US and Russian Forces in Syria Aren’t Talking to Each Other

Defense One ^ | September 12, 2015 | Molly O'Toole

[TigerLikesRooster]

US and Russian Forces in Syria Aren’t Talking to Each Other

September 12, 2015 By Molly O'Toole

CENTCOM says it has “no military-to-military contact” with Russian forces sent to help the embattled Assad regime.

In Syria, where the U.S. is leading an air campaign against Islamic State targets and Russian military advisors are arriving to help the Assad regime, the two militaries aren’t talking to each other.

“Coalition forces are focused on conducting counter-ISIL operations, and so to my knowledge there is no military-to-military contact at this point,” Air Force Col. Pat Ryder, spokesman for U.S. Central Command, told reporters Friday morning.

“We’re keeping an eye on the Russian situation there, but right now again there’s really no deconfliction to do,” Ryder said, answering a question about how U.S. and anti-ISIS coalition forces and the Russian military are keeping out of each other’s way in Syria. “I think what you’re getting at is: [deconfliction] in the event there’s some type of Russian military or air activity, but again, I’m not going to speculate or talk about hypotheticals. Certainly, we have very professional air forces, and the coalition is going to ensure the safety of those forces where we operate.”

[Little Ray]

What could possibly go wrong?

I am sure that US and Sov, er, Russian troops are communicating at a level much lower than their commanders and just not bothering to tell their ‘leaders’ about it. “We’ll stay out of X until you are clear, then move through.” Or something like that.

[PIF]

Yes you are correct. Our troops are handing out 5 gallon pails of ice cream and cases of coke a cola. Or at least that’s what we did on the West German boarder decades ago ...

[cripplecreek]

I certainly hope so.

[Little Ray]

Sounds like a good plan. No doubt they want hats, badges, and patches in return!
Just ‘cause our leaders and their policies are stupid, doesn’t mean the troopies are!

[nuconvert]

I guess we need to send Hillary over there to press the reset button

[Gen.Blather]

““We’ll stay out of X until you are clear, then move through.””

Doubtless everybody is using coded radios and then there’s the language difficulty. It’s doubtful there’s much communications at any level.

[Erik Latranyi]

I am sure that US and Sov, er, Russian troops are communicating at a level much lower than their commanders and just not bothering to tell their ‘leaders’ about it. “We’ll stay out of X until you are clear, then move through.” Or something like that.

From what I understand, all the operational controls are being held at the highest levels. The low-level guys have ZERO say in anything. This is why individual units are coming back without dropping anything.....they get sent out with a target, then told to stand down from on-high.

It is almost as if the communications are between the White House and ISIS to ensure the casualties are not too high.

[cripplecreek]

That’s one of the details Ted Cruz has spoken about. Getting our known and reliable allies on the ground (Kurds) adequately trained and equipped to call in effective airstrikes.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Not even Christmas cards?

[jsanders2001]

I thought all Commies were part of one big happy family. Oh wait a sec...I get it...Putin went all Christian instead of Muzzie and Obie doesn’t like him no mo’

[Mogger]

I thought all Commies were part of one big happy family.

Putin saw the light and has become the capitalist.

Zero = the commie.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Putin is now an old-fashioned Russian imperialist. He cherishes Russia’s imperial heritage. Soviet Union was one of Russian empires, which is gone and now he intends to preside over a new one: the heir to Byzantine Empire, and the protector of Orthodox Christianity.

[ZULU]

Obama has created friction between Christians and Muslims, between White and Black and between east and west. If he isn’t the anti-Christian predicted in the Bible, he is damn close.

[Starboard]

What could possibly go wrong?

****************
During Obama’s last year a lot WILL go wrong. Tragically wrong. Our adversaries have nothing to fear. They know Obama will never respond to any provocation, no matter how grave. Its open season on the U.S.

[PIF]

In return, we asked just to be by-passed and not nuked. As we were 60k behind the first Russian rest stop.

Later we learned that would not have mattered, as we were a strategic nuke target for our on forces - we were a liability if captured alive.

[ETL]

We just got the clearest sign yet that Russia doesn't really care about fighting ISIS in Syria
Business Insider ^ | 12 Sep 15 | Natasha Bertrand

Moscow will reportedly provide Russian troops in Syria with an advanced antiaircraft missile system as part of its military support for Syrian president Bashar Assad.

