The situation in Syria

[TrueAndMagneticNorth]

Thanks mlg. Yes, it's sad news.

There continues to be conflicting reports about the airbase I mentioned at the end of my last post. The latest I have heard is that it has not been completely evacuated, but is under partial siege by 'Islamic State' jihadists. Moreover, there appears to be ongoing clashes there between Syrian government personnel defending the airbase, and the jihadist attackers.

In other news, it appears that Aleppo is potentially only days, even hours away from being declared as completely under the control of Syrian government forces, which would be their biggest victory of the entire war so far. There have been some attempted deals to allow some remaining jihadist 'rebels' to leave the city peacefully and head for the sanctuary of other places in Syria where the rebels are in control. Meanwhile, some die-hard jihadists have reportedly vowed to fight to the end.

Casualties have been very high, especially for rebels but also for pro-government forces and civlians to a lesser extent. There's just one thing I wish to comment on. A couple of days ago the rebels remaining in Aleppo reported that pro-government forces had rounded up many dozens of civilians from newly-conquered districts, and summarily executed them via gunshot and, in some instances, burning them alive. The UN accepted this allegation unquestioningly and expressed (its typical fake, selective) outrage. Moreover, the liars of the mainstream media reported it unquestioningly.

I have neer been to Syria and don't know the details of what's happening there, but I have a reasonable idea of the general situation from afar. My first gut instinct about this latest allegation was that it sounded made-up. It sounded like jihadist liars had told something to UN liars, which was then reported to us by media liars. The usual kind of stuff.

Yes, I know I could be wrong about this. It's possible. But I read some interesting information today from The Inside Source (via its twitter feed on the topic). For your information, The Inside Source claims to be a neutral source of information on the Syrian conflict. My opinion is that it is very good and fair, often criticising both the rebel and government sides in a proportionate manner, pointing out developments and details (warts and all) and questioning information from all sides, if it doubts the veracity of that information.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, The Inside Source (thus far) has said that it has not been able to find any evidence of this massacre having ever happened at all. Moreover, it went as far as to say that most rebel accusations about government atrocities during this latest offensive are simply untrue.

That's all for now. I'll keep the updates coming in when I feel moved to do so.

God bless you all.

[TrueAndMagneticNorth]

Hello my Friends,

I don't have enough time to write much now so please allow me to refer you to couple of articles. The first one is an analysis on the current situation in Syria, including the retaking of Aleppo by pro-Assad forces, from a specifically Christian perspective. It is highly balanced, recommended reading.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/ ... ristianity

The second article is a report stating that western-backed, 'moderate' Syrian rebels have forced a 7-year-old girl to become a suicide bomber to attack a government police station in Damascus. Link to the article, with disturbing images included, is below:

http://www.infowars.com/moderate-rebels ... -in-syria/

That's all for today. I'd invite you, if you have the time, to read the articles for yourselves and make up your own minds about what is documented in them. God bless you, and have a Merry Christmas.

[TrueAndMagneticNorth]

Hi All,

Latest news from Syria: The city of Aleppo is now apparently 100% under the control of pro-government forces, with the final, organised evacuations of rebel fighters and civilians in buses now apparently having been concluded.

Now that it is official, this is widely seen as the biggest victory for Assad and his forces since the start of the Syrian Civil War.

That aside, below is an article titled 'Subdued Christmas for Fearful Syrian Christians' from the al-monitor news site. My recommendation is to read it in order to use it as guidance over things that can be prayed about, if you would feel inclined to do so. Link is below:

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/afp/201 ... stmas.html

UPDATE: In the previous post I mentioned (and linked) a report that documented how 'moderate' Syrian rebels had forced a 7-year-old girl to become a suicide bomber. The incident has now been admitted by the pro-rebel 'Syrian Observatory for Human Rights' organisation. Moreover, through their propaganda, the rebels have sort to promote this atrocity as some sort of desperate, gallant martydom operation in response to the 'crimes' of the Syrian regime, etc.

As is to be expected, there has been virtually zero coverage of this sick incident in the mainstream media. After all, the 'moderate' rebels are really just idealistic freedom fighters. Or so we're supposed to believe, anyway. Wow, what a world we live in.

