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Old 04-06-2017, 09:01 PM
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Question So it begins

God help us all - that's all I can say. Assad just got a severe spanking. We made the first move. Outcome Pending or to be continued?
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O Almighty Lord God, who neither slumberest nor sleepest; Protect and assist, we beseech thee, all those who at home or abroad, by land, by sea, or in the air, are serving this country, that they, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved evermore in all perils; and being filled with wisdom and girded with strength, may do their duty to thy honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Old 04-07-2017, 09:14 AM
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What’s Next in Syria?
RE: Krishnadev Calamur - The Atlantic 4-7-17 11:55 AM
RE: http://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2017...-syria/136837/

After military strikes, the next steps are likely to be diplomatic.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has a difficult job when he heads to Moscow next week. His Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, has already compared the U.S.’s rationale for strikes in Syria—a sarin gas attack on civilians earlier in the week widely attributed to the Assad regime—to the flawed evidence the U.S. presented to the UN Security Council in 2003 to successfully make the case for the war in Iraq. And Tillerson said after the U.S. strikes that Moscow had “failed in its responsibility” to deliver on a deal it brokered with the U.S. to destroy Syria’s chemical-weapons stockpile, calling Russia either “complicit, or … simply incompetent.”

Russia will almost certainly be an obstacle to any planned U.S.-led action in Syria. Its own military is involved in the Syrian Civil War, supporting President Bashar al-Assad, so an escalation in U.S. military action is considered highly unlikely—unless the Trump administration is willing to draw a Russian response. Then there is the question of action by the UN Security Council, which could lend a global imprimatur to the U.S. action Friday (Thursday night in the U.S.), or simply issue a condemnation of the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons. Russia, one of the five permanent members of the council, is likely to veto those attempts. Russia’s account of the chemical-weapons attack also differs from that of Western governments. It says Syrian aircraft hit a rebel facility that was making chemical weapons, affecting civilians nearby.

But Tillerson’s remarks about the U.S. view of Assad suggests the U.S. is likely to pursue a diplomatic path—and that its focus will remain ISIS, which the U.S. has targeted in Syria since at least 2014.

“Overall, the situation in Syria is one where our approach today and our policy today is first to defeat ISIS,” he said Thursday night in Florida after the strikes. He said that would be followed by an effort to stabilize Syria and restore the country to local government. “In the midst of that … we will start a political process to resolve Syria’s future in terms of its governance structure,” he said. “And that ultimately, in our view, will lead to a resolution of Bashar al-Assad’s departure.”

In other words, Assad’s departure will be sought through diplomacy. That might be a position Russia could sign onto. A Kremlin spokesman told the Associated Press on Thursday, before the strikes, in reference to Assad, that “unconditional support is not possible in this current world.”

U.S. allies are more likely to sign on to any next steps—whether diplomatic or military. The Obama administration was circumspect about the use of force against Assad despite pleas from U.S. allies in Europe and NATO, who’d called for a more forceful response to Assad’s actions against his own people that have resulted in hundreds of thousands killed and a massive humanitarian crisis that has had political consequences in Europe. Trump with his missile strikes has shown he won’t hesitate to act—though it’s unclear what the next steps exactly are.

Trump said the U.S. strikes targeted a Syrian airbase from where Assad’s air force had taken off to bomb targets with chemical weapons. But with this attack by Assad merely being the latest to use such weapons, it’s unclear whether the U.S. will act every time there’s such an attack—or if there are more images of dead children, which the president said had moved him to action. Nor is it clear whether another enforcement mechanism—such as the one the U.S. and Russia attempted in 2013 to destroy Syria’s chemical-weapons stockpile—can work. Despite that agreement, which was monitored by international inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Assad has used chlorine against civilians. Of course, the U.S. strikes might chasten Assad, even if he can still count on Russia’s support, as he will now be wary of additional possible U.S. action against him.

