FARS file photo
Originally appeared at Veterans Today
… from FARS, Teheran
The SE Al-Tanf border crossing is key to Damascus having a land bridge from Iran and Iraq for critical economic and military support
[ Editor’s Note: We have no confirmation from Syria on this, but that is not unusual. Deployments like this are usually leaked and not made official until some combat makes it obvious. It takes some time for them to get into position, and their size and make up would be an indication of what their mission would be, which they don’t want out too early.
For example, there have been previous reports that Russian Special Forces would be deployed to assist the Syrian forces clearing the SE Syria area of ISIS. The justification was that if US and British Special Ops could be operating there doing that, then how could the US Coalition object to the Russians helping Syria do it. So far the US has been quiet.
But today we hear not only that Russian Special Ops are being deployed, but an armored unit and a mountain brigade. If this is true we have crossed the line from Russian “advisors” to having regular Russian military formations now on combat. I don’t think the Russians would be doing this unless the US coalition also has such units already inside Syria and engaged, but not admitting it.
The Russians have played a conservative hand in Syria to protect themselves from being tagged as an aggressor. They wait for the US coalition to escalate, and then respond to the escalation. Moscow would have a strong hand in that case if the US wanted to bring up a “Russian aggression” claim before the US Security Council.
The Al-Bukamal crossing is more critical due to its access to water, infrastructure, agricultural and oil resources
VT is watching this potential escalation very closely, including the looming battle for control of the Syria/Iraq border which will play a critical role during the anticipated political negotiations. We see the opposition groups dragging out the peace talks to give the US coalition time to improve their negotiating hand.
If the Syria-Iraq anti-terrorism coalition has freedom of maneuver along interior lines, especially to be able to shift heavy equipment and combat forces back and forth across the border as needed, then the Balkanization of Syrian will have been checkmated other than what has already taken place with the Turkish terror proxies in Idlib and northern Syria, and the American-Kurds in the NE.
The Syrian coalition is showing with this move that it is not going to let the US coalition and proxy forces control the Syrian eastern border. The Popular Militia Forces in Iraq are well armed and highly trained now in fighting militant forces.
Everybody understands the need to not let the foreign backed terrorists get safe haven bases or secure logistics lines established that will allow them to repeat the tremendous damage they have done. The lesson learned is that it is better to just have a war if need be on the front end as that incurs less losses than the devastation Syria and Iraq have suffered.
That is the long term danger that the terror war has left us. We have more of a hair trigger situation now in nipping a threat in the bud early, and accepting the risk of a major escalation as the lesser of two evils … Jim W. Dean ]
Jim’s Editor’s Notes are solely crowdfunded via PayPal – JimWDean@aol.com
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Election day in Syria, June 4, 2014 seems much longer ago. I ducked out of the last polling station stop with an interpreter to visit with these checkpoint guys, and got the best interview of the day
– First published … May 24, 2017 –
The sources further added that the Russian battalion is duty bound to fortify the Syrian Army positons in the region and seal the country’s border overlooking Jordan where the Syrian forces have recently gained the upper hand.
A military source confirmed on Sunday that a group of Russian paratroopers and special forces arrived in the Southern province of Sweida, after the US-led coalition fighter jets targeted heavily a military convoy of the Syrian pro-government forces near the town of al-Tanf at the border with Iraq.
The source told AMN that the Russian military personnel arrived in the region to advise the Syrian government troops in Southern Syria, while also helping to deter any potential response from the US and Jordanian forces that carved a niche in Sweida and Homs provinces.
According to some media activists, the Russian forces were planning to build a base along the Sweida province’s border with Jordan. Other media reports suggested that they were allegedly meant to engage the enemy forces and help the government troops capture the Iraqi border-crossing.
Lebanese Army General Charles Abi Nader, an expert in military strategy in the Middle East, told TASS on Saturday that the United States carried out a direct military intervention in Syria to prevent the establishment of the Syrian army’s control over the border with Iraq.
“There is no other explanation of the strike delivered by the US Air Force on the Syrian forces and units supporting them,” the general said, TASS reported.
He added that the border area in Eastern Syria, where the army units are carrying out offensive now, has major strategic importance.
“There is the only border crossing there, through which one can get to Baghdad now, taking into consideration that the Rutbah-Ramadi road has been cleared of terrorists of the ISIL,” the expert said.
