Syrian Civil War

Russian Veterans Urge Putin to Tell the Truth About Syrian Mission

In an intriguing turn of events, Russian veterans want the Russian government to acknowledge that private military contractors are fighting in the war in Syria, doing the country’s bidding to keep Russian “troop” strength low. They want to secure financial and medical benefits for the contractors as well as their families.

The statement breaks years of public silence about a secret operation involving thousands of Russian civilians fighting in Syria on the side of President Bashar al-Assad whom Moscow has been helping militarily since September 2015.
Based on accounts of people who knew killed fighters and a military medic, Reuters earlier reported that over a hundred contractors had died in combat since the start of the operation in Syria. The Kremlin denies such an operation exists.
“For three years already, we have been receiving complaints and appeals from Russian citizens who were injured in Syria and cannot undergo medical treatment in Russia,” said the statement, signed by retired Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, retired Colonel Vladimir Petrov and Yevgeni Shabayev, a Cossack leader.
“Soldiers and officers of these combat units have no social, medical or financial support from the state … We demand that the status of combat participants in private military companies be recognised,” the statement said.
The Kremlin is often criticized by the liberal opposition for its foreign military campaigns but rarely faces objections from Russia’s military elite, which is generally happy that Moscow is in a standoff with the West.
Moscow says that while some Russian civilians may fight in Syria, they went there on their own initiative and have no connection to the military, which is conducting air strikes with a limited presence on the ground.
According to Russian law, being a mercenary is a crime.

The Russian contractors are hired by a company called Wagner and is owned by Dmitriy Valeryevich Utkin, a former Ukranian citizen who was a Colonel and brigade commander of a special forces Spetsnaz unit of Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU).

Wagner has training facilities for their contractors on Russian military bases at Molkino near the village of Molkin. Wagner, (named after Utkin’s callsign) also has been linked to Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is also a close friend of Russian President Putin.

Putin was photographed with Utkin and several of his lieutenants which set off speculation in the past. The contractors have been active in Ukraine, Central African Republic, Sudan, Yemen, and Libya.

To read the entire article from US News and World Report, click here:

Calls To Boost Military Budget Adding to Growing Unease in UK

The United States and Great Britain have been staunch allies thru World War I, World War II, the Korean conflict as well as in the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan and in Syria. But the lack of spending in the British military has some fearing that the UK’s military prowess will be looked upon as irrelevant unless they receive a huge shot in the arm with budget boosts.

“There is a concern that the U.K. is falling ever further behind and becoming even more useless from a U.S. point of view,” said Andrew Dorman, an associate fellow at Chatham House, a think tank in London.
Britain has traditionally seen itself as one of the world’s leading military powers, and its annual defense spending of 35.3 billion pounds (around $46.6 billion) is still the largest in Europe
But years of squeezed budgets and rising demand in other areas, such as the publicly funded National Health Service, have dented Britain’s military prowess, some warn.
At risk, these experts say, is the so-called special relationship with the U.S., a widespread source of pride among many politicians and the defense establishment.
The British Army has shrunk to 82,000 personnel, which the BBC pointed out is the smallest it’s been since the Napoleonic Wars some 200 years ago.
And in January a government spending watchdog warned that the Ministry of Defense’s shopping list over the next decade was “not affordable” — leaving it as much as 21 billion pounds short (about $27.7 billion).
On Tuesday, lawmakers in the U.K.’s Defense Select Committee published a report urging the government to boost military spending by at least 8 billion pounds a year (around $10 billion) to plug this gaping “black hole” and improve capability elsewhere.
Not only does the U.K. risk “failing both its citizens and its allies,” the report said, but it is also in danger of becoming obsolete in the eyes of its American partners and losing traction in NATO.
“Defense spending is an area where a strong message needs to be sent to our allies and adversaries alike,” said Defense Committee chairman Julian Lewis.

There are many in the British government that fear with President Trump calling for the European allies in NATO to pull more of their own share in defense spending, that the UK will be left far short to defend itself from threats, mainly from the east.

