Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #ASSAD

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1. The #Iran Action Group created by @SecPompeo last month released its report. Iran's role in the region, which other administrations overlooked, appears to be under intense scrutiny. #Houthis in #Yemen have been identified alongside groups responsible for attacks against the US
2. The report stated that consequences of #Iran's meddling include its lethal ballistic missiles, which advanced its proxies military capabilities: "Yemen’s #Houthi militants have fired numerous ballistic missiles into #Saudi Arabia, including two directed at Riyadh in May 2018."
3. The report also indicated that since 2012: "#Iran has spent over $16 billion propping up the #Assad regime and supporting its other partners and proxies in #Syria, #Iraq, and #Yemen."
Read 14 tweets
My goodness: here's a prime example of policy advocacy on #Syria based either on ignorance, or [hopefully not] malign intent.

This is *riddled* with inaccuracy & misinformation.

@steelejourno says the West should force an opposition surrender in #Syria:

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
@steelejourno #pt: @steelejourno says the US, UK & #France are “less honorable” in seeking to delay #Syria & #Russia’s “success” in regaining territory.

- They seek to enable a meaningful political process, in which there’s an opposition entity to sit at the table. I’d say that is honorable.
@steelejourno #pt: Here, @steelejourno says UK, US, France & "Gulf Arab monarchies” want ceasefires to protect rebels, not civilians.

In #Idlib, nothing could be further from the truth. None of those countries have *any* ties to rebel groups in #Idlib, who only equal ~0.5% of the population.
Read 10 tweets
Absolutely extraordinary.

#Syria’s air defense systems have no way to determine “friend” from “foe.” #Russia doesn’t export that tech.

Within a complex & unpredictable environment, that raises the risk to civilian aircraft
significantly.
#Israel says #Syria’s air defense fired “dozens” of anti-aircraft missiles from several batteries across the country over the space of 40-mins… *after* #IAF planes had returned to #Israel.

One took down #Russia’s IL-20.

timesofisrael.com/syria-fired-mi…
To me, this looks like messaging more than a truly dramatic change in reality/dynamics:

- S-300s already deployed in #Syria.

- #Israel (& US) uses encrypted radar/GPS; less vulnerable to counter-measures

- #Russia has been “jamming” for 2+ yrs.

- #Israel fires most from Med.
Read 5 tweets
BREAKING - Likely #Israel airstrikes just hit a scientific research center - reportedly linked to the SSRC - in #Latakia.

#Assad regime air defenses were allegedly activated in multiple provinces: #Latakia, #Tartus, #Homs & #Hama.
Mabrouk #Assad - your invincible air defenses shot down an aircraft!

... a #Russia IL-20 reconnaissance plane was shot down over #Syria tonight - amid #Israel airstrikes in #Latakia.

#OwnGoal

Tonight’s developments vis-a-vis #Israel & Russia are a pretty big deal.

It would seem #Israel may have acted without giving #Moscow prior warning = big challenge to their prior arrangement.

Or, #Russia did know, but got attacked by their errant ally in #Damascus = humiliating.
Read 7 tweets
Once again protests against the #Assad regime have erupted all over rebel-held #Idlib and nortern #Aleppo.

Syrians in the town of #Kafranbel sing "we want freedom!"
#Syria: anti-#Assad protest in the village of al-Ibizmu in western #Aleppo
#Syria: anti-#Assad protest in the town of Darat Izza in western #Aleppo.
Read 24 tweets
Short THREAD on #Russia - #Turkey divergences over #Idlib as seen from #Moscow:
1. In early August I described rationale behind RU positon & that "certain level of understanding reached w/ TUR that there should be no [large-scale] offensive on Idlib [then]"almon.co/338t
2.I recently reached out to the same senior RUS diplomat who reiterated #Moscow's bottom-line desire to settle the issue peacefully except for terrorists organization who he argued #Turkey too agreed to fight as part of AStana agreements.Yesterday,RU #Syria envoy Lavrentyev..
3. .alluded to #Russia's growing displease w/ #Ankara's inability to deliver upon its committments in the area that, as Lavrentyev said"is kind of their zone of responsibility."Instead,#Erdogan writing op-eds,trying to enlist support from #West/ern partners over #Idlib which is..
Read 10 tweets
Iranian militias in #Syria
By the beginning of 2012, with the increasing peaceful demonstrations the #IRGC began to feel the danger to the regime of its ally Assad and the major schisms within the #Assad army. Opposition sources estimate the number of dissidents at 150,000.1/12
Because of Assad's field losses, Tehran gave orders to #Hezbollah terrorist militia to conduct military intervention to save #Assad. It was the first direct military presence of the militia in southern #Damascus and the vicinity of Damascus International Airport.2/12
#Iran #USA
Over time, the #IRGC has established a number of trained, financially and militarily supported militias from #Tehran that are spread over a number of Syrian provinces from #Aleppo to #Daraa.3/12
#Iran #Syria #USA #Israel #IDF #Russia
Read 13 tweets
Muhammed Najem was in Ghouta saying the exact same things before Assad liberated that part of Syria from Jihadist "rebels". This teenager is taking selfies for propaganda purposes and shame on Al Jazeera for participating in this.
#Idlib #IdlibDawn #IdlibOffensive
#HandsOffSyria
Seriously the #FUKUS coalition and the allied press are recycling the same children to use to manufacture consent for interventionalist wars to defend terrorists from legitimate Syrian forces.

