War

President Barack Obama rejected U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s urges to launch secret missile attacks inside Syria without the United States admitting responsibility. In recent months and without success, Kerry has sought to get Obama’s approval for cruise missile strikes against the Syrian government. Kerry’s strategy in promoting the Syrian peace negotiations in recent months was based on much heavier pressure on the Assad regime to agree that President Bashar al-Assad must step down than was apparent.

The U.S. government have been left “in a state of shock” following Russian President Vladimir Putin announcing an end to all military operations in Syria yesterday – declaring that Russia had completed its objectives in the region and effectively won the war. The Ministry of Defense have reported that the Obama administration were ‘stunned’ after Russian Aerospace Forces ceased combat operations following the successful negotiation of a peace agreement with anti-government forces.

Russia’s Military Aims Achieved, Putin Switches to Diplomacy

Paul Craig Roberts

American presstitutes, such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, expressed surprise at Russia’s support for the Syrian ceasefire, which Russia has been seeking, by Putin’s halt to attacks on the Islamic State and a partial withdrawal of Russian forces. The American presstitutes are captives of their own propaganda and are now surprised at the failure of their propagandistic predictions.

Earlier today, we took a closer look at Vladimir Putin’s seemingly abrupt decision to partially withdraw the Russian military from Syria.

The prevailing view seems to be that Moscow somehow intended to put more pressure on Assad to be amenable to a negotiated, political solution and indeed that may be a part of the plan. However, as we noted, it’s not exactly as if The Kremlin is leaving the Syrian leader high and dry.

Syrian Democratic Forces move in closer to the gates of Raqqa, the de-facto ISIS capital in Syria. The armed groups, made up mostly of Kurds from the YPG and YPJ fighting units, along with Arabs and Christians, are now just 20 miles from Raqqa Times of India reports: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been celebrating a string of victories as they reclaim villages from ISIS control. In the hopes of retaking communities from Isis those suspected of being Isis militants are arrested and men are often taken aside for questioning.