To read the entire article from NBC News click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Russia Withdrawing Troops and Aircraft from Syria

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the Russians have withdrawn a large number of troops and aircraft, according to state-run news agency Tass,

Putin said they withdrew more than 1,000 military personnel and more than 20 aircraft from Syria in the last few days.

“Only over the past several days, 13 planes, 14 helicopters and 1,140 personnel have been pulled out [of Syria],” the Russian leader said, state news agency Tass reported. Putin explained that Russia has been removing its forces from the Middle Eastern country since he visited in December.
Tass also reported on Thursday that the Black Sea Fleet frigate Admiral Essen had “accomplished” its mission in the Mediterranean and is headed back to the city of Sevastopol, on the Crimean Peninsula. Russia has a permanent task force in the Mediterranean, with a naval base located in the Syrian coastal city of Tartous.
Putin praised the Russian military’s success in Syria, saying the “army clearly demonstrated its growing potential and better coordination among military units in the struggle with terrorists.”
Earlier this month, Assad said in an interview that he believes the conflict will come to an end in “less than a year.” He added that his army will take back “every inch” of the country, claiming that he has the “support” of his people.
Assad’s army has turned its attention to the country’s southwest region, as the last remaining pockets of rebels have been defeated near Damascus and Homs. Now, the military aims to reconquer the opposition-held area near the border of Jordan and the disputed Golan Heights, which are claimed by Israel and Syria.
But the region has recently become more complicated, with neighboring Israel launching strikes on Iranian-backed militias, which support Assad, stationed in the region. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Iran and Tehran-backed militias began withdrawing from the disputed Golan Heights border with Israel last week, as part of a Russian-brokered deal with Israel.

President Trump has reportedly been seeking the help of Putin to curb the Iranian military presence in Syria. Their basing of rockets, especially along the Golan Heights on the border with Israel will only lead to further warfare in Syria and beyond.

To read the entire article from Newsweek, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Trump’s VA Nominee Wilkie A Polarizing Figure, Will He Work For All Vets?

President Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Veterans Affairs, Robert Wilkie is a very qualified, conservative Washington insider, who has over three decades of experience navigating the minefields of D.C. politics. And he has a tough job to do manning one of the nation’s largest bureaucracies that is always under the microscope.

Wilkie is no stranger to polarizing people and issues. In fact, rather than run from them, he seems to relish and embrace them. As a young man, Wilkie was an aide to Senator Jesse Helms from North Carolina who bashed Martin Luther King and called gays, “weak, morally sick wretches.” Wilkie described Helms who died in 2008 as a mentor and lists his accomplishments in U.S. defense as cornerstones of his own beliefs.

Wilkie also worked for Trent Lott, the conservative Senator from Mississippi who lost his Senate Majority post for defending the segregationist views of Strom Thurmond who unsuccessfully ran for the White House.

More recently, Wilkie worked in the Defense Department for Donald Rumsfeld and returned to the Pentagon recently in the Trump Administration working in military policy. He’s shown he’s never one to back down from a fight, even when the issues are quite polarizing. Now he’s tabbed to run the VA which it seems is always under fire.

Wilkie and his father were frequent visitors to Civil War battlefields and they have a heritage of family members who fought for the Confederacy. Wilkie was active in and participated in many events with the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a group which celebrates the birthdays of Confederate leaders and generals.

He has stated that he no longer attends those meetings or counts himself as an active member since the commemorations which were once a means to memorialize soldiers and family members but now have become “part of the politics that divide us.”

But on the flip side, he also brings a very experienced military background to the table. His grandfather served as an artillery officer in the 82nd Infantry Division, (now the 82nd Airborne Division) in World War I. His father was an artillery officer who was severely wounded in Vietnam. Wilkie served in both the Navy Reserve with the Joint Forces Intelligence Command, Naval Special Warfare Group Two and the Office of Naval Intelligence.and the Air Force and is currently an Air Force reserve officer.

He is a trusted member of Jim Mattis staff at the Department of Defense and has contacts going back several generations in Congress.

But while he can, and has gotten things done, he also took a stand on several particularly divisive issues including, in 1993, he publicly defended Helms’ choice to support an organization whose logo included the Confederate flag. In 1997, Wilkie fought against a Democratic proposal in 1997 to ensure equal pay for working women. And just this year, he took a stand for President Trump’s policy for justifying a ban on transgender troops serving in the military.

