Did you ever think we would see this in our lifetime? How serious is this attack?
Russian jets twice bombed a secret military base in Syria used by British and American forces last month, once only 90 minutes after Russia was told they were bombing a site used by the two countries, according to reports that emerged Friday.
The Interfax News Agency in Moscow and the Wall Street Journal reported the attacks took place June 16 at the base, located along the border between Syria and Jordan. The Journal reported that about 20 British troops who had been temporarily stationed at the base had left it about 24 hours before the Russian attacks.
Interfax quoted its sources as saying the attacks took place because the U.S. did not accede to Russian demands that it be provided with information on American and British activities in areas where Syrian moderates were located.
In the first attack, the Russian plane dropped a cluster bomb, American officials said. Although the U.S. central command air operations center in Qatar then called Russia’s air campaign headquarters in Latakia, Syria, to avert any future attacks and tell them the base shouldn’t be attacked, it was attacked again about 90 minuteslater.
Although the U.S. tried to reach Russian pilots on frequencies both sides agreed to use in emergencies, the Russian pilots did not answer. At least four rebels died in the attacks.
According to the report in the Wall Street Journal, the Russians gave U.S. officials multiple explanations for their attack, including the claim that Jordan gave the go-ahead for the attack when no such permission was given.
What does The White House Have to say about it?
Despite the fact that some forces could have been killed and the bombing dampened relations between Russia and the Pentagon and CIA, the White House and State Department still persued a compromise.
The U.S. and Russia agreed to a pact last week to target airstrikes against the Al Qaeda affiliate in the region – Nusra Front – despite objections from the Pentagon and CIA. Russia agreed to stop airstrikes on U.S.-backed rebels and restrain the Syrian air campaign. The two sides are still talking about designations where Russia would need U.S. approval to conduct an airstrike.
According to The Wall Street Journal, deal backers in the White House and State Department believe U.S. airstrikes on the Nusra Front in areas that were previously occupied by Russian forces would provide protection for allies in Syria.
However, officials in the Pentagon and CIA contend that Washington bowed to Moscow in the deal and believe that the U.S. needs to confront Russia.
The Russian strike on the base occurred on June 16. The U.S. and British forces help maintain what is described as a buffer zone in Jordan. Forces go into Syria to help protect Jordan from Islamic State, U.S. officials told The Journal. Forces didn’t spend the night, due to security reasons.
Nearly a day before the strike, 20 of 24 British special forces pulled out of the base. The U.S. tracked a Russian plane heading toward the base. The warplane dropped a cluster bomb, according to U.S. and rebel officials.
After the first strike, U.S. central command air operations center in Qatar called Russia’s air campaign headquarters in Latakia, Syria to tell them that the base shouldn’t be attacked.
However, Russian forces struck again nearly 90 minutes after the call was made. Russian pilots didn’t respond to U.S. calls using frequencies the two sides had previously agreed to use in case of an emergency.
At least four rebels were killed in strikes.
Russian officials initially told the Pentagon that the military thought it was an Islamic State facility, but U.S. officials rejected the notion because of what they described as a unique way the base was fortified, The Journal reported.
Russians then said that the Jordanians had given them the go-ahead to strike the base, but the U.S. double-checked and said no such authorization was given. Later, Russia told the U.S. that their headquarters wasn’t in position to call off the strike because the U.S. didn’t provide them with the proper coordinates of the base.
U.S. officials said that the Pentagon had never asked the Russians to steer clear of that area because it wasn’t close to the front lines and Russian aircraft didn’t operate in that part of Syria anyway.
www.westernjournalism.com, USANewsFlash, Foxnews