Written by The Saker; Originally appeared at his blog
Something rather unprecedented just happened in Syria: US backed “good terrorist” forces attempted a surprise attack against Syrian government forces stationed to the north and northeast of the city of Hama. What makes this attack unique is that it took place inside a so-called “de-escalation zone” and that it appears that one of the key goals of the attack was to encircle in a pincer-movement and subsequently capture a platoon of Russian military police officers deployed to monitor and enforce the special status of this zone. The Russian military police forces, composed mainly of soldiers from the Caucasus region, fought against a much larger enemy force and had to call for assistance. For the first time, at least officially, Russian special operations forces were deployed to rescue and extract their comrades. At the same time, the Russians sent in a number of close air support aircraft who reportedly killed several hundred “good” terrorists and beat back the attack (Russian sources speak of the destruction of 850 fighters, 11 tanks, three infantry fighting vehicles, 46 armed pickup trucks, five mortars, 20 freighter trucks and 38 ammo supply points; you can see photos of the destroyed personnel and equipment here). What also makes this event unique is the official reaction of the Russians to this event.
A screenshot from Russia’s Zvezda TV network video
Head of the Main Operations Department at Russia’s General Staff Colonel General Sergei Rudskoi declared that:
“Despite agreements signed in Astana on September 15, gunmen of Jabhat al-Nusra and joining them units that don’t want to comply with the cessation of hostilities terms, launched a large-scale offensive against positions of government troops north and northeast of Hama in Idlib de-escalation zone from 8 am on September 19 (…) According to available data, the offensive was initiated by American intelligence services to stop a successful advance of government troops east of Deir ez-Zor“.
Today, other Russian officials have added a not-so-veiled threat to this accusation. The Russian Defense Ministry’s spokesman, Major General Igor Konashenkov has declared that:
Russia unequivocally told the commanders of US forces in Al Udeid Airbase (Qatar) that it will not tolerate any shelling from the areas where the SDF are stationed (…) Fire from positions in regions [controlled by the SDF] will be suppressed by all means necessary.
This is unprecedented on many levels. First, the Russians clearly believe that this attempt to kill or capture a platoon of the Russian military police was planned by the United States. The fact that they are making this accusation officially shows the degree of irritation felt by the Russians about the duplicity of the Americans. Second, this is the first time, at least to my knowledge, that Russian Spetsnaz forces had to be sent in to rescue a surrounded Russian subunit. All Spetsnaz operators survived, but three of them were wounded in the operation (the Russians are not saying how badly). The close air support by very low flying SU-25 aircraft was obviously coordinated by Spetsnaz forward air controllers and probably saved the day. In other words, this was a close call and things could have ended much more badly (just imagine what the Takfiri crazies would have done, on video, to any captured Russian serviceman!). Finally, a US-organized attack on what was supposed to be a “de-confliction” zone combined with an attempt to capture Russian soldiers raises the bar for American duplicity to a totally new level.
The big question now is “do the Russians mean it?” or are they just whining with real determination to hit back if needed.
There are a couple of problems here. First, objectively, the Russian contingent in Syria is a tiny one if compared to the immense power of CENTCOM, NATO and the ever-present Israelis. Not only that, but in any US-Russian confrontation, Russia as a country is objectively the weaker side by any measure except a full-out nuclear exchange. So the Russians are not in a position of force. Furthermore, for historical and cultural reasons, Russians are much more concerned by the initiation of any incident which could lead to all-out war than the Americans who always fight their wars in somebody else’s country. This might seem paradoxical, but the Russians fear war but they are ready for it. In contrast to the Russians, the Americans don’t fear war, but neither are they ready for it. In practical terms this means that an American miscalculation could very well lead to a Russian military response which would stun the Americans and force them to enter an escalatory spiral which nobody would control.
Remember how Hillary promised that she would unilaterally impose a so-called “no-fly” zone over Syria? She promised not only to deploy US aircraft above Russian forces in Syria, but she also promised that she would force the Russian Aerospace forces out of the Syrian skies. Thank God, this crazy witch was not elected, but it appears that folks with the same arrogant and,frankly, completely irresponsible point of view are now back in power under Trump.