Wilkie will need to show a willingness and passion for fighting for and defending all veterans rights, whether he agrees with the cause or not, and not just blindly be following an agenda.

Wilkie got the strongest possible recommendation from Mattis who is a very respected Defense Secretary in an administration that has gotten a lot of criticism. He’s also gotten the recommendation of White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. And he has already been approved by the Senate twice before for different posts so, the confirmation process wasn’t seen to be a major block.

Wilkie was surprised by his appointment by the President, who announced his nomination in May. Wilkie was happy working as Undersecretary for personnel and readiness under Mattis but agreed to take the position out of a sense of duty.

One big sticking point was erased when Wilkie announced that there won’t be privatization of veterans health care. And he’ll inherit a bloated agency beset with poor morale due to political infighting that is also beset with a myriad of problems.

The veterans of the country will be watching and they’ll expect changes, positive changes be made soon.

Photo: Wikipedia

Russia Calls Off Ceasefire With US in SW Syria, Israel Hits Iranian Base

With what was termed breaches of the ceasefire agreements by insurgent groups in southwest Syria, the Russian air force in Syria announced the end of the ceasefire agreement they reached with the United States and Jordan in the area.

Meanwhile, government forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are staging a new offensive to retake one of the last rebel-held regions in that area of the country.

The Hmeymim base, an airfield located in the west coast province of Latakia, is one of two major Russian-leased military installations in Syria, the other being a naval base about 40 miles down the coast in Tartous. Russian warplanes—likely based in Hmeymim—reportedly struck targets Monday in the southwestern province of Daraa, where Russia and Syria had agreed last year to a ceasefire with rebel groups attempting to overthrow Assad since a 2011 uprising backed by the U.S., Turkey and Gulf Arab states.
“The end of the period of reduced escalation in southern Syria can be confirmed after it was breached by extremist groups and illegitimate armed groups operating against Syrian government forces, while the agreement remains in the Syrian province of Idlib,” the Central Channel for the Hmeymim Military Base wrote on Facebook.
The base also denied reports of civilian casualties in a later message, maintaining that “Russian bombers do not target civilian sites by any means. Our missions are limited to the destruction of the terrorist bases belonging to the Nusra Front and ISIS [Islamic State militant group] terrorists, in order to support friendly land forces advancing on the ground.”
The ceasefire collapse also occurred as airstrikes reportedly struck Damascus International Airport on Tuesday. While the attack remains unclaimed, it has been widely blamed on Israel, who rarely takes responsibility for strikes against Iranian and pro-Iran targets in neighboring Syria. The U.K.-based, pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Israeli warplanes struck “a shipment of Iranian weapons” that had arrived at the airport, while Russia’s state-run Sputnik News highlighted reports claiming an Iranian cargo plane may have been the target.
Iran-backed groups, such as the Lebanese Shiite Muslim Hezbollah movement, have reportedly pulled back from southwestern Syria as part of a recent agreement, but Iran has maintained that it would not leave Syria unless asked to do so by the local government. The latest airstrikes in Damascus, however, may indicate that the deal has fallen apart or did not preclude Israeli attacks elsewhere in the country. Last week, unclaimed airstrikes blamed on both the U.S. and Israel reportedly killed dozens—including Iraqi militias—in Syra’s far eastern province of Deir Ezzor.

Assad has kept close relationships with both Moscow and Tehran during the Civil War but has called for the forces of both the United States and Turkey, which they claim are in their country illegally and without permission to leave immediately.

To read the entire article from Newsweek, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

US Denies Responsibility For Airstrike on Iraqi/Syrian Border Units

Syrian state media said on Monday that an airstrike that targeted Syrian army positions along the Iraqi border was carried out by U.S.-led coalition aircraft causing deaths and injuries, but the U.S. military denied responsibility.