“The goal of the US is evident – to prevent the restoration of transport links between Syria and Iraq and also Iran, which is the ally of Damascus,” he stressed.
The expert noted that a similar intervention of the US Air Force occurred in September 2016 in the outskirts of Deir Ezzur. Then, the ISIL militants used the airstrike of the US aviation to seize a defensive position on the Jebel-Sarda mountain near a military airfield, which serves as a major basis of the government forces.
As the US-led coalition headquarters reported, on May 18 the aircraft struck pro-Syrian government forces operating within the established de-confliction zone with Russia Northwest of al-Tanf. The statement claimed that these units posed a threat to the United States and its partners. Several servicemen were killed in the strike.
Good article ? One correction. Its UN security council not US security council. Please fix that Keep up the good work
Freudian slip…
Well said:)
And by that you really mean the JU-S security council!
Whats the difference?
China and Russia have seats with veto power.
China and Russia have seats with veto power but the UNITED STATES do wherever they please and DO NOT COMPLY wit the Security Council Resolutions, they are the BULLIES of the WORLD and need a bloody noose to bring them back to their senses.
Yeah… they just create a coalition. They are scum!
That’s because they’re owned by Israel, and nobody bothers to do anything about it because Israel controls the rest of the world as well.
I was being sarcastic!
179 nations. look it up if You have internet and skills for it.
The spelling ?
“to protect themselves from being tagged as an aggressor” Truly the Kremlin seems to worry more about the NATO press than does Donald Trump. Russia will *always* be accused of terrible things, regardless of their behavior. Russia will *always* beg the US for “partnership”, regardless of the latter’s atrocious behavior. So why would the US shape up if there is never a price to pay?
US needs a bloody nose. Enough of asymmetric responses, how about a firm uppercut to feel the pain.
the US needs a bloodied face or at least that would be a good start.
Stop blaming the US for what the Zionist Jews make them do. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you need to see “communism by the backdoor.”
Well there’s that, except for the part “make them do” as if it involved nefarious supernatural abilities. Zionists are passionate about certain projects, which they will push through to the extent they get away with. I’ve sometimes been on right-wing US sites like Breitbart. In the abstract, they were all for Trump’s MAGA–not in the least because they saw how Democrats hated it. But then again, in their considered judgment, giving moar bombs to Bibi remains the most reliable pathway to get their own ignorant asses into heaven. And getting them to hate on Iran requires nothing more than saying “Obama was too soft”, some religion, and a snap of the finger. Sorry but you have the duty to be minimally informed–at least as long as you claim to live in a democracy.
Where antisemitic stereotype fails most clearly in my view is when it comes to greed. If, in gentile America, everything and everyone is for sale, what can you expect?
stop blaming the US for being corrupted by Israel, give me a break that’s the lamest defense I’ve heard in a long time, is America to feeble to turn down the Zionist money?
No Russia is not being cowardly, they are being very smart as racist supremacist greedy Jews keep doubling down on a losing strategy speeding up the collapse of their racist Zionist empire instead of accept a region defeat they are making a defeat of their entire empire possible and increasingly likely .
Russia wants to wait until there is a large Turkish USSA military clash / war over the Kurds (where Russia will support Turkey) which is inevitable and likely to occur very soon as the Kurds are to take eastern Turkey while Israel takes Western Turkey, Lebanon and Syria etc., as part o f the Yinon plan for a greater Israel. Russia wants to wait for this to happen first before any military escalation against the racist supremacist Zionist empire, so as to destroy the NATO pact with Turkey’s withdrawal from it, which would be the first of many. This is the big prize. Once Turkey is out of NATO and has allied itself with Russia, China and Iran the EEU and the one belt Silk Road, the war for Syria will have been won and over no matter what the Zionist Empire tries to do. Turkey leaving NATO would be the first of many to check out. Most probably Slovakia would be next followed by Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Greece.
The Euro and the USSA Federal Reserve private Jewish dollar would then both become very unstable and probably collapse within 5 years or sooner. .
