US Central Command on Tuesday said that US forces launched raids in eastern Syria and captured six ISIS “operatives,” marking the second time this month that CENTCOM conducted operations against ISIS.
“Over the past 48 hours, US Central Command forces conducted three helicopter raids in eastern Syria resulting in the detention of six ISIS operatives, including al-Zubaydi, an Islamic State Syria Province Senior Official involved in the planning and facilitation of ISIS attacks in Syria,” CENTCOM said in a press release.
According to The New York Times, the raids were conducted by US special operations forces alongside members of the Kurdish-led SDF. “These partnered operations reaffirm CENTCOM’s steadfast commitment to the region and the enduring defeat of ISIS,” said Gen. Michael Kurilla, the head of CENTCOM.
CENTCOM said earlier this month that US forces conducted a helicopter raid in eastern Syria on December 11 in which two ISIS “officials” were killed in a three-hour gun battle. In all the operations this month, CENTCOM insisted that no civilians were harmed, but the Pentagon is known for undercounting civilian casualties, and few details have been shared about the raids.
ISIS controls no significant territory in Syria, and US operations against the group are usually against a small number of fighters. The US maintains that its occupation of eastern Syria is necessary to fight ISIS, but the presence is more about the economic campaign against Damascus, which involves crippling economic sanctions that are having a devastating impact on Syrian civilians.
Tensions have been high in northeast Syria between Turkey and the US-backed SDF since Ankara launched a series of airstrikes against the group in November over their alleged role in a bombing in Istanbul. Unhappy with the US effort to stop a Turkish incursion, the SDF is looking to make a deal with Damascus, but such an arrangement is unlikely as long as the US remains in Syria.
Gotta pretend that we serve a legitimate purpose in Syria while we steal Syrian oil, make plans to further destabilize the legitimate government of Syria (the one with a seat in the UN), and try to upset any plans Russia might be making to stabilize the only legitimate government of Syria, the government that never invited the US to invade its country.
OB:
Can you clarify what constitutes stealing?… We’re only taking something that belongs to someone else and even willing to go to war for it….
stealing = when somebody other than uncle sam takes things that do not belong to them
Assad has to go, ISIS has to be defeated, the Kurds have to secure their borders, and the SDF has to control Syria. Out of control government spending, a looming recession, the ballooning national debt, the nuclear arms race, etc., will just have to wait. We have to solve Syria’s problems first.
Mr DeCamp: why don’t you say US occupation of Syria is illegal and they are stealing oil and food of Syrian people…?!
ISIS in Africa is receiving black market weapons that Wash. sent to Ukraine. Wash. has to stir up more atrocities to keep the MIC satisfied. https://duckduckgo.com/?t=lm&q=ukraine+weapons+in+africa&ia=news
After reading the Twitter Psyops article, do you wonder about the three stooges harassing us here?
https://theintercept.com/2022/12/20/twitter-dod-us-military-accounts/