Russia's First Reported Air Strikes in Syria Assist Regime with Targeting Broader Opposition... Obama failed again!

Russia's First Reported Air Strikes in Syria Assist Regime with Targeting Broader Opposition ISW will continue to provide updates on all of these issues at www.understandingwar.org.   By Genevieve Casagrande An alleged Russian airstrike hit the rebel-held town of Talbisah north of Homs City. Talbisah is home to Syrian al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, hardline Islamist Ahrar al-Sham, Western-backed TOW anti-tank missile recipients, and a number of other local rebel groups, all of which are active in local governance efforts in the area. Both Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) have claimed a number of vehicle-borne IEDs (VBIEDs) in Homs City, located only 12 kilometers south of Talbisah. Following reports of U.S. and Turkish efforts to establish an ISIS "free zone" in the northern Aleppo countryside, JN withdrew from the border and reportedly enforced position in this rebel-held pocket north of Homs city. Notably, the airstrike did not hit ISIS militants and rather resulted in the a large number of civilian casualties. If confirmed, the airstrike would signal Russian intent to assist in the Syrian regime's war effort at large, rather than securing the regime's coastal heartland of Latakia and Tartous. Read this post online here ISW will continue to provide updates on all of these issues at www.understandingwar.org. ### The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) is a non-partisan, non-profit, public policy research organization. ISW advances an informed understanding of military affairs through reliable research, trusted analysis, and innovative education. We are committed to improving the nation's ability to execute military operations and respond to emerging threats in order to achieve U.S. strategic objectives. Visit us at www.understandingwar.org.

Breaking: Russians bombs targets near Homs.

September 30, 2015

Breaking: Russians bombs targets near Homs. "President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia suddenly escalated the stakes in his contest with the West over influence in the Middle East on Wednesday, as Russian pilots carried out their first airstrikes in Syria," reports the New York Times this morning. "Russian warplanes dropped bombs near the central city of Homs, according to American officials in Washington." Who did they bomb? "Russian officials and analysts portrayed the move as an attempt both to fight Islamic State militants and to try to ensure the survival of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, Russia's main ally in the Middle East. But Homs is not under the control of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL." More, here. No ground troops — yet. "Mr. Putin has repeatedly emphasized that the use of Russian ground forces was not envisioned in the near term." NYT, here. "Sergei Ivanov, the Kremlin chief of staff, said Russia's military involvement would be limited to an air campaign targeting Islamic State, or ISIL," the Wall Street Journal reports. Didn't you try this before? Several "U.S. officials privately laughed and wished Putin luck," The Daily Beast reports. "'If he wants to jump into that mess, good luck,' one official said, noting that Russia had become bogged down in Afghanistan a generation ago in a fight against Islamic radicals." More here. Defense One's New eBook Has Arrived! Read "Harnessing Big Data to Protect the Nation." Get it Now.   But Moscow's moves show the limits of Obama's containment strategy, write Gayle Tzemach Lemmon and Molly O'Toole at Defense One. As much as Washington wants to shape the conflict from afar, Russia is now shaping the facts on the ground. Read their analysis, here. Kerry: put a leash on Assad. Meanwhile, Secretary of State John Kerry suggested that Russia and Iran might stop Assad from bombing his own people. In an interview with MSNBC Tuesday, "Kerry suggested that the cooperation might go deeper than that and that Moscow and Tehran, Assad's staunch allies, might also help rein him in." More via AFP here. Enter Saudi Arabia. The U.S. isn't the only nation pushing for Assad to go. Speaking to reporters at the U.N. General Assembly, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said there are two options for Syria: "One option is a political process where there would be a transitional council. The other option is a military option, which also would end with the removal of Bashar al-Assad from power." More from The Guardian here.

The battle for Kunduz. American Special Forces and other NATO troops have been sent to Kunduz, the northern Afghanistan city overrun by the Taliban earlier this week. A coalition spokesman told the Washington Post that American and NATO forces would not be fighting and only "advising and assisting Afghan special forces units in the area who are working to clear the city." A test of Afghan forces: "The fight to reclaim Kunduz — Afghanistan's sixth-largest city and a strategic gateway to Central Asia — is one of the Afghan military's biggest tests in its campaign against the Taliban, and it raises questions about the withdrawal timetable for U.S. and other coalition troops." More here. Three U.S. airstrikes: American warplanes have flown three bombing missions, two Tuesday and one this morning, to protect forces at the city's airport, a key staging area for Afghan troops. The initial strikes Tuesday are said to have killed 83 Taliban, Afghan police told Reuters. More here. Taliban draw on the Islamic State handbook, posting a video showing militants with seized tanks and armored cars. The Taliban also said they would enforce Islamic sharia law in the besieged city. "The 10-minute clip posted on Facebook opens with a shot of Kunduz main square where Taliban cadres cheer as they raise their white flag under the wary gaze of subdued-looking residents," AFP reports. "The video ends with a message from the Taliban's newly appointed leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, though he does not appear on screen." More here.

