RSS: person:steve warren

person:steve warren

  • @nidal
    Nidal CC BY
    3
    @unagi
    @souriyam
    @02myseenthis01
    3

    Le porte-parole de l’opération Inherent Resolve juge que les bombardements russes contre Alep ne compromettent pas (« it’s complicated ») l’accord de cessez-le-feu du fin février, arguant que c’est principalement (« primarily ») al-Nusra qui tient Alep, et que Nusra ne fait pas partie de l’accord… (Ça me semble suffisamment important pour que tu n’en entendes plus parler.)

    Defense Department says Nusra in Aleppo
    ▻http://uk.businessinsider.com/defense-department-nusra-aleppo-putin-assad-2016-4

    US Army Col. Steve Warren, the spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq, was asked whether Russian airstrikes on Aleppo, the current epicenter of the war, meant that Moscow was preparing to end the cessation of hostilities (CoH) agreement between government forces and the opposition signed on February 29.

    Warren responded that it was “complicated” because al-Nusra “holds Aleppo” and is not party to the agreement.

    Warren said of Russia:

    I’m not going to predict what their intentions are. What I do know is that we have seen, you know, regime forces with some Russian support as well begin to mass and concentrate combat power around Aleppo. ... That said, it’s primarily al-Nusra who holds Aleppo, and of course, al-Nusra is not part of the cessation of hostilities. So it’s complicated.

    Nidal CC BY
    • @nidal
      Nidal CC BY

      Le véritable titre de l’article illustre de manière caricaturale le côté débilitant de la doxa journalistique (et qui est notre ennemi principal) : The Defense Department made a big gaffe that helps Putin and Assad in Syria

      Nidal CC BY
    • @souriyam
      Souriyâm

      D’autant que l’article ne cite ensuite que des sources de l’opposition et d’analystes qui ont affiché leur soutien à celle-ci, y compris aux groupes salafistes tels Ahrar ou Jaysh al-Islam...
      Et l’article n’évoque pas du tout deux questions qui viennent à l’esprit avec un tel titre :
      1° - Est-ce une gaffe parce que c’est faux, ou bien parce que c’est une vérité qu’il ne faut pas dire ? Mais peut-être que la narrative journalistique n’en est plus à ce genre de distinctions d’un autre temps...
      2° - Est-ce que par hasard cette « gaffe », qui justifie du bout des lèvres la (contre) offensive du régime et de ses alliés à Alep, n’est-elle pas finalement délibérée, et n’en serait donc pas une ?
      Question sur un éventuel accord tacite USA/Russie dont on essaie encore de deviner les contours, qui restent d’ailleurs peut-être encore flous, bien sûr pour les simples mortels comme nous, mais peut-être aussi pour les chancelleries russes et américaines elles-mêmes...

      Souriyâm
    • @souriyam
      Souriyâm

      Sur la reconnaissance par des déclarations d’officiels américains de la présence d’al-Nousra dans la région d’Alep, Moon of Alabama vient d’en recenser quelques unes :
      U.S. Officials Confirm - Syrian Army Attack In Aleppo To Hit Al-Qaeda
      ▻http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/04/us-officials-confirm-syrian-army-attack-in-aleppo-to-hit-al-qaeda-.ht
      Par exemple Kerry cité récemment par le New York Times :

      Russian Military Buildup Near Aleppo, Syria, Threatens Truce, Kerry Warns - NY Times April 23 2015
      ▻http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/23/world/middleeast/russian-military-buildup-near-aleppo-threatens-truce-kerry-warns.html
      Mr. Kerry said that the Russians might be moving on Aleppo because members of the Al Nusra Front, an affiliate of Al Qaeda, were mixed throughout parts of the region, and that they were terrorists not party to the cease-fire. At the same time, he said, the region is home to insurgent groups that oppose Mr. Assad and have agreed to the cease-fire.
      “That has proven harder to separate them than we thought,” Mr. Kerry said. “And there’s a Russian impatience and a regime impatience with the terrorists who are behaving like terrorists and laying siege to places on their side and killing people.”

      Conclusion de MoA :

      For the last several days the government held parts of Aleppo city and the 2,000,000 inhabitants and refugees there have been under constant bombardment with improvised gas-canister mortars and rockets from the al-Nusra side.
      Some heavy operations against the al-Qaeda held areas in Aleppo governate and Aleppo city are inevitable and now seem to be imminent. The statements the U.S. officials made above seem to justify such an operation.

