The Pentagon announced on Thursday night that it launched airstrikes in Syria after a drone attack killed a US contractor and wounded five US troops near Hasakah in northeast Syria.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that at the direction of President Biden, he authorized “US Central Command forces to conduct precision airstrikes tonight in eastern Syria against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).”
The groups the US targeted were likely Shia militias that operate in Syria. The Pentagon claimed that US intelligence determined the drone was of “Iranian origin,” but at this point, there’s no indication that Tehran was involved in the attack on the US base.
The Pentagon said that “two of the wounded service members were treated on site, while three additional service members and the US contractor were medically evacuated to Coalition medical facilities in Iraq.”
The US has about 900 troops stationed in eastern Syria, and US bases in the country frequently come under attack. President Biden has previously launched airstrikes against Shia militias in the country.
The last major escalation took place in August 2022 when Biden ordered a series of airstrikes, which the US started in response to a drone attack that caused no casualties. The US occupation of eastern Syria always risks sparking a wider war in the region.
Iran? US and Israel just cannot get over the fact that divide and conquer, exploiting Islam religious
divisions – is over. Trully over.
There are many other candidates for such attack. Many. Number one such candidate are Syrians in Hassskah that are sick and tired of US giving Kurd SDF militants the right to rule over them.
OOOOO, ooooo. what a mess & it’s hard to see things there are going to get any better. As things there get hotter, what will happen with Syria…???? Now that Russian is talking about sinking England who haplessly crossed some nuclear red line, I wonder if this puppy goes mad dog, if the minor players will go for the chickens while the big dogs are busy. It seems to me we are getting close to some very dangerous confrontations in Europe. I wonder how many NATO members will suffer a grievous loss by steering into Russian cross hairs, London is on top of that list for the next round. Maybe King Charles can calm Putin down before we find ourselves at Armageddon…!!!!!!!!!!!
Maybe Putin will send King Charles a nice surprise on his inauguration day!
But the Russians are rational people, the Putin people are very rational Statesmen and Diplomats.
Although it could be, Putin getting a gift first. For such a crowd of “antiwar, “ you are good at talking in a peaceful manner. .
Lol. What are you talking about? Your Russia cannot even take Bakhmut.
It kind of disproves the lie that Putin was planning on conquering Ukraine and Eastern Europe with the small peace time army he had doesn’t it?
Not that I employ ‘tit-for-tat’ tactics but you rather nailed DJ there MM.
🙂
No, it proves Putin failed on his objectives to take Ukraine because he overestimated his own army and greatly underestimated the will to fight for independence and freedom of the Ukrainians.
Putin only underestimated the evil the collective West led by the U.S.
The U.S. is illegally in Syria! And our leaders have the nerve to condemn Russia for going into Ukraine to protect the people who have been getting shelled and killed there for nine years! What rank hypocrisy! I can’t believe how many Americans have scales over their eyes and plugs in their ears.
The scales and plugs are called CNN, NPR and the NY times. Most folks are hard pressed to find a clue about what’s happening because the more they look for answers the more lies they get. That’s why TikTok is so critical, Americans must not get their lies from the wrong places.
I do not watch, read or listen to them.
and some more.
So are you inferring that people should get their lies from the right places? 😉
You are cute.
😉
Considering that the Gov’ment public school education indoctrination camps are more concerned about producing social justice warriors than teaching people how to read and think critically, most graduate at a 6th grade reading level, they’re going to get most of their information from the M.S.M. if they get any information at all.
Man, you can say that again. I have a granddaughter who is 12 and in the 6th grade. She is two grades behind in Reading and Math, but she knows all about sex and all the different perversions of it. The halls of her school are peppered with BLM and GLBTQ flags and banners. It’s obvious what the school’s priorities are.
Many HS students can’t read and comprehend above the 4th grade level.
If we had real conscientious people running for office this would be a
real campaign issue. It would have to include the nations family related policies like food, shelter, health care and education. Since LBJ,s Great Society nothing happened. Just 15 years later starting with Reagan neoliberal economics took over and corporate profits became the only value they know.
