ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Over the past five years, the increasingly ridiculous propaganda against President al-Assad and the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has ranged from the scripted (OTPOR fomented -“ revolution “) “peaceful protesters under fire” rhetoric, to other deceitful lexicon like “civil war,” and “moderate rebels.” As the intervention campaigns continue with new terrorist and “humanitarian” actors (literally) constantly emerging in the NATO-alliance’s theatre of death squads, it is worth reviewing some of the important points regarding the war on Syria. Million Person Marches On March 29, 2011 (less than two weeks into the fantasy “revolution”) over 6 million people across Syria took to the streets in support of President al-Assad. In June, a reported hundreds of thousands marched in Damascus in support of the president, with a 2.3 km long Syrian flag. In November, 2011 (9 months into the chaos), masses again held demonstrations supporting President al-Assad, notably in Homs (the so-called “capital of t...

Nur al-Din al-Zenki – part of Jaish al-Fatah alliance (led by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham – rebranded Al-Qaeda) in Aleppo – fires US-made TOW. Photo appeared on November 21, 2016 Syrian “moderate rebel group” Nour al-Din al-Zenki became widely known past July after beheading a child near Aleppo city and posting the video ( CAUTION GRAPHIC FOOTAGE ) of this. Initially, some mainstream media ( for exmaple BBC ) attempted to defend the ‘moderate opposition group’, explaining that it was a “mistake” and an isolated case. [ Indeed it was not a msitake, Nour al-Din al-Zenki members continue to behead their opponents ]. However, under the pressure of public opinion, the US State Department was pushed to announce that the US may consider to withdraw its support for “rebels” if reports of beheading of 14-year old boy are confirmed. Let’s give a word to State Department spokesman Mark Toner: Nour al-Din al-Zenki was a “CIA-vetted” group and was receiving TOW missiles through the CIA program. Mainstrea...

HMS Duncan, which was among six NATO ships, involved in tracking of the Russian battle group, led by the Admiral Kuznetsov, has broken down, when it was on the way to military exercises with NATO ships. HMS Duncan is towed into Devonport (Photo: Herald / Raymond Wergan) The Duncan air-defense destroyer, which is one of the newest ships in the British Royal Navy, broke down, when it was on the way to military exercises with NATO ships, the Herald information website reported on Wednesday. According to the website, the vessel left Devonport on November 21, and on the morning of November 23, residents of the port city spotted HMS Duncan, being towed back. Representatives of the UK Defense Ministry said that the decision to return the destroyer to the base was taken in order to assess arisen technical problems. In October, the British destroyer was among six NATO ships, involved in tracking of the Russian battle group, led by the Admiral Kuznetsov heavy aircraft-carrying missile cruiser,...

A big riot has erupted in a refugee camp in the southeastern Bulgarian town of Harmanli. Refugees violently protested for yet an unknown reason. The police quickly reacted which led to clashes between the migrants and the law enforcements. The police were bombarded with stones and answered with teargas in order to stop the riot. Reports by local media claim that there are injured police officers as well as a lot of damage to the buildings in and around the camp. Update 7:46 CET: Around 300 migrants have been arrested and 14 police officers have been injured. A video of a Bulgarian news outlet shows the situation at the scene: Harmanli is hosting the biggest refugee camp in Bulgaria and has had a lot of trouble with the refugees. The locals have protested time and time again against the refugee camp and want better-secured border with Turkey, however no actions have been taken by the Bulgarian government to stop or even cope with this problem.

The most recent conflict between India and Pakistan is said to be spiraling out of control with acts of violence on both sides of the disputed border said to be escalating to incredibly dangerous levels.  It has been reported that soldiers from the Indian Army have launched a full-scale assault on several Pakistani posts across the Line of Control. The areas which are said to have been targeted are Poonch, Rajouri, Kel and Machil. NO SURGICAL STRIKE ANYMORE  This new action marks a change in direction for the Indian Army in the course of this latest conflict. Previously, they had confined their operations to small ‘surgical attacks’ in a bid to minimize casualties. However, it has been claimed that the Indian authorities were provoked into much larger and violent action after the killings of three Indian soldiers close to the Pakistani-Indian border.  People in Pakistan are reporting that the Indian Army subjected them to heavy artillery fire during the operatio...

While the Russian naval task force is readying for the long-awaited operation in Syria, it’s time to look at its missile capabilities.

The newest USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) guided missile destroyer broke down in the Panama Canal due to a new engineering casualty. USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) guided missile destroyer (Photo: AFP 2016 / US Navy) On Monday evening, the newest USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) broke down, when it was transiting the Panama Canal, USNI News information website reported, citing US Navy officials. According to USNI News, “the ship lost propulsion in its port shaft during the transit and the crew saw water intrusion in two of the four bearings that connect to Zumwalt’s port and starboard Advanced Induction Motors (AIMs) to the drive shafts.” The website explained that the AIMs are “massive electrical motors that are driven by the ship’s gas turbines and in turn electrically power the ship’s systems and drive the shafts.” The destroyer, which was on the way to its home port in San Diego, is now stopped for repairs at the former US Naval Station Rodman, spokesman for the US 3rd Fleet, Cmdr. Ryan Perry, told USN...

According to head of Iran’s Foundation of Martyrs’ and Veterans’ Affairs, Mohammad Ali Shahidi Mahalati, more than 1,000 Iranian military servicemen and volunteers, supporting President Bashar al-Assad, have been killed in Syria. More than 1,000 Iranian military servicemen and volunteers, supporting President Bashar al-Assad , lost their lives during the Syrian war, the Tasnim news agency reported on Tuesday, citing head of Iran’s Foundation of Martyrs’ and Veterans’ Affairs, Mohammad Ali Shahidi Mahalati. “The number of martyrs from our country defending the shrines has now passed 1,000,” Mahalati told the news agency. Military advisers and volunteer fighters, sent by Iran to Syria to work with Assad’s forces and known in Iran as ‘defenders of the shrines’ in reference to Shiite holy sites in Syria, were recruited from Afghanistan and Pakistan. However, Mahalati did not specify the nationalities of those, who were killed. According to Iran, they were sent to fight against Sunni extrem...