‘Moderate’ Rebels Force US Commandos to Run From Syrian Town

While the United States has consistently backed what Washington refers to as “moderate” rebels in the Syrian conflict, video released Friday appears to show those same moderate fighters turning on American Special Forces.

On Friday, the Pentagon announced that dozens of US Special Operations Forces had been deployed to Syria to fight alongside the Turkish military and so-called moderate Syrian rebels.

“At the request of the government of Turkey, US special operations forces are accompanying Turkish and vetted Syrian opposition forces as they continue to clear territory from ISIL [Daesh] in and around the area of the Syrian border near Jarabulus and Ar Rai,” Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis told reporters.

These joint ops appear to be off to a rocky start.

Footage appears to show US commandos being chased from the town of Ar Rai by fighters of the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

“Christians and Americans have no place among us,” one fighter shouts. “They want to wage war to occupy Syria.”

“The collaborators of America are dogs and pigs,” shouts another. “They wage a crusader war against Syria and Islam.”

According to Charles Lister, a senior fellow with the Middle East Institute, the incident revolved around the FSA’s fears that the US was now supporting the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).

“Heated tempers and YPG relations aside, this was a big mistake by FSA. But it does go to show the diplomacy now required to make it work,” Lister told the Telegraph.

On September 9, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry announced a new peace plan to address the five-year civil war in Syria, calling for a ceasefire to begin on Monday. If the ceasefire holds, Washington and Moscow will work toward establishing a Joint Implementation Center.

On Friday, the US began sharing data with Russia on the location of the moderate opposition groups.

“Russian officers have contacted representatives of Pentagon and the US special services in Geneva. We are examining the data related to the areas of operation of US-controlled armed groups, which we’ve received today,” Alexander Zorin, special representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, told reporters.

“But a preliminary analysis revealed that the distinctions between the group and terrorists hadn’t been made.”

Syrian Army Retakes Lost Ground in Aleppo

A key district in southern Aleppo has been reclaimed by the Syrian Army and its allies.

The Syrian district of Ramousah was seized by rebels last month. Back under the control of the Syrian government, it could allow the Army to blockade the rebel-held eastern districts, and provide a crucial waypoint for government troops moving to the western districts.

“Units of our armed forces in cooperation with allied forces control the gas works, the tannery, the slaughterhouse, the post office and the military checkpoint area of Ramousah in Aleppo,” a Syrian military source said.

“[The army and its allies] managed to restore control over all of Ramousah district,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated.

Over the weekend, Syrian forces cut off supply routes into Ramousah, with the help of Russian airstrikes.

The reestablishment of the siege in Aleppo turns back progress made by anti-Assad fighters, supported in part by the United States, and turns back the clock on progress made by Washington’s so-called “moderate” rebels who shocked the international community last month when they successfully busted through the Assad regime’s siege in a victory heralded by the West.

Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad took back a strategic military complex in the Ramosa district earlier this month.

“The army has managed now to control many areas within the vast complex that houses military installations,” said al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra.

“Ramosa is crucial for all parties. It is crucial for the government because it will pave the way for them to encircle rebel-held areas. It’s also crucial for the rebels because it is the only supply line.”

On Sunday, Syrian state television reported that “armed forces, in cooperation with their allies, took full control of the military academy zone south of Aleppo and are clearing the remaining terrorists from the area.”

The offensive, the report added, “cut all the supply and movement routes for terrorist groups from southern Aleppo province to the eastern neighborhoods and Ramosa.”

‘It’s Not A Civil War – This Is A War ON Syria’

By Eva Bartlett

The Syrian Conflict is a PR war mounted by the western powers and their surrogates.
Eva Bartlett, independent journalist and blogger at “INGAZA,” joins Sean Stone from Beirut to discuss the time she spent in Syria and how what she has seen and heard directly challenges the western media’s narrative of the war in that country.

Posted August 28, 2016

Three Reasons Why Russia, Iran and Turkey Should Foster Political, Military Ties

Russia, Iran and Turkey have increasingly improved their political and military cooperation in a bid to tackle Daesh and resolve the Syrian crisis. The China Youth Daily singled out three reasons behind this process.

While Moscow and Tehran have long fostered working relations, bilateral ties between Moscow and Ankara were damaged when Turkey, a NATO member and a key Washington ally in the region, downed a Russian bomber in northern Syria.

