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‘Crusaders!
Infidels! Dogs! Get out!’ US-backed rebels force US commandos to
leave Syrian town
RT,
17
September, 2016
“Five
or six” US special forces troops had to withdraw from the town of
al-Rai on Syria’s border with Turkey, after allies from the Free
Syrian Army (FSA) had driven them out, calling them “infidels”
and “crusaders,” several media outlets have reported.
The
Turkish military, which last month openly crossed the Syrian border
to fight against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), has admitted
that US soldiers are providing a supporting and coordinating role in
the operation being carried out between the Syrian towns of Azaz and
al-Rai, Reuters reports.
At
least two videos circulated on Twitter on Friday evening appeared to
show that they were not welcome in al-Rai.
The
footage shows a group of agitated men, gathered in the town square,
shouting anti-American slogans in Arabic, as a cavalcade of vehicles
passes by.
The
chants include: "Down with America," "Get out you
dogs," and "They are coming to Syria to occupy it."
Voices in the background call the US troops “pigs” and
“crusaders.”
"We
don't want a single American fighting in Syria alongside us,"
says a man in the second video. "We are Muslims, we are not
infidels. Get out!"
Reuters
cited a US official and a “senior rebel commander,” who confirmed
that a protest had taken place, which ended with US troops making
their way back towards the Turkish border.
Later,
a group of rebels purporting to be representatives of Ahrar
al-Sharqiya, a militia operating in the area, circulated a video
statement, saying that US support of Kurds, who are also fighting
Islamic State, was behind their protest.
"We
and other FSA groups fighting in and around Aleppo say that we remain
a free army, and refuse to fight on the side of Americans, who
support the terrorist Kurdish PKK. We are halting all military
activities until US troops leave the region."
The
US State Department spokesman John Kirby said the "rhetoric"
used by the rebels was “not appropriate” and acknowledged that
the opposition “is not a monolith,” but still praised the overall
success of Turkey’s operation inside northern Syria.
“We
knew all along that the Turkish forces would be teaming up with some
opposition forces, and in this they have been successful. So, let’s
keep in mind the greater goal, which was to choke off that stretch of
border so that [ISIS] can’t use it,” he said during a press
briefing in Washington.
Riam Dalati
New photos undoubtedly cast away doubts over identity of #USA #SOF in #AlRai #Cobanbey with US-trained #Syria #VSO
“We’ve
discovered this many times in Muslim world, where the US deploys its
troops, whether it’s Iraq, or Afghanistan, or Syria, it is seen as
the enemy, the occupier. Secondly, the incident highlights the
problems the US has been having in identifying moderate Syrian rebels
– despite spending billions of dollars 'developing' them - and the
fact that this is coming from the supposed allies in the FSA isn’t
actually surprising,” Max Abrahms, an associate professor of
political science at Northwestern told RT.
The
Pentagon says it has allocated 40 special operations forces
combatants to participate in the Turkish incursion. According to CNN,
the joint effort has been labeled Operation Noble Lance, and is the
first time the two forces have fought side by side on Syrian soil
since the start of the conflict.
Barbara Starr
New US SOF mission in northern Syria to advise assist Turks is called "Operation Noble Lance" US officials tell CNN
The
Damascus government of Bashar Assad earlier condemned Turkey’s
crossing of the border a “breach of sovereignty.”
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