Tuesday, the Kurdish SDF launched an offensive against a number of villages in eastern Syria. The US backed the offensive with military action, and al-Mayadeen even suggests that the offensive itself came at the behest of the US military. Today we’re getting some more details, and the US is trying to re-frame the narrative of what actually happened.
It is confirmed that the US launched airstrikes as well as the previously reported artillery fire, which targeted Syrian forces in the area of the offensive. The strikes destroyed multiple trucks with rocket launcher systems on them, and also destroyed a T-64 battle tank.
These strikes were launched specifically while the SDF offensive was ongoing, and targeted forces in the area of the attacks. The Pentagon, however, has tried to present their strikes as “self-defense,” claiming that the presence of the military assets firing in an area so close to US-occupied bases posed a “clear and imminent threat.”
The Pentagon is clearly trying to downplay the fact that it carried out airstrikes in support of the SDF trying to seize territory. Indeed, the official statement from CENTCOM leans heavily into the “self-defense” narrative and doesn’t even mention that there was an ongoing SDF battle in the area.
The small US-held bases in that part of eastern Syria are centered around oil and gas fields. The US helped the SDF seize those energy assets in 2017 after a brief occupation by ISIS. The Syrian government had expected to eventually recover those important economic assets, but the indication is that the SDF intends to keep the area, and indeed is trying to expand even further with these new attacks.
All indications are that the US is growing more interested in getting involved in these territory grabs, particularly with Syria already vulnerable because of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) gaining substantial territory further west. At the same time, the Pentagon seems to want to avoid directly admitting to what they are doing, just branding it as typical “self-defense” action despite it being plainly related to the SDF offensive.
US Major Gen. Patrick Ryder refused to discuss the SDF offensive, referring any questions about that to the SDF itself. He too was quick to frame the US military operations there as “self-defense” and not discuss involvement in the offensive.
A smaller mystery surrounding the US airstrikes is that the tank they destroyed was a T-64. A Russian-made tank, the T-64 isn’t known to be in the Syrian military’s arsenal in the first place. It is not known whose T-64 tank this actually was, though some Shi’ite militias on the side of the Syrian government are known to have used some of them. On top of that, Russia has deployed some T-64s to Syria.
The US involvement with the current resurgence of the Syrian Civil War is likely to fuel new tensions with Russia, one of Syria’s close allies. At the United Nations Security Council, the US sharply criticized Russia and Syria for airstrikes against the HTS offensive, noting civilian casualties. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood conceded the HTS is recognized as a terrorist group, but he said there could be no excuse for what Russia and Syria are doing in the course of resisting them.
Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasili Nebenzia rejected this condemnation, saying that the US has never been honestly fighting international terrorism. Given the HTS offensive is being supported by Turkey and reportedly in contact with Israel, both close US allies, it’s difficult to argue that the US doesn’t have an interest in seeing the HTS gain territory, despite nominally recognizing them as a terrorist organization.
Meanwhile, the feces hitting the fan continues:
French government toppled in historic no-confidence vote
A majority of lawmakers voted on Wednesday for a motion of no confidence, causing the fall of Michel Barnier's three-months-old government.
The Assemblée Nationale debated two motions of no confidence, one presented by the radical left and the other by the far right, in a standoff over next year's austerity budget, after the prime minister on Monday forced a social security financing bill through without a vote.
With the support of the far-right, a majority of 331 MPs in the 577-member chamber voted to oust the government. A minimum of 288 were needed. Speaker Yaël Braun-Pivet confirmed Barnier would now have to "submit his resignation" to Macron and declared the session closed. This was the first successful no-confidence vote to oust a French prime minister since 1962.
'Macron should go'
"We are now calling on Macron to go," Mathilde Panot, the head of the parliamentary faction of the hard-left La France Insoumise (LFI) party told reporters, urging "early presidential elections" to solve a deepening political crisis.
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2024/12/04/french-government-toppled-in-historic-no-confidence-vote_6735189_7.html#
Aside from coordination with the offensive, crying self defense thousands of miles away from the continental US is risible on the face of it.
Yes, invading and occupying a hostile country, first arming and inciting rebels to attack on your behalf, and then shooting at the soldiers of the invaded when they dare respond is the definition of "self defense".
The United States of America has, as the Australians might say it, gone 'round the Bend.
This is just further expansion of the neocon plan – going back twenty years to the General Wesley Clark report that the US intended to attack seven countries – most of whom HAVE been attacked in subsequent years – to attack literally EVERYONE in the Middle East who is not a puppet of the US.
I covered all this in my "Armageddon in the Middle East" Substack series. It's all quite obvious and quite inevitable. Nothing and no one – let alone a moron like Trump – is going to stop it.
Gen Ryder is a disgrace to the uniform and a disgrace to this country. Just another dishonest, politically motivated shill willing to do or say anything to please his masters, because there might be a lucrative board seat in his future somewhere.
US has occupied Syria illegally… steals their oil and food and sell it to Iraqi Kurdistan… they attack Syrian forces and called it Self Defense…! Steal, Lie and Cheat are All US knows…!