      Souriyâm
    Écrire un commentaire
  • @kassem
    Kassem CC BY-NC-SA
    1
    @02myseenthis01
    1

    The Defense Department made a big gaffe that helps Putin and Assad in Syria
    ▻http://www.businessinsider.com/defense-department-nusra-aleppo-putin-assad-2016-4

    (Au passage, cet article est la preuve s’il en faut que le journalisme mainstream n’est pas « #objectif »- comme il se plaît à s’auto-décrire- puisque s’il se fait un devoir de souligner les « #gaffes », c’est qu’il tait les #omissions par pur esprit partisan.)

    US Army Col. Steve Warren, the spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq, was asked whether Russian airstrikes on Aleppo, the current epicenter of the war, meant that Moscow was preparing to end the cessation of hostilities (CoH) agreement between government forces and the opposition signed on February 29.

    Warren responded that it was “complicated” because #al-Nusra “holds Aleppo” and is not party to the agreement.

    #objectivité #excuses_bidon

    Kassem CC BY-NC-SA
    Écrire un commentaire
  • @simplicissimus
    Simplicissimus
    5
    @souriyam
    @nidal
    @biggrizzly
    @reka
    @02myseenthis01
    5

    Iraqi officials : IS chemical attacks kill child, wound 600 - Business Insider
    ▻http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-iraqi-officials-is-chemical-attacks-kill-child-wound-600-2016-3?

    U.S. and Iraqi officials said U.S. special forces captured the head of the IS unit trying to develop chemical weapons in a raid last month in northern Iraq.

    The U.S.-led coalition said the chemicals IS has so far used include chlorine and a low-grade sulfur mustard which is not very potent. “It’s a legitimate threat. It’s not a high threat. We’re not, frankly, losing too much sleep over it,” U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren told reporters Friday.

    Experts also say the extremist group appears incapable of launching a large-scale chemical weapons’ attack, which requires not only expertise, but also the proper equipment, materials and a supply-chain to produce enough of the chemical agent to pose a significant threat.

    The coalition began targeting IS’ chemical weapons infrastructure with airstrikes and special operations raids two months ago, Iraqi intelligence officials and a Western security official in Baghdad told the AP.

    Airstrikes are targeting laboratories and equipment, and further special forces raids targeting chemical weapons experts are planned, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

    The extremist group is believed to have set up a special unit for chemical weapons research made up of Iraqi scientists who worked on weapons programs under Saddam Hussein as well as foreign experts.

    The group is believed to have created limited amounts of mustard gas. Tests confirmed mustard gas was used in a town in Syria when IS was launching attacks there in August 2015. There have been other unverified reports of IS using chemical agents on battlefields in Syria and Iraq.

    Bon à savoir : il y a chimique (qui franchit la ligne rouge) et chimique (qui n’empêche pas de dormir).
    #We're_not_losing_too_much_sleep_over_it

    Simplicissimus
    Écrire un commentaire
  • @souriyam
    Souriyâm

    10 soldats irakiens blessés et/ou tués par une frappe aérienne américaine lors d’une offensive près de Falloujah contre Da’ich. Certaines sources donnent des chiffres plus élevés (jusqu’à 30) pour ce « tir ami » :
    AFP / Guardian
    ▻http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/18/iraq-us-coalition-airstrike-kills-wounds-soldiers-friendly-fire

    Iraq’s joint operations command said 10 Iraqi soldiers were killed or wounded on Friday by so-called friendly fire from US-led coalition aircraft west of Baghdad.
    The command, which oversees Iraq’s war effort against the Islamic State group, said casualties occurred on both sides during a strike on Isis during close combat.
    The incident took place at around 1.00pm (1000 GMT) south of the jihadist stronghold of Fallujah, military sources said.
    [...]
    Reacting to reports of a larger death toll before the statement was issued, the coalition’s Baghdad-based spokesman, Colonel Steve Warren, told AFP that any serious allegation would be investigated.
    “The strikes were accidental, not intentional. The forces were occupying positions close to those held by Daesh (Isis) in Naimiyah,” said a brigadier general from the area who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity.

    Ceci quelques jours après que le gouvernement syrien a accusé la Coalition d’avoir bombardé une base de l’armée syrienne près de Deïr ez-Zour (3 morts), ce qui est nié par les USA qui ont accusé la Russie de ce « tir ami » : ▻http://seenthis.net/messages/437379

    Souriyâm
    Écrire un commentaire
  • @souriyam
    Souriyâm
    1
    @reka
    1

    Selon Masdar News, site très pro-régime mais semble-t-il fiable pour ce qui concerne la situation militaire, une « frappe » aérienne de la coalition américaine près de Deïr az-Zour vient de tuer un soldat syrien et d’en blesser plusieurs autres qui ont été atteints alors qu’ils étaient dans un camp militaire syrien.
    ▻http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/us-led-isis-coalition-hits-a-syrian-army-camp-in-deir-ezzor-1-soldier-

    Information à confirmer par d’autres sources...

