By Aaron Kesel

U.S. President Donald Trump is creating dozens of innocent casualties a day as he takes on the Islamic State in a bombing campaign in the Middle East risking to double the numbers his predecessor Barack Obama had according to Airwars a watchdog organization who did an investigation for The Daily Beast.

“Airwars researchers estimated that at least 2,300 civilians died from Coalition strikes overseen by the Obama White House—roughly 80 each month in Iraq and Syria,” The Daily Beast wrote.

As of July 13, the Beast estimated that more than 2,200 civilians have been killed under Trump’s coalition raids since he was inaugurated to be the 45th President of the United States. In under a year, Trump’s administration has killed an estimated upwards of 360 per month, or 12 or more civilians killed every single day.

Then one month later in February, the U.S focused its efforts on “annihilation tactics” and “shoving Isis out of safe locations in an attrition fight”.

In March alone the U.S. admitted it was responsible for killing more than 100 civilians in Mosul. This is around the same time that innocent civilian deaths started spiking according to the Beast.

“Yet beginning in March 2017—the month after Mattis handed over the new plan—Airwars began tracking a sharp rise in reported civilian fatalities from U.S.-led strikes against ISIS. In part this was due to the savagery of the battle for Mosul. But in Syria—where almost all strikes are American—likely civilian fatalities monitored by Airwars researchers increased five-fold even before the assault on Raqqa began,” the Beast wrote.

Then in April, US Central Command (Centcom) admitted 484 civilian deaths were as a result of coalition strikes as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, to clear ISIS presence from the Middle East.

Finally, in May during a meeting of the anti-ISIS coalition, General Mattis stated there would be “no changes to our continued extraordinary efforts to avoid innocent civilian casualties,” The Independentreported.

Reports greatly differ from the coalition itself and the watchdog organization Airwars. But the official numbers also reveal a sharp uptick in civilian deaths: Of the 603 victims killed since the operation began in 2014.

Trump promised to “bomb the s*** out of Isis” on the campaign trail but once again like his predecessor Barack Obama, he is causing innocent civilian deaths across the Middle East. And that’s without including the casualties from supporting the Saudi’s war in Yemen.

In late June, the Trump administration signaled that he’ll be reducing restrictions on drone strikes by eliminating the “near certainty” clause aimed at protecting civilians.

As a result, civilian deaths by US bombs in the Middle East are likely to keep climbing.

Aaron Kesel writes for Activist Post. Follow us at Twitter and Steemit. This article is Creative Commons and can be republished in full with attribution.

(activistpost.com)

By Brandon Turbeville

Ever since the United States began openly arming and working with Kurdish fanatics in Syria under the guise of “fighting ISIS,” Turkey has shown signs of irritation, concern, and outright anger towards America. This is because the Turks fear any support given to Kurds from outside forces will embolden them to renew their fight for a Kurdistan entity carved out of Turkish territory. Indeed, Turkey is also concerned that any arming of the YPG/PYD forces in Syria will necessarily act as a conduit for weapons making their way to the PKK in Turkey.

Indeed, in a meeting of the Turkish National Security Council on Monday, a statement was released alleging that weapons given by the U.S. to the YPG had found their way to PKK fighters. “This shows that both are the same organization,” the statement said. It also added that other countries were using a “double standard” for how the treat terror groups, a rather obvious reference to the United States and its position on Kurdish fighters.

Thus, after a series of diplomatic spats, the relationship between Turkey and the United States has become more and more tense and less reliable than at other time during the course of the Syrian crisis with Turkey warming up to Russia on top of an icier relationship with the U.S.

On Monday, however, Turkish papers released a bombshell article revealing the number and location of U.S. bases inside Syria, even listing the number of troops housed in each base. Only last week, I reported that a number of sources had put the number of U.S. bases in Syria as up to nine. The Turkish report raises the count of American bases to ten.

The Turkish report also revealed the presence of French Special Forces.

The Daily Beast was the first American media outlet to report on the Turkish claims but, predictably, the U.S. military asked the organization not to post the information (which was already posted in English on the Anadolou website) and, predictably, The Daily Beast, complied.

Anadolou writes,

Military points in Al-Hasakah

There are also three military points in Al-Hasakah, the latest of which was established in the northern district Tal Baydar.

According to the reporters, 100 U.S. Special Forces soldiers have been deployed to Tal Baydar within the scope of the fight against the Daesh terrorist group.

There are also foreign soldiers from the U.S.-led coalition stationed in the old farm district of Tal Tamir, which is located south of Resulayn near the Syrian-Turkish border.

There are also 150 U.S. Special Forces units in Ash Shaddadi district, south of Al-Hasakah, with a view to backing PKK/PYD during anti-Daesh operations.

Military points in Manbij

The U.S. has established two operational posts in Manbij in 2016 when PKK/PYD captured the district.

One of these posts is located in Ayn Dadad town in the district, which can be used by U.S. Special Forces for patrols against the Free Syrian Army (FSA) units rescued during the Turkish Euphrates Shield Operation.

The other military unit is located in Usariye town, west of Ayn Dadad with the purpose of protecting PKK/PYD units against FSA.

Military points in Raqqah

There are also three military posts in the northern province of Raqqah.

Along with U.S. special forces units, French special forces are stationed in a military post located in Mistanur hill, south of Kobani.

Around 200 U.S. soldiers and 75 French special forces units are also stationed in the PKK/PYD base in Ayn Issah town in northern Raqqah.

A military post in the town of Sirrin in Kobani is also used for airbornes. PKK/PYD is supplied with military equipment and ammunition through this post.

This post also serves as a communication center of the anti-Daesh coalition and used for disrupting Daesh communications.

Anadolou also describes the nature of the bases and the mechanism in which the troops operate.

According to Anadolu Agency reporters, a U.S. military point has recently been established in PKK/PYD-held areas in northern Syria.

Washington had set up two airbases in PKK/PYD-held Rmeilan district in the northeast of Al-Hasakah province in October 2015 and Harab Isk village in southern Kobani in March 2016.

While the Rmeilan airbase is large enough for cargo planes to land, Harab Isk base is only used by military helicopters.

While a part of the U.S. military aid to PKK/PYD goes through Iraqi border by land, the other part is shipped to the region through the Rmeilan airbase.

These “field-type” military points are usually hidden for security reasons, making it hard to be detected, according to Anadolu Agency reporters.

Apart from the military points, the U.S. also uses some other places which are hard to be detected like residential areas, PKK/PYD camps, easily transformed factories as operational points.

The U.S. forces keep the construction of operational points hidden by declaring some areas as “prohibited area” in northern Syria, the reporters say.

There are contact officers for airstrikes and artillery shelling, military consultants, training officers, operational planning officers and military units to engage in active conflicts in eight military points.

The equipment in the military points includes artillery batteries with high maneuverability, multi-barrel rocket launchers, various mobile equipment for intelligence and armored vehicles such as “Stryker” for general patrols and security.

While no one who has followed the Syrian crisis closely is surprised at the new revelations, what is more interesting is how Turkish media exposed the U.S. forces’ location. This may cause some to wonder whether or not the Turkish government intentionally leaked the information or whether it simply allowed for the story to run. Turkey, after all, has never been known as a haven for free speech. The fact is that the United States is intentionally setting up bases in order block progress by the SAA in the north and southeast of the country. The bases are not there to fight the same terrorist organization the U.S. created, funded, armed, trained, and directed for decades, but to ensure that Syria is federalized, a Washington/Israeli “Plan B” that I and others in the alt media have written about ever since the beginning of the crisis.

This article may be freely shared in part or in full with author attribution and source link.


(activistpost.com)