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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| US secrecy on Baghdadi raid exposes distrust of NATO ally Turkey |
| 2019-10-31 |
| [France24] Islamic State (IS) group chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was found and killed over the weekend in northern Syria just a few miles from the Turkish border in a US raid that evaded the Turkey’s Incirlik base, in a sign of the increasing distrust between US and Turkish militaries. Kinda exactly like the lack of trust in the Paks during the Abottabad attack The compound where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was targeted early Sunday is located near the village of Barisha in northwestern Syria barely three miles from the Turkish border in Idlib, a province that has come to be known as "the last refuge of Syrian rebels" resisting President Bashar al-Assad’s forces. But it was an odd last refuge for the self-styled "caliph" of the IS group ‐ one that underscores the conflicting interests of the players, and their backers, in the Syrian war. While the international community has welcomed Baghdadi’s killing, his location and the manner in which the US raid was planned and executed highlights the security threats that still dog the region and beyond. Barisha village lies in a zone marked "rebel control" on Syrian battle maps, and is where an estimated three million people, mostly civilians, coexist with a witch’s brew of jihadist groups, including al Qaeda’s Syrian branch and a number of allied or warring factions. Most of them are mortal rivals of the IS group. Turkey has about a dozen military observation posts in Idlib that monitor the rebel area, where the Turkish-backed rebel Free Syrian Army ‐ now confusingly called the National Syrian Army (NSA) ‐ also operate. Ankara has emerged as a guarantor of sorts for the Idlib pocket, after Turkey negotiated a ceasefire with Russia and Iran in May under the Astana process. The deal saw the establishment of a buffer zone, which Turkey wanted, to protect Idlib residents from Assad’s offensive. In return, Turkey was required to remove all jihadist groups, including al Qaeda affiliates and breakaway groups, from the province. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #7 Because we found the tool in their garage? |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2019-10-31 16:14 |
| #6 ^ Exactly. I had just added that note in green |
| Posted by: Frank G 2019-10-31 11:24 |
| #5 Probably for the same reason that we didn't notify Pakistan before we got Bin Laden. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2019-10-31 08:48 |
| #4 Treating Turkey just like Congress. Very interesting. |
| Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 2019-10-31 08:32 |
| #3 Trump and Putin tried to be friends. They still share a nonchalant camaraderie. But while Russia is Putin, Trump is not America. The collusion scandal when it began, looked to me like a desperate way to distance the American president from Russia forever, by a deepState haunted by McCarthy's ghost. Then they saw a coup in it and went for the jugular. It never looked like a well thought out scam anyway, more like a script written on-set. Trump had to posture for no reason in Venezuela for some time and you were once again officially at odds with them. But that's just one perspective, considering the effects and not means of things. |
| Posted by: Dron66046 2019-10-31 08:25 |
| #2 Why the f--- are we so beholden to Turkey and so hostile to Russia? Why can't we come to an understanding with Russia and reduce our vulnerability to our Turkish non-ally? Can anyone play this game? |
| Posted by: Lex 2019-10-31 08:05 |
| #1 It would seem the raid was begun in Israel, followed the Med offshore, then turned into Syria. Thus the notification of Russia which has radar operating from Tartus. If we had trusted Turkey it could have begun from Incirlik. |
| Posted by: Chereting Pelosi1889 2019-10-31 08:01 |