Global SITREP B5-20: Rumors of War Part II

UPDATE 4 May 2020: A simple and to the point update. Israel is now striking Iranian military targets in Syria with regularity and impunity, from the Iraqi border to the Lebanese border. 

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and RF President Vladimir Putin

4 May 2020: The Iranian-Russian issue (discussed below) has another facet: the Iranian Twelver regime holds a much higher level of influence over the al-Assad regime than Russia does. In fact, Syria has become openly defiant against Russia's demands for returns on its investment in saving the regime from being overthrown. Chalk up the Syria-Iran alliance and defiance of Russia to the Shi'a-Alawi brotherhood. Alawi's adhere to the teachings of the 12th imam, Ali, making them a sect of Shi'a Islam.

There are also increasing reports of American and Russian military tensions in northern Syria, mainly in the Tall Tamr and Qamishli region. In the first incident a fist fight erupted between American and Russian troops, with some Russians being on a medevac for hospital treatment. In the second and third confrontations, at Qamishli and Tall Tamr respectively, the two used their armored vehicles to block the other side from continuing its patrol. As this was occurring a heavy aircraft presence above kept close tabs on what the boots on the ground were doing. Syria is rapidly deteriorating under such tensions. The Damascus government has little, if any, effective control over the entire northern and northeastern regions. 

3 May 2020: Eschatology Today is now seeing the geopolitical and military dynamic that had existed in Syria for the past five years (since Russian military intervention of 2015) changing significantly. The former fraternal relationship between Russia and Iran, united in an effort to save the Alawite regime of Syria's Bashar al-Assad from the Sunni-led revolt, has in recent weeks begun to unravel to the point of being completely undone.

This is due to the divergence of Russian and Iranian objectives in Syria. Russia wants considerable economic and military rewards from Syria as due recompense for its intervention in saving al-Assad's regime from the Sunni revolt, while the Iranian Twelvers in Tehran remain committed to their eschatologically-driven goal of Shi'a hegemony over Iraq, Syria and Lebanon as essential to the destruction of State of Israel. 

Obviously these two objectives are mutually exclusive; they cannot possibly exist simultaneously within Syria. The Iranian war plan is an existential threat to Russia's interest in a reconstructed and economically healthy Syria simply because the resultant devastation of Syria in an apocalyptic Shi'a-Alawite war against Israel would rapidly nullify the Syria that Russia believes it has bought and paid for. 

As we know from the prophetic texts of Isaiah and Jeremiah there is a certain fate awaiting Syria that is wholly contrary to Russia achieving its objectives. Recall in September 2018 how Syrian air defenses mistakenly shot down a Russian reconnaissance aircraft, killing the 15-man air crew and sparking a crisis in Israeli-Russian relations. This crisis occurred because Russia wrongly blamed Israel's military instead of Syria's military for the tragedy. 

Eschatology Today is once again leaning forward in considering the possibility of a Russian leader wrongly blaming Israel again in the near future for the coming devastation of Damascus and of all Syria, a devastation brought about by the Shia Twelver's and their apocalyptic, Mahdi-hastening eschatology. Such devastation of Syria would necessarily result in massive if not crippling economic and military loses for Russia. Could this be the real-world origin for the evil thoughts and "hooks" placed into the jaws of Ezekiel 38:4, for the desire to invade and to take plunder and despoil an Israel at peace, living securely with no one presenting a threat?

IRGC-Qods Force burns in southwest Damascus Province

27 April 2020: Israel Air Force (IAF) strikes during the pre-dawn hours this morning destroyed multiple IRGC-Qods Force and Hezbollah facilities in the south of Damascus. The enemy facilities were just west of the main M5 highway from Sahnaya south to Al-Kiswah. They no longer exist.

This morning's strikes are being tied by Israeli and foreign (Sunni Arab) media to another significant IAF strike on an IRGC-QF base one week ago in the area of Palmyra, as well as an IAF strike midweek which annihilated a Hezbollah vehicle convoy on the Beirut-Damascus highway that was engaged in the transfer of Iranian precision weapons from Iran's Syrian warehouses into Hezbollah warehouses in Lebanon. The convoy failed to make it into Lebanese territory.

The reason for the linkage is due to comments made by Defense Minister Naftali Bennet late Sunday. DM Bennett had essentially announced to the citizens of Israel to be alert to what they would see and hear going forward; that Israel had transitioned its military doctrine from not allowing Iran to entrench itself in Syria to one of forcing Iranian forces out of Syria.

“We aren’t just continuing our work preventing Iran from entrenching itself in Syria, we’ve moved decisively from preventative action to forcing (Iran) out.”

These pre-dawn Israeli strikes on Iranian military targets in Syria have for years been assessed by Eschatology Today as the type of military action that would precipitate the destruction of Damascus, as well as the nation of Syria, according to Isaiah 17.  Isaiah 17:14 speaks to a retaliatory WMD strike against Israel's civilian population and the resultant lightning quick and desolating war. It will begin at the 'eth 'erev (evening) of one day and conclude prior to the boqer (morning) of the next day.

