Thursday, December 17, 2015

Russia's 'No-Fly Zone' In Syria Is Hampering U.S. Air Operations Against The Islamic State

An S-400 air defence missile system is deployed for a combat duty at the Hmeymim airbase to provide security of the Russian air group's flights in Syria. © Dmitriy Vinogradov / Sputnik

Josh Rogin & Eli Lake, Bloomberg: New Russian Air Defenses in Syria Keep U.S. Grounded

There is a new crisis for the international effort to destroy the Islamic State, created by the Kremlin. The U.S. has stopped flying manned air-support missions for rebels in a key part of northern Syria due to Russia’s expansion of air defense systems there, and the Barack Obama administration is scrambling to figure out what to do about it.

Russia’s military operations inside Syria have been expanding in recent weeks, and the latest Russian deployments, made without any advance notice to the U.S., have disrupted the U.S.-led coalition's efforts to support Syrian rebel forces fighting against the Islamic State near the Turkey-Syria border, just west of the Euphrates River, several Obama administration and U.S. defense officials told us. This crucial part of the battlefield, known inside the military as Box 4, is where a number of groups have been fighting the Islamic State for control, until recently with overhead support from U.S. fighter jets.

WNU Editor: What did the U.S. and everyone think was going to happen when Turkey shot down a Russian bomber. This is one of those cases where an unreliable ally (Turkey) .... with its own agenda and priorities .... initiated actions that have put us to where we are today. This is also one of those situations where this unreliable ally can allay the situation by admitting its mistake .... paying  compensation .... and promising that it would not do it again. Unfortunately .... Turkey has made it very clear that it is not going down this road .... hence the "no-fly zone".

4 comments:

James said...

WNU,
The Turkish foreign minister has alleged claimed on TV that Turkey could occupy Russia in seven days. I hadn't realized Putin had expanded it's visa program so dramatically.

phill said...

lol

Unknown said...

"The Turkish foreign minister has alleged claimed on TV that Turkey could occupy Russia in seven days. "

If they could have, they would have.

Unknown said...

Turkey wants to tangle with the bear that would have ate them in the 1850s except fro Britain and France, which no longer have credible militaries.

Meanwhile the Bear would be backed up by the Dragon and unchallenged by our president, who has more flexibility since the election of 2012. He must have studied yoga or the Kama Sutra or something. You never know what people learn at Man's Country in Chicago.