Thanks to Russian strikes, our troops advancing on every front, says Assad

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Syrian government troops are advancing on “nearly every front” thanks to Russian air strikes that began in September, President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview released on Sunday.

The embattled president also said he favoured new peace talks to be hosted in Moscow, but stressed that the Syrian conflict could not be resolved without “defeating terrorism”.

In the interview with Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV, Assad said the situation in Syria had “improved in a very good way” since Russia began air strikes on September 30.

“Now I can say that the army is making advancement in nearly every front … in many different directions and areas on the Syrian ground,” he said, speaking in English.

http://atimes.com/2015/11/thanks-to-russian-strikes-our-troops-advancing-on-every-front-assad/

[COLGATE4]

1. Credit where credit is due. nt

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2. Seems more like grinding progress than leaping from victory to victory, but yeah.

Hard to deny he's better off now.

[840high]

5. yep

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3. Jordan's King Abdullah to discuss war on Syria militants with Putin

U.S. ally Jordan's King Abdullah will hold talks in Moscow on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin on how to tackle "terror groups" led by Islamic State in Syria, an official source said.

Jordan reached an agreement with Moscow last October to ensure Russian bombing of targets in southern Syria, which borders the country, does not target Western backed rebels known as the Southern Front - a grouping it supports as a buffer against the spread of hardline Islamist groups in an area that also borders with Israel.

Diplomats say the Russian air force has stepped up in recent days bombing of mainly civilian targets in rebel-controlled towns in southern Syria, including parts of rebel-held Deraa city that are run by moderate rebel groups backed by Jordan.

Jordan has not publicly commented but the monarch, who has close personal ties with Putin, recently publicly expressed enthusiasm about the intensive Russian military campaign in Syria, saying it offered a window of opportunity and that Moscow had a key role in defeating the ultra-hardline militants.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/11/22/uk-mideast-crisis-jordan-putin-idUKKBN0TB0RZ20151122?rpc=401

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4. W.H. official: "Absolutely, we're at war with ISIS"

An Obama administration official involved in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS, or ISIL) said Sunday that the U.S. "absolutely" is at war with the terror group, but that the rest of the international community must also be involved.

"Absolutely, we're at war with ISIS, and it's a war that we're not going to relent until we destroy this barbaric terrorist organization," said Brett McGurk, the special presidential envoy to the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday.

In response to criticism - some of which has come from Democrats - that the U.S. strategy to fight the group isn't working fast enough, he said, "We're not going to be satisfied until we have destroyed this organization. Make no mistake."

McGurk pointed to the fact that the U.S. conducted operations in Syria and Iraq with Kurdish and Arab forces to cut off ISIS' supply route between the cities of Raqqa and Mosul. He also said that the 50 U.S. Special Forces President Obama is sending to the region will help organize forces on the ground, although he would not say when they will arrive.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/white-house-official-absolutely-war-with-isis/

[KoKo]

6. Interesting....

Somehow I thought the 50 Special Ops were being deployed immediately after Obama's speech. Wonder what the hold up is.