Sunday, June 19, 2016

US fighter planes attempted to interfere with Russian bombing mission in Syria????

via LA Times
No U.S. forces were present in the area, but the U.S. military scrambled fighter jets and used an emergency communications channel set up to avoid air accidents to tell Russian officers to end the strikes, according to the officials, who spoke Friday about the incident after requesting anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers left the area at first, but came back for a second strike after the U.S. F/A-18 fighters went to refuel. The second attack killed several Syrian rebels attempting to provide medical support to the survivors of the initial one, officials said.
“It’s an egregious act that must be explained,” a U.S. official said. “The Russian government either doesn’t have control of its own forces or it was a deliberate provocative act. Either way, we’re looking for answers.”
This!  This is madness!  This is how things spiral out of control.  Do you realize how provocative that is?  NO.  I'm not saying kiss Russia's behind but I am saying you don't send fighters.  You communicate over the emergency phone, you lodge a protest, but you don't send fighters to interfere with combat ops.

I have yet to get the inkling of any plan.

We're still lurching from issue to issue with no rhyme or reason.  We still can't fully explain who's on who's side in this fight.

The only thing that I've heard is that Assad must go, but no one can point to how the region will stabilize once he's gone.

But back to this issue.  Want to make a bet?  I bet that the next time the Russians send SU-34's to bomb rebels they'll be escorted by fighters.  One trigger happy pilot on either side can result in a diplomatic incident.

This summer is already turning more wild and wooly than even I imagined.

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