Posted on 06/20/2017 5:33:34 AM PDT by Enlightened1
Operations are ceased as a ‘precautionary measure’ says American ally’s defense ministry
Australia has suspended air operations in Syria amid escalating tensions between Washington and Moscow after Russia threatened to track American and coalition aircraft in the war-torn country as targets.
“As a precautionary measure, Australian Defense Force strike operations into Syria have temporarily ceased,” a statement from the Defense Ministry said Tuesday.
The American ally’s decision to back out of U.S.-led coalition airstrikes in Syria comes hours after the U.S. shifted some of its own flight patterns in the country to minimize risks, following Russia’s warning on Monday that it would use air defense systems or Russian pilots to track flights west of the Euphrates.
The current tensions between the U.S. and Russia, which back opposite sides in the Syrian conflict but are also fighting Islamic State in the country, began Sunday when an American jet fighter shot down a Syrian regime warplane after it targeted U.S.-backed Syrian fighters who were leading the assault on Islamic State’s de facto capital, Raqqa.
Russia, allied with the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, responded to the U.S. strike with threats to cut official lines of communication that are meant to prevent midair mishaps and to treat U.S.-led coalition planes as “targets.” It, however, stopped short of threatening to shoot them down, giving some U.S. officials hope that the situation won’t worsen.
“ADF personnel are closely monitoring the air situation in Syria and a decision on the resumption of ADF air operations in Syria will be made in due course,” Australia’s defense ministry said in the statement. It will continue its mission in neighboring Iraq, the statement added.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Good plan.
A better one would be to bring the Diggers home. Why should Australians risk their lives and waste their nation’s treasure for a bunch of ungrateful Arabs?
Same thing for us. Until we’re ready to do whatever it takes to win decisively, keep our troops home.
But agreed. Get the Christians out and let the muzzies do what they do to each other. Clean up what's left later after we've rebuilt our military.
A guy can hope, can't he? d;^)
Are we giving air support to the Judean People’s Front, or the People’s Front of Judea? I lose track. Who are the moderate rebels again?
Flying air support for the Kurds is very important as a foil against Turkish plans.
Just a matter of time that the young hotshot pilots on both sides, proud of their flying skills and confident in their equipment ( if not in love with their planes), will have a go at one another. Hopefully it won’t spark a war. Involvement in the Mideast quagmire does nothing to enhance the security of the American people.
Politicians are too timid today to do something on its own merits. They want a crowd or mob of people on their sides to provide the legitimacy that used to be provided by a clearly defined set of morals. Since morality or “the right thing to do” can no longer be cited as a reason for taking military action, we fall back on mob rule. Without “allies” it is hard to spread the blame for every bad thing the media says you did because of your backward, Christian or western-centric ways. But having lots of allies who run away at the first sign of a problem probably hinders your efforts if you do try to do something.
I don’t know what the answer is, but I think diddling in Syria and around Turkey is a mistake. Air drop supplies, fine. Men on the ground, not a good idea. If we aren’t ready to go in to win, then stay out. Also, it is long past time to kick Turkey out of NATO. They stopped being an ally shortly after Edogan got into power.
Flying air support to prevent the Syrian government from retaking its city of Raqqa is not the same as our supposed mission of “ annihilating ISIS”
Raqqa is not a Kurdish city and once liberated, will not be tolerated to be administered as a Kurdish city -
Go figure.
That is still true today, but ignored. “It’s not wrong when we do it,” you know.
I don't know much about Syria, but I'm 100% certain that it has nothing to offer when it comes to Making America Great Again.
If we get into a shooting war with Russia, the only good I can see coming out of it is that John McMental may stroke out from happiness.
LOL!
“I’m not going to start the third world war for you,” General Sir Mike Jackson, commander of the international KFOR peacekeeping force, is reported to have told Gen. (Wesley) Clark when he refused to accept an order to send assault troops to prevent Russian troops from taking over the airfield of Kosovo’s provincial capital.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.