    Souriyâm
    • @souriyam
      Souriyâm

      La BBC rapporte que selon le gouvernement syrien, cette frappe de la coalition aurait fait 3 morts. L’OSDH confirme la frappe sur le camp d’Ayyash (non loin de Deïr az-Zour) et parle de 4 morts chez les soldats syriens.
      Le porte-parole de la coalition, le colonel Warren, nie toute implication :
      ▻http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35024408

      The Syrian foreign ministry said four coalition warplanes fired nine missiles at the camp in Deir al-Zour province on Sunday evening, killing three soldiers and wounding 13 others.
      Three armoured vehicles, four military vehicles, heavy machine-guns and an arms and ammunition depot were destroyed, it added.
      The ministry did not say which camp was hit, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights earlier reported that coalition jets had bombed part of the Saeqa camp, near the town of Ayyash in western Deir al-Zour.
      The UK-based monitoring group put the death toll at four.
      “The Syrian Arab Republic strongly condemns this flagrant aggression by the US-led coalition forces, which blatantly violates the objectives of the UN Charter,” the foreign ministry warned.
      The ministry called on the UN Security Council to “take urgent measures to prevent such aggressions from occurring again”.
      It added that such “aggression hinders the efforts to fight terrorism, and proves that the US-led coalition lacks seriousness and credibility to effectively fight terrorism”.
      However, coalition spokesman Col Steve Warren denied it was responsible.
      “We’ve seen those Syrian reports but we did not conduct any strikes in that part of Deir al-Zour yesterday. So we see no evidence,” he told the AFP news agency.
      Col Warren said the coalition’s only strikes in Deir al-Zour were some 55km (34 miles) away from the area where the Syrian soldiers were reportedly killed.

      Souriyâm
    Écrire un commentaire
    • @souriyam
      Souriyâm

      C’est vers ces « forces arabes » intitulées « Syrian arab coalition », alliées aux YPG, que seraient redirigés les fonds du programme du Pentagone (différent de celui de la CIA) de formation des rebelles anti-Da3ich dont le résultat avec la Division 30 avait été ... heu ... comment dire ? :
      ▻http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/12/us-mideast-crisis-syria-kurds-idUSKCN0S60BD20151012

      The alliance calling itself the Democratic Forces of Syria includes the Kurdish YPG militia and Syrian Arab groups, some of which fought alongside it in a campaign that drove Islamic State from wide areas of northern Syria earlier this year.

      The Arab groups in the new alliance are operating under the name “The Syrian Arab Coalition” - a grouping which U.S. officials have said would receive support under a new U.S. strategy aimed at fighting Islamic State in Syria.

      Selon des officiels américains, 50 tonnes de munitions viendrait de leur être envoyé :
      ▻http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11927852/US-led-coalition-drops-50-tons-of-ammunition-to-anti-Isil-Syrian-rebels

      Colonel Steve Warren, the Baghdad-based spokesman for the US-led effort to strike Isil in Iraq and Syria, said the ammunition had gone to a group called the Syrian Arab Coalition (SAC) that has for months been fighting Isil across an arc of territory north of the Isil stronghold of Raqqa. [...]
      “Coalition forces conducted an airdrop Sunday in northern Syria to resupply local counter-Isil ground forces as they conduct operations against Isil,” US Central Command spokesman Colonel Patrick Ryder said in a statement.

      Speaking on condition of anonymity, a US official told AFP the drop included 50 tons of ammunition and hand grenades.

      Souriyâm
    Écrire un commentaire
  • @kassem
    Kassem CC BY-NC-SA
    1
    @souriyam
    1

    Les #Etats-Unis envisagent l’installation de nouvelles #bases en #Irak
    ▻http://www.lemonde.fr/proche-orient/article/2015/06/12/les-etats-unis-envisagent-l-installation-de-nouvelles-bases-en-irak_4652511_

    Selon le porte-parole du #Pentagone, le colonel Steve Warren, la nouvelle base d’Al-Taqadoum, située dans la province d’Al-Anbar, annoncée mardi, et qui comptera 450 militaires américains, pourrait être la première d’une série de nouvelles bases américaines en Irak. « Ce que nous faisons à Al-Taqadoum est quelque chose que nous envisageons de faire ailleurs », a-t-il déclaré, jeudi 11 juin.