[TrueAndMagneticNorth]

Greetings,

Haven't got time to type much today, but will link to an article or two. The latest news is the development of Syria peace talks being held by Russia, Turkey and Iran.

There is apparently a truce agreement that is ready to be implemented. It is between the Syrian government (and allies) and several rebel groups (who have a total of about 60,000 fighters in their ranks). On the off-chance this agreement could be successful, it would dramatically reduce violence, but not end it. The Islamic State and al-queda linked groups are not involved in this truce, of course.

That aside, it could be a positive step towards a possible peace. It might be worth praying about. But may God's will ultimately be done, not the will of any country or government.

Link to a related article is below:

http://dailycaller.com/2016/12/29/putin ... -the-wind/

[TrueAndMagneticNorth]

Here is an area in need of prayer. Water supplies into Damascus have been severely restricted over the last couple of weeks or so. It is because the main source of water for the capital is currently being fought over, with government and rebels blaming each other for damage and current shutdown of the main water supply.

Government and residents in the capital are taking counter-measures to obtain water from elsewhere, but it is hard work and it is costly. The city of Damascus is getting quite thirsty, and is certainly in need of prayer. May The Lord restore abundant water to the city of Damascus, and anywhere else in Syria currently lacking water, as soon as possible.

Link to an article on this topic is below:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/syria-hits- ... 1483639668

UPDATE: There have now been several reports from both government and rebel sources that some kind of agreement on this issue has been reached, meaning that, if this is the case, the water should soon start flowing into Damascus as before, thus ending water shortages. Let's pray that this can indeed be confirmed.

[TrueAndMagneticNorth]

Hello Again to All,

Again, can't talk for long, so I will post links to two articles. There are clearly some changing winds with regard to Syria. One obvious aspect is the election of Trump and what that could mean for US-Russia co-operation and relations, etc.

Having said that, in my opinion the main story at the moment seems to be the ongoing Russian-Turkish detente. It is clearly these two nations that are driving events at current more than anyone else involved in Syria. I'd have never thought it possible that Russia could bring Turkey on board like this.

The ceasefire organised by these two countries continues to largely hold, although there are intermittent breaches. Also, keep in mind that the super hardcore jihadist rebel groups such as the 'Islamic State', al-queda, their hangers on and supporters as well, are not part of the truce, so fighting continues. One current flahpoint is the eastern Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, which is partially under government control but is besieged by 'Islamic State' jihadists.

The article touching on these events is linked below:

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/origina ... r-end.html

As usual, prayers for peace could be useful, especially at this point in time. I may well be proven to be wrong, but I reckon we are at a point that could end up being seen as a tipping point, in terms of significant reduction of violence. God bless you. Until next time.

UPDATE: The water situation with Damascus has still apparently not been totally resolved, but is supposed to be closer to resolution. Below is a link to an article with the latest on this topic:

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/afp/201 ... water.html

[TrueAndMagneticNorth]

Hi All,

Hope your Sunday is going nicely. It's usually not like me to refer to a corrupt, establishment media propaganda rag like the Washington Post. But even a broken clock is right twice a day, so goes the saying.

Anyway, it's a well-known fact that, amid the massive refugee crisis involving the Middle-East on one hand, and America- and particularly Europe- on the other hand, that an amazingly low number of Christians have been among those from the Middle-East generally being admitted into the west as refugees.

I certainly have my view as to why this is the case and I won't hide it; systemic hatred of Christians from the government-media establishment in the west is why they would allow so few persecuted Christians into the west as refugees. However, that's just my well-reasoned opinion.

Feel free to read the article from the Washington Post which gets into this topic, and make up your own minds if you haven't already. Link is below:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fac ... b124f5adaa

UPDATE: Here is a link to another new article touching on this topic. Make of it what you will:

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/afp/201 ... banon.html

EXTRA UPDATE: Amidst the haze of political activity and media (mis)reporting, there are now indications that the new US administration might prioritise Christian refugees from Middle-Eastern countries. Let's just see if this turns out to be the case. Certainly worth praying on.

