It's a crowded country — especially because it's full of soldiers who shouldn't be there
This post first appeared on Russia Insider
Everyone knows that Washington is allowed to send its soldiers anywhere in the world, for whatever reason, and for whatever purposes.
But does Russia know this?
Apparently not, because according to a breathless Foreign Policy article, Russia nearly killed a whole bunch of American soldiers who were never invited to come to Syria and are there illegally as foreign invaders. Goodness gracious:
Russian and Syrian jets nearly hit U.S. forces in northern Syria on Tuesday when they attacked positions held by Syrian Democratic Forces, a critical American ally in the effort to expel the Islamic State from Syria, the top U.S. general there said Wednesday.
It was a situation that U.S. commanders have been trying to avoid since Russia deployed dozens of aircraft to Syria in late 2015. There are about 500 American troops are on the ground training Syrian Arab and Kurdish fighters in northern Syria in the runup to the assault on the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, and the Russians have shown themselves to be indifferent over who, or what, they strike with their unguided bombs.
A situation that U.S. commanders have been "trying to avoid"? Really? Here's a quick fix: Don't deploy your soldiers to countries that don't want them there.
According to the article, "American advisory forces" were "fewer than five miles away" from the Russian airstrike.
So in layman's terms: American soldiers who are not supposed to be in Syria were miles away from an airstrike that had the full blessing of the Syrian government.
Russia's blatant disregard for international law knows no limits.
UPDATE: " Neither Russian nor Syrian air forces had bombed positions of Syrian Arab coalition fighters supported by Washington in Syria on Tuesday, Russia's Defense Ministry has said, rejecting accusations put forward by a US military commander."
So a fictitious Russian airstrike almost killed American soldiers who shouldn't be in Syria? Even more outrageous.
This post first appeared on Russia Insider
Anyone is free to republish, copy, and redistribute the text in this content (but not the images or videos) in any medium or format, with the right to remix, transform, and build upon it, even commercially, as long as they provide a backlink and credit to Russia Insider. It is not necessary to notify Russia Insider. Licensed Creative Commons
Our commenting rules: You can say pretty much anything except the F word. If you are abusive, obscene, or a paid troll, we will ban you. Full statement from the Editor, Charles Bausman.