Coalition warplanes flew over Syrian government territory in eastern Syria on Friday, carrying out attacks against al-Mayadeen, and hitting the base of an unnamed Shi’ite militia in the area.
The base was reportedly evacuated ahead of the attack, and no one was killed. Several militia members were believed to have been wounded, though which militia it is or their nationality aren’t clear.
Early reports, as usual, claimed the target were presumptively “Iranian militiamen.” This is in keeping with past reports on attacks in the area, though of the many Shi’ite militias in Syria, only a tiny handful are from Iran, and this part of Syria would be mostly Iraqis.
It is unusual for the US-led coalition to carry out strikes in this area as well, as attacks in Syria are way down. Israeli warplanes have been attacking militias across Syria, but not coalition members.
Coalition? What coalition? What are the members? Who participated in the raid? Does anyone really have a clue who really was under attack and why? More and more of such “do whatever” events are taking place in the region.
There is no way to determine that there are any “Iranians” present anywhere, as Israel and US claim. And if there are, so what? The border areas have been targeted often for no other reason but to destabilize, to prevent revival of regional cross border trade, and to prevent Iraq from consolidating borders.
US is doing everything British empire did wrong before it realized that the game of controlling various patches of land is too costly and defies the purpose of increasing wealth. If US plans to enjoy the material advantages of its position in the world — it has to let everyone get better off. Poor, war torn places have nothing to share — they become imperial money pits.
As for Syria — it is just envy. Envy that it has liberated itself and is having constitutional committee named from all parts of the society.
US and UK put much faith in Idlib, but that swamp is being slowly drained. Being pushed away from major highways, HTS lost on importance. With various groups being peeled off by Turkey, HTS is isolated and without supplies. US tried to help them by targeting defectors.
In the absence of a narrative — we are just emptying plane loads of ammunition, hoping for a reaction, any reaction.
Today, any such Israeli and US exercises of arrogance are met with silence.
It feels as if everyone is waiting. Either something more substantial will happen, or a mire focused withdrawal. This exercise in futility will not last.