Octopus Overlords

Officials at a Pentagon briefing listed three targets that had been struck:

• A scientific research facility in Damascus, allegedly connected to the production chemical and biological weapons
• A chemical weapons storage facility west of Homs
• A chemical weapons equipment storage and an important command post, also near Homs

Syrian state television said government forces had shot down more than a dozen missiles.

The government's main ally, Russia, issued a statement through its US ambassador, saying "such actions will not be left without consequences".

US Secretary of Defence James Mattis told reporters there were no reports of losses in the operation.

"Right now, this is a one-time shot, and I believe it has sent a very strong message," he said, saying the first wave of strikes was over.

President Trump had earlier said: "We are prepared to sustain this response until the Syrian regime stops its use of prohibited chemical agents."

Fitzy wrote: ↑Fri Apr 13, 2018 8:05 pm

Rip wrote: ↑Fri Apr 13, 2018 5:36 pm I'm thinking shit will start getting blown up this weekend.

Should be by far the largest attack we have made on them.

What will it accomplish?

Max Peck wrote: ↑Sat Apr 14, 2018 12:54 am Wow, I'm shocked that early reports are indicating that the Syrians had already evacuated many of the facilities targetted by the strikes. How could they possibly have seen this coming...

Alefroth wrote: ↑Sat Apr 14, 2018 3:45 am
I don't see a problem with minimizing loss of life while destroying infrastructure and capacity.

Max Peck wrote: ↑Fri Apr 13, 2018 10:44 pm
The government's main ally, Russia, issued a statement through its US ambassador, saying "such actions will not be left without consequences".

Max Peck wrote: ↑Sat Apr 14, 2018 12:54 am Wow, I'm shocked that early reports are indicating that the Syrians had already evacuated many of the facilities targetted by the strikes. How could they possibly have seen this coming...

The Meal wrote: ↑Wed Apr 11, 2018 10:11 am From the 30,000' view, the Syria thing looks like a coordinated way for us to show that we're not in cahoots with the Ruskies. You know, over someone else's country.

“If he had been a piece of crap from the beginning, it wouldn’t be so bad,” a visibly emotional Jones said of Trump. “We’ve made so many sacrifices and now he’s crapping all over us. It makes me sick."

Jones said the decision to strike Syria was especially painful because Trump had been “doing so good.”

“Trump’s now a fraud,” Jones later said. “Done.”

"F--- Trump," he vented Friday.

Kraken wrote: ↑Fri Apr 13, 2018 11:28 pm From initial reports it looks like a carefully calibrated move that checks all the boxes with little risk. I won't go so far as to applaud, but neither do I denounce it.

A perfectly executed strike last night. Thank you to France and the United Kingdom for their wisdom and the power of their fine Military. Could not have had a better result. Mission Accomplished!

Alefroth wrote: ↑Sat Apr 14, 2018 3:45 am
I don't see a problem with minimizing loss of life while destroying infrastructure and capacity.

Holman wrote: ↑Sat Apr 14, 2018 10:02 am

A perfectly executed strike last night. Thank you to France and the United Kingdom for their wisdom and the power of their fine Military. Could not have had a better result. Mission Accomplished!

Mission. Accomplished.

Mr Trump will be content to count this as a victory and move on - he has already declared "Mission Accomplished!" in a follow-up tweet - but that depends on Syria, Russia and Iran and whether they get the message this time.

Of course, the last time an American president employed those words, it represented a serious misreading of the challenge he confronted. But Syria isn't Iraq. It's actually much more complicated.

"I spoke to President Trump this morning and he said if the Syrian regime uses this poisonous gas again, the United States is locked and loaded," she said.

Haley promised that Trump would not waver: “When our president draws a red line, our president enforces the red line."

The Syrian raid was so perfectly carried out, with such precision, that the only way the Fake News Media could demean was by my use of the term “Mission Accomplished.” I knew they would seize on this but felt it is such a great Military term, it should be brought back. Use often!

Holman wrote:

The Syrian raid was so perfectly carried out, with such precision, that the only way the Fake News Media could demean was by my use of the term “Mission Accomplished.” I knew they would seize on this but felt it is such a great Military term, it should be brought back. Use often!

Such a great Military term! Use often!

#MMAGA

GreenGoo wrote:Used that term last night after "relations".

It was noted that I may haved used it prematurely.

President Trump on Monday put the brakes on a preliminary plan to impose additional economic sanctions on Russia, walking back a Sunday announcement by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley that the Kremlin had swiftly denounced as “international economic raiding.”

Preparations to punish Russia anew for its support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government over the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria caused consternation at the White House. Haley had said on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” that sanctions on Russian companies behind the equipment related to Assad’s alleged chemical weapons attack would be announced Monday by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

But Trump conferred with his national security advisers later Sunday and told them he was upset the sanctions were being officially rolled out because he was not yet comfortable executing them, according to several people familiar with the plan.

Administration officials said the economic sanctions were under serious consideration, along with other measures that could be taken against Russia, but said Trump had not given final authorization to implement them. Administration officials said Monday it was unlikely Trump would approve any additional sanctions without another triggering event by Russia, describing the strategy as being in a holding pattern.

