Withdraw.

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Finally one more item from the latest edition of the DEBKAfile newsletter. And it bodes no good!

"US set to quit Al Tanf. Pro-Iranian force moves in"

8 September.
   
"DEBKAfile reveals that Washington is winding up discussions with Moscow on terms for US special forces to evacuate the Al Tanf post they were holding in the Syrian-Iraqi-Jordanian triangle and hand it over to the Syrian army. Quitting Al Tanf is tantamount to the US withdrawal from all of southeastern Syria and its handover to Syria and its allies, including Hizballah."

"And so, while Israeli jets were bombing the Syrian CERS chemical facility at Masyaf, 38km west of the central Syrian town of Hama, early Thursday, Sept 7, control of the Syrian-Iraqi border to the east was quietly changing hands. The Americans were poised to quit Al-Tanf, while units of Tehran's Iraqi surrogate, the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), Thursday night began crossing the border and taking up positions in southeastern Syria. Tehran's dream of a land corridor through Iraq to the Mediterranean is unfolding at speed."

See previous blog entries the subject of which was the Al Tanf border crossing and the importance of same:

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2017/08/hashd-al-shaabi.html

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2017/06/showdown.html

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2017/05/al-waleed.html 

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2017/06/al-tanf.html 

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2017/06/exporter.html 

 ISRAEL HAS DECLARED THE CONTROL OF THE AL TANF BORDER CROSSING BY IRAN OR IRANIAN PROXIES AS A TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE SITUATION AND REMEDY WILL BE SOUGHT!! FOR ALL THAT MIGHT MEAN!

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IAF Liban.

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North Korea and Syria in league? Who would have thought it?

Some details from the latest edition of the DEBKAfile newsletter. The most recent attack on Syrian chemical warfare production facilities as alleged.

"Who hit NKorean-linked Syrian chemical plant?"

7 September.

"Syrian opposition media named Israel as responsible for air strikes over Syria before dawn Thursday, Sept. 7 - in particular the attack which targeted the Scientific Studies Researchers Center, or Centre D'Etudes et de Recherches Scientifiques (CERS), at Masyaf, 38km west of Hama in central Syria. This facility has overseen the government's chemical warfare and missile programs since the 1970s."

"On Aug. 24, the German Algemeiner cited a confidential UN report confirming that two North Korean shipments were intercepted in the past six months on their way to Syria, with reason to believe that their cargo was part of a Korea Mining Developing Trading Corp. (KOMID) contract with Syria. KOMID is Pyongyang's primary exporter of prohibited chemical, missile engines and conventional arms"

WHO ARE YOU? I THINK WE KNOW!

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Model.

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Concerted and unified action is what is needed? But will it work?

Thanks again to the latest edition of the DEBKAfile some analysis of the North Korean crisis and a possible solution.

"Powers may end up with Iranian model for NKorea"

3 September.
   
"Even North Korea's 150-kiloton hydrogen bomb and avowed ability to fit it onto an intercontinental ballistic missile, as Kim Jong-un demonstrated Sunday, Sept. 3, have so far drawn nothing more decisive from the world's powers than words of condemnation and threats of stronger sanctions. There is no sign of all these powers getting together for tangible, effective concerted action."

"Since the Kim regime's first underground nuclear test on Oct. 9, 2006, almost every conceivable penalty and deterrent has been tried to rein in the rogue nation's gallop towards a nuclear weapon, barring full-blown military aggression. None worked, mainly because they were imposed piecemeal and never fully followed through. But most of all, this was because the big powers never lined up as one and pooled all their resources at the same time for concerted action. If a lineup on the Iran model confronted Kim Jong--un with a collective seven-day ultimatum to dismantle those programs or else face their destruction, he might decide to sit down and talk."

FOR THE BETTER PART OF TWO DECADES [?] THE WORLD COMMUNITY HAS TAKEN VARIOUS ACTIONS [most rather benign] THE IDEA OF WHICH WAS TO DISSUADE NORTH KOREA FROM  ACQUIRING NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND MISSILE DELIVERY SYSTEMS. NONE OF THOSE MEANS AND MEASURES AS TAKEN WORKING!

SO WHAT NOW?/

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Convoy.

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Islamic State combatants [apparently including their wives and children now stranded in the Syrian desert. Having been given safe passage but not finding themselves going from the proverbial frying pan to the fire.

From the latest edition of the DEBKAfile newsletter:

"ISIS bus convoy stranded in Syrian desert"

 2 September.

"The 17 buses allowed under a Hizballah-brokered truce to carry ISIS fighters from the Lebanese-Syrian border battle to Deir ez-Zour are reported stranded in the Syrian Desert. According to a statement, the US-led coalition sent a message to Damascus, via Russia, that the Islamist convoy would not be allowed to move closer to the Iraqi border, but suggested a course of action was needed to save the women and children from any further suffering. Iraq accused Hizballah of trying to dump the Islamists on its border. Coalition forces are targeting any ISIS vehicles attempting to assist the convoy, but not the convoy itself. Food and water are being provided"

"US warplanes pick off ISIS fighters drawn to stranded convoy ‘like moths to the flame’"

"IRBIL, Iraq — An attempt by Islamic State to evacuate hundreds of fighters from western Syria to the Iraqi border has instead left them sitting ducks for aerial attacks by the U.S.-led coalition on the convoy."

