Russia

Israeli Airstrikes Hit All Major Iranian Infrastructure in Syria

Responding to an Iranian missile attack on their troops in the Golan Heights, Israel launched a major airstrike targeting Iranian bases in Syria. Of the 20 rockets fired at Israel, four were shot down by the Israeli Iron Dome air defense system and the rest landed in Syrian territory.

In a statement, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said that the Israelis hit all of the major Iranian infrastructure in Syria.

The IDF responded with airstrikes against around 50 Iranian military training sites, Iranian Revolution Guard Corps intelligence collection and logistics, rocket firing positions, airfield positions and weapons storage facilities.
Liberman said that not a single Israeli civilian or piece of Israeli property was harmed. “Last night, Iran tried to attack Israeli sovereign territory and failed,” he said.
The defense minister also threatened Iran going forward, stating that “if Iran hits us with rain [a small number of rockets] – we will hit them with a deluge [of airstrikes].”
He said that Israel “will not let Iran turn Syria into a base for attacking Israel. There are many radical Islamists, but Iran is the only one which is really” implementing its ideology “all over the Middle East and Africa.”
“Iran has wasted $13 billion in the Syrian civil war and continues to spend $2 billion a year there. Iran is wasting its next generation with its efforts to expand,” he stated.
Liberman explained that Israel has no interest in conquering any part of Syria and cautioned against celebrations on the Israeli side or anything that might push for further escalation.
The defense minister seemed to signal to Iran that Israel would prefer to return to quiet following the exchange of attacks. It is only Iran, he said that wants to build a new base for attacking Israel – a goal he thinks even most Iranians oppose.

The Russian claimed that they shot down the majority of the Israeli missiles during their retaliatory strike. But the tensions remain high. Lieberman made it clear that there will be no peaceful coexistence with Iran or their proxies in Hamas, as they want to destroy Israel.

To read the entire article from the Jerusalem Post, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

On This Date in 1954, The French Surrender at Dien Bien Phu

The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was the culminating piece of the guerrilla war fought between the French and the Viet Minh from 1949 until the garrison was overrun and the French withdrew from the country.

After fighting a losing guerrilla war, the French dropped paratroopers and Foreign Legionnaires into Dien Bien Phu, a small mountain outpost on the border with Laos. The base was ringed by mountains with the base occupying lower ground, which would prove to be decisive.

The siege began in late November 1953 and by March the Viet Minh with massive Red Chinese support were ready to attack and they kept the pressure upon the French, slowly sinking the perimeter of the base and closing the airfield until they capitulated on May 7, 1954, nine years to the day that the Germans surrendered in World War II in Europe.

When it was over, the French were out of Vietnam and the Geneva Accords temporarily would split the country at the 17th parallel between North and South Vietnam and the United States would get dragged into the fray.

Background: As World War II was winding down, Ho Chi Minh tried to establish a free Vietnam, free from French colonial rule once the Japanese were ousted from South East Asia. Just hours after the Japanese surrender, Ho proclaimed the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

In 1946, Ho accepted a French proposal to allow Vietnam to function as an autonomous state within the French union. But the French soon reneged on that and tried to reassert colonial rule. That began an increasingly costly and bloody guerrilla war.

By 1953, the French had grown weary of the guerrilla war and had gone thru a series of commanders. In May of 1953 French Premier René Mayer appointed Henri Navarre as the commander of the French Union forces in Indochina. In a book by historian LTG Phillip Davidson, Navarre’s first impressions were not favorable.

On arrival, Navarre was shocked by what he found. There had been no long-range plan since de Lattre’s departure. Everything was conducted on a day-to-day, reactive basis. Combat operations were undertaken only in response to enemy moves or threats. There was no comprehensive plan to develop the organization and build up the equipment of the Expeditionary force.
Finally, Navarre, the intellectual, the cold and professional soldier, was shocked by the “school’s out” attitude of Salan and his senior commanders and staff officers. They were going home, not as victors or heroes, but then, not as clear losers either. To them the important thing was that they were getting out of Indochina with their reputations frayed, but intact. They gave little thought to, or concern for, the problems of their successors.

