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Massive Russian blanket air bombardment is flattening Raqqa
Debka ^ | Nov. 21, 2015

Posted on 11/22/2015 6:17:19 PM PST by rickmichaels

Russia has launched a merciless blanket air campaign, backed by Kalibr cruise missiles fired from the Caspian and Mediterranean Seas, for the object of wiping the Islamic State's Syrian center of Raqqa off the map, DEBKAfile's military sources report.

Western and Middle East sources tracking the campaign since Friday, Nov. 20, report that at least 75 air sorties have been conducted and are systematically razing the town of 200,000 inhabitants 160km east of Aleppo, district by district, irrespective of civilian town dwellers.

Moscow wants the entire Middle East and Muslim world to see the price exacted for launching a terrorist attack on Russia after the downing of the Metrojet airliner that killed 224 people over Egyptian Sinai on Oct. 31.

Russian bombers and cruise missiles rained death and destruction on the ISIS administration center after the jihadists claimed responsibility for that disaster and published photos of a soft drink can claimed to have been rigged as a bomb for blowing the plane up.

When the Russians are done, the town will be a pile of rubble, an intelligence source told DEBKAfile.

The Russian defense ministry ran photos Friday of Russian technicians loading bombs on the Tupolev 95 bombers (dubbed "Bears" in the West). Ground crews marked the bombs "For ours," and "For Paris."

Last Tuesday, our military sources first revealed that the Tupolev's were taking off from Morozovsk air base in the Rostov district of southern Russia instead of from the Russian military enclave outside the Syrian town of Latakia.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported Friday that 15 Syrian oil facilities seized by ISIS had been destroyed this week and 525 of their trucks, costing the jihadists $1.5 million a day in revenue.

As for casualties, the published figure of 600 jihadists killed in one day is probably far below the real figure. Our sources report that the Islamist terrorists' death toll most probably runs into thousands with many more injured.

To sustain the hectic tempo of its aerial war, Moscow has doubled the number of bombers assigned to Syria from 34 two weeks ago to 69 by Saturday, Nov. 21.

Our military sources add that this augmented air power allows the Russians to expand their targets to other parts of Syria. On Friday, they renewed sorties against Syrian rebel forces holding the southern town of Deraa near the Jordanian border.


TOPICS: War on Terror
KEYWORDS: isis; russia; syria
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To: okie01

Thats why nukes are best it brings its own set of nasties


41 posted on 11/22/2015 7:08:07 PM PST by al baby (Hi Mom)
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To: jttpwalsh

I agree with your post 11. Though I am neither a supporter nor hater of Putin. I am a little agnostic on the subject. He looks good to me, but I stay cautious because people I admire disagree. I have no way of knowing if some of the extreme criticism is true or not. I won’t believe or disbelieve something I cannot prove. He at least gives lip service to being a Christian. He has a much better moral gauge (Judeo-Christian) of what is right and wrong than Obama. He is fighting terrorism more smartly and effectively. He is more straightforward and honest than Obama. Whether you like what he does or not, you can predict it. He says over and over again what he is going to do “if” long before he does it. He loves and defends his own country.

Anyway, regardless of Putin, I find Russians very smart, overall, and likable. Any country that gave us Tetris can’t be all bad, haha.


42 posted on 11/22/2015 7:11:01 PM PST by The Ghost of FReepers Past (Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light..... Isaiah 5:20)
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To: rickmichaels

Let’s compare the photos of this location after Obama declared victory, and again after Vlad is through.

Look at the ariel view of the strike on Jihadi John.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3316497/Has-Jihadi-John-killed-drone-strike-Officials-claim-British-ISIS-fanatic-targeted-Raqqa.html

Now notice the ISIS targets that still stand on the same street.

ISIS Court, ISIS HQ.....etc


43 posted on 11/22/2015 7:13:09 PM PST by G Larry (ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS impose SLAVE WAGES on LEGAL Immigrants.)
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To: ClearCase_guy
It's pretty axiomatic that terrorism will continue until the price they pay for their acts exceeds the benefits they think they gain for committing them. When the US retaliates with million-dollar smart weapons aimed only at the bad guys, and we decline to attack them in their safe-havens among civilians, terrorists know they are free to continue. It's only when their innocent neighbors and families (who give them cover) are consumed in a retaliatory bombing, that they might have second thoughts.

Plenty of us have thought to retaliate against their holy sites in retribution. Maybe it's time to contemplate that. Maybe, after the next attack anywhere, a missile will be launched into the fourth holiest Islamic site. Since these animals kill in the name of their religion, it's only fitting that the price they pay is appropriately targeted. After the bombing, word should go out that after the next terror atract, the third most holy Islamic site will be destroyed, unless the "innocents" turn in the culprits with 48 hours.

If the guilty are not turned over in time, the bombing should commence immediately with a promise that after the next attack, the second-holiest site will be destroyed without warning and without delay. The only thing that could forestall that destruction would be for the hundreds of cells and conspiring imams and mosques worldwide to be turned in immediately. Short of something like this - ratcheting up pressure in those "innocents"'who look away, big shooting, and large destruction is sure to follow, with many more millions of real innocent victims.

44 posted on 11/22/2015 7:18:28 PM PST by Sgt_Schultze (If a border fence isn't effective, why is there a border fence around the White House?)
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To: rickmichaels; vladimir998; hoosiermama; TnTnTn; ClearCase_guy; SamAdams76; litehaus; winner3000

The following sounds like media hype to me: merciless blanket air campaign, object of wiping the Islamic State’s Syrian center of Raqqa off the map, systematically razing the town of 200,000 inhabitants 160km east of Aleppo, When the Russians are done, the town will be a pile of rubble, an intelligence source told DEBKAfile.

