Opinion Editorials, November 2015

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The current U.S. bombing campaign being conducted in Syria is entirely illegal. There are only two ways to legally bomb the territory of another country:

1) an invitation from that country's government and

2). a UN Security Council resolution.

The U.S. has not obtained either of them. Now we are sending in troops/advisors to fight ISIS.
 
That is exactly how the U.S. got involved in Vietnam War. It started in 1963, when President Kennedy sent military advisors to South Vietnam. Then it turned to bombing and ultimately large scale ground forces under Johnson.
 
By the time the United States withdrew from Vietnam in 1973, more than 1.5 million Vietnamese had died, more than 58,000 U.S. troops had been killed, more than 150,000 were wounded, and at least 2,000 were missing in action.
 
A war on Syria is equally unjust and it's illegal on a number of counts.

Syria is a sovereign nation, Assad is it's elected leader. What we are engaging in is an "Act of War" under any definition and is completely illegal. Russia is complying with the terms of it's treaty with Syria, which is completely legal under international law.
 
The real reason the U.S. is going to war in Syria is to eliminate one of Israel's bitter enemies. As in the past 12 years, the U.S. was pressured by AIPAC and Israel, to fight on behalf of Israel. As a result, Iraq and Libya are destroyed and in total ruins.
 
 Americans are tired of sending their sons and daughters to die on foreign soil fighting Israel's dirty wars. Red blooded Americans should say it loud and clear: "Stay out of Syria!" - "No more war for Israel!"
 
Mahmoud El-Yousseph
Retired USAF Veteran

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U.S., allies say conduct seven air strikes in Syria, 14 in Iraq

 Reuters, Saturday, October 31, 2015, 9:16am EDT

WASHINGTON --

The U.S.-led coalition launched seven air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria and 14 in Iraq on Friday, the military said in a statement.

Four of the strikes in Syria were concentrated around Dayr Az Zawr, where they hit an Islamic State crude oil collection point and a petroleum pump as well as destroying a crane and mobile pump, the coalition said in a statement on Saturday.

The others landed near the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa and al Hawl, it said.

The increase in strikes in Syria came as the United States announced it would send fewer than 50 special operations forces into the country's north, the first deployment of American troops there on an open-ended mission. The coalition had launched two air strikes in Syria the previous week.

In Iraq, four air strikes near Ramadi hit tactical units and weapons and "denied ISIL access to terrain," the statement said. Iraqi troops have been working to retake Ramadi since the militants captured it in May.

Four other strikes came near the contested city of Sinjar. There was one strike each near al Qaim, Kisik, Mosul, Qayyarah, Sultan Abdallah and Tal Afar, the coalition said.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Digby Lidstone)

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New U.S.-backed Syrian rebel alliance declares offensive against Islamic State

 Reuters, Saturday, October 31, 2015, 9:16am EDT

BEIRUT --

New U.S.-backed Syrian rebel alliance declares offensive against Islamic State | Reuters

A U.S.-backed Syrian rebel alliance on Saturday announced a fresh offensive against Islamic State in the northeast province of Hasaka, a day after the United States said it would send special forces to advise insurgents fighting the jihadists.

It was the first declared operation by the Democratic Forces of Syria, which joins together a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia and several Syrian Arab rebel groups, since it announced its formation earlier this month.

"We announce today the start of the first step in our military operations," a spokesman for the alliance's general command said in Arabic in a video statement posted on Youtube.

World powers and regional rivals are convening in Vienna to seek a solution to the four-year conflict in Syria that has escalated since Russia intervened a month ago with an intense air campaign.

The video showed several dozen men in fatigues standing outdoors with yellow flags and banners carrying the name of the Democratic Forces of Syria in Arabic and Kurdish.

The Kurdish YPG has been working closely with the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition since early this year, and has to date proved Washington's most effective partner on the ground against IS in Syria.

The United States, which announced on Friday it was to station its first ground troops in Syria for the war on IS, has dropped ammunition to rebels in the north of Syria but without specifying which group the aid was intended for.

"With the participation of all the factions... and with support and coordination with the planes of the international coalition to fight Daesh, we announce the start of the liberation of the southern countryside of Hasaka," the spokesman said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

The campaign would "continue until all occupied areas in Hasaka are freed from Daesh," he said, urging local residents to stay away from IS-controlled areas of Hasaka.

The statement was also reported by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war.

Hasaka province borders Iraq and Islamic State territory there, a crucial stronghold for the group. The YPG had pushed towards the border in previous fighting this year.

The Democratic Forces of Syria includes a number of Arab rebel groups.

One of those groups, the Raqqa Revolutionaries Front, on Thursday declared an imminent offensive against Islamic State in its Syrian stronghold of Raqqa province, which borders Hasaka.

The Raqqa Front told Reuters earlier in October that U.S. weapons were on their way.

(Reporting by John Davison; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

Opinions expressed in various sections are the sole responsibility of their authors and they may not represent Al-Jazeerah & ccun.org.

editor@aljazeerah.info & editor@ccun.org