By Anna Giaritelli; Washington Examiner:
Russia on Monday said it will treat U.S. or coalition aircraft that fly over any of its operating areas in western Syria as targets, after a U.S. F/A-18 Super Hornet downed a Syrian bomber a day earlier.
“Any aircraft, including planes and drones of the international coalition, detected in the operation areas west of the Euphrates River by the Russian air forces will be followed by Russian ground-based air defense and air defense aircraft as air targets,” according to a Russian Defense Ministry statement.
Russia called the downing of a Syrian Air Force Su-22 jet a “cynical violation of Syria’ sovereignty.”
“The US’ repeated combat operations under the guise of ‘combating terrorism’ against the legitimate armed forces of a U.N. member-state are a flagrant violation of international law, in addition to being actual military aggression against the Syrian Arab Republic,” the ministry added.
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President Trump Has the Right To Establish and Enforce Red Line in Syria
By Brian Brinker; OpsLens:
Yesterday, the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles in response to a gas attack in Syria that appears to have been carried out by the Assad regime. The American missiles hit the Shayrat airbase near Homs, which is believed to have been the staging ground for the chemical attacks. Already, President Trump is coming under fire for the unilateral missile strikes. As someone who has been opposed to President Trump on many issues, and was vehemently against the invasion of Iraq, I believe that President Trump sent the right message by launching the missile strikes.
Two issues are likely at play. First, the Russian government almost certainly knew about the chemical weapons attacks. It’s even possible that the Russian government ordered or encouraged the Assad regime to use chemical weapons. Second, whoever the ultimate decision-maker was, he was almost certainly trying to test the Trump administration and determine if they would turn a blind eye to chemical attacks.
Another question many have been wondering is exactly how cozy Trump is with the Russian government. We know many of Trump’s aid’s, or former aids, have connections to the Russian regime. How close the President himself is, however, is more difficult to discern. Would the President tolerate a more forceful and exertive Russia? The answer appears to be no.
The Russian regime has already roundly denounced the missile strikes. The Russian government has been far slower to condemn the Syrian government for its chemical weapons strike. Instead, the Russian government has argued that A) the attack was faked, and B) the gas leak was caused by the Assad regime bombing a rebel-controlled chemical weapons lab. Numerous global experts have stepped forward to renounce the attacks.
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