US Rejects Russia’s Call for Joint Strikes Against Syria’s al-Qaeda Forces

[charrob]

US Rejects Russia’s Call for Joint Strikes Against Syria’s al-Qaeda Forces; appears Russia will act on May 25:



Pentagon Spokesman: US Has Different Military Objectives

With al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front taking over more and more territory in Syria, and reportedly preparing to establish an independent “emirate” that would mirror the government set up by ISIS, Russia today issued a statement calling for joint operations against the Islamists with the United States.

Both the US and Russia are engaged in airstrikes against ISIS in Syria, and both have at times launched strikes against al-Qaeda’s forces there as well. US officials, however, didn’t respond kindly to the idea of joint operations against al-Qaeda.

“We do not collaborate or cooperate with the Russians,” insisted Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis, who added that the US has “different military objectives” in Syria than the Russians do, and that the US is focused on “defeating ISIS.”

The US and Russia have been conducting bilateral negotiations on a plan to end the Syrian Civil War after five years, and Russia couched today’s proposal as a way to remove a major obstacle to the peace, al-Qaeda’s stranglehold on much of northwest Syria. US officials, however, seem determined to reject any Russian plan out of hand, which likely explains why the months of negotiations have just amounted to intermittent US statements of condemnation.

http://news.antiwar.com/2016/05/20/us-rejects-russias-call-for-joint-strikes-against-syrias-al-qaeda-forces/






Russia has proposed to the U.S.-led coalition that they stage joint air strikes on Syrian rebels, including militant Islamist group Nusra Front, who are not observing a ceasefire, but the United States responded coolly on Friday.

Such action would begin as of May 25 and be coordinated with the Syrian government, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told a Defence Ministry meeting broadcast on state television, adding Moscow reserved the right to stage strikes unilaterally.

He said joint air strikes should also target convoys carrying weapons and ammunition crossing into Syria from Turkey.

"We believe the adoption of these measures will allow a transition to a peaceful process to be achieved in the entire territory of Syria," he said. "Of course, these measures have been coordinated with the leadership of the Syrian Arab Republic."

Shoigu said discussions with U.S. military experts based in Jordan and other counterparts in Geneva had begun on Thursday.

But the United States made clear on Friday it had little interest in the idea, noting Russia has floated similar proposals in the past and stressing that it expected Moscow to pressure its Syrian government ally and to avoid unilateral strikes.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-russia-usa-syria-idUSKCN0YB1HB

[puppetmaster]

The ugly truth will be revealed in syria.

[AngryCanadian]

No matter Russia will go it alone again.

[FSP-Rebel]

The US has funded the radicals in the ME and do not want to link up w/ Russia to finish them off. Got it?

[specsaregood]

The US has funded the radicals in the ME and do not want to link up w/ Russia to finish them off. Got it?

It was darn neighborly for the Russians to give us notice so that we could get our advisers out of harms way.

[FSP-Rebel]

It was darn neighborly for the Russians to give us notice so that we could get our advisers out of harms way.

You're right and thx for being so neighborly. I'm adding a russian portion for ya. I get it, you want to leave and that is fine.

[FSP-Rebel]

It was darn neighborly for the Russians to give us notice so that we could get our advisers out of harms way.

I'm surprised at you but yeah. i get it

[FSP-Rebel]

I'm surprised at you but yeah. i get it

Don't be a low life bitch.

[specsaregood]

Don't be a low life bitch.

Are you drunk?

[charrob]

This was from another post a week or so ago but it relates to this:

Obama Broke Pledge to Demand Syrian Opposition's Separation From Nusra Front:




The gradual erosion of the cease-fire in Syria over the past month is the result of multiple factors shaping the conflict, but one of the underlying reasons is the Obama administration's failure to carry out its commitment to Russia to get US-supported opposition groups to separate themselves physically from the Nusra Front -- the al-Qaeda organization in Syria.

