Tanf: The U.S. military base dedicated to regime change in Syria
The Tanf military base is a lonely, desert oasis roughly 10 miles inside Syria near the Jordan border, and about 100 miles south of Palmyra.
Officially Tanf is where we train anti-ISIS "moderate" rebels, but since two weeks ago, the entire region is surrounded by pro-government forces. Any rebel fighter at Tanf would have to travel through government-controlled areas to fight ISIS.
The base is in no danger from ISIS at all. So why did this recently happen?
The US military has moved its High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) from Jordan into southern Syria for the first time, positioning it near the US-Coalition training base at At Tanf, three US defense officials confirmed to CNN Tuesday.
HIMARS, a truck-mounted system which can fire missiles as far as 300 kilometers, represents a major boost to US combat power near At Tanf, a location that has come under the spotlight following a series of recent coalition strikes against pro-regime forces operating in the area.
..."We have increased our combat power in that area," US Col. Ryan Dillon told reporters at the Pentagon earlier this month.
"We have increased our presence and our footprint and prepared for any threat that is presented by the pro-regime forces," Dillon added.
Not only are we bringing advanced weaponry into Syria for the purpose of fighting pro-government forces, but we are "expanding our footprint".
Abu al-Atheer, military spokesman for the U.S.-backed Maghawir al-Thawra rebel group, told Reuters U.S. forces had spread from their initial location at Tanf to set up a second base at Zakf, around 60-70 km (40-50 miles) to the northeast.
...Abu al-Atheer said the U.S. special forces were now patrolling distances of up to 100 km from Tanf. He said more U.S. special forces were arriving at both the original base at Tanf and the new base at Zakf, and more weapons had been delivered to rebels.
"The (new) base was being studied for months but now it's an official base. It has been built and expanded and God willing will be in the next few days like the Tanf base," he told Reuters.
This looks like a creeping invasion to me.
US troops were never invited into Syria by the government in the first place and aren’t authorized to hold that base. We unilaterally declared a 34-mile radius surrounding the base a “deconfliction zone,” using this as the pretext for launching three separate airstrikes against militias aligned with the Damascus government.
Our official purpose there is to train anti-ISIS fighters, but the main group, Maghawir al-Thawra, is both anti-ISIS AND anti-regime. So you can see why the Assad government and his allies aren't very keen on this development.
What is remarkable is the near total lack of discussion and justification for these developments, as opposed to the much-ballyhooed U.S. air strike on the al-Shayrat airfield back in April.
Yet, even as Washington potentially stumbles into war, there has been little public explanation from the highest levels of government, scant media coverage, and virtually no congressional oversight. This is no way to handle what could potentially mutate into a vastly expanded American military intervention in the Middle East.
...These are all, of course, serious policy questions that demand serious deliberation. But it’s not clear that’s happening. Instead, the Trump administration appears to be blindly stumbling into this conflict with no public discussion of the consequences. All three military engagements have resulted from decisions made by U.S. commanders in-theater to protect the 150 U.S. troops when the Assad-regime and Iran-backed forces got too close. U.S. forces on the ground need to have the authority necessary to defend themselves. But at this point the lack of a clear policy is a major problem.
Trump is clearly trying to pick a fight with Iran, based on his rhetoric and the fact that all three military strikes were against Iranian-backed forces.
It's amazing how this situation can continue to spiral out of control towards an alarming new war, one much worse than the Iraq invasion, and everyone pretends it doesn't exist.
Comments
OT: Qatar urges U.S. to move huge military base
I honestly don't understand this situation
Maybe they have other tenants in mind?
and the basic question that now needs to asked regarding
any development irt the military is is trump calling the any
of the plays, or is he just a show piece coach?
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
The Turkish base is being built elsewhere
and for now the Turks are using the Qatari base near al Wakra. There are no other tenants.
"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."
Based on the text in the block
it looks like the UAE is doing the urging, not Qatar.
Al Udeid is going nowhere, and such talk is bluster. One thing that disturbs me greatly though, is that the Qatari Emir is scheduled to leave the country and meet with Macron in Paris next week. Leaving the country in a time of crisis is often a precursor to a coup.
"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."
There is no legitimate reason
for that Tanf garrison to even be there. What's seldom mentioned is that its very presence is totally illegal, that the primary objective of the fighters being trained there is to overthrow the Syrian government, not to fight ISIS as claimed, and that any clash with Russian troops inside the Syrian border could prove disastrous.
USG seems unwilling to recognize that Syria's borders rightfully belong to Syria, not to America, not to Britain, not to Jordan, and not to Saudi Arabia.
native
You are right.
John Kerry is on record saying that Saudi Arabia told him that they would pay for it if our military overthrew Assad. I want to know how many of the troops know that this is why they are risking their lives for. One military member said he didn't want to train the rebels because he would feel responsible if they took their weapons and attacked America.
“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt
@snoopydawg Given the frequency of
Given the frequency of "insider" attacks, his concern seems justified.
You keep using that word...
It's an illegal base, illegally training terrorists
for illegal activities in an illegal war, and the whole thing is being run, illegally, by the CIA and the Pentagon, as Congress and the President have abdicated their responsibilities there.
"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."
White phosphorus being used in Syria
h/t K4S
It's okay for this country to use it because it's EXCEPTIONAL by damn!
“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt
They made such a fuss when they said that
Assad used chemical weapons on his own people. Why is it ok for us to chemical weapons on them then?
"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."
That's the question, isn't it?
If it is bad when one person does something, it is just as bad when another person does it.
White phosphorus was used during the Iraq war as was depleted uranium, yet no one talked about that.
There have been babies born in Fallujah who have horrible birth defects and others have gotten very sick from it.
Congress recently voted for more sanctions on Russia for the exact same things that this country has done, so when is another country going to sanction it or do a regime change?
As I wrote, blatant hypocrisy.
“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt
I'm sure that God is weighing the good and bad options
right now to see if he thinks that this is a good idea for the base to be completed.
Why people set on killing other people ask for God's blessings is beyond me.
I think He was very clear on how He felt about killing each other.
Gee, what did He say? Oh yeah, "don't F'cking do it"!
Now that Trump has turned military decisions over to the generals, they are going to do whatever the f'ck they want.
Those poor civilians caught in the middle of this.
Thanks Barry. Go give another speech while Syrians are dying because of you.
About that air strike you mentioned, that was okay because it made Trump look more presidential, so it was okay. Looks after all are all that matters.
“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt
Declaring war is so 18th Century
And we aren't fighting a war we're "training" rebels" but only the nice ones. Of course, one must do what one must do to protect the trainers, and everyone is entitled to self-defense, the regime in Syria kills babies with Sarin gas and - LOOK OVER THERE !!!! RUSSIANS!!!
"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott
Current map.
H/t MoA
al-Tanf in the lower center (blue) zone (see flags)
Lotsa good stuff on Syria at the link, but here's b's take on al-Tanf:
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?
Yeah I don't get the "showing flag" aspect
and for that matter, I don't really get what they're doing in Tanf. The bases in Jordan did fine for training terrorists, drone strikes, etc, I see no advantage in actually occupying Tanf or moving hardware there... unless they are trying to goad someone into striking them, or want to prevent government troops from occupying that region.
"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."