I live in a city of 200,000 and seventy five sorties would hardly make a dent in our population, especially sense the Russians would attack commercial and industrial buildings instead of residential sections. Also cruise missiles are really expensive and I cannot see Russians using them indiscriminately.

Most likely they would follow the clear and obvious reading of Articles 28 and 29 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. ISIS is responsible for any civilian deaths in this city they use as a base. The civilians qualify as Protected Persons within enemy physical control, and cannot be used to render certain points and areas immune from military operations. Acquiescence to popular posturing long ago forced our armed forces into rules of engagement as harmful them as the enemy. The basic rule should always be that if you find yourself in a fair fight you have failed to plan correctly.


45 posted on 11/22/2015 7:21:03 PM PST by Retain Mike
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To: Afterguard

Putin has to deal with his own problems first - Russia is a financial mess, has a booming Muslim population, and despite having massive natural resources it does not have the infrastructure (or money for it) to grow their economy. They are basically an oil state now and their fortunes follow those of oil and gas.

Their military is not the juggernaut they were made out to be during the cold war. They have some good equipment, but most of their stuff is still old and antiquated.


46 posted on 11/22/2015 7:21:18 PM PST by volunbeer
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To: rickmichaels

you mean after all these years someone has decided to actually right a real war against these satanic demons?


47 posted on 11/22/2015 7:23:58 PM PST by TexasFreeper2009 (You can't spell Hillary without using the letters L, I, A, & R)
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To: WTFOVR

It’s too bad that we are there. But I agree with you. They are a pestilance. And I hear more and more people coming around to this ugly truth. This is a war to death for civilization.


48 posted on 11/22/2015 7:28:09 PM PST by cld51860 (Volo pro veritas)
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To: datura

While I applaud Russia’s anti-ISIS efforts, the big picture looks bad. In a matter of weeks, Russia has displaced the US as the primary influence in the mideast. It really is quite remarkable.


49 posted on 11/22/2015 7:29:35 PM PST by lacrew
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To: G Larry

Ridiculous that the son of a whore in the WH would leave those buildings intact.

Damn right they aren’t there anymore, thanks to the Russians.

Evidence of coddling the enemy, its not going to go well for these treacherous Obama administration bastards when the trials start.


50 posted on 11/22/2015 7:29:54 PM PST by Rome2000 (SMASH THE CPUSA-SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS-CLOSE ALL MOSQUES)
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To: rickmichaels

Let me know when Russia starts using the equivalent to our M.O.A.B.s


51 posted on 11/22/2015 7:40:04 PM PST by American Constitutionalist ( because the Constitution matters.)
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To: Rome2000

I want ariel photos to contrast and shame Bambi.


52 posted on 11/22/2015 7:44:14 PM PST by G Larry (ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS impose SLAVE WAGES on LEGAL Immigrants.)
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To: rickmichaels

As Rush and others have said many times;
The purpose of the military is to kill people and break things. The purpose of war is to have your military kill people and break things until your adversary gives up and quits the field.

Sounds to me like Putin learned his lessons at the feet of a master strategist. Obama learned his at Bill Ayres feet and in the madrasa.


53 posted on 11/22/2015 7:48:53 PM PST by Tupelo (Honest men go to Washington, but honest men do not stay in Washington.)
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To: jttpwalsh

I am going to add one more thing. I wish them success. I am happy for the direction their country has taken, with the fall of the USSR and I hope it leads to more and more prosperity, goodness, and success. I think too many Americans treat them like enemies and leave them feeling like we want to keep them down. That is a big mistake that has cost us the little bit of trust we were beginning to gain. The burden was with us to build trust after the collapse of the USSR because we were the stronger one. Instead we have squandered the opportunity and re-established mistrust, leading to a second Cold War. It is one of the great tragedies of our time and we carry the blame. As they regain strength, we could have been allies rather than enemies. But the U.S. has been busy tossing all of its fundamental values. Russia has not become perfect, but they have been moving in the right direction while we have been moving in the wrong direction. Who will God bless?

What a crazy world.


54 posted on 11/22/2015 7:48:58 PM PST by The Ghost of FReepers Past (Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light..... Isaiah 5:20)
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To: American Constitutionalist
“Let me know when Russia starts using the equivalent to our M.O.A.B.s”

I hope he slips a nuc in there. “Oops, how’d that get in there?”

55 posted on 11/22/2015 7:49:12 PM PST by IAMNO1 (Enough with the divisions. Lets get somebody in there who'll fix this mess.)
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To: rickmichaels

Czar Herrod, you rock and you are my hero...


56 posted on 11/22/2015 7:50:34 PM PST by Vendome (they arDon't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
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To: rickmichaels

God bless Putin, and FUBO.


57 posted on 11/22/2015 7:52:39 PM PST by matthew fuller (Red-blooded, patriotic Americans understand that we are at war. That's why obama doesn't.)
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To: Wilderness Conservative

“Dear Mr Putin, dont stop until you get to the Indian Ocean.”

Shades of Sherman’s March to the sea.

I fully support it!


58 posted on 11/22/2015 8:01:28 PM PST by Beowulf9
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To: Paladin2
"Blanket vs. carpet? Which is better?

Carpet is thicker and tougher.

59 posted on 11/22/2015 8:02:58 PM PST by Buffalo Head (Illigitimi non carborundum)
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To: Paladin2

Hillary prefers the carpet


60 posted on 11/22/2015 8:05:50 PM PST by MaskedMan (The)
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