US Secretary of State John Kerry made the promise to separate the groups as part of the understandings underlying the February 22 cease-fire, but never delivered on it. And by the time Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov finished negotiating on how to make the "cessation of hostilities" more effective in the Syrian city of Aleppo on May 2, the Obama administration had effectively withdrawn that concession completely.

The joint US-Russian statement on Monday reaffirming the original February agreement makes no mention of the proximity issue, despite its centrality to the negotiations between the two powers on how to reduce the violence in Syria.

The administration's vacillation on the issue reflects the reality that the US-supported armed opposition has no intention to withdraw from its close military collaboration with Nusra Front. It also reflects deep divisions within the administration over Syria policy. Obama has leaned toward working with Russia on a cease-fire as an alternative to reliance on the armed opposition to put pressure on Bashar al-Assad, but senior officials in the Pentagon, CIA and US State Department remain strongly committed to ramping up military assistance to anti-Assad forces.

A central issue in the US-Russian cease-fire negotiations in February was the fact that the opposition groups supported by the CIA operate in close proximity to and full cooperation with units of al-Nusra Front. In January 2015, the former US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, admitted that the Obama administration had long "looked the other way while the Nusra Front and armed groups on the ground, some of which are getting help from us, have coordinated in military operations against the regime." That coordination has been formalized in a joint command for Aleppo Province, where Nusra Front controls the administration of the opposition zone in Aleppo city.

Lavrov argued in the February negotiations that opposition forces operating in close proximity to al-Nusra Front and its closest allies could not claim immunity from attacks on Nusra Front. The "cessation of hostilities" excludes Nusra Front forces, which are considered legitimate targets. UN Security Council Resolution 2254, passed in December 2015, also calls on all states to "eradicate" the "safe havens" that Nusra Front had established in Syria.

But as The Washington Post reported on February 19, Kerry was rejecting Lavrov's demand in negotiations on a cease-fire, insisting that Russians should halt airstrikes on Nusra Front-controlled areas to avoid hitting "moderate" opposition forces. Kerry finally agreed to the Russian demand that the US-supported opposition units separate themselves physically from the Nusra Front forces in order to avoid being hit in Russian strikes against the terrorist organization, as Lavrov revealed in April. Part of the plan for the February cease-fire was a commonly agreed map that would delineate the zones to be occupied by opposition forces, which would be clearly separated from the Nusra zones.

In discussing the cease-fire agreement on February 22, Kerry's spokesman at the State Department, Mark C. Toner, clearly implied that the United States and Russia were in agreement on the aim of separating the non-jihadist forces from the Nusra Front and its close allies. He told reporters, "If you hang out with the wrong folks, then you make that decision.... You choose who you hang out with, and that sends a signal."

The Russians agreed to refrain from air attacks on Nusra Front forces until the expected physical separation could be carried out. That concession explains the relative paucity of Russian air attacks against the Nusra Front zones in Aleppo and Idlib provinces from late February through March.

In return the Obama administration apparently agreed to prevail on its allies to halt the flow of arms and troops to Nusra Front and other opposition units in northern Syria, as long as the Russians and Assad abided by the cease-fire. The halt continued through late March, according to Iranian sources described as "high officials present in Syria." The "cessation of hostilities" resulting from the US-Russian understanding dramatically reduced deaths and destruction in Syria from late February until mid-April.

But Lavrov complained publicly in mid-April that, despite repeated promises by the United States to get the moderates to move away from Nusra Front forces, "those promises are still not fulfilled. A week later, Kerry confirmed Lavrov's accusation, telling The New York Times editorial board that "it was harder to separate them than we thought."

Whether or not Kerry actually believed the separation was possible, the process of separation was bound to be resisted by the armed opposition in the absence of a threat to cut off US assistance. So some senior administration officials -- including Kerry himself -- who had been pushing Obama to be more aggressive in supporting the CIA client opposition groups, had reason to resist the very separation that the US had promised to carry out.

By April 22, the cease-fire began to disintegrate in and around Aleppo, and opponents of the policy of diplomatic cooperation with Russia on Syria launched a counterattack. Unidentified Obama administration officials told Reuters that Russia had "renewed airstrikes against moderate opposition groups" in Aleppo and that "a failure to respond" could "encourage Russia to escalate challenges to U.S. and allied militaries through more provocative Russian air and naval maneuvers."

