Syrian Civil War

Syrian Forces Closing on Special Operations Base Hit with US Air Strikes

Syrian military forces loyal to embattled President Assad ignored warnings about approaching a small US base that houses its Special Operations Forces this week and was hit by a US-led airstrike.

This was the second attack in just the past month against Assad’s forces by US airstrikes in what the Defense Department characterized as self-defense measures.

“Despite previous warnings, pro-regime forces entered the agreed-upon de-confliction zone with a tank, artillery, anti-aircraft weapons, armed technical vehicles and more than 60 soldiers posing a threat to Coalition and partner forces based at the at Tanf Garrison,” the U.S.-led coalition said in a statement.
The statement said the U.S.-led coalition communicated with the advancing forces through an existing hotline set up to ensure that Russian and U.S. aircraft can operate safely in Syrian airspace. Despite the warnings, the Syrian forces continued to advance, prompting the U.S.-led coalition to destroy two artillery pieces and an anti-aircraft weapon, according to the statement. A tank was also damaged.
It is unclear how many troops were killed or wounded in the bombing run and what legal rationale might cover the U.S.-led forces continued strikes on Syrian government forces operating within their borders.
On May 18, U.S. forces struck a convoy of pro-Syrian-government forces that were driving in the direction of the U.S.-base at Tanf. After warnings, both through the hotline and overhead passes, U.S. aircraft struck a number of their vehicles. That convoy, roughly 18 miles from the U.S. outpost, came to halt. In response, the U.S.-led coalition added additional “combat power” to help defend the Tanf base and dropped more than 90,000 leaflets telling the Syrian forces to leave.
“We are not increasing our role in the Syrian civil war, but we will defend our troops,” Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters after the May strike. “And that is a coalition element made up of more than just U.S. troops, and so we will defend ourselves [if] people take aggressive steps against us.”

The Tanf base, which houses British as well as American Special Operators, is located on a key highway in an area where the borders of Iraq, Jordan, and Syria meet and is considered of vital importance.

To read the entire article from Washington Post, click here:

Photo courtesy Associated Press

Turkey Readies For “Aggression” From US-Backed SDF in Raqqa

The US-backed coalition of Kurds and Arabs of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have begun their long-awaited assault on the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliphate in Raqqa. The forecast for the battle has it that it will be long and costly as the IS fighters are cut off from any support.

But the government of Turkey released an ominous warning that they’ll be watching the SDF for any aggression to their own interests. Turkey considers the Kurds terrorists in their country which makes the entire alliance against the IS on shaky ground.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Binali Yildrim said Turkey would act immediately should any perceived threats arise from the Syrian Democratic Forces’ operations to recapture the city of Raqqa from the so-called “Islamic State” (IS).
Yildrim made his remarks in Ankara to deputies from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Law and Justice Party on the same day that the SDF launched an attack on the IS stronghold from the east, north and west.
Yildrim said Turkey was taking precautions in case its interests were threatened
The SDF, a roughly 50,000-member alliance backed by the United States, largely consists of Arabs and fighters from the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish militia formed in 2011 that Turkish officials consider a terrorist organization. The Turkish government has been facing a Kurdish insurgency, primarily from the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), in areas of southeast Turkey since 1984. Officials in Ankara have expressed concern that a YPG takeover of Raqqa, about 55 miles (90 kilometers) south of Turkey’s border, could embolden Kurds in their fight for autonomy.
But the United States views the SDF as key partners in the fight against IS in Syria and has provided the alliance with air support, training and weapons.
The United States also began arming the YPG directly to help them battle the approximately 3,000-4,000 IS fighters believed to still be in Raqqa.
IS seized Raqqa in 2014 and made the city the Syrian capital of the group’s self-declared caliphate – the counterpart to the group’s besieged former stronghold of Mosul in Iraq. The SDF’s launch of its operation to retake Raqqa on Tuesday comes after months of violent back-and-forth fighting aimed at eventually expelling the militants from the city.
Read: Civilian casualties surge as anti-IS coalition moves towards Raqqa
Using a common Arabic acronym for IS, SDF spokesman Talal Silo said late Monday that the battle to retake Raqqa would be “fierce because Daesh will die to defend their so-called capital.”
But “morale is high and military readiness to implement the military plan is complete, in coordination with the US-led coalition,” Silo added.
The offensive would be “long and difficult,” but that retaking the city would be a “decisive blow to the idea of ISIS as a physical caliphate,” said Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, the commanding US military leader, using a common English-language acronym for IS, Reuters reported.

