ISIS/ISIL conflict in Syria/Iraq (No OpEd, No Politics)

LOL found on a Russian forum...
... later I moved as far as to DefenseOne :)
Meet the New Army General in Charge of the ISIS War
Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland is now commanding the counter-ISIS campaign; Officials name Nagata’s successor at SOCOM Central.

The U.S. military has a new top commander for the fight against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, and the region is about to get a new special operations commander.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter last month quietly put Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland in charge of the coalition fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Carter announced the appointment Friday, following a spate of criticism that the Obama administration’s counter-ISIS campaign lacked coordinated leadership as it stretched across agencies also including the White House, State Department, intelligence community.

“Rather than three generals responsible for different aspects of the campaign, as had been the case, I have empowered Lt. Gen. MacFarland as the single commander of counter-ISIL activities in both Iraq and Syria,” Carter said. “His efforts will be critical in the coming months as we continue to provide support for capable partners fighting on the front lines.”

Additionally, Army Maj. Gen. Darsie Rogers will replace Maj. Gen. Michael Nagata as commander of U.S. special operations forces in the Middle East, according to a military official. Nagata oversaw the failed Obama administration effort to train Syrian rebels to fight ISIS. Nagata, who is highly regarded among senior brass, is
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to be in line for a senior position at National Counterterrorism Center in Washington, a post that would earn him a third star if confirmed by the Senate.

Rogers, a Green Beret, was previously commander of the Army’s 1st Special Forces Command at Fort Bragg, a position
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. He has commanded Special Forces in Iraq
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of the past decade. Rogers will take command of U.S. Special Operations Command Central, or SOCCENT, which is located at MacDill Air Force Base, in Tampa, and co-located with U.S. Central Command, which overseas operations in the Middle East.

MacFarland replaces Lt. Gen. James Terry, who will continue serving as the head of U.S. Army Central, or USARCENT, which commands Army forces in the Middle East.

An Irish Catholic from Upstate New York, MacFarland is a West Point graduate who most recently was
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of III Corps and Fort Hood, in Texas. But he is best known, perhaps, for his efforts as a colonel to secure the city of Ramadi in 2007 and foster the Sunni Awakening. “I was given very broad guidance,” MacFarland told
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in 2007. “Fix Ramadi, but don’t destroy it. Don’t do a Fallujah.”

MacFarland’s established 18 combat outposts in and around Ramadi. He then pursued partnerships with various Sunni tribal sheiks, which eventually resulted in alliance of more than 50 sheiks by the time MacFarland’s brigade left Iraq, and eventually reached more than 200 sheiks, according to USA Today.

Ramadi fell to ISIS earlier this year. Militants have surrounded the city with improvised explosive devices preventing Iraqi soldiers from recapturing the city, said Army Col. Steven Warren, spokesman for the counter-ISIS mission, on Oct. 1.

“[T]hey’re using these IEDs almost as landmines, to create these minefields, which they can then cover with fire,” Warren said.

Friday, Carter said: “We’re watching recent military advances in Baiji and around Ramadi, which suggest that Iraqi forces may be regaining the initiative.”
source:
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delft

Brigadier
This Sputnik article:
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says there are in Syria:
Su-24M, tactical bomber: ~30 units
Su-25, strike aircraft: 12 units
Su-34, tactical bomber: 4 units
Su-30, fighter: number unknown
Mi-24, helicopter gunship: 7 units.

Those ~30 are much more than I read earlier.
 

delft

Brigadier
Zero Hedge pointed me to this news item from Anadolu:
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BAGHDAD

The Iraqi government authorized Russia to target Daesh convoys coming from Syria, a senior Iraqi official said.

The authorization for Russia to target Daesh inside Iraq comes amid security coordination between Iraq, Russia, Iran and Syria.

Hakem al-Zamli, chief of the Iraqi parliament’s security and defense committee, told Anadolu Agency on Friday that the measure contributed to weakening Daesh by cutting off its supply routes.

Russia, an ally of the Assad regime, began carrying out airstrikes in Syria on Sept. 30. According to the Kremlin, the strikes are aimed at weakening the Daesh militant group, an avowed enemy of the regime.

Turkey and several western countries, however, accuse Russia of targeting moderate groups in Syria opposed to Assad, many of which enjoy the support of Ankara and Washington.

Iraq has been gripped by a security vacuum since June 2014 when Daesh stormed the northern city of Mosul and declared a self-styled caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria.
 