The French were hoping to repeat a victory at Nà Sản, where they established an air/land base in the Viet Minh’s rear area to deny him unfettered access to equipment, supplies, and reinforcements and cut off their attempts to take Laos.

But Navarre’s staff planners made several critical blunders that would lead to disaster. First, at Nà Sản, the French controlled the high ground and had a massive superiority in artillery. At Dien Bien Phu the base was surrounded by high peaks that the Viet Minh would ring with artillery. And the French troops would be outnumbered 4-1.

Opening Moves: The French began dropping paratroopers into Dien Bien Phu on the 20th of November 1953. Utilizing three different drop zones, the French had landed six battalions of airborne troops and a bulldozer to complete the airstrip by the end of November.

The French commander, Colonel Christian de Castries was a poor choice to direct the defenses. He was a cavalryman by his training and unsuited for a set-piece battle. He set up seven outposts each code-named with names starting with the first seven letters of the alphabet.

Christian de Castries, French Commander at Dien Bien Phu.

The French force totaled about 16,000 troops and included airborne troops, Foreign Legionnaires as well as Moroccan mercenaries and local troops. They also had ten light M-24 Chaffee tanks and aircraft. The French failed to secure the high ground surrounding the valley which was a tactical blunder and the Viet Minh quickly filled the gaps around the high ground where they massed their artillery. The Viet Minh commanded by Võ Nguyên Giáp had much more artillery than the French envisioned there and had more than five divisions with 50,000 men.

By the end of January, the Viet Minh began sporadic shelling of the base and the French patrols were finding contact in every direction. Dien Bien Phu was surrounded.

The Outposts Fall One by One: The Viet Minh were ready by March 13, 1954, and opened fire with extremely well-aimed artillery fire on Outpost Beatrice. One artillery round took out the entire French command group. By 1800, a massive infantry assault hit the French lines and by midnight they had overrun the base. Over 500 Legionnaires were killed. In the morning, a French counterattack was stopped cold by massed artillery fires.

The Viet Minh artillery had been skillfully dug into the sides of the mountains. French counter-battery fire was completely ineffective. By the second day, the French artillery commander, Colonel Charles Piroth, so distraught over his inability to fire on the enemy committed suicide by using a hand grenade in his bunker.

On the morning of March 14, the Viet Minh next turned their attention to Outpost Gabrielle. Following a massive bombardment, the French airstrip was now permanently put out of commission. All supplies would now have to be delivered via air drops. The tough Algerian troops holding Gabrielle were hit with a coordinated attack at 1700 hrs and were then reinforced by elements of the 5th Vietnamese Parachute Battalion early the next morning.

The counterattack failed and the Algerians abandoned Gabrielle to the Viet Minh. The die was already cast. The French could not hold Dien Bien Phu and now their enemy could rain down direct artillery fire right into their positions.

The Outpost Anne Marie was manned by troops of the Tai minority in Vietnam, but loyal to the French. For weeks, Giap had rained down leaflets telling the Tai, that this wasn’t their fight. During the night of 17 March under heavy fog, the Tai abandoned their posts and Anne Marie was lost.

The French in Hanoi realized too late the blunder of putting de Castries in command, but with no airstrip functioning, they were powerless to change. To the chagrin of his paratrooper officers, de Castries remained in his bunker and virtually had no feel whatsoever of the battle all around him.

Mass Assaults on Dominique and Eliane: On March 30, the Viet Minh attacked the Outposts Dominique and Eliane where some of the most brutal fighting took place.

After taking half of Eliane, the French unleashed a powerful counterattack that took it back. But the next day, the Viet Minh rushed in more reinforcements and took it back again. Just as it seemed the French would lose their grip on the outposts, the M-24 light tanks entered the battle and were instrumental in forcing the Viet Minh back.

