Free Republic

CIA-coordinated military aid for rebels in northwest Syria has been frozen since they came under major Islamist attack last month, rebel sources said, raising doubts about foreign support key to their war against President Bashar al-Assad. Rebel officials said that no official explanation had been given for the move this month following the jihadist assault, though several said they believed the main objective was to prevent arms and cash falling into Islamist militant hands. But they said they expected the aid freeze to be temporary.

Turkey's nationalist 'Gray Wolves' enter Syrian fray Author Fehim TaÅŸtekin Summary: Turkish ultranationalists have joined the fight in Syria as what some observers view as their government's secret weapon, one that could backfire as the group mingles with Islamists along with the Turkmens they're defending. Posted February 3, 2016 Turkish involvement in the Syrian war has been heavily dominated by Islamist fighters, but the conflict has also drawn in an unlikely quarter -- Turkish nationalists. The far-right Nationalist Action Party (MHP) and its youth branch, the Idealist Hearths, have recently come into the spotlight with high-profile losses on the Syrian...

A huge 88 percent of blacks believe more change is needed before they have equal rights with whites, and about half, 43 percent, don't believe racism will end, according to a sweeping new survey by Pew Research Center of race in America. In a three-month survey of 3,769 adults — 1,799 whites, 1,004 blacks and 654 Hispanics — Pew found that whites and blacks have starkly different views on race and race relations.

A man attacked a Metrobus driver with a weapon and hijacked his bus Tuesday morning, D.C. police said. The bus then struck a pedestrian, who later died. It's not clear where the bus was taken from, but police say the bus in now stopped at a gas station in the 4300 block of Minnesota Avenue in Northeast Washington. Police say the suspect got on the bus and attacked the bus driver with a weapon. The driver managed to get off the bus, but suffered a back injury in the process. He is expected to be OK. The suspect then drove...

Documents released by the US government's Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website have provided an indication of the types and numbers of Eastern European weapons and ammunition the United States is providing to Syrian rebel groups as part of a programme that continues despite the widely respected ceasefire in that country.

Al-Qaeda militants swept through a rebel-held town in northern Syria in a display of dominance Sunday, arresting U.S.-backed fighters and looting weapons stores belonging to the Free Syrian Army. The militants belonging to the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front along with allied jihadists have been moving to exert their authority over rebel-held areas in Idlib province since a partial ceasefire to the country’s five-year conflict took effect two weeks ago, extinguishing patriotic demonstrations and sidelining nationalist militias. …

President Vladimir Putin said on Friday Russia is supporting the opposition Free Syrian Army, providing it with air cover, arms and ammunition in joint operations with Syrian troops against Islamist militants. His statement appeared to be the first time Moscow said it was actually supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's opponents in the fight against Islamic State forces. Putin said last month the Russian air force had hit several "terrorist" targets identified by the Free Syrian Army. A few hours later, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin had been talking about weapons supplies to the armed forces loyal to...

Revolutionary Guards Quds Force's notorious chief Qassem Suleimani severely injured in clashes south of Aleppo For nearly 5 years the Revolutionary Guards Quds Force’s notorious chief Qassem Suleimani has been spearheading Iran’s full-pledged support for the Syrian dictator Bashar Assad. This shadowy figure has been the symbol of Tehran’s infamous plots in Syria, and reports have also indicated Suleimani was running the show and issuing orders to senior Syrian generals and political officials, and at times, even Assad himself. Enjoying the full support of and reporting only to Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, Suleimani had unimaginable authority in Syria. That...

The first Western journalist to be allowed access into ISIL territory spent 10 days among the terrorists a year ago. Jurgen Todenhofer visited Raqqa, which serves as the capital of Islamic State's self-declared сaliphate. He also travelled to territories controlled by the terrorist group in Iraq.....He said from whom they get weapons and money..."Weapons flow from FSA and money from Gulf States"...The conclusion of this farce is ....FSA is the name ISIS uses to get free US weapons and other supplies...the myth of "moderate" rebels has fallen... Read more at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=267_1448115126#bmmVTK62QsKoyPJ3.99

Russia says it is ready to help US-backed rebels in Syria in their battle against militant organisations like the Islamic State group. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Russian air force could support the Free Syrian Army provided the US shares information about rebel positions. The FSA has so far been among the rebel groups targeted by Russian strikes which have drawn Western criticism. Russia is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. It has been bombing targets in Syria since last month and says it is primarily hitting IS positions. But Western powers say most of the air...