"This system is the advanced version used by Russia, and it's meant to be operated by Russians in Syria," a Western diplomat who is regularly briefed on US, Israeli, and other intelligence assessments told Reuters.

And as The Daily Beast's Michael Weiss points out, any antiaircraft missiles deployed by Russian troops in Syria won't be directed at ISIS, since ISIS has no air force.

In fact, none of the rebels do — only government forces have access to aircraft.

Russia has substantially increased its military presence in Syria over the past two weeks under the guise of helping the embattled Assad fight ISIS and other extremists. ..."

(Excerpt) Read more at Business Insider ...

[ETL]

I thought all Commies were part of one big happy family. Oh wait a sec...I get it...Putin went all Christian instead of Muzzie and Obie doesn’t like him no mo’

Neither Putin nor Obama has a religious bone in their body. Both only use religion to dupe the masses into trusting them.

They actually share the same basic 'new international order' goals: weaker US, stronger Russia and China.

Obama has bent over backwards (his promised "flexibility") to help Putin out with missile defense and nuke deals.

[ETL]

Thank you, Comrade...

Your check is on the way!

-------------------------------------

The Kremlin’s Troll Army: Moscow is financing legions of pro-Russia Internet commenters:

A June article by Max Seddon of BuzzFeed reported the Kremlin was spending millions of dollars to pay English-speaking Russians to promote President Vladimir Putin and his policies in U.S. media like Fox News broadcasting and The Huffington Post and Politico news sites. Trolls are reportedly expected to manage multiple fake accounts and post on news articles 50 times a day, often with sentiments as simplistic as “Putin makes Obama look stupid and weak!”

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/08/the-kremlins-troll-army/375932/
____________________________

Documents Show How Russia’s Troll Army Hit America:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/maxseddon/documents-show-how-russias-troll-army-hit-america
____________________________

“Trolls are reportedly expected to manage multiple fake accounts and post on news articles 50 times a day, often with sentiments as simplistic as “Putin makes Obama look stupid and weak!”...”

They do this only in an attempt to win the trust of anti-Obama folks -- a clever/sneaky way to add credibility to their pro-Russia, pro-Putin BS.
Yet it seems to work on some of us! In reality, Obama is the best thing that has happened to Russia in a long time.
____________________________

____________________________

Kremlin pays internet trolls to flatter Putin
Ben Hoyle - Moscow
October 11 2013

Russian investigative journalists and bloggers have uncovered an army of internet trolls paid to pour invective on the Kremlin’s opponents and heap praise on President Putin.

Posing as job applicants, the reporters discovered the government hacks working at a small company called the St Petersburg Internet Research Agency. ...”

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/asia/article3891720.ece

[ETL]

Putin is now an old-fashioned Russian imperialist. He cherishes Russia’s imperial heritage. Soviet Union was one of Russian empires, which is gone and now he intends to preside over a new one

"the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [20th] century" -Russian leader Vladimir Putin on the collapse of the Soviet Union...

"World democratic opinion has yet to realize the alarming implications of President Vladimir Putin's State of the Union speech on April 25, 2005, in which he said that the collapse of the Soviet Union represented the 'greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.'..."

"The more I see and read about Mr. Putin, in power since 1999, and his 'managed democracy,' the more apprehensive I become about the future of Russia and the safety of its neighbors.

If Putin believes that the dissolution of the Soviet Union into 15 independent states represents the 'greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century,' then it follows that Putin might well believe he should do something to repair the loss..."

http://web.archive.org/web/20090415000000*/http://www.hooverdigest.org/053/beichman.html
______________________________________

“The demise of the Soviet Union was the 'greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century',” Putin said in 2005.

http://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11102.30640.0.0/asia/moscow-puts-the-soviet-squeeze-on-neighbor-nations
______________________________________

"Putin said Stalin deserves statues in his honor "

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20131219/185734707/Putin-Says-Stalin-No-Worse-Than-Cunning-Oliver-Cromwell.html
______________________________________

"'The Black Book of Communism,'; a scholarly accounting of communism’s crimes, counts about 94 million murdered by the supposed champions of the common man (20 million for the Soviets alone), and some say that number is too low."

Forgetting the Evils of Communism: The amnesia bites a little deeper
By Jonah Goldberg, August 2008:

http://web.archive.org/web/20100711090651/http://article.nationalreview.com/365528/forgetting-the-evils-of-communism/jonah-goldberg