The fighting took on a World War I feel to it with both sides taking part in trench warfare. The Viet Minh massed their troops for another assault and were hit hard by French aircraft providing close air support.

Morale of the Viet Minh units which had taken a lot of casualties plummeted. Giap was forced to bring in fresh troops from Laos. The fighting went back and forth like this for several weeks.

The Viet Minh Final Attacks Overrun the French: By the first of May, the French defenses were wearing down under the sheer weight of the attacking forces. Isolated outposts inside Eliane, Dominique and Huguette were overrun. The situation was becoming desperate for the French defenders. By May 7, Giap had 25,000 troops surrounding just 3,000 defenders. Giap ordered a full frontal assault.

The French radio operator inside the command bunker radioed French headquarters that the enemy troops were directly outside the headquarters bunker and that all the positions had been overrun. His last words stated: “The enemy has overrun us. We are blowing up everything. Vive la France!”

The remaining troops tried to breakout but none made it out of the valley. On one outpost, Isabelle, about 70 of the 1700 troops made it to Laos and safety.

French prisoners march to prisoner of war camps. Less than half would survive the 500 mile-forced march.

Death March: The Viet Minh captured 8000 French soldiers of which nearly half were wounded. They then marched them 500 miles on foot to their prisoner of war camp. Less than half of them survived the march. Of the nearly 11,000 total prisoners (French and Vietnamese) the Viet Minh captured, only 3290 were repatriated four months later.

The disastrous outcome for the French would set the stage for the United States to become involved in the war between North and South Vietnam.

Photos: Wikipedia

Russian Troops Getting New, Updated Rifles AK-12, AK-15

Russian military troops will soon be fielding new weapons systems, the AK-12, and AK-15 rifles will replace the Cold War era AKM which is based on the venerable AK-47 design.

Russian soldiers currently carry the AK-74M assault rifle. This 5.45-millimeter rifle is descended from the 7.62-millimeter AK-47, which was introduced in 1947. The AK-74 was introduced in the 1970s and modernized to the -M standard in 1991. The Russian Army retains a stockpile of approximately two million AK-74s in different variants.
The Russian military has long wanted to field a new rifle but having more AK-74s than soldiers made this a relatively low priority. Russia also wanted a rifle with a sufficient increase in performance to warrant the cost, Meanwhile, the country’s defense budget has yo-yoed over the last decade due to the price oil and the effects of economic sanctions, causing more delays.
The AK-12 and AK-15 rifles are similar to the AK-74M on the inside and out. The main difference between the two new guns is that the AK-12 is chambered for the same ammunition as the AK-74M, 5.45 x 39-millimeter, while the AK-15 is chambered for 7.62 x 39, the same ammunition as the older AK-47. It’s not clear why Russia will buy two different caliber rifles, but bear in mind that its military is also sitting on a mountain of Cold War-era 7.62 x 39 ammunition, and AK-15s could be assigned to rear area and low-priority combat troops.
The main difference between the AK-74M and the AK-12/15 appears to be the new rifles are set up to accommodate weapon accessories that have become must-haves in modern, high-tech armies. The AK-12/15 features two Picatinny rails, an accessory mounting system invented by the U.S. Army’s Picatinny Arsenal for attaching items such as rifle scopes, red dot sights, and laser pointers. The AK-12/15 features a second rail under the barrel for attaching a vertical foregrip. The new rifles also have what appears to be an M-4 carbine-style buffer tube for attaching buttstocks and adjusting the weapon’s length of pull.
The manufacturer, Kalashnikov concern, says the rifles are 34.64 to 37 inches long, feature a 16.33-inch barrel, and weigh 7.7 pounds unloaded. Both rifles have a rate of fire of 700 rounds a minute and use 30-round magazines.

So, it appears the Russian troops will soon have plenty of weapon accessories copying the American model. Isn’t imitation being the sincerest form of flattery?

