Operation Featherweight: Month 29, Week 5, Day 1.

As we approached Christmas of 2010 I was still a relatively young man filled with hope. I'd barely even heard of this Rihanna woman.

As we approach the Christmas of 2016 I am old and exhausted. So I won't be re-arguing the entire war against Syria.

However certainly since 2012 the east of Syrian city of Aleppo has been under the occupation of the Army of Conquest/Jaish al-Fatah (JAF). The Syrian government has been fighting to liberate the city from this Al Qaeda-led, Turkish-backed coalition of radical Sunni-Islamist terror groups.

What has hampered that progress is that every time the Army of Conquest has come under attack they have screamed; "Humanitarian Catastrophe" and demanded that the Syrians be stopped from fighting them.

Last Monday (12/12/16) the Syrians finally liberated Aleppo City from the Army of Conquest. Since then the Army of Conquest has been demanding that it be allowed to kidnap some 60,000 of Aleppo's civilians and force them to travel to the area in and around Idlib City- some 60km (35 miles) south-west of Aleppo City.

The plan is clearly that these civilians can be used as human shields so when the Syrians finally come to liberate Idlib the Army of Conquest can once again scream; "Humanitarian Catastrophe."

This type of forcible transfer of civilians - particularly to an area of danger - is strictly forbidden under the laws of war. If the civilian hostages are being selected because of their membership of an ethnic/religious group - i.e Sunni-Muslims - not only does this represent a war crime it represents a crime against humanity. Specifically ethnic cleansing.

However the Syrians and their Russian backers are prepared to entertain this idea provided that the Army of Conquest releases some of the civilian hostages it already holds in and around Idlib. Specifically in the villages of Foua and Kefraya. If everything goes to plan this will see the overall number of civilian hostages the Army of Conquest hold reduced. So while it might not be legal it might be the best outcome available.

The problem has arisen in the form of France.

They have called numerous United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sessions demanding that UN Observers be sent to monitor this transfer of hostages between Aleppo and Idlib. France have also attempted to link the imposition of observers to the provision of aid to civilians in Aleppo. Using aid as a form of coercion in this way seems dangerously close to actively trying to support the Army of Conquest in their efforts.

The first problem with France's call for UN observers is that everything being proposed in Aleppo right now is completely illegal. If UN observers go in they will have no option other than to report on the Army of Conquest's illegal activity and call for action to put a stop to it. I think it is quite clear that is not the outcome France intends from its call.

If the UN observers don't report on the illegal activity of the Army of Conquest and demand that it be halted then the already weakened credibility of the UN as an impartial body will suffer severe damage. That will make it much harder for the UN to have any effect in any other conflict or crisis zone anywhere in the World. Just at the moment Gambia and South Sudan seem to be heating up.

The second problem with France's call is the sheer about of time it has taken up and disruption it has caused.

France initially called for a closed UNSC on Thursday (15/12/16). That meeting took place on Friday (16/12/16). On Saturday (17/12/16) France introduced a formal draft of a resolution. That was discussed at a meeting yesterday (18/12/16). There France agreed to a Russian draft of a resolution that will be should be vetoed at a meeting today (19/12/16).

Of course amid all this noise and drama it has been impossible for people to just quietly get on with the transfers between Aleppo and Idlib.

11:55 on 19/12/16 (UK date)

Edited at around 18:05 on 19/12/16 (UK Date) to add;

Following the liberation of Aleppo City last Monday (12/12/16) Turkey has been trying bus civilians to the areas around Idlib. The intention being to use those civilians as human shields in what will likely be the Army of Conquest's last stand in Syria.

While France has been getting on everyone's nerves at the UN Russia has been trying to broker an agreement between Turkey and Syria to make the liberation as bloodless a possible.

The first meeting in this process was originally scheduled to take place in Astana, Kazakhstan on December 27th (27/12/16). The thinking being that with western nations - particularly France and the US -  distracted by Christmas (25/12/16) the diplomatic sniping that has plagued this last week could be kept to a minimum.

However due to the disruption caused by France's antics that meeting was today moved forward to tomorrow (20/12/16) in Moscow, Russia.

This evening Turkish President/Prime Minister/Emperor Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made the opening play of this negotiation. And it's a big one.

The Russian Ambassador to Turkey - Andrey Karlov - has been assassinated at a public event in Ankara. Turkey is being almost boastful of the fact that the assassin is a Turkish policeman. As such he is indisputably an agent of the Turkish state.

The way that Erdogan has purged the Turkish police under the guise of successive; "Parallel State/FETO" investigations to ensure their absolute loyalty to him personally has been a major issue within Turkish politics recently.

Under the terms of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations the host nation is obligated to ensure the safety of foreign diplomats such as Ambassadors. If they fail to fulfil that obligation the nation whose diplomat's safety has been violated are entitled to view the failure as an act of war by the host country against them.

So in short Turkey has just declared war on Russia.

Erdogan's calculation is clearly that if Russia won't go to war over the assassination of one of its diplomats then it won't go to war over Syria. Thus giving Erdogan an advantage in negotiations over the Army of Conquest's return to Turkey from Syria.

18:25 on 19/12/16 (UK date).