An F-15C leaves its English base for Turkey on Friday. Air Force / Nigel Sandridge
Mark Thompson, Time: U.S. and Russia Sending Weapons to Syria Best-Suited for Shooting at Each Other
Deployments raise questions about possible targets
Those heartbreaking stories of a youngster killed by a parent’s wayward gun can lead one to wonder: what the heck was Dad thinking? Yet something similar seems to be happening as Russia and the U.S. deploy forces to fight in Syria.
While they’re battling different rebel groups inside that wartorn land—the U.S. is going after the Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria, while the Russians are mostly battling other rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad—neither of those outfits has an air force.
Yet six F-15C fighters—which can only fight other warplanes—arrived in Turkey on Friday. The planes “were deployed after the Government of Turkey requested support in securing the sovereignty of Turkish airspace,” the U.S. Air Force said. While it added that the planes “will conduct combat air patrols in Turkish air space,” there’s also a fair chance they’ll be used to escort U.S. and allied warplanes attacking ISIS targets inside Syria.
WNU Editor: Mark Thompson's is correct .... even though though both sides are stating openly that they will respect each other over the skies of Syria, there have been instances in the past where misunderstandings/miscommunication/and simple mistakes have resulted in accidents and deaths. Both sides are now operating independently over a war-zone .... to say that this situation has become ripe for a disaster is an understatement.
Update: Putin Moves Anti-Aircraft Missiles into Syria: Why? -- Rob Garver, Fiscal Times
1 comment:
Seems the US administration has a theory that Putin's bluffing and if they raise the ante enough he'll fold his tent and go back to Moscow. They maybe right, but you raise the stakes enough there comes a point of no return even for you.
Post a Comment