We just bombed Syrian government forces again

Submitted by gjohnsit on Thu, 02/08/2018 - 10:09am

Did we just kill Russian soldiers in Syria? We may have.

JUST IN: Russian contractors may have been involved in pro-regime attack on US military advisers and their partner forces in Syria that led to US counterattack with aircraft and artillery in east of Euphrates. No US wounded.

— Barbara Starr (@barbarastarrcnn) February 7, 2018

The US has carried out rare air strikes on Syrian pro-government forces after what it called an "unprovoked attack" on allied Kurdish and Arab fighters.
An estimated 100 pro-government fighters were killed in the overnight incident in Deir al-Zour province.
They had allegedly tried to take ground east of the River Euphrates, captured from the Islamic State group by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

State media said the US "aggression" left dozens of people dead or wounded.

The Middle Euphrates Valley serves as an informal demarcation line in eastern Syria, with the government controlling the western side and the SDF the east. The two sides have clashed there in the past year while seeking to drive IS militants from their last major stronghold in the country.

What right do we have to partition Syria?
BTW, the area involved was Syria's oil fields.

It isn't just Syria, Iran and Russia that we are fighting. It's Turkey too.

Two senior American generals came to the front line outside the Syrian city of Manbij on Wednesday flying outsized American flags on their vehicles, in case pro-Turkish forces just the other side of the no man’s land, 20 yards away, did not realize who they were.
“We’re very proud of our positions here, and we want to make sure everybody knows it,” said Maj. Gen. Jamie Jarrard, the Special Operations commander for the American-led coalition in Iraq and Syria.

If the message to Turkey was not clear already, the overall coalition commander accompanying General Jarrard, Lt. Gen. Paul Funk, elaborated. “You hit us, we will respond aggressively. We will defend ourselves.”

You know, I've learned that if you dare enough people to punch you in the face, eventually someone will take you up on it.

Syria, Iran, Turkey, Russia, you can't keep making enemies and not have it come back to bite you.
This isn't just bad strategy, it's insane. No one but Israel likes this.
A lot of people are going to get killed, and some of them will be Americans.

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Submitted by Amanda Matthews on Thu, 02/08/2018 - 10:22am

It was only a matter of time until the

showdown.

—

I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks

Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa

Submitted by gjohnsit on Thu, 02/08/2018 - 10:45am

Largely true

Turkey using jihadists

Turkey is recruiting and retraining Isis fighters to lead its invasion of the Kurdish enclave of Afrin in northern Syria, according to an ex-Isis source.
“Most of those who are fighting in Afrin against the YPG [People’s Protection Units] are Isis, though Turkey has trained them to change their assault tactics,” said Faraj, a former Isis fighter from north-east Syria who remains in close touch with the jihadi movement.

In a phone interview with The Independent, he added: “Turkey at the beginning of its operation tried to delude people by saying that it is fighting Isis, but actually they are training Isis members and sending them to Afrin.”

An estimated 6,000 Turkish troops and 10,000 Free Syrian Army (FSA) militia crossed into Syria on 20 January, pledging to drive the YPG out of Afrin.

Submitted by gjohnsit on Thu, 02/08/2018 - 4:39pm

WTF? Who are we bombing in Afghanistan?

@gjohnsit sounds like mission creep

U.S. forces in Afghanistan have recently conducted air strikes against Taliban and Chinese militants in northern Afghanistan, the NATO-led mission said.
James B. Hecker, commander of NATO’s Air Command in Afghanistan, told reporters via satellite on February 7 that U.S. air strikes destroyed Taliban training camps that supported the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM).

The strikes were conducted in Badakhshan, a remote and mountainous province in northeastern Afghanistan along the border with China and Tajikistan.

Submitted by mimi on Thu, 02/08/2018 - 4:53pm

strange ...

@gjohnsit

U.S. Forces Afghanistan said that the February 4 air strikes involved two B-52s.

ETIM is made up of members of China's Uyghur minority, a Muslim Turkic-speaking people who inhabit the Xinjiang region in China's far west.

I thought the US supports the Uyghur through itsUyghur American Association

I guess these times are over.

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https://www.euronews.com/live

Submitted by GreatLakeSailor on Thu, 02/08/2018 - 11:04am

"No one but Israel likes this."

Well, that's it then.

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Compensated Spokes Model for Big Poor.

Submitted by gjohnsit on Thu, 02/08/2018 - 12:19pm

Blood for Oil

dead Russians?

A Pentagon official said Russian mercenaries were among the dead after the strike, US media report. If confirmed, this would be the first time US forces have killed Russians in Syria.
However, the Russian Defence Ministry said it had no service personnel in the area. It said it was aware of 25 Syrian militia, who had been wounded in the strikes, but no casualties.

Russia accused the US of being motivated by economic concerns, as the strikes took place near an oil field.

Pentagon officials also said they believed Russia was trying to seize control of local oil operations.

Submitted by EdMass on Thu, 02/08/2018 - 12:42pm

" Well , here's another fine mess you've gotten us into " *

This has all the makings of an historic clusterfuck, the likes have not been ever seen.