#Syria #Assad #SyrianArmy #Russia

france24.com/en/20180224-sy…
What a photogenic teenage boy no wonder why they are sending him around to do selfie videos defending the head choppers. Here is one he did for the terrorists in Ghouta before they sent him to Idlib.
Read 18 tweets
We are past the point of no return in #Syria. Not taking direct military action against the Assad regime as it proceeds to carry out its extermination campaign in #Idlib & the rest of Syria, is complicity to genocide and puts us squarely on a direct war path with Russia and Iran.
Pretending that Russia and Iran can be appeased by allowing the #Assad regime to commit genocide in #Syria is a lethal mistake. Striking the Assad regime decisively and militarily will halt the Russian & Iranian war march towards Europe & Mediterranean. Diplomacy has not worked.
We are already at war with Russia + Iran. Pretending that allowing Assad to live is somehow going to change that fact is simpleton nonsense blanketed in immorality masked as "anti-war" sentiments that condone genocide, torture, and the erasure of international law & human rights.
Read 6 tweets
My take-away from #TehranSummit this far is #Russia, #Turkey, #Iran each, by & large, can be satisfied w/ its outcomes. #Moscow & #Tehran realized #Erdogan has bigger assets & higher stakes in #Idlib than, say, in southern #Syria where he let #Assad get the opposition, thus..
..the idea for the summit was to get a deal where all the 3 can secure their bottom-line interests.They didn't fully achieve it since there will be another round of trilateral talks (some time in the future in #Russia) and the parties hope to settle #Idlib issue in #Tehran but..
..(a) #Turkey maintained credibility of the oppoaition (by that good cop-bad cop thing #Erdogan & #Putun played), (b) #Russia got his promise to deal w/ those attacking #Hmeymim (c) #Ankara received time to settle the major task of assorting militants (d)..
Read 4 tweets
#Assad has repeatedly vowed to retake “Every Inch of #Syria”. While the pledge seemed unrealistic early on, it suddenly doesn’t seem too far fetched. But is Assad’s vow only about land, or is there something more fundamental that has been cornerstone of the leadership’s strategy
2-Vowing to “Take Every Inch of #Syria back” started as early as 2013 when Damascus would make the pledge in private to Western officials who came looking for solutions. Such officials were known to have warned Damascus that, even if possible, such would take years to achieve =>
3-Since the pledge was first used in private in 2013, the #Syrian leadership has stuck to its vow and made it clear that there can’t be a political solution until every inch of the country is taken back under State control first. This fundamental premise continues today
Read 14 tweets
Here, a @UKLabour MP praises a notorious conspiracist who says meeting Bashar al-#Assad was her "proudest" moment.

She's justified incendiary weapons & barrel bombs on civilian targets; suggested 9/11 was a false flag; Zionists rule #France & the #CharlieHebdo attack was fake.
@UKLabour Extraordinary.

@UU_University invited notorious conspiracist Vanessa Beeley to lecture on “War Reporting.”

Her claims were so outlandish, the students walked out & boycotted the course, calling it “a propaganda camp.”

news.postimees.ee/4511277/top-un…

(PS - Look at the pictured slide)
@UKLabour @UU_University #pt: Among Beeley’s claims at @UU_University:

- @hrw is run by a secret “Jewish organization called the #Washington elite.”

- #Russia only promotes international peace

- #Syria’s opposition "tear pregnant women in half, betw'n cats”

- All media (e.g. @guardian) are govt tools
Read 4 tweets
Images of White Helmets weeding and cleaning the exterior of a Church in #Idlib appear to have terrified the pro-#Assad community.

Nothing short of hysteria coming from the regime loyalist crowd over the last 12hrs. #Syria
This “veteran correspondent” is losing it.

#Syria #Idlib
St. Joseph’s Church in the village al-Quneya - the one cleaned by White Helmets - in west #Idlib suffered substantial damage when it was bombed by #Assad regime forces in April 2013.

