Russia sets up helicopter base in Northeast Syria after US withdrawal

[longknife]

Good news. Let them have it.The president is keeping his promise to get out of that mess.

Russia has announced that it set up a helicopter base at the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli following the U.S. troop withdrawal from the area last month.

The Russian Defense Ministry’s Zvezda TV channel showed footage of helicopter gunships arriving at the base, which is protected by Pantsir surface-to-air missile systems.

The helicopters include two Mi-35 gunships and a Mi-8 military transport helicopter, with more to follow, Zvezda Tv said.

Right near the border with Turkey and Iraq.

More @ Russia sets up helicopter base in Northeast Syria after US withdrawal

 

[Natural Citizen]

Relevant reading - Top US general says 500-600 American troops to stay in Syria

Snip...

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says about 500 or 600 U.S. troops will remain in Syria to counter Islamic State fighters.



However - Trump says US to leave some troops in Syria ‘only for the oil’

Snip...

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that American forces that were instructed to remain in Syria were there “only for the oil,” contradicting his own administration officials and the Republican leadership who have insisted that American troops are in the region to fight against the Islamic State jihadist group.

“We’re keeping the oil, we have the oil, the oil is secure, we left troops behind only for the oil,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House.

 

[Bleipriester]

When you have no pretext:

 

[Blackrook]

I had no idea we had troops in Syria and I'm kind of pissed we do, and the faster Trump can get them out, the better off America will be.

 

[Augustine_]

I had no idea we had troops in Syria and I'm kind of pissed we do, and the faster Trump can get them out, the better off America will be.

He won't be getting any soldiers out of the Middle East wasteland. They'll just be reassigned to a higher paying warlord.

 

[RoccoR]

RE: Russia sets up helicopter base in Northeast Syria after US withdrawal
※→ Blackrook, Augustine_, et al,

Well, we've had personnel trailing and gathering intelligence on the DAESH [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) | Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)] ever since they became a potential significant (maybe pre-2014) threat → right through the development into the organization we see today. We are really taling about our assets even pre-Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF–OIR). Syria is not unique. We have such very low profile training and advisory assets fighting threats to peace with operators world-wide since before my time in Vietnam. Some that you will never have known they were there in the backround, lending a guiding hand. They are part of America's latent hand; that part that works to mitigate (on a global scale) the various Jihadist, Armed Activist, Hostile Insurgents, Radicalized Islamic Followers, politically motivated guerrillas, and all other manner of Asymmetric Fighters.

I had no idea we had troops in Syria and I'm kind of pissed we do, and the faster Trump can get them out, the better off America will be.

I had no idea we had troops in Syria and I'm kind of pissed we do, and the faster Trump can get them out, the better off America will be.

He won't be getting any soldiers out of the Middle East wasteland. They'll just be reassigned to a higher paying warlord.

(COMMENT)

Just as we (probably) always have clandestine services attempting to detect, engage and neutralize (DEN) all manner of threats to the peace, as well as other assets that America does not openly acknowledge; and to give our leaders Real-Time Situational Awareness on international developments while maintaining a low probability of detection (LPD). Amerrica will have a need, for the foreseeable future, additional resources that will face hostile activities and other adversarial forces. These will be separate and distinct operators conducting a particular activities unconstrained by the impact of the operational or political, or diplomatic environment.

In that regard, when our operators are in an advisory and assitance role to allies, it may be necessary to lead by example, to be right with those you train to show confidence (prevent them from approaching the brink of failure) in the methodology and practiced skills.

Finally, and I'm sure you all will appreciate this, it is exceptionally difficult to lead or evaluate foreign forces at a distance. This is especially true on first contact, when anything or even everything becomes fluid and a game changer.

Just my thoughts....

Most Respectfully,
R