ISIS update 2/22/2016..Ceasefire in Syria to commence at midnight on Feb. 27

International Military Review – Syria, Feb. 22, 2016

Multiple Bombings in Syria Kill Nearly 130 People

Bomb attacks in Homs, Damascus leave 142 dead

ISIL terrorists claim responsibility for Syria bombings

UN, Iran condemn terrorist attacks in Syria

US- Russia reach deal on ceasefire in Syria

Ceasefire in Syria to commence at midnight on Feb. 27 – Russia & US — RT News

The US and Russia have adopted “Terms for a Cessation of Hostilities in Syria” and propose that a ceasefire start on February 27 at 00:00 (Damascus time), according to an official joint statement.

TrendsSyria unrest

READ THE JOINT STATEMENT HERE

According to the statement, the truce will “be applied to [all] those parties to the Syrian conflict that have indicated their commitment” to accept its terms. It will exclude Islamic State, Al Nusra Front and “other terrorist organizations designated by the UN Security Council.”

The ceasefire plan also stipulates that other parties should indicate “their commitment to and acceptance of the terms for the cessation of hostilities” by no later than 12:00 (Damascus time) on February 26.

Russia and the United States have also pledged to “exchange pertinent information,” including data that helps delineate territories held by Islamic State and other terrorist groups from those “where groups that have indicated their commitment to and acceptance of the cessation of hostilities are active.”

Support for terrorists in Syria should stop

UNPRECEDENTED: RUSSIANS RESPOND TO TURK TREATY VIOLATION

Erdogan: Turkey has right to conduct anti-terror ops in Syria

Kurds clash with police over round-the-clock curfew

50 ISIL militants killed in clashes in Aleppo province

Syria – Syrian army established full control over 6 villages in Latakia province

Syrian Army control more than 30 villages in East Aleppo countryside

A February coalition airstrike hits an Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) weapons storage facility near Abu Kamal, Syria

Democratic forces of Syria attack Al-Shadadi

Syrian Defense Minister Gen. Freij visits the frontlines in Quraytayn – Homs

Daraa notables launch reconciliation initiative

Iraqi Special Forces Golden Division advance from Jobah, Ramadi to Husaybah East

Iraqi army prepares for anti-Daesh operation in Mosul

Futile Diplomatic Efforts to Resolve Syria’s Conflict

by Stephen Lendman

America’s rage for war assures protracted Syrian conflict. Nothing in prospect suggests resolution.

US claims otherwise are a complete fabrication. Washington continues supporting ISIS and other terrorist groups, using them as imperial foot soldiers – intending endless war until Syrian sovereignty is replaced by another US vassal state.

Sunday blasts in Damascus’ southern Sayeda Zeinab district and Homs killed dozens, injured many more. Defenseless civilians were targeted, showing US-backed terrorists intend to keep fighting – with full Washington support and encouragement.

John Kerry in Amman lied, saying “the United States is doing everything in (its) power (to) degrade and destroy Daesh…giving the people of Syria (hope for a better) future.”

Claiming “we are closer to a ceasefire today than we have been” before is polar opposition reality. Saying Washington wants a “political solution” belies its rage for war, its aim to oust Assad, destroy Syrian sovereignty, replace it with a US-controlled puppet regime.

Putin and Assad aren’t fooled by US duplicity. Concern over what Erdogan plans next remains – only with US permission or complicity, not unilaterally. Don’t let his duplicitous bluster fool you, the ravings of a madman, wailing:

“Turkey has every right to conduct operations in Syria and the places where terror organizations are nested with regards to the struggle against the threats that Turkey faces,” – his megalomania apparent for everyone to see, defying international law, his imperial delusions taking precedence.

Turkey will “protect its sovereign rights,” he blustered. He’s the aggressor, not the victim. Whether he’ll dare launch a full-scale invasion remains to be seen. Even lunatics like Erdogan won’t act without Obama’s OK, unlikely to come.

Claiming “(n)o one can restrict Turkey’s right to self-defense in the face of terror acts” conceals his support for ISIS and likeminded groups waging war on Syria.

Flashpoint conditions remain hugely dangerous. Anything ahead could ignite full-blown conflict, embroiling the entire region and beyond.

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

US leaving CIA-trained militants at Russia’s mercy: Ex-Obama aide

The administration of US President Barack Obama is abandoning US-trained militants in Syria, allowing Russia and Kurdish forces to slowly destroy them, a former Obama aide says.

The Pentagon announced plans last year to conduct a $500 million “train-and-equip” program to produce about 5,400 Syrian militants annually as a proxy ground force against Daesh (ISIL) and President Bashar al-Assad, a program that yielded only a small cadre of 145 militants before it was officially pulled.

Separately, the CIA has also been running a similar program aimed at pressuring Assad to step down.

Those groups are now allegedly being targeted by Russian airstrikes in the Arab country, which began September last year upon a request from Damascus.

A US-backed Kurdish group known as the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) are also said to have targeted the militants.

“You can use the cliché of choice — it’s a deal with the devil or beggars can’t be choosers,” said Frederic C. Hof, who was once Obama’s special adviser for the conflict in Syria.

According to American officials, protecting the trained militants from Russia and Kurds is not realistic anymore, and it makes more sense for the US to support YPG instead, which also receives US support in from of ammunition and airstrikes.

“By and large the only people who have been willing to fight ISIS on the ground in Eastern Syria is this Kurdish militia. But this militia has its own agenda. It has its own objective. Its objective is to establish a Kurdish autonomous zone,” Hof argued.

This notion has been echoed by the State Department press secretary John Kirby who defended US support for the Kurdish forces earlier this week.

“They’ve been some of the most effective fighters against Daesh, and they have been supported by the air from the coalition,” he told reporters.

“And going forward, I would expect that that sort of support — where and when appropriate, as before — would continue,” he added.

Syria experts and critics of the administration’s policy say Obama has decided to go after Daesh while avoiding a military confrontation with Russia or the Syrian government at all costs.

The administration also drew criticism for notifying Russian air forces where US special operators are were stationed in Syria.

More than 470,000 people have reportedly been killed and millions displaced in about five years of fighting in Syria.