Sometime after Haley’s comments on CBS, the Trump administration notified the Russian Embassy in Washington that the sanctions were not in fact coming, a Russian Foreign Ministry official said Monday.

The Trump team decided to publicly characterize Haley’s announcement as a misstatement. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement Monday: “We are considering additional sanctions on Russia and a decision will be made in the near future.”

Round one occurred on Feb. 10, when an Iranian drone launched by a Revolutionary Guards Quds Force unit operating out of Syria’s T4 air base, east of Homs in central Syria, was shot down with a missile from an Israeli Apache helicopter that was following it after it penetrated Israeli airspace.

Initial reports were that the Iranian drone was purely on a reconnaissance mission. But the official Israeli Army spokesman, Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis, said Friday that the drone’s flight path and Israel’s “intelligence and operational analysis of the parts of the Iranian unmanned vehicle” indicated that “the aircraft was carrying explosives” and that its mission was “an act of sabotage in Israeli territory.”

I have no ability to independently verify that claim. But the fact that the Israelis are putting it out should raise alarm bells.

Since then, senior Israeli defense officials have let it be known that if the Iranians were to strike back at Israeli targets, Israel may use the opportunity to make a massive counterstrike on Iran’s entire military infrastructure in Syria, where Iran is attempting to establish both a forward air base, as well as a factory for GPS-guided missiles that could hit targets inside Israel with much greater accuracy — inside a 50-meter radius — and deploy them from Syria and with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Tehran’s attempt to build a network of bases and missile factories in Syria — now that it has helped Assad largely crush the uprising against him — appears to be an ego-power play by Iran’s Quds Force leader Suleimani to extend Iran’s grip on key parts of the Sunni Arab world and advance his power struggle with President Hassan Rouhani. Suleimani’s Quds Force now more or less controls — through proxies — four Arab capitals: Damascus, Beirut, Baghdad and Sana.

Iran has actually become the biggest “occupying power” in the Arab world today. But Suleimani may be overplaying his hand, especially if he finds himself in a direct confrontation with Israel in Syria, far from Iran, without air cover.

After all, even before this, many average Iranians were publicly asking what in the world is Iran doing spending billions of dollars — which were supposed to go to Iranians as a result of the lifting of sanctions from the Iran nuclear deal — fighting wars in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.

Iran’s currency is collapsing back home. Consider this April 12 story on CNBC.com:

The Iranian rial “has plummeted to a record low amid growing economic and political uncertainty, causing a rush to the banks as Iranians desperately try to acquire U.S. dollars with exchanges forced to shut their doors to prevent long and chaotic lines.” The rial has lost one-third of its value just this year, the story noted.

Moreover, Israeli military officials believe Russian President Vladimir Putin and Suleimani are no longer natural allies. Putin wants and needs a stable Syria where his puppet Bashar Assad can be in control and Russia can maintain a forward naval and air presence and look like a superpower again — on the cheap. Iran’s President Rouhani probably also prefers a stable Syria, where Assad has consolidated his power and that is not a drain on the Iranian budget. But Suleimani and the Quds Force seem to aspire to greater dominance of the Arab world and putting more pressure on Israel.

Missiles hit a number of military sites in northern Syria on Sunday night, state media say, with unconfirmed reports of dozens of fatalities.

The Syrian military said facilities in Hama and Aleppo provinces were struck.

It did not immediately report any casualties. But a UK-based monitoring group said 26 pro-government fighters were killed, most of them Iranians.

It is not known who was behind the attacks. Western nations and Israel have previously hit sites in Syria.

Russia's big Victory Day parade on Wednesday will feature a remote-controlled tank and other new weapons systems combat-tested in Syria.

The Uran-9 tank is armed with anti-tank rockets, a cannon and a machine-gun.

President Vladimir Putin restored the Soviet-era tradition of parading the latest armour and missiles on 9 May. It is the day Russians honour the millions who died fighting Nazi Germany.

New infantry buggies, drones and an anti-ship missile will also go on show.

Russia's Gazeta.ru news reports (in Russian) that the Uran-9 and a "robot sapper" - a mine-clearing vehicle - called Uran-6 have both performed well for Russian forces fighting in Syria.

Russia has deployed special forces and a big array of warplanes to help Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against various rebel groups, including Islamic State (IS).

Gazeta.ru reports that the Uran-9 can locate a target itself but the decision to fire is taken by a commander sitting in an armoured truck up to 3km (1.8 miles) away.

The Uran-6 robot-sapper was used to clear mines in the Syrian hotspots of Palmyra, Aleppo and Deir al-Zour. Its controller steers it from a distance of up to 1km.

The Uran-6 blew up mines at a safe distance from government troops, enabling them to move into rebel-held areas, Gazeta.ru said, quoting Russian Deputy Defence Minister Yuri Borisov.

The current population of the Russian Federation is 143,968,344 as of Wednesday, May 9, 2018, based on the latest United Nations estimates.