Wednesday’s incident on the roads on northeast Syria, in which Russian and US MRAPs reportedly collided, injuring four US troops, continues to be a major issue. The US and Russia are both trading blame for the incident, and for the generally tense situation in Syria.
The White House presented the incident as an escalation of tensions, and presented it as a “clash” with Russia. Their version involved Russia “boxing in” the US vehicles, and that Russian helicopters were flying dangerously low above the US MRAPs.
Video of the incident didn’t tell anything nearly so clear-cut, with it not at all obvious what the vehicles were trying to do, and showing only a very minor collision, which the US says led to four soldiers having concussion-like symptoms.
Either way, it led to a bipartisan joint statement condemning “Russian military aggression,” and the Pentagon emphasized its right to use force self defense. In this case, using force would’ve led to a direct conflict with the Russian military, not at all a desirable outcome.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, for this part, says that they’d told the US that the MRAP patrol would be there ahead of time, and that it was only when US vehicles tried to block the patrol that they took “necessary measures.”
Early US media reports also described the US as blocking the patrol area, and if Russia told them about it ahead of time, this gives the appearance that the US positioned specifically to have a confrontation with Russia.
Oh, the poor glass-skulled Amerikastani “warriors”, the slightest tap is enough to give them concussion. Just like more than a hundred of them got “concussion” from old Iranian missiles they were pre warned were coming, where and when, and still couldn’t stop. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you….the finest fighting force the world, sorry, galaxy, sorry, universe, has ever seen!
The video would slightly lean to the Russian version. The US vehicles don’t seem in the position to seriously hinder but clearly they’re moving into the path and they could have just moved out of the way. But hard to say without detailed landscape analysis. The final part looks more confrontational from the US, riding “along” instead of away. Maybe it’s just a bit of “fun” by both camps, messing about which has to be explained when video was put on line?
The video shows it is flat open terrain. No more detailed analysis is required. The US forces were trying to impede the Russians in flat open terrain by playing bumper cars. Very foolish. I think the Russians were amused. You can hear laughter at one point in the video.
Even a smallest ditch or loose sand area would not be wise to drive such heavy armored vehicle into. Perhaps you should drive a bit off-road into the desert to understand the potential issues? No way this information is clear from this angle.
amerikans should learn how to operate vehicles in their burning plywood villages where they r legally allowed to destroy themselves
Go to the basics.
The Russians are invited guests of the Syrian Government – The US is an unwanted invader trying to assert itself in the country. What right has the US to be in Syria ? Take their “ice cream” soldiers and leave – they will not be missed.
Pentagon emphasized its right to use force in self defense, in a country where the US military is not invited, illegal occupies land and resources, steals, trains and supplies terrorist groups, is an aggressor and destroys, has caused tens of thousand of Syrian deaths and suffering.
The head of the Russian Center for Reconciliation in Syria, Alexei Bosonko, announced on Thursday, that the US.. military pursued a Russian military police patrol vehicle in Syria and tried to block the road.
“While the patrol was on a tour, after entering the control area of the International Counter-Terrorism Coalition, two American armored vehicles followed the patrol. In addition, it was known that there were two other U.S. armored vehicles blocking the road ahead,” Bosonko said in a briefing.
Bosonko added that the route of the Russian Military Police patrol in Syria and its crew was agreed with the American side, “according to the provisions of the protocols, the path of the patrol, the formation of the Russian patrol crew in Syria and escorting the patrol with helicopters was agreed upon with the United States.”
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced earlier that the U.S. attempt to prevent the passage of a Russian patrol in Syria violated existing bilateral agreements in this regard.
On Wednesday, the U.S. announced that four of their soldiers were injured after a car accident in northeastern Syria, which they blamed on the Russian military vehicles pursuing their forces near the Iraqi border.
it is naive for any country to believe that the US abides by agreements and treaties…….never has & never will.
Just ask any native American Indian.
Exactly, a very, very long list of broken agreements and treaties..
Are they all applying for Purple Hearts?
yes and they will be labeled heroes, defending American values, freedom and democracy.
“it is naive for any country to believe that the US abides by agreements and treaties…….never has & never will.”
I ran across this quote, allegedly attributed to Putin, which pretty much sums it up for me:
“Negotiating with Team Trump is like playing chess with a pigeon: the demented bird walks all over the chessboard, sh*ts indiscriminately, knocks over pieces, declares victory, then runs away.”
( or more specifically team pompass)
The USA was illegally there, the Russians were invited in. Hardly need discussion.