My fear now is that the incompetent, arrogant, not too bright and generally ignorant commanders at the Pentagon and the CIA will simply ignore clear warning signs coming from the Russians, including the public announcement that the Kremlin has given the authority to use force to protect Russian personnel to the local Russian commanders in Syria. In plain English, this means that if they are attacked the Russians in Syria do not need to consult with Moscow before using force to protect themselves. By the way, such rules of engagement are pretty common, there is nothing earth shattering here, but the fact that they were made public is, again, a message to the AngloZionist and the “good” terrorist they use to try to conquer Syria.
This time around we (the world) were lucky. The Syrians fought hard and the “good” terrorists were probably surprised by the ruthless determination of the Russian military police forces (in reality, mostly Chechen special forces) and of the Spetsnaz operators. It is one thing to fight Syrian conscripts, quite another to deal with these hardened warriors. But the next time around the outcome could be different.
The bigger picture is also one which gives me a great deal of concern. The Syrians, with Iranian, Hezbollah and Russian help, have freed Deir ez-Zor and have crossed the Euphrates river and are moving further East. In plain English this means that the US and Daesh have lost the war and that the last region of Syrian from which the AngloZionists can hope to partition the country (their current “plan B”) and establish a permanent US military presence is now threatened by the Syrian advance. The distance between the US forces currently deployed in northeastern Syria and Syrian, Iranian, Hezbollah and Russian forces is becoming shorter and shorter each day. I can just imagine how, say, Iranian or Hezbollah forces which are already “smelling” the nearby presence of US forces are drooling with hunger for the moment they will finally be able to get their hands on their old and most hated foe. I feel sincerely sorry for the first US unit to make contact with the Iranians or Hezbollah forces.
Right now the Americans are hiding behind the Kurds, but sooner or later the Iranians or Hezbollah will find them. As for the Kurds, their situation in Syria is precarious, to put it mildly: they are surrounded on all sides by the Turks, the Syrians and the Iranians and their only more or less stable zone of control is in Iraq. The Americans understand that perfectly, hence their desperate attempts to stop the Syrians.
This is a very dangerous situation: even though CENTCOM and NATO are by far the “biggest guys on the block”, in Syria the Americans are cornered, their corner is shrinking fast and it remains entirely unclear how this process can be stopped. Hence the attack on the de-confliction zone we just witnessed.
I hope that eventually the Americans will do what they did in al-Taif and simply pack, declare victory and leave. That would be the only rational thing to do. But after listening to Trump at the UN I don’t get the feeling that being rational is at the top of the US priority list. That’s all rather frightening.
If you think about this they attacked only around Maan and this sailent http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=35.339774&lon=37.028046&z=10&m=b&show=/36565704/Al-Tamanah-Subdistrict-(Damascus-PCS) . No attack towards Souran or Taibait Al Imam .
so what does it mean, Trustin?
These are the movements of the Zio-wahabis in their attempt to capture the Russian forces. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0b32ed9265b9ade40f2479db5a953654f9ff7a4d41956f2c9f8da70ca54461ed.png
Looks like they really wanted to capture the Russian forces . If they really wanted to capture Hama they would have attacked from different directions .And look how many casualties they had for this area . They also used 2 T 90 tanks
Yes an unfortunate byproduct of being controlled by the Zio-Hypnotoad. Are we all destined to roast in a thermonuclear fire? Perhaps but maybe not just yet, looking at some of the commentary out of Russia Insider they are begining to openly point out jew oligarchs in the US are soly responsible for this terrorism and murder in the Middle East. This combined with the fact the US is like Rome in its final days an Empire on the verge of collapse, a house of cards indicates a full nuclear response is hardly warrented, a very obvious scape goat is now being publically indicated and if someone were to make this openly aparent to the US public someway then flick the power off for a month (Who did it?) the US would eat itself and the self apointed parasite in charge of all the murder, destruction and missory this planet has seen in the last 400 years. ie it may be about time to slip the US the mickey and whos to know who did it?
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/deadd33d38ca33132f3dad73753fcee0cfd7baeac2c09f04f62e150d918fcd92.jpg
https://youtu.be/zGEc-CMsrQs
Infowars?
