Joseph Trevithick, The Warzone/The Drive: Massive US Counterstrike Against Assad's Forces Signals New Stage Of Syrian Civil War
Three hour battle with Assad's forces is a reminder that other parties may not give the US the choice of staying out of Syria's civil war.
The U.S. military has now offered additional details about the withering firepower it employed during a three hour battle to beat back a battalion-sized force that threatened American troops and their local partners at a remote base in northern Syria. Coming as the United States is trying to draw down in Iraq and Syria and shift its attention to Afghanistan, the incident underscores how difficult it might be for the remaining U.S. troops to not to get wrapped up in the broader Syrian conflict.
According to the Pentagon, the incident began after approximately 500 troops allied with Syrian dictator Bashar Al Assad crossed to the eastern side of the Euphrates River near the city of Deir ez-Zor with tanks, artillery, and other heavy weapons on Feb. 7, 2018. That force passed over a formal de-confliction line that the United States and Russia have set up to try and separate their activities and avoid these skirmishes. It subsequently used tanks or artillery to fire at least 30 rounds at a headquarters run by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a U.S.-backed local force, the bulk of which are Kurds. American advisers, likely special operations forces, were also at the site and subsequently called in a flurry of air and artillery strikes.
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WNU Editor: Bottom line. This was an all-out battle with heavy air and ground assets being used.
