When in doubt, bomb Syria

The only thing that Trump has done so far that the establishment has approved of, beside promises to cut taxes on the wealthy, is to bomb Syria. Yesterday he did it again.

American warplanes in Syria attacked a pro-government convoy on Thursday after it ignored warnings and violated a restricted zone around a base where United States and British Special Forces train Syrian rebels to fight the Islamic State, Pentagon officials said....
On Thursday, American officials said, more than 20 vehicles drove within 18 miles of the al-Tanf base in southern Syria housing the American and British Special Forces, breaching the so-called deconfliction zone radius around the encampment.
Low-flying American aircraft buzzed the convoy and fired a warning strike, trying to get the vehicles to reverse course, the Pentagon officials said, but when the convoy continued, the planes opened fire.

It sounds somewhat reasonable on face value, but totally breaks down once you think about it.
Checking Syria Live Map, that convoy wasn't anywhere close to Al-Tanf.
That's not all that is curious about this strike, such as the location of the Daraa safe zone.

That’s confusing, however, because Pentagon officials also claim the targeted forces were within 55km of a “US training base” at al-Tanf, where US ground troops are stationed, and the Daraa safe zone appears farther away from the area that base is in.
...The confusion surrounding this incident leaves open a lot of question, though the identities of the targeted convoy could be a particularly big question mark. If indeed the target was a Shi’ite militia it is likely to be a militia from either Iraq or Iran. If it were an Iraqi militia, it might well be one the US had previously been fighting alongside against ISIS, deploying into an area with a known ISIS presence, and being attacked by US forces for doing so.

That's a big deal. On the Iraqi-side of the border, near the very same Al-Tanf base, those very same Shia-militias are advancing against ISIS with our approval.
However, a few kilometers away they are advancing against al-Qaeda and we are bombing them for it.

Obviously both Syria and Russia are outraged. Russia says there were civilian casualties.
While this action may seem brief and unimportant, it actually could have much more long-term implications that the previous bombing.

Nonetheless, the brief action in the Syrian desert was of great importance. The Syrians were obviously trying to test America’s resolve to move its anti-Assad militia forces deeper into the south-east of the country – and the US was prepared, albeit on a small scale, to show that it was prepared to press on. But the Syrian-Iraqi frontier town of al-Tanf may turn out to be a key strategic point in the struggle of the Assad government to regain its national territory and keep open its border to Iraq and, by extension, to Iran. It lies only 30 miles from Iraq – but because the Jordanian-Syrian-Iraqi borders join immediately to the south – al-Tanf also lies the same distance from Jordan – where the American-trained militia are based.
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detroitmechworks's picture

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/18/politics/china-us-jets-intercept/index.html

Of course, what's the TOP of the news?

Yep, random sex scandal that will be used by the MSM to simultaneously virtue signal on the goodness of Her worshipfulness, and to attack her heinousness "unfairly", keeping the focus comfortably off WW3 that we're rushing headlong towards.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrbv40ENU_o]

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I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

supposed to understand:

A. That they are being "warned".
B. Why they are being "warned".
C. How they are expected to respond to the "warning".

As always, the infantile expectation that useful communication amongst human beings in conflict can occur in the form of symbolic gestures ("saber-rattling") or unexplained violence reflects a willful refusal to understand what human beings are.

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The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.

Democratic Party Establishment Excludes Bernie Sanders From “Ideas Conference”
May 18, 2017 — Ron Chusid

"This division has help to show who has sold out to the establishment and who is really for reform.

Daily Kos founder and self-appointed “granddaddy of the resistance” Markos Moulitsas drove the point home when he huffed during a panel about “that grassroots Bernie thing” and how it was a detriment to the party.

This comes from someone who made the Iraq war his main litmus test in 2004. Now that he is part of the establishment, he backed the candidate who was one of the strongest proponents of military interventionism."

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

Looks to me like the end of the Obama administration where the Pentagon and CIA have taken control over war and foreign policy decisions. This all goes back to this notion of a Shia crescent running from Iran to Iraq to Syria to Lebanon. This is looking like a prelude to some type of invasion and then onto Iran.

Trump and Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman are the most dangerous men in the world – and they’re meeting next week
Trump has already ordered greater US support for the Saudi war effort in Yemen, but the deputy crown prince will be primarily bidding for US backing for his confrontation with Iran

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/donald-trump-saudi-arabia-visit-mean...

It seemed that if there was one okay quality Trump had it was rhetorically his anti-neocon rhetoric.
Kiss that good bye.

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dervish's picture

@MrWebster @MrWebster since 2013, but the real prize is Iran. They'll curse the day they were born if they go through with it though, it would be like no war ever fought before.

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"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."

@dervish It will be a little too late when US allies realize they went to war with Iran because of mentally ill neocons in both America and Israel, and Saudi hatred of Shia Islam.

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@#4... But if Trump has indeed been neutralized, or co-opted by the neocons, then why are they still trying so hard to get rid of him?

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native

detroitmechworks's picture

@native [video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW8EH1OcbHQ]

The longer they drag on this crap the longer they can do NOTHING and get paid for it.

See the Reagan and Clinton Presidencies...

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I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

dervish's picture

@native privately, and let him stay in office if he agrees to be their puppet. The CIA runs its own foreign policy anyway, so why not?

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"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."

CB's picture

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Song of the lark's picture

"We should lift off planet and nuke em. Only way to be sure."

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Not Henry Kissinger's picture

citing a Pentagon press briefing thinks the al-Tanf bombing was most likely a mistake:

The recent unprovoked and illegal U.S. air attack on a Syrian Army contingent moving towards the al-Tanf border station with Iraq was probably a local decision taken by an over-eager U.S. commander on the ground. Dunford said:

Our commanders on the ground felt like they were threatened at that point. And their rules of engagement allow them to do that.

We've gone back and -- and -- and had a conversation at every level now to ensure that those kinds of incidents don't take place again. Last night, I -- I made a commitment that they wouldn't happen again if our forces weren't threatened. And everybody understands what the rules are. So, that's what's going to prevent it in the future.

As I understand this Dunford means: "Our people on the ground screwed up and were emphatically told not to do such again."

Food for thought.

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?