US Increases Syria Presence with Turkish Cooperation

US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to confirm details of the decision, have said the United States will provide offensive strikes to support advances against ISIS targets in Syria. As first reported by the Wall Street Journal, the US has decided to allow airstrikes to defend Syrian rebels trained by the US military from any attackers, even if the enemies are from forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The decision by President Barack Obama, which will likely lead to an expanded US role in the Syria conflict, is an attempt to shield a developing group of Syrian fighters armed and trained by the United States to battle ISIS militants. The trainees are chosen partly because they promise not to target forces loyal to al-Assad, but to battle ISIS militants. However, in Syria's messy multi-party civil war, ISIS is only one of the threats to the American-trained recruits. The first graduates were deployed to northern Syria and came under fire on Friday from other militants, triggering the first known US airstrikes to support them. According to the unnamed US officials who talked to Reuters yesterday, a Syrian graduate was killed during fighting with suspected members of Nusra Front, al Qaida's Syria affiliate, in northern Syria on Friday, at a compound that was also being used by members of a Western-aligned insurgent group, known as Division 30. US Syrian training recruits have come from Division 30. Last week, Nusra Front claimed to have abducted Division 30's leader. The unnamed US officials told Reuters the leader had not undergone US training. ~~~~~ Nusra Front - one of the most powerful insurgent groups in northern Syria - has a record of crushing rebel groups that have received support from the West, including the Hazzm movement that collapsed earlier this year. The Hazzm movement, a non-jihadist rebel group, was once central to a covert CIA operation, never acknowledged by the US, to arm Syrian rebels, but the group's collapse in March highlights the failure of efforts to unify Arab and Western support for mainstream insurgents fighting the Syrian al-Assad military. The dissolution of Hazzm also points out the risks that the new US Defense Department program could face in training and equipping Syrian rebel fighters. The US plans to train thousands of Syrian rebels over three years. The program is underway in Jordan and focuses on battling ISIS rather than President Bashar al-Assad. Hazzm's collapse has shown how difficult such efforts will be in a country where insurgents often attack each other and arms have fallen into the hands of hardline groups -- Hassm left munitions and anti-tank missiles behind for the jihadist Nusra Front. ~~~~~ US officials have long rejected the idea that al-Assad's forces -- which have not fired on US-led coalition aircraft bombing ISIS targets in Syria -- would attack the US-trained and shielded Syrian rebels. But they acknowledge that the possibility exists. The Pentagon and the White House have declined to discuss the decision on the shielding rules of engagement or confirm comments by the unnamed US officials. White House National Security Counci spokesman Alistair Baskey said only the US-trained forces were being provided a wide range of support, including "defensive fire support to protect them" and pointed to Friday's US airstrikes as proof. Baskey said : "We won't get into the specifics of our rules of engagement, but have said all along that we would take the steps necessary to ensure that these forces could successfully carry out their mission." ~~~~~ The moderate Syrian rebels trained by the US army will fight ISIS on the ground and help co-ordinate US-led coalition air strikes launched from Turkish air bases. The strategy was developed by Washington and Ankara. Diplomats familiar with the plans say cutting off one of ISIS's lifelines could be a "game-changer" in this area of the complex Syria war. The rebels, who thus far total less than 60, will be highly equipped and be able to call in close air support when needed, the diplomats say. But there are major challenges. Turkey is distrustful of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which has been perhaps the most useful US ally in fighting ISIS. The YPG controls adjacent Syrian territory on the eastern side of the Euphrates river, and Turkey wants it to advance no farther, considering the Euphrates a red line not to be crossed. After years of reluctance, Turkey joined the front-line battle against ISIS a week ago, bombing militant positions in northern Syria and opening its air bases to the US-led coalition after a Turkish soldier was killed in a cross-border exchange of fire. Turkey has described the strip of land it wants to clear of ISIS as a "safe zone." President Erdogan has said it will pave the way for the return of the more than 1.7 million Syrian refugees sheltering in Turkey. US officials say providing a "safe zone" is not the prime objective, and the United Nations has warned against calling it a "safe zone" unless the protection of civilians can be guaranteed. So far, there is little sign of ISIS being driven out, although diplomats and officials say operations will not be fully activated until coalition jets arrive at Turkey's Incirlik air base in the coming weeks. Coalition air strike will be more rapid and frequent in northern Syria when launched from Incirlik rather than from the bases they now use in the Gulf. The newly trained rebel force will also provide closer co-ordination with the US-led air strikes. "They are much better equipped than the rebels currently fighting," one diplomat familiar with the plans told Reurers : "You can scatter them around, deploy them in different units. They are like golden tickets, with access to close air support." In some villages on this stretch of the Turkish-Syrian border, little more than razor wire fence separates the two opposing forces. ~~~~~ And who is unhappy with the effort to streamline and bolster the efforts of moderate US-backed rebels in Syria? Russia, of course. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday that any US military strikes to protect trained Syrian rebels that hit the al-Assad army would complicate counter-terrorism efforts there. Speaking at a news conference on a visit to Qatar, Lavrov, whose country is an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said a settlement to Syria's war needed dialogue between all parties. But he added that the ISIS militant group was the main danger in Syria and neighboring Iraq and that was why Moscow supported the governments of both countries. Russia also criticized US plans to work with Turkey to provide the shielding air cover for Syrian rebels, saying any support for rivals of Russian ally Syrian President al-Assad hampers Damascus' fight against ISIS. A Kremlin spokesman told reporters : "Moscow has stressed multiple times that helping Syrian opposition, let alone helping with financial or (military) technical means would lead to a further desalinization (destabilization?) of the situation in the country." Ankara and Washington are hoping that together with the Syrian rebels they can sweep ISIS fighters from the targeted strip of land along the Turkish border. ~~~~~ And, while in Qatar, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov met Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal and invited him to visit Moscow, a Hamas official has said. Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the West. Meshaal, who is based in Doha, has visited Moscow in 2006 and 2010. In a statement released in Gaza, the Hamas official said a delegation led by Meshaal briefed Lavrov on conditions in the Gaza Strip which the Islamist movement rules, in the aftermath of last summer's war with Israel. Meshaal also discussed with Lavrov "Zionist terrorism in the West Bank and its assaults on Moslem and Christian sites in Jerusalem." ~~~~~ Dear readers, Russia is one of the four international sponsors, along with the United States, the European Union and the United Nations, of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process that is opposed by Hamas. Peace talks have been suspended for more than a year. In addition, Hamas is shunned in the West because it refuses to recognize Israel, to accept existing Israeli-Palestinian interim peace and to renounce violence. But, Russia says Hamas should not be isolated. The ease with which Russia talks about Middle East peace while supporting the biggest barriers to peace in the region -- Hamas, al-Assad and Iran -- is breathtaking. While the US, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Gulf States (Qatar excluded), Turkey, Israel and the EU are trying to defeat the aggressors, Russia is providing them with weapons, money and UN support through its Security Council veto.