in contradiction to the abundant evidence. That Western narrative is based on the dubious premise that the violence was instigated after the Syrian state crushed a genuine pro-democracy uprising. Secondly, the narrative blandly portrays that the conflict then escalated into a proxy war between foreign governments, as if the latter scenario is unrelated to the initial “uprising”.
Job done: Russia saved Syria from US regime change… now it’s over to diplomacy

 

[Sonc]

Unless I am mistaken, the core reason of the Russian military operation in Syria – according to the officials – was the elimination of ISIS. It seems that ISIS has already been eliminated, at least in Russian parallel reality. Thanks. Go home, victors.

Of course you are mistaken. Again =)))


4:10
Sorry for my English. But I will try to translate =)

3. This operation is limited in time.
For the period of the Syrian army offensives.
The final solution to the problem is possible only by means of dialogue between all the healthy side.

Naturally, in such a situation active military operations can be provocative.
By this we see that
1) The main goal was - to negotiate. This goal has been achieved.
2) was promised to stop military operations. Putin did it.

So who in the parallel reality???=)

 

[Bleipriester]

Job done: Russia saved Syria from US regime change… now it’s over to diplomacy
Finian Cunningham
Five years of war, five months of Russian military intervention, and now peace talks are underway. It’s as simple as that.

However, rather than acknowledging a successful Russian mission, Western media outlets immediately began speculatingthat President Putin’s surprise announcement to withdraw Russian forces from Syria indicates a “rift” between Moscow and Damascus.

This is just more of the same Western media weapon of mass distraction that has obscured the real nature of the five-year war.

The sovereignty of Syria is the central principle officially underpinning peace talks that resumed in Geneva this week. Without Russia’s military intervention, Syria would not have the chance to pursue a political settlement on a such solid footing.

By contrast, after nearly two years of US-led military intervention allegedly to “defeat terrorism”, the Syrian state was on the brink of collapse from a largely foreign-backed terrorist assault. Until, that is, Russia intervened at the end of September last year.

The touchstone is that Russia from the outset was motivated by supporting the Syrian nation and supplanting the terror threat. While the US and its allies were ultimately the source of the threat.

Western media in hock to their governments’ political line still strain the implausible narrative of a “popular uprising” in Syria that somehow descended into a “global proxy war”.

But to the rest of the world, US-led illegal regime-change is the obvious, and damning, story. This should be the focus, not speculation about Putin’s alleged ulterior motives to withdraw militarily now from Syria.

As opposition parties gather for tentative talks in Geneva, the New York Times informedits readers that it coincides with the “fifth anniversary of the beginning of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, which morphed into civil war and then a regional and global proxy war.”

This is a typical sample of Western distortion on Syria that persists in contradiction to the abundant evidence. That Western narrative is based on the dubious premise that the violence was instigated after the Syrian state crushed a genuine pro-democracy uprising. Secondly, the narrative blandly portrays that the conflict then escalated into a proxy war between foreign governments, as if the latter scenario is unrelated to the initial “uprising”.
Job done: Russia saved Syria from US regime change… now it’s over to diplomacy

The Syrian state was not "on the brink of collapse". Massive offensives took place during 2015, on whose beginning thinks looked even good for the government and President Assad was even sure it will be the year of victory. However, simultaneous offensives of ISIS and "rebels" changed the things and the Syrian army was in the defensive on all frontiers again.
However, the Nusra/FSA offensive in the south proved to be a massive failure, while the Jaish al-Fateh offensive in Idlib gained small areas. ISIS´ repeated offensives were failures except for Palmyra and nearby gas/oilfields.
I reviewed Jaish al-Fateh gains back then and found they are pretty tiny compared to the massive propaganda praising "Assad´s soon defeat":

Lets take a look at the terrorist´s gains

Current map:

 

[Stratford57]

At a meeting in the Kremlin’s St George Hall, Vladimir Putin presented state decorations to service personnel and defense industry specialists who distinguished themselves in the performance of special missions in the Syrian Arab Republic. The widows of 4 guys killed in Syria were invited to the meeting too.

Putin :Comrade officers,
In full compliance with international law, at the request of the legitimate government and the country’s president, we made a decision to launch our military operation. From the very start, we were very clear about its goals: support of the Syrian army in its lawful struggle with terrorist groups. Our actions were also timed for the period of active assaults against the terrorists. We stated clearly that we did not intend to get involved in an internal Syrian conflict. Only the Syrians themselves should seek a final solution and decide their country’s future.

