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Top Russian and U.S. generals discuss Syria bombing allegations - Kommersant

 

FILE PHOTO - Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, arrives for the opening ceremony of the International Army Games 2017 in Alabino, outside Moscow, Russia, July 29, 2017. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

 

MOSCOW (Reuters) - General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of Russia’s general staff, spent an hour on the phone with U.S. Marine General Joseph Dunford discussing Pentagon allegations that Moscow bombed U.S.-backed fighters in Syria, the Kommersant daily said on Sunday.

 

U.S.-backed militias said they came under attack on Saturday from Russian jets and Syrian government forces in Deir al-Zor province, a flashpoint in an increasingly complex battlefield.

 

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias fighting with the U.S.-led coalition, said six of its fighters were wounded in the strike.

 

Russia's Defence Ministry on Sunday rejected the allegations, saying its planes only targeted Islamic State militants and that it had warned the United States well in advance of its operational plans.

 

Kommersant, citing unnamed military sources, reported that Gerasimov and Dunford, chairman of the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, had spent an hour on Saturday discussing the allegations by phone.

 

It said Moscow routinely gave the United States at least two hours warning of any strikes in Syria and then shared information afterwards about which targets had been struck.

 

(Reporting by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-09-18

[727Sky]

Hummm Russia was invited/asked to help defend a sovereign country.. Where is the invite for US bought and paid for forces who are trying to topple Assad ? Without Russia and Iran plus the newly supplied and invigorated SDF Syria would have probably fallen by now and we would be looking at another Libya or worse.

 

 

Edited September 18, 2017 by 727Sky

[craigt3365]

21 minutes ago, 727Sky said:

Hummm Russia was invited/asked to help defend a sovereign country.. Where is the invite for US bought and paid for forces who are trying to topple Assad ? Without Russia and Iran plus the newly supplied and invigorated SDF Syria would have probably fallen by now and we would be looking at another Libya or worse.

 

 

Dodgy at best.  Even Wiki has removed references to this organization.

[rudi49jr]

1 hour ago, 727Sky said:

Hummm Russia was invited/asked to help defend a sovereign country.. Where is the invite for US bought and paid for forces who are trying to topple Assad ? Without Russia and Iran plus the newly supplied and invigorated SDF Syria would have probably fallen by now and we would be looking at another Libya or worse.

 

 

' Russia was invited/asked to help defend a sovereign country'.

So that makes it OK for Russia to carpet-bomb whole towns and villages full of innocent people? Then you probably also don't mind Saudi Arabia's involvement in Yemen, they were also just asked to help defend a sovereign country, right? That they are committing war crimes in doing so, just like Russia did in Syria, is merely a small detail, isn't it?

[manarak]

5 hours ago, rudi49jr said:

' Russia was invited/asked to help defend a sovereign country'.

So that makes it OK for Russia to carpet-bomb whole towns and villages full of innocent people? Then you probably also don't mind Saudi Arabia's involvement in Yemen, they were also just asked to help defend a sovereign country, right? That they are committing war crimes in doing so, just like Russia did in Syria, is merely a small detail, isn't it?

first I am not really sure that Russia did carpet bomb villages only inhabited by innocent people (what are the references for this?), and second, all sides taking part in this war have blood of their hands, not least the US.
Besides my conviction that the US had a hand in starting the Arab spring and the civil war in Syria, Saudi Arabia and the US have been partners in supporting the same islamist groups, at least for some time, until the US recognized it's bad publicity. US support has clearly been ramped down since US government had to reckon that public opinion would not caution backing "good extremist islamists" against Assad.

[craigt3365]

6 hours ago, manarak said:

first I am not really sure that Russia did carpet bomb villages only inhabited by innocent people (what are the references for this?), and second, all sides taking part in this war have blood of their hands, not least the US.
Besides my conviction that the US had a hand in starting the Arab spring and the civil war in Syria, Saudi Arabia and the US have been partners in supporting the same islamist groups, at least for some time, until the US recognized it's bad publicity. US support has clearly been ramped down since US government had to reckon that public opinion would not caution backing "good extremist islamists" against Assad.

http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-isis-civilian-deaths-united-nations-syria-2016-8

Quote

Report: In less than a year, Russia has killed more civilians than ISIS

 

I'd call this carpet bombing indiscriminately.  The US has been promoting democracy globally.  Not necessarily a bad thing.  If Syria was truly democratic, this civil war probably wouldn't have happened.

[manarak]

29 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-isis-civilian-deaths-united-nations-syria-2016-8

 

I'd call this carpet bombing indiscriminately.  The US has been promoting democracy globally.  Not necessarily a bad thing.  If Syria was truly democratic, this civil war probably wouldn't have happened.

I'm sorry, but the thesaurus doesn't care much about what you would call it...

 

"if Syria was truly democratic" ... wow, nice justification. Ah, if the Rohingya were Buddhists...

 

from the article you linked:

Quote

By contrast, since ISIS emerged on April 9, 2013, the extremist terror group is responsible for the deaths of "no less than 2,686 civilians including 368 children."

I guess ISIS is only a minor nuisance then. who can believe such figures anyway ?

Could it be that some people have an interest in blowing up Russian collateral damage ?

 

For comparison purposes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Iraq_War

Quote

The IBC [...] has estimated that these documents show the total number of Iraqi deaths since the 2003 invasion to be over 150,000, with about 80% being civilian.

 

Edited September 19, 2017 by manarak

[Rancid]

The US is defacto invading Syria using Islamic Jihadist and Kurdish proxies, although via thinking that escapes me some still seem to see this as being perfectly OK. And of course, drum-roll, it just happens to be the oil producing area...same as it ever was.

[craigt3365]

5 minutes ago, Rancid said:

The US is defacto invading Syria using Islamic Jihadist and Kurdish proxies, although via thinking that escapes me some still seem to see this as being perfectly OK. And of course, drum-roll, it just happens to be the oil producing area...same as it ever was.

I don't see many saying this is OK.  The whole civil war isn't OK.  Lots of blame to go around there.  To all involved parties.