The Russian/Syrian connection thread

[deccie]

You were ! ))

As soon as the Tornados leave Akrotiri and clear Cypriot airspace they can fire without being in Syrian airspace - the range of the fire and forget missiles used is 300 miles

I lived on the front at the extreme RHS of the photo ( Limassol, Cyprus)

As the Tornado is close to retirement I wonder if any increased pace of Operations will accelerate the retirement schedule. I can't see the RAF paying for airframes to undergo deep maintenance.

[BdHvA]

The members on the other forum are mostly Brits married to Russian women. Many of them currently live, have lived, or own second homes in Russia. The site owner and admins are all very pro Russian and lean that way. Several of them have been involved (paid?) with Russian media.

? ? ?

Some of those guys there leaned extreme left before they got married. I've debated a few of those guys in the past. Although extreme left to us Americans, they are just on the left from a European viewpoint.

Excuse me.

There is a very different style of moderation elsewhere.

Both this forum and others have seen a decline in new members and participation. I suspect some of this is do to other medias replacing forums as a means to (lack of) discussion, critical thinking and exchange of opinions.

What is interesting the number of lurkers on forums has only slightly dipped over time.

Anyways this has little to do with the topic of this thread.

NB: As I wrote this there are on a Sunday morning (EST) 42 guests viewing this thread. Come and join in.

[msmob]

As the Tornado is close to retirement I wonder if any increased pace of Operations will accelerate the retirement schedule. I can't see the RAF paying for airframes to undergo deep maintenance.

The RAF found the Tornado was much better suited to it's current role in the Iraq campaigns ..

Due to  spending cuts it's time in service  might be further prolonged ?

[msmob]

There is a very different style of moderation elsewhere.

If you are referring to RUA - to be a mod you have to be pro Brexit, Conserative and with a couple of exceptions -  Islamophobic

You are always suggesting when posts should be moved - I'm surprised YOU aren't a mod there ))

[alex330]

What is interesting the number of lurkers on forums has only slightly dipped over time.

Funny how the data contradicts what you say. Notice the timeline for organic traffic dropoff as the site you mention starts to shill for Russia.

[jone]

Any dissenting views were blocked by the site owner.  I had not posted on the forum in five months when I received a notification that I was persona non grata at that site.  I had been on the chat, part of a vibrant community, which, apparently, the owner of the site did not wish to have.  Now he has none of the 'chatters' and very little traffic.  Prior to his expulsion of many of the contributors to this forum, he had 1 and 1/3 the volume this site had.  Now the situation is reversed.

[alex330]

Looks like Israel took advantage of the coalition strike to do a little damage themselves.

http://www.westernjournal.com/report-large-scale-explosion-at-iranian-weapons-depot-hours-after-trump-strike/

[BillyB]

Trump is going to apply sanctions on Russia again due to their support of the Syrian chemical weapons program. Obama had the same intel and did nothing about it. Trump continues to do more against Russia in less than two years than Obama did in eight years. At this pace, I think Russia is going to support the Democrats in the next few elections.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-preparing-new-sanctions-on-russia-over-syria-haley-says/ar-AAvTS7V?ocid=ientp

[alex330]

Bleed their faltering economy dry so they turn over and expose their weak underbelly.



“The Russians and the Iranians have made such a strong commitment to Assad, I suspect they will have to support him for a long time,” says Ilter Turan, President of the International Political Science Association based in Montreal and Professor Emeritus at Istanbul’s Bilgi University. “But in the end, they may end up expending more resources in Syria than they ever imagined. They are not rich countries. They have significant economic weaknesses. They don’t have impressive domestic production capacities and make their money by selling gas, oil and raw materials to the world.”