Good video – ill never forget Marks-Plumbings ute sold in Texas winding up with ISIS in Syria lol https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/10eea4ad7ced8bc2afe5821d9d323219b2a52949d6a14910bc91c0b7c72e2625.jpg
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b15cbed112a76e4b2b818f4de2a0a576dc216fb2e17ca3674f1782bf3106600d.jpg
lmao!!! Well, ya gotta tip your hat to the F-250!!!
“Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists” gives a whole new meaning seeing this car from Mark-Plumbing.
I see you learnt NOTHING from Maidan.
That was a nice little history lesson – let’s see if I can persuade some WaPo’s to watch it….. Thanks!
So what did u learn hmm?
I don´t think CENTCOM wants to kick it off with the Russians. Just the amount of Kalibur missiles they would be treated to, not only in Syria but, in the Persian Gulf and other location they can´t afford to lose, would be spectacularly scarey. This is only one dimension of what could come to pass. NATO/US Coalition/ et al may get a volley or two off but, there would be no bases left or ships to operate from anywhere near that part of the planet. FIrst and foremost among the possible participants, Israel, is fully aware of this. Their air bases would be gone in short order and that is no joke.
I agree with TheSaker this is a very dangerous moment. So, if the Occidentals don´t want to get kicked out of this region of the world for the next century, my advise is that they cool it. I wish well to all.
Russia’s position in Syria is not weak, it is far stronger than US’, and has capable allies like SAA, Iranians, Hezbollah …etc, unlike the pathetic US proxies. Iranians and Hezbollah forces are significant and powerful enough where they can engage SDF and US SOFs, inflicting casualties on the ground. In the air US Air Force will be challenged by the Russian Air Force and surface to air defenses and unable to bomb effectively Hezzbolah and the Iranians. Hezzbollah and the Iranians can take the battle to the Kurds and US forces supported by ample direct and indirect firepower from the Russians and SAA.
If this is true, https://southfront.org/syrian-democratic-forces-capture-key-oil-fields-in-deir-ezzor-reports/ then the Russians are very weak, right now, cause they dont have the will to confront the Kurds
The Russians can easily defeat SDF and US SOF, however, allowing the Iranians and Hezbollah to do the job sends meaningful message to Zionist numbskulls. Russians can acquire radar locks on all US planes flying in the area, and we’ll see how willing US Air Force will be to attack Russian proxies. Of course Russia can sanitize terrorist infections with precise missile strikes removing the fig leaves US SOF hide behind.
True, but I wouldn’t get too cocky on either “side” as everyone’s going to die.
Who decide to sacrifice their life more for their country will win the war.
Great point what we all should be doing is using our voices and stand together trying to end this nightmare.
jesus, your prophecies were all wrong :D
Russia Russia Russia Russia. Its all you yodel. Russia is too far from home to do fugg all if push comes to shove. Russia cant easily beat Us Forces as its a coalition. No one stands alone since 1945. Russia is winning as it is the only force with legality in place. If America or arabs had legality of situation, it would be a far greater blood bath. What you don’t understand is diplomacy. Every ones dick is bigger. Until Shiite flies in the air. There will never be winners in Syria. Just like there wasn’t in Afghanistan with Russian intervention and again with American intervention. Little boys like you don’t really think the Russians are killing so many enemy without killing even more civilians. Russia simply does not report civilian casualties as it doesn’t want the world to intervene. Assaids is quite happy to support that as they are only sunnis dying and He only trusts Russia. One thing I do know…ignorant people like you can only hope America never decides not to hide behind fig leaves lol. Just imagine how Russia felt when America told it to fugg off out of its airfield while it bombed fug out of Syrian army for using gas lol. No fig leaves there and lots of precision. As Tom Tom says…… lots of lives lost on both sides if diplomacy is ever lost or arrogance abounds. Loose it. You serve no one.
With intelligent citizens such as you Eric, how could the US possibly fail ? :) Such foresight, such historical knowledge, such hubris . You could be a speechwriter for Trump. He would not then need to use re hashed versions of Obama’s speeches :)
They have have the will, but above all they have the smarts to watch they’re ever move.When it comes right down to it, they also are on the right side of this. People know the truth and respect Russia for what it’s done and by not being all up in the USAs face.Ps The Russians are far from weak.