Off topic,
but we used to have artists, writers, and intellectual dialogue, there is nothing left of real dialogue in MSM, in print or TV there is nothing left to speak of.
Well said, well said Renate. I would further suggest it has to do with the decline of our sense of values.
Exactly, the deterioration of our values, it is all about the selfish I and ME, the individual gain.
We, Americans, are indoctrinated from our first moments in grammar school.
Yea, things have changed since I went to public schools in Baltimore in the 60’s, although I do remember that we were required to do the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’ every morning before school started.
You can add the WSJ and MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC and WAPO to that list.
TikTok? You are seriously suggesting that it is ‘critical’ for the masses to get their news from Chinese-origin, video sharing, social media apps? Or ANY, ‘hey-look-at-me’, Zoomer-focused, video sharing, social media apps – for that matter?
The MSM (Main Stream Media) is garbage – yes.
But most social media is only slightly less so as a place for news. It’s primarily for sharing videos from people trying to get attention/socailize/make ad revenue. It’s usually not for news reporting. Unless some guy named Troy telling you what he thinks of Donald Trump is your idea of ‘news reporting’.
There are TONS of sites/channels (like this one) where you can get news that is not filtered through the MSM BS filter.
That are FAR better sources of news than video-sharing, social media apps like TikTok or Instagram.
Not this American. The more we do as a “rules based” nation, the more ashamed I become of my country.
I remember reading a book by Andrew Bacevich, titled “Washington Rules.” I, too, am ashamed of what America has become–definitely not a force for good in the world.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/00e416a9906e9fa5a63c18a96546f416c1b02ba69c2b70de536e2d578c9ee4d0.jpg
And NATO nations included with some exceptions, like Orban of Hungary, the big NATO members are in it up to their neck.
That includes the traitor of Germany Chancellor Scholz and the Parliament. They deserve to be hanged.
But exceedingly profitable for members of the MICIMATT complex.
Let’s only hold US accountable for its foreign policies and let Russia do whatever the F it wants.
That’s right Don! You finally got the message!
As citizens of the US, that’s the only foreign policy we should worry our little warmongering heads over.
Oh really, so again, let’s let Russia do whatever it wants cause we should only focus on US. So you are not antiwar, you are anti US War. I see.
For someone now claiming that it only cares about US wars, you seem to focus a lot on backing Russia.
Nonsense DJ, nonsense. Our collective focus is on ways to find peace and stave off any possibilities of WAR. Because, one day, we may not be able to contain the contagion…
Lighten up DJ. We enjoy your sense of camaraderie.
These Iranians are getting smarter these days about who is pulling the military strings.
These Iranians are getting smarter these days about who is pulling the military strings.
How about we get the hell out of Syria!
Israel won’t let them.
No-the Christian OilLords wont let them
No-the Neocon Overlords won’t let them.
oil has nothing to do with christ.
in fact a great number of Syrians were christian – now less so.
uncle sam hasn’t finished siphoning his oil from Syria yet.
give it some more time and then Syria will be useless.
Illegal occupiers have no right to self defence. What a f..ked up world the western mainly white minority world is.
US contractor. Mercenary.
Also US soldiers
Same thing.
And unknown number of Muslims, … but that doesn’t count.
That is a reasonable thought. We usually include in the dead innocent victims.
What kind of a sick hate mongering troll are you
Get it straight: only Wagner troops are “mercenaries”. Most other adversaries are “terrorists”. Our guys are the good guys, and they are “freedom fighters” and “liberators”.
Sarcasm alert?
Normally it would be sarcasm, but now it is reality. MSM is not aware of any sarcasm, for them it is reality.
“We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out.” Karl Rove
As Doctor Phil is wont to say, “ How’s that working out for you?”
You can’t beat that.
“(we are glorious while those we fight are devils)”
It’s all about the oil.
“Although Syria produces relatively modest quantities of oil and gas, its location is strategic in terms of regional security and prospective energy transit routes” (retrieved from wikicrapedia with the line’s source https://www.eia.gov/international/overview/world?fips=SY)
The drone would not have been launched nor would the mandatory (you play by the region’s rules if you join the game) retaliation have occurred.