“I would organize a guerilla campaign targeting first Russian contractors, then Russian soldiers using every bit of leverage I could get (establish a trusted network of spies and informers, paid if necessary),” he says. “I would strike fear into their hearts by targeting Russian flights landing in Damascus. I would organize a daring sea attack on Russian warships and submarines moored off the coast at their base in Latakia Province. Mini-submarines could penetrate the base and cause irreparable damage. For this, you need materiel, organization and daring. Syrian freedom fighters are capable of doing this and much more.”


http://www.macleans.ca/opinion/russian-and-iran-have-won-syria-they-might-not-like-what-comes-next/

[ML]

Bleed their faltering economy dry so they turn over and expose their weak underbelly.

This would be a rerun (of sorts) of the Reagan play book.

Will it work this time around ?

[alex330]

This would be a rerun (of sorts) of the Reagan play book.

Will it work this time around ?

Basically yes. I am not an expert, but I do not see why not. Renewed nuke race, Syria, Ukraine, sanctions..... gonna be tough for them. CIA could light up a few more fires for them in other countries even. Fund a few groups in Chechnya or even Moscow itself?

[DaveNY]

There's 2 Brits who live in Russia, one who says he lives in Estonia,  knows b'all Russian and posts as if he is an expert on women and is perennially single.

My family and I were in Tallinn, Estonia about 6 years ago for a wedding. Tallinn is very much the FSU with a heavy emphasis on 'former'. Estonia is a EU member and according to locals the EU has poured billions of euros into Estonia to upgrade the country to current EU standards in everything from roads to the judicial system. The majority of the ethnic Russians regard the Estonian judicial system has far more equitable than the Russian judicial system and have used it to fight against what they perceive as injustices.

The Estonian government is very much anti Russia and everyone must learn and master Estonian to have Estonian citizenship. Many ethnic Russians returned to Russia in the last almost 3 decades. Those that stayed believe their opportunities are better in Estonia than in Russia.

That being said Russian is heard everywhere in Tallinn. My wife had no problems shopping in Russian and was treated well by everyone. In a few rare occasions when no one spoke good enough Russian they spoke either German or English. When we were in Tallinn there were lots of German tourists in town and many locals dream of working and living in Germany.

Another great tourist destination is to take a ferry ride from Tallinn across the Gulf of Finland to Helsinki. Great place to spend a weekend. Even in Helsinki one hears Russian although English and German are far more common. 

[tfcrew]

48 hours after Western missile strike, undamaged Syrian air force resumes its operations

 Syrian air force returns to the skies of Syria, bombing Jihadis as it did before the missile strike

The missile strike launched by the US, Britain and France continues to puzzle.
It appears that no-one was killed during the strike, and that the only damage done was to a number of civilian buildings – first and foremost those of the Syrian Scientific Centre in Damascus – which according to reports the Syrian authorities – amply warned by the Russians, Western media reports and President Trump’s tweets – had evacuated three days before.
Meanwhile no part of the Syrian armed forces seems to have been damaged in the least.  Where the strike on Al-Shayrat air base last year did at least do some damage to the base and did destroy a few aircraft, the latest strike has not damaged a single one.

http://theduran.com/48-hours-after-western-missile-strike-syrian-air-forces-resumes-operations/

[alex330]

theduran.com

A company based in Cyprus, hidden by cloudflare, seeking investors and that allows ANYONE to freely post "news".

http://theduran.com/frontend-submission/

And the editor has been disbarred, past incidents of fraud, forgery, and is once more wanted for fraud.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/30/disgraced-barrister-turned-pro-putin-commentator-investigated/


http://www.stopfake.org/en/russian-media-columnist-alexander-mercouris-struck-off-over-claim-that-senior-law-lord-had-him-kidnapped/

[fathertime]

Yes, W said that in 2003 pertaining to the end of the war in Iraq and it came back to haunt him.

From the few photos released I've seen of the damaged buildings they appear to be empty. Just concrete and rebar shown. No signs of office equipment or paperwork littering the outsides of the buildings. Trump told them we're coming so they had time to empty the buildings and hide all valuable equipment and military hardware on Russian bases.

