I remember seeing an article a while back that we built five air bases in Syria. Seemed like an odd choice. I guess we were planning on them never regaining effective control of that lost territory again.
ETA: and if we bomb / shoot them anytime they approach it, I guess maybe we’ll be right.
Which is wat the US is actually doing.
They have already bombed Syrian army troops twice and deployed heavy rocket artillery.
The shooting down of the Syrian jet is a deliberate escalation in order to stop the advance.
The real Syrian government is the one still recognised as such by the UN.
Interesting. Do you think we intend to help the Kurds establish a de-facto independent state in what-used-to-be-Syria? Are the guys we’re helping at At Tanf Kurds or some other … ethnicity(?)?
I hope the Kurds get their state. If I were Assad I would let the Kurds slide and indeed the Syrian army has made no attempt to ‘tresspass’ on terrain conquered by the Kurds. They even sent troops to protect them from the Turkish proxy forces that are attacking them.
The rebels in the south are Syrians, heavily supported with US materiel.
Are you aware of any estimates on the relative sizes of the forces of each faction? Are we backing the wrong horse in this race? It sounds like they’re losing, or at least not winning, which, I would think, would be pretty hard to screw up with USAF air support, MLRS at your beck and call, and Special Forces units embedded with you.
ETA: and if you don’t mind me asking: How do you know so much about this? Are you in Syria? Of Syrian descent? An interested observer?
Just an interested observer.
This war is a huge and dangerous chess game that could indeed escalate into war with Russia. It pays to follow it closely.
I’ve worked with Kurds - refugees who travelled several years ago. The way one told it he was a successful sniper. It’s difficult to convey the loathing they have for the USA.
They were mostly Peshmerga, back it the day when alliances were more straight forward.
The root of the hatred of the USA is how policy switched to support one group then another, leaving the group/s now not supported utterly exposed; without warning, without explanation, and after so much sacrifice.
No, no, not a chess game. Read up thread, we’re told it’s about Putin buffing, or smething.
No one is arguing that Assad isn’t going after Da-esh in areas that are strategically important to him. But he doesn’t have a strategy to wipe them out like he is trying to wipe out the Syrian rebels that are not aligned with Da-esh. He likes a certain amount of Da-esh to be out there so he can claim that if he goes, Da-esh will take over.
And when it’s overthrown, the government that replaces it will also be recognized as such by the UN.
Everything I’ve read and heard is that the Kurds are mostly pro-American.
Unfortunately, in that region of the world (well, in all regions, really, but that one especially) it is very dangerous and in the long run counterproductive to be an American ally. US is very fickle. As up_the_junction’s post suggests.
Rah! Rah!
Yes, exactly. Basically, yellow sausage bandit’s maps have no context. You have to look at who controls the areas Assad’s forces are going against as well as the strategic value. It’s pretty clear that, aside from several ground offensives geared more towards capturing strategic roads or cities, Russian and Syrian air forces have concentrated mainly on the various rebel factions, steering mainly clear of ISIS concentrations unless they are in ground deemed vital or strategic to Assad’s wider plans. If he (and the Russians) REALLY wanted to go after ISIS then they would be striking east, not north, and you’d see the pattern of air operations shift accordingly. I’m not in a position to grab sites tonight, but there are tons of maps that show the strategic give and take of ground in Syria over time, as well as provide context of who is where and why.
[QUOTE=up_the_junction]
Rah! Rah!
[/QUOTE]
As opposed to your unsubstantiated out of your ass pseudo-anecdote that is true because America Bad™, right? 
[QUOTE=Latro]
Just an interested observer.
This war is a huge and dangerous chess game that could indeed escalate into war with Russia. It pays to follow it closely.
[/QUOTE]
And your observations really tell you that Syria and Russia are concentrating on ISIS and not hitting everyone else? I mean…really? What do you base this observation on?
Yes there are, the quote is right there in my post
I didn’t know you had a private meeting with Assad. If he told you this, it must be true.
How does it actually feel to be dishonest XT?
Genuinely curious.
You don’t just wallop in your ignorance, you also jump up and down and wave about it.
I don’t think anyone would contest that “US foreign policy towards the Kurds is not mono-lithic”. I certainly wouldn’t. Earlier you said this:
Could we try to convey it though? Do you believe “loathing” is an accurate descriptor for, as an example, the average Kurd’s attitude towards the US? A tiny minority? The vast majority?
ETA: would you say they loathe us more or less than, again as an example, the residents of Anbar province?
Maybe one could compare it to the loathing the Bay of Pigs Cuban emigree fighters felt for the US as they were dying on the beach?