US to Intensify Anti-ISIL Campaign to Counterbalance Russia, Iran
The
United States has decided to intensify military efforts against the
Islamic State in response to Russia’s air campaign and to counter
Russian and Iranian influence in the Middle East, former Pentagon
official Steven Bucci told Sputnik.
28
October, 2015
WASHINGTON
(Sputnik) — On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said
the United States was bolstering efforts to fight the Islamic
State a day after reports surfaced that the Pentagon was
considering embedding US Special Forces with local units in Iraq
and Syria.
"There
is concern that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s support
of Iranian policy objectives will destabilize the region, and
therefore needs to be counterbalanced," Bucci said
on Tuesday.
Russia’s
more robust military action, which is primarily intended to support
Syrian President Bashar Assad, Bucci claimed, has nevertheless left
President Obama’s anti-Islamic State policy looking less
than effective.
"There
is no doubt that the Russian actions have influenced this decision."
The
fact the United States, Bucci added, has spent a lot of time and
effort replacing the Soviet Union, which is now Russia, as the
major influencer in the Middle East is another contributing
factor.
On
September 30, Russia began an air campaign against Islamic State
terrorists in Syria at the request of Syrian President
Bashar Assad.
Russia,
Syria, Iran and Iraq have established the Baghdad Information Center
in the Iraqi capital to coordinate intelligence and
security cooperation against the Islamic State.
Boots on the Ground: Pentagon to Launch 'Direct Action' in Syria and Iraq
In
a major reversal for the US military, US Defense Secretary Ashton
Carter announced Tuesday that the Pentagon will begin "direct
action on the ground" in Iraq and Syria, in an effort to the
combat the self-proclaimed Islamic State terrorist group
28
October, 2015
Last
week, US forces conducted a rescue operation in northern Iraq.
Working alongside Kurdish forces, the maneuver led to the
freeing of hostages being held by IS. Curiously, the
Pentagon insisted that the mission “represents a continuation
of our advise and assist mission,” and should in no way
be thought of as US boots on the grounds.
But
speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday,
Defense Secretary Carter indicated that not only would be US forces
be deployed in Iraq to fight the terrorist group, but also
in Syria.
"We
won’t hold back from supporting capable partners
in opportunistic attacks against ISIL, or conducting such
missions directly whether by strikes from the air or direct
action on the ground," he said.
Responding
to the rescue op last week, Carter said that continued missions
in the region could mean that American soldiers "will be
in harm’s way, no question about it," telling NBC
News that "this is combat and things are complicated."
On Tuesday, the defense secretary also acknowledged that Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler, a US commando involved in the IS raid, was "killed in combat."
In
response to Carter’s announcement, Russian President Vladimir
Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, stressed that the Kremlin
is waiting for more details on Washington’s plans.
"It’s
not an announcement, no," he told reporters. "Not until we
know, until we clarify the details, what [the Pentagon] has
in mind. For now it’s not clear."
Hawks
in Washington have been calling for a more aggressive
stance on Syria after the embarrassing failure of the
Obama administration’s plan to train and equip so-called
"moderate" rebels. Originally hoping to create a
fighting force of 5,000, the program fell apart after the
CIA was only able to identify a handful of "moderates."
Of those, most surrendered to IS soon after being sent
into the field.
The US has also insisted that the only way to insure peace in the region is to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power. In its own fight against IS, Moscow has maintained that the fall of the country’s legitimate government would only lead to more conflict, and that no one but the Syrian people has the authority to decide who is in power.
On
Tuesday, Congress expressed its frustrations to Carter over the
US’ muddled foreign policy. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham
described Washington’s effort in Syria as a "half-assed
strategy at best," and said that the US is not doing a
"damn thing" to achieve its goals in the country.
US ground ops in Syria ‘illegal’, may lead to ‘unpredictable’ consequences
The CNN version
What will they dream up next?!
The Russians are after your internet!!
The stories of Russian aircraft flying in international airspace but “dangerously close” to US or UK (or Norwegian) airspace (no mention of far more numerous NATO flights on Russia borders) are getting old now so here's The New York Times with a reshuffle:
Now Russian subs (only the Russian?) are sailing “dangerously close” to undersea cables. Gasp! The Russians are sabre rattling again!
RT television channel Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan said Tuesday that she was outraged at the proposal by a former US assistant secretary of state that the United States must freeze RT assets
In
the latest ‘McCainikaze’ attack on President Putin, RT and
anything else that happens to inhabit the 11 time zones between
Murmansk and Vladivostok, David J. Kramer offers an embarrassingly
reckless plan to “knock Putin on his heels.”
Yes,
at the very same time the Russian leader has his hands full battling
Islamic terrorists that US smart bombs just aren’t smart enough to
hit, Kramer, senior director for human rights and democracy at the
McCain Institute for International Leadership (a do-tank, as opposed
to think-tank, according to its website), has decided it’s a good
time to go after RT.
“Wouldn’t
it be nice to go on the offensive, in a non-military way, to knock
Putin on his heels, while also shutting down his odious propaganda
machine? Here’s how it can be done,” schemes Kramer.
Cold war is the name given when the relationship of USA and USSR developed.
ReplyDeleteCold War