Latest: U.S. Retreats From Al-Tanf – Gives Up On Occupying South East Syria
AS PRESENTED ON MOON OF ALABAMA, A FRATERNAL SITE WE THANK FOR THIS MATERIAL
Suggested by our collaborator, historian and investigative reporter Eric Zuesse.
The U.S. is giving up its hopeless position at the Syrian-Iraq border crossing near al-Tanf in south east Syria. The U.S. military had earlier bombed Syrian forces when they came near that position but it then found itself outmaneuvered, cut off from the north and enclosed in a useless area.
Al-Tanf is in the blue area with the two blue arrows at the bottom of the map. It will soon be painted red as liberated and under Syrian government control.
Source: Al Watan Online - bigger
A more expressive version of the map:
Source: Doloroso
To recap:
The U.S. plan was to move from al-Tanf north towards the Euphrates river and to thereby capture and control the whole south-east of Syria. But Syria and its allies made an unexpected move and prevented that plan. The invaders are now cut off from the Euphrates by a Syrian west-to-east line that ends at the Iraqi border. On the Iraqi side elements of the Popular Military Unites under the command of the Iraqi government are moving to meet the Syrian forces at the border.The U.S. invaders are now sitting in the mid of a piece of rather useless desert around al-Tanf where their only option is to die of boredom or to move back to Jordan from where they came.
Syria Summary - The End Of The War Is Now In Sight - June 13
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he U.S. military even moved a HIMARS missile launcher with 300 km reach from nearby Jordan to al-Tanf. That was a laughable stunt. It made no difference in capabilities from the earlier launcher position in Jordan just a few miles west. But someone in the U.S. military believed that showing off such weapons in a doomed area would impress Syrian or Russian forces and change the facts of life. It didn't. It was clear that the U.S. would have to move out.
That now seems to be happening. A knowledgeable source just posted:
TØM CΛT @TomtheBasedCat - 3:38 PM - 29 Jun 2017
LolEvidently Tanf FSA really are being flown to Shaddadi. Plan C is in effect.
There were several rumors to this regard since yesterday and the above now confirms them. LOL indeed.
About 150 or so U.S. trained Arab fighters will be flown from al-Tanf to north-east Syria where they will join the (hated) Kurdish forces. They may later try to reach the ISIS besieged Deir Ezzor from the north or get pushed into some suicide mission against another ISIS position. The Syrian army will approach and liberate Deir Ezzor most likely from the south and east. It is unlikely that it will let U,S. proxy forces take part in that. The U.S. contingent will move west out of al-Tanf and back into Jordan. The Syrian and Iraqi forces will take over the Al Waleed border crossing at al-Tanf and the regular commercial traffic on the Damascus-Baghdad road will resume.
The various propagandists who argued for a big U.S. mission to occupy the whole Iraqi-Syrian border and all of east Syria have lost. The "Shia crescent" between Iran and Lebanon they claimed to prevent with such a move was never a physical road connection and certainly nothing the U.S could fight by any physical means. Their pushing for a U.S. occupation of east Syria and incitement of a larger conflict has for now failed.
Posted by b on June 29, 2017 at 12:45 PM | Permalink
Thanks for the Good News b. Go Syrian Army and friends.
Posted by: jo6pac | Jun 29, 2017 1:19:07 PM | 2
If it happens to be true then it will mean not only that Damascus will be reconnected with Baghdad but also with Amman via this road even before SAA had retaken the border near Daraa.
@1 '... or to move back ... from where they came'
i like that alternative myself. all the way back to the ussa, dog - as they say - have mercy on all the other americans when they get there and become cops.
Posted by: jfl | Jun 29, 2017 1:37:14 PM | 4
thanks b.... don't count on the usa to leave empty handed or for them to come up with other stupid hair brained ideas which involve murdering innocent syrians, or syrian armed forces...