The State Department soon acknowledged indirectly that it had abandoned its previous commitment to push for physical separation. Col. Steve Warren, the spokesman for the US "Operation Inherent Resolve" against ISIS (also known as Daesh) in Iraq and Syria, had let slip the admission that "It's primarily al-Nusra who hold Aleppo" during an April 20 briefing. But on April 27, State Department spokesman Mark Toner contradicted that admission. He referred to a "misperception" that "some of these opposition groups were in league with Nusra and other terrorist organizations" and that "Aleppo is under Nusra control."

Toner then quoted from a letter from US Special Envoy for Syria Michael Ratney to opposition groups that codified the new administration stance on the separation issue. "The Syrian people and revolutionary factions," it said, must "distance themselves from the terrorists to the maximum extent possible." The qualifying phrase "to the maximum extent possible" clearly signaled that the United States was no longer insisting on "distancing" by the armed opposition as a requirement.

On May 3, the day after the last phone conversation between Kerry and Lavrov on Aleppo and just before the undefined new understanding applying the truce temporarily in Aleppo was to take effect, at the regular daily State Department press briefing, a journalist asked State Department spokesman John Kirby about the negotiations with Russia on "delineating terrorists from rebels." Kirby said, "We have seen examples where groups like al-Nusra and Daesh intermingle themselves with others so as to help protect themselves from attacks" -- but said nothing about the necessity for the US-supported groups to separate themselves geographically.

Then the same journalist asked whether the US supported the position taken in a statement signed by 37 opposition groups that explicitly refused to recognize any distinction between Nusra Front and other groups. "We the armed groups across Syria will form a single bloc," it declared.

Only then did Kirby peel back slightly the veil of diplomatic secrecy over the US position. "We want all parties -- everybody -- to abide by the cessation of hostilities," he said, "and when we are able to come to an agreement on some additional modalities, to agree to that." Although the syntax was difficult to follow, Kirby was acknowledging that the US was still dangling the possibility of separating the US-supported armed groups from Nusra Front before the Russians -- but only as part of a larger agreement that would presumably involve Russia's commitment to forcing the Assad government to agree that Assad would step down.

On May 4, Kirby was asked if the United States now expected Russia to stop its attacks on targets in Aleppo, in light of the lack of action on separating the "moderates" from the legitimate targets presented by Nusra Front. Kirby said only that the US demand was for "complete de-escalation" in Aleppo, without any conditions.

The State Department has thus abandoned the commitment it had made in the original cease-fire agreement to ensure that its opposition clients would separate themselves from Nusra Front, while keeping the possibility on the table as a bargaining chip to get the Russians to increase their pressure on Assad.

In the May 9 joint statement, Russia agreed to work with the Syrian government to "minimize aviation operation over areas that are predominantly inhabited by civilians or parties to the cessation," but it said nothing about Russian airstrikes on the Nusra Front zone. And the United States committed to "intensifying its support and assistance to regional allies to help them prevent the flow of fighters, weapons, or financial support to terrorist organizations across their borders." But the statement made only the most indirect allusion to the contentious "proximity" issue in referring to working on "a shared understanding" of the territory controlled by Nusra Front.


http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/35984-obama-broke-pledge-to-demand-syrian-opposition-s-separation-from-nusra-front

[acptulsa]

They're fighting our terrorists and we're fighting our other terrorists.

This could get very tricky very fast.

[Danke]

Are you drunk?

R U high?

[FSP-Rebel]

Are you drunk?

:D Long weekend.

[charrob]

Rebels given last warning to back away from Nusra: Russian MoD:

The Russian Air Force was expected to resume their large-scale aerial campaign over Syria on Wednesday; however, the Russian Ministry of Defense decided to give the rebel forces one last warning to back away from Jabhat Al-Nusra (Syrian Al-Qaeda group) before they restart their airstrikes. Russian Minister of Defense, Sergey Shoygu, said on Wednesday morning that the Russian Air Force will strike any force that does not adhere the nationwide ceasefire in Syria; this includes groups that are considered “moderate” by the West. “We reserve the right to strike any faction that does not adhere to the truce, starting today,” the Russian Minister of Defense stated on Wednesday.

