While the US plans to create a massive new “moderate rebel force” to fight against both ISIS and the Syrian government have been in place for awhile, the level to which they’ll go to prop up those rebels seems to be growing dramatically.
The latest half-baked scheme, reported by the Wall Street Journal, is to give this yet-to-be-created rebel faction the ability to directly call in US airstrikes against targets of their choosing.
The US intends to provide every cell of 4-6 rebel fighters with a pickup truck that will include a mounted machine gun and a GPS system within, through which they can radio in targets to be attacked by US warplanes.
The US had been backing Syrian rebel factions they’d dubbed “moderate” in the past, but most of those groups have either lost all their territory or ended up joining the various Islamist factions. That is why the administration believes it has to create a whole new rebel force.
The lack of US intelligence on the ground makes this seem like a good idea to them, at least on the surface, as they need somebody to do spotting for airstrikes in Syria, so why not them?
The reason, of course, is because the US has a really poor track record vetting these groups, and they’re liable to use the ability to call in US airstrikes on a whim to order attacks on any target convenient to them, whether it’s a legitimate military target or not.
The US drone program in Pakistan is a key example of this not working, as often informants were calling in drone strikes against tribal rivals with no connection to al-Qaeda, simply because the US had no way of checking who they were killing.
What if the rebels start calling air strikes against Assad forces? Will the U.S. then have the air war in Syria they wanted last year? Will these strikes then escalate into a full blown air war with Assad and with Israel joining in?
Just beautiful. So when IS gets control of these trucks, who are they going to have the US target? US troops?
Since the "rebels" are primarily rebelling against the government of Syria, presumably they will be calling in US airstrikes on the Syrian government — an act of aggressive war which is forbidden by the UN Charter and the Nuremburg Principles. I trust that President Obama and Congressional leaders are prepared to be tried, convicted and hung as were their Nazi counterparts 70 years ago.
Dubya and Cheney and company and their warmonger partners in Congress are still running around loose…so…yeah, keep thinking that justice will prevail…someday.
Personally, I've resolved myself to accepting that only the history books written long after the criminals are dust will pass lasting judgement, assuming there is anyone left to write them.
NOTHING CAN GO WRONG! KEEP THE FAITH WE ARE ON TRACK FOR PRESIDENT BUMBLORAMA'S TREK TO LIBERALPONYLAND!
Reminds me of the scene in "Generation Kill" where US rangers hand out chemlights to some Iraqi mobster guy to mark "government targets" for airstrikes and some doubts about what these "targets" actually are surface.
Intervening in a Civil War is aggression.
But then the US has been subject trying to conquer Syria since 1948.
Im so amazed that Obama thinks that he's fooling the American People. When no one believes a word he says. Obama is getting very bad information and advice.
The federal government is completely insane
man do we have one of the worst governments in history
Empire building — to perfection
Most excellent, as allowing the dumb, ignorant and greedy to bomb away as their heart desires, this maximize terror among the population and creates the optimum environment for Empire expansion.
For in our war-driven worldwide economy, war is a training ground for the future leaders of government and the greater is the brutal imperialism that they control in time of war, the greater will be their brutal imperialism and love of Empire building during times of peace.
LOL what could go wrong?
Meddling neocon c_nts can't ever leave people alone, them and their whining Israeli nudges. A good slapdown is the only thing that stops these pricks.
Go back to watching your television shows, America. The government has everything under control!
Didn't work very well in Vietnam either, where these directed strikes were used to 'settle' local rivalries and for extortion purposes.
Or, perhaps, the "GPS for every group" is a way of keeping track of the US's button-men so they too can be taken out if they lose the script?
The Assad Government should inform the US Government. That this would be a act of war against the government of Syria. And tell them they have 48 hours to remove all planes from Syrian Airspace. Otherwise they will be considered hostile and counter measures will be taken. Putin and the Russian
government also need threaten military action.
re this insanity, plus your earlier piece – UN Envoy: Syria Offers to Halt Aleppo Strikes for Six Weeks – which is nowhere confirmed on sana, the syrian news agency website.
in fact, sana reports on all the recent & ongoing successes of govt forces against the rebels.
18 Feb Brandon Turbeville – NATO/UN Desperately Seek Ceasefire To Save ISIS After Syrian Army Encircles Aleppo http://www.activistpost.com/2015/02/natoun-desper…
i think Turbeville is closer to the truth than anything in our propaganda MSM.