Russia's Most Syrian Adventure #61

In the last 48 hours, the Russians have hit 424 different targets.  In comparison, the US led forces hit 28.   Through Christmas, Russia has flown a total of 5,240 sorties and hit multiple targets each time.  Their average has been about 3 air strikes per sortie.  They have hit somewhere between 15,000 and 18,000 targets.  The Allied strikes have been around 20 per day and should come out to be 1,800 in the same time frame.

The Russians are claiming their air strikes have reduced the rumored export of oil by IS/Daesh to Turkey.  The ironic bit is Anonymous, the group I rolled my eyes about their fictional role in that awful book, Ghost Fleet, has declared "war" on Turkey for the rumor of buying the oil.

The Russians acted on intel and hit a specific target in Raqqa with an Su-34.  This was supposedly a meeting of top Daesh/IS leadership.  The US Allies led a similar strike as well.

The Assadites have been making gains with the help of the Russian air cover.  Things are looking bleak for a non Assadite Syria.

The Russians have made it clear they will not stop their air strikes if a ceasefire is negotiated in Syria.  This does not bode well for any sort of peace.  I do understand the POV there's no ceasefire possible with IS though.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims Russia has killed 2300 people with its air strikes since the start of their campaign supporting Assad, including almost 800 civilians and 180 children. Russia, of course, rejects the accusation. Amnesty International has stated the Russian strikes in Syria are war crimes.  You can imagine the Russian reaction.

(an aside: Russia claimed to be cooperating with the Taliban (!) against IS/Daesh in Afghanistan.  The Taliban denied this claim very, very fast)

Anonymous Declared War on Daesh/IS. Has it Helped?

Last week, a new cyber front emerged in the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Anonymous, the hacker collective principally known for its website defacements and account takedowns for political causes, initiated #OpParis, aimed at defeating ISIL online. This is not the first Anonymous campaign against ISIL. Their previous foray several months back, more obviously named #OpISIS, failed to cultivate a strong following or endure. But Anonymous hackers, likely bearing witness to ISIL violence in European neighborhoods in which many likely roost, have energized their legion and drawn interest from media outlets.

Reactions to #OpParis are mixed. It is encouraging to see the collective take on a noble goal in contrast to many of their other campaigns that vary in merit. Everyone hates ISIL and Anonymous has skills. Why shouldn’t the hacker collective join in a campaign to root out evil? And who better for Anonymous to challenge than a terrorist group that so prolifically uses the Internet to radicalize and recruit their foreign fighters and social media fan boys.

Thus far, Anonymous’ primary modus operandi has been to take down ISIL social media accounts and initiate Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks on key terrorist forums. This immediately raises several issues.

link.

I am going to write my own post on Anon and its participation in Ghost Fleet, an awful book, but also discuss what they have done in real life. Esp with regards to Daesh/IS because it relates directly to that terrible book.