General Shoygu added that Russia will give the rebel groups one last chance to separate themselves Jabhat Al-Nusra and other jihadist groups before they resume their attacks against terrorist groups in Syria. No timeline was given for these rebel groups to disassociate themselves from Jabhat Al-Nusra and other jihadist factions.



https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/russia-gives-rebel-groups-one-last-warning-back-away-nusra



Russia postpones airstrikes against terrorist-held areas in Syria:

Russia will postpone airstrikes against militants in Syria, after being asked by several militant groups that are willing to join the ceasefire. The groups say they need time to drive Al-Nusra from their territories.

The Russian Center for Reconciliation in Syria has received around 10 messages from the leaders of armed groups in Syria in a number of different provinces asking not to start airstrikes, according to Defense Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov.

The groups say they will look to drive Al-Nusra from specific areas and inform Moscow of Nusra-free territories so that Russian aircraft don’t target them.

“Some of them are ready to provide us with coordinates and the areas which they control after they are fully cleared from terrorists, and further ensure that Syrian towns and army positions aren’t shelled from these areas,” said Konashenkov.

A decision has been taken to work with these armed groups that want to join the ceasefire.

On Monday, the Russian Foreign Minister and US Secretary of State John Kerry discussed the possibility of carrying out joint attacks on militant groups in Syria, following a proposal made by Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu.


“We suggest to the US… starting on May 25, joint action of the Russian Air Force and the US-led coalition forces to plan and conduct strikes against the Al-Nusra Front, which does not support the ceasefire, as well as against convoys of arms and fighters crossing the Syrian-Turkish border,” he said.

However, the US was only lukewarm about Shogiu’s plan and said that no air raids would be carried out in conjunction with Moscow.

“There is no agreement to conduct joint air strikes with the Russians in Syria. What we are discussing with our Russian counterparts ... are proposals for a sustainable mechanism to better monitor and enforce the cessation of hostilities,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said.

Shoigu said that on May 25, Russia would initiate airstrikes against any militant group it viewed as a terrorist organization.

A ceasefire in Syria, which came into force on February 27, does not apply to Islamic State or Al-Nusra Front, which makes it possible for Russia to carry out airstrikes against both terrorist groups.


https://www.rt.com/news/344341-syria-russia-airstrikes-nusra/

[charrob]

The Russians patiently waited to attack al Qaeda's Nusra Front since February... giving warnings all along the way. The Idlib Governorate in Syria is completely controlled by Qaeda's Nusra Front (it's their largest area of control)... at least until tonight. Some of the top leaders of Al Qaeda recently visited Idlib stating they wanted to create an Al Qaeda "Emirate" inside Syria's Idlib Governorate. Recently thousands more jihadists poured over Turkey's border into the Idlib Governorate. And homes in Idlib, previously the homes of Syrians who had fled the war in Syria years ago, are now inhabited by fighters from all over the planet -- including literally thousands of Chinese Uighers. It looks like tonight Russia attacked Idlib...



Air strikes pummel rebel-held city of Idlib

A wave of air strikes on a rebel-held stronghold in northwest Syria Monday night caused mass casualties and sparked fresh clashes. The flare up in violence came a day after the opposition’s chief negotiator resigned in frustration over the stalled Geneva peace talks with the government of Bashar Assad.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group counted 10 air strikes on the city of Idlib in the evening, which it said killed at least 14 civilians, including three children. The group said it believed Russian jets were responsible.

The Local Coordination Committees, an activist network, said 10 people were killed when the city’s National Hospital was hit, but had no details about casualties elsewhere in the city.

The opposition Civil Defense, which carries out rescue operations, gave a much higher casualty figure, saying dozens were killed and hundreds wounded in the air strikes in which several hospitals were damaged. The group said it had deployed its entire Idlib corps to take part in rescue operations.

