US Sends Bradley Armored Vehicles to Syria in “Signal to Russia” After US-Russia Road War Claims First Casualties

Withdrawal or WW3? As usual Trump can't make up his mind

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The Pentagon is deploying a small number of U.S. troops to Syria after a series of escalating encounters between the U.S. and Russian militaries, according to three U.S. defense officials.

The troops and vehicles will serve as a show of presence to discourage the Russian military from crossing into the eastern security area where U.S., coalition, and Syrian Democratic Forces operate, the officials said.

The additional troops will include six Bradley Fighting Vehicles and fewer than 100 soldiers operating in northeast Syria on a 90-day deployment.

A U.S. official said, “These actions and reinforcements are a clear signal to Russia to adhere to mutual de-confliction processes and for Russia and other parties to avoid unprofessional, unsafe and provocative actions in northeast Syria.”


While U.S. military and Russian forces have come in contact at checkpoints and along highway M4 in Syria throughout 2020, on Aug. 17 U.S. and Syrian Democratic Forces came under small arms fire after passing through a checkpoint near Tal al-Zahab, Syria. The U.S. and SDF had permission from the pro-Syrian regime forces manning the checkpoint, but then began to take fire from unidentified forces nearby. The U.S. and SDF returned fire and did not suffer any casualties. U.S. officials said the small arms fire likely came from Syrian and Russian forces.

The most serious incident this year occurred several days later, when seven U.S. soldiers were injured when Russia military vehicles sideswiped a U.S. military vehicle in northeast Syria. Three U.S. officials said the Russian vehicles intentionally collided with the Americans and then several Russian helicopters flew low and fast over the scene, which one official said was “extremely provocative.” The Russian vehicles were outside of their agreed-upon operating area without notice, the officials said. [Agreed upon by the Pentagon. Obviously, the Russians would not be there if it was their impression such a thing had been agreed upon.]

U.S. Central Command spokesperson Capt. Bill Urban characterized their actions as “deliberately provocative and aggressive.”

In an exclusive interview with NBC News, the commander of U.S. Central Command decried the Russian misbehavior and lack of professionalism on the ground, saying it “got us into a dangerous situation where a Russian ground patrol actually came into the eastern Syria security area, an area they were not authorized to be in.”

“We’re very lucky that our guys on the ground were able to keep that from turning into a larger incident,” said Gen. Frank McKenzie. “That was a concerning moment. And had it gone another way, we might have been in trouble there and they might have been in trouble, too.”

The encounter was the most provocative between the U.S. and Russia in Syria since February 2018, when hundreds of heavily-armed Russian private military contractors, equipped with tanks and artillery, attacked joint area where both U.S. and Syrian Democratic Forces were operating. The U.S. flew in AC-130 gunships and other attack aircraft to stop the assault, killing as many as 300 of the Russian mercenaries, all believed to be working for the Wagner Group, a private Russian military contractor. [Utter nonsense.]

McKenzie said the U.S. continues to conduct security patrols with the SDF but the Syrian partners are actually carrying out the majority of the tactical operations and actual fighting. “Those patrols are always conducted with our SDF partners. You’ll never see a U.S. element out there moving alone, it will always have SDF affiliated with it when they move.” [Actually, no SDF (Syrian Kurds) is visible in the video of sideswiping incident when US vehicles moved to interfere with Russian movement, or in numerous other videos of Americans trying to block the Russians’ path.]

“The op tempo is pretty high up there and they’re pretty active,” he said.

The decision to add more troops to Syria comes after the Trump administration announced it would withdraw nearly half of the troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan in the coming weeks. The U.S. will drawdown from about 5,200 in Iraq to about 3,000 by the end of September, and from 8,600 in Afghanistan to about 4,500 by the November election.

“We constantly evaluate and re-evaluate the tactical position and we make adjustments to posture designed to give the troops on the ground what they need to be better protected as they carry out their mission,” McKenzie said. “Therefore, our forces in Syria, we believe that we give them what they need to execute the missions that they’ve got and we pay keen attention to force protection as they do that.”

Source: NBC

17 Comments
  1. cap960 says

    Invaders can see no wrong…

  2. Mary E says

    The US has such a short memory! The Russian military was requested by Assad to go into Syria to assist in protecting their country from US and Israeli invasion…The US was NOT invited in, in fact, told to get out and stay out of Syria. But the US military(brass and troops on the ground) are acting and talking like the Russians are the intruders! Totally delusional….and illegal (against international law)…
    All that to protect Israel! There was never a declaration of war by the US Congress and the US taxpayers are footing the bill..And we must note: the US is stealing Syria’s oil and selling it (or giving it?) to Israel for their military to use. Unbelievable!

    1. itchyvet says

      Spot on, and what is the rest of the bloody World doing about it ??? Not lifting a finger, terrified they might be sanctioned.

  3. cechas vodobenikov says

    fake news quotes fake MSM news…no Russians killed…more fabricated amerikan lies
    amerikans can drive vehicles; they have never learned how to manipulate eating utensils
    leave Syria you fascist cave dwellers

  4. disqus_3BrONUAJno says

    It would be easier if CENTCOM would just read their freaking mail.

  5. Saint Jimmy (Russian American) says

    This book looks as though it could be very good… A review of it at Off-Guardian:

    Nothing Ever Happened: A review of Seeking Truth in a Country of Lies, by Edward Curtin.

    https://off-guardian.org/2020/09/19/nothing-ever-happened/

  6. thomas malthaus says

    http://www.cluborlov.com/

    Dmitry Orlov on Russia, the US, the Russian Orthodox Church, and societal and economic collapse.

  7. Mike says

    American politicians and the Pentagon must be to dumbest people on earth. Their cowboy tactics poorly attempting to block Russian forces got them into trouble and now, because of their own stupidity, they are sending more people and Bradleys thinking they will get the bigger end of the stick.

    Tell me, which part of you are there illegally don’t you understand?

    1. Raptar Driver says

      The people that run this country are completely retarded. There are many smart, good people here but they don’t stand up, they don’t push the idiots back. This is a problem.

      1. jm74 says

        Then those who you label as being ‘smart, good people’ can’t be too smart or good if they don’t stand up to the ‘idiots’. US citizens elect their ‘idiots’, no one else does so the onus is on the US citizens who keep on re-electing those ‘idiots’.

        1. Raptar Driver says

          It has nothing to do with being smart or good, they are facing an overwhelming fight and they are afraid. This is normal, it is human nature.

      2. disqus_3BrONUAJno says

        Why should we be there in the first place?

      3. Mike says

        You are right. I should not generalize. My bad! I made changes to my post.

    2. Hist 83 says

      Ditto very well put Mike, American politicians have always been dumb.

  8. BBK says

    Good men are waking up attempted distractions like this will become increasingly futile.

  9. Pablo says

    “U.S. Central Command spokesperson Capt. Bill Urban characterized their [the Russians] actions as “deliberately provocative and aggressive.”. Oh that’s priceless coming from a spokesperson from a Country that was NOT invited into Syria and is not wanted there by the Elected Syrian Government. The US War Machine dictated the Safe Zone and the Russians obliged, apparently to avoid conflict with the US War Machine.

    1. itchyvet says

      The U.S. are ILLEGAL INVADERS, AND ILLEGALLY OCCUPYING Syrian territory. I couldn’t care less what bullshit excuse they try on, the FACTS are plainly evident for anyone to see. Go home Yanks, no one wants you there.

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