Danny Leffler, Task & Purpose: The US Has Nearly Defeated ISIS in Syria, But It May Be Stumbling Into A Bigger War With Russia And Iran
On Feb. 7, the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS unleashed a torrent of airstrikes and artillery fire in a far-flung area of eastern Syria. The barrage was successful, beating back hundreds of fighters attempting to overrun a position held by coalition forces and their local allies. The action might have gone largely unnoticed — the coalition has, after all, carried out nearly 15,000 airstrikes in Syria — but for one thing: These bombs didn’t fall on ISIS, they killed forces loyal to the Syrian government.
The incident, which came amid a Turkish offensive against U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in Syria’s north, is the latest troubling sign that the United States may soon find itself caught up in a conflict volatile enough to engulf an entire region. It also exposes a more disconcerting truth: Defeating ISIS militarily, long the main U.S. goal in Syria, is likely just the easiest part of a more protracted fight. Now that the group’s physical caliphate has effectively fallen, the conflict — and the U.S. role in Syria — is about to become a lot more complicated.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: The Russians have no interest in starting a war against the U.S. .... and definitely not over Syria. The Iranians and the Syrian regime are a different story .... especially the Iranians. I have had the impression for a long time that the Iranians are itching for a fight, but for the moment they are poorly positioned to threaten the U.S. and its allies in Syria .... doubly so after last weeks massacre of Iranian-backed Syrian allies and Russian mercenaries in eastern Syria. Bottom line .... no big war .... at least for now.
4 comments:
I can assure you neither the US, Europe or NATO want to harm Russia. We all have Russian friends, neighbours etc. No war from our side either. If you consider that Russians just attacked a base with US soldiers in it, the response was only self defence.. nobody asked for hunting them down or demanding explanations from Russia. We know these things can happen and that Russia doesn't want to truly harm us either. It's just old competitions and misunderstandings. And when big militaries clash - even for just a night - dozens or hundreds die,as was the case a few nights back. But no one enjoys this. Those who do need to leave the army and seek treatment.
Strong Russia-strong USA and all is good.
On Iran:I don't believe the younger or educated people, or those who traveled a bit and saw how peaceful our countries are, wish a fight with us either. Neither do we.
I don't think America really wants a major war. As for Russia, at this point, I am not sure. As an American, I am pretty sure how I would feel if Russia had behaved in the same manner toward America as our government has toward Russia.
"I can assure neither the US, Europe, or NATO want to harm Russia." Okay?!!? Really?!!? Then DROP THE SANCTIONS and ELIMINATE NATO EXPANSION TO RUSSIA'S BORDERS as per the agreements that ended the first Cold War. These changes in policy cost the US and the "west" nothing and have huge upside potential benefit. Oh, and drop the support for the CHUMP Ukrainian government that is hostile to Russia.
Many Russians are convinced the US orchestrated this coup. I wouldn't go that far but active support of this government post coup by the US was/is clearly bad optics. Was there an agreement not to expand NATO to Russia's borders? I think there was. In any event, there was no good reason to do so. As such, STOP IT!! Also, make clear that Ukraine will never be a member of NATO as long as the US is and the US will never support Ukraine joining the EU. these moves cost nothing and have huge upside potential.
So you don't want to harm Russia. Talk is cheap. Put your money where your mouth is so to speak and carry out the appropriate actions. At some point, we are going to pay reparations to Russia for sanctions unjustly imposes. The longer it continues the cost of the bill gets bigger. When in a hole, stop digging!!
Additionally the Russian government very likely views the endless color revolutions in former Soviet Republics and various actions by NGOs that appear aimed directly at undermining the Russian government during the post Cold War 1 era as hostile acts. How much of a role the US government played in these events is not known, however, the failure of the US government to actively condemn these actions and forcefully telling these various actors to KNOCK IT OFF and acting accordingly is definitely bad optics. To make matters worse, actions that appear to be support for these things are not going to be helpful either.
Changing the policies essentially costs nothing and has huge upside potential benefits. Continuing the policies is extremely risky for no real gain. Any Putin replacement will be even more hostile towards America. As such, if America and the "west" were stable and focused extreme caution would be being taken NOT to destabilize the Putin government or the nations around Russia with forces hostile to Russia.
An accidental acceleration of a conflict between Russia and America is definitely possible and something we would want to avoid. I suspect the conflict that recently happened was an accidental one. Such accidental confrontations will happen in such an environment. Our people appear to have "won" this round. I'm IMMENSLY glad our people "won." What did we "win?" Our people are still alive, A VERY GOOD THING!!! Let's pray it stays that way and that they don't come back maimed for life or suffering horribly with PTSD.
Additional "victory," some kind of retribution by Russia, Iran, Syria, and others is all but certain now. Round 2 may not go so well for us. (Sarcasm off.) Now, at least there is a silver lining, men in leadership on both sides seem to be trying to defuse this.
"The US has nearly defeated ISIS in Syria." Admittedly in the fog of a cold or hot war it is sometimes hard to read what is happening clearly. With that said the US is likely in position to take full credit for the defeat of ISIS in Syria or elsewhere. This appears to have been a team effort by allot of different groups and countries. The US role appears marginal at best in this. At times, the US government has seemed more interested in opposing Assad than they have been in fighting ISIS. This has not been exactly helpful.
Old Norse saying: If you are in the latrine when the shit falls, you might get flushed want it or not...Russia there
Common we all know you're Russian and only say you're American to undermine the US. It's such a waste of time. Just be proud of your Russian heritage. Nothing wrong with being Russian. It's just a bit pathetic to keep on trying to BS everyone about your sincere intent
Post a Comment