The U.S. strikes could embolden rebels fighting Assad. Most of the moderate rebel groups are engaged in a fragile cease-fire with Assad, brokered by Russia, Iran, and Turkey. ISIS and al-Qaeda linked groups aren’t part of the truce. The Free Syrian Army, which is part of the cease-fire, called the strikes “welcome news.” There are two ongoing efforts to end the more than six-year-long civil war: the Geneva process, which has had marginal success and which involves the UN, the Syrian government, and some opposition groups; and the Turkey- and Russia-brokered talks in Astana that came after the cease-fire declaration late last year. It’s unclear what the U.S. strikes mean for the truce or either of these efforts.
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O Almighty Lord God, who neither slumberest nor sleepest; Protect and assist, we beseech thee, all those who at home or abroad, by land, by sea, or in the air, are serving this country, that they, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved evermore in all perils; and being filled with wisdom and girded with strength, may do their duty to thy honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"IN GOD WE TRUST"
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Old 04-07-2017, 09:18 AM
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Russia Cuts Military Comms With US In Syria, Signals Intent To Escalate Country’s Air Defenses
By Russ Read - Pentagon/Foreign Policy Reporter 4-7-17 12:00 PM
RE: http://dailycaller.com/2017/04/07/ru...#ixzz4da5ClEdl

The Russian government responded to the strikes on Syria with an announcement Friday that it would bolster the country’s air defense system and cut off a safety hotline with the U.S. military.

The Kremlin, a close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said President Donald Trump’s strike has already endangered Syrian airspace, so continuing communications is pointless. Additionally, the Russian defense ministry announced it will strengthen Syrian air defenses to “protect the most sensitive Syrian infrastructure facilities.”

“Amid the missile strikes, it is hardly reasonable to talk about any more increase in the risk, as the risk has increased considerably,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov in a news briefing Friday.

President Donald Trump’s strike and Russia’s response risk straining an already exacerbated relationship with the U.S., particularly regarding Syrian policy. U.S. and Russian forces established a special hotline in Syria in September, 2015, in order to maintain safety in the air and on the ground, while both countries bombed targets in the country. The U.S. military used the hotline to warn Russian forces of the impending strike Thursday night.

The Trump administration used 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles to strike Syria’s al-Shayrat airfield, which is believed to have housed the aircraft which dropped sarin gas on civilians in the country’s Idlib province, killing 72. Tomahawks are highly precise and fly at a low altitude so as to avoid enemy air defenses. The fact that they are unmanned means there is no risk of a pilot being shot down.

Russian and U.S. forces risk endangering each other both in the air and on the ground without the hotline in place. Some accidents occurred while it was still in use.

The addition of advanced air defenses in Syria also risks endangering the country’s airspace. Syria’s military currently operates the Russian-made S-200 surface-to-air missile system. A relic of the Cold War, the S-200 was first put into service by the Soviet Union in 1967, meaning it is not particularly effective against modern aircraft. Russian forces, however, operate the more advanced S-300 and S-400 systems in the country, which would have a higher (yet still nominal) chance of successfully intercepting U.S. aircraft. Supplying the Assad regime with the upgraded S-300 or S-400 could risk endangering Syrian airspace going forward.

U.S. forces have engaged in manned air strikes against Islamic State forces in Syria, but it is unclear if the Trump administration will continue striking Assad’s assets. Regardless, the lack of communication could put U.S. forces at risk going forward in the ISIS campaign alone.



Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2017/04/07/ru...#ixzz4da5wSKMp
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O Almighty Lord God, who neither slumberest nor sleepest; Protect and assist, we beseech thee, all those who at home or abroad, by land, by sea, or in the air, are serving this country, that they, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved evermore in all perils; and being filled with wisdom and girded with strength, may do their duty to thy honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"IN GOD WE TRUST"
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Old 04-07-2017, 10:02 AM
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Images show aftermath of U.S. strikes on Syrian airfield
By: Thomas Gibbons-Net 4-7-17 11:38 AM
RE: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.4c5455c316e7

(Photo's on site only)

After U.S. ships fired more than 50 cruise missiles at the Sharyat Airbase in Syria, images have started circulating online showing what appears to be the aftermath of the strikes.

President Trump ordered the missile barrage in response to a chemical attack in the Syrian village of Khan Sheikhou that killed dozens this week. The Pentagon said it watched on radar as jets from the Syrian air force took off from Sharyat Airbase in Homs province Tuesday before bombing the town with a sarin nerve agent.

[Which chemical weapon was used in Syria? Here’s what investigators know.]

