US escalates its war on Syria's military

With its shooting down of a Syrian warplane yesterday the United States is escalating its war on Syria's military, which heated up as the SAA began scoring major victories against Islamic State and al Qaeda front groups in Syria:

TEHRAN (FNA)- Damascus announced in a statement on Sunday that the US-led coalition has shot down one of its fighter jets during a mission in Raqqa countryside. According to the statement, the warplane was carrying out operations against ISIL in the countryside of Raqqa when it was targeted, leading to a crash and the loss of the pilot, who is currently missing.

The Syrian army backed by the country's air force continued its military operation in the Western part of Raqqa, after capturing ISIL's last bastion in Eastern Aleppo and has captured several districts in recent days.

... on May 18, the US-led coalition struck pro-Bashar Assad forces near al-Tanf in the area of an established de-confliction zone. The coalition air raids occurred near al-Tanf, where US and British special operations forces have been training militants near the border with Iraq and Jordan.

On June 6, the Pentagon announced the coalition conducted a strike on pro-Syrian government forces as they entered the de-confliction zone with Russia and posed threat to its personnel. The Syrian force was comprised of a tank, artillery, anti-aircraft weapons, armed technical vehicles and more than 60 soldiers. At least two Syrian servicemen were killed and more than 15 injured as a result of the attack.

On June 8, the US-led coalition bombed pro-Damascus forces near al-Tanf in the area of a de-confliction zone following an alleged attack by a combat drone resulting in no coalition forces' casualties. This was the third attack by the coalition on Damascus' allies in the area. The coalition targeted a drone and trucks with weapons.

Those weren't the first American-led attacks on Syria's military, the worst occurring on September 16 when the U.S. coalition committed a massacre of about 80 Syrian ground troops in Deir Ezzor as the troops were preparing a major assault on ISIL. This despite  pleas from the Russian military to the American command in the region to call off airstrikes on the troops. 

The American excuse for not doing so? Nobody at the phone to take the Russian call. The American excuse for shooting down the Syrian warplane yesterday is almost as thin:

"At 6:43 p.m., a Syrian regime SU-22 dropped bombs near SDF fighters south of Tabqah and, in accordance with rules of engagement and in collective self-defense of Coalition partnered forces, was immediately shot down by a U.S. F/A-18E Super Hornet," the [U.S. coalition] statement read.

The Coalition headquarters said it contacted Russian representatives to de-escalate the situation after the attack.

Here a sensible person would ask why the U.S. command didn't attempt to de-escalate the situation before shooting down the Syrian plane, that being what de-escalation is supposed to be about.

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