    La Maison Blanche a toutefois immédiatement souligné que rien n’était encore décidé. « Il n’y a pas de plans immédiats » pour de nouvelles bases, a souligné le porte-parole de la Maison Blanche Josh Earnest. Trois semaines après la chute de Ramadi, désormais aux mains des djihadistes de l’EI qui contrôlent de vastes pans de territoire en Irak, Barack Obama a annoncé mercredi un renforcement prudent du dispositif américain sur place.

    [...]

    Le chef d’état-major interarmées américain, le général Dempsey, a également évoqué la possibilité de nouveaux sites d’implantation américaine après Al-Taqadoum, au fur et à mesure de la reconquête du pays par l’armée irakienne, selon un article du site d’information officiel du Pentagone.

    Au fur et à mesure que les troupes irakiennes avanceront et s’éloigneront des bases déjà existantes, il peut être nécessaire d’en établir de nouvelles dans le cadre d’une stratégie du « #nénuphar », a-t-il estimé en substance. « Nous regardons tout le temps si d’autres sites pourraient être nécessaires », a-t-il expliqué. « Je pourrais en voir un dans le couloir Bagdad-Tikrit-Kirkouk vers Mossoul », la grande ville du nord de l’Irak.

    #Lily_pads

    Kassem CC BY-NC-SA
    • @gonzo
      gonzo CC BY-NC

      Dans son édito, ABA y voit une façon de reprendre pied sur le terrain, ainsi que le prélude à la création de milices populaires sunnites, dont le premier objectif sera de taper sur la tronche de leurs concitoyens chiites, tout aussi déterminés à le faire.

      gonzo CC BY-NC
    • @kassem
      Kassem CC BY-NC-SA

      The Dangers of a Re-Ignited American-Shia Conflict in Iraq
      ▻https://suite.io/paul-iddon/6pqg285

      https://static.suite.io/article_images/large/9c43ef71-df78-4d8c-892b-2b1476cc9431.jpg

      The United States is also very reluctant about assisting Iranian-backed Shia militia forces in Iraq, even if against the common enemy that is ISIS. The feeling appears to be mutual, at least a considerable number of these Shia militias view the United States as their enemy, or at least a potential adversary, in this fight and some even seem to genuinely believe that the U.S. air strikes in Iraq are launched in active support of ISIS (one such Shia militant even went so far as firing at a U.S. helicopter, apparently motivated to do so by his belief in such theories).

      One such Shia militia presently fighting in Anbar is the Iranian-backed Harakat Nujaba militia. Their leader has blamed the deaths of an allied Shia militia (the Asaib al Haq, League of the Righteous, militia) in a recent explosion on the United States and has said that he and his allies will extract “vengeance”. The U.S. denies that it had undertaken an air strike in the area those militants were killed. Nevertheless the charge has been made and comes not long after Muqtada al-Sadr himself threatened last May to target U.S. interests in Iraq if Washington began to directly arm Iraq’s Sunni Arabs and Kurds – instead of having the central government allot arm deliveries to those forces as par the hitherto standard procedure. That particular incident aptly demonstrated the very real underlying tensions which still exist between the United States and vocal elements within the Shia community in Iraq.

      Kassem CC BY-NC-SA
    Écrire un commentaire
  • @zara
    Zara
    1
    @orientxxi
    1

    Iran sends navy vessels to waters off Yemen, raising stakes - Washington Times
    ▻http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/8/us-quickens-weapons-deliveries-to-saudi-led-yemen-

    Iran dispatched a destroyer and another naval ship to waters off Yemen on Wednesday, raising the stakes amid a Saudi-led air campaign targeting Iranian-backed Shiite rebels fighting forces loyal to the country’s embattled president.

    The Iranian maneuver came as the U.S. deepened its support for the Saudi-led coalition, boosting weapons supplies and intelligence-sharing and carrying out the first U.S. aerial refueling mission of coalition fighter jets.

