The Kremlin warns it will SHOOT DOWN US planes if they carry out air strikes in Syrian regions where Russian troops are based

[superbeets]

[h=1]The Kremlin warns it will SHOOT DOWN US planes if they carry out air strikes in Syrian regions where Russian troops are based[/h]

• Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov issued a stark warning to American forces
• He said air strikes could jeopardise the lives of Russian servicemen
• There are high tensions between Moscow and Washington over Syria

By HANNAH AL-OTHMAN FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 22:17, 6 October 2016 | UPDATED: 12:38, 7 October 2016

 

[superbeets]

The Russian military has warned the United States against striking the Syrian army, saying that its air defence weapons in Syria stand ready to fend off any attack from US planes.
The statement underlined high tensions between Moscow and Washington after the collapse of a US-Russia-brokered Syria truce and the Syrian army's offensive on Aleppo backed by Russian warplanes.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said any US strikes on areas controlled by Syrian President Bashar Assad's government could jeopardise the lives of Russian servicemen.

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Maj.-Gen. Igor Konashenkov warned the United States against striking Syrian government forces and issued a thinly-veiled threat to use Russian air defense assets to protect them.

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Members of the Army of Mujahedeen attack the Assad regime forces' headquarters during an operation at Rashideen neighborhood

He said Moscow was worried by media reports saying that Washington was considering the possibility of striking Syrian army positions.
'I would recommend our colleagues in Washington to carefully weigh possible consequences of the fulfillment of such plans,' Konashenkov said.
In Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby said 'We're looking at the full range of options here and those comments notwithstanding, we still have a responsibility as a government to consider all those options.'
'I don't find them (comments like the warning) helpful to moving forward, to reach some sort of diplomatic solution here. But the Russians should speak for themselves and why they're saying that kind of thing,' he said.

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Syrians inspect the damage caused by an artillery attack in the al-Jamiliyeh neighbourhood yesterday

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Workers from the White Helmets carry a body as they walk through the rubble of a destroyed building after airstrikes hit the Bustan al-Basha neighborhood in Aleppo

Russia said it was unhappy with the US-led coalition's air raid on Syrian army positions near Deir el-Zour that killed 60 Syrian soldiers on September 17, rejecting the explanation from the American side that the attack was a mistake.
Konashenkov said 'we have taken all the necessary measures to prevent any such 'mistakes' with regard to Russian servicemen and military facilities in Syria.'
He said the range of Russia's S-300 and S-400 air defense missile systems deployed to Syria would be a 'surprise' to any country operating its aircraft over the country.
Konashenkov added that the Syrian army also has various Soviet- and Russian-built air defense missile systems, which have undergone modernization over the past year.

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Fighting broke out in the government-controlled side of the northern city of Aleppo between regime forces and rebels

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A photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defence group known as the White Helmets, shows a body under the ruble of a destroyed building following an airstrike, at Bustan al-Basha neighborhood in Aleppo

Since Russia has launched its air campaign in Syria in support of Assad's forces a year ago, the Russia and the U.S. militaries have maintained contacts to prevent any midair incidents between Russian warplanes and the aircraft from the U.S.-led coalition in the skies over Syria.
Konashenkov warned, however, that the Russian military won't have time to use the hotline if it sees missiles on their way to targets in Syria.
'It must be understood that Russian air defense missile crews will unlikely have time to clarify via the hotline the exact flight program of the missiles or the ownership of their carriers,' he added.

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Workers from the White Helmets dig through rubble to remove bodies and look for survivors, after airstrikes hit the Bustan al-Basha neighborhood in Aleppo

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Members of the opposition attack the Assad regime forces' headquarters during an operation in the Rashideen neighborhood of Aleppo

In an apparent hint at the U.S. stealth aircraft, he added that any 'dilettante illusions about stealth planes could collide with disappointing realities.'
The Russian military announced Tuesday that a battery of the S-300 air defense missile systems had been sent to Syria to protect a Russian facility in the Syrian port of Tartus and Russian navy ships off the Mediterranean coast.
Tartus is the only naval supply facility Russia has outside the former Soviet Union.
The deployment has added more punch to the Russian military force in Syria, which already includes long-range S-400 missile defense systems and an array of other surface-to-air missiles at the Hemeimeem air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia.
Russia has conducted an air campaign in support of Assad since September 30, 2015, saving his army from imminent defeat and helping it win key ground.