“Disagreement with NATO on ways to fight Daesh in Syria and the botched coup prompted Ankara to turn to Russia. According to available information, Recep Tayyip Erdogan managed to prevent the military coup from succeeding because Moscow shared intelligence data with him,” the newspaper noted.

 It is nearly impossible to believe that NATO was not aware of an unusual military mobilization on the eve of the coup, the media outlet said, adding that the bloc apparently did not share this information with Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Russia used the opportunity and the Turkish leader understood who his friends and enemies are.

Meanwhile, last week, Tehran allowed Moscow to use its Hamadan airfield to refuel bombers that were tasked with bombing militant targets in Syria, primarily Aleppo, an unprecedented development in Iran’s modern history.

The China Youth Daily offered three reasons that could explain improving counterterrorism cooperation between the three nations.

Firstly, if Russia, Iran and Turkey join their counterterrorism efforts, they will increase their anti-Daesh capabilities. In addition, they will also make it clear to the United States, Europe and the Middle East that they are the key players in Syria.

“Any political, economic and military attempts to resolve the crisis bypassing Moscow, Tehran and Ankara are doomed to failure,” the newspaper noted.

Secondly, the alliance offers an opportunity to exert pressure on Saudi Arabia, Washington’s ally in the Middle East.

“Earlier, Saudi Arabia and its friends in the Persian Gulf tried to use the Syrian crisis in an attempt to undermine Iran’s domestic affairs. Thanks to cooperation with Russia and Turkey, Iran is sending a strong message to Riyadh” not to meddle in the Islamic Republic’s internal affairs, the media outlet observed.

Thirdly, the alliance will help to force the US, Europe and NATO to readjust their strategy in the Middle East. Although the West has tried to make overtures to Turkey and Iran, both Middle Eastern countries seem to have opted for closer relations with Russia instead, turning to a different “decision maker.”

The newspaper described this process as “a logical step,” adding that it “remains unclear whether the US and Europe are ready to accept Turkey and Iran’s ‘pivot’ to Russia.”

This new format will not necessarily be symmetrical. As freelance journalist Zakiyeh Yazdanshenas pointed out, Iran views its relations with Russia as strategic, unlike Moscow’s ties with Ankara.

“These days, Iran sees itself as Russia’s strategic partner in the Middle East. Of importance, the two countries are supporting the same side in the Syrian war,” she wrote for al-Monitor. “Increased military cooperation between Moscow and Tehran is evidence of how important this partnership is for Iran.

“In this context, the decision to let Russian planes land at Hamadan on their way to Syria could be “considered a message to its opponents in Syria, such as Turkey, who are attempting to court Russia,” she said. “Indeed, Iran wants to signal that while Russia might talk to different players about Syria, such as Turkey and the United States, at the end of the day, it is Iran that Russia views as trustworthy.

” Last week, Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, refrained from calling relations between the three countries “a new format for settling old crises,” let alone an alliance. She emphasized that these contacts were in fact standard practice states involved in tackling regional challenges.

“Therefore, it does not replace any of the existing formats on resolving any particular issue. This is a platform for interstate dialogue and exchange of opinions, and this is standard practice,” she said.

US Congress Exposes CENTCOM Propaganda Scheme: Cooking Intel on Syria Fight

A joint task force has determined that defense intelligence appraisals provided by US Central Command systematically provided a distorted “rosy” picture, in stark contrast to battlefield realities, in order to create the false appearance that the US strategy in Syria and Iraq was succeeding.

On Thursday, a congressional joint task force (JTF) investigating allegations of intelligence manipulation at US Central Command (CENTCOM) issued a report highlighting systematic failures since 2015 with CENTCOM reporting and analysis of efforts to train Iraqi Security Forces and combat the Daesh extremist network in Iraq and Syria.

Notably, the report found that the intelligence products approved by senior CENTCOM leaders routinely provided a more rosy depiction of US anti-terrorism efforts than on-the-ground realities indicated, including appraisals that were consistently more positive than those produced by other agencies and departments within the US intelligence establishment.

The Joint Task Force, established by the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Defense,  determined that there were intentional efforts to manipulate and propagandize battlefield realities, possibly for the purpose of scoring political points in a heated election season. The committee was led by Congressmen Ken Calvert (R-CA), Mike Pompeo (R-KS) and Brad Wenstrup (R-OH).

The allegations laid out by the JTF are likely to be dismissed as a “partisan witch hunt” against the White House, but initial findings that electoral politics have resulted in the manipulation of America’s defense imperative is not an uncommon theme for US presidential administrations, and that of President Barack Obama is no exception.