[TrueAndMagneticNorth]

Greeting again to Everyone,

Here's a little article about the general (lack of) concern for Middle-Eastern Christians shown in western countries, where politicians, media and so-called 'activists' seem to be bizarrely obsessed with focussing only on letting in Sunni muslim migrants, who make up the bulk of all muslim people, at the expense of smaller muslim groups, Christians and other persecuted minorities.

What is this bizarre, tunnel-vision, long-running obsession that the western political establishment and its hangers-on have with Islam? I've wondered about this for many years, and still don't truly understand the real motives behind this obsession. Moreover, why has the west spent the last many years teaming up with extremist, wahhabist terrorists in order to destroy secular, moderate Arab states where Christians were at least tolerated and allowed to live in relative peace?

These are rhetorical questions, so no need to answer. However, if you feel you have some insight, feel free to offer.

Link to article is below:

http://www.infowars.com/trump-opens-bor ... t-ignores/

[TrueAndMagneticNorth]

Greetings to All,

There have been some recent developments in Syria and the area. The historic desert city of Palmyra, which has now swapped hands a few times, has been retaken by the Syrian government forces and their allies. The Islamic State had controlled it since December. Palmyra is the city with Roman ruins and artefacts, many of which would be destroyed or looted by the IS terrorists.

It is certainly worth praying to The Lord that the group would never again return to set foot in that city.

Link to an article with details about this development is below:

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017 ... nt-palmyra

In other news, the Russian-Turkish backed ceasefire in Syria largely continues to hold. Remember, jihadist groups like Islamic State, al-queda and others that are similar to them have not signed on to the agreement. This means that many 'rebels' continue to attack, fight, plot, kill, etc. However, many others, especially those controlled by Turkey, are largely abiding by the ceasefire and deaths across the country continue to be well down on typical figures.

May The Lord make this a watershed year for this conflict. May 2017 be the year it begins to draw down to an end. And may that end be according to His just purposes, and not those imperfect purposes of any nation state or group that is involved.

By the way, I also have this article about the possibly shifting sands of the situation in Syria, with regard to how it's seen by other countries in that area. I can't vouch for its veracity, but if it's even partly true, then it's at least very encouraging:

http://debka.com/article/25944/The-Arab ... with-Assad

God bless you.

[TrueAndMagneticNorth]

Hi Again,

I'm just going to post another article. It's from Patrick Cockburn of The Independent. He is musing now about the possibility that the war in Syria might finally be drawing down.

One of his conclusions is that it looks like the Syrian government and its allies may be the ultimate victors (although, yes, it's also quite clear that in a way there are no real 'winners' in war).

His other main conclusion is that things are not looking good for the 'Islamic State'.

I really feel that now is the time to jump in with prayer, that God could really wind this thing down. The more prayer, the better, especially with the momentum that has already been building with regard to the reduction of violence.

Link to the article is below:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 14706.html

[TrueAndMagneticNorth]

Hello Everyone,

No time to type, but I don't feel I need to. I wish to provide links to a couple of articles I've recently read. The first seems to be an extremely neutral take on the Syrian Civil War from a Syrian citizen, apparently free of bias in favour of this side or that. It makes for very enlightening reading. Link is below:

http://www.thejournal.ie/readme/opinion ... =shortlink

The other article is an interesting analysis from al-monitor, a generally very good news site with particular focus on the Middle-East. It is about the standpoints of the two major backers of the Syrian government, Russia and Iran. Fascinating reading. Link is below:

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/afp/201 ... ussia.html

There is real momentum towards a reduction of violence in that country. Peace may still be a while off, but continually declining violence is a realistic prospect in the short, medium and hopefully long-term.

I continue to encourage anyone who may feel so inclined to pray to this end, and that God's will would ultimately be done in that country; for healing, justice, victory for His people, their allies, and the whole thing. If unsure about how to pray for Syria, maybe just ask Him to guide you. I confess that I often don't know exactly how to pray for things like this.

All the best.

[mlg]

Hi trueandmagneticnorth, I think the best we can do as we pray is to ask God what His will would be for these countries. I believe everything happens for God's purpose. I pray that His truth will be revealed to all those in Syria and surrounding countries.

Take care