To read the entire article from Popular Mechanics, click here:

Photo courtesy Kalashnikov

Estonia Holds Largest Military Exercises Since Independence

Estonia is the site of a large international military exercise involving more than 13,000 troops from 16 countries which kicked off on May 2.

The exercise, dubbed Siil (Hedgehog) is scheduled to last until May 14 and is the largest such drill to be held in the Baltic country since it regained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Part of the exercise will be held in neighboring Latvia.
Besides the Estonian military, some 2,000 troops from 15 countries — the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Canada, Poland, Ukraine, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Georgia — were set to take part.
In addition to the regular military, Estonian reservists, police, and rescue services are also attending the exercise, which will focus on territorial defense and will be held in three separate stages.
Estonia and Latvia border Russia and together with the third Baltic state, Lithuania, were part of the Soviet Union after being annexed by Moscow during World War II.
The three, which are now members of NATO and the European Union, have voiced concerns about Moscow’s intentions in the region, especially since Russia’s seizure and annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in March 2014.

It is just another reminder that tensions in the area are rising, especially with the relationship between the United States and Russia at its worst since the Cold War.

To read the entire article from Radio Free Europe, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Missile Strikes on pro-Assad Forces in Syria Kill Dozens

Many Syrian troops loyal to President Assad and Iranian troops assisting them were killed in a missile strike that targeted several locations.

The Syrian military said facilities in Hama and Aleppo provinces were struck.
It did not say if there were any casualties. But a UK-based monitoring group said four Syrians and 22 foreigners, mostly Iranians, died.
It is not known who was behind the attacks. But Western nations and Israel have previously hit sites in Syria.
Earlier this month, the US, UK and France bombed three facilities they said were associated with the Syrian government’s alleged chemical weapons programme.
Israel is meanwhile alleged to have hit an airbase reportedly serving as an Iranian drone command centre and containing an advanced Iranian air defence system.
The office of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will issue a statement on Monday evening on a “significant development” regarding the nuclear deal between Western powers and Iran.
A Syrian military source cited by the official Sana news agency did not identify any specific locations, saying only that the military sites were “exposed… to a new aggression” at 22:30 (19:30 GMT).
The source added that the strikes came after “terrorist organisations” had suffered defeats in the countryside around the capital, Damascus, an apparent reference to the recent recapture of the Eastern Ghouta region from rebel groups.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, said one strike appeared to have targeted a depot for surface-to-surface missiles at the 47th Brigade military base, south of the city of Hama.
The pro-opposition Orient News website also reported that large explosions were seen coming from what were believed to be ammunition caches at the base.
Opposition media activist Mohammed Rasheed told the Associated Press that debris from the explosion at the depot struck parts of Hama and that residents of areas near the base fled their homes.
Missiles are also reported to have hit locations in the Salhab area, west of Hama city, and the area surrounding Nairab military airport, which is close to the city of Aleppo and its international airport.

The SOHR reported that 26 soldiers were killed, the majority of them Iranians. Over 60 were injured, several of them seriously and many were still missing. Iranian state-run news services stated that “reports of killed Iranian troops were baseless.”

It is believed but has not been confirmed that the missiles were fired by the Israelis.

To read the entire article from BBC, click here:

Photo courtesy Video Screenshot

US Officials Say Both Chlorine and Nerve Agent Found in Syria Attack

The U.S. has proof of a chemical weapons attack from last week’s attack by Syrian forces and with both blood and urine samples from the victims now say that there is no doubt that they were hit with a chemical weapon.

The samples suggested the presence of both chlorine gas and an unnamed nerve agent, two officials said. Typically, such samples are obtained through hospitals and collected by U.S. or foreign intelligence assets on the ground. The officials said they were “confident” in the intelligence, though not 100 percent sure.
The Assad regime is known to have stocks of the nerve agent sarin, and has previously used a mixture of chlorine and sarin in attacks, say U.S. officials.
Officials also said that the U.S. has compiled intelligence from the U.S. and other countries, including images, that indicate the Syrian government was behind the weekend attack.
Activists and aid groups say that dozens died in Saturday’s airborne assault on Douma, the last rebel stronghold in eastern Ghouta, which has been subjected to intensive bombing by Syria’s Russian-backed Assad regime.
Russia and Syria have denied any involvement in the alleged chemical attack.
U.S. officials say the Assad regime has conducted multiple chlorine attacks on rebels during the past six months.