But…..
Could there be a connection to this:
Mar. 21, 2023“Two helicopters have crashed in Iraq’s northern Duhok Governorate under mysterious circumstances, killing nine members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The fatalities notably include a close relative of the SDF’s top commander—giving rise to speculations about the existence of a secret air corridor between Iraq and Syria.” https://amwaj.media/media-monitor/mysterious-chopper-crashes-in-iraq-highlight-intra-kurdish-fractures
A little more:
“Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Mar. 17 that “PKK/YPG supporters have once again been caught red-handed by giving helicopters to terrorists.”
In a Mar. 18 speech before foreign diplomats ahead of the Nowruz holiday, Prime Minister Barzani said the helicopters “initially were purchased by a group in the PUK,” but then questioned how they had ended up being operated by the SDF. He also alleged that the KDP had not been informed about the flights in advance.
Meanwhile, London-based Middle East Eye has cited unnamed Turkish sources as saying that a total of four choppers “were rented through a local company by the US government and then were given to the PUK.”
The Turkish sources also alleged that Ankara “was able to track” the movements of both choppers, and that “such flights could only happen with the knowledge of the US government since US forces control the Syrian and Iraqi territory.”
The context/analysis: Observers believe the crashes could force an end to collaboration between Syrian Kurds and the PUK in the fight against the Islamic State group (IS). The rationale is that in the complex and internecine world of transnational Kurdish politics, the incidents represent an opportunity to settle scores.”
It’s all about American vassalage to Israel and the Oded Yinon plan.
vassalage: noun. vas·sal·age ˈva-sə-lij. : a position of subordination or submission (as to a political power) : the state of being a vassal. [ie, the state of being someone’s bitch.]
If the Middle East had no oil or if we pumped our own, we would not be there.
The Brits and France had their colonies there because of trade routes and the oil fields and now we are there to protect them and our economic bloc, from interlopers like Russia and China who want to control the routes and resources as well.
Israeli presence would not be nearly as much concern to us without the resources. After all the West’s presence started decades before Israel was forced on the region in the form it is today.
“if we pumped our own”
There is no “if” about it.
Just because we are the number 1 producer does not mean we control the market not does it negate the historical reasons why we are there and continue to be.
I was replying to what you actually wrote, not to anything and everything you might have meant but didn’t say.
“We” do “pump our own.”
“Our” ability to “control the market” is constrained by various factors, not just “our” production. One of those factors is the petrodollar, which is in the process of going away.
But yes, “we” are “there” (the middle east in general, not Syria in particular) in large part because of oil.
Really? Are you nitpicking again? I really don’t want to play word games either. We, you, I, me, whatever….
Yes, we are in Syria because of oil (peruse some French and British colonial history) and historical trade routes that go back centuries.
The history of that area did not start with the US, we are just the continution of it.
You not saying what you mean does not create an obligation on my part to read your mind. I was replying, not giving my psychic powers a workout.
Then do not reply to my musings if you do not like my writing style or word usage.
Who said anything about “not liking” your writing style or word usage?
This is a reasonably open comment section, and all of us get to reply to whomever we damn well please.
Perhaps if you would try to have a conversation instead of providing a link about domestic oil production as if that limited amount negates why we are in the Middle east. Did you believe that I do not know of or consider that in my reasons why I believe we are there?
Do you actually need me to fully spell it out?
Now you are swearing…again….lol.
Do you want to discuss why we are in the Middle East and that country in particular and tell me why we are not there for economic reasons such as the region’s oil? Which you seem to agree with..
However you seem to be more into arguing and word games…..
“Did you believe that I do not know of or consider that”
I made the mistake of believing that you meant what you actually wrote instead of something else. I apologize. In the future I won’t make the mistake of assuming that what you write reflects what you actually mean.
I honestly already take that in mind whenever I try to read your meandering musings. It’s darn hard to discern your points at times but honestly who cares?
You jumped on a point that most could understand but obviously you need more.
“We do not pump enough to control the market”; obviously you need that to be included in everything for you to understand ….