From Defense One

House, Senate approve defense bill Obama will veto. From Defense One's Molly O'Toole: Last night, the "big four" members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees touted their new $600 billion 2016 defense authorization bill, but it may be more notable for what it doesn't do: "end sequestration, solve the budget impasse over defense spending, or give President Barack Obama the legislative support he sought to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba." More here. Meanwhile, troops would get paid under a shutdown — if a bill currently making the rounds gets passed. GovExec has the story, here.

For years, the Pentagon hooked everything to the Internet. Now it's a 'big, big problem.' The Internet of Things is supposed to make life easier. For the Pentagon, the quintessential early adopter, it has made life much harder, writes Defense One's Patrick Tucker. Now the U.S. getting pwnd in cyber. Lawmakers, the Pentagon, and leaders in United States cyber security and intelligence all agree that the United States is getting pwnd online. China and Russia have an unfair advantage, able to steal sensitive United States corporate and governmental data with near impunity. That's where the agreement ends. In a testy Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing yesterday, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., challenged Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work, national intelligence director James Clapper, and NSA head Adm. Michael Rogers to give him a clear answer as to what our nation's policy was for retaliating against China and Russia for info heists like OPM (blamed on China). McCain pointed out that the 2015 defense policy act requires some sort of policy — not a strategy, but a clear deterrent policy allowing the nation to unleash cyber krakens when on other nation states when its data goes missing. Work: we ain't China. "We should strive to establish norms, especially between nation states," the DepSecSef responded, somewhat nervously. "There's an asymmetry with our nation-state potential adversaries." Clapper sounded a similar note: "Should there be red lines on spying?" he asked. "We didn't have red lines during the Cold War. There were no limits… We're in the Wild West with cyber. No limits on collecting information." More here.

Pentagon scrambling to learn what U.S. secrets Iraq is telling Russia. After Iraqi leaders unexpectedly entered into an intelligence-sharing agreement with Russia this weekend, "the Defense Department's second-in-command told the Senate on Tuesday, military intelligence and Pentagon teams are scrambling to make sure classified intelligence from the U.S. does not make its way into the hands of Russian, Syrian or Iranian authorities." The good news, if there is any: that there's so much mistrust between the parties involved, the information sharing may not be of much value, or put the United States at much risk, according to National Intelligence Director James Clapper. Defense One Technology Editor Patrick Tucker has the story, here.

Ebook: How the Pentagon is dispelling the fog of information overload. In a new ebook, Defense One looks at the ways that the U.S. military and its partners are looking to turn the rising clouds of data from a distraction into a guide. Download Harnessing Big Data to Protect the Nation, here.

Welcome to Wednesday's edition of The D Brief, from Marcus Weisgerber and Defense One.Want to share The D Brief with a friend? Here's our subscribe link. And please tell us what you like, don't like, or want to drop on our radar right here at the-d-brief@defenseone.com.

Poroshenko mocks Putin at U.N. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says Putin's call for an international antiterrorism coalition are hypocritical. "For over 20 months, Russia's aggression against my country has been continuing through financing of terrorists and mercenaries, and supplies of arms and military equipment to the illegal armed groups," Poroshenko told the General Assembly. Reuters reports that all but one member of Russia's delegation left the assembly hall while Poroshenko spoke. They returned when he finished his speech. More here. Tit for tat. Russia says it would close airspace to Ukrainian airlines, beginning on Oct. 25, the same day Ukraine says it would deny two Russian airlines from flying to its cities. More here. Meanwhile, Pentagon's top Russia official leaves. "Evelyn Farkas, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, is leaving her post at the end of next month after five years with the Defense Department, a senior defense official confirmed to POLITICO." More here.

U.S. expanding footprint in Turkey. Having long pressed Turkey to do more for the anti-ISIS campaign, the Pentagon now appears to getting its wish. Turkey is allowing the U.S. Air Force to base personnel-recovery aircraft in Diyarbakir, a city in southeast Turkey, that is much closer to Syria than their current location, Gen. Philip Breedlove, the NATO supreme allied commander, said Tuesday. While a specific type of aircraft were not mentioned, they are likely HH-60 combat search-and-rescue helicopters, elite squadrons that specialize in rescuing downed pilots behind enemy lines guarded by surface-to-air missiles and other types of anti-aircraft weapons. More troops to Incirlik: Breedlove also said "the coalition intends to increase the operational footprint at Incirlik to step up the fight against [the Islamic State] in the coming months," Stars and Stripes reports. More here.

