[anarchist23]

US shoots down Iranian-made drone as tensions mount in skies over Syria.
The US shot down a drone on Monday and a Syrian regime warplane on Sunday.

A US fighter jet has shot down a pro-Syrian regime drone, marking at least the fourth time in a month that American forces have directly clashed with Bashar al-Assad’s troops and their allies and raising fears of a broader escalation in Syria.

US officials said the armed Iranian-made drone was shot down on Monday as it neared the al-Tanf base in southern Syria where American and British special forces train Syrian rebels for the fight against Islamic State (Isil).

The drone was shot down one day after the US destroyed a Syrian regime warplane for the first time, prompting Russia to threaten any coalition aircraft that entered areas where its air forces are flying.

The Russian threat prompted Australia to suspend its bombing missions in Syria as part of the anti-Isil coalition, and raised fears that the US may be edging towards a full-on confrontation with Iran and Russia.

“This is a dangerous escalation,” said Christopher Murphy, a Democrat US senator. “We have to understand what we’re getting involved in. You’re not just fighting Bashar al-Assad. If you’re going to ramp up militarily against Assad you’re also going up against Iran and Russia.”

Meanwhile, an armed Russian warplane flew within five of a US reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic Sea on Monday. US officials said the armed Su-27 buzzed past the American aircraft in a way that was “provocative” and “unsafe”.

US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Gen. Joseph Dunford is trying to de-escalate tensions with Russia.

Australia on Tuesday suspended its airstrikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria as a precaution, after a US fighter jet shot down a Syrian warplane earlier this week and Russia warned the US-led coalition from flying over Syrian army positions west of the Euphrates River.

The announcement from Canberra came as a brief, two-day truce collapsed in the southern Syrian city of Daraa and nearby areas where government forces have gained ground.

Australia is part of a US-led coalition that has been waging war against Isil.

The US military shot down the Syrian warplane on Sunday, saying it had targeted an American-allied, Kurdish-led force that is battling the Isil extremists in their de facto capital, Raqqa. That led Russia, a close ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, to warn that it would target US-led coalition planes flying west of the Euphrates River.

In another first, Iran - another close Assad ally - fired ballistic missiles at IS targets in eastern Syria, in the province of Deir el-Zour, later on Sunday. Iran's Revolutionary Guard described the strike as revenge for Islamic State attacks on Tehran earlier this month that killed at least 18 people and wounded more than 50.

With the skies over Syria growing increasingly crowded, a statement from the Australian Defense Department released in the capital, Canberra, said that "Australian Defense Force protection is regularly reviewed in response to a range of potential threats."

Australia has six fighter jets based in the United Arab Emirates that strike targets in Syria and Iraq.

On Monday, a day after the downing of the Syrian plane, Russia threatened aircraft from the U.S.-led coalition in Syrian-controlled airspace and suspended a hotline intended to avoid collisions in retaliation for the downing.

A spokesman for Iran's Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Ramazan Sharif, said all six ballistic missiles it launched on Syria hit their targets, according to "local sources and drone films."

Sharif told The Associated Press that the missile launch reflected Iran's "military power," though Iran has no intention of starting another war.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06 ... s-against/

[skinster]

The US: defending Islamist terrorists in Syria, again.

[anarchist23]

Yes.

As predicted Trump needs to divert attention from his problems in the US and ratcheting up tensions in Syria fits the bill.

[skinster]

In related news:

[mikema63]

Look at these people, changing their minds.

It's like they aren't completely wedded to ideology to the point of being willing to ignore reality. Such a shame.

[skinster]

Yup, some of them joined the other rightwing party in a vote for more missiles to be sold to Saudi Arabia, so it can continue its mass-murder and destruction on the poorest country in the ME, but never mind Yemen eh, since the MSM doesn't talk about it.

[mikema63]

And the topic immediately shifts to something else.

Weirdly it turns out many senators are more concerned with the jobs, and thus votes, in their states tied to the defense industry. As well as the overall economic health tied to oil prices which drive our pragmatic relationship with the Saudi's.

It's almost like politics is a graveyard for idealism. Most American's care about their own lives and economic situations far far more than humanitarian issues abroad or children dying. The mechanical relationship between that and the decisions of politicians are clear. The relationship between what people care about and what makes the news is also clear. If people really cared about stuff like that it would make the news more because it would make more money.

People are self-serving assholes. Every single one of them.

[skinster]

Not everyone is a sociopath or useful idiot, some of us have empathy for those who are killed by our taxes.

Back on topic

[mikema63]

Throw out whatever name calling you feel like, it doesn't change the realities of human nature.

[skinster]

I almost feel like you're saying this stuff out here to help yourself sleep at night, which is amusing if so. Anyhow, this is why you support capitalism, because capitalists are selfish and self-serving, even when sometimes it's not necessarily serving themselves, but I suppose these people are called useful idiots, or useless capitalists, both mean the same thing. This might be a newsflash to you since you're saying this dumb shit, but there are other ideologies that exclude selfish assholes.

On topic:

[mikema63]

I almost feel like you're saying this stuff out here to help yourself sleep at night, which is amusing if so. Anyhow, this is why you support capitalism, because capitalists are selfish and self-serving, even when sometimes it's not necessarily serving themselves, but I suppose these people are called useful idiots, or useless capitalists, both mean the same thing. This might be a newsflash to you since you're saying this dumb shit, but there are other ideologies that exclude selfish assholes.

The realities of our dependence on oil supplies does not change whether or not we are capitalist or socialist economies.

The rest is just vapid name calling and accusations.