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US quietly tells Russia where U.S. Special Forces are located in Syria

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posted on Feb, 18 2016 @ 01:19 PM
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US quietly tells Russia where U.S. Special Forces are located in Syria

The Pentagon told the Russian military where U.S. Special Forces are located in Syria with the hopes that Russian aircraft will steer clear of that area and not risk bombing American service members, top military officials said Thursday. The disclosure reveals an expanded level of military–to-military communication and cooperation between the two countries beyond the basic “memorandum of understanding,” or MOU, that was signed in October and focused on safety protocols for air crews operating in Syrian air space. “We provided a geographical area that we asked them to stay out of because of the risk to U.S. forces,” Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told reporters Thursday. “This was a step we took to try to maintain their safety in a dangerous situation and this was a request that we made to the Russians outside the scope of the MOU,” Cook said. “Up to this point, [the Russians] have honored this request,” Cook said.


It's nice to see the US cooperating with Russia for a change even if it's for selfish reasons in that they don't want their own troops attacked, however I though there were supposed to be no boots on the ground at least not in a combat role ?

Yet we have this


In December, the U.S. began sending teams of up to 50 Special Operations troops into northeastern Syria to support Syrian rebel groups fighting the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.


That at least to me suggests they're deployed in a combat role within the conflict otherwise they would have said observe and train and not "support" unless I'm reading into it wrong ?

But it's clear things are heating up a lot when the US is asking Russia not to bomb certain areas, whether Russia will comply with this request remains to be seen but if the FSA loses ground and it comes to the point where the only places left to bomb are these zones then will Russia or even Assad touch these zones for fear of reprisal by the US ?



posted on Feb, 18 2016 @ 01:20 PM
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a reply to: Discotech

I don't like it.



posted on Feb, 18 2016 @ 01:34 PM
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originally posted by: butcherguy
a reply to: Discotech

I don't like it.


This is dangerous...

This is how World Wars begin.



posted on Feb, 18 2016 @ 01:41 PM
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So basically the US just told Russia where the assets they have are...those same assets working toward a goal in direct contradiction to what Russia aims to accomplish in the region. Explain how that makes it safer for those SF guys. I realize neither country wants direct conflict with the other, but I'm sure you guys can see how close to the edge this situation is. Those guys we are asking Russia to avoid are directly supporting forces Russia aims to defeat...



posted on Feb, 18 2016 @ 01:48 PM
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a reply to: RickyD

The fact that this is coming out publicly maybe suggests there's more to the whole crisis than we've been led to believe, for it to get this stage I'd think things are getting much worse than what we're fed from mainstream media.

If Russia knows you can bet they've probably given that intel to Assad as well, it's almost as if the US are painting a target on their spec ops and saying "come hit us if you dare"



posted on Feb, 18 2016 @ 01:48 PM
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The US should remove any personnel they have in Syria. They have no business being there in the first place. Now legitimate targets that Russia might have taken out can hide behind them...you couldn't make it up.



posted on Feb, 18 2016 @ 01:52 PM
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a reply to: RickyD


RUssia will most likely give the US time to pull them out when the time comes. Or at least the US will be given a fair warning in advance before any strikes begin.


edit on 27.06.08 by spy66 because: (no reason given)



posted on Feb, 18 2016 @ 01:55 PM
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So Syria knows Russia has the position of US special forces are supporting the rebels.... Syria is at war with said rebels, and this isn't a conflict of interest when Syria is backed by Russia?



posted on Feb, 18 2016 @ 03:44 PM
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a reply to: CriticalStinker

Nope. Those are Kurdish forces. The only guys that Russia doesn't define as terrorists.

Also the only guys that don't want to set up an Islamic caliphate in Syria btw... and thus the only guys we (as in we - the west) really should support.

*I wonder if the TSK knows not to shell them??
edit on 18-2-2016 by ColCurious because: (no reason given)



posted on Feb, 18 2016 @ 03:46 PM
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makes perfect sense, no western boots on the ground and the obvious advantage assad now has allows the west to get any 'contractors' out while the 'ceasefire' plays out.
assad agreeing to the ceasefire allows themselves, and russia to get ready for what i imagine will be a final swift, but brutal bombing onslaught, allowing the peshmerga to mop up.



posted on Feb, 18 2016 @ 04:05 PM
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a reply to: stinkelbaum

The only problem is that Turkey won't allow the peshmerga to do any mopping up unless it's their own blood they're mopping up.

Right now Turkey is shelling at least 6 different areas all along the Syrian/Turkey border if reports are to believed they've intensified their bombardments, which to me suggests ground forces are soon to follow. And if you read the other thread I made just before about Russian promising to protect the Kurds it looks like there will be no ceasefire and instead things will get just worse



posted on Feb, 18 2016 @ 04:19 PM
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I don't like this exchange of telling who is where and how many..... (Between the lines, there ARE certain rules...)
That can have extremely bad consequences for certain people(our Army forces).....Info spreads around to quick, in the wrong way...

Just lets hope the right people have some courtesy, and make the appropriate decisions...



posted on Feb, 18 2016 @ 04:25 PM
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a reply to: Discotech

I doubt the TSK dares to launch a ground offensive on their own against the one element with support of several NATO members, aswell as Russia... and even the SAA tolerates them.

If they do... they get stomped. And we can only hope the rest of NATO will stay idle. Else its lights out.
edit on 18-2-2016 by ColCurious because: (no reason given)



posted on Feb, 18 2016 @ 05:50 PM
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So these areas where U.S. troops allegedly are at are basically safe havens for the terrorist because they know the Russians won`t bomb those areas.
some of the U.S. allies in Syria are considered terrorist by assaad and Russian so It would be very easy for one to draw the conclusion that the U.S. government might be using the U.S. troops as human shields to protect the terrorists from Russian bombing.



posted on Feb, 18 2016 @ 10:50 PM
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Interesting possibility here, I suspect the US would never give up locations of its assets ( War 101 ) and is baiting the Ruskies to see if they bomb the location given.



posted on Feb, 18 2016 @ 11:10 PM
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originally posted by: ColCurious
a reply to: CriticalStinker

Nope. Those are Kurdish forces. The only guys that Russia doesn't define as terrorists.

Also the only guys that don't want to set up an Islamic caliphate in Syria btw... and thus the only guys we (as in we - the west) really should support.

*I wonder if the TSK knows not to shell them??


Those Syrian Kurds are also working with the support of US coalition, and the US has publicly asked Turkey to stop attacking their positions. It is why Turkey has been giving out the "us or them" ultimatums for the last week .



posted on Feb, 19 2016 @ 12:11 AM
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What a load of crap

'' dear russia, please dont bomb or fly anywhere near this part of the map. there's where we are hiding our... er..... umm.. special forces.. yes thats it.. our special forces are located there... hehe... idiots "




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