We, in the USA, will wake up to this news much as we did this morning's news. Any one of these announced strikes to remove Iran from Syria could result in the literal fulfillment of Isaiah 17. 

Global SITREP A3-19: Israel's Northern Front Offensive

F-16I Sufa

UPDATED 21/22 January 2019: The IDF pummeled IRGC-QF forces across Syria beginning just before midnight Israel Standard Time with one of the heaviest rocket and missile barrages ever. Iran's allies in Syria were also warned to stand down unless they desired to recieve the same. Ammo dumps, command and control (C2) sites, training camps, Iranian structures at Damascus International Airport, and dozens of mobile Syrian air defenses, like the Russian-made Pantsyr and Buk, have been all but obliterated during these strikes. The Iranian targets struck were on every side of Damascus, completely encircling the city.

The Iranian buildings at Damascus International Airport destroyed tonight.
Click on this image for a much more detailed view.

One of the reasons for this action was that Israel determined it was IRGC-QF forces which fired an Iranian Ra'ad-1 surface-to-surface rocket (good read at link) at northern Israel yesterday morning. It could not go unanswered; an overwhelming response was needed to teach the Iranians a lesson. Thus, as intimated yesterday, the war against Iran in Syria has suddenly eschalated to a new and much higher level. The fulfillment of Isaiah 17 may just be in the offing as the end result of the war against Iran in Syria. One of several prophetic dominos set to topple in rapid sequence.

20 January 2019: It took all of just four days for the new IDF CoS Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi to continue the war against Iranian military entrenchment and arming of Hezbollah in Syria. Moreover, he threw a Russian ultimatum and threats concerning no more IAF attacks in Syria right back into Moscow's face. This morning, in broad daylight, at least four IAF strike aircraft attacked one or more targets in Syria. 

Apparent disinformation coming from Russian and Syrian sources claims the attack was on Damascus International Airport and it failed completely with all Israeli missiles destroyed by Pantsyr and Buk air defense systems. However, there is considerable OSINT reporting that the strike actually targeted the Iranian Hezbollah underground weapons bunkers located at al-Kiswah. Damascus Int'l and the al-Kiswah bunkers are about equidistant from central Damascus.

An hour after the airstrike Syria launched one or more rockets towards northern Israel which were promptly shot out of the sky by Israel's Iron Dome ADS. Bottom line: Lt. Gen. Kochavi has called the Russians bluff in the most forceful , broad daylight manner. In this gambit Russia wisely stood down and did not fire at the IAF strike aircraft. Israel's deterrent power is as it has always been. There was never any doubt that Israel would stand down in the face of empty Russian threats. On this blog those kinds of doubts never existed.

12 January 2019: At about 11 PM last night in southern Syria that latest strike in the war Israel has been waging against Iranian entrenchment in Syria and the arming of Hezbollah began. As before the IAFs targets were Iranian weapons storage facilities at Damascus International Airport and a Hezbollah weapons depot a few miles to the southwest at Al-Kiswah. Media disinformation that last night's strikes were unsuccessful should be ignored. They were quite successful. Also, this particular strike was assessed to be imminent 11 days ago in the 30 December update to SITREP E4-18. It is the most recent strike since the strike on the night of 25 December 2018.

Satellite Photo Reconnaissance of Damascus Int'l Strike

It is interesting to note that this strike occurred on the very same day as reports of non-essential U.S. military equipment were seen to be withdrawing from northern Syria. In this light, last nights IAF strikes could be seen as a message to Tehran, Damascus and Moscow: nothing has changed. The strike would also mesh neatly with IDF CoS Lieutenant General Gadi Eisenkot's pre-retirement interview of yesterday with the New York Times.

Key points in the information coming from LTG Gadi Eisenkot are that a January 2017 decision of the cabinet authorized him to commence a sustained series of military actions against Iran in Syria. This authorization followed Israel's intelligence assessment that IRGC-Qods Force chief Qassem Soleimani had amassed 22,000 men of an eventual 100,000-strong force in Syria. According to LTG Eisenkot this was Soleimani's greatest strategic error - he picked a fight where he did not have the forces to sustain it much less win it.

LTG Eisenkot made clear that between 2011 and 2016 "thousands" of strikes occurred and they were conducted within specific parameters, such as the targeting of Iranian arms shipments moving overland via Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon. However, from his January 2017 authorization the strikes against Iranian assests in Syria have been an almost daily occurrence; the inference here is that many were not reported or attributed to actions of the waring sides in the Syrian civil war. Most recently, the general stated that in 2018 alone there were more than 2,000 ordnance strikes on Iranian targets in Syria.

LTG Eisenkot officially retires next week, but he leaves behind complete Israeli superiority in intelligence collection, combat air superiority, strong deterence and justified freedom of action, not to mention the continued full-support of the United States. This reality has forced Soleimani to transfer his troops to eastern Syria and Iraq. U.S. forces may yet directly engage Iranian forces in Iraq.