Who we got? The Syrian "Government", the FSA, the Kurds (all 3 of them), Isis, Al Queda, Iraq, Iran, Hezbollah, Russia (my plane was shot down with a MANPAD?), Turkey, Qatar and other funders, Israel and of course US special forces sitting in the middle of it all waiting instructions as to who to shoot at.

Fucking Fabulous.

* That's Laurel and Hardy for you young folks.

—

Prof: Nancy! I’m going to Greece!
Nancy: And swim the English Channel?
Prof: No. No. To ancient Greece where burning Sapho stood beside the wine dark sea. Wa de do da! Nancy, I’ve invented a time machine!

Firesign Theater

Stop the War!

Submitted by snoopydawg on Thu, 02/08/2018 - 1:33pm

Don't worry, the White Hats are on the ground helping out

Seems that the White Hats are always in the thick of things when it comes to the US' actions inside Syria, doesn't it?

France has decided that it wants to play in Syria too. Why?

The US is considering new military strikes against Syrian government positions, and France is keen to support the operation, diplomatic sources have told MEE.

Faced with what looks like a stagnant peace process – recent talks in Vienna and Sochi achieved little – and with an increase in violence on the ground, some in the US administration are “keen to take a tougher line on Russia in Syria,” according to a diplomatic source close to the Syrian opposition.

Hmm, this charge seems to be a bit convenient, don'tcha think?

But the planned US-French action would likely, at least ostensibly, be in response to the ongoing use of chemical weapons in Syria, with new chlorine attacks reported over recent weeks.

There have been at least three reported uses of chlorine gas by the Syrian government in the besieged Eastern Ghouta area outside of Damascus since the start of 2018, according to medics and civilians on the ground.

sigh

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Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.

Submitted by WoodsDweller on Thu, 02/08/2018 - 1:34pm

Hmmm ...

Is this the new form of proxy warfare? "Russian mercenaries". If the mercenaries we hire kill the mercenaries you hire will the tree falling in the forest make a sound? How about if the rockets that we sold to a group, bought with "aid" money we gave them, "fell off" the back of a transport truck and were recovered by another group who traded them to another group that ended up shooting down one of your planes? Hey, stuff happens, and they all look alike to us.
Looks like we've abandoned nation state proxies altogether, and national borders are just guidelines.
All that really matters is that the carbon that has to stay in the ground forever gets produced and the rich get richer.

—

"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone

Submitted by jorogo on Thu, 02/08/2018 - 3:53pm

True that,

You know, I've learned that if you dare enough people to punch you in the face, eventually someone will take you up on it.

Especially if you've armed the local gangs, broken into their home, trashed the place and killed a few family members before smugly offering that dare.

—

"If I sit silently, I have sinned." - Mossadegh

Submitted by SnappleBC on Fri, 02/09/2018 - 1:35am

Reality doesn't align well with #Russiagate

I wonder how the folks over at DKOS spin this. How does the phrase "Putin Puppet" align with the role of squarely thwarting Moscow's interests -- to the point of killing Russians?

—

A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard

Submitted by Ellen North on Fri, 02/09/2018 - 8:05pm

@SnappleBC

@SnappleBC

Reality doesn't align well with #Russiagate

I wonder how the folks over at DKOS spin this. How does the phrase "Putin Puppet" align with the role of squarely thwarting Moscow's interests -- to the point of killing Russians?

They didn't vote for Her and deserve anything that happens as a result?

"And that's how Earth became a lifeless planet that we of the civilized planets can use as an object lesson and eternal warning for all of our young to value truth, life, the rights and feelings of others - except for corporations, since they have none themselves and must never be permitted to grow outside of their well-guarded cages."

—

Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Submitted by SnappleBC on Sat, 02/10/2018 - 1:21pm

I wasn't commenting on the untold deaths

@Ellen North

I was more referring to the fact that as a "Putin puppet" Trump is... well... not exactly toeing the line with Russia, is he? If I were Putin I'd feel pretty ripped off given the massive investment -- thousands of dollars -- that he made into getting Trump elected.

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Submitted by Ellen North on Sat, 02/10/2018 - 3:52pm

Thanks, sorry, and lol to the last statement.

@SnappleBC

Still trying to figure out how the Russians hacked the Electoral College and influenced Homeland Security to make so many traced-back-to-them hacking attempts on the electoral and other systems before, during and even after the 2016 election... not to mention in their changing the story given so often as to make themselves sound highly suspicious.

Clever devils, these Russkies!

—

Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Submitted by SnappleBC on Sun, 02/11/2018 - 2:51am

When you stop to think about it, it's brilliant!

@Ellen North @Ellen North

Who ever would've thought Putin would be so insightful in the ways of 11 dimensional chess? The man concocted a plot so obviously ludicrous and doomed to failure that no sane person would ever buy into it. It's the perfect cover!

Too bad for Putin that he didn't count on the Democratic loyalists. Loyalty will save America where sanity failed us. Go Team Blue!

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