Something very important has happened in Syria, and it has gotten almost no coverage. The event was the bombing of a convoy carrying ISIS fighters in central Syria. That may not sound like something unusual, but you need to background to understand why it is.
About a month ago, the combined forces of the Assad regime, Hezbollah, Iran and the Lebanese army attacked a pocket of ISIS held territory on the border between Syria and Lebanon. The ISIS forces were cut off from any assistance by other ISIS soldiers, and they were routed rather quickly by the attacking force. At that point, a cease-fire was negotiated. A key provision of the deal was that the ISIS fighters (around 400) would be transported out of the area and taken to an ISIS held town hundreds of miles away on the Syria-Iraq border. The effect of that deal was to remove ISIS fighters from areas held by Assad/Iran/Hezbollah and place them instead into areas from which they could attack Iraq or the forces in Syria allied with the USA. The normal route with defeated troops would have been to hold them as prisoners, but Assad and his allies decided instead to just ship them east to fight Assad's opponents.
The USA learned of the deal with ISIS and immediately protested against it. When nothing was changed, the USA said that neither America nor its allies had been part of the deal and that we were not bound by it. The Assad/Iranian deal with ISIS went ahead anyway, although the Assad forces tried to keep secret when the ISIS forces were being moved. That secrecy was unsuccessful. Buses that were carrying the ISIS forces across Syria were attacked from the air and the convoy was stopped. The ISIS fighters, so far, have not been able to join their fellow terrorists in the east. There is no word on casualties among the ISIS terrorists.
This event is important in a number of ways. First, it shows that under President Trump, the USA will no longer bow to diplomatic niceties that are against our interests. Most likely Obama would have refrained from attacking the convoy because it was part of a "peace deal". Trump put the interests of American troops and our allies first. Second, the entire idea of the convoy sending ISIS fighters off to the "American sector" shows just how the Assad/Iranian/Hezbollah forces think of the USA. We are just another enemy, so sending one enemy (ISIS) to fight another enemy (America and its allies) is a good thing. Third, this entire event ought to teach anyone who thinks that we can deal with Assad in a post-Civil War Syria, that they are wrong.
About a month ago, the combined forces of the Assad regime, Hezbollah, Iran and the Lebanese army attacked a pocket of ISIS held territory on the border between Syria and Lebanon. The ISIS forces were cut off from any assistance by other ISIS soldiers, and they were routed rather quickly by the attacking force. At that point, a cease-fire was negotiated. A key provision of the deal was that the ISIS fighters (around 400) would be transported out of the area and taken to an ISIS held town hundreds of miles away on the Syria-Iraq border. The effect of that deal was to remove ISIS fighters from areas held by Assad/Iran/Hezbollah and place them instead into areas from which they could attack Iraq or the forces in Syria allied with the USA. The normal route with defeated troops would have been to hold them as prisoners, but Assad and his allies decided instead to just ship them east to fight Assad's opponents.
The USA learned of the deal with ISIS and immediately protested against it. When nothing was changed, the USA said that neither America nor its allies had been part of the deal and that we were not bound by it. The Assad/Iranian deal with ISIS went ahead anyway, although the Assad forces tried to keep secret when the ISIS forces were being moved. That secrecy was unsuccessful. Buses that were carrying the ISIS forces across Syria were attacked from the air and the convoy was stopped. The ISIS fighters, so far, have not been able to join their fellow terrorists in the east. There is no word on casualties among the ISIS terrorists.
This event is important in a number of ways. First, it shows that under President Trump, the USA will no longer bow to diplomatic niceties that are against our interests. Most likely Obama would have refrained from attacking the convoy because it was part of a "peace deal". Trump put the interests of American troops and our allies first. Second, the entire idea of the convoy sending ISIS fighters off to the "American sector" shows just how the Assad/Iranian/Hezbollah forces think of the USA. We are just another enemy, so sending one enemy (ISIS) to fight another enemy (America and its allies) is a good thing. Third, this entire event ought to teach anyone who thinks that we can deal with Assad in a post-Civil War Syria, that they are wrong.
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