Pentagon Dispatches Counterinsurgency Military Experts To Ukraine, Russia Retaliate Against U.S. Military In Syria

Pentagon Dispatches Counterinsurgency Military Experts To Ukraine

The Pentagon has sent eight counterinsurgency operatives to Kiev in order to share planning tactics and techniques with Ukrainian security forces.

"Military staff will share with the Ukrainians some of the Pentagon's planning tactics, techniques and procedures while collecting data on the needs of its security forces, according to Pentagon spokeswoman Eileen Lainez. Staff arrived in Kiev, the country’s capital, on Thursday and Friday and are beginning to assess the operations of the Ukraine Ministry of Defense," the Washington Times reports.

The American operatives have been divided into two groups, according to a Pentagon spokeswoman. While one team would "look for ways that the US can supply military equipment" to Ukraine and analyze the state's security needs, the other team would look how the US could provide medical assistance to Ukraine's security forces, Eileen Lainez said.

"With support from Ukraine and the State Department, the security assessment team will also explore the potential of expanding our current Office of Defense Cooperation in Keiv, to enhance Ukraine’s military capabilities and interoperability," she emphasized as cited by the Washington Times.

It should be noted that the Pentagon's initiative has followed the large-scale US-led military exercise conducted by NATO in western of Ukraine. The Rapid Trident exercise brought together about 1,300 troops from 15 nations and lasted for nearly two weeks

"US Army Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, who serves as head of NATO land command in Izmir, Turkey, said the show of unity at exercises like Rapid Trident should deliver a message of solidarity among allies to Russia," Stars and Stripes underscores.

The exercise had been carried out as a part of Pentagon's program "Operation Atlantic Resolve" aimed at confronting the non-existent "Russian military intervention" in Ukraine.

"The United States is demonstrating its continued commitment to collective security through a series of actions designed to reassure NATO allies and partners of America's dedication to enduring peace and stability in the region, in light of the Russian intervention in Ukraine," the official statement on Pentagon's website reads.

Although the White House has rejected to provide weapons and other lethal military gear to Ukraine, it continues dispatching military experts to Kiev in order "to improve its capacity to provide for its own defense and set the stage for longer-term defense cooperation," writes the Washington Times, citing the US President.

It is worth mentioning that in July 2014 the media outlet reported on Pentagon's mission aimed at rebuilding "fractured" military forces of Ukraine. According to Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, the main goal of the US military experts was to "shape and establish an enduring program for future US efforts to support the Ukrainian military through subject-matter expert teams and long-term advisers."

Russia Threatens To Retaliate Against U.S. Military

Russia has delivered a behind-the-scenes threat to retaliate if airstrikes carried out by the U.S. or its allies target the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Middle Eastern security officials told WND.

The security officials said Russia complained Sunday in quiet talks with United Nations representatives that the Obama administration’s current aerial campaign against Islamic State fighters in Syria is a violation of international agreements regarding control of Syrian airspace.

The officials said Russia warned it could potentially retaliate if U.S. or Arab airstrikes go beyond targeting Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, and instead bomb any Syrian regime targets.

Russian diplomats asserted terms regarding Syrian airspace were agreed upon last September as part of a sweeping deal to disarm Syria’s arsenal of chemical weapons by the middle of 2014.

At the time, the international community feared Assad could target chemical weapons inspectors acting in Syria. That fear in part lead to a deal in which Moscow says it was provided with significant responsibility over the skies of Syria, purportedly to insure against Assad’s air force acting against the international disarmament effort.

The officials further said that both the Russia and Iranian militaries are on heightened alert amid the ongoing situation in Syria.

On Saturday, U.S.-led coalition warplanes for the first time reportedly struck ISIS targets in Syria near the Turkish border as well as positions in the country’s east, according to activists and a Kurdish officials speaking to the Associated Press.

U.S.-coalition strikes also reportedly targeted a local ISIS headquarters in the northern Syrian town of Tel Abyad along the Turkish border, setting an oil refinery ablaze.

“Our building was shaking and we saw fire, some 60 meters (65 yards) high, coming from the refinery,” local businessman Mehmet Ozer told Time Magazine.

Time reported the strikes were also confirmed by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and were reported by Turkey’s Dogan news agency.

Russia At UN Accuses U.S., Allies Of Bossing World Around

Russia used its annual appearance at the U.N. General Assembly on Saturday to accuse the United States and its Western allies of bossing the world around, complaining they were attempting to dictate to everyone "what is good and evil."

The speech by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the 193-nation assembly was the latest example of the deteriorating relations between Moscow and Western powers, which have imposed sanctions on Russia over the conflict in neighboringUkraine.

"The U.S.-led Western alliance that portrays itself as a champion of democracy, rule of law and human rights within individual countries ... (is) rejecting the democratic principle of sovereign equality of states enshrined in the U.N. Charter and trying to decide for everyone what is good or evil," he said.

"Washington has openly declared its right to unilateral use of force anywhere to uphold its own interests," Lavrov added. "Military interference has become a norm - even despite the dismal outcome of all power operations that the U.S. has carried out over the recent years."

Lavrov cited the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo war, the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, and the 2011 NATO intervention in Libya that led to the toppling and death of longtime Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi as examples of U.S. failures.

Moscow has also criticized the United States over airstrikes against Islamic State, an Islamist militant group often referred that has taken over large areas of Syria and Iraq and is blamed for brutal slayings of civilians.

Russia on Friday questioned the legality of U.S. and Arab airstrikes in Syria to target Islamic State because the action was taken without the formal approval and cooperation of Moscow's ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

He reiterated Moscow's view that the United States and European Union "supported the coup d'etat in Ukraine" and that they were therefore responsible for the current conflict there.

Also see:





Bombing Jihadis Is Futile Says Top British General




Syria's Al-Qaeda Chief Warns West Of Revenge For Airstrikes



Islamic State: U.S.-Led Air Strikes On Militant Group's Makeshift Oil Refineries 'Not A Real Target'