IS caliphate about to fall

Submitted by gjohnsit on Fri, 02/10/2017 - 4:32pm

raqqa.jpg

The days of the caliphate are numbered.

Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has captured a host of sites that now bring them only 5km within the ISIS capital of Raqqa.
The SDF, consisting primarily of the Kurdish YPG and some Arab fighters, captured Shanina Grain Silos, Jisr Shanina, Shanina, Tall Mahlas and Mahran from ISIS in a lightening offensive.

If Raqqa falls, ISIS is finished as anything more than a terrorist group.

August 2015
mid2015.PNG

vs.
Last Week
2017.PNG

Tags: 
ISIS
raqqa
kurds
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Submitted by Pluto's Republic on Fri, 02/10/2017 - 6:10pm
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Submitted by CB on Fri, 02/10/2017 - 7:03pm
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@Pluto's Republic

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Submitted by Big Al on Fri, 02/10/2017 - 6:22pm
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"greatly rebuild" the military to defeat ISIS. We won't need all those new Navy ships and subs, won't need all those nukes, won't need much of anything according to Trump's foreign policy, which is almost exclusively according to him about ISIS.

http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-defeating-isis-highest-priority-2017-1

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Submitted by thanatokephaloides on Fri, 02/10/2017 - 6:42pm
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@Big Al

Trump's foreign policy, which is almost exclusively according to him about ISIS.

You've obviously forgotten about all those brown people in this hemisphere! And those damned Scotch farmers! /snark

Wink

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Submitted by CB on Fri, 02/10/2017 - 6:46pm
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@Big Al
another $13 billion Ford class aircraft carrier. It can be called the USS Donald J. Trump.

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Submitted by Timmethy2.0 on Fri, 02/10/2017 - 8:52pm

@Big Al

Without haters, Bannon and Trump are nothing.

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Beware the bullshit factories.

Submitted by dfarrah on Fri, 02/10/2017 - 9:00pm

@Big Al busily trying to take credit for the defeat of ISIS. I saw a headline somewhere that indicates that the US is about to defeat ISIS.

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dfarrah

Submitted by CB on Fri, 02/10/2017 - 6:59pm
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Map: Syrian Arab Army approaches al-Bab to within 2 km after latest advance
The Syrian Arab Army (SAA), spearheaded by the elite Tiger Forces, accomplished yet another noteworthy operational victory in it’s ongoing East Aleppo offensive which is aimed at isolating (and perhaps outright liberating) the strategic ISIS-held town of al-Bab.

On Friday, February 10, the the village of Abou Taltal was liberated by the SAA. Syria-based sources confirm that ISIS did in fact put up a fight for the village (being as close as it is to al-Bab, it was highly unlikely that ISIS was ever going abandon it) and that it took the Tiger Forces a full day of combat to liberate the area. Causalities are unknown.

The liberation of Abou Taltal now puts the SAA to within 2 kilometres distance of al-Bab’s southern gates. In terms of physical obstruction, only the small crossroads town of Tadef now stands between the southern pincer of the SAA’s advance and the town of al-Bab.

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Submitted by Bollox Ref on Fri, 02/10/2017 - 7:25pm
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The fewer monsters, the better.

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

Submitted by boriscleto on Fri, 02/10/2017 - 11:12pm
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@Bollox Ref @Bollox Ref The MIC can't survive without them. War is the health of the State.

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" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "

Submitted by orlbucfan on Sat, 02/11/2017 - 9:51am
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@boriscleto

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Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.

Submitted by Sonny Boy on Fri, 02/10/2017 - 11:47pm

I have some dear friends who are Kurdish and I share in their joy of the Kurdish forces pushing back ISIS. This could lead to a new independent Kurdish state (something Turkey really opposes).

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Not Sure I Can Take Much More

Submitted by fight2bfree on Sat, 02/11/2017 - 12:19am

@Sonny Boy have nothing on the Middle East.