Fighting has begun at the eastern and northern edges of the town and officials believe that it will take several weeks to clear the IS fighters. Clearing the town’s narrow streets will prove difficult and the IS fighters have forced the civilian men in the town to wear the traditional garb that they favor, something that will make it difficult to differentiate between IS fighters and civilians.

To read the entire article from Deutsche Welles, click here:

Photo courtesy Reuters

Will the US Policy of Annihilation and Humiliation Work?

The United States has shifted its focus from a war of attrition against ISIS and radical Islamism to one of annihilation and humiliation. Secretary of Defense James Mattis outlined the plan recently and he believes that this is a plan that the US and its allies can win.

But the big question is, will this plan work? History is basically against Mattis’ plan although the theory of destroying the enemy on the battlefield is always a prerequisite to winning a war. But against an enemy that melts away into the civilian population, it is easier said than done.

Mattis pointed to the battles for Mosul and Tal Afar as models for how these tactics will be implemented in other places. In both cases, forces on the ground, some with U.S. help, have surrounded IS targets to try to prevent Islamic State militants from retreating and foreign fighters from leaving the battlefield to return home. The forces then advance and clear these cities block by block, a hard task that takes time. This is what Mattis described as annihilation. The Islamic State’s greatest strength on the battlefield has been its ability to retreat and regroup, and the goal of annihilation is to destroy that strength. But this strategy comes with a high price. Iraq sent its best trained and equipped fighters into Mosul first, and casualty rates were reportedly around 50 percent for some units. The battle is about to enter its eighth month.
According to Mattis, this will be the blueprint for destroying the Islamic State’s caliphate, and the table is being set to apply this model on the de facto IS capital of Raqqa. Mattis is optimistic that IS will lose this fight, but even if this happens, the challenge will then be to prevent another group like IS from emerging.
This is where the humiliation tactics come in. In his interview, Mattis pointed out that the fight against the Islamic State is not just a military conflict. It is “a fight about ideas.” Mattis said the Islamic State’s recruiting and fundraising capabilities must be destroyed. The way to do this is to degrade the IS “message of hatred and violence” and any nation that would support it.
This is easier said than done. At multiple points in the interview, Mattis emphasized that the U.S. does everything possible to avoid civilian casualties, which he said differentiates the U.S. from its adversaries. On the simplest level this is true. The U.S. does not target civilians; the Islamic State does. But reality is more complicated. People who have lost loved ones in an accidental U.S. airstrike take no solace in the fact that the U.S. tries to avoid civilian deaths.

Mattis’ best hope is to get the US’ European and Middle East partners to completely buy into this line of thinking. If they do, and our partner nations do their part, then the plan has a chance of success until the next foe rises from the ashes.

To read the entire article from the Geopolitical Futures click here:

Iran Wants Military Base in Syria Near Israeli Border

The civil war in Syria has been a bloody affair and if the Iranian government gets its wish, the bloodshed will spread beyond the Syrian borders. With the defeat of the Islamic State in Syria, Iran wants a military base in southern Syria along the border with Israel and Jordan.

The move would be to weaken US influence in the region, eventually forcing the United States out and then opening up another avenue which to attack Israel and the Jordanians, one of the US’ closest allies in the region.

“A permanent Iranian military base in Syria, potentially near the border with Israel or Jordan, would increase Iran’s operational capacity to inflict serious damage against two of our closest allies in the region,” Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Ill., and Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
That warning points to the strategic significance of the Syrian civil war, beyond the importance of defeating the Islamic State. Trump’s team has authorized an intense barrage of airstrikes on ISIS, while opening the door to cooperation with Russia; a senior State Department official recently attended a peace talks summit between Syrian President Bashar Assad and opposition forces that was led by the Russians. But Russia is propping up Assad in partnership with Iran, which means the defeat of ISIS could inaugurate a new phase of regional rivalry.
Roskam and Deutch have a similar concern. “Iran is actively working to establish a permanent military presence in Syria,” they wrote Tillerson. “The Islamic Republic seeks to solidify its access to the Mediterranean Sea by building a permanent seaport and constructing numerous military installations throughout the country. A permanent Iranian military presence in Syria would greatly harm U.S. interests in the region and decrease the likelihood of reaching a political agreement to end the Syrian civil war.”