...
I admit I don't know much about the Syrian Civil War ...
... but now I had a look again, mostly from the blog by "Cassad" though ...
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and what caught my attention about the current situation, in several points:

1. around Aleppo the Regular Army hasn't been able yet to end the siege of the airbase called Kuweiris Airport in this map:
xgXNVIVTdHM.jpg

I found it using in google-maps:
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(feel free to tell me if I'm wrong)

more to the south, but obviously related, the supply-road was cut
CSATzT3WEAAZoWV.jpg:large

south of
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(from what I figured, the road runs just by the desert there)
by coordinated (?) attacks of ISIL and
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and it's critical for the Regular Army to keep it open

2. the pocket around Talbiseh
https://www.sinodefenceforum.com/isis-isil-conflict-in-iraq-syria-thread.t6913/page-187#post-369654
has not yet been halved:
CR8FxYlWUAAZiNk.jpg:large

and presumably the Regular Army is probing the defenses there to find the weakest point(s)

3.
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has not been taken either, and heavy fights are expected, complicated by the terrain ... now I found this picture using google:
mtAJ.jpg

LOL but now I started to wonder ... does anybody care?? tell me ...
 

delft

Brigadier
Also pointed to by Zero Hedge:
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Russia, Jordan to coordinate actions on Syria via Amman-based center, others invited
Published time: 23 Oct, 2015 12:09
Edited time: 23 Oct, 2015 17:00

Russia and Jordan agreed to create a coordination center in Amman, which will be used by the two countries to share information on the counter-terrorism operations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
Russia is already in touch with Iran, Iraq and Syria through a Baghdad-based center used for the same purpose.

Lavrov said Jordan would play a positive part in finding a political solution to the Syrian conflict through negotiations between Damascus and opposition forces, an outcome that Russia itself is pursuing.

“Under an agreement between His Majesty King Abdullah II and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, the militaries of the two countries have agreed to coordinate their actions, including military aircraft missions over the Syrian territory,” Lavrov said. His Jordanian counterpart Nasser Judeh said the center would serve as an efficient communication tool for the militaries of the two nations.

Speaking in Vienna on Friday, Lavrov called on boosting the effort to defeat the terrorist group Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and other militant groups in Syria and kick-start a political transition.

“It will require full-scale negotiations between representatives of the Syrian government and an entire spectrum of the opposition, both domestic and foreign, with an active support of foreign players. Russia is taking part in creating conditions for such a process,” Lavrov said, adding that Jordan may play a positive role in the process.
That will make supplying terrorists in Syria through Jordan much more difficult.
 

delft

Brigadier
... but now I had a look again, mostly from the blog by "Cassad" though ...
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

and what caught my attention about the current situation, in several points:

1. around Aleppo the Regular Army hasn't been able yet to end the siege of the airbase called Kuweiris Airport in this map:
xgXNVIVTdHM.jpg

I found it using in google-maps:
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

(feel free to tell me if I'm wrong)

more to the south, but obviously related, the supply-road was cut
CSATzT3WEAAZoWV.jpg:large

south of
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

(from what I figured, the road runs just by the desert there)
by coordinated (?) attacks of ISIL and
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

and it's critical for the Regular Army to keep it open

2. the pocket around Talbiseh
https://www.sinodefenceforum.com/isis-isil-conflict-in-iraq-syria-thread.t6913/page-187#post-369654
has not yet been halved:
CR8FxYlWUAAZiNk.jpg:large

and presumably the Regular Army is probing the defenses there to find the weakest point(s)

3.
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has not been taken either, and heavy fights are expected, complicated by the terrain ... now I found this picture using google:
mtAJ.jpg

LOL but now I started to wonder ... does anybody care?? tell me ...
Your maps show very clearly that distinguishing between more and less moderate "rebels" doesn't make sense. :rolleyes:
 

asif iqbal

Lieutenant General
I always said Putin will never allow Assad to fall and it's coming true

Soviet Union did not forget that Assads father gave USSR place on Mediterranean during Cold War that was Latakia, Hafeez also had good long standing ties with Russian and since Putin is ex-KGB he knows the game well

Putin does as he wishes but with Assad he will stand by him no matter what even if it's means Russians soldiers dying he will pay it for Assad

Saddam, Gaddafi and even the Serbs did not enjoy the type of support, but Syrian is a all together a different game

Putin thinks if Assad falls somewhere that is a Russia loss !? Why I don't know but that's just the way it is and Putin will not allow Russia to loose

Russia just demonstrated to the world that it can infront of everyone launch and target locations from the sea using cruise missiles, that is a hell of a statement
 

asif iqbal

Lieutenant General
This Sputnik article:
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says there are in Syria:
Su-24M, tactical bomber: ~30 units
Su-25, strike aircraft: 12 units
Su-34, tactical bomber: 4 units
Su-30, fighter: number unknown
Mi-24, helicopter gunship: 7 units.

Those ~30 are much more than I read earlier.

This is in addition to 2000 or so ground crews and technicians for support

It's costing around $3-5 million per day and Russia has set aside $1 billion in support for operations from a secret $65 billion fund

Does that mean Russia is going to fight for around a year ? Or more ?

Not to mention those cruise missiles are also very expensive ones but they used then to show how serious they are

Russia is now ruining low on cargo ships from Black Sea to Latakia and they just bought whole load of used second hand ones from Romania and Bulgaria and put them into service

Even a previously used Turkish cargo was used to ferry Russian equipment

I call it the Moscow-Latakia express !
 
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