The attack took place in al-Harra, southeast of the town of Albu Kamal, state news agency SANA said, citing a military source. SANA said the attack caused an unspecified number of deaths and injuries.
A commander in the alliance fighting alongside Damascus told Reuters that drones that were “probably American” had bombed the positions of Iraqi factions between Albu Kamal and Tanf, as well as Syrian military positions.
The commander, who is not Syrian and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the strike had killed and injured some Iraqi fighters but he did not give any numbers.
Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, a grouping of mostly Iran-backed Shi’ite paramilitaries, said a U.S. air strike on the Iraqi border with Syria killed 22 of its members and wounded 12 others.
“At 22:00 last night a U.S. plane hit a fixed headquarters of the Popular Mobilization Forces’ 45th and 46th brigades defending the border strip with Syria, using two guided missiles which led to the martyrdom of 22 fighters,” it said in a statement.
It demanded an explanation from the United States.
An Iraqi military statement later said no Popular Mobilization Forces or other Iraqi troops tasked with securing the Iraqi-Syrian border had been hit by the air strike, and it had taken place inside Syria.

The United States has about 5200 troops in Iraq including Special Operations troops and air assets that are battling Islamic State (ISIS) militants and have Special Operations troops in Syria supporting Syrian Arab and Kurdish militia fighting Islamic State militants there as well.

“No member of the U.S.-led coalition carried out strikes near Albu Kamal,” Major Josh Jacques, spokesman for the U.S. Central Command said.

To read the entire article from Reuters, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Assad Says He’s Open to Allowing Iranian Bases in Southern Syria

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has stated that he’s open to having an Iranian presence in the southern area of Syria and blamed the U.S. and Israel for supporting “terrorists”. The interview on Iranian-funded, Arabic news channel Al-Alam, also stated that Syria will make the final decision and not anyone else.

The interview started with questions about southern Syria, which has become contentious and a source of media speculation regarding stories about the possibility of Russia-Israel negotiations to block Iranians from having a presence anywhere in that area. Assad said the choice in the south has been the same as all over: Either make peace with the armed groups or “resort to force.” He blamed Israel and the United States for supporting what he called “terrorists” and for the lack of an agreement so far.
When asked specifically about any deal regarding Iran in southern Syria, Assad said relations between the two countries are “strategic and will not be influenced by issues relating to the north or the south.” He said Saudi Arabia has repeatedly conveyed to him that if he were to cut ties with Tehran, the situation in the country “would return back to normal,” but he said he is not going to “trade away” ties with Iran.
Assad also said the deal to have Iranians not be involved in operations in the south was an Israeli pitch. Assad said he viewed the possibility of a deal as part of an anti-Iranian propaganda, and that any deal regarding Iran would be made between the two countries and no one else.
Regarding Israeli strikes on Syria and the possibility of a Syrian response, Assad said Syria would always respond within the framework of its possibilities. However, he said the best response to Israeli strikes was to hit back at forces inside Syria who were receiving Israeli support and who he accused of “clearly taking actions in favor of Israeli interests.”
Regarding reports about differences within the coalition of Syria, Iran and Russia, Assad first said that relations between Iran and Syria have been stable for 40 years. He added that Syria has had relations of varying degrees with Russia for seven decades. On the issue of differences, Assad said it is natural to have differences on “daily tactical” issues, but these differences are resolved through negotiations between the sides involved.
Questioned as to why Iranian and Syrian officials typically refer to Iranians in Syria as “advisers” (media reports show that a large number of Iranians have been killed in battle), Assad said the term “adviser” is a general term. He said there are Iranian advisers and also Iranian volunteers. He said that when these “advisers” enter a battle, they become “fighters.” However, he indicated that what is meant by “advisers” is that there are no Iranian units fighting in Syria— meaning no battalions, brigades or divisions.

Assad mentioned that Iran has not requested a permanent base in Syria and that he hopes to visit Tehran soon.

To read the entire article from AI Monitor, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

RAF Chief Defends Bombing Of Islamic State Targets

The top UK Royal Air Force general has defended the RAF’s bombing of Islamic State targets calling ISIS “really wicked and evil enemy that used civilians as human shields.”

Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach said the RAF had carried out “the most carefully planned air campaign in history” and was “meticulous” in trying to avoid civilian casualties.
Amnesty International has criticised the UK for its role in attacks on the Syrian city of Raqqa.
It claimed that the US-led coalition had been responsible for killing hundreds of civilians in Raqqa alone and it called on the Ministry of Defence to “come clean” over Britain’s role.
But Air Chief Marshal Peach, who earlier in his career served as a navigator in a Tornado jet, does not accept the charge.
He said any allegation of civilian harm, with evidence of time and place, was properly investigated.
RAF strikes ‘have killed more than 3,000 IS fighters’
In a valedictory interview with BBC News, Air Chief Marshal Peach highlighted some of the challenges he has faced as the most senior British military officer, including recruitment.
The regular Army is more than 10,000 soldiers short of its target strength of 82,000 and he admitted he was “worried” about the numbers, saying they presented a “challenge to do better”.
He suggested that part of the problem was an “unfortunate characterisation” of how the armed forces were often portrayed.
“We’re not all heroes and we’re certainly not all victims”, he said, adding that the vast majority who served were “enriched” by their life in uniform.
His own origins are humble – as the son of an Army sergeant major. Educated in a state grammar school, he was the first in his family to go to university and describes the RAF as a meritocracy with a long history of taking people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

With the call for more defense spending with threats rising, Peach highlighted the recent Skripal assassination attempt on British soil and said that those type of attacks are now becoming routine, almost regular.

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

Photo courtesy UK MOD

Top US, Russian Military Leaders Meet in Finland

The top U.S. military leaders of the United States and Russia are meeting in Finland to exchange views on U.S.-Russia military relations, Syria, and the current international security situation.

Finnish news agency FNB said Friday’s meeting of Gen. Joseph Dunford, current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Russia’s chief of the military’s General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, took place in a Finnish state-owned manor used for meetings, negotiations and receptions north of the capital, Helsinki.
No news conference or statement was planned.
FNB said Finland hosted a similar a meeting in 2008.
In April, NATO’s top military officer, U.S. Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, met with Gerasimov in Baku, Azerbaijan, for the first such encounter since relations between Moscow and the alliance sank to post-Cold War lows over the Ukrainian crisis.

Despite the bluster that we see in the press coming from each country, to include the militaries, the generals are the ones who know the cost of war and a failure in diplomacy could be devastating for both parties. They’ll try to sift thru the tough talk and work out the details of ensuring that a war between the two superpowers doesn’t happen.

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

Photo courtesy AP of Russian military leaders arriving at the conference.

Assad Vows to Retake Areas of Southern Syria Held by US-Backed Kurds

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has upped the ante and warned Kurdish forces that are trained and equipped by the United States that he wouldn’t hesitate to use force to retake the roughly one-third of the country they currently control.

Assad also tried to sound ominous and said in an interview with Russian television that the U.S should learn the lessons of Iraq and remove their troops from Syria.

“The only problem left in Syria is the SDF,” Assad said, referring to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which spearheaded battles against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS).
“We’re going to deal with it by two options: the first one we started now opening doors for negotiations, because the majority of them [SDF] are Syrians. Supposedly they like their country, they don’t like to be puppets to any foreigners,” Assad said.
“If not, we’re going to resort … to liberating those areas by force. It’s our land, it’s our right, and it’s our duty to liberate it, and the Americans should leave. Somehow they’re going to leave,” he added.
“They came to Iraq with no legal basis and look what happened to them. They have to learn the lesson. Iraq is no exception and Syria is no exception. People will not accept foreigners in this region any more.”
Assad said a confrontation between Russia and US forces over Syria had been narrowly avoided.
“We were close to having direct conflict between the Russian forces and the American forces,” he said. “Fortunately it has been avoided – not by the wisdom of the American leadership, but by the wisdom of the Russian leadership.”

Assad in his comments about foreigners neglected to mention the scores of Iranian troops that have been spoiling to start a fight with Israel and have been being hammered …on Syrian soil nor the attack by Syrian and Russian “contractors” on a US base that resulted in a stinging defeat at the hands of the US-backed Kurds.

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

Photo courtesy Wikipedia