The Observatory said hospitals were not targeted, but suffered damage when bombs struck nearby.

Idlib is under the control of the newly resurrected Army of Conquest coalition, which is dominated by ultraconservative insurgent groups and rebel factions. Al-Qaida’s Syrian affiliate, the Nusra Front, leads the coalition. The Nusra Front is considered a terrorist group by the U.S. and U.N. and has been excluded from previous cease-fire agreements between government forces and rebels.

The Army of Conquest announced it had suspended its non-emergency civilian administration in Idlib after the air strikes, according to the Local Coordination Committees.

The group responded to the air strikes by shelling the nearby besieged towns of Foua and Kefraya, according to the Observatory. The two towns are seen as loyal to the government.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/air-strikes-pummel-rebel-held-city-of-idlib/2016/05/30/0b6b8f52-26cb-11e6-8329-6104954928d2_story.html

[AngryCanadian]

The Russians patiently waited to attack al Qaeda's Nusra Front since February... giving warnings all along the way. The Idlib Governorate in Syria is completely controlled by Qaeda's Nusra Front (it's their largest area of control)... at least until tonight. Some of the top leaders of Al Qaeda recently visited Idlib stating they wanted to create an Al Qaeda "Emirate" inside Syria's Idlib Governorate. Recently thousands more jihadists poured over Turkey's border into the Idlib Governorate. And homes in Idlib, previously the homes of Syrians who had fled the war in Syria years ago, are now inhabited by fighters from all over the planet -- including literally thousands of Chinese Uighers. It looks like tonight Russia attacked Idlib...

The Syrian Rebels on social media have being using images from last year.
Still no proof or evidence they were either Russian or Syrian air strike if at all they were air strikes.

[charrob]

The Syrian Rebels on social media have being using images from last year.
Still no proof or evidence they were either Russian or Syrian air strike if at all they were air strikes.


I tend to agree with you on this. At first I assumed it was Russian airstrikes as they've patiently waited since February for the U.S. to get it's ""moderate"" rebels to separate from al Qaeda's nusra front. But had there been proof of this, it would surely have been all over U.S. corporate news that the Russians 'were slaughtering innocent civilians'.

[charrob]

Washington to Moscow: Stop Targeting al-Qaeda in Syria - You'll Kill Our Moderates!

The Associated Press is reporting this afternoon that the Obama Administration has requested that the Russians cease and desist from bombing al-Qaeda's Nusra Front in Syria because Washington's "moderate" rebels are fighting together with al-Qaeda in Syria and any attack on al-Qaeda could kill Washington's "moderates."

The Obama Administration thus continues with the fiction that there are completely separate, vetted, moderate rebels who are dedicated to creating an inclusive, multi-cultural and multi-confessional, secular, and democratic Syria as soon as both ISIS and the Assad government are defeated.

The fiction is repeated constantly, in the manner of all state propaganda, by straight-faced US White House and State Department spokespersons. "Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?" is the order of the day.

Washington admits that its moderates are training with, integrated with, sharing weapons with, and fighting alongside affiliates of those who attacked the US on 9/11 and no one had better dare to attack al-Qaeda lest they harm these moderates.

Just today, media reports that a Syrian government position in south Aleppo collapsed after an attack by the terrorist-labeled al-Nusra -- and Washington's moderates (Ahrar al-Sham):


The insurgent offensive is led by Failaq al-Sham, Ahrar al-Sham, the Turkistan Islamic Party, Jabhat al-Nusra and Jund al-Aqsa; the latter two Islamist groups are affiliated with al-Qaeda.

Why is no one asking why such moderates would want to associate themselves with al-Qaeda in the first place? Why do they seek to integrate into al-Qaeda command structures? How are they not to be considered ducks when they walk like ducks and quack like ducks?


http://ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/peace-and-prosperity/2016/june/03/washington-to-moscow-stop-targeting-al-qaeda-in-syria-youll-kill-our-moderates/