Nothing good can come from the Iranians having a permanent military presence in Syria. Attacks against Israel and Jordan would soon follow and the region can ill-afford that bloodshed to escalate.

To read the entire article from the Washington Examiner click here:

Photo courtesy Getty Images

Flynn Allegedly Axed Military Plan While Receiving 500K From Turkey

The hits keep coming for the Trump administration. The latest report states former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn blocked a plan to take the Islamic state’s caliphate in Syria at Raqqa using Kurdish forces. This was while receiving more than $500,000 from Turkey to do lobbying for them. The Turks opposed the plan and consider the Kurds to be terrorists.

Flynn was fired by Trump in late February, but was registered in Washington as a lobbyist and was paid $530,000 before the November election.

Paperwork filed in March with the Justice Department’s Foreign Agent Registration Unit said Flynn and his firm were voluntarily registering for lobbying from August through November that “could be construed to have principally benefited the Republic of Turkey.”
The McClatchy news service reported that President Obama’s national security team asked for Trump’s approval on a plan to retake the Islamic State’s de facto capital of Raqqa, because it was more than likely to be carried out under his presidency.
Timelines distributed by members of Congress show that Flynn told then national security advisor Susan Rice to hold off, delaying the operation for months.
Trump eventually approved the plan, but only after Flynn had been fired in February for misleading Vice President Mike Pence and other white House officials about his ties to Russia’s ambassador to the U.S.
It was only weeks later in March when Flynn disclosed to the Foreign Agent Unit Registration Unit of the Justice Department that he was paid for work that “could be construed to have principally benefited the Republic of Turkey.”

Meanwhile, The New York Times reported Wednesday that Flynn informed Trump’s transition team that he was under federal investigation before he was hired.

The Justice Department appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as the head counsel to investigate charges of undue Russian influence on the Presidential election.

To read the entire article from Fox News, click here:

Photo courtesy NBC

Turkey Threatens Military Action against U.S.-allied Kurds

The government of Turkey in response to the news that the Trump Administration is going to arm the Syrian Kurds with heavy weapons has threatened to take military action against them.

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis spoke to the media on Wednesday and said that the US and Turkey were having open discussions but was confident that the two sides would work things out.

Mattis also vowed that the US would help Turkey defend its southern border stating that it is “Europe’s southern border” as well.

“Turkey’s message to the Trump administration was that Turkey reserves the right to take military action,” said a senior Turkish official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Turkey has already conducted limited strikes against the U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in northern Syria in recent weeks, but it could increase the tempo of those strikes, Turkish officials said. American officials have complained bitterly to Turkey, a NATO ally, about the airstrikes, which have targeted the principal U.S. partner in Syria in the fight against the Islamic State.
Any further military action could also potentially complicate the offensive on Raqqa, the Islamic State’s symbolic capital and its last major stronghold after the Iraqi city of Mosul, which is besieged by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces. U.S. officials are concerned that Turkey could send forces into northern Syria and draw the Kurdish fighters away from the Raqqa battle.
Turkey views the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, as an existential threat. The YPG, which dominates a U.S.-supported force known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), is affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
In a news conference Wednesday, Erdogan said that Turkey’s “patience has ended” and that he hoped the United States would reverse its decision.
“We want to know that our allies will stand not with a terrorist organization but with us,” he said.

This puts the planned assault on the ISIS-held city of Raqqa in jeopardy. The US feels that the YPG group of Kurds is the best available unit to launch the attack.

In an attempt to allay Turkish fears, a Defense Department spokesman on Wednesday at the Pentagon said that any material given to the Syrian Kurds would be carefully monitored to “make sure that it’s being used for exactly the purpose that we intend.”