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Fighting for democratic principles,... well, since forever

Submitted by fight2bfree on Sat, 02/11/2017 - 12:20am

@fight2bfree

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Fighting for democratic principles,... well, since forever

Submitted by Wink on Sat, 02/11/2017 - 1:23am
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Hair Leader has hinted that he's read some intel (imagine that) that suggests that the U.S. Still is in a world of hurt re. Arab Terrists, and Hair Leader will give us the skinny some time net week. Nevertheless, and despite the imminent threat, Hair Leader assures that he will do everything needed to secure the country, so fear not.

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the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

Submitted by Ellen North on Sat, 02/11/2017 - 1:46am

@Wink

He's probably going to secure the country by nailing it to that Mexican border wall, to make it stay still while he strips it down to the bone.

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Submitted by CB on Sat, 02/11/2017 - 1:47am
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Submitted by glitterscale on Sat, 02/11/2017 - 7:48am

I love the "Hair Leader"! Good one

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glitterscale

Submitted by gjohnsit on Sat, 02/11/2017 - 1:39pm

link

A prominent Syrian dissident said on Friday he believed the country's war was effectively over, as foreign governments have cut support to rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.

Louay Hussein said Russian-backed diplomacy had "launched a new path" towards ending the conflict, which is nearing its sixth anniversary having killed hundreds of thousands of people and shattered Syria into a patchwork of territories controlled by different armed groups.

"The armed conflict for the state is over," said Hussein, 57, a longtime pillar of Syria's internal Damascus-based opposition, seen by critics as aligned with the government.

He stayed in Damascus when the revolt against Assad erupted in 2011, but finally fled in 2015, saying he feared the government would harm him. He had been detained several times.

"There are no longer foreign states saying they support certain groups to topple the regime by force. We are going back towards a political struggle," he said.

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Submitted by Swashplate on Sat, 02/11/2017 - 4:45pm

any links and or suggestions on where i can get more detailed info and history on the Syrian conflict? Maybe save me some time weeding out the chaff...?

Thx for your post. Will follow.

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"....but I was going to make espresso!"

Submitted by Linda Wood on Sat, 02/11/2017 - 9:13pm

@Swashplate Where to find a good chronological series of events.

Reese Erlich has written about the conflict in Syria over a long period of time. His book, Inside Syria, may be the best way to get a solid look at what's happened. And his website has a Timeline that starts in 1914, but if you scroll down to 2011, you can read a list of key chronological events about the current war.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-61614-948-2

Inside Syria: The Backstory of Their Civil War and What the World Can Expect
Reese Erlich. Prometheus Books, $25 (287p) ISBN 978-1-61614-948-2

Erlich (Conversations with Terrorists), a journalist with extensive experience in the Middle East and Syria in particular, clearly and succinctly explains Syria’s current political and military stalemate in this important, informative, and well researched book. Erlich methodically addresses current events: he first describes the history of Syria from WWI to the present; then examines how the “Arab Spring” rebellion evolved from 2011’s peaceful protests to all-out civil war by 2013; and concludes with a systematic analysis of the important internal and external organizations influencing the war...

https://reeseerlich.com/syria-timeline/
The Uprising – 2011-present

Seymour Hersh has written about the chemical weapons attack that killed so many civilians, especially children, and became so controversial. Here is an article about that reporting.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-05-01/seymour-hersh-says-hillary-appr...
Seymour Hersh Says Hillary Approved Sending Libya's Sarin To Syrian Rebels
by Tyler Durden
May 1, 2016

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Submitted by travelerxxx on Sun, 02/12/2017 - 5:04am
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@Swashplate

Hey, Swashplate. Not many here - if any - know what a swashplate would be. I most certainly do as I had my hands on a few within the last 12 hours. I'd pm you about it, but thought you might be more likely to see this as a reply since you admit to being a noob here. Msg me if you'd like. Sounds as though we have something in common...

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Submitted by Swashplate on Sat, 02/11/2017 - 4:47pm

ok..."save" for post is odd. Noob here.

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"....but I was going to make espresso!"

Submitted by tle on Mon, 02/13/2017 - 10:14am

Is the whole wonderful nascent democracy now going to get squashed by Turkey and Syria? I hope not.

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