Thursday, February 04, 2016

Russia's Most Syrian Adventure #66

The peace talks have collapsed.  It appears a reason was that the Russians and Assadites are attacking the rebels and not just Daesh.  This is classically Russian: talk and be amiable and then keep on doing what you're going to do.  The US has called for the halt on Russian strikes.  Russia's not going to listen.

The Iranians want the talks to resume and want fighting against Nusra and Daesh to be excluded from a ceasefire.  I don't think any would have a real problem with that except if the Russians et al just claimed all the rebels were Nusra and/or Daesh as they have done in propaganda broadcasts.

The Russian airstrikes around Aleppo have killed around 21 civilians.  The Syrian army expects to have Aleppo completely encircled shortly.  Some 40,000 civilians have fled Aleppo.

The Russo-Turkish stand off is getting worse.  The Turks denied the Russians a flight allowed under international treaty.  The Russians have turned around and claimed the Turks are preparing to invade Syria.  They say the Turks want to hide the preparations and that is the reason for the flight denial.  The Turks have claimed the Russians have committed war crimes and called on the US et al to take a stronger stand against Russia and its participation in Syria.


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