Posted on 09/17/2017 9:15:04 PM PDT by Texas Fossil
KOBANI – Sipan Hemo, the general commander of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in a statement released on Saturday wondered why Russian forces bombed their positions, which led to the injury of six fighters.
“Russia is bombing the positions of our forces. We are asking Russia to explain the reasons for their bombing our positions," he said, asking whether Assad and Russia were cooperating and allies with ISIS,” he said.
On Saturday afternoon, Russian forces struck a target east of the Euphrates River in Syria near Dayr Az Zawr, causing injuries to Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Although the Russian government denied bombing SDF forces, the US coalition and the SDF argue otherwise.
"This is not possible. Why would we bomb them?" a Russian military spokesman, Igor Konashenkov at the Hmeimim base on Syria's coast, told AFP.
The alleged bombings coincide with a statement released on Saturday by the Syrian regime and Iran-backed Shia militias, announcing an operation towards Abu Kamal to clear out the Syrian border, bringing them on a clashing course with the SDF forces.
Sipan Hemo, the commander of the People Protection Units (YPG) vowed to respond to any provocations. “Any attacks on the positions of our forces is a helping hand to the ISIS mercenaries,” he said.
The commander said they have told the Russians, the coalition and all world powers that they would liberate these areas, warning that if needed, the SDF was willing to fight back.
“Anyone who attacks, we will respond without hesitation, and we consider any attack on our forces as extending a helping hand to ISIS mercenaries to prolong their life,” he concluded.
US-supported Coalition & SDF response to attacks
The US-led coalition has also accused Russia of attacking the SDF.
“Russian munitions impacted a location known to the Russians to contain Syrian Democratic Forces and Coalition advisors. Several SDF fighters were wounded and received medical care as a result of the strike,” the US-led coalition said in a statement received by the Region.
Coalition troops advising and assisting the SDF were present but not wounded as a result of the Russian strike. "Coalition officials are available and the de-confliction line with Russia is open 24 hours per day," said Coalition commander Lt. Gen. Paul E. Funk II. "We put our full efforts into preventing unnecessary escalation among forces that share ISIS as our common enemy," said Funk.
“The Coalition and its partners remain committed to the defeat of ISIS and continued de-confliction with Russian officials. Coalition forces and partners always retain the right of self-defense”, the coalition added.
In a statement issued by the SDF itself, the Russian and Syrian air force were blamed for targeting SDF forces and injuring six of its fighters. “Our forces in the East of the Euphrates were targeted by Russian jets and the Syrian regime in the industrial zone, injuring six of our partners,” the SDF said.
“Some parties are trying to create obstacles to the progress of our forces and are trying to unsuccessfully prolong the life of Daesh [ISIS] for goals and projects that do not serve the Syrian people,” the SDF said.
“We strongly condemn this aggressive attack and call upon the aggressors to stop these attacks, which serve only terrorists and terrorism,” the SDF added.
Long Term Strategic interests of the Assad Regime
Assad's key adviser and media mouthpiece, Bouthaina Shaaban, on Friday suggested that the Government would fight the SDF to regain areas in Deir az-Zor.
“Whether it’s the Syrian Democratic Forces, or Daesh (Islamic State) or any illegitimate foreign force in the country ... we will fight and work against them so our land is freed completely from any aggressor,” she said in an interview with Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV.
“I‘m not saying this will happen tomorrow ... but this is the strategic intent,” she said Friday.
Tobias Schneider, a London-based defence analyst told the Region that the costly Assad offensive towards Deir az-Zor is to contain US influence.
“The regime considers any American presence in Syria an existential threat and will work to contain and eventually evict it,” he said. “The US is the only power it cannot easily deter through its Russian allies and that can thus force a political compromise,” he concluded.
Nicholas A. Heras, a Fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) agreed that the Syrian government was not happy with the SDF-campaign.”These airstrikes show just how provocative the SDF campaign in Deir Azzour is to Damascus. Assad knows that if Coalition advisers are embedded with the SDF as it makes gains all over Deir Azzour, he won't be able to strike back because of the risk of escalation with the Americans would be high,” he said.
“Assad might try to push his luck, and hit the SDF again, but if there are American advisers with the SDF, he will be playing with fire,” he added
Trump was right about Bush’s invasion of Iraq. It was criminally stupid and empowered Iran. It also led to the destruction of the Christian community in Iraq. And all this started years before Obama. In fact, his election was an unfortunate result and backlash to Bush’s Iraq disaster.
I see your point that Iran benefited from Bush taking out Saddam - there are bound to be many effects from such a big move. The enemy gets a vote in how things fall out, and we have many enemies in the Middle East.
I still think that Saddam needed to go - he was bent on revenge against America, and nurturing the capability to do it. The big failure in my view, was not installing a pro-American regime in his place. That would have protected the Christians and been a blow to Iran (free Shi’tes, right on their border, mixing with their oppressed population in the Shi’ite holy sites in Karbala and Najaf). Long term US bases in Iraq would have extended US power and constrained Iran. If we had Iyad Allawi as Prime Minister, and protected them from Iranian subversion, Iraq would be an important US asset today, and ISIS would never have had a chance.
Bush mismanaged that critical transition, but Obama massively scuttled it. He released all the worst actors from the Camp Bucca Confinement Facility near Basra in a flood, and publicly announced that he would withdraw all American forces in one year. That was deliberately throwing Iraq to the dogs. It was deliberate sabotage of US interests. It was malicious. Iraq’s cities lie in ruins and mass graves are stuffed because of the chaos he unleashed.
The day that the last US unit crossed the border, PM Maliki charged the Sunni Vice President with treason (punishable by death), causing him to flee the country, excluding Sunnis from power, and fundamentally institutionalized sectarian conflict.
The mass destruction of the Christian (and Yezidi) communities was predominantly at the hands of ISIS, which only came to power as a champion of estranged Sunnis. All communities experienced losses during the Bush years, but there is no real comparison with the genocide and ethnic cleansing that Christians experienced at the hands of ISIS during the Obama Administration.
“The US should LEAVE once ISIS is defeated.”
So it is OK to fight ISIS, but not al Queda? They have their largest Army and safe haven since 9-11 Afghanistan in Syria’s Idlib Province.
And Iran? They launched the modern era of suicide bombing against the US Marine Barracks in Lebanon in 1983, and have cause the deaths of over 1,000 Americans in Iraq through their directly sponsored surrogates in Iraq, using explosively formed penetrators, manufactured in Iran by the Government. Should they be wantonly left with free run of the place, heedless of the consequences?
I think it is reprehensible to be so simple-mindedly irresponsible, when our nation is already entwined in a life and death struggle in that region. The stakes are too high - it must be responsibly managed. There are no easy answers, and it will require the use of military force, because of how deeply evil many of the competitors are. Just stopping “crazy war talk” is not going to fix the actual situation that exists on the ground today. Grow up.
Obama just LEFT from Iraq, throwing that country to the dogs. Look what happened - ISIS, genocide of Christians, and Yezidis, reinstitution of slavery, and major cities devastated (Mosul was the largest urban battle since Stalingrad in WWII).
Truly reprehensible.
As far as terrorists in Syria, they're on Assad's sovereign territory. The US has not been invited to fight there. I don't know if those other groups are terrorists or not. But I do not accept that we're still doing things that destabilize Assad. If he were asking us to help him fight AlQuaeda, that would be a different matter. One thing President Trump promised us is no more regime change/
Thanks for chatting. Sorry that I was curt.
I enjoy the conversation. We all benefit from an honest discussion of different perspectives.
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