On the direct order of US President Joe Biden, during the early hours of Friday morning, the US Air Force carried out a number of airstrikes against targets in Syria’s Deir Ez-zor province, allegedly killing four and injuring a number of others. The US government insists that it had struck “Iran-backed facilities” in response to a drone attack and claimed a right to self-defense.
The US Biden administration committed its third publicly announced attack on Syria this Friday, calling it a “response” to a drone attack against US forces based in the country’s north-east. The Pentagon claims that 5 US service members were injured and a private contractor killed, by what they had determined to be a “suspected Iranian-made drone”. No evidence has been presented to support any claims of who may have been behind the initial drone attack, however, Iraqi and Syrian groups operating in eastern Syria have been known to launch routine attacks against US occupying forces.
According to a report produced by the Associated Press, quoting unnamed sources, the US had used F-15 fighter jets, flying out of al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, to conduct the latest attacks. US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, announced that the strikes had targeted facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), on direct orders of the President. Despite this, local sources that spoke to Iranian and Syrian media shared that those killed were Syrian nationals.
Later on Friday, at roughly 11 AM (local time), a number of rockets were fired towards the US-controlled al-Omar oil fields, inflicting several explosions, without any immediately declared casualties. The White House national security spokesman, John Kirby, told CNN that “we’re going to work to protect our people and our facilities as best we can. It’s a dangerous environment”, speaking on the current reality of the ongoing illegal occupation of Syrian oil & wheat fields by US forces.
What Just Happened & Will This Escalate?
In order to understand what happened this Friday, first we must understand the context that Western media refuses to produce when writing on this recent escalation in eastern Syria. The US illegally operates in, and occupies, a third of Syrian territory, with the help of their own proxy forces. Washington’s strategy is explicit, to exert pressure on the Syrian government and people, by holding hostage their most fertile agricultural lands, as well as over 90% of the country’s oil and gas resources. The American congress never voted to authorize the illegal US occupation of Syrian territory, but has voted to uphold brutal sanctions which have prevented aid from reaching a suffering war-torn nation, even during the fallout following the recent earthquake.
The sanctions alone have, according to UN experts, contributed to causing a humanitarian crisis inside Syria. Combined with the illegal occupation of Syrian land, the US government has turned a country that, prior to the 2011 dirty-war against it, was self-sufficient. Now, due to current circumstances, Syria is still in a perpetual state of war, despite the current standstill on all fronts. Underneath the territory that is occupied by the US, in Deir Ez-zor province, a large number of both Syrian and foreign fighters operate. There is a well-known base near the Abu Kamal border crossing, between Syria and Iraq, the Imam Ali base, that houses forces loyal to Iran.
It is in Deir Ez-zor that the US Air Force hit targets, from which there has been no verification of who exactly was killed. This area is home to a plethora of armed groups, including Al-Qaeda and Daesh-linked militant cells, which the US government was ostensibly in pursuit of in 2019 when it massacred civilians — a story that was actively covered up and later revealed by the New York Times.
As for the drone attack that allegedly killed a US private contractor, this allegedly took place at a US military facility located much further away than the later rocket attack which struck US forces stationed at the al-Omar oil fields. The drone attack could have come from any group, and there is really no way of telling at this point, assuming you don’t blindly believe the US government’s evidence-free account. Washington’s portrayal of the strikes are certainly misleading on a number of levels; the most obvious being that the US is not retaliating, because their mere presence in Syria as an occupying force makes them a perpetual aggressor. However, when it comes to the claims about Iran being implicated in an attack against US forces, this is where things become a bit more difficult to judge.
It is possible that the American account of Iranian-allied groups being the intended target of the latest US airstrikes is correct. Yet it could also be so that groups belonging to the likes of the Hash al-Shaabi (PMU) were behind the drone strike and rocket attack on US forces. Yet, there is also a chance that the US could be attempting to strategically escalate tensions with Tehran, at a time when China has just managed to help negotiate peace between Saudi Arabia and Iran. We are already seeing some of the fruits of the Tehran-Riyadh normalization deal — that being a re-opening of ties between Saudi Arabia and Syria. The US is steadily losing its position of dominance regionally and traditionally subservient nations are no longer following their lead. The reality is, the more the US aggresses, the higher chance that even more strikes will be carried out against their illegal bases inside Syria.
BIden called the shots? Bull!
Nope. But you are clearly emotional about it, so I get why you assume that.
Apparently, the last comment I made was rejected for some reason. I’ll restate it so that perhaps it will be accepted. Joe is a figure head doing what he’s told to do. Saying “he” bombed Syria is inciteful rhetoric aimed at making it appear that Joe is directly responsible. He does not call the shots, and YOU know it!
Nope, nothing was “rejected” Lance. I can even see your redundant comments where you thought it was not there. And no one here is even remotely implying that Biden is control. He is however the president and did publicly order this, so that’s obvious.
The “redundant comment” I made on the 24th did not show up on my end until THIS MORNING the 26th! Other comments I’ve made have showed up the same day and even within the hour of posting them, but not this time for some reason. By the way, the big P not the little p ordered the airstrikes, but the headline read “Joe Biden Bombs Syria Again…” which implies exactly that. Perhaps being more careful in the choice of words used in a headline that is misleading is in order?
It clearly says “posted on the 24th” but I am sorry this is confusing to you. I am seeing now that wordpress is playing a role here. I am being told some people try to post comments and it simply won’t let them. Not moderation, but refusing them. That is all wordpress and unacceptable. Not sure what I can do about it, but I am looking into it. As for the Biden part, I said the same when Trump was president. Odd that it is an issue only with Biden. And I agree he is not in control, but to suggest we KNOW that for sure is assumption.
I am not “confused”. A post I made on the 24th did not show up on the 24th when I looked for it. I did not see it until the 26th on my computer. It is possible this issue of particular posts not showing on the day posted is related to wordpress. I don’t know. I will be saving all posts I make on my computer and dating them from now on. Am concerned about the involvement of artificial intelligence in all of this as well. Its capabilities are far more advanced than most people know.
Thank you for the context Ryan! IT’s shocking how much brainwashing is going on. Sy Hersh wrote on his substack piece (George Bell), JFK was tremendously interested in his legacy of greatness and the use of war in aid of that, irrespective of morality, trauma, cost. The swamp selects and America elects dangerous delusional types. The outcomes are on rails