Straight stupidity from Trump, just checking the box of his 'red line'.  Wasn't there some commentary about Clinton bombing an aspirin factory a long time ago?  This doesn't seem much different.  How many  10's of millions did we spend on those missiles and for what? 

Although Russia was probably consulted beforehand they aren't looking to strong after their pronouncement that they were going to shoot the origination point of the missiles, which they haven't done. 

Fathertime! 

[fathertime]

It's all a game. Trump huffs and puffs, Putin moves his ragged navy out of port for a planned event, flies his planes to Iran, and Syria moves the chemical weapons to a new location. We shoot missiles at empty warehouses for a fireworks show. Everyone is happy and saves face.

I guess so. 
Fathertime! 

[fathertime]

Operation Desert Stormy is over. Strike package Bravo has been delivered. Trump says "Mission Accomplished". It's a much weaker attack than Trump promised targeting known chemical weapons facilities. Putin will feel the threats and pressure he applied had made an impact on Trump's decision. Assad's conventional weapons systems are still intact and they will take their revenge out on the rebels and civilians while the rest of the world is too tired to pay attention to their never ending war.

that seems like a good analysis to me,  except for the assad comment regarding him taking out revenge on civilians.  He is still going to decimate 'rebels' though, which is what happens in a war. 

Fathertime!   

[2tallbill]

that seems like a good analysis to me,  except for the assad comment regarding him taking out revenge on civilians.  He is still going to decimate 'rebels' though, which is what happens in a war. 

Fathertime!   

Assad isn't a good guy. He isn't going to be a good guy tomorrow
or some day in the future. 

I think both of us would prefer that the leader of Syria treat his
people far better. I also think that neither of us want American
young men and women die to make that happen. It's really not
our job to solve all the worlds problems.

We need to reign in the chicken hawks like McCain and Lindsey
Graham that want us to be in a perpetual war with someone
all the time. My son has been to both Iraq and Afghanistan
and other places. He is in the reserves now. We need to
focus on the USA and try to solve the many problems
we have.

I hope that Trump will work on that. Getting better deals
in trade would be a step in the right direction. 

That's my two kopecks,

Bill

[msmob]

The majority of the ethnic Russians regard the Estonian judicial system has far more equitable than the Russian judicial system and have used it to fight against what they perceive as injustices.

The Estonian government is very much anti Russia and everyone must learn and master Estonian to have Estonian citizenship. Many ethnic Russians returned to Russia in the last almost 3 decades. Those that stayed believe their opportunities are better in Estonia than in Russia.

Sadly, I cannot agree with your vision.

As you move closer to the border with Russia... like in Latvia, many ethnic Russians resent having to learn, let alone speak the lingo and won't sign the declaration at the bottom of the language test.

Lithuania was much wiser when automatically  making residents citizens.

[Sting23]

Trump needs the nuclear codes now and start WW3.  Bomb the hell outta ISIS and get rid of them.  Then take out North Korea and the dictator.

[DaveNY]

Sadly, I cannot agree with your vision.

As you move closer to the border with Russia... like in Latvia, many ethnic Russians resent having to learn, let alone speak the lingo and won't sign the declaration at the bottom of the language test.

Lithuania was much wiser when automatically  making residents citizens.

I agree with your assessment that many ethnic Russians living in the border region with Russia probably aren't fluent in Estonian, won't speak Estonian or simply have never bothered to learn it which means no Estonian citizenship. Lithuania's path may have been wiser although ethnic Russians in Lithuania are a much smaller percentage of the total population so their influence in Lithuania is greatly reduced.

However, according to the locals when I was there most of these ethnic Russians in the border areas are the older generation and most of the younger generation of ethnic Russians grew up speaking Estonian in the larger population centers of Estonia instead of the border areas with Russia. Also while the border regions with Russia have the highest percentage of Russian speakers. The majority of the Russian speakers are concentrated around the larger population centers of Tallinn, Tartu and other larger towns and cities according to Wikipedia.  I would guess because jobs and lifestyles are better in more urban environments.