    The Iranian warships were sent to the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait as part of an anti-piracy campaign to “safeguard naval routes for vessels in the region,” Iranian Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayyari was quoted as saying by the English-language state broadcaster Press TV.
    ...
    On Wednesday, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani condemned the Saudi government, accusing it of committing crimes against humanity in Yemen during airstrikes that hit civilian areas. His comments, carried by the official Iran news agency, came as Iranian diplomats worked to erode support among Sunni nations for the air campaign, visiting Pakistan and Turkey, both supporters of the Saudi-led coalition, and Oman, the only Gulf country that has abstained from participating in the military operation.
    ...
    In Washington, meanwhile, Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren told reporters Wednesday that the U.S. had conducted its first military intervention in support of the Arab coalition, the aerial refueling of Emirati F-16s and Saudi F-15s. He did not provide details, except to say the refueling did not take place over Yemeni airspace.

    Speaking a day earlier in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken blamed the violence in Yemen on the Houthis and forces loyal to Saleh, saying the U.S. was committed to defending Saudi Arabia.

    ...

    On Wednesday, al-Qaida in Yemen, a staunch rival of the Houthis, posted a video offering a bounty of 44 pounds (20 kilograms) of gold for whoever captures or kills the rebel leader and his prime ally in Yemen, ousted president Saleh.

    Zara
    Écrire un commentaire
  • @nidal
    Nidal CC BY
    1
    @fil
    1

    Les #psy_ops américaines larguent les invendus du dernier numéro de Charlie Hebdo sur Raqqa. L’idée serait de « préparer le terrain pour un soulèvement populaire »… #moi_j'y_crois
    ▻http://www.francetvinfo.fr/monde/proche-orient/offensive-jihadiste-en-irak/les-etats-unis-larguent-60-000-tracts-en-syrie-pour-decourager-les-recr

    Au milieu du mois de mars, un avion F-15E de l’armée américaine a largué 60.000 exemplaires de ce dessin au sud-ouest de Raqqa (Syrie), ville-clé de l’organisation Etat islamique. « Si vous laissez Daech [l’Etat islamique] vous recruter, vous deviendrez de la chair à canon. Et ce n’est pas bon pour votre santé », a résumé un porte-parole du Pentagone, Steve Warren, jeudi 26 mars. Un militant syrien engagé contre les jihadistes et le régime a par ailleurs partagé ces images.

    Il s’agit de la première campagne du genre en Syrie, assure Steve Warren, depuis le début des bombardements américains en septembre. Cette opération a été imaginée par une unité dédiée aux actions psychologiques (Military Information Support Operations, anciennement nommées Psychological Operations). L’efficacité de ces tracts est sujette à caution, mais l’idée est de préparer le terrain pour un soulèvement populaire, estime Nicholas Heras, chercheur au Center for a New American Security, cité par USA Today (en anglais).

    Nidal CC BY
    Écrire un commentaire
  • @wardamd
    Warda Mohamed
    1
    @orientxxi
    1

    Le Pentagone confirme que l’Etat islamique a récupéré des armes, munitions et médicaments destinés aux Kurdes à Kobané. Ils auraient été largués au mauvais endroit - Reuters

    7:05 P.M. Pentagon confirms ISIS captured bundle of supplies meant for Kurds

    The Pentagon said on Wednesday two bundles of military supplies for Kurdish fighters in the Syrian town of Kobani went astray during an air drop earlier this week, with one destroyed later by an air strike and the other taken by Islamic State militants.

    “Yesterday we announced that one resupply bundle went astray and was destroyed. We have since relooked at that and we have determined that a second bundle also went astray and probably fell into enemy hands,” said Army Colonel Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman.

    Twenty-six other bundles of supplies were dropped to Kurds in the besieged city and reached their targets, he said. (Reuters)

    Warda Mohamed
    Écrire un commentaire
  • @simplicissimus
    Simplicissimus

    Russian jet’s passes near U.S. ship in Black Sea ’provocative’ : Pentagon | Reuters
    ▻http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/14/us-usa-russia-blacksea-idUSBREA3D15Q20140414

    A Russian fighter aircraft made repeated low-altitude, close-range passes near a U.S. ship in the Black Sea over the weekend, the Pentagon said on Monday, condemning the action at a time of heightened U.S.-Russian tensions over Ukraine.

    “This provocative and unprofessional Russian action is inconsistent with their national protocols and previous agreements on the professional interaction between our militaries,” said Colonel Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman.

    Warren said a Russian Su-24 aircraft, or Fencer, made 12 passes at low altitude near the USS Donald Cook, a destroyer that has been in the Black Sea since April 10. It appeared to be unarmed, he told reporters.

    The incident lasted 90 minutes and took place on Saturday evening while the U.S. ship was conducting a patrol in international waters in the western Black Sea, Warren said. The ship is now in a Romanian port.

    Simplicissimus
    Écrire un commentaire