No need for humanity but satan has need of it.
So….. you would be willing to sit back and watch Hezbollah who are divided too small on too many fronts and Iran, who is too far from home and too thin on the ground try to settle some old scores with Israel? Sounds laughable and pretty silly to me. Look at the Syrian conflict now. How many parties involved in that fiasco. Any launch against Israel by Iran would destroy the middle eastern conflict of Syria immediately. Hezbollah made too many threats so cant expect Israel to play nice. Lebanon would take the opportunity to free itself of Hezbollah influence. And no … Lebanon is not Hezbollah friends. Any war with Shiite next to sunni Jordan would blow that deal wide open. Nothing can save Iran from Jordan, turkey, The real American presence waiting in Jordan for an excuse and Israel backed by Egypt and Saudi and UAE. Yes … sunni will join with Israel to force Arrogant Iranian Shiite from its expansion. Russia wants Syrian bases for expansion and oil for home, Iran wants a highway through Syria to Shiite Hezbollah and oil from the wells, and not to mention flex a lot of muscle to try to tell sunni they are tops. And Israel, old arch enemy of all will sit back and enjoy the fireworks while sniping Irans butt all the way back home, after it fuggs Hezbollah entirely. That wont be pretty this time as Hezbollah is weak right now and am sure Israel learned something from last time. They do do that. Just ask ever arab nation with a smarting butt. And Syria has no friends in this….. everyone wants a piece of something. Bar no one.
Unless there’s a major defeat suffered by Russian forces that could eclipsed it’s recent gains there’s no chances of regional geopolitics shifting away from them or Iran. True Lebanon leadership is not entirely close with Hezbollah but it can’t shrugs it’s popularity and it’s accomplishments either. The Russian is away from home yes but neither the Syrian space is home to US coalition forces either. Else they’d have their no fly zone already.
these yankees’ wish to be annihilated is getting so real – begging to be sent to hell – such arrogance – it seems the soonest their wish might come true
Nice article. Very sensible. Very accurate.
Yep.
Yupsky.
I truly enjoy Saker analysis.
The Saker under estimates the Russian Forces. They are the most powerful in the world. They might only spend $65 billion on Defence, but, it is spent wisely and works. The US has the most expensive army, but, certainly not the most powerful.
The Russians are more efficient than the Americans but who isn’t. It’s like boasting that you can shit your pants faster than everyone else.
these 65 billion dollars are nothing. russia shoud spend 4-5 times higher amount, they are on the level of saudi arabia. if germany payed 2% of GDP to army as tell the nato rules, would have 2-2.5 half higher budget for army. from these 65 billion the largest part is going on nuclear weapons. and of course left almost nothing for conventional weapúons. therefore is delayed every development, therefore buy 10-20-50 pieces of euipment instead of hundreds. this myth about low budget was also in ussr. and we can see, how ended this bullshit.
Why should Russia pay more, when her weapons and systems work and her Forces are professional and highly trained. She could pay ten times as much, but, who benefits? The investors as the world laughs at the non-stop breakdowns and failures of the most expensive Forces on the planet?
Germany, funny they are among the many that do not pay their 2% to NATO and also funny that they can only have peacekeepers, unless working with other nations. Hence the EU Army loophole.
Now let us compare the Russian weapons and systems to the NATO/US version:
US/NATO
The F-35 Fighter Jet Is A Historic $1 Trillion Disaster… http://www.businessinsider.com/the-f-35-is-a-disaster-2014-7?IR=T
Some pilots refuse to fly F-22 Raptor amid jet’s oxygen problems… http://articles.latimes.com/2012/may/01/business/la-fi-fighter-pilots-20120502
USS Zumwalt News: Navy’s $4 Billion Destroyer Malfunctions In Panama Canal, CNN Reports… http://www.ibtimes.com/uss-zumwalt-news-navys-4-billion-destroyer-malfunctions-panama-canal-cnn-reports-2450675
Fourth breakdown in US Navy littoral combat ship… http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/31/politics/navy-littoral-combat-ship-fourth-breakdown/index.html
MOST EXPENSIVE US SHIP COMES WITH EXPLODING GENERATORS… https://southfront.org/most-expensive-us-ship-comes-with-exploding-generators/
$40-BILLION MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM PROVES UNRELIABLE… http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-missile-defense-20140615-story.html
That is not mentioning what happened at least 3 times to the USS Donald Cook, out in the Black Sea and also the Baltic. Or the USS Theodore Roosevelt. Before we get to the Aegis Destroyers and their problems noticing cargo or oil tankers?