So, we still watch the ongoing real-world process for the filfillment of Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 49:23-27 continue. These night-time events in Syria that we wake up to here in the U.S. will continue, and more than likely increase in severity. The incoming IDF CoS Major-General Aviv Kochavi, who will certainly will be promoted to Lieutenant General, will have the same authorization as his predecessor and will likely be able to expand the operations he leads against Iran in Syria.

Global SITREP D6-14: Coalition Airstrikes Against Islamic State in Syria

UPDATE 28 September 2014: The UK Parliament voted recently to sanction RAF airstrikes against Islamic State forces inside the recognized borders of Iraq. Let me repeat the last part of the above: inside the recognized borders of Iraq. This does not include any part of Syria. Just Iraq. Any UK strikes in Syria will require a separate authorization vote by the British MPs. Also, this vote only authorized air strikes and explicitly forbids any of the essential UK ground forces to conventionally engage with and destroy the Islamic State terrorist military machine. Much was made recently in the media that the UK dispatched two GR4 Tornado strike aircraft from Cyprus to join the strikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq. These two British strike aircraft flew into Iraq and flew right back to their RAF Akrotiri base on Cyprus. Thus far into what they have dubbed 'Operation Shader' the RAF mission has been not to bomb anything, but to take reconnaissance pictures. However, RAF bombing runs could occur today if the recon missions have firmly located priority IS targets.

Other foreign, non-Arab governments committing a handful of aircraft to the campaign, or dare I say 'crusade,' against the Islamic State are Australia, France, Belgium, Netherlands and Denmark.

23/24 September 2014: Unconstitutional American airstrikes (meaning these airstrikes were not authorized by the U.S. Congress) on Syrian territory against Islamic State military facilities began last evening at about 2030 hours Eastern Daylight Time and included both manned strike aircraft and Tomahawk cruise missiles. There is no confirmation as yet, but the airstrikes also reportedly included aircraft from some of the GCC nations as well as aircraft from the Royal Jordanian Air Force. Prophetically, this military action in Syria elicits the Sheba/Dedan/merchants of Tarshish alliance referred to in Ezekiel 38:13.

It also appears as if the vast majority of the targets which were struck were in the vicinity of Raqqa, Syria, the proclaimed capital of the Islamic State, and were executed without the express request or permission of Bashar al-Assad's government in Damascus. These strikes appear to have been minimal as the battle damage assessment images show the target structures were still basically intact. Other targets just west of Aleppo, Syria where the newly emergent Al Qaeda franchise known as "Khorasan" were also allegedly struck due to claimed  intelligence reports had them directly involved in the final stages of a planned attack against the US homeland or European allies.  No European or NATO aircraft participated in these strikes.

CInC Obama and his coffee cup salute to US Marines

This specific type of intelligence directly invokes the notion that the US intelligence had gained HUMINT derived knowledge of the inner workings of the Al Qaeda-linked terrorist "Khorasan" cell which was publicly identified for the first time just days ago by US government sources.  I'm not sure I fully buy into this explanation as it appears to be far too convenient and politically expedient of an excuse for the American coffee cup saluting Commander-In-Chief (see image above) to issue and have immediately executed an illegal (U.S. Constitution and standing International Law) order to US military forces. There is something else to this that is unmistakable.

DO NOT be deceived! This "Khorasan" group is Al Qaeda by yet another made-up name. Al Qaeda in Syria, a/k/a al-Nusra, and Al Qaeda in Iraq, a/k/a Islamic State, according to the Obama Administration were defeated, destroyed and the Global War on Terror was declared over, especially in Iraq. So Obama brought the troops home. This is no war being started just weeks prior to an important election in the United States, this is just one of the promised "overseas contingency operations." The "Khorasan" group has long worked hand-in-hand with other Al Qaeda branch offices in Yemen (AQAP) and Pakistan (Al Qaeda Prime).

The total absence of left-of-center activists and political demonstrations in the United States against an overt act of war in a foreign nation is both deeply disturbing and highly instructive at the same time. These are the "optics" I am paying attention to at the present time, the rest appears to be window dressing for some other agenda. We may see that agenda on full display today at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. Will Obama complete his circumvention of U.S. Constitutional Law by seeking carte blanche U.N. authorization for his Syrian adventure?

25 September 2014: The answer to the above question is in the affirmative. However, it was presented to the General Assembly of the United Nations in the most pompous, narcissistic manner and was laced with totally discredited marxist invective and demonstrated an unprecedented level of naivete. In short, an American president made a complete fool of himself and, by extension, all of us. Obama invoked a worldview which has no basis in reality because it exists nowhere but within his own ideological mindset. His speech was incoherent and non-cohesive. Obama's General Assembly speech was a nonstarter which guaranteed that the U.N. Security Council, chaired by many heads of state, would adore it and adopt it in a further enhancement of global disaster which we all know is coming like a flood upon this world. A truly global war on a non-defined enemy, but anyone the "State" deems to be a threat, has just been declared by the United Nations Security Council.