Didn’t Karl Marx predict the future of humanity several generations out; then later on, his devotees had to deal with some surprises. In fact these aren’t even separate episodes: Marx saw the imperialist West as being close to collapse, and yet they’re still top dog. A US-Turkish conflict *might* happen; or the Yanks remember who’s their NATO ally, the Turks remember who has the dollars, and they happily go back to betraying the Kurds as they’ve always done.
Here and now, Deir Ezzor is close to collapse because precious battlefield momentum has been wasted several times, and because the US was never deterred from bombing it.
That is the thing the USSA has no dollars today, they are 20 trillion in debt bankrupt, same with the EUSSR, their economies are collapsing etc it is the BRICs who have the dollars now. Its no prediction its fact. I am not predicting the future of mankind only the future of the Zionist empire in the next couple of years and 90% of it has already happened. The racist supremacist Jewish empire has lost lost Turkey, when they failed to kill Erdogan in their failed coup last summer.
It understand everything you are saying; it seems to be the reality. And yet, going by that reality and the numbers you quote (which may be the tip of the iceberg), the US should’ve run of out money long ago. So, the world we see around us is an artificial reality. But in that simulacrum the Empire still is easily top dog, and we don’t really know how resilient it will be.
You paint a grim, realistic picture of one side of the ledger. On the other side, Russia just WON’T stand by its allies–someone who knows the language better should look up if that’s written in their constitution. And Erdogan congenitally just HAS to do islamist stuff, which Russia cannot condone as a matter of self-preservation. So I remain doubtful about the historical determinism, and won’t take any bets. Perhaps we can agree it’ll be a good show to watch.
No one can predict the day of the empires collapse. The living standards of its slave citizens are plunging every day. Open dictatorship measures are having to be brought in to maintain power. Mass surveillance mass censorship, police brutality, on a massive scale etc. If you live in the empire you know this. How long can it last, a day, a year, 5 years who knows but it will end soon enough. Just as no one could predict the day of the Soviet collapse but it was inevitable!
When I was in University I wrote an essay predicting the Soviet collapse a year before it happened. My idiot proof who never had a real job in his life, who was supposed to be some kind of NATO expert on the eastern bloc gave me a D and said I was wrong. When it happened the next year I made sure to go to his office and tell him to his face that he was incompetent or corrupt or both and a fool visiting the Eastern bloc having access to intelligence being a so called NATO expert and he could not see anything, stupid, rich, spoiled, idiot, that he was. I bet he was good at spending the government’s money on expensive trips, hookers and drugs though.
“tell him to his face that he was …” Oh I can easily answer that for you–they are corrupt. No need to assume anything sinister beyond what we see all around us openly. “Established” professors day after day need oxygen in the form of government grants, TV appearances, academic promotions, think-tank gigs etc. All of these are profitable, and all of these can be… reconciled with conflict-of-interest laws. Wouldn’t want that to dry up if you stray from the NATO line. In no time at all, they’ll internalize that party line and apply it even in non-political contexts like your paper grading. May even have been his way of helping you: how are you ever going to find a job in his field if you don’t have your head straightened out?
Then again, maybe the prof admired your analysis but your writing was crap. ;-)
Yes, your are just guessing. Let us see what really come out of all of this since I do not see Russia wants to bother Israel or USA at all right now, and Turkey looks like it is making theater of all of this trying to make believe that it wants to be out of OTAN, which I do not believe.
Oh they are in a price to pay. US petro dollar and reserve currency status is at risk now. Because a strong russia also means a multi polar world where US hegemony cannot continue. This means the USA cannot print its wealth anymore and will be stuck with a 20trillion dollar debt and atleast 2.5 trillion in china owning US bonds. These best thing USA can do is ally with Russia now and accept a Eurasian union. But this won’t happen. The neocons prefer a world war if they cannot rule the world
not sure what to to with it: Veteran today publishes lot of disinfo
VT has never been challenged by anyone with standing, meaning an official with a reputation to lose. We are an Intel website with a 100% corporate media black out. Our record on nailing the big stories is better than anyone’s. This is just one report on a fast moving war with a lot of fronts.
Nobody with standing bothers to read VT’s bullshit.
thank god, your opinion is not important, and you are nothing
VT does actual journalism, thats why “nobody” reads it. Please keep your slander to yourself
Nobody with standing isn’t bought and paid for by the Jews.
Such as?