So much for being the protector of Christians & #Syria’s minorities.

Read 5 tweets
Fascinating & damning deep-dive into the mess that followed #Assad’s Sarin attack in E. #Ghouta in August '13.

@BarackObama’s “cold feet” & distance, #Putin’s political “games” & @Ed_Miliband being “actively unhelpful.”

= Delays guaranteed no action.

thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/s…
@BarackObama @Ed_Miliband #pt: Exasperated at how distant #Obama had seemed & how difficult it was to connect with him by phone, the UK’s PM #Cameron said:

- "The next time I ask to talk to the president about chemical weapons attacks, tell me to turn over on my sun lounger and go to sleep.” #Syria
@BarackObama @Ed_Miliband #pt: After briefly expressing support for UK military action in #Syria, @Ed_Miliband's turn to party politics to slow/prevent action left PM #Cameron’s office furious, to say the least:

- “No 10 & the Foreign Office think Ed Miliband is a f****** c*** & a copper-bottomed s***.”
Read 3 tweets
He’s traded with #ISIS; acquired land expropriated from displaced civilians; and become super rich out of #Syria’s conflict & destruction.

- Meet #Assad’s latest moneyman & likely route around international sanctions - Samer Foz.

wsj.com/articles/out-o…
Make no mistake, Samer Foz is an asset of #Assad's regime; empowered & facilitated by current & ‘retired’ security officials to get around tight foreign sanctions.

Foz has bankrolled militias in #Latakia & he stands accused of ordering the assassination of a rival in #Turkey.
#pts: Samer Foz also - allegedly - runs a quiet PR effort, both in the #EU & the U.S., which plays up one line over & over:

- 'Sanctions only hit innocent civilians & create terrorism… International investment is the key to saving #Syria, recreating jobs & bring back refugees.’
Read 3 tweets
Preparations appear to be underway for a pro-#Assad offensive on #Idlib.

12hrs of on/off air & artillery strikes vs. southeastern & western #Idlib & northern #Hama - see marks on map (original by @ETANA_Syria + my additions).

+ multiple large pro-regime convoys moving north.
@ETANA_Syria #pt: If/when any major military campaign gets underway, expect the #Assad regime (+ #Russia & #Iran-backed militias) to focus on these 2 fronts:

1) West #Idlib (Jisr al-Shughour)
2) N. #Hama/#SE #Idlib (Latamineh, Khan Sheikhoun, Kafrazita)

-> a gradual push ‘inland’ & north.
@ETANA_Syria Very good by @theIRC’s @DMiliband:

- The West must “re-assert” itself & protect civilians in NW #Syria & as a backstop, safe-routes should be opened for civilians to flee into #Turkey.

- UNSC must demand full access to S #Syria; for aid, monitoring etc.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-w…
Read 83 tweets
This, ladies & gentlemen, is what happens when one writes about something one knows literally nothing about.

Complete nonsense, interspersed with lies & conspiracy theories made popular by far-left #Assad supporters & #Russia.

How utterly shameful.
#Syria Civil Defense = volunteer rescue service, whose members also provide medical care, de-mining, infrastructure repair & children’s safety education.

They've operated anywhere they can in opposition areas - to save lives & keep people safe.

= 114,000+ people saved till now.
.@ClarkeMicah says @SyriaCivilDefe are “closely associated with… al-Qaeda or… even worse” - based on what exactly?

An organization that works w. the U.S., UK et al., who espouse pro-democratic views & get evacuated by #Israel (etc. etc.) are somehow global jihadists?

Please.
Read 4 tweets
Extraordinary report on #ISIS’s attack on Suweida by @kshaheen - the details are chilling.

- 12hr attack from x3 axes
- Bedouin acted as #ISIS guides
- #ISIS knocked on doors, often calling out people by name
- #ISIS left single survivors as witnesses

theguardian.com/world/2018/jul…
@kshaheen #ISIS is thought to have taken many prisoners - male, female & allegedly also children - during its attack in #Suwaida.

Hostage demands have reportedly been made, involving female prisoners.

Some local #Druze militiamen were beheaded already:
A trio of #ISIS suicide bombers attacked an #SSNP checkpoint in eastern #Suwaida overnight - at least 4 people were killed.

One of the #ISIS militants was captured alive & lynched in public, with an SSNP (essentially National Socialists/Nazis) flag tied to his corpse.

#Syria
Read 4 tweets
Horrendous - the death toll from this morning’s #ISIS #Suwaida attacks has risen to 220.

Tensions are already high in the area, amidst fresh disagreements with #Damascus (& #Russia) over the imposition of conscription on the area's local male population.
It seems that #ISIS may have kidnapped #Syria soldiers/pro-#Assad militiamen during today’s assault on al-#Suwaida.

