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Moscow peace talks between Russia FM and UN Syria Envoy
US Senator John McCain says he’d give terrorists means to shoot down Russian planes
‘No moderate rebels in Syria, US just trying to save face’
Moscow urges clarity regarding terrorist groups operating in Syria
US admits ‘moderate’ Syrian rebels joined Al-Qaeda affiliate
Russian Air Force bombing “moderate” al-Nusra beheaders on 04 Nov 2015
Lavrov: It’s up to Syrian people to decide their future
Missile systems deployed in Syria: Russian Air Force
US Deploys Air-to-Air Combat Jets in Syria
US Spec Ops Already On The Ground In Syria Sources Say, As Russian Troop Presence Grows To 4,000
On Tuesday evening, we noted that the US is set to send F-15C Eagle twin-engine fighters to Incirlik. This suggests that the Pentagon is preparing for air-to-air combat with the Russians.
As hyperbolic as that might sound, there’s really no alternative explanation for why Washington would send the fighters to Syria unless of course ISIS and/or the mishmash of rebels and militants fighting for control of the country have air forces no one has ever heard about.
Indeed, Russia made a similar move by sending Sukhoi Su-30s to Latakia and according to several sources, those planes had a run-in with Israeli jets over Lebanon last month.
The interesting thing, from our perspective anyway, is that Lebanese sources were out on Wednesday claiming that US spec ops are already on the ground – and they’re operating in the west. Here’s Sputnik:
US military advisors are alleged to have started training so-called moderate rebels near the city of Salma in the Latakia province in what amounts to breaking a pledge not to put US boots on the ground in Syria, Lebanon’s satellite television channel al-Mayadeen reported, citing an unnamed military source.
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user92183/imageroot/2015/10/Salma_0.png
Now bear in mind, this is Russian media citing an unnamed Lebanese source, so that would be a bit like American media citing an unnamed Saudi correspondent, but still, even the suggestion that Washington has placed “advisers” in Salma is alarming. That is, the going assumption was that these spec ops forces would be placed with the YPG or somewhere near Raqqa to avoid even the appearance that The Pentagon is set to place troops with soldiers that are in direct contact with Iranian ground forces and as such could potentially get hit with Russian airstrikes.
Of course we won’t get much in the way of clarity from Washington. US Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Anne Patterson told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday that the “the activities and location of the special forces are classified.” Patterson also said that “Russia’s military intervention has dangerously exacerbated an already complex environment,” on the way to claiming that “the opposition puts up a very strong fight.”
Obviously, it’s difficult to know where even to start in terms of analyzing that bit of nonsense. First, the situation is indeed “already complex” thanks to Washington, Riyadh, Ankara, and Doha who collectiively decided that “start civil war via the funding of terrorists” was the proper “strategy” for bringing about regime change in Damascus. Second, it’s not clear that the “opposition” is putting up a “very strong fight,” and even if it were, that’s at least partly attributable to the Pentagon handing rebels things like anti-tank weapons. If Patterson thinks that’s constructive, well, maybe she needs to find a new occupation.
Syria News: Events on November 5
Syria army reopens Aleppo road
Russian Air Force pounding ISIL positions upon Syrian govt. request
Iraqi army engages in heavy battles with ISIL over Ramadi
Putting U.S. Forces Onto Sovereign Syrian Territory, Is An act Of War
By Patrick J. Buchanan
“The United States is being sucked into a new Middle East war,” says The New York Times. And the Times has it exactly right.
Despite repeated pledges not to put “boots on the ground” in Syria, President Obama is inserting 50 U.S. special ops troops into that country, with more to follow.
U.S. A-10 “warthog” attack planes have been moved into Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, close to Syria.
Hillary Clinton, who has called for arming Syrian rebels to bring down Bashar Assad, is urging Obama to establish a no-fly zone inside Syria.
Citing Clinton and Gen. David Petraeus, John McCain is calling for a no-fly zone and a safe zone in Syria, to be policed by U.S. air power.
“How many men, women and children,” McCain asks, “are we willing to watch being slaughtered by the Russians and Bashar al-Assad?”
Yet, if we put U.S. forces onto sovereign Syrian territory, against the will and resistance of that government, that is an act of war.
Would we tolerate Mexican troops in Texas to protect their citizens inside our country? Would we, in the Cold War, have tolerated Russians in Cuba telling us they were establishing a no-fly zone for all U.S. warplanes over the Florida Strait and Florida Keys?
Obama has begun an escalation into Syria’s civil war, and not only against ISIS and the al-Nusra Front, but against Syria’s armed forces.
Mission creep has begun. The tripwire is being put down. Yet, who authorized Obama to take us into this war? The Russians and Iranians are in Syria at the invitation of the government. But Obama has no authorization from Congress to put combat troops into Syria.
Neither the al-Nusra Front nor ISIS has an air force. Against whom, then, is this Clinton-McCain no fly-zone directed, if not Syrian and Russian warplanes and helicopters?
Is America really prepared to order the shooting down of Russian warplanes and the killing of Russian pilots operating inside Syria with the approval of the Syrian government?
In deepening America’s involvement and risking a clash with Syrian, Russian and Iranian forces, Obama is contemptuously ignoring a Congress that has never authorized the use of military force against the Damascus regime.
Congress’ meek acquiescence in being stripped of its war powers is astonishing. Weren’t these the Republicans who were going to Washington to “stand up to Obama”?
Coming after Congress voted for “fast track,” i.e., to surrender its constitutional right to amend trade treaties, the capitulations of 2015 rank as milestones in the long decline into irrelevance of the U.S. Congress. Yet in the Constitution, Congress is still the first branch of the U.S. government.
Has anyone thought through to where this U.S. intervention can lead?
Armed Opposition Factions Ready to Declare Ceasefire after Syrian Army’s Crushing Victories
Militants Suffer Heavy Losses in Aleppo, Retreat from Vast Territories
Syrian Army, Hezbollah Retake Dozens of Checkpoints in Murak
Aide of ISIL Leader Al-Baghdadi Killed in Salahuddin
Russian Warplanes Back on Track in Homs, Destroy ISIL Targets in Palmyra
Russian Warplanes Destroy Major ISIL Fortified Area Near Palmyra
Syrian Forces Regain Control of Several Villages in Lattakia