Russia
Russian S 500 Missile: Threat To NATO & US That Even For The Stealth Warplanes Fighters… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZNzrw6sHjM
Russia’s T-14 Tank Can Outshoot America’s by Miles The T-14 Armata will kill tanks from three times as far, but does it matter?… http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/news/a27023/russias-new-tank-will-out-stick-americas-abrams/
Russia’s Putting Hypersonic Missiles on Its Battlecruisers The blisteringly fast Zircon missile will give old battlecruisers new striking power… http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a20565/russia-hypersonic-missiles-battlecruisers/
Is Caspian Sea Fleet a Game-Changer?… https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2015/10/11/is-caspian-sea-fleet-a-game-changer/
Amazing Mig-35 Skills in MAKS 2017 AirShow… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDKr6EwX57M
I could go on, but, if I was purchasing military weapons and systems, now who would I want to invest with? The most expensive is not necessarily the best.
Why should Russia pay more, when her weapons and systems work and her Forces are professional and highly trained.
because this is not true. the other bullshits i did not read.
Believe what you want, but, enjoying the actions of the Russian military and failtures of NATO and the US militaries.
”Right now the Americans are hiding behind the Kurds, but sooner or later the Iranians or Hezbollah will find them” 1. … yep the American are like hyenas, they move in for the meal once the kill is done by others… 2. the situation is like last days in Viet Nam… amd they will likely leave the same way… rescued by heliocoptors… US ones… 3. FEAR NOT Putin and his team are doing the right things at the right moments…
From the USA. Happy hunting! If only you could “work your magic” on those who sent them in Langley. It would free the world of many problems, not to mention the cost savings.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/957a9c8266434de9a935f679ff06d0070f2bef1a2b6072557fe313d7227c4cb4.jpg
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b0796159f3651a77e422542e72ad2ac7c7e3c71b6ed915b2189e295da2cde726.jpg .
To Hell with War!
Russia/Iran and Hezbollah were invited by the elected government; U$A turned up in Syria,without an invitation, like thieves do! So, let’s hope Russia and SAA and Iraqi forces continue to make their way north and eastwards to secure more Syrian assets! If 19 Russian police could hold off these terrorist and come with with just a few injuries; The Russians are a better fighting forces;They act with the authority of the government; Viva La SAA/ Viva La Russian troops!
The Kurds have taken a huge piece of Syria and are taking more every day with Jew world order support. Golan II on steroids. And are prohibiting Syrian government administration in areas under their control and are attempting to partition Syria with occupation by Jew world order bases by the US, Israel and other NATO members. This is the big remaining problem that will have to be dealt with once the Syrian government coalition clears Isis from the remaining areas of east Syria.
I’m sure that there are plans, both diplomatic and military, of how to resolve the stand off. I don’t see the current status quo of excluding Syrian government control and partitioning Syria being allowed to continue for long after the Syrian government coalition reaches the Iraq border and clears Isis from those areas. They will then turn their attention to resolving the Kurdish problem. I don’t see another autonomous Kurdish area being allowed to form in Syria like what was done in Iraq.
Once Israeli ISIS and Al Qaeda are destroyed the Kurds can surrender their heavy weapons to the SAA and join the new Syrian government or destroy themselves.
Yes, that’s kind of what it comes down to.