Gordon Duff (Senior Editor at VT) has publicly admitted that 40% of everything he publishes on Veterans Today is false. this is the quote “About 30% of what’s written on Veterans Today, is patently false. About 40% of what I write, is at least purposely, partially false,”
That’s pretty weird. If I had a site and I said that I would just close down the site because what’s the point of it?
How do you know he said that?
he said that during the Jeff Rense Program, Oct 2012.
VT also regularly publishes By Preston James that is convinced that the power to be are alien satanists quote “Some even doubt that their bloodline is human at all and view them as Canaanites (Kenites) of spawn of the snake-being, Satan. The fine art of snatching someone’s very soul is referred to as the fine art of human compromise, which can include satanic/pedophile compromise and other forms of sophisticated mind-kontrol comprised of drugging, psychotronics and various methods of soul-murder through trauma-conditioning.” http://www.veteranstoday.com/2017/05/02/do-the-aliens-ets-make-them-do-it/
VT , may have published “By Preston James” , but that was likely for humor .
Again? 4 days ago already did…
This article is not on par with usual SF material. To start with,it states since that it’s basically speculations.
A mountain brigade? Cmon now. The basic operational unit of the RuArmy is the “Tactical Combined Arms group”, which is a Battalion level unit. Hence, they won’t deploy a “mountain brigade” even if it was entirely present in Syria, which is very very doubtful.
There are also some other inconsistencies but I’ll let experienced readers spot them theirselves.
I sure hope the Russians aren’t near Al Tanf. NewSA needs that area to supply their front against ISIS, unless US is prepared for heavy airlift over hostile territory. Both US and Russia are pretty much there to fight ISIS, so I don’t see why Russians would go to Al Tanf, where ISIS isn’t.
Wrong, Russia is there to fight I.S.I.S the UNITED STATES is there to PROTECT and supply military equipment/ammunition to I.S.I.S and give them air support by attacking the Syrian military.
You’re a fucking idiot.
Are you angry today ? :-/ Weak FSA trash will have to give up much territory to SAA. But Al Tanf should be left alone for now. Sounds like a good game plan to me.
the form of frustration, denying reality, couldn’t handle the truth
Sir, please recall the us air strikes last september in deir ez zor, Isis air support right There. Sorry to pop your Bubble but its just the inconvénient truth
I don’t believe it. Not since Manchester. US is there to fight ISIS but needs to transit Al Tanf, or airlift. Russia has lots of room to fight ISIS from Arak to the border without any problem with Al Tanf.
The have been ten Manchesters already; didn’t change anything. The game is still the same it’s ever been, mostly because European voters are fine with it–at best patiently waiting for further punishment. At some level, they must be aware they’re guilty as hell.
Condolences if you are from Manchester, but more likely you are from Trollsbridge.
I seriously doubt if Russia will send anyone down there unless it’s to force those chicken shit militias to advance north and east to drive out ISIS from the pocket SW of Palmyra.
to secure the border so US cant cut off SAA from baghdad/tehran
SAA can still go around to the north. If NewSA cuts SAA off NE of the Euphates, I will side with SAA then. For now NewSA needs Al Tanf to fight ISIS. I will side with SDF even if they cut off the border, but I doubt they will because they are busy bringing abortion rights to Raqqa. Has Assad asked SDF if Iranian tanks can transit? They might say yes since they are getting along fairly well at the moment. It’s worth asking.
really? they are kurds, i thought they were at odds with iran.
A battalion of a mountain brigade, and an armored unit.
I do not trust Veterans Today news.. But deploying a mountain battalion to E Sweida rough terrain makes perfect sense. Elements of Russian 7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division ?
I am not sure what elements they belong to, however, sealing that mountainous area from possible FSA infiltration towards the Damascus and elimination of the possible bulge is a good idea, shortening the front lines and creating some strategic depth.
Why wouldn’t you trust veterans today news?
Maybe because they publish loopy alien plots and such? Because even the not obviously gaga stories often aren’t borne out by the facts? Because their editor pretty much admitted to making stuff up sometimes? Because even the name is calibrated to lure in gullible Americans, who think anything associated with their warrior heroes must have some gold-plated gravitas?
Or maybe simply because distrust is the default, while trust can only be built up over time.
