US and coalition airstrikes over the weekend have killed at least 20 civilians in northeastern Syria, with eight killed in an attack in Deir Ezzor Province, and 12 more, all members of a single family, killed in an attack on the village of Hidaj, in Hasakeh Province.
The strikes targeted remote areas in both provinces along the Euphrates River, in desert areas where ISIS forces are believed to have fleed. There was no indication that either strike actually hit any ISIS fighters, however.
That’s been an ongoing problem, as while ISIS routed quickly and scattered out of the cities, where exactly they all ended up is less clear. The US is interested in picking up airstrikes against ISIS in a new offensive, but isn’t entirely sure where to aim them.
The US has yet to comment on either of the incidents. This is not uncommon, as while watchdog groups have documented massive numbers of civilian deaths in US strikes, the Pentagon confirms only a very small fraction of them.
America the Pitiful.
Those people we are blowing up without carefully identifying who they are… why would we now want to know who they are? All that will get for the DOD is documented embarrassment. They are the disposable people, who’s deaths somehow help America feel safer.
I think we know who they are. Localltribes that met last week to ask US to leave.
You weren’t kidding either. This news was kind of startling. Uncle Sham moves fast to make an example out of few dissident voices.
I missed that one. You have a source handy?
I found info in Al-Masdar. There was a large meeting of the tribal leaders across the entire area now controlled by US, that is, our imaginary force SDF. People for some reason do not want to pay attention to demography. But Kurds, without Arabs, simply are no force across the region US is claiming. Kurds know that if they do not pull their meagre forces back to Kobane region, Turkey can easily cross border in the east, and unlike in Afrin, Turkey has a string of border towns that cannot wait to rid themselves of Kurd supervision. Without US, Arabs would not have tolerated Kurds for a minute once ISIS left.
When the gathering of Arab leaders of the US controlled region met last week, I was wondering about reaction. It did not take long. For the longest time now US bas been investing in bribing Arabs to collaborate with Kurds. In “committees”, “local councils”, etc. But ALL such efforts meant same — Kurds in control. By now Raqqa has formed their own Arab governance, at least in some districts. This is why Daqqa is not getting demined nor enabled for living. US would prefer — like in Manbij — to keep Arab refugees out of the town, and eventually change demographic. Testimony on such efforts has been given to Congress by General Vottel.
The problem for US is simple — not enough Kurds. And not enough local minorities willing to collaborate with Kurds against Arabs. US does not want to bring in tens of thousands troups to occupy region outright. Does not want to give freedom of choice to locals to be ruled from Damascus. But it does not want to spend the money feeding the region. Will the desparation take over, and ISIS resurected? It is clear that US is unhappy with elections in Iraq, so ISIS is raising its head a bit more. But Iraq can now handle it, and so will Syria. The prolonged aimless stay in Syria an only cause more strife. For now Damascus wants calm in US controlled areas, just peacefull expressions of defiance. Hardliners in US are hoping for violence ftom locals, to justify some inane Afghanistan style presence to prevent locals from self-governance.
The idiotic thing is — it is not in US interest. Not security interest, not economic interest. We are led by morans.
Thanks for the source… I had not heard of it before. Curious on who Al-Masdar is, I checked out it’s wikipedia page. Mostly, criticism of Al-Masdar as “pro regime” for having the audacity to criticize the State Department-front group White Helmets and their staged lies about Syrian chemical weapons attacks. Despite wikipedia’s best efforts, I am now somewhat confident in Al-Masdar’s professionalism and impartiality.
With no teasing intended, or calling you a moron, I found your slight mis-spelling entertaining. Probably you speak twice as many languages as I do, and english isn’t your first one. Maran is a town in France where a certain kind of chicken with dark eggs were developed. I raised some for awhile because the color difference made some breeding steps easier. The image of our leaders being chickens, caring only for greener pastures, aggressive only to chase off a threatening fox or a little rough sex, seemed like a much improved option to our current reality. I don’t think our leaders are morons, unfortunately they are too smart at doing bad things… we need a lot more wisdom.
Seldom does one get a chance to enjoy thoroughly being schooled on the implications of our spelling errors. But I loved this one!
Yes, it is true, English is not my first language. But beyond that, when I think of politicians — I tend to reveal my deeply felt disrespect they so richly deserve.
Lazy, selfish, greedy. Always taking the path of the least resistance and most benefit to dear self. And then call this — the art of the possible.
But unfortunately we DO have a breeding problem. This sociopathic gene permeates today our corporate world, our academia and corporate owned media. It permeates uper levels of bureaucracies, intelligence services and military. This is true of EU and much of European capitals. If you are not one of them, they will sniff you out, and remove.
They cannot by definition acquire wisdom — as it cannot be built where knowledge does not exist. And knowledge does not thrive in the lanscspe of flawed, twisted observation of the world. It is a vicious cycle, and not even repeated failures teach anything.
Until Nemesis being nurtured within the very hearth of Hubris brings it down.
As for Al-Masdar, I found it invaluable all these years — as this media alone reports all events, blow by blow. They never exaggerate Government position, always report both advsnces and losses, reversals often hour by hour. They tend to be a bit too soft on Kurds, but by reporting honestly what is happening, they avoid a trap of being either pessimistic or optimistic. Good source of raw data — a rarity.
It is a sad historical trend – empires do generally expand like cancer until they collapse under their own hubris. And right now with the power-brokers, everything is designed to ensure the scum rises to the top.
Near where I live in New Hampshire, it doesn’t seem like a bridge can get funded and built without it being a war memorial honoring soldiers who were pointlessly sent to die and kill on the far side of the world. Of course if the US weren’t so militaristic in the first place, it wouldn’t be a struggle to build the bridges we need and keep the old ones from collapsing… we could pave the roads in solid gold, palaces to public safety.
But it doesn’t have to be so crazy. In my neighboring state of Maine and elsewhere, ranked choice voting / instant runoff is now the law. Public financing of elections is growing in strength. When citizens actually pay attention and insist that government structures serve the public good, those who actually believe in public service instead of self-service become the decision-makers. Much is still possible.
Can we stop the delusion that we do not know where ISIS is, that they scattered, and we are now bravely hunting them with our jet accross some desert! No ISIS will survive without us feeding them, arming and paying soldiers. Without us providing them with experienced military leaders, telecom, vehicles, fuel. Enough already! We know where they are, and ISIS does what it is told.
These actions are punitivre. Last week Arab tribal leaders accross the region still under nominal Kurd control met, and are asking US to leave their region. Kurds accross the region of Deir Azzor, Al -Tanf, Euphrates Valey and even Hassakah surrounds — are tiny minority. US cannot keep pretending that these areas are controlled by Kurds. Arabs will never accept it. Sooooo. This must be a hit sgainst some of the tribes and tribal leaders — to send the message.
What on earth are we hoping to achieve? We have no occupation force. Kurds have no occupation force. We do not trust Thrkey to take over peacekeeping until elections. We do not want elections, as you know who will certainly win big. We do not want to collaborate with Arab leaders in this US “reservation”, as they want to be rulled by Damascus not by our puppets, Kurds. We want to control Syria-Iraq border, but cannot control ours. We want to prevent Syria-Iraq closer cooperation. Nor stronger relations with Turkey. We want to stay there like a stick in the mud — trying to hold region back. Heavens forbid that Asia, across Iran connects with Middle East! And spur development accross the vast continent! No, we want our sandbox to play with our friend Israel. And we will dig in our expensive heels 👠 no matter the cost!