To read the entire article from the Washington Post, click here:

Photo courtesy Reuters

US to Arm the Kurds with Heavier Weapons, Against Wishes of Turkey

The United States is going to provide the Kurd forces in Syria with heavier weapons as they prepare to attack the key Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

The Trump Administration’s decision is not being met with much happiness in Turkey as the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan views the Syrian Kurdish group also known as the YPG is an extension of Kurdish terrorist organization that operates in Turkey.

The U.S. sees the Kurds as its most effective battlefield partner against IS in northern and eastern Syria.
After lengthy deliberations, the administration approved plans to provide additional weaponry to the Kurds. A full list wasn’t immediately available, but officials had indicated in recent days that 120mm mortars, machines guns, ammunition and light armored vehicles were possibilities. They said the U.S. would not provide artillery or surface-to-air missiles.
The U.S. officials who disclosed the Trump administration decision weren’t authorized to publicly discuss the matter and demanded anonymity. They described no firm timeline, with the American intention to provide the new weapons to the Syrian Kurds as soon as possible.
Senior U.S. officials including Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have met repeatedly with Turkish officials to try to work out an arrangement for the Raqqa assault that would be acceptable to Ankara. The Turks have insisted that the Syrian Kurds be excluded from that operation, but U.S. officials insisted there was no real alternative.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to visit President Donald Trump in Washington next week. An Erdogan adviser, Ibrahim Kalin, met on Tuesday with Thomas Shannon, the State Department No. 2 official.

Back in April, the Turks launched an airstrike on the Kurds’ bases in Syria and Iraq. The Turkish military said it killed at least 90 militants and wounded many others. The Kurds released a statement saying that 20 of its fighters and media activists were killed in the strike, which was followed by cross-border clashes.

US military officials feel, and rightfully so, that this won’t help the cause of moving the ISIS group out of Raqqa.

To read the entire article from the Business Insider click here:

Photo courtesy Reuters

“Israeli Missile Strike” Hits Damascus Airport in Syria

The Syrian city of Damascus was hit by missile strikes at dawn on Thursday morning and according to the official news source SANA, warehouses and a fuel tank were damaged. The Israelis reported conducted the missile attack at the Damascus airport.

But according to Syrian rebel forces, the missiles struck an arms depot used by Hezbollah. Hezbollah and its main source of support, Iran, are backing the government forces of Assad and are considered by Israel to be their worst enemy.

The Israelis issued a statement in which the said that the explosion was “consistent” with its policy to prevent Iran smuggling weapons to Hezbollah. But their statement stopped short of claiming responsibility for the strikes.

The Israelis according to Haaretz said ‘Hours before the blasts, which took place at 3:25 A.M., two Iranian 747 cargo planes, an Iranian Ilyushin il-76 and a Syrian Ilyushin il-76 landed in Damascus, according to the flight radar tracking site Flightradar24.com. The flights were both military and commercial, all taking off from Tehran, Iran.’

Two senior rebel sources based in Damascus told Reuters news agency that the missiles had hit an ammunition depot in a closed military area that was used by Iran-backed militias operating alongside the Syrian army, led by Hezbollah.
Appearing to confirm Israeli involvement, Intelligence Minister Israel Katz told Israeli Army Radio: “I can confirm that the incident in Syria corresponds completely with Israel’s policy to act to prevent Iran’s smuggling of advanced weapons via Syria to Hezbollah in Iran. Naturally, I don’t want to elaborate on this.”
“The prime minister has said that whenever we receive intelligence that indicated an intention to transfer advanced weapons to Hezbollah, we will act.”
The Israeli military declined to comment on the reports.

With the Russians reportedly strengthening the Syrian air defenses after the US cruise missile strike earlier this month, there were questions on how Israel would act. The Israelis hit Hezbollah targets since the civil war began.

An earlier attack this month destroyed 100 missiles destined for Hezbollah. But the Syrians launched missiles at Israel earlier this month as well. One of them was intercepted by Israeli missile defense systems.

The Israeli’s and Benjamin Netanyahu have made it clear that they’ll continue to hit any Hezbollah targets as they see fit.

To read the entire article from BBC click here:

Photo courtesy AFP