Representative Pompeo, in a statement, took the Defense Department to task, observing that “the United States Central Command’s most senior intelligence leaders manipulated the command’s intelligence products to downplay the threat from [Daesh] in Iraq,” and argued that the fraudulently “rosy” claims of operational success “may well have resulted in putting American troops at risk as policymakers relied on this intelligence when formulating policy and allocating resources for the fight.”

Alexander Mercouris, editor of The Duran and an expert on the Syrian civil war and the battle against Daesh, expressed his concern to Sputnik over the congressional findings.

“I think the point was to give the impression that the policy of supporting so-called moderate rebels in Iraq and Syria who were fighting [Daesh], was more successful than it actually was,” Mercouris said.

“The Obama Administration announced this great policy that it would take on Daesh and defeat Daesh by bombing the terrorist group and supporting ‘moderate’ groups in Syria and Iraq to fight Daesh, but without supporting the Syrian government which was actually fighting Daesh. The result of that policy was a complete failure.”

“Daesh actually increased its areas of control,” he added, “capturing Palmyra, and there were reports that they would have captured Damascus last autumn if the Russians had not intervened.”

Why Liberation of Aleppo Would Mean An End to the Syrian War

As the Syrian army advances in the jihadist-ravaged city of Aleppo, Russian political analysts explain why the once-vibrant metropolis, formerly home to 2.3 million people, is of prime importance to all the parties of the conflict and can play a key role in settlement of the ongoing crisis.

The first group of residents trapped in Aleppo’s militant-occupied eastern neighborhoods has started to escape through a humanitarian corridor created with Russia’s help, according to reports broadcast by Al Mayadeen TV.

Leaflets were dropped on Thursday over the city with instructions on how to approach checkpoints and a map showing the corridors.

© REUTERS/ Abdalrhman Ismail

Men read one of the leaflets dropped by the Syrian army over opposition-held Aleppo districts asking residents to cooperate with the military and calling on fighters to surrender, Syria July 28, 2016

Those who want to leave are supposed to wave the leaflet with their right hand raised above their head and the other hand either around their head or holding a child’s hand, the leaflet reportedly says. While approaching checkpoints the residents are advised to move slowly and to follow the commands of the Syrian military.

Once near checkpoints, they will be required to turn around to demonstrate they do not have explosives on them.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Thursday that Russia and the Syrian government have jointly launched a large-scale humanitarian relief operation in Aleppo, establishing three corridors for civilians and one for militants wishing to lay down arms.

Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported on Thursday that President Assad has issued a decree granting amnesty to all militants who surrender within three months. This prompted “scores of terrorists” to turn themselves in and lay down their arms.Meanwhile, local media reports suggest that the Syrian government forces are ready to retake the desperate city; they’ve already re-established full control over two more strategic districts along the last access road into opposition-held east Aleppo: the neighborhood Bani Zeid and a second rebel-held district adjacent to Bani Zeid.

A military source told SANA that army engineering units had dismantled the explosives and removed mines from its streets and squares, with the Syrian army establishing full control over the Efrin bus station, youth housing and all the building blocks and factories in al-Liramoun in the northern outskirts of Aleppo.

Meanwhile, Vladimir Shapovalov, the Director of the Institute of Political Science, Law and Social Development has explained to RT why Aleppo, Syria’s most important economic and geopolitical center, might become a key to fully resolving the Syrian conflict.

“Aleppo is of prime importance to all the parties of the conflict as it is Syria’s most important economic and trade center; the city lies on the crossroad of the country’s trade routes and holds a very advantageous geopolitical position,” he said.

“Full control over Aleppo allows one to control not only all of northern Syria but the whole territory along the border with Turkey, the district inhabited by Kurds, and the territory of northwestern Iraq,” the political analyst explained.

“Aleppo is the dominating center of this whole region. And for the Syrian government forces, for their adversaries, for Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the US it is the key to control over the whole Syrian territory and adjacent regions.”

Hence, Shapovalov said, there’s no wonder that since the very start of the military conflict in the country there has been fierce fighting for this city.

Another political scientist, head of the Center for Middle East and Central Asia Studies Semyon Bagdasarov, also explained that Aleppo is the top strategic point, the economic capital of Syria and its clean-up could be a grandiose victory for Syria and Russia.