Russia says it is ready to help US-backed rebels in Syria in their battle against militant organisations like the Islamic State group. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Russian air force could support the Free Syrian Army provided the US shares information about rebel positions. The FSA has so far been among the rebel groups targeted by Russian strikes which have drawn Western criticism.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Kremlin wanted Syria to prepare for parliamentary and presidential elections, as Moscow intensified its drive to convert its increased clout with Damascus into a political settlement. In comments which mark a shift in Russia's position, he also said that Russia's airforce, which has been bombing Islamist militants in Syria since Sept. 30, would be ready to help Western-backed Free Syrian Army rebels, if it knew where they were. The Kremlin, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's strongest foreign ally, has spoken broadly about the need for elections in Syria before. But Lavrov's...

The American media has been providing evidence since 2013, that the so-called Free Syrian Army and The Al-Nusra Front, are one and the same organization. Here is a Washington Times article from 2013: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/sep/30/al-nusra-front-free-syrian-army-seize-border-cross/ Al-Nusra Front, as the Washington Times makes clear, is the Syrian branch of Al Qaeda Have Al Qaeda now become the "moderates"? The so-called Syrian moderates belong to a movement that has killed more Americans than ISIS (Remember 911?) ISIS used to be the Iraqi branch of Al Qaeda, before they re-organized themselves into a new movement - ISIL/ISIS Both the Al-Nusra Front and ISIS want...

Washington has been continuing to develop measures against the Russian strategy in Syria. First of all, the US has to demonstrate the existence of the so-called “moderate rebels”. For that reason the topic of the “Free Syrian Army” (FSA) became popular in the US and European media. But what is the FSA? FSA units were created about half a year after the start of the Syrian war.Turkey supported this idea. However, it always was a PR myth and never was a real power in the battlefield. The first FSA activity was noted in 2011 when its leader, a former colonel...

<p>The U.S. military airdropped 50 tons of ammunition to Syrian rebels fighting ISIS on Sunday — the latest maneuver in the United States' attempt to help turn the tide of a chaotic civil war.</p> <p>The airdrop, consisting of AK-47 rounds, hand grenades, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar rounds, targeted rebels in ISIS-held territory in northern Syria, senior defense and military officials told NBC News.</p>

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin remarked that, instead of funding Syrian rebels, the U.S. should have just given the money to Russia. The U.S. halted its training program after many rebels defected and U.S. weapons landed in the hands of al-Qaeda. “It would have been better to give us $500 million,” quipped Putin. “At least we would have used it more effectively from the point of view of fighting international terrorism.”Al-Qaeda kidnapped or killed multiple “New Syrian Force” fighters, which left American weapons in their hands. The Pentagon also provided vehicles and ammunition to Nusra Front, a radical Islamic group linked to al-Qaeda,...

While Toyota’s own figures show a tripling of sales of the Hilux in Iraq during 2013, US authorities are also investigating other sources from which the cars could have originated, as part of a broader effort to “prevent Western-made goods from ending up in the hands of the terror group.” But the US has, in fact, knowingly exported Toyotas that could now potentially be in the terrorist group’s fleet. In April 2014, a report published by Public Radio International announced that US State Department aid sent to Syrian rebels included 43 Toyota trucks. At the time, the Hiluxes were meant...

Syria's leading Kurdish militia and several Arab rebel groups that have fought alongside it have formalised their alliance in a new group called the Syrian Democratic Forces. The formation of the alliance comes after Washington said it was abandoning a plan to train and equip rebels to fight the Islamic State group and could provide the US with a new partner in the battle against the jihadist group. The alliance was announced in a statement published online by a spokesman for the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG). "The sensitive stage through which our country Syria is passing and the rapid...

A U.S.-backed Syrian-Kurdish militia, a number of Arab rebel groups and an Assyrian Christian group in Syria have formed a coalition to build a democratic representation for a number of moderate parties within Syria, according to a statement seen by Reuters on Monday. The new alliance, which is calling itself the Democratic Forces of Syria, includes the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) that beat back the Islamic State (ISIS) with the support of U.S. airstrikes in the Syrian-Kurdish border town of Kobani earlier this year. The YPG continues to battle the radical Islamist group in areas of northeastern Syria and...

CNN)U.S. military cargo planes gave 50 tons of ammunition to rebel groups overnight in northern Syria, using an air drop of 112 pallets as the first step in the Obama Administration's urgent effort to find new ways to support those groups. Details of the air mission over Syria were confirmed by a U.S. official not authorized to speak publicly because the details have not yet been formally announced. C-17s, accompanied by fighter escort aircraft, dropped small arms ammunition and other items like hand grenades in Hasakah province in northern Syria to a coalition of rebels groups vetted by the US,...