 

[ScottL]

Just Kerry and Obama garnering more respect while Russia helps Assad butcher more civilians.

A toast to lines in the sand and reset buttons.



And people wonder why the other party runs on the slogan, "Make America Great Again."

 

[superbeets]

[h=1]Syrian, Russian Actions in Aleppo 'Incomprehensible,' Work Says[/h][FONT=&quot]By Lisa FerdinandoDoD News, Defense Media Activity[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT, Oct. 7, 2016 — The actions of the Syrian and Russian governments against the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo are "incomprehensible," Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work said yesterday.


Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work greets Finnish defense forces in Helsinki, Oct. 6, 2016. En route to Finland, Work commented on what he called a “humanitarian catastrophe” in Aleppo, Syria. DoD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Tim D. Godbee

"What's happening in Aleppo is a humanitarian catastrophe," Work said in an interview with DoD News as he traveled to Finland. "We hold the Syrian regime and Russia responsible for it, primarily."
Russia and Syria have subjected the city to relentless attacks, including bombing hospitals, innocent civilians -- first responders among them, he said. Those actions are all part of a "very cynical play essentially to make the place uninhabitable for humans and force the capitulation of the opposition there," he added.
"The indiscriminate bombing of humans and the targeting of hospitals and the targeting of first responders is certainly beyond the pale of any civilized nation," he said. "Our hearts go out to the people in Aleppo."
The United Nations says 275,000 people remain trapped in the city.
'Very Saddened' by Ceasefire Collapse
As far as any possible next step for the United States with regard to Syria is concerned, Work pointed out that Secretary of State John Kerry is exploring what options might be available. In September, Kerry negotiated with Russia a ceasefire in Syria that broke down days later.
"We're all very saddened on the collapse of the ceasefire," Work said.
The United States went into the negotiations with "eyes wide open," Work explained, saying it was not an attempt based on trust, but rather for certain conditions to be met.
"It was clear that Russia could not deliver … [Syrian President Bashar Assad] regime [’s cooperation,] as they promised they could," he said. "It is unfortunate that we were unable to make it work."
Questions on Advanced Air Defense System
Work questioned why Russia would need the S-300 advanced air defense system in Syria.
"The opposition doesn’t have a lot of fighter aircraft, and therefore, we would ask: If Russia is really serious about going after terrorists, why they would be sending a system like this into the fight?" he said.
U.S. forces targeting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Syria have the right to respond if threatened, the deputy secretary said.
"As always, U.S. forces, wherever they operate, have the right of self-defense," Work said. "We would hope that the injection of this type of advanced system, which again, will have no bearing on the fight against ISIL, leads to no accidents or problems."
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[SheriffJoe]

4 more years of that awesome Hussein foreign policy!

:hanging:

 

[ScottL]

Dems never learn:
https://www.google.com/search?q=clinton+regrets+rwanda&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

 

[ScottL]

 

[ScottL]

Bill Clinton Regrets Rwanda Now (Not So Much In 1994)
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/02/bill-clinton-regrets-rwanda-now-not-so-much-in-1994/

Bill Clinton: we could have saved 300,000 lives in Rwanda
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100546207

 

[SheriffJoe]

Bill Clinton created al-Qaeda the same way Hussein created the ISIS.

During the 90s, I remember bin Laden on CNN declaring victory and WAR on America after the US embassy bombings and Slick Willie's response was to bomb an Aspirin factory and outsource fighting Islamic terrorism to law enforcement. He just wasn't interested in getting dirty, unless it was with Monica in the Oval Office.

Republican presidents always find themselves cleaning up the mess Democrat idealism and ignorance leave behind.