Kimberly Marten, War On The Rocks: The Puzzle of Russian Behavior in Deir al-Zour
A frightening event in U.S.-Russia relations unfolded in February near Deir al-Zour in eastern Syria, as both sides battled the remnants of the Islamic State. In violation of a 2015 deconfliction agreement that divided the area into zones of Russian and U.S. military control, around 500 pro-Syrian fighters – most of whom spoke Russian, but whose citizenship remains unverified – crossed the Euphrates River to the U.S. side from the Russian-controlled zone. On Feb. 7 these fighters used Russian tanks, artillery, and mortars to attack a U.S.-supported Kurdish opposition outpost located next to a Conoco natural gas plant. Local U.S. forces first fired back at the attackers using anti-tank missiles and machine guns, and then called in massive air strikes as the fighters continued their attack. The resulting four-hour battle killed 200 to 300 of the attacking forces, according to documents released by the Pentagon. The casualties included a large number of fighters from the Wagner mercenary group of Russian and pro-Russian veterans who had earlier fought on Moscow’s side in eastern Ukraine. (No U.S. or Kurdish casualties were reported.)
In other words, at a time of high geopolitical tension, the military forces of one nuclear superpower directly engaged hundreds of heavily armed and hostile citizens of another nuclear superpower, who may or may not have been acting at the behest of that superpower.
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WNU Editor: The debate on using Russian military contractors is now becoming very public and vocal in Moscow .... Russian Military Veterans Tell The Kremlin To Come Clean On Private Contractors Fighting In Syria (July 6, 2018)
2 comments:
Back in the old days, the Soviet Union would always present a military challenge to a new US President early in his first term. This was expected at the time ever since Harry Truman’s days. I see the battle in that light, an attempt by Putin to gauge Trumps’s willingness to defend US interest against a direct Russian challenge by actors not directly tied to the Russian government. A test in other words.
People have forgotten those old Soviet tactics.
Yeah maybe.. but these are different times.. the challenges are coming in different cycles and different forms (e.g. cyber) and are under-reported..
Also, remember how a few months back nearly 200 Russian paramilitary soldiers got killed? We still don't know why (and I didn't like it by the way, I honestly think we should not kill Russians, unless we absolutely have 0% chance to avoid it, which was probably the case there, but we should certainly not brag about it, as some of us have done... keep in mind, we may be at low-level conflict with Russia at the moment.. but it is mostly Putin we have an issue with --NOT-- with Russians, who are outstanding people and fun to be around with, so I hope anyone reading this will remember to show respect to those dead Russians who were probably sent toward that American base without knowing who they are attacking or why)..
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