Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by on Saturday March 11 2017, @02:18PM   Printer-friendly
from the can-you-say-quagmire? dept.

Several hundred marines have deployed into Syria with artillery guns, as part of the ongoing preparation for the fight to push ISIL out of its self-declared headquarters of Raqqa, a Pentagon spokesman has confirmed.

The marines are pre-positioning howitzers to be ready to assist local Syrian forces, according to US officials.

The deployment is temporary. But it could be an indication that the White House is leaning towards giving the Pentagon greater flexibility to make routine combat decisions in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/ISIS).

[...] In addition, the US is preparing to send up to 1,000 troops to Kuwait to be ready to join the ISIL fight if they are needed, officials said. [...] The latest troop movements come on the heels of the recent temporary deployment of some dozens of army forces to the outskirts of Manbij, Syria, in what the Pentagon called a "reassure and deter" mission.

[...] Under the existing limits put in place by the Obama administration, the military can have up to 500 US forces in Syria, although temporary personnel do not count against the cap.

The special operations fighters are ostensibly there to train and assist the Syrian Democratic Forces, an umbrella group of Kurdish and Arab fighters that have proven to be a key ground asset in the US-led coalition's battle against ISIL.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/03/marines-syria-170309014847784.html


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by bradley13 on Saturday March 11 2017, @07:20PM

    by bradley13 (3053) on Saturday March 11 2017, @07:20PM (#477832) Homepage Journal

    That's about right. Basically, the US created and armed the organizations that became terrorists. They became terrorists, at least in part, because the US kept attacking/funding/arming different groups, switching sides, and generally throwing gasoline on an already volatile situation. In the case of Syria, the US tried to topple the government by funding and arming revolutionary organizations (including Al Qaeda, at the exact same time the US was attacking Al Queda in Afghanistan). Now the US is deploying against the very forces that arose out of this. But still not supporting the Syrian government, just sort of coincidentally shooting at some of the same targets. I'm sure this makes sense to someone, as long as that someone enjoys watching the Middle East go up in flames.

    Ya know, it would be best if the US just got the f*ck out of the Middle East. Stop stirring the pot, and GTFO. Maybe, in a generation or two, things might regain some degree of normalcy.

    The Shrub involved the US in four wars (Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Somalia). Barack "Peace-Prize" Obama continued Bush's four, and added another three (Yemen, Libya and Syria). We'll see what Mr. Trump does...

    --
    Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +3  
       Insightful=2, Informative=1, Total=3
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   5