“'We were able to exploit it and take advantage,' Army Col. Ryan S. Dillon, a coalition spokesman, said of the ISIS maneuver Thursday morning as 11 buses full of ISIS fighters and civilians remained stranded in the Syrian desert."

"U.S. warplanes continue to pick off militants who stray too far from the protection of the convoy’s women and children,"

That siege of Deir Ezzor having been lifted, the convoy NOW has nowhere to go?

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Signal.

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As extracted from an Israel Hayom article by Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror and thanks of course to Sheldon Adelson.

When General Yaakov speaks we must all listen!

Read first the details of the most recent Israeli Air Force [IAF] attack on a munitions factory and [?] arms depots in Syria.

Then from General Yaakov:
       
"Sending a signal to major players in Syria"

"The attack on the Syrian weapons research and production plant in Hama province in the early hours of Thursday night was carried out by the Israeli Air Force, or so foreign media claims. If this is true, it marks a certain shift in Israel's policy."

. . . .

"Since the civil war erupted in Syrian in March 2011, Israel has been waging a two-pronged campaign, seeking to deny Hezbollah the ability to take advantage of the chaos in Syria and obtain advanced weapons systems, as well as to prevent Iran from entrenching itself militarily in Syria. The realization of either of these scenarios would make it easier for the Shiite terrorist group and its patrons in Tehran to act against Israel in the future."

ISRAELI WARPLANES IN THIS SPECIFIC INSTANCE AS IS SUGGESTED IN SOME REPORTS FIRING THEIR STAND-OFF AIR-SURFACE MISSILES AT A TARGET IN SYRIA WITHOUT INTRUDING INTO SYRIAN AIRSPACE! MISSILE USED PERHAPS THAT OF THE DELILAH TYPE?

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HTS.

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"'It ain't over 'til it's over'" - - Y. Berra.

From Patrick Cockburn thanks to the Ron Unz Internet web site.

"While Defeat of Isis Dominates Attention, al-Qaeda Gets Stronger"

"Al-Qaeda is creating its most powerful stronghold ever in north-west Syria at a time when world attention is almost entirely focused on the impending defeat of Isis [the Islamic State] in the east of the country. It has established full control of Idlib province and of a vital Syrian-Turkish border crossing since July. 'Idlib Province is the largest al-Qaeda safe haven since 9/11,'” - - Brett McGurk, the senior US envoy to the international coalition fighting Isis.

Area in pink as controlled by the central government in Damascus beholden to the despot Assad. Green as currently occupied by HTS fighters. Turkey in white to the upper left. Mediterranean in blue on the far left. Al-Shams. Travel the Aleppo/Hama/Homs/Damascus road in either direction only at your own peril. Understand and heed! Click on image to see an enlarged view.

"HTS is estimated to have 30,000 experienced fighters whose numbers will grow as it integrates brigades from other defeated rebel groups and recruits young men from the camps for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who have sought refuge in Idlib from President Bashar al-Assad’s forces."

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE THE SITUATION IN DEIR EZZOR DISCUSSED IN DETAIL.

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UXB.

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UXB = Unexploded Bomb.

First this item from just several days ago:

1. "Frankfurt: WWII bomb defused after 60,000 people evacuated in German city"

"Germany's biggest evacuation since World War II takes place, as Frankfurt police say the device could have destroyed a city block."

THAT BOMB DEFUSED SUCCESSFULLY. NO CASUALTIES OR DAMAGE!

And now this:

2. "Centuries of work left for WWII bomb clearers"

"HOHENWUTZEN, Germany (Reuters) - Nearly 60 years after the end of World War Two, loud bangs and smoke fill the air as grenades and shells explode by the Polish border -- but this time Germany has informed its neighbour of its plans."

    "'We've told the Polish authorities, so they won't be worried we're planning to invade again,' joked bomb disposal expert Ralf Kirschnick as he inspected shards of metal after a controlled explosion on the German bank of the River Oder."

    "Since the end of hostilities Germany has made steady inroads into the unexploded bombs and grenades buried beneath its soil, but the disposal task could continue for centuries."

Ralf [in the center] with compatriots. That munition huge and presumably still and active bomb with "bang stuff" inside. Probably going to be destroyed in situ with a controlled explosion.

    "'I'd estimate there's still another 200 to 250 years of work to do,' Kirschnick said."

GOOD LUCK RALF AND KAMERADEN, THAT IS A LOT OF WORK TO DO!

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