Intelligence officials are presenting their findings to the President which show that the attacks clearly originated from Assad’s forces. In April of 2017, Syrian forces used a mixture of chlorine and sarin in another attack. The US responded with a Tomahawk cruise missile attack on the airbase from which the attack originated from.

To read the entire article from NBC News, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Russian “Civilian” Contractors Return Home to Military Bases

While the Russians claim to have no control over the Russian military contractors that have been fighting in Syria, including the ones that attacked a U.S. base, once their tours of duty are finished, their return to Russia goes straight to a military base.

Reuters followed groups for Russian contractors as they left Syria and once arriving in Russia, boarded buses and drove 220 miles to the Russian military base that is home to the Russian 10^th Special Forces Brigade in Molkino.

The destination of the Russians arriving from Syria provides rare evidence of a covert Russian mission in Syria beyond the air strikes, training of Syrian forces and small numbers of special forces troops acknowledged by Moscow.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Feb. 14 Russians may be in Syria but “they are not part of the armed forces of the Russian Federation”. He referred Reuters to the defense ministry when asked why civilians fighting in Syria return to a military base. The ministry did not immediately respond.
A duty officer at the 10th special forces brigade, asked why non-military people were entering the military base, said: “Nobody enters it, as far as I am aware … You’ve seen them, okay. But you should not believe everything … You can maybe. But how can we comment on what other organizations do?”
More than 2,000 Russian contractors are fighting to help Syrian forces recapture land from their opponents, several sources, including one contractor, have said.
Reuters reporters saw a Syrian Cham Wings charter flight from Damascus land at the civilian airport in Rostov-on-Don on April 17 and watched groups of men leave the terminal through an exit separate from the one used by ordinary passengers.
They boarded three buses, which took them to an area mainly used by airport staff. A luggage carrier brought numerous oversized bags and the men, dressed in civilian clothes, got off the buses, loaded the bags and got back on.
All three reached the village of Molkino, 350 km (220 miles) south, shortly before midnight.
In the village, each bus paused for a minute or two at a checkpoint manned by at least two servicemen, before driving on. About 15-20 minutes later the buses drove back through the checkpoint empty. Publicly available satellite maps show the road leads to the military facility.

Families of contractors have confirmed that the contractors have been using the military base prior to deploying to Syria and their immediate return to a Russian military base is another sign that the government controls them far more than they admit to.

To read the entire article from Reuters, click here:

Photo courtesy Video Screen Shot

Russia, China Strengthen Ties to Challenge US in the Middle East

U.S. sanctions against Russia have resulted in pushback from Moscow. The Russians and Chinese have pledged to strengthen their bilateral military and political ties to challenge U.S. interests everywhere but especially in the Middle East. Moscow has one of its biggest allies in Syria and the Russians are surprisingly taking the side of Iran as well in this latest development.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu met Tuesday with Air Force General Xu Qiliang, deputy vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, and other regional military officials as part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in the eastern city of Qingdao. As increasingly powerful Russia and China build up their clout on the world stage, they sought a more united front against the U.S., which frequently challenged their rise.
“Time changes everything,” Shoigu said, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. “But, fortunately, it does not change our relations both personally between us and between our states, and the very close, friendly relations of the heads of our states serve as a guarantee of this.”
Shoigu praised “the privileged character of intergovernmental ties” evidenced by numerous meetings between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, both of whom secured enough national support to extend their terms last month. He said the two nations were continuing “their strategic course toward further boosting friendly and trustworthy ties in the defense sphere,” calling this relationship “an important factor for maintaining global and regional security.”
The U.S. and its allies have accused Assad of using chemical weapons in rebel-held territory, and President Donald Trump has twice ordered missile strikes against Syrian government facilities. The U.K. and France joined in the latest and most intense round earlier this month, despite warnings not only from Russia and Iran, but China as well, all of whom doubt Assad’s role in alleged toxic gas attacks. China has also joined Russia, Iran and other countries in investing in the war-torn country’s reconstruction.