Should I footnote it perhaps, in everything?
How about a fancy chart? I could throw a few together.
I guess anyone killed by a US drone makes the US fair game for airstrikes. Even if killed while they are illegally occupying a portion of a sovereign country. Same rules for everyone, right?
The MIC doesn’t mind inflicting pain but they are not so keen on receiving it. !
USA: no comprendo.
What the hell are we doing in Syria ?
It’s just what “we” do. There’s not enough to worry about within the 50 states, so the federal government must go abroad to keep busy. There are big budgets that need spending and further justification, after all.
The same stuff Russia is doing in Ukraine.
You forgot the annexation part you know, all those referendums showing more than 80% of Syrians overwhelming voting in favor of becoming part of the US.
Not at all – NATO encroachment to Russia’s borders pose an existential threat to Russia. Syria is not a threat to the US/.
Biden:
National sovereignty is so important we need to fight a potentially apocalyptic world war to…
**Excuse me, I need to pause to bomb Syria. Our illegal occupation of their oil fields isn’t going well.
…Where was I?
Whatever happened to the Geneva Convention?
All American wars are wars of aggression, war crimes. Biden and his neocon crew are war criminals.
The Ukrainian neo-Nazis are documented war criminals that does include the corrupt Zelensky and his cabal and the Biden people provide cover for them, not a mention of their war crimes.
I’m no fan of Biden, but I’m annoyed when those who are truly culpable are able to hide behind the fiction that Biden is somehow capable of any actual authority or decision-making.
He takes his nap, wakes up and takes his Adderall, and then is told what to do by his Neocon — ie Israel-firsters — handlers.
What you say is true, no doubts about it, but he is old enough and his family knows enough and they supported him and he wanted the job, and his signature stands for his responsibility. He gets paid for the job, if he does not like it he can resign. The party establishment and the corporate elite put him there, they need to be fired, but they have the money and the power that comes with it. Big money owns the nation.
Correct. Like it or not he’s responsible for the decisions that come out of the WH. I’d not hesitate to put in in the dock at the Hague, had I the authority.
There is definitely something “glass houses” about being in northeast Syria.
Welp, now we know how many troops it takes to steal oil…
Easy solution, get the hell out of Syria. They don’t want you there.
Looks like the pentagonians are screwing around in their playpen again.
Well, we ARE stealing Syrian oil, so we really have no moral high ground to be protesting the death of a mercenary in our pay.
None. At. All. I sympathize with the dead, deluded enough to believe they are serving the country, or desperate enough to need the money.
Instead of blowing up stuff/killing a bunch of people – many of them undoubtedly innocent civilians – in retaliation? Every time a ‘contractor’ gets killed in Syria?
Why don’t you just pull your troops/contractors(mercenaries) out and stop stealing Syrian oil?
Duh!!!
“The last major escalation took place in August 2022 when Biden ordered a series of airstrikes, which the US started in response to a drone attack that caused no casualties.”
As Biden told reporters of his decision to respond with lethal force at the time:
“The idea uh’ those drones walking around…around…you know where I mean…like they owned th’ place? And our guys? I went apeshhit. Y’know they have to respect America…Remember when we all respected eah other? Yea, ‘s’what I’m talking about. And nine eleven. ‘s’what I’m talking about…and the head things? No. Yea…our tree fort…No girls allowed…Yea…”
6 civilians were also killed in the US bombing. But, MSM never mentions it. What is US doing in Syria occupying it illegally for all these years? No question asked, or answered.
Please tell me again why we have any business having troops in Syria.
“US Intelligence determined….” Pardon me, but any sentence beginning with that sentence has zero credibility. “US Intelligence determined that the 8 children murdered by our drone strike in Afghanistan presented an imminent threat”, “US Intelligence determined that the civil airliner blown out of the sky by our missile while our ship was in Iranian territorial waters presented an imminent threat”, “US Intelligence determined that the murder of goats, chickens, wedding party attendees, funeral processions, and farmers minding their own business dealt ISIS a devastating blow”.
Except…not so much. Pack of Liars.