Posted by: james | Jun 29, 2017 2:33:48 PM | 5
Hate to be the wet blanket here, but Mattis isn't likely to give up the longer war. The loss of al Tanf means the U.S. land/resource theft in Syria won't be the cakewalk originally envisioned using FSA and the Kurds as cannon fodder. Plan A - take out Assad and the Syrian government/military with mercs - was never really thrown out completely. It was simply moved to the back burner for the time being. If the mercs are not up to the job, then more expensive U.S. troops will have to do.
The latest chemical weapons false flag announcement should have demonstrated to everyone how willing the U.S. is to revert to Plan A given a convenient casus belli (however unbelievable). And you can be sure that a phoney CW false flag isn't the only one the U.S. could roll out. In fact, I would look for something completely different at this point.
Things are falling apart in Syria for the U.S. - Plan B and C were begrudgingly rolled out, but they just don't have that full spectrum dominance feel the Pentagon chicken-hawks love so much. Al Tanf isn't the only way to the Deir EzZor oil fields - the U.S. can always go through Damascus like they always wanted. Sometimes you have to kill a million or so Syrians and destroy their entire country to save them from their democratically-elected leader. And all that Kurdish oil stolen from the Syrians and Iraqis isn't going to get to Haifa by itself.
Posted by: PavewayIV | Jun 29, 2017 2:40:50 PM | 6
But how? How can the US actually deploy any force into Syria? It means war with Russia, and that means the destruction of the continental US.
Every move made since the Russians arrived shows the US in retreat. Nothing can change this. The US can't pull a rabbit out of a hat when it doesn't even have a hat. It doesn't have any clothes at all.
Trump is now confirmed to be meeting with Putin at G20. The US is not going to war with Russia. Therefore the US cannot enter Syria with force. Not even for Israel. Trump has no political mandate or incentive to do it, and the Pentagon already knows it can't be done. And any proxies left now have to face the Turks. Checkmate everywhere. This is endgame.
Posted by: Grieved | Jun 29, 2017 3:20:10 PM | 7
In that there is little coverage regarding the situation at Dara'a, would someone with knowledge of the situation kindly post info as to why it has been so difficult to push the jihadists out and why the area further south remains so firmly entrenched in jihadist control.
Posted by: chet380 | Jun 29, 2017 3:23:50 PM | 8
Funny because I have read at least 10 columns braying about the need to block Iran's access to Lebanon. The Neocon / Liberal interventionists are in full panic mode. If this news is true then they will rend their garments and cut themselves like the priests of Baal.
The National Review has had 3 - 5 days where at least one of their writers have said, 'it's time to stop worrying about ISIS and focus on Iran'.
Toppling Saddam was a huge fiasco, confronting Iran now that ISIS is in full retreat would be an equally bad fiasco. Given that Trump's team are filled with Iranophobes I suspect that they have something else in mind.
Posted by: Christian Chuba | Jun 29, 2017 3:34:10 PM | 9
The Israelis have the spigot turned on to the max?
Posted by: Pvp | Jun 29, 2017 3:34:32 PM | 10
Posted by: Lozion | Jun 29, 2017 3:34:32 PM | 11
Sorry to post this here, will do it on the next open thread.
This is about the Information War against Russia. I just had an 'aha' moment.
The standard memes against Putin are well known but after reading this article, I only just now recognized the tactic of embedding them in scholarly, semi-flattering, expertly looking journals.
https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2017/05/seeing-russia-clearly/
Russia is uniquely hated. Iran is casually dismissed as 'number one sponsor of terrorism'. N. Korea is a rogue regime. China, growing rival (or ignored). Russia on the other hand has to be dissected to make it look like it was carefully studied and the author reluctantly came to these conclusions, 'Russia didn't have a liberal democratic tradition so of course they are ruled by a monster like Putin'.
I'm kind of surprised I didn't recognize this earlier. I'll bet a steak dinner that these authors hated Russia a year before they wrote their first draft.
Posted by: Christian Chuba | Jun 29, 2017 4:16:38 PM | 12
B thanks so much ... I needed a tiny bit of good news
Posted