The Pentagon said that the retaliatory missile strikes targeted aircraft, hangars and the base’s infrastructure, including fuel pumps and anti-air defenses. It is unclear how many aircraft were stationed at the airfield at the time of the strikes.

While the United States alerted Russia that it was going to strike prior to the attack, ABC News reported Friday that Syrian forces moved personnel and equipment before the U.S. missiles were launched. Syria’s state news agency, SANA, reported that at least nine civilians, including four children, were killed near the air base. The report could not be independently verified. It is unclear how many Syrian troops, if any, were killed.

Open-source reports indicate that the base was home to a relatively modest contingent of Su-22 ground attack jets and MiG-23 fighter aircraft. Photos taken by Russian journalists and displayed on Russian media outlets, including Sputnik, show that some of the U.S.-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles destroyed aircraft located in reinforced hangars, while some were left unscathed.

With a range of more than 600 miles, the BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile provides a large amount of standoff for forces using the weapon. Yet, because of the amount of fuel needed to get the missile to the target, the relative explosive power of the weapon is limited. The missile’s 1,000-pound warhead can either be used to pepper a target with shrapnel or be configured to penetrate a reinforced structure such as a bunker. The Tomahawk can also be equipped to disperse cluster munitions, either to disable runways or to blanket large areas with explosives. Since 1991, Tomahawks have been used numerous times in lieu of any concerted aerial campaign or ground operation, giving the $1.5 million munition a reputation for being a political talisman more than anything else.

[Why the Navy’s Tomahawk missiles were the weapon of choice in strikes in Syria]

Satellite imagery, posted to the website Strafor in December 2015, showed that the Shayrat airbase had undergone some refurbishments following Russia’s entry into the conflict in September of that year. The imagery also showed that Russian helicopter gunships had been moved to the base and one of the runways was in the process of being resurfaced.

Before the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, there had been upward of 40 flight-ready jets stationed at the relatively large-twin runway instillation, but six years of war have greatly reduced the size of the Syrian air force and some of the aircraft at the base have been left in disrepair or abandoned, according to Strafor’s 2015 analysis.

After the strikes, there appears to be little damage to the runaway, aside from some debris that needs to be cleared for flight operations to resume.

With roughly a dozen airfields under Syrian government control and robust air support from the Russian Air Force, the temporary closure of Sharyat will likely do little to dent Syrian government air operations. In the past, lawmakers such as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) have pushed for more expansive attacks against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with the goal of grounding his entire air force. After Friday’s missile barrage, McCain reiterated his desire for more strikes even though U.S. officials said they were unlikely to occur.

“Building on tonight’s credible first step, we must finally learn the lessons of history and ensure that tactical success leads to strategic progress,” McCain said in a statement. “That means following through with a new, comprehensive strategy in coordination with our allies and partners to end the conflict in Syria.”
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O Almighty Lord God, who neither slumberest nor sleepest; Protect and assist, we beseech thee, all those who at home or abroad, by land, by sea, or in the air, are serving this country, that they, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved evermore in all perils; and being filled with wisdom and girded with strength, may do their duty to thy honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"IN GOD WE TRUST"
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Old 04-07-2017, 10:04 AM
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U.S. strikes on Syria unsettle Europe’s attitudes toward Trump
By Michael Birnbaum and Sudarsan Raghavan April 7 at 11:43 AM
RE; https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...=.b9473a29805b

BRUSSELS — U.S. airstrikes against Syria unsettled Europe’s political landscape on Friday, drawing praise from leaders who have been skeptical of President Trump and condemnation from one of his closest British allies.

America’s first direct attack on the Syrian government in the six-year-old civil war upended European assumptions about Trump’s robustly noninterventionist approach toward Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, days after the Syrian government is believed to have used chemical weapons against civilians.

In the Middle East, meanwhile, reaction to the intervention broke along long-standing fault lines in a region split by the Syrian conflict, with some calling it a valid response to the use of the banned weaponry and others warning that the airstrikes could further inflame the region.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande backed Trump’s actions even though both leaders have been cautious about his approach to foreign policy. The use of chemical weapons demands a response, they said.


“President Assad holds the sole responsibility for this development,” the leaders said in a joint statement.