Don't forget the regime changes.
That’s not gonna change anything…!
"Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood conceded the HTS is recognized as a terrorist group, but he said there could be no excuse for what Russia and Syria are doing in the course of resisting them."
The utter hypocrisy!!! Just replace HTS with Hamas and Russian and Syria for Israel.
We are in a Labyrinth of lies and deceit!
"US Frames Syria Airstrikes as ‘Self-Defense’"
Yes those war like Syrians are going to attack the American mainland, HaHa.
Oh My Bad: America has been attacking and killing Syrians since obama and before.
@Jason Ditz. Much appreciated that you used "Islamist" in neutral terms.
It is a poor term to be used to describe Muslims seeking political influence and power in Muslim countries because of the derogatory implication. For example, according to the term both al nahda party in Tunisia (known to be peaceful) and alqaeda are lumped in the same category by Zionists and the west. This usage seeks to criminalize Muslims who seek political power, as if to secularize Islam as Christianity has been in the west. It conveniently obfuscates the reality that the vast populations of the Middle East, South East Asia, much of Africa and beyond identify as Muslims and in fact want sharia rule as evidenced by a substantial PEW Poll in 2013. It allows even well intentioned activists, journalists and influencers to convince themselves that they support freedom for oppressed people while undermining them at every term by never entertaining the possibility that manifesting Islam in their political aspirations can be a solution to the chaos and carnage being visited upon them.
The lack of understanding Islam's role in the Middle East is complicated by using this deceptive term because it consistently translates in to faulty political analysis and leads to a dead end every time. For this short sighted thinking, for example, Hamas can never be a legitimate expression of Palestinian self determination because its an "Islamist" movement. Although, it dominates the resistance against a genocidal campaign, was swept into power by fair and free "democratic" elections, is the manifestation of a majority Sunni Muslim Palestinian identity and has shown over and over again that it can be pragmatic, changes its tactics and adheres to a well known and accepted moral code. It's as if to say you "Palestinians will never be free (or deserve to be free) until you give up your primitive beliefs in religion and become more like us in the west."
It's actually Islamophobic.
This form of bigotry extends to the Syrian situation. The US will meddle in Syria and arm all sides when necessary to keep them divided. What are they afraid of? A unified Middle East. Islam whether one likes it or not plays an absolutely indispensable role in the region. And seeking political power for personal gain is wrong but it is laudable when the intent is to serve humanity, stop the chaos and end the bloodshed.
Finally, While no term is perfect one may consider alternatives such as "islamic political movements" or "Islamic activists." Since the term is so rampant when I use it I put it in quotation marks which is another alternative.
Self Defense? When did Syria attack the USA?
Payback for Assad refusing to cut ties with Iran.
That and there's much more to this – for what the war mongers are concerned – the road to Tehran goes though Damascus.
And here we are, illegally occupying Syria's oil fields and fighting against the Syrian government, when no war has been declared by Congress.
If Congress had to declare all the wars, the Congress Critters would be dizzy from declarations. So it goes.
By the time he leaves, our ambassador to the UN may require psychological treatment to reacclimate with reality after complying with demands by the Biden administration condemn collateral civilian deaths in Aleppo while simultaneously endorsing intentional civilian deaths in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon.
If the US decided to drop thermonuclear weapons with no provocation on all its enemies all at once, it would be "self-defense". If it destroyed the universe that would be self-defense too. If it destroyed all the other universes too, that would also be self-defense. After all, there could be bad guys in those other universes, so better take preemptive action, huh?
Obviously this has nothing to do with self defense.
The claim was made by Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder – If he truly believes that people will believe this outlandish claim about self defense then he needs to be removed from his position as he is definitely not thinking correctly.
Given the events in Syria and Lebanon, it’s amazing how infinitesimally small and sophomorically naive I feel today over my deep concern for the people of Palestine. No one was ever even considering coming to their aide. They were always doomed.. Bottom line: The U.S., Russia, Europe, Israel, China etc. etc., the entire world is run by animals..
And now Syria has fallen which in my opinion could have been prevented by getting serious earlier on re destroying undesired elements, they have the means to do so but they didn't help – just like they didn't provide help for the Palestinians.
I remember Cheney's oil maps and who signed them has me thinking that we're all being played.
The response to the plandemic was a revelation as to where they really stood.
💯!!!
Only morons talk about the “pandemic”.
Update, Cell phones, walkie-talkies, and pocket pagers of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) began EXPLODING throughout Syria.
We’ve seen that before.
Wow. I would have expected all Israel-oppositional groups of any size and capability to have looked into/replace their own comm systems after the events in Lebanon.
I’d assume that they did exactly that and concluded that they were safe.
Assad has arrived in Moscow however people are rather critical of Putin.
Considering what’s been happening to the critics of ”empire”
” Pro-Palestinian French journalist Marine Vlahovic has been found dead at her residence in Marseille, France, amid making a documentary about Israel’s genocidal war on the besieged Gaza Strip.”