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[Descan]

haha is joke

[smjjames]

Well, I suppose from the American perspective it could maybe be called that both the Syrians and Iranians are friendly enough to be green.

In general, your friendly fire incidents are marked with blue being your own troops and green being the hypothetically friendly local forces. Green on blue is a really major concern in Afghanistan still, with people in Afghan uniforms opening fire on people.

http://www.duffelblog.com/2012/08/man-in-afghan-presidents-uniform-shoots-secretary-of-defense-in-latest-green-on-blue-attack/

Oh, I thought green meant the army/military and blue meant police forces, which is what I was misunderstanding about.

[Loud Whispers]

Whether that incident spills to the rest of Syria is yet to be seen, but this is not the first time i have seen reports that the Syrians are not too happy with their new Iranian overlords because, as opposed to the Russians which the Syrians greatly prefer and which are far more pragmatic and couldn't give a damn about the subtle differences between a various Islamic sect to another, the Iranians look down on the Alawites for being "lesser Shiites" and treat them accordingly.

When the first Caliphate conquered the levant, one of the reasons why it was accepted so quickly was because the Christians there were tired and wary of the Byzantines trying to stamp out heresies whilst the Caliphate viewed them equally as heathens who were pretty much all the same
People can get along with outsiders much more than people similar, but different

[evilcherry]

That one assumes that the wave of destruction won't overflow into Europe proper and drag it down, as well, which is foolish considering recent refugee crisis.

In other words, it's a stupid short-sighted policy that is unworthy of being called "realpolitik". Kind of like that Libya adventure.

What else can we do though? I don't see how backing the Saudi isn't really any good.

Unfortunately 'Muricans have so little spine and they will support the Saud family.

For me I'd rather advocate an Iranian strategy, and try to make the Holy cities an international zone.

[smjjames]

That one assumes that the wave of destruction won't overflow into Europe proper and drag it down, as well, which is foolish considering recent refugee crisis.

In other words, it's a stupid short-sighted policy that is unworthy of being called "realpolitik". Kind of like that Libya adventure.

What else can we do though? I don't see how backing the Saudi isn't really any good.

Unfortunately 'Muricans have so little spine and they will support the Saud family.

For me I'd rather advocate an Iranian strategy, and try to make the Holy cities an international zone.

Including Jerusalem? Because Islam considers it as a Holy City, I think. Not quite to the same level as Mecca though I don't think.

[Vilanat]

For me I'd rather advocate an Iranian strategy, and try to make the Holy cities an international zone.

Interesting.

Can't see it happen as the Saudis will never agree to it. And even if they could somehow been forced to, this is still the Middle East and i don't know of any international force that is capable of maintaining the safety and security of the people in such Zones. the U.N will run with his tail between his legs the second an ISIS like organization decides he doesn't like that status anymore.

[Loud Whispers]

Including Jerusalem? Because Islam considers it as a Holy City, I think. Not quite to the same level as Mecca though I don't think.

Yep; also comparing it to Mecca is kinda unfair since it's well... Mecca

[smjjames]

Including Jerusalem? Because Islam considers it as a Holy City, I think. Not quite to the same level as Mecca though I don't think.

Yep; also comparing it to Mecca is kinda unfair since it's well... Mecca

I doubt Israel would let anybody take Jerusalem away from them.

Anyway, Iran says that Saudi led warplanes intentionally bombed their embassy in Yemen, coalition investigating if it was actually intentional.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was intentional because of the current tensions, but willing to give a little bit of benefit of the doubt because of the Fog of War and all that.

[Vilanat]

Yeah, can't see this happen as well for the same reasons. the Israelis knows from experience there isn't an international force capable of actually maintaining peace and order in this region (Since such forces are/were completely powerless in Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Gaza and took off the second a single bullet flew by). it also depends on the definition of what is Jerusalem since there isn't actually any justification to having anything outside the old city as an international city and the Israelis will never agree to give away the western parts and rightly so as those should remain Israeli and the eastern parts should be Palestinian. most Israelis actually prefer such an imaginary and impossible scenario.

Not a single faction of the Palestinians will ever agree to it, though.

As for the bombing of the Iranian embassy in Yemen. most sources i see say it didn't even happen let alone happened intentionally. according to "eye witnesses", the coalition bombed a nearby Houthi stronghold and some minimal debris managed to reach the embassy.

Whether its true or not, we will never know i guess. Iranians have no problem outright lying and fabricating stuff out of nothing. around a month ago an Iranian semi official newspaper published an article claiming the Iraqi forces caught an Israeli colonel among ISIS operatives and named him with some random, barely Israeli, name (First completely non Israeli name and the family name of Israel's former Chief of Staff). the picture they posted of the "Colonel" was a photo of an Israeli regular soldier that was killed in Gaza last year. in another version, they posted a picture of another Israel's ex-chief of staff. the ID number they gave is something they must have pulled out of some software DRM since its ridiculously long with english letters mixed in it.

[Vilanat]

A group of Hezbollah supporters hijacked a facebook tag that calls for solidarity with thousands who starve under the siege in Madaya and posted pictures of their own rich dinner tables.

https://twitter.com/hashtag/%D9%85%D8%AA%D8%B6%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%86_%D9%85%D8%B9_%D8%AD%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%B1_%D9%85%D8%B6%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A7?src=hash

What an ugly use of Social media.

[Zangi]

Starving out the entrenched enemy, isn't that still a valid tactic?  Especially when you don't have the means to get at em easily?

Either way, I'd totally show em how much food I have too...  if I'm trying to convince anyone in there to rat out/surrender the enemy combatants.  (Though, suicide bombers would be a huge problem in that scenario...)

[Loud Whispers]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Hezbollah starving out Madaya for the Assad regime on the orders of Iran. What a funny chain of command. At any rate the Shiites will not let up on Madaya unless the Shiite villages of Foua and Kefraya are given relief, as they have been under siege by rebel forces even longer than Madaya has been by government forces. This is somewhat harder to do as Foua and Kefraya are also besieged by Al-Nusra front. Snipers, minefields, artillery; the snow has wiped out the grass that the besieged were reduced to eating. Also notable is the government controlled city of Deir al-Zour which is besieged by ISIS. Government and military officials there receive basic supplies through its airport, but the citizens themselves are faring quite badly. Surprised they're still holding out. Some deals have been made to evacuate hundreds from both rebel and government besieged towns, but its hundreds of people when hundreds of thousands are besieged.
Paraphrased from this.

[martinuzz]

Today, 18 people were killed and 50 people injured when a group of 6 armed men besieged a shopping mall in the center of Bagdad, setting of explosions.
The attack has been claimed by IS. The kept over 50 people hostage, until Iraqi forces landed on the roof, killing 2 and arresting 4 of the assailants.

[martinuzz]

Turkey has arrested 3 Russians, for being involved in the suicide attack which killed 10 (mostly Germans) and wounded 15, yesterday. According to the Turkish press agency Dogan, the 3 Russians are connected to IS.
The Russian consulate has acknowledged their arrest.

According to state press agency Anadolu, the three are in contact with IS, and providing them with logistic support.


This is going to be so good for restoring the Russia - Turkey relations

[Morrigi]

Yesterday or the day before, a UN and Syrian government convoy of 40-50 trucks carrying food aid made it to Madaya. There have also been accusations throughout the siege of rebel fighters seizing food shipments and hoarding them before trying to sell food to the population at absurd prices. This is probably why the Syrian government temporarily stopped sending aid. Also, apparently Iran has seized two American boats and their 10 crew that it claims violated their territorial waters, but has pledged to free the sailors. Not sure about the boats.