Five years later, hunt for Kony continues. From the Washington Post: U.S. Special Operations forces have opened a new front in their hunt for the African warlord Joseph Kony, moving closer to his suspected hideout in a lawless enclave straddling Sudan and South Sudan, according to military officials and others familiar with the operation." American forces in the Central African Republic are working with the Seleka Muslim rebels "who toppled the central government two years ago and triggered a still-raging sectarian war with a campaign of mass rapes and executions." More here.

Navy's new destroyer: marvel or boondoggle? That's the question posed by the Boston Globe about the newest Navy ship set to begin sea trials in December. "The 600-foot Zumwalt — picture an Aztec pyramid welded atop a machete blade — is an infinitely more elaborate and costly ship, a futuristic showcase crammed with electronic innovations. But it, too, appears destined to fall well short of its promise." More here.

American Legion backs Keystone XL. The largest U.S. veterans service organization wants the Obama administration to approve the controversial pipeline, saying veterans need access to the the estimated 42,000 jobs the project will create. More here.

Need to cross the Bosphorus? There's an app for that. Uber, the popular ride-sharing application now offers speedboat service across the Bosphorus Strait. The journey takes five minutes as opposed to the hour and a half on the two bridges in Istanbul. More here.

Defense One's New eBook Has Arrived! Read "Harnessing Big Data to Protect the Nation." Get it Now.

La Tuta' from inside prison Plaza Chief "El Escorpión" killed in CDG internal struggle Zeta plaza boss "El Fresa" shanked to death in Topo Chico Jail with 11 others wounded...

Borderland Beat

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• 'La Tuta' from inside prison
• Plaza Chief "El Escorpión" killed in CDG internal struggle
• Zeta plaza boss "El Fresa" shanked to death in Topo Chico Jail with 11 others wounded

