In my last blog about our so-called war against ISIS, I failed to mention anything about our confrontations with Russians. There have been a number of cases where Russian planes had "buzzed" our planes and had bombed rebel encampments. We have protested, but the Russians have simply ignored our protests and continue to behave like they own the skies above Syria.
When Russia entered the war in Syria, we went through an elaborate process of establishing a "hot line" so that there would not be "accidents." The "hot line" was established so that we could directly communicate with the Russian headquarters about any possible dangers involving unintentional confrontations between our and their aircrafts. It is a great idea, but it only works if both sides abide by the established rules and are willing to communicate.
Most recently, two days ago, two Russian SU-34 fighter bombers attacked a known rebel staging area near Jordanian border. This rebel compound is/was used to stage and train rebel forces for mainly fighting ISIS in Syria. Since this was a CIA supported compound, there were no doubt US trainers and advisors on the ground. The US headquarters watched with surprise and horror as the Russian fighter bombers went directly for the compound, seen clearly on radar as well as video screens! The Russian planes bombed the compound, causing death and injury to rebel forces. Our HQ immediately picked up the red "hot line" phone and called the Russian HQ. You guessed it, they would not answer the phone! In desperation we scrambled two FA-18s to provide cover for the rebel forces while they tried to evacuate from the compound. In the meantime, the Russian jets left, being low on fuel. Our planes followed them at a distance and watched them refuel in midair from an air tanker. Our planes returned. The Russian planes, after refueling, returned for another bombing run!
No amount of trying to communicate with Russian HQ seem to work. Direct communication, aircraft to aircraft by our communications plane in the air also failed. The Russian pilots were obviously under orders to completely ignore any attempts by us to communicate with them! Why didn't our planes at least attempt to interfere with the bombing? Why bother to send the planes to provide "cover" if they are not allowed to do anything? Our planes should have shot down those Russian planes! At the very least they should have fired warning shots to divert the attack. But obviously they were under strict orders not to do anything, lest we provoke the ire of Russians!
This is exactly what I meant in earlier blogs when I said that Putin had our number! Putin, after testing the air, found that Obama wasn't going to do anything if he pushed. So he pushed, took Crimea and later a portion of eastern Ukraine. I have no doubt in my mind that the Russians have orders to operate freely and ignore our warnings. Shooting down those Russian jets would not have started World War Three or any kind of an armed conflict with Russia as some in our government seem to fear. It would have instead sent a signal to Putin that he cannot bully us as he has been doing! Remember, the Turks shot down a Russian plane that had entered Turkish airspace! Nothing happened except that Putin spouted some threats and now Russians are very careful about entering Turkish airspace. We, on the otherhand, allowed Russian planes to bomb a rebel compound that more than likely had US personnel on the ground. We had two planes in the air supposedly to "defend" the compound yet they were not allowed to do anything! Just how were they supposed to provide "cover" for evacuating rebels? The Russians came back for a second run after refueling!
This incident took place after the 51 US diplomats signed a petition of protest, saying that we should be more aggressive in our policy in Syria, that we should bomb Assad's forces! I can well imagine what those 51 diplomats, who put their careers on the line with this protest, must feel now, after the latest incident! We are behaving very cowardly, completely gutless. Putin is counting on it and has formed his policy in dealing with us on that basis. He has no respect for our leadership! Just think about it! Turkey, a country that is certainly not a world power, shoots down a Russian plane without hesitation when it entered its air space and refused to respond to the commands to turn back. Russians made threats, lot of noise after the incident, but nothing happened. If Turkey can react to Russia's bullying tactics like that, why can't we? We, instead, try to play down such incidents as the one that just occurred. There may have very well been American deaths involved in this last incident, either CIA personnel or Special Operations trainers/advisors. But you can bet that the public will never hear about it!
I believe that our military leaders, especially those in Pentagon, should be more vocal and let their dissatisfaction over our so called "Policy in Syria" be known. Although one hears occasionally of individual officers who object to the way we are conducting the war in Syria, there has not been a large group, certainly not like the 51 in the State Department who risked their careers in their protest. Perhaps if more military officers objected, Obama and his people would listen.
Currently there are critical articles appearing in some publications written by former military officers (usually retired). I have yet to see a critical article that has been written by an active duty officer.
I know that there are many out there who are very critical of our State Department personnel. Our diplomats are often referred to as "cookie pushers" and by other more unkindly names. But remember, that so far, only these "cookie pushers," "the pin-striped wimps" were the ones who risked their careers by openly protesting our worthless policy and conduct of war in Syria!
No comments:
Post a Comment