“However the liberation of Aleppo without closure of Syrian-Turkish border crossings, first and foremost in the city of Azaz, will be a hard task,” he said.

“Azaz — is a Turkish crossing gate and a whole load of arms, ammunition and thousands of militants have got into Syria through this crossing. It must be closed and it could be dome only in alliance with the quasi-state [known as] the Federation of North Syria – Rojava, or otherwise the Syrian Kurds,” Bagdasarov explained.

The political analyst further said why the territory under the control of the Syrian Kurds will play a vital role in the recapture of Aleppo:“There are over 2,000 NATO servicemen on this territory, including the American special forces and its engineer-sapper battalions and the Danish, UK, French and German units. There is no clear border among them and during an offensive there might be undesirable clashes.”

Vladimir Shapovalov also noted the Kurds, more than anyone else are interested in the liquidation of the jihadists and might become a key ally to President Assad.

“For the Kurds, the most important thing is the fight against the Islamist militants, which are their major adversary in establishing Kurdish autonomy,” he said.

“In such a context, the alliance with the Syrian government is of primary importance to the Kurds, as it is Assad who could ensure the security of the Kurdish areas, not only from the terrorists but from Turkish claims as well,” he added.

Semyon Bagdasarov also agreed that Aleppo is a sweet spot for Turkey, as it is the gateway to the whole north-west of Syria, including Aleppo Province.

“Turks historically regard Aleppo as their city and think that the population of the city gravitates more towards Turkey, but it is not the case,” he said.The political analysts agree that the liberation of the city would mean the liberation of Syria and the end of the war.

“Control over Aleppo would allow for the completion of the restoration of the Syrian government’s authority over most of the country, the most densely populated and the most economically developed part of the country” said Vladimir Shapovalov.

“After establishing control over Aleppo, control over the rest of Syria would only take a couple of weeks”, he concluded.

Shifting Allegiances: Did Turkey Just Give Up On Toppling Assad?

In what appears to be a major reversal, the Turkish government has issued a call for improved relations between Iraq and the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.

Throughout the Syrian conflict, Ankara has been one of the most vocal detractors of the legitimately-elected Syrian government, consistently pushing for the ousting of President Assad and supporting radical groups within the country. The US government has partnered with Turkey against Syria since 2013, and only last week Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan referred to Assad as a “terrorist.”

“He is a more advanced terrorist than a terrorist from the PYD or the YPG,” the Turkish president told reporters. “He is a more advanced terrorist than Daesh.”

But according to a speech given by Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Wednesday, Ankara may be seeking to mend ties with Damascus.

“We will increase the number of our friends. Turkey has normalized relations with Israel and Russia. I am sure that the same thing will happen on the Syrian track. We need it,” Yildirim said during a meeting with the heads of Turkey’s ruling party’s regional departments.

“It is necessary to provide stability for the successful defeat of terrorism in Syria and Iraq.”

There have been growing signs that Turkey is interested in improving international relations. Earlier this month, Erdogan formally apologized for the November 2015 downing of a Russian jet operating in Syrian airspace.

Last month, the Turkish and Syrian officials engaged in secret talks mediated by the Algerian government.

“We have been systematically working to normalize relations between Turkey and Syria for a long time, and came up with an initiative to provide the necessary basis for dialogue between the Turkish and Syrian leadership,” Turkish mediator Ismail Hakki Pekin told Sputnik.

“In my last trip, I noticed a softening from the Syrian side, and a similar tendency in representatives of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, when I told them about the outcome of our delegation’s visit. The Foreign Ministry as a whole received my information favorably. They used to reject everything out of hand.”

This is likely in response to recent terror attacks across Turkey, most recently the bombing at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport last month that left 42 dead.

Over the weekend, Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported that Ankara was warming to the idea of Assad remaining in power, for a brief transitional period, citing Turkish diplomatic sources.

This reassessment was based on the “Kurdish threat,” and the damage “Syria has inflicted on Turkey’s interests over the last five years,” sources said.

Throughout the Syrian conflict, Turkey has covertly supported radicals within Syria’s borders. Yildirim’s speech is the firmest indication that Ankara may be significantly more flexible on Assad’s leadership now that Turkey’s own security is at risk of terrorist attacks.

“We expect the other powers in the region to put aside competition,” he said.

