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

"recent progress in Beiji, some movement around Ramadi, and the [Kurdish] Peshmerga have made progress in the north.”

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Ramadi - supported by US advisers
Beiji and Peshmerga - supported by Iran

And in Syria the purpose is still to achieve a failed state, despite

In Syria, though, the balance of forces favors the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, he said.

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Ambassador Bhadrakumar comments on diplomatic developments wrt Syria as well as other Middle Eastern matters:

Jura said:

the official-Russian part of the story (I anyway translated the obvious; found at a Russian blogsite, in total: 930 sorties flown between September 30 and October 22 officially destroyed 819 targets):

...

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... now I noticed at РИА

the announcement of 118 targets during the last day (I think this would be more than 100 for the the first time) (71 sorties)

an update again:

Jura said:

... 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 ...

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now I noticed in two sources (well, this could be the same hoax) a counter-strike in the area, by ISIL against
EDIT
in this map I now noticed also attacks against the Regular Army to the south of Aleppo ...
as for

Jura said:

...

more to the south, but obviously related, the supply-road was cut

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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...

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I've heard, but just from one source, about this type of push for

(it's about 50 miles down this road from Khanasir, direction toward Mr. Assad's territory)

Jura said:

Dunford Tells Senate Now is Time to Reinforce Iraqi Success Against ISIL

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US Military, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs:

"In Syria, the balance of forces favors the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, he said."

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Well, with the introduction of significant and precision air support of Assad's ground forces...of course the balance of power now favors Assad.

The US could have used its air forces to do the same...realizing that Assad was a far better choice for the people of Syria, despite whatever differences we have with him, than ISIS ever would be.

Instead the current US administration chose to try and defeat ISIS with air power alone, and a misbegotten, doomed to fail, effort to use other counter Assad forces as the ground component.

But the problem was, all along...and many, many people pointed this out...that::

1) There were not nearly enough of them, and
2) They were difficult, if not impossible, to properly vet.

Therefore the US was left with air power alone...and though that has hurt certain aspects of ISIS, it is not able to defeat them and retake ground from them.

The Russians are seizing the opportunity to do just that.

Jeff Head said:

Well, with the introduction of significant and precision air support of Assad's ground forces...of course the balance of power now favors Assad.

The US could have used its air forces to do the same...realizing that Assad was a far better for choice for the people of Syria, despite whatever differences we have with him, than ISIS ever would be.

Instead the current US administration chose to try and defeat ISIS with air power alone, and a misbegotten, doomed to fail, effort to use other counter Assad forces as the ground component.

But the problem was, all along...and many, many people pointed this out, that::

1) There were not nearly enough of them, and
2) They were difficult, if not impossible to properly vet.

Therefore the US was left with air power alone...and though that has hurt certain aspects of ISIS, it is not able to defeat them and retake ground from the,

The Russians are seizing the opportunity to do just that.

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Agreed 100%. The US could've done EXACTLY what Russia is doing now a year ago and with out assets and capabilities probably done a much better job (not saying Russia is doing a bad one). Instead we pussy-footed around, played politics and now we're in a quagmire! ... and trying to remain relevant w/o a proper effective strategy.

We keep throwing good $ after bad thinking things will change. LOL

I understand Russia does not have as much political baggage as we do in terms of conflicting interest with our so called allies (Saudi, Gulf States, Israel etc) however sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do for the sake of what is right for the people and the region. Take the path of least complication and danger.

At the end of the day this entire debacle is really a very simple choice.
Keep Assad and his cronies in power, return to status quo OR have a bunch of rag tag unorganized group of Islamists running the show.
Once that determination is done, then you base your entire strategic and operational strategy to achieve that goal.
From what I see and hear, I believe we have not even make that crucial determination yet. The State Dept does not want Assad in power.. TODAY but yesterday it was 50/50 and tomorrow we are going to vet some 'moderates' to fight BOTH ISIS and Assad!.. and next week we may 'work' with the Russians to fight ISIS ...
No wonder things are in shambles! God Almighty!!!!

... But sometimes the target can be as small as one man with a gun. On the day we watched the B-1 strike, that same bomber was sent to check out a report of a single ISIS sniper firing from the top of a building.

Weapons officer: The weapon will time out directly in between the two buildings.

This captain was one of the weapons officers in the cockpit.

David Martin: B-1 bomber.

Weapons officer: Yes sir.

David Martin: All that technology.

Weapons officer: Yes sir.

David Martin: All that fire power. One sniper down on the ground. ...

nicky said:

... But sometimes the target can be as small as one man with a gun. On the day we watched the B-1 strike, that same bomber was sent to check out a report of a single ISIS sniper firing from the top of a building.

David Martin: B-1 bomber.
Weapons officer: Yes sir.
David Martin: All that technology.
Weapons officer: Yes sir.
David Martin: All that fire power. One sniper down on the ground. ...

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Well, if the B-1 is in the air at the time with the ordinance...and the sniper is killing good guys...then you use what is there to take him down.

Would ne no different if it was Dutch F-16s, US Navy F-18s, or Jordanian or other allied aircraft in the air.

The call comes in and you use what is available. The B-1 is there...perhaps he had some SDBs loaded up. Whatever.

Jura said:

an update again:


now I noticed in two sources (well, this could be the same hoax) a counter-strike in the area, by ISIL against ...

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"Cassad" has the recent blog-post on this:

here just the map showing the situation of the Regular Army around Aleppo:

Considering their supply-road might be cut ...
https://www.sinodefenceforum.com/isis-isil-conflict-in-iraq-syria-thread.t6913/page-200#post-371140
but it's just Internet info, of course

one more thing: I'd appreciate if somebody else also posted what he (or she found about what's going on there

new russian tactics of precision strikes with unguided weapon