'La Tuta' from inside prison Posted: 29 Sep 2015 07:21 PM PDT After 'El Chapo's' escape, security measures around Servando Gómez Martínez were tightened. In prison La Tuta is guarded by three officers of Cisen four custody area officers and two perimeter security commanders. Classified as a highly dangerous prisoner, with alter ego (dual personality) and a power of corruptibility almost like that of "El Chapo" Guzman, the head of the Knights Templar cartel, Servando Gomez Martinez, 'La Tuta' is subject to special surveillance and tight security by the custodial staff. At no time during the 24 hours he's out of sight. Federal prison security in Almoloya, Cefereso No. 1, Are assuming 'La Tuta' is the inmate with more potential to escape since Joaquin Guzman Loera decided to escape. At least he think that and he has let the psychology staff know it since he meets with them once a week. "Sometimes playing with the mind of the psychologists," an official from the federal prison said. A source explains Servando Gómez Martínez was separated from the prison population because of his personality. He was sent to a segregation cell, where he receives "special treatment" which is nothing more than to keeping him isolated and guarded 24 hours a day. BY J. Jesús Lemus 'La Tuta', for the sake of security, inside his cell and when he is moved from one place to another within the prison, all conversations and all movements are recorded. His court appearances are also recorded. Everything he says and does inside prison is reviewed and analysed by a specialized unit of the Interior Ministry. Servando Gómez himself has complained in some letters to his family and friends, about the extreme condition of surveillance to which he is subjected. He has complained of being the most watch prisoner throughout the prison, "because they say they think I will try to escape, where in the hell they get that?" He muses in a letter he send to one of his relatives. What was once the main boss of organized crime in Michoacan, has also complained of the inhuman conditions in which they are kept in prison. He says, in a letter to a relative, that he lives "in a two by three meters cell, where he even has to ask for permission to take a shit." Nevertheless, although subdued, 'La Tuta' remains a rebel. A source said he often-, quietly and respectfully, complains about official abuse towards him. That has made him a subject of misbehavior penalties in nearly seven months of imprisonment. He has been punished by suspending his communication abroad through letters or phone. Also by denying him to leave his cell to only once a week, and classes of painting and drawing he received once a month, were also suspended. His solicitation for two books he had asked from the library were canceled and his right to buy soda and cookies from the institution store was denied. According to the activity registry kept by the Cefereso, Servando Gomez Martinez, "is a prisoner with low activity." Since he enter this prison he has read only four books, one of poetry and three novels. He has not been able to conclude an oil painting that he began five months ago. He has made 11 pencil and ink drawings (Michoacan landscapes and horses) sent by letters to some of his relatives. 'La Tuta' has reveals that one of his relatives, is a regular visitor of the ​medic. It has a high blood pressure condition, which often keep him requesting for medical service. He complains about the lack of stomach medicines. The problem he complains the most in his letters is gastric re-flux and intestinal problems, problems he was already suffering since he was free. "It is not true that he has cancer," his family has confirmed. Life after 'El Chapo' After the escape of "El Chapo", Servando Gomez Martinez, 'La Tuta' security measures were changed. He is considered within the Federal Prison of Almoloya, one of the inmates most likely to escape. So every time he move inside the prison he is guarded by three officers of the Investigation Center and National Security (Cisen), four custody officers and two perimeter security commanders. The life of 'La Tuta' within the federal prison of maximum security of Almoloya is summarized in a criminal psycho diagnosis that he was reclassified, following the escape of "El Chapo": the defendant fantasizes about leaving prison in the same way Joaquin Guzman did. That's why he has changed cells twice. From his cell he applauded and celebrated the "escape" made by the boss of the Sinaloa cartel. According to an official of Cefereso of Almoloya, Servando Gomez would have been able to establish communication and contact with 'El Chapo'. "The relationship between the two capos, as happens in most cases, although rivals outside, was very good." Greetings were sent between them by using trusted people. 'El Chapo' told "La Tuta" "I'm at your service and vice versa, according to the source. There lie the new extreme security measures for the former head of the Knights Templar cartel. 24 hours of confinement Given the degree of danger which he is classified, the former head of the Knights Templar cartel, is not allowed any movement in or out of his cell, without supervision of custodial staff. He is kept under video surveillance 24 hours a day, and when he is moved to court, call centers, medical and psychological check the movements of other inmates are canceled. Servando Gomez Martinez is checked six times a day. At six o'clock, when he should already be bathed, shaved, and uniformed; at nine o'clock, at 11, at 15:00, at 6 o'clock and the last time at nine in the evening. They give him breakfast on a tray in the cell. You must eat at 6:30 in the morning. Their diet is the same to all inmates: a serving of beans, opuntia, pork, fruit and vegetables, accompanied by a glass of cinnamon water, milk or oatmeal. Only once a week they give them cereal and milk, sometimes with a piece of jelly. At the end of breakfast, 'La Tuta' have to clean his cell. They give a rag and washing powder to clean the floor and walls. Staff stressed about the hobby of the defendant to clean the bars of his cell. Sometimes he sings during cleaning. When finished he washes his socks, underwear and shirt. He is not allowed to clean the shower area, so he does not leave the view of the cameras. Then 'La Tuta' take a nap. Sometimes he reads for five minutes. Upon waking up he writes letters or draw landscapes. At 3 pm hours he goes back to sleep. Upon waking up he does some exercise in his cell. He use the five liters water jugs as dumbbells. He exercise for about an hour and returns to drawing. In the afternoon he watch TV from an authorized device. TV evening he alternates with talks from his cell. Dinner is promptly at 7 pm. Usually after that he sings, until reaching the last call at 9 pm when you are ordered to sleep. 'La Tuta' is allowed to use the phone for 10 minutes every seven days, he has five registered numbers of relatives, but only two are called frequently. Each call day, Servando Gomez Martinez is in good spirits. It is when he becomes the motivator, sometimes serves as a priest, speaking at length about God and some biblical passages that he knows by heart. Injunctions and bad companies Gomez Martinez has ranked as one of the prisoners with greater drawing power. He has motivated others to lodge appeals against various provisions inside prison. It is one of the inmates more protection demands made to the federal courts. In less than seven months it has brought seven amparo guarantees, almost one per month. From all the injunctions sought by 'La Tuta', only three of them have prospered, one against confinement and the second for delivery of medicine. Those other complaints are about the lack of recreational activities inside the prison, improvements to the quality of food and "decrease in acts of torture." Servando Gomez Martinez is credited with being one of the authors of the movement that two months ago was conceived within the federal prison in Almoloya, when a group of 163 prisoners, including the same 'Chapo' Guzman, demonstrated hunger strike, to protest poor conditions of prevailing food. 'La Tuta' is given a special track of his movements and conversations inside prison, given its relationship with other internal inmates like Teodoro "El Teo" and Marco Antonio "El Cris' Garcia Simental brothers; Omar and Miguel Angel Trevino Morales; Hector 'H' Beltran Leyva, Miguel Angel Guzman Loera, Fernando Sanchez Arellano, Mario Nuñez Meza, Mario Cardenas Guillen, Abigael Gonzalez and Edgar Valdes Villarreal Valencia, 'La Barbie'. This article was translated fro Reporte Indigo