Yugoslavia Revisited: US Hardliners Want To Bomb Syria Like It’s 1999

The devastating conflict in Syria and the violent breakup of Yugoslavia have a lot in common in the eyes of US hardliners, who have repeatedly called for unleashing Washington’s military power to force Bashar al-Assad to agree to what the US wants. Hawks think that this approach worked in Yugoslavia and will thus work in Syria. It did not.

The NATO bombing of Yugoslavia failed to produce a stable and peaceful region just like it did not resolve ethnic and religious grievances that fueled local wars. True, no armed hostilities are taking place in what used to be a multinational state, but those wounds and new tensions that US-led Operation Noble Anvil created are simmering.Yet 51 State Department diplomats involved in shaping Washington’s strategy on Syria recently urged the Obama administration to add a military component to their diplomatic pressure on al-Assad. In other words, they want the White House to send cruise missiles and drop bombs on Damascus-led forces.

The State Department “dissenters” called it “the judicious use of stand-off and air weapons” that is meant to serve as the base of “a more militarily assertive US role in Syria.” This way, the memo said, the US-led diplomatic process will become “more focused and hardnose.”

© AP Photo/ str

Smoke billows over the northern Yugoslav city of Novi Sad, some 70 kms. north of Belgrade after NATO air raids late Wednesday March 24, 1999.

Critics say that the 1999 Yugoslavia bombing could not serve as a blueprint or a justification for a similar campaign in Syria. The war-torn Arab country is too diverse to carve out ethnic states in a region plagued by sectarian violence.

“If you map [Syria] out, it’s a nightmare. If it comes apart, it could come apart in many different pieces,” Charles Kupchan, a professor of international affairs at Georgetown University, told the Atlantic in 2013. “And many of those pieces overlap with conflicts next door.”

This is still true today. Sending cruise missiles against the Syrian Arab Army will weaken one of the few forces that have proved to be an efficient ground force capable of standing against Daesh and other terrorist groups. With the SAA gone or in decline, jihadists, including al-Nusra Front, will be emboldened to grab power.In this scenario “the most radical elements would quickly overpower the alleged moderates that the United States perhaps erroneously believes that it is supporting, leading to even more atrocities directed against religious non-conformists and minority groups,” former CIA counterterrorism officer Philip Giraldi warned.

This version of the future does not look like a happily ever after anyone would want for Syria. Yet it is the most likely outcome of an anti-Assad campaign.

Syrian allies, Russia and Iran, are also a major factor to consider. Some say that the parallel with Yugoslavia is “flawed” because Moscow and Tehran will not sit idly while Washington assaults a country it is not even in war with.

Limited military strikes might seem like a viable and relatively safe mechanism to further political ends, but they do not necessarily produce a predictable outcome.

NATO’s former supreme allied commander, Wesley Clark, who directed the 1999 operation against Serbia, once cautioned that “you can’t always control the script after you decide to launch a limited, measured attack.”

The retired general was referring to a 1993 cruise missile strike on Saddam Hussein’s intelligence center in Baghdad. The operation hardly made Iraq’s late strongman more cooperative.

Syrian Forces Sever Main Daesh Route Into Turkey

In the fight against Daesh, also known as IS/Islamic State, Syrian forces have cut off a major road that the terrorists group used to access Turkey.

The Syrian city of Manbij has been a stronghold for Daesh in the region along the Turkish border. On Thursday, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) encircled the city, effectively cutting off supply roads.

“We have reached the road that links Manbij and Aleppo, from the west,” said Sharfan Darwish, a spokesman for the Manbij Military Council.

But the city is also a key juncture on the terrorist group’s oil smuggling route. With Manbij cutoff, Daesh militants will be forced to take more difficult and dangerous routes into Turkey to sell their oil.

“To ‘reach the Turkish border from Raqqa,’ Daesh terrorists have to take a route that is more dangerous, because of the presence of Syrian troops and Russian air strikes,” Press TV reports, citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The city itself remains occupied by Daesh, but SDF forces are slowly closing in.

Since the Manbij offensive began, 130 Daesh militants have been killed, as well as 20 SDF fighters. Nearly 20,000 civilians are still living inside the city, though many have fled due to the fighting.

The SDF is comprised of Kurdish, Arab, Assyrian, Armenian, and Turkmen fighters, and are backed by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).

Earlier on Friday, a source told Sputnik that the Syrian Army gained control of an oil-pumping station and the Al-Tabka power plant in Raqqa province. Located near the city of Ar-Rusafa, several Daesh extremists were killed during the operation.