Haven't heard of Russia giving out Russian passports and citizenship to anyone who wants it in Estonia and the other Baltic States but I wouldn't be surprised if Putin tried it in the future.   

[JayH]

This would be a rerun (of sorts) of the Reagan play book.

Will it work this time around ?

It can - so yes.
The world is quite different now -- with far more integration and sophistication of financial factors.
It needs a far more head on brutal approach to bring Russia to heel now -- and that really means breaking their economy and individuals.
It should be over Ukraine that provides the catalyst --it is unequivocal that Russia has invaded a sovereign country -- and is intent on causing as much trouble as possible-not only in Ukraine and around the world.
There are numerous avenues -- for starters --every part of "wealthy" Russians assets out of Russia should be frozen. Every individual/company/ institution that seeks to obstruct or facilitate should be open to the same penalties and sanctions that apply.All with the potential to confiscate whatever -- now that will get some attention !
Driving the oil & gas price into the ground -- and applying sanctions to anyone that buys from Russia in the same manner as above.

The crux of what has happened is that Putin is getting away with thumbing his nose at the west -- and he exploits western wavering weakness.
What he has got away with in Ukraine has only encouraged him -- and that is why serious military aid should be given to Ukraine to be able to confront Russia -- and make Russia pay a fearful price for their disgusting behaviour.
 Putin & Russia should only be negotiated with when they are being TOLD what is going to happen -- and I don't mean the stupid President huffing & puffing with nonsense.

Putin does not care what hardship he causes Russian citizens -- it has no affect on the echelons that control Russia -- but attacking the money trail at every level will get a lot of those people interested in making Russia a good world citizen again.

[BillyB]

Russian journalist who wrote about the hundreds of Russian mercenaries that died fighting American forces in Syria falls five stories out of a building.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43781351

OPCW in Syria for two days and still not allowed to investigate site of chemical weapons attack. Guess Russia and Syria needs more time to clean it up.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/16/syria-chemical-attack-inspectors-unable-to-access-douma-site

[msmob]

I agree with your assessment that many ethnic Russians living in the border region with Russia probably aren't fluent in Estonian, won't speak Estonian or simply have never bothered to learn it which means no Estonian citizenship. Lithuania's path may have been wiser although ethnic Russians in Lithuania are a much smaller percentage of the total population so their influence in Lithuania is greatly reduced.

True, but the Russians weren't the majority in either Estonia or Latvia

However, according to the locals when I was there most of these ethnic Russians in the border areas are the older generation and most of the younger generation of ethnic Russians grew up speaking Estonian in the larger population centers of Estonia instead of the border areas with Russia. Also while the border regions with Russia have the highest percentage of Russian speakers. The majority of the Russian speakers are concentrated around the larger population centers of Tallinn, Tartu and other larger towns and cities according to Wikipedia.  I would guess because jobs and lifestyles are better in more urban environments.

My experience of Estonia is limited to a long time ago , but I stayed with two families near the border with Russia in Latvia (Daugavpils, Kraslava and Rezeine) in Nov 17 and I found plenty of young people..the vast majority Russian speakers and high unemployment. Went to Riga and the further we drove from the border the less we heard Russian spoken.

Haven't heard of Russia giving out Russian passports and citizenship to anyone who wants it in Estonia and the other Baltic States but I wouldn't be surprised if Putin tried it in the future.   

While I was in Russia last summer the documentary following the news dealt with the Prosecutor General's office suggesting the Baltic States not  ceding legally from the USSR in '89...

 

[alex330]

My wife was in, Estonia last year. She said none of the young people speak Russian anymore. Like Dave says it is mostly the older ethnic Russians that still cling to it.

There was quite a bit of animosity towards the Russians. My wife was expelled from the country for illegal entry due to this. They detained and interrogated her for not having an entry stamp in her passport (most countries fail to stamp when entering via private jet). Wife is a Uke, but all the passengers were Russian celebrities and immigration was not excited to be blessed with their presence.