The main target of our operation was terrorism. The struggle against international terrorism is a fair and righteous cause. This is a struggle against enemies of civilisation, against those who bring barbarity and violence, trying to renounce the great spiritual, humanitarian values that the world rests on.

Regarding the results we have achieved. Your actions and intense combat effort turned the situation around. We did not let this terrorist tumour grow, destroyed the bandits’ hiding places and munitions depots and blocked oil smuggling routes that brought the terrorists their main funding.

We have done a huge amount of work to support the lawful Syrian authorities – this is what I spoke about when addressing the United Nations on the organisation’s 70thanniversary. We strengthened their armed forces, which are now capable of not only holding back the terrorists, but also of conducting assault operations against them. The Syrian army has gained the strategic initiative and continues clearing its land of terrorists.

The main thing is that we have created conditions for the start of a peaceful process. We have managed to achieve positive, constructive cooperation with the United States of America and a number of other countries, as well as with the responsible political forces within Syria that truly wish to stop the war and find the only possible political solution to the conflict. It was you, Russian soldiers who opened up the road to peace.

I would like to add that in our joint statement, Russia and the United States stressed that the struggle against terrorist organisations, recognised as such by the UN, will continue.

We will continue to assist the Syrian army and authorities in their fight against the so-called Islamic State, Jabhat al-Nusra and other terrorist groups that have been declared as such, as I have said, by the UN Security Council. Our uncompromising attitude to terrorism remains unchanged. I am certain that with our support and strengthening of the Syrian army, we will shortly see the patriotic forces there achieve success in their struggle against terrorism.

If necessary, of course, Russia will be able to enhance its group in the region in a matter of hours to a size required for a specific situation and to use all the options available.

In this connection, I would like to note the position of President Bashar al-Assad. We see his reserve, his sincere striving for peace, his readiness for compromise and dialogue. The very fact that we withdrew part of our military group there against the backdrop of negotiations on the Syrian settlement that started in Geneva is an important positive signal, and I am certain that all parties to the Syrian conflict will duly appreciate it.

We will work and make every effort in coordination with our partners to help establish peace in Syria, to rid the long-suffering people of Syria of the terrorist threat and help the Syrians restore their country.

Full speach at:
Meeting with Russian Armed Forces service personnel

 

[Stratford57]

Washington Post:
The United States and its allies will be left to carry on the fight against the Islamic State, which will be made considerably more difficult by the Assad regime’s survival. Thanks to Mr. Putin’s intervention, and the United States’ befuddled response to the Syrian crisis, it is not he but Mr. Obama who is left facing a quagmire.
Vladimir Putin rides out of Syria as a victor

NY Times:
What Quagmire? Even in Withdrawal, Russia Stays a Step Ahead
It reinforced the sense that Mr. Putin has managed to maintain the initiative in Syria against an American president who wants to keep the war at arm’s length.
Since September, when Russia thrust itself into the conflict Mr. Putin has consistently seemed a step ahead of United States on Syria.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/16/u...ithdrawal-russia-stays-a-step-ahead.html?_r=0

Also Jean Klod Junker welcomed Putin’s initiative about withdrawal from Syria, because he thinks it will reduce the number of refugees coming to Europe.

 

[Bleipriester]

Washington Post:
The United States and its allies will be left to carry on the fight against the Islamic State, which will be made considerably more difficult by the Assad regime’s survival. Thanks to Mr. Putin’s intervention, and the United States’ befuddled response to the Syrian crisis, it is not he but Mr. Obama who is left facing a quagmire.
Vladimir Putin rides out of Syria as a victor

NY Times:
What Quagmire? Even in Withdrawal, Russia Stays a Step Ahead
It reinforced the sense that Mr. Putin has managed to maintain the initiative in Syria against an American president who wants to keep the war at arm’s length.
Since September, when Russia thrust itself into the conflict Mr. Putin has consistently seemed a step ahead of United States on Syria.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/16/u...ithdrawal-russia-stays-a-step-ahead.html?_r=0

Also Jean Klod Junker welcomed Putin’s initiative about withdrawal from Syria, because he thinks it will reduce the number of refugees coming to Europe.

