Konflikten i Syrien

ISIS executes 200 of its own trying to defect to fight Russians
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ISIS recently executed more than 200 of its own militants after they tried to break off and join al-Qaida, witnesses told Syrian human rights workers.

The militants, apparently of Chechen and central Asian background, were more interested in fighting Russian and Syrian government troops than helping ISIS conquer the region.

An ISIS defector told the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) the men were marched to a natural hole in the ground in the countryside near al-Raqqa where they were murdered and their bodies dumped.

Another 21 militants "of Caucasian nationalities" were gunned down by ISIS in August after they left their guard posts, SOHR reported.

"The reasons of successive defection of Chechen, Caucasian and Turkestan fighters from Islamic State is their belief that fighting with Islamic State is wrong. Rather, we have to join Jabhat al- Nusra to fight the regime forces and Russia," the defector told the human rights group.

As part of an effort to revamp its strategy against the Islamic State (IS), the White House is sending fewer than 50 U.S. Special Forces troops into northern Syria to coordinate with local fighters battling the group on the ground.
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In northern Syria, US special operations forces will be embedding with an alliance of Kurdish militia and Arab rebels, which calls itself the Syrian Democratic Forces or SDF, the senior administration official said.

The SDF is mainly comprised of Syria's main Kurdish militia — known as the People's Protection Units, or YPG — but it also includes Arab groups operating under the name "The Syrian Arab Coalition."

By increasing its support to the Syrian Kurdish fighters, the US is sure to create more friction with Turkey, whose military fired on YPG positions in the northern Syrian town of Tal Abyad on Sunday.

Earnest said there are "moderate opposition forces" just 45 kilometers outside of Raqqa.

The US-led coalition has already been supporting the Kurdish forces with airstrikes for months, and in early October dropped 50 tons of ammunition to fighters with the Syrian Arab Coalition. The alliance says it's planning to advance toward Raqqa for a major assault on the Islamic State's de facto capital.

The Minister said that Russia supports the process of fighting terrorism which must be based on international laws and accords, adding that this process must be conducted with the approval of the governments involved or via a Security Council resolution.
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However, Lavrov said that agreement was reached by all sides on wanting to address the UN to bring the Syrian government and opposition groups together to initiate the political process that leads to agreement among sides, adding that they also agreed that the elections should be observed actively by the UN and must include all Syrians, including refugees in neighboring countries, regardless of their affiliations.
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Mogherini noted that there are still problems and that the meeting wasn’t easy, but points of agreement were reached nonetheless, and that later international communications regarding Syria will be conducted under UN supervision.
In the same context, Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, who attended the talks, said in a statement following the meeting that the essential principles for resolving the crisis in Syria revolve around the word “unity” on three levels: unity of Syrian land, unity of the Syrian people, and the unity of the international community in working to resolve the crisis and fighting terrorism.

Qatar's foreign minister: 'We have our own democracy'
In this preview, Khalid al Attiyah says 'Qatari-style [democracy]' will be a good model for Syria.
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"What more democracy you want than we have..." the foreign minister tells Mehdi Hasan. "[We have] the best healthcare system, the best education…"

The foreign minister also says he would be happy with a "Qatari-style democracy" in Syria. "If they have [a] Qatari-style...this will be a good model".

Al-Attiyah defended the Ahrar Al-Sham Islamist militant group which Qatar and its allies have been supporting, saying: “They are not allies of Al-Qaeda. They are a Syrian group fighting to liberate their country. We do not consider them extremists and terrorists. They are part of the moderate opposition.”

Agreement to Disagree in Vienna on Syria
by Stephen Lendman

Russia’s intervention in Syria changed the dynamic on the ground and regionally, potentially with global implications, a major geopolitical development, the most important one in decades.

Washington is desperate to keep its imperial agenda on track and unchallenged - why John Kerry met with 17 of his counterparts plus EU and UN envoys in Vienna on Friday, following US, Russian, Turkish and Saudi foreign ministers meeting there on Thursday, Syria so far excluded from discussing its own future.

Washington’s intentions remain unchanged - replacing Assad with a US controlled puppet. Sending special forces to northern Syria (illegally without Security Council or Damascus authorization) with likely more to follow, solely to aid terrorist elements against Assad, along with continued lawless bombing of infrastructure targets, not ISIS as claimed.

It shows Obama wants war, not peace, Washington’s usual solution to everything, a pure evil agenda for global conquest.

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Putin is forthright and straightforward, no ambiguity in his comments. Defeating terrorism in Syria and the region is prioritized - then a hoped for political solution once this goal is accomplished, Syrians alone deciding who’ll lead them, not foreign powers, polar opposite US plans.
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Russia remains fully committed to fighting their scourge in full accord with international law principles, polar opposite how America operates, ignoring them altogether, risking global war in the process.

Moscow rejects US demands for Assad to go, Lavrov clearly saying “(t)he Syrian people (alone) should define the future of their country, including Assad’s fate.”
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In one month of bombing ISIS and other terrorists in Syria, Russia flew around 1,400 sorties, destroying over 1,600 targeted sites - including 249 command posts, 51 training camps, 131 ammunition and fuel depots, and 786 field bases, according to General Staff Col. Gen. Andrey Kartapolov.

Air strikes killed 28 “most odious” terrorist leaders, he added. Syrian ground forces liberated over 50 towns and villages, comprising about 350 square km.

ISIS losses are massive, their forces in disarray, “complete victory” not yet achieved. Much work remains. Terrorists are clearly on the defensive - pummelled by Russian air power and Syrian ground forces.

Moscow’s overtures to Washington to cooperate jointly against ISIS and other takfiris were spurned. America continues supporting them. Defeating them is all the more urgent.

https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2015/10/31/18779462.php