Military commander accuses UK of ‘letting down’ allies in Syria

Beginning in September, Russian Federation has directly intervened in the war in Syria, deploying thousands of fighters and carrying out airstrikes, which have overwhelmingly targeted US-backed anti-Assad rebels. Those who have argued for more extensive US support for “moderate” anti-Assad forces maintain that only significant military pressure, augmented by a “no-fly zone” enforced by USA air power, can bring Assad to the negotiating table.

American airstrikes over Syria have intensified during the past week as the USA expands its operational ties to rebel groups fighting on the ground and deploys more warplanes to an air base in nearby Turkey, Defense Department officials say.

Barnacle’s reasoning was rooted in the idea that Vietnam began similarly, when the USA sent special advisors to help the South Vietnamese.

Bolton told IJ.com that Obama’s decision to send the special operations forces is “a political gesture”, not a military one.

The objective is to determine what further military cooperation can develop. “So, they are force multipliers for a force that is much larger than 50, but is [composed of] local people”, he said. “There’s nothing quite like the face-to-face contact”.

“While this deployment is an American toe into the Syria conflict, Washington is not eager to enter and I think will stay off the slippery slope to Iraq or Vietnam.”

“I don’t think we should play the decisive military role because it runs the risk of adding fuel to the radicalisation of IS as an abhorrent cult”.

For the foreseeable future, the new US personnel will not do joint operations with those Syrian groups nor serve as forward air controllers to guide USA and coalition aircraft to targets.

The USA strategy for defeating Islamic State calls for us and allied forces to bombard the militants from the air while local forces fight on land.

Downing Street insisted the Government’s position “has not changed” over action in Syria with the Prime Minister “clear that there is a case for doing more” but “greater consensus” was needed among MPs.

Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

As stated in the October 30 article for The Guardian, “Obama orders USA special forces to “assist” fight against ISIS in Syria” by Dan Roberts and Tom McCarthy, a former U.S. diplomat named Robert Ford, who was ambassador to Syria from 2010-2014, “warned the United States appeared to be committing to a relationship with a Kurdish group that has been recently accused of human rights abuses and is tied with groups on the U.S.’s own lists of terror organizations”. Another dozen more F-15 fighter bombers also are on their way.

“Daesh, ISIL, they have a caliphate that extends across that border”. He is as responsible as Islamic State for the wave of refugees that has poured out of Syria.

But Obama has just over a year left in office.