#ISIS media has published graphic images showing a mass execution - again, eerily reminiscent of earlier days, when intimidation was a main objective.
BREAKING - Days after horrific attacks on #Suwaida, ISIS says it's attacking nearby Khalkhalah airport, now home to *huge* amounts of weaponry surrendered by the #FSA in #Deraa.

Watch this.

Via @JohnArterbury & @HKaaman
Read 3 tweets
Extraordinary.

Acc. to @BarakRavid sources, #Russia has told #Israel that it'll seek to force #Iran 100km away from #Israeli-held 1974 #Golan line.

That means all territory west of the red line on map (L).

= A truly wild fantasy.

Look where #Iran is now (R); per @ETANA_Syria:
@BarakRavid @ETANA_Syria #Israel has shot down an #Assad regime Sukhoi fighter jet, which took off from T4 Airbase & flew 2km into Israeli airspace.

x2 Patriot SAM missiles were used & multiple messages sent in multiple languages prior to shoot-down.

Another example of #Russia’s value in de-escalation.
@BarakRavid @ETANA_Syria #pt: Just 36hrs ago was #Israel's first operational use of the "David’s Sling" SAM system, used to down #Assad ballistic missiles.

Yesterday, #Russia’s MFA & MOD visited #Jerusalem to firm-up their security arrangements with #Israel.

I wrote that #Moscow is incapable - clearly.
Read 8 tweets
Important article... @ejmalrai ‘s exclusive reveals content of #US message conveyed via #Russia to #Syria.
1-The US will leave #Syria.
2- Let the Kurds continue negotiations with Damascus. 3- The US establishment will recognise Assad’s authority over Syria..
But Iran must leave.
.2/ #Assad’s response:
#US came to #Syria uninvited and it’s presence is illegal.
Syria’s duty is to push it out by all means.
#US shall not obtain by negotiation what it failed to obtain in seven years of war.
.3/ Assad & his allies see a US-French-UK withdrawal as an achievement & their eventual withdrawal a necessity, once Syria is no longer in need of their help.
Assad conveyed to US, Iran not interested in remaining once mission of terminating “terrorist” threat is accomplished.
Read 4 tweets
Amid #Assad regime offensive in south #Syria, worth bearing in mind its continued bombing of areas in #Idlib - also under a so-called “de-escalation zone.”

Having watched the southern zone dissolved w/o response from #Jordan or #Israel, #Turkey’s now warning #Idlib = “red line."
#Turkey has deployed its own armed forces to x12 “observation posts” fencing in opposition areas & enforcing de-escalation.

#Russia seems invested in stability in #Idlib - but for how long?

After #Deraa, will #Assad & #Iran destroy the last remaining “de-escalation zone”?
For now, expect periodic regime bombing raids & notably, also ‘spoiling’ attacks by fighters unrestrained by #Turkey’s iron grip.

#HTS will remain internally divided on de-escalation -- the more regime bombings, the heavier the pressure for #HTS to respond = #Assad opportunity.
Read 26 tweets
Just for you all to keep in mind:

#Russia will never ask #Iran (and allies) to pull out of #Syria or out of the south of #Syria.

Russia wants to avoid further clashes between #Israel & #Iran in Syria and will try to do so to the benefit of the central government In #Damascus.
#Russia understands that #Iran was in #Syria 1st (2013 heavily) to help #Damascus to fight #ISIS, #AQ and their allies supported (finance, weapons, intel) by Arab, Israel and western countries to stop "regime change".

Russia came to join the already ongoing effort in 2015.
Unlike what many "pop-corn analysts", "Twitter or divan journalists/analysts" might say, #Assad - although very grateful for Moscow's intervention not only in Syria but also at the UN and various platforms - can and did disagree with #Russia in few battles north and south.
Read 5 tweets
Absolutely superb work by @nytimes, @bellingcat & @ForensicArchi - exposing clear evidence that #Assad regime was responsible for the April 7 chemical attack in #Douma.

The munition used matched many previous CW attacks.

Watch this.
Bookmark it.

nytimes.com/interactive/20…
NEW - @OPCW report confirms that #Chlorine was found at the site of the April 7 attack in #Douma, aligning closely with previous investigations.

Note: #Russia said no chemicals were used & it was a false flag attack (mutually contradictory, but hey...)

opcw.org/news/article/o…
@OPCW Remember that “rebel chemical weapons factory” in #Douma that pro-#Assad people trumpeted on about?

The @OPCW inspected it and found zero evidence of any chemical weapons production or toxic chemicals.

More #Russia disinformation rubbished.
Read 4 tweets

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