Jason Harvestdancer
Contributor
The US government has shot down a warplane belonging to the Syrian Air Force. I know that most Americans think it is the right of the US to shoot anyone, anywhere, at any time. But I'm not in that majority. So I will put it in perspective with a mock headline.
Syrian Jet shoots down US Jet over Chicago in self defense
Yep, that's the excuse of the US.
There are three foreign powers with major involvement in Syria, and two of them were invited in by the government of Syria. I'm not one to hold governments in high regard, I regard the difference between a legitimate government and an illegitimate one as the difference between a legitimate and illegitimate turd. But I can still recognize which government is the legitimate one and therefore the one to have the authority to invite other countries to intervene. The Assad government, a real turd, is still the legitimate turd, and has invited Iran and Russia in to help the Syrian government. The US is there without an invitation, even though the US leadership thinks an invitation is not required.
So far it wasn't so bad, as long as the US only acted against insurgent groups. Of course that is supposed to include ISIS, and some people say that ISIS is the US stooge in the area. But this time the US acted in what is unquestionably an act of war. I've had people defend drone strikes as not acts of war, even though they are, as limited strikes. But this was a manned jet shooting down a manned jet.
This prompted a response from one of the countries that has any business there - Russia declared their own control over Syrian air space. They declared that coalition jets can be considered valid targets. This is following an unequivocal act of war by the US. Usually the US plays the game by provoking the other side until they hit first and then claim justification through victim status, but there is no victim status for the US following the shooting of a Syrian warplane. The US hit first. No real or false-flag of "they hit first".
Now all forces are closing in on the Deir el-Zour valley. It is a last stronghold of ISIS, but also a long holdout of a group aligned to the Syrian government. Iran, Russia, and Syria are there to defeat ISIS. Meanwhile Russia also recently confirmed that the U.S. had, indeed, deployed a long-range rocket launcher to the Al-Tanf base in Syria — a region where no ISIS fighters are present. Rather, that area is filled with Iranian-backed militia fighting under the banner of the Syrian Arab Army. Clearly ISIS is not the target of that launcher.
I don't give primary blame to Trump. I think he's not concentrating on foreign policy. He's busy with other stuff while he is basically letting the military run on autopilot as it carries out the last orders given by Obama and Hillary. But he's also not paying enough attention to stop it from getting worse, which he really should considering the stakes. If he really was a Russian puppet as so many tinfoil hat wearers think, this would be a great time for his puppet masters to avert World War Three. If they don't, the Pentagon might start it while Trump isn't paying attention.
Syrian Jet shoots down US Jet over Chicago in self defense
Yep, that's the excuse of the US.
There are three foreign powers with major involvement in Syria, and two of them were invited in by the government of Syria. I'm not one to hold governments in high regard, I regard the difference between a legitimate government and an illegitimate one as the difference between a legitimate and illegitimate turd. But I can still recognize which government is the legitimate one and therefore the one to have the authority to invite other countries to intervene. The Assad government, a real turd, is still the legitimate turd, and has invited Iran and Russia in to help the Syrian government. The US is there without an invitation, even though the US leadership thinks an invitation is not required.
So far it wasn't so bad, as long as the US only acted against insurgent groups. Of course that is supposed to include ISIS, and some people say that ISIS is the US stooge in the area. But this time the US acted in what is unquestionably an act of war. I've had people defend drone strikes as not acts of war, even though they are, as limited strikes. But this was a manned jet shooting down a manned jet.
This prompted a response from one of the countries that has any business there - Russia declared their own control over Syrian air space. They declared that coalition jets can be considered valid targets. This is following an unequivocal act of war by the US. Usually the US plays the game by provoking the other side until they hit first and then claim justification through victim status, but there is no victim status for the US following the shooting of a Syrian warplane. The US hit first. No real or false-flag of "they hit first".
Now all forces are closing in on the Deir el-Zour valley. It is a last stronghold of ISIS, but also a long holdout of a group aligned to the Syrian government. Iran, Russia, and Syria are there to defeat ISIS. Meanwhile Russia also recently confirmed that the U.S. had, indeed, deployed a long-range rocket launcher to the Al-Tanf base in Syria — a region where no ISIS fighters are present. Rather, that area is filled with Iranian-backed militia fighting under the banner of the Syrian Arab Army. Clearly ISIS is not the target of that launcher.
I don't give primary blame to Trump. I think he's not concentrating on foreign policy. He's busy with other stuff while he is basically letting the military run on autopilot as it carries out the last orders given by Obama and Hillary. But he's also not paying enough attention to stop it from getting worse, which he really should considering the stakes. If he really was a Russian puppet as so many tinfoil hat wearers think, this would be a great time for his puppet masters to avert World War Three. If they don't, the Pentagon might start it while Trump isn't paying attention.