The WP and the other drooling Al-Qaeda cheerleaders still need to explain why aiding the enemies of ISIS makes the war on ISIS more difficult. Russia has decimated the ranks of ISIS by airstrikes and gave better arms to the Syrian army so how does this make the war on ISIS more difficult?

 

[Stratford57]

The WP and the other drooling Al-Qaeda cheerleaders still need to explain why aiding the enemies of ISIS makes the war on ISIS more difficult. Russia has decimated the ranks of ISIS by airstrikes and gave better arms to the Syrian army so how does this make the war on ISIS more difficult?

You are so right, unfortunately. Seems like EU&US elites are sunk in hypocrisy.
- Russia has shown the highest efficiency in fighting ISIS comparing all the other countries all together.
- Turkey is doing its best to help ISIS with all the possible ways.

And in spite of that Turkey is a friend and an ally, it successfully keeps blackmailing EU with migrants and Russia is a Number one threat. EU&US elites remind both Absurd theatre and Lewis Carroll’s story "Through the Looking-Glass." Do they live in a parallel reality or are just insane?
EU, Ankara agree deal to return migrants sailing to Greece back to Turkey

Russia is now the US’ number one threat, followed by China, North Korea, Iran and Islamic State, Pentagon Chief Ash Carter said at a Senate hearing on the DoD’s budget request. It comes as the Pentagon struggles to keep the budget to 2017 levels.

Challenges arising from the“great power competition”and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) still require a $583-billion military budget, Carter said at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee on the 2017 defense budget request, according to a Pentagonpress release.

The Russian Defense Ministry believes that calling Russia a primary threat has become a habit in Washington’s top circles, as it happens every year prior to debate on the Pentagon’s annual budget requests.

“It is not a thing to be impressed by,”General Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the ministry, said in February.“The reason is simple – the discussion of the military budget in Congress for the next year.One needs to remember that the ‘Russian threat’ has been the best-selling threat delivered by the Pentagon not only to Congress, but also to NATO partners since the middle of the previous century.”
Carter defends $583bn budget, says Russia now ‘No 1 challenge’, ISIS well down the list

 

[Bleipriester]

The WP and the other drooling Al-Qaeda cheerleaders still need to explain why aiding the enemies of ISIS makes the war on ISIS more difficult. Russia has decimated the ranks of ISIS by airstrikes and gave better arms to the Syrian army so how does this make the war on ISIS more difficult?

You are so right, unfortunately. Seems like EU&US elites are sunk in hypocrisy.
- Russia has shown the highest efficiency in fighting ISIS comparing all the other countries all together.
- Turkey is doing its best to help ISIS with all the possible ways.

And in spite of that Turkey is a friend and an ally, it successfully keeps blackmailing EU with migrants and Russia is a Number one threat. EU&US elites remind both Absurd theatre and Lewis Carroll’s story "Through the Looking-Glass." Do they live in a parallel reality or are just insane?
EU, Ankara agree deal to return migrants sailing to Greece back to Turkey

Russia is now the US’ number one threat, followed by China, North Korea, Iran and Islamic State, Pentagon Chief Ash Carter said at a Senate hearing on the DoD’s budget request. It comes as the Pentagon struggles to keep the budget to 2017 levels.

Challenges arising from the“great power competition”and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) still require a $583-billion military budget, Carter said at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee on the 2017 defense budget request, according to a Pentagonpress release.

The Russian Defense Ministry believes that calling Russia a primary threat has become a habit in Washington’s top circles, as it happens every year prior to debate on the Pentagon’s annual budget requests.

“It is not a thing to be impressed by,”General Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the ministry, said in February.“The reason is simple – the discussion of the military budget in Congress for the next year.One needs to remember that the ‘Russian threat’ has been the best-selling threat delivered by the Pentagon not only to Congress, but also to NATO partners since the middle of the previous century.”
Carter defends $583bn budget, says Russia now ‘No 1 challenge’, ISIS well down the list

They are their own number one threat. And while they have no ground forces in Syria, they talk so incredibly big as if they´d own the battlefields. And all what the pseudo-coalition does in the air is being an obstacle for the Syrian and the Russian missions. And nobody knows, what or who their next targets will be. Will it be ISIS-terrorists, will it be pumping stations or power plants, or will it even be the Syrian or Iraqi soldiers?