The army was backed by both Syrian and Russian airstrikes.

Syria has been mired in a civil war since 2011, with numerous opposition factions and Islamic extremist groups fighting government forces seeking to topple the government of President Bashar Assad. The Daesh terrorist organization is outlawed in the United States, Russia and several other countries.

Russia, Syria Lead Fight To Free Raqqa From Daesh, US-Backed Forces Retreat

The Obama administration pledged to play an integral role in liberating the city of Raqqa, but US-backed forces are moving in the wrong direction and are now nearly 80 miles from the Daesh stronghold.

The Syrian Army (SAA) continued to advance on Raqqa after seizing the Taqba dam on the Euphrates River only 25 miles (40km) from Raqqa this weekend. The surge represents the first time that Syrian forces have entered the Raqqa province since 2014, when Daesh first began its terror campaign.

The SAA’s assault on the Daesh stronghold has been supplemented by unrelenting Russian airstrikes in the eastern areas of Hama province, bordering Raqqa. The aligned forces are currently situated in the town of al Tabqah, recently cleared of Daesh and which served in 2014 as a aunchpad for Daesh attacks, givens its proximity to Raqqa.

At the same time, the US-backed and Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have reversed their position and refocused military strength toward recapturing the city of Manbij, in a bid to strengthen the opposition group’s position to destabilize Syria’s Assad regime.

The retreat by the US-backed SDF, which had previously been in competition with the Russian-backed SAA in a collective bid to recapture Raqqa from Daesh, presents a major strategic setback for the Obama administration, employing the dual goals of ousting Bashar al-Assad while also liberating territory from Daesh.

Financial Times reporter William Wallis wrote on Monday that by recapturing Raqqa ahead of American-backed forces, the Russian and Syrian armies would “poke the Americans in the eye in a place they have long talked of helping to recapture.”

What has been to date a productive competition could erupt into a conflict between the partners, with the two-sides sharing very different geopolitical views. Russia believes it is necessary to prop up the Assad regime, at least until Daesh has been vanquished. The United States believes it is necessary to support opposition forces and oust Assad. The US effort has often stumbled, with American weaponry consistently falling into the hands of al-Nusra terrorists aligned with violent rebel groups.

Others see the retreat by Kurdish-dominated forces as an acquiescence by American military strategists, suggesting that the US and Russia are coordinating efforts to liberate territory in Syria.

US Defense Department spokesperson Peter Cook rejected this explanation, saying “in terms of direct coordination of activities on the ground [between the US and Russia] that is not happening.”

The possibility remains that both the US-backed SDF and the Russian-backed SAA could meet in Raqqa, potentially escalating tensions between Moscow and Washington. The strategic repositioning of American troops, however, has minimized that possibility albeit at considerable expense to the Obama administration.

With both sides planning to soon descend on Raqqa and bring an end to a civil war that has killed 500,000 Syrians, Loud & Clear’s Brian Becker sat down with Zafar Bangash of Toronto’s Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought to discuss the situation.

https://www.spreaker.com/embed/player/standard?episode_id=8723483&autoplay=false

Are the US-Backed SDF and Russian-Backed SAA Forces Cooperating?

“I don’t think there is coordination between the two sides,” said Bangash. More so there appears to be a race towards Raqqa, although the Syrian Army seems to be better placed because they have already captured al Tabqah right next to a dam on the Euphrates River, and they are trying to take control of the airport there.”

“The Syrian Army is only 40km (25 miles) southwest of Raqqa whereas the Syrian Democratic Forces, dominated by the Kurds, have headed in the opposite direction, towards Manbij, which is 136 kilometers (85 miles) away from Raqqa, so the Kurds are much further away right now.”

Bangash explained that Kurdish forces are focused on playing the long game by consolidating their own territories with a view toward having a stronger hand in future negotiations, but potentially at the expense of the United States losing the race to be the first to seize Raqqa.

What is the relationship between the US military and the Kurdish-dominated forces?

“The United States is backing the Kurds fully,” said the commentator. “There are US special forces working with them and American forces wearing Kurdish uniforms have been viewed guiding them in operations, which has been problematic for relations with Turkey who has adamantly protested this.”

Bangash explained that the United States’ willingness to support Kurdish fighters even over the protests of Turkey indicate that the Obama administration is “keen on preventing the Syrian Army from taking control of their own country” by strengthening alternate forces to ultimately weaken Assad’s control over the Syrian government.