Syria safe zones on hold amid concern over how deal will be enforced
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov to meet US secretary of state as west seeks assurances about ceasefire plan

Source

We posted here a long time ago that the problem with the idea of safe zones is that you need troops on the ground to protect these zones; so who is actually going to do that - seems this very basic point is still an open point

I suppose they could always send in some unarmed troops who will make rude faces at any safe zone attackers?

TA reported that IS in Mosul tested poisons on humans in order to determine the feasibility of poison attacks. Two types of poison were used, one based on nicotine, the other on "Thallium(I)-sulfat" (German term).

Russia warns US-led coalition over downing of Syrian jet
Russian Defence ministry says planes flying west of Euphrates will be treated as targets and that it has suspended safety agreement with US

Source

Unfortunate escalation; hope this does not lead to direct US/Russia fighting!

I thought Putin has compromising videos of Trump and controls him...

Trump is not the US military and I think if push ever came to shove Trump would be ignored. This shooting down of a Syrian jet by coalition forces is grave and a threat from Russia will only serve to show the "by Jingo!" Neocoms that a shooting war with Russia is at long last possible without having the naive lefties spoiling the fun. Strange how these things sort of escalate themselves to a certain point of paranoia then back down before any real damage is done, up until now we have been lucky but it only takes one to say "oh fornicate it" and take things through the stages of escalation and beyond the point of no return.

Maybe the timing is bad but I am half way through reading "The third world war" by John Hackett, the build up to the fictional third world war is surprisingly accurate and I think that if things had gone down slightly different in the early eighties we would be in a different world altogether, if any of us were still alive, after reading this for a few days I simply can´t get over the feeling that the chess pieces as we see today are moving into position, almost of their own accord, and if the hawks in both the Pentagon and the Kremlin get their way along with the east coast neocons and the Russian nationalists we could well still get to see WW3.

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Back in Bavaria, god´s own belly button.

US shoots down second Iran-made armed drone over Syria in 12 days

US says fighter shot drone as it approached outpost near borders of Syria, Iraq, and Jordan, the same day Russian jet came close to US warplane over Baltic Sea.

Source

Gulp!!

Macron says Assad can stay

http://www.france24.com/en/20170621-...-pre-condition

A weak Assad is good for most parties involved, his replacement is likely to be worse. Syria looks like a mediterenian Afghanistan.

Hope they do this in Alaska where they are practically neighbors and not in middle east where neither has any potential loss.

Half a million Syrian refugees have returned to Syria since rebel groups have started to be defeated. Let's not forget that we were told they were fleeing Assad and that therefore he must be toppled.

Shithouse warmongering Western politicians. When will they learn?

UNHCR seeing significant returns of internally displaced amid Syria’s continuing conflict

The war in Syria can't be blamed on the west. As usual in Arab countries, better the dictator you know then the Jihadi from Birmingham you don't.

Trump 'ends programme to arm anti-Assad rebels' in move sought by Russia
'I think Putin will be thrilled' said one analyst

Source

It will all end in tears

Source

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/...s_dirty_secret

That's the dilemma: Either let them run, or force them to stay upon which they will use the civilians as human shields.

Dammed be the western powers and their super complacent citizens allowing this massacre to go on and letting their armies do whatever they want. Where is the napalm girl watershed moment?!!!
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...irstrikes.html

Interesting article - as usual, civilan casualties numbers are inflated/reduced accroding to whos side you are on.

Meanwhile in Syria , Russia is blocking investigation into chemical weapons attacks. Too cold to march against the war in Moscow anyway.

Putin will withraw most russian troops. the visit to Syria wasn't announced in advance - Syria is not much safer than Iraq, the war is still not over, but there is a limit to how many secret funerals even Putin have afford.

Thanks to Putin a few thousand of the worst terrorists were exterminated, but somehow you soon to take more pleasure from the death of Russian soldiers.

Putin helped Syria in it's fight against Islamist terrorist. He and Assad killed many more civilians than terrorists using poison gas, hospital & school bombing, stravation, rape - the usual Russian approach. If Assad stay on he will a russian vassal like Kadyrov.

Assad released the Islamists from his jails at the begining of the protests - transorming them into a bloody civil war.