Russian ground troops and MIGs in Syria.

[T.Lex]

That was cool.

In a oh-snap-this-could-get-bad kinda way.

 

[printcraft]

That was cool.

In a oh-snap-this-could-get-bad kinda way.

Dude in the field @ :57 was still burning........

 

[T.Lex]

Dude in the field @ :57 was still burning........

Yeah, did you see the secondary when the internal ammo popped off? It looked like the hull might've been laden with extra fuel and stuff, too, so that would've been no fun.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

U.S. asks Toyota to explain why ISIS has so many new trucks

 

[T.Lex]

Looks like we might spend half a billion dollars to figure out what's going on over there.

https://www.rt.com/usa/318054-ndaa-syria-isis-ukraine/

While the White House and the lawmakers are in dispute over the details, they appear to be in agreement on continuing to send military aid to the regime in Ukraine and the elusive “moderate rebels” in Syria.
Some $600 million has been earmarked for a program to support the “appropriately vetted” Syrian rebels, fighting against both the government in Damascus and Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS and ISIL).
Section 1225 of the NDAA allocates $531.5 million directly to the Syria Train and Equip program, and directs an additional $25.8 million to the US Army and $42.8 million to the US Air Force, to cover the costs of their participation.

Oh... and there's a token amount for train and equip in Iraq:

Another $715 million was allocated for the train-and-equip program in Iraq, aimed at the Iraqi military as well as the Kurdish and tribal militias fighting against IS.

And an interesting slant on the Ukraine:

Section 1250 of the NDAA allocates $300 million to the “Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative,” aimed at propping up the government in Kiev. The bill instructs the Pentagon to coordinate with the State Department to “provide appropriate security assistance and intelligence support, including training, equipment, and logistics support, supplies and services, to military and other security forces of the Government of Ukraine.”
Lawmakers have allocated no less than $50 million for “Lethal assistance such as anti-armor weapon systems, mortars, crew-served weapons and ammunition, grenade launchers and ammunition, and small arms and ammunition.”

Hmmm... maybe this post would've been better in the WWIII thread...

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Russian 'jet SHOT DOWN by Turkish forces after it flew into their airspace' | World | News | Daily Express

 

[T.Lex]

Oh snap.

What thread is this again?

 

[Leadeye]

I think "appropriately vetted" will be middle eastern looking folks that talk the talk and pocket the check. People with a good connection to a dc law firm.

 

[T.Lex]

Quelle surprise!

Syria conflict: Assad forces make 'significant gains' - BBC News

Government gains are being reported in Idlib, Hama and Latakia provinces.
Russia says its aircraft carried out more than 60 missions over Syria in the past 24 hours, and that the Islamic State group was its main target.
But the Russian strikes appear to have impacted heavily on rebels fighting both the government and IS.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Russian embassy attacked

Syrian civil war looking more like proxy war between U.S., Russia - CNN.com

 

[T.Lex]

This is probably unhelpful.
Syria Kurds 'razing villages seized from IS' - Amnesty - BBC News

Kurdish forces have carried out a wave of forced displacement and mass house demolitions - amounting to war crimes - in northern Syria, a rights group says.

Although I certainly understand the motivation for it.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

This is probably unhelpful.
Syria Kurds 'razing villages seized from IS' - Amnesty - BBC News



Although I certainly understand the motivation for it.

If Civ V has told me anything... this usually leads to a high unhappiness rating, but overall better economic stability.

 

[T.Lex]

In terms of thread cross-pollination, we have now jumped between WWIII and Gaming threads.

That sounds about right.

 

[T.Lex]

Russian 'jet SHOT DOWN by Turkish forces after it flew into their airspace' | World | News | Daily Express

This is unlikely to have actually happened.

http://theaviationist.com/2015/10/12/no-russian-aircraft-shot-down-over-syria/

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Syrian army, allies preparing for ground offensive in Aleppo backed by Russian air strikes, sources say | Reuters

 

[Blackhawk2001]

This is probably unhelpful.
Syria Kurds 'razing villages seized from IS' - Amnesty - BBC News



Although I certainly understand the motivation for it.

This is pretty typical behavior of Middle Eastern tribes of a specific bent, especially considering THEY'VE been having worse done to them. "War Crimes," indeed. Not much outrage when ISIS was killing their men and male children, raping and carrying off their women; I'm not inclined to be outraged over their returning the favor - even if they aren't going "whole hog" (so to speak.)

 

[ArcadiaGP]

ISIS Confirms That US Killed Its Number Two Leader - Middle East - News - Arutz Sheva


U.S. and Russian aircraft come within visual range over Syria

 

[T.Lex]

Not so long ago, Turkey and Russia were cozying up to each other.

With Russian close air support aimed at "terrorists" in the area, it makes me wonder if it includes Kurdish groups labeled as terrorists by Turkey. That would allow Turkey to use Russia as a proxy to attack some of its enemies.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Russian warplane hits refugee camp in Syria | Crimean News Agency

 

[T.Lex]

Russian Military Calculus:
Send artillery into our embassy, we bomb your camp.