They gave no sign they planned to join in any anti-Assad airstrikes, nor did they say they had been invited to. France has been readier to confront Assad militarily than the United States in recent years: Hollande was in the middle of battle preparations in September 2013 when President Barack Obama scuttled plans to go after Assad following a sarin nerve agent attack in a rebel-held area of the Damascus suburbs.

ADVERTISING

But the unpopular Hollande will remain in office only until next month, and he is now likely to defer significant military decisions to his successor.

Merkel, who leads the strongest economy in Europe, has been among the most forceful voices to push Trump to hold to a values-based foreign policy, though she has been careful not to criticize him outright.

Early Friday, the U.S. military launched 59 cruise missiles from two ships stationed in the Mediterranean Sea, targeting a Syrian air base. The assault, authorized by the Trump administration, was in response to a chemical attack that killed scores of civilians, many of them children, this week in the northern Syrian province of Idlib.

In a sign of how polarizing Trump remains in Europe, the U.S. intervention was condemned by Merkel’s leading challenger in Germany’s September elections.

“This is the time for talks — not for bombs,” wrote center-left Social Democratic leader Martin Schulz on Twitter.

Britain also offered its backing to the U.S. military attack but said it would not be participating.

“We fully support what the Americans have done,” British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon told the BBC.

Fallon called on Russia to use its leverage with Assad to end the Syrian war, and said that “we will all be working much harder” to achieve a political settlement.

Fallon said the United States had not asked Britain to participate in the strikes and that any British decision to get involved would require the consent of Parliament. He suggested that the government would not be seeking that approval.

In 2013, the House of Commons blocked British participation in an anticipated U.S.-led air campaign against Assad — a move that contributed to Obama’s decision to nix those plans.

But Trump’s biggest backer in Britain — populist firebrand Nigel Farage — broke with the American president on his first major military decision.

In a tweet, Farage said that “many Trump voters will be worried about this military intervention. Where will it end?”

[Russia condemns U.S. missile strike on Syria, suspends key air agreement]

For America’s Middle East allies, Friday’s operation has long been awaited.

Saudi Arabia, which is a major supplier of weapons and financial assistance to several Syrian opposition groups, including some radical Islamists, has long called for a no-fly zone to protect civilians. The Sunni kingdom’s leaders were disappointed, even angered, by the previous administration’s decision not to carry out airstrikes after the 2013 chemical attack.

On Friday, Riyadh said it “fully supports” the U.S. strikes and applauded Trump’s decision to launch them as brave response to hold the Syrian government accountable.

“#Saudi Arabia praises courageous decision by @POTUS to respond to Syrian regime’s crimes against its people as intl community fails to act,” read a tweet from the Saudi Embassy in Washington.


In Turkey, home to more than 3 million Syrian refugees, officials described the airstrikes that struck the Shayrat air base in Homs, Syria, as a positive response.

The air base is believed to be where chemical weapons were loaded onto aircraft that carried out the bombing in Idlib. The Syrian government claims that its airstrikes hit a rebel factory where chemical weapons were being made, releasing the toxins. But U.S. military officials are convinced that the Assad regime carried out the massacre.

“The destruction of Shayrat air base marks an important step to ensure that chemical and conventional attacks against the civilian population do not go unpunished,” said Turkey’s presidential spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin.

Israeli leaders also embraced the U.S. move.

“In both word and action, President Trump sent a strong and clear message today that the use and spread of chemical weapons will not be tolerated,” the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. Israel has long opposed Assad’s regime.

Other Israeli leaders viewed the American operation as sending a message not only to the Assad regime, but also to his backers, particularly Tehran.

Iran, which along with Russia has long backed Assad in his attempt to crush his opponents, denounced the U.S. airstrikes. The Shiite theocracy’s state news agency quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman describing the attacks as “dangerous, destructive and a violation of international laws to use it as an excuse to take unilateral actions.”

“Iran strongly condemns any such unilateral strikes,” spokesman Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying. “Such measures will strengthen terrorists in Syria. . . and will complicate the situation in Syria and the region.”
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O Almighty Lord God, who neither slumberest nor sleepest; Protect and assist, we beseech thee, all those who at home or abroad, by land, by sea, or in the air, are serving this country, that they, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved evermore in all perils; and being filled with wisdom and girded with strength, may do their duty to thy honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"IN GOD WE TRUST"
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