The Russians are coming.

[grzegorz]

Then you have people who believe both the US and Russia (and Europe for that matter) should not be involved in the middle eastern civil wars but that doesn't make for an exciting testosterone filled bumper sticker like "Kill them all and let Allah sort them out."

[grzegorz]

Isreali media is also reporting the death of three Russian soldiers.

http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.pre ... 0594D67564

[Azer]

Hmm... I wonder where those terrorists got that TOW from...

Option 1) They bought in 7-11
Option 2) They borrowed from Libya armory
Option 3) They intercepted from arms shipment from NATO to moderate rebels
Option 4) It was a free gift after buying the 300th Toyota Tundra pickup truck

Option 5) Seek and Allah will provide.. She's a generous lady you know! 72 virgins and all.. Que fatwa in 3..2..1..

The news conference where RT asked how the US could properly supply people it couldn't properly train, when it was already revealed that those failed trainees gave their weapons and equipment to the "other" terrorists, but the US spokesperson just kept dodging the question.

Good entertainment that was!

I love how on Monday there are mainstream news reports citing Russian sources they bombed terrorists' munitions depot. On Tuesday, terrorists say we have no ammunition, we are quitting if not re-supplied immediately. On Wednesday, Pentagon announces they dropped 50 tons of ammo to the "moderate rebels", but wouldn't you know, once again the mighty ISIS came and snatched all the goodies. Can ya believe it? And everyone's like, "Yeah, that makes perfect sense. Putin is such a dick."

Some of the more tabloid type papers here have turned pro-Russia recently. It's amusing, you do a Google news search and get UK press headlines which are in direct contradiction to each other.

Then you have people who believe both the US and Russia (and Europe for that matter) should not be involved in the middle eastern civil wars but that doesn't make for an exciting testosterone filled bumper sticker like "Kill them all and let Allah sort them out."

I watched a really interesting documentary the other day, it was a BBC production, not sure if it's available for viewing anywhere outside UK:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02gzf5l

I think it's mostly in the second episode, basically a geopolitical analysis of the main players at the time and the how and why they got involved in the ME and how it was carved up in to regions of interest.

Isreali media is also reporting the death of three Russian soldiers.

http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.pre ... 0594D67564

I think this report is same to the others from last week.

[grzegorz]

Thanks AZ, I'll check it out. The BBC makes great documentaries.

[Azer]

Thanks AZ, I'll check it out. The BBC makes great documentaries.

No worries, I'm not sure you'll be able to find the BBC one to be honest, it only came out here last month.

This one is kinda similar, though a bit older:

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/spe ... 87582.html

on YouTube too, Part 1 below, 2, 3 and 4 there somewhere too:

[Michael]

Some of the more tabloid type papers here have turned pro-Russia recently. It's amusing, you do a Google news search and get UK press headlines which are in direct contradiction to each other.

USA/NATO/EU to Russia: Stay out of Syria, you're helping Assad.
Russia: Assad and Syrian Arab Army are the only thing stopping ISIS from causing more refugees to come to EU.
EU: Oh, I hadn't thought of that, but stop bombing the moderate rebels.
Russia to USA and UK: In that case, please tell us the moderate rebels not to bomb.
USA: Not telling!
UK: Well if you don't know, then we're not telling. And if we tell you whom we don't want to bomb, what's to stop you from bombing those?
Russia: We are bombing at the invitation of Iraq and Syria governments and we have made a communications center in Iraq and Jordan. Would you please join us so we may coordinate our efforts?
USA/UK/NATO/EU: No! We have our own communication center and you're not welcome.
Russia: Okay, but we must deploy some EW against ISIS, sorry if it causes a little static in your comm sat. Are we on for the Medvedev meeting next week?
USA: We don't need any stinking comm sat, and no, we don't wanna talk to Medvedev either, so there.
Russia: Okay, no worries mate, it's all good. Let us know when you are ready for high level talks with Syria, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia to make a political solution to the refugee crisis and end the war.
USA: Pffff! Like we care about refugees, they're a million miles away.
EU: High level talks? Refugees? Maybe it's time for some easing of the sanctions...

[Azer]

Lol... Stranger than fiction hey

[Michael]

It's like EU never considered that NATO destabilizing Libya and then Syria will have these obvious consequences of refugees. Putin's address recently in the UN General Assembly, "Do you realize what you've done?" Not sure if anyone in NATO understood his meaning.