Hi John, I published this as FARS is a reputable news agency. I had a SE Syrian combat video with the SAA with a Russian voice on it, but it was probably a radio man for calling in airstrikes. I routinely use my editor’s note to add context as the Syrian War is a lot of smaller wars going on at once, and we are used to getting the news in bits and pieces. But VeteransToday has been to Syria three times. When the Syrian convoy was bombed when it was really far from Al-Tanf, that crossed a red line with Russia. We were expecting a response to discourage more such attacks. We shall see.
I see.
Anyway the convoy that got bombed was not Syrian, but from an unnamed, iranian directed militia that “acted against russian advice” (to quote the US command that commented on the issue).
Also “red lines” being crossed is your opinion, nobody has talked about “red lines” officially.
U misread, its a battalion FROM the Russian Mountain Operation Brigade! “Russian Mountain Operation Brigade battalion”
A battlion meaning about 1000 soldiers. Makes sense to me Qualmoun mountains are right there too.
So what’s the issue?
I did not misread. This is the text in the article:
“But today we hear not only that Russian Special Ops are being deployed, but an armored unit and a mountain brigade. If this is true we have crossed the line from Russian “advisors” to having regular Russian military formations now on combat. I don’t think the Russians would be doing this unless the US coalition also has such units already inside Syria and engaged, but not admitting it.”
It is true that in another instance it talks about a battalion of a mountain brigade, yet the above stands. When it comes to this kind of things you can’t be approximate, Battalion and Brigade are different orders of magnitude like the numbers 10 and 100.
I only read half of it. Its mainly twisted propaganda crap of the worst kind.
None else in the world has mentioned any russians there. The small forces relative closed ands engaged are not many but like raids.
Its also forgotten, that Assads actually has asked for help from Iraq(Iran) and Iraq are trying to take Abu Kamal back and after that can go in and help Assads taking Eufrat, where its too along for SAA & Co.
USA helps Bagdad and Kurdish Iraq, because they are asked back.
The FSA out there should be no threat being only 400 minus dead ones betwen Eufrat and Daara something east. They probatly are more disturbance for ISIS bringing in reinformements from Saudis whatever being delayed and killed. So here its more plus for having them then minus for SAA and the Palmyra Octopussy.
Nonsense, take the time to Read all the article, no point being narcissistic .
I don’t grasp of what aggression is the Editor talking about. The Russian forces have been invited by the legitimate Syrian authorities, while the US “coalition” has entered the country uninvited, i.e., as an invasion force. So the only aggession comes from the so-called coalition.
US media and the Pentagon accuse Russia of being aggressive all the time, all part of conditioning the public to buy the boogeyman hype. We had years of this with Iran when they had never attacked anybody, and yet people heard the hype so much they just couldn’t believe that it was not true. But the Iran nuclear agreement showed it had been a hoax. Israel could have torpedoed the deal with the evidence they claimed to have, but had nothing.
Jim Dean ; A salute to you and your efforts , want you to know they are appreciated . In one of your articles you mentioned that even in killing thousands of Wahhabi jihadists , more are recruited . As is known , the Saudi royal family has been promoting their perversion of Islam since the early eighty’s with their schools in every Islamic nation . Most importantly you said , “A counter – jihad ideology needs to be employed .” Godspeed
This point is being made by The Saker: Putin can kill Wahhabists, but only muslims can defeat Wahhabism. As long as it’s a backed up by the Dark Throne precisely *because* it can mobilize scores of militants, I’m not holding my breath. The Sauds bet all their cards on Hillary; like everyone else, they had a WTF moment when Trump came in. Instead of panicking their took the man’s measure, and calculated that obtaining a get-out-of-jail-free card was just a matter of offering the right price. They were not wrong.
These articles are funnier than the comic pages.
why?
which part? are you for real?
Why? because they hurt ur sense of reality? lol
The more Russian troops on Syria’s borders the better for Syria and a lasting peace. Keep the US, Britain, Israel and Saudi Arabia OUT. With their money and military they believe they own the world and everything and everyone in it.
Israel just about DOES own the world and everything in it.
Following Syrian False Flag, Israel Ramps Up Its New ‘Buffer Zone’ Demands http://www.newnationalist.net/2017/04/11/following-syrian-false-flag-israel-ramps-up-its-new-buffer-zone-demands/