Plaza Chief "El Escorpión" killed in CDG internal struggle Posted: 29 Sep 2015 06:07 PM PDT Lucio R. Borderland Beat  material from Facebook, VXT and Valor tamaulipeco, Yesterday morning, the body of Lazaro Martinez Rodriguez. Aka "El Escorpión", was discovered outside a Madero, Tamaulipas nightclub, “Viento Rodeo”.   With the body was found a narco cartulina with a message. Martinez-Rodriguez was once policía ministerial in Nuevo Laredo and later Tampico. After moving to Tampico, he worked alongside kidnapper, torturer enforcer, Francisco Javier Peña Ruiz "K21", allegedly using the police station for torturing  kidnapping victims, subsequently becoming plaza chief of Madero. The killing is the result of an internal CDG conflict according to the message, which identifies the deceased as plaza chief of Madero.  Conflict has heightened in Tampico, Madero and Altamira, in an internal control struggle, after the fall of “EL Chive”.   Rumor has it that it was El Escorpión who betrayed  Silvestre Haro Rodriguez, ( El Chive) which led to his arrest.   El Chive, was chief of the Gulf Cartel plaza in metropolitan area of Tampico, Madero and Altamira.     The theory is that he gave state police information that led to Chive’s arrest at a Tampico hospital.   Supposedly, Escorpion gave up Chive so that he could take over Chive’s position, a fight he would have to win against “El R2”  aka  "El Toñin" brother of El Chive for the region Text: "The Gulf Cartel Tampico gives notice that in this plaza we respect the citizens and that kidnappers and extortionists are prohibited. Here is your kidnapping dog who acts against my orders, the famous “ESCORPION”,  who is responsible for the kidnapping of the businessmen and the son of the PAN member CARMEN VOLADO, here kidnappings and extortions, are not  allowed, this is proof that orders and rules are respected , no matter who you are.  Here... whoever falls, falls, there is no room for kidnappers or extortionists.   Sincerely, Cartel del Golfo, Tampico Plaza

Zeta plaza boss "El Fresa" shanked to death in Topo Chico Jail with 11 others wounded Posted: 29 Sep 2015 08:23 AM PDT Translated by Otis B Fly-Wheel for Borderland Beat from a Proceso article [ Subject Matter: Mario Alberto Roldan Zuniga "El Fresa" Recommendation: No prior subject matter knowledge required] Reporter: Zeta Redaction Monterrey N.L: A zeta plaza boss was assassinated with home made prison type knives (shanks) on Thursday night in the Topo Chico prison, during a riot in which 11 other prisoners were also injured, informed the Government of Nuevo Leon. Mario Alberto Roldan Zuniga, "El Fresa", 32 years of age, originally from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, he was the zeta plaza boss in this town, and was detained in February of this year, for possession of drugs and fire arms in San Nicolas, the town from where he operated. The capo contested charges of kidnapping. It has been suggested that "El Fresa" gave up information that assisted in the capture, in the town of San Pedro, this March, of Omar Trevino Morales, "El Z-42", alleged leader of the group in Mexico. According to an official source, the riot broke out at 21:00 giving rise to the death of "El Fresa" and the injury of 11 others, whose injuries are not thought to be life threatening, although they were sent for evaluation to the University Hospital. The forensic medical staff that attended found that Roldan Zuniga had more that ten stab puncture wounds. They did not give out information on where inside the old prison the riot had broken out. The prisoners who were wounded were identified as: Arturo Eguia Gaitan Juan Daniel Martinez Munoz Juan de la Rosa Orozco Mario Hernandez Mendez Ricardo Jesus Flores Lerma Edgar Armardo Lopez Martinez David Lara Quinones Juan Jose Cortes Lara Martin Uriel Macias Guzman Javier Andres Soto Alvarado Jose Gerardo Salinas Gutierrez The penitentiary authorities informed the families of the men involved in the events. they also advised that already they had transferred ten prisoners to prisons of Apodaca and Cadereyta to prevent new confrontations. The State Government said that the situation inside the prison had returned to normal. The Citizens Association in support of Human Rights, lamented the tragic events of the riot and reproached the State Government, for failing in the constitutional mandate to organize the prison system on the basis of respect for human rights, and guarantee the life and safety of the prisoners. "It is not the first time that violent deaths have occurred inside Topo Chico, it is urgent that they take steps to transform from bottom to top the organization and administration of the centre, with the goal of achieving their mission of social re adaption of those under their care, with a constant mark of respect in regards of human rights. Original article in Spanish at Proceso