[Michael]

There is an interesting article about alleged Russian electronic warfare since they started their 60 sortee per day bombing campaign against terrorists in Syria and Iraq (USA coalition was doing 10 per week with many not even dropping their ordnance).
The Russian army asserts its superiority in conventional warfare
http://www.voltairenet.org/article189043.html

Brief googling shows many articles from the West written since Russia started bombing that concede EW capabilities, they are all following the same boiler plate format, but none specifically report on their alleged Russian successful use of EW in Ukraine or Syria, and there's no other reporting of this version of the April 12, 2014 incident in the Black Sea that Voltairenet says USS Donald Cook was rendered defenseless by an Su-24 with EW pod. Some of that report about 27 US Navy resigning as soon as they reached port is not believable.

[grzegorz]

Russia offers Free Syrian Army air strikes against ISIL

Russian FM Sergey Lavrov says he is ready to work with the opposition forces and the US against the armed group.

Sergey Lavrov's offer on Saturday was immediately rejected by Syrian rebel factions, which dismissed the idea they could cooperate with Russia while it supported President Bashar al-Assad.

"Russia is bombing the Free Syrian Army and now it wants to cooperate with us while it remains committed to Assad? We don't understand Russia at all," said Lieutenant Colonel Ahmad Saoud, a spokesman for the Division 13 rebel group, according to the AFP news agency.

Russia launched an air campaign in late September ostensibly against ISIL and other "terrorist" groups, but the FSA say most of the air strikes are targeting them and other moderate opposition groups.

Samir Nashar, a member of the Syrian National Coalition, the opposition's main political body, said "80 percent" of strikes had hit the FSA.

"Instead of talking about their willingness to support the Free Syrian Army, they should stop bombing it," he said.

Russian-brokered talks

The offer of air strikes in support of the FSA came as Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke on about organising talks between the Syrian government and the opposition.

In a telephone conversation held at the request of the US side, the Russian foreign ministry said on its website that the two men had also discussed tapping the potential of other countries in the region to push the political process forward.

Lavrov also spoke to his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif about the need to strengthen their cooperation in order to bring stability and security to the Middle East.

Russia wants Egypt and Iran to play a role in bringing a solution to the conflict in Syria, which has raged on since 2011.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/r ... 12307.html

[Azer]

Yeah, that EW stuff is interesting. We're so reliant on tech and communication these days, targeting it certainly makes sense. It will be interesting to see how this develops in the future, what sort of arms race it creates. Hopefully we get some interesting stuff for the civilian sector from this too.

I think the rebels rejected the Russian proposal, saw something on BBC earlier today if I'm not mistaken.

[grzegorz]

Yes, the FSA rejected the deal but there is supposedly another meeting of negotiations with everyone later this week.

[grzegorz]

It looks like they haven't turned down the deal according to this anyway.There seems to be a lot of conflicting information on the FSA and the Russian relationship, perhaps it demonstrates how complex that relationship is.

I have also heard that FSA is closing in on ISIS territory.

Mon Oct 26, 2015 | 4:21 AM EDT

Free Syrian Army says didn't refuse Russian military support

LONDON Oct 26 (Reuters) - The Western-backed Free Syrian Army said on Monday it had not refused an offer of military support from Russia and that Moscow needs to stop targeting its bases in Syria.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview broadcast on Saturday that Russia's airforce, which has been bombing Islamist militants in Syria since Sept. 30, would be ready to help the rebel group, if it knew where they were.

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"We didn't turn down the offer. We just said if the Russians are serious in their offer they should stop immediately targeting our bases and targeting the civil areas," Major Issam Al Reis, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army, told the BBC.

"We don't need the help now, they should stop attacking our bases and then we can talk about future co-operation." (Reporting by Li-mei Hoang; Editing by Catherine Evans)

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[windwalker]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwQmO1YoR1M

used to work a little on TOW systems while in the Army, wonder what model they have.
Lots of work maintaining the guidance systems
The sights are IR really amazing what they can see at night.

reactive tank armor was result of the first TOW missiles being used.
TOW 2, and TOW 3 where upgrades to over come reactive armor.

Lets hope they dont give them stingers

[grzegorz]

Wind,

Do you believe the one in the video is not American?

I ask because the Russians are saying the Americans are supplying arms to all the rebel/terrorists groups.

I'm curious and I know you would know.