I initially covered these allegations as they were breaking in this post
Unknown planes bomb ISIS position in Northern Iraq- Pentagon: Not US
US planes were identified by Iraqi television, but the Saudi Al-Arabiya network claims that the raid was carried out by Syria
BBC Arabic reported earlier on Tuesday that unmanned American aircraft had bombed the area of al-Qaim.Right away we have conflicting narratives.
CBC-
U.S. officials said Syria launched airstrikes into western Iraq on Tuesday in an attempt to slow insurgents fighting both the Syrian and Iraqi governments.BBC was claiming Maliki welcomed these strikes, but BBC has since retracted that claim. (Reported by the Guardian)
Maliki said both countries were threatened by Isis as the group continues to make gains in Iraq. Initial translations of his BBC interview suggested Syria had struck inside Iraq, but these were later corrected.The claims of a Syrian airstrike most likely originated with someone affiliated with ISIS. Or western intelligence assets
Fox News-
An official in Iraq’s Anbar province and Mohammed Al Qubaisi, a doctor in the area’s main hospital, told The Wall Street Journal that missiles fired from what appeared to be Syrian warplanes hit a market, a bank and a municipal building on Tuesday
We have Syria immediately and officially denying these moves
Iraq air strike claims false, says Syrian government
Syria denied Wednesday reports that its air force bombed a market place in western Iraq, killing up to 25 people.h/t kamnam-
Syria's official news agency SANA quoted an Information Ministry spokesman as denying that Syrian warplanes attacked Al Qaim in the western Iraqi province of Anbar on Tuesday.
“News saying that Assad forces had carried out air strikes on the Iraqi Al Qaim district are not true,” SANA quoted the ministry spokesman.
We also have Ziad at Syper telling us the airstrikes may have happened, but, Ziad is telling us this has not been verified. I have the utmost respect for Ziad. And acknowledge he has the insider perspective.
SANA and the Syrian Ministry of Information has been playing down Syria’s role in the air over Iraq because there was a belief that the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki did not want to publicize its need for assistance in the areas we just mentioned. The disavowal by the Syrian MoI and blame cast on “biased media sources” for the reports puzzled us because it seemed that supporting the Iraqi government was a badge of honor. We suspect that Minister ‘Umraan Al-Zu’bi will relent on this issue since the cat’s out of the bag. SyrPer was the first to report the air assault on Tal ‘Afar, by the way.
However, I am staying with my original assessment. For a few reasons
-Syria has not gone outside of it's border, previously. To my knowledge
-Syria taking this kind of action would most certainly bring much trouble from the US.
-Syria has her hands full within the borders of Syria
One last reason: Thursday, it was reported armed predator drones began to fly over Iraq
But the drones could have been flying on Wednesday?As the first armed American drones began flying over Iraq on Thursday
Updated!-
Indeed Armed drones may have been flying when Wednesday's attack took place
Back to my Wednesday post-The official said the flights started in the last 24 to 48 hours to bolster manned and unmanned reconnaissance flights the military has been sending
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby rejected on Tuesday reports that the US had carried out a drone strike targeting hardline Islamist militants on the Iraq-Syria border.
Therefore,without further verification, I have to still stay with my assessment of this not being a Syrian airstrike into Iraq. And await some substantive information. Hopefully Ziad will get some?
Ford calls for emergency aid asap
ReplyDeleteSyria troops crushing rebels in the north
Kerry in Saudi: " Syrian opposition leader Ahmad Jarba, who has long sought to form a stronger national Syrian army grouping all rebels, met U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during trip to Saudi Arabia on Friday. "
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2014/06/27/Syrian-rebel-command-sacked-over-graft-allegations-.html
Syrian troops making gains / offensive near Lebanon Border
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/syrian-troops-advance-near-lebanon-border/2014/06/27/5c8651c4-fdf6-11e3-91c4-01dcd9b73086_story.html
Syrian government forces captured areas near the border with Lebanon on Friday, cutting supply lines for opposition fighters as the army tightens its grip northwest of the capital, state media said.
Now factor in those Israelis strikes on .mil targets.
Put it together with the US delays in responding to ISIS: US intelligence about the Islamist insurgent offensive in Iraq is improving but it could take weeks to complete a detailed picture of the threat.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/us-takes-time-to-gather-data-before-any-attacks-on-isil-in-iraq/articleshow/37320852.cms
Dial back to 2006 when Israel was granted a winbdow in lebanon:
Meanwhile in Israel, military officials said they need another two weeks to finish off Hezbollah, as the Iran-backed terrorists fired more than 100 rockets and missiles into northern Israel.
http://nypost.com/2006/07/19/hezbollah-is-targeting-u-s-we-welcome-world-war-3-terror-fiends/
I've no doubt that SOMEBODY fired missiles into Northern Israel, but I don't know who, and Israel will claim it's somebody they want to murder anyway.
DeleteI used to be a fan of Israel until they sank Liberty, knowing it was an unarmed American ship, so now I don't care what happens either in, or to, Israel. If Israel were to vanish from the planet, that would be fine with me.
thanks for all the links!!
DeleteI've no doubt that SOMEBODY fired missiles into Northern Israel, but I don't know who, and Israel will claim it's somebody they want to murder anyway.
DeleteOr perhaps no one fired missiles into Israel and Israel just lied?
That could be the case
by way of deception....
Operative NYpost line:
ReplyDeleteThe United States has given Israel a one-week window to inflict damage on the terror group before pushing for a cease-fire, the paper says, citing British, European and Israeli sources.
Hmm. It seems entirely possible that the missile attack upon obviously civilian targets would fit the hideous profile of US drone strikes, and I rather lean toward thinking that the drones were active on Wednesday, killed the Iraqi citizens, and the murders were lied about, which is what the US does. All the time. Now that Iraq has the Sukhoi 25s from Russia and Belarus with experienced aviators, ground crews and armorers, this would be a very, very, VERY good time for Maliki to tell the US to take a hike - - grab our Green Weenies, your drones, your embassy, and get off the property. Now! Since Iraq was left without a 'real' air force (on purpose, in my opinion), the promised F16IQs would not be delivered for another year (I doubt they would ever have shown up), and Iraq is handling its internal troubles without US help, there is no valid reason for the US to stick around. Note: elements of the 1st US Marine Division are reportedly scheduled for combat deployment to Iraq in February, US Army combat forces also scheduled for combat deployment to Iraq in February. This from Paul Joseph Watson on Infowars.com on Friday. Although I've not been able to verify the reports, the deployments are almost a given, since Obummer said, flat out, that there would be no US combat troops deployed to Iraq. Whatever he says, the opposite is generally true, so - - yeah, us taxpayers are going to get stuck with the bills for another war on behalf of Big Oil. I sincerely hope that the Iraqi government is finally beginning to grow a third and fourth brain cell, but we'll see.
ReplyDeletethanks for the comment-
Delete"Since Iraq was left without a 'real' air force (on purpose, in my opinion)'
I would wholeheartedly agree!