Americans are crazy, even there allies see it
This guy has it wrong Russia’s position is not weak. The racist supremacist Jewish empires position is not strong. It is the opposite. The economy of the racist supremacist Jewish empire is collapsing. Russia and China are on the rise. It was the same way between the Soviet Union and the USA. Having very large conventional forces is a big waste of money bankrupting the country who is so stupid to make them so big. This helped to collapse the Soviet Union and now it is the racist supremacist Jewish Zionist slave empire collapsing. There is no danger of escalation at all as long as the Russians make it very clear to Israel and its racist supremacist Jewish empire, that anything less than the unconditional withdraw of all USSA etc forces from Syria, which they have no right to be in will not be tolerated. That any type of escalation toward nuclear war will be met with total nuclear commitment, with the first target being racist supremacist Israel, racist supremacist Jewish billionaires, (Rothchilds etc.) where ever they are on the planet and any large concentrations of racist supremacist Jews on the planet. There will be instant peace!! Then the USA slave empire will back down immediately as Jews only want to fight to the last Goyim and would rather the entire USSA be destroyed, rather than 1 Jewish fingernail be broken.
Thanks to the terrible power of our International Banks we have forced the Christians into wars without number. Wars have a special value for Jews, since Christians massacre each other and make more room for us Jews. Wars are the Jews’ Harvest: The Jew banks grow fat on Christian wars. Over 100-million Christians have been swept off the face of the earth by wars, and the end is not yet.” — Rabbi Reichorn, speaking at the funeral of Grand Rabbi Simeon Ben-Iudah, 1869, in France Look it up for yourself
Americans are happy to go to war without asking why they are fighting. Look how long the Americans occupied southeast Syria. How long did it take them to figure out there was no point in being there? They stood in the desert for months counting grains of sand until somebody in HQ got a clue. They finally destroyed their own base they built and left, taking nothing with them.
Deploying troops with no objective is automatically a failed objective.
This is called power blindness. You play with inferior forces for so long you don’t even realize when you’ve lost because your casualties are so low. But the costs of war are adding up. A billion here, a billion there, next thing you know the richest country on earth is the biggest debtor and can’t afford to fight a forest fire in Idaho.
very glad the Russians decided to ruin the plans of US in the middle east.it was about time someone took a stand to their weird planning.my only regret is that china although a superpower refuses to act as one.
The problem is that Americans must go into the war since the defeat in the ME shall mean the end of petrodollar, that is, the end of the USA as we know her now.
Russia being the weaker side, what utter nonsense in this article, but the article in general has some very valid points.
this is the truth
This could just end up killing us all. I hope there are a few wise heads among the US military brass – from where I’m sitting (in NZ) it doesn’t seem so.
I think most of us here would already be losing our patience with what’s going on. This war has dragged on long enough, the US Grand Chessboard strategy has been declared a failure by the Godfather Zbigniew Brzezinsky, and the US is still trying to make something of this.
“…an American miscalculation could very well lead to a Russian military response which would stun the Americans and force them to enter an escalatory spiral which nobody would control.”
In fact, this was the “American” plan A all along (actually globalist cabal elites. I am an American but I recognize our gov’t has been taken over by deep state globalists who use America to fund their world gov’t). WW3, under the guise of partitioning the eastern part of Syria. The goal all along was to destroy as many humans as possible as satan controls the world for the moment.
This is where the war starts with the angels bound under the Euphrates released to destroy mankind. Only Jesus returning will stop it. If you have not already, you should get down on your knees and repent, and believe upon Jesus. Its almost over now.
Isaiah 17:1
A prophecy against Damascus: “See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins.”
Nuclear war. I saw the planes climb high into the night with satan laughing with delight (American Pie)
Great article…well done..
Russians in Syria needs to concentrate on preparing themselves with equipment and tactics to shoot down F18 Super Hornets or F35 or B52 bombers … Russians Achilles heel … The only way that the US will strike back is with their Air power …. if Russians can negate that US advantage in Syria … then SDF … will be a breakfast for SAA, Russia, Hezbollah, Iranians, Zeinabiyoun and Fatimiyoun …. !!!
Just think of what would happen if the Turks, Syrians and Iranians were to decide it was time to teach the Kurds a lesson, because the Turks, the Syrians and the Iranians were sick and tired of having Kurds living in their countries and wanted them out. The US might damn well have to find a way to find a place for all of those Kurds in Iraq. You’d have to wonder what the Iraqi government would think about that?