The American war on ISIS has expanded into Syria tonight, with Pentagon officials issuing a brief statement claiming credit for a round of about 20 targets hit in northeastern Syria this evening.
The attacks involved both the use of US bombers, including F-22 and B1s, fighter warplanes including F-16s, F-15s, and F/A-18s. They’ve also fired Tomahawk cruise missiles from the USS Arleigh Burke in the Red Sea. Details of what was hit are not clear so far, though some reports say that an ISIS headquarters was among the targets.
The Pentagon insisted it wouldn’t provide addition details about the “ongoing operations,” but plenty of information continued to emerge in the hours that followed the strike.
Indications are that the Tomahawk cruise missiles struck first, and that the US strikes centered around attacks on buildings, and people on the scene reported the sky was “full of drones” over the ISIS capital of Raqqa.
The strikes were reportedly joined by Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates. Each has expressed support for regime change against the Syrian government in the past.
President Obama announced his intention to expand the war into Syria almost two weeks ago, though officials at the time said the order hadn’t actually been issued yet.
Attacks in Syria are expected to be more complicated than the strikes in Iraq, with even less intelligence about where ISIS forces are, and no official coordination with the Syrian government. The drones reported so far appear to be surveillance drones, and there has been no confirmation of drone strikes involved in the attacks.
The Syrian government had initially expressed opposition to unilateral US strikes on their territory, even if it is territory seized by ISIS. So far there has been no statement issued by Syria on the attacks.
the neocons win again.
what a bleak future we are building.
Its not just the neocons who are excited.
I watched bits of Rachael Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell this evening and you could almost see the spittle buildup on the camera lenses as they and their guests salivated over the news.
being able to cheer your team's war guilt free, is not winning.
having your stated goal that you have worked diligently for two decades to achieve finally come to fruition, is winning.
Making big bucks out of building a terrified audience by gushing news about terrorists may not be winning but it beats flipping burgers. Especially satisfying when taxpayers pay for all the terrifying fodder and you yourself are not in harm's way.
United States President Obama violates Constitution, bombs Syria violating national sovereignty without Congress approval. Russian naval facility in Tartus, Syria. Chinese destroyers in Iran's Gulf port of Bandar Abbas. War on Syria & proxy war with Iran, Russia and China commences.
Destabilizing Syria is the neocon game plan, so a certain nation can have an excuse to take it over.
Multiply that per month is 600 targets, there are around 10-15 thousands if these barbarians are located in Syria, assuming 30 of these barbarians are killed with every target bombed the number of killed ISIS is around 18000 per months, if that's the case then ISIS should start demanding a religious sanctuary in Turkey.
These are illegal attacks which violate the sovereignty of Syria and risk the intervention of Russia!
Pure insanity. The USG has to know that there will be repercussions, whether from ISIL on soft targets in the immediate area or from Syria, who has a much greater reach – not to mention the other global players who are being pushed to intervene. If those responsible for setting this all up wanted to rip the lid off Pandora's Box, well, they've accomplished what they set out to do. There will be no putting the lid back on and once the dust settles there will be no winners. They are playing with the future of the human race and for that there is no justification.
My hope is that after it is over that the innocent survivors of this madness round up those responsible and apply some justice. I abhor violence but in this case, hanging would be far too soft-handed.
Near Aleppo, the main center they bombed ! There is the Syrian Army ! They just want to test the Syrian air defense.
Soon they will bomb the presidential palace of Assad due to a hot CIA information that ISIS is there ….
How do we know if we're not accidentally bombing the "vetted moderates". They'll have to add another category to the kill list. "Today in Syria our smart bombs killed 50 terrorists, 150 civilians and 5 vetted moderates".
Civil war — Must be fought only by countrymen
Our wars of aggression for plunder, they cause vengeance, the result of which is a blowback called terrorism. So, is not this war going to impact terrorism for the worst?
For in this civil war, most all of the Sunni tribes in Iraq support the Islamic state, so surely it is a war that the Islamic State cannot loose unless a massive amount of foreign troops come pouring into Iraq.
And if the foreign troop should defeat the Sunni tribes, then the foreign troops must stay in Iraq forever or the Sunni rebellion would start all over again.