The Russians characterized the recent gas attack and resultant Allied coalition response as “Western Style”, in a play on words that may mean their dropping the pretext of no gas attack happened to the U.S. and coalition did it to allow a missile attack.

To read the entire article from Newsweek, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Saudi Arabia in Talks With US to Deploy Troops to Syria

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister has said the kingdom is in talks with the United States about sending some of their troops into Syria as part of a planned wider coalition consisting of Arab troops.

In his comments on Tuesday, Adel al-Jubeir said the deployment offer was “not new”, adding that Riyadh had previously proposed the idea to former US President Barack Obama.
“We are in discussion with the US, and have been since the beginning of the Syrian crisis about sending forces into Syria,” al-Jubeir told reporters in Riyadh during a press conference alongside Antonio Guterres, the UN chief.
“We made a proposal to the [previous] Obama administration that if the US were to send forces … then Saudi Arabia would consider along with other countries sending forces as part of this contingent.”
The kingdom announced its readiness to deploy ground troops in 2016 to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) in Syria.
While Saudi’s air force partook in the aerial campaign aimed at defeating ISIL from the very beginning in 2014, the Gulf kingdom stopped short of a full ground troop deployment.
“There’s great concern among leadership inside the [US] military about the ability of Saudi forces – just look at the war in Yemen that the US has been helping them fight with intelligence and refuelling,” said Culhane.
“There have been humanitarian catastrophes, numbers of schools and hospitals that have been hit, raising big concerns among human rights activists.”

The final question about this planned Arab coalition is whether the troops of the United States will remain in Syria. President Trump has made it clear that he wants to remove the 2000 U.S. troops and keeping them there would probably not be approved by the White House.

To read the entire article from Al Jazeera, click here:

Photo courtesy Video Screenshot

Theresa May: Russia and Syria Are Blocking Evidence of Gas Attack

Using the ridiculous excuse of “Security Issues”, the Russians and Syrians are blocking the efforts of the OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) to gather evidence are actively trying “to conceal the facts” of the latest chemical weapons attack, according to the United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May.

“The Syrian regime has reportedly been seeking to conceal the evidence by searching evacuees from Douma to ensure samples are not being smuggled from this area, and a wider operation to conceal the facts of the attack is underway, supported by the Russians,” May told the British House of Commons on Monday.
May aired that accusation after the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons announced that a team of investigators had deployed to Syria, only to be barred from the site of the attack due to “pending security issues.” The role of the OPCW investigators has been a central part of the debate between Russian and western diplomats over the last several days, as Russia denied that any gas attack had taken place and tried to forestall western airstrikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime.
“It would be possible to make greater efforts on the ground to establish now what has happened in Douma if Russia and the regime were not blocking the opportunity for the OPCW to go to the site, and if efforts were not being made by the regime to ensure that material from the site is not available for that sort of analysis,” May added.
Russian officials maintain that the United Kingdom faked the apparent evidence for the latest attack, which reportedly killed dozens of civilians and injured hundreds more, and then rushed to attack Assad before the OPCW investigation could take place.
“We do not think that these reports could be falsified on this scale,” she said. “The opposition does not operate helicopters or use barrel bombs. [ISIS] does not even have a presence in Douma, and the reports of this attack are consistent with previous regime attacks.”

This latest sham by the Russians and Syrians is the typical maneuver. Cry foul, block an independent investigation and try to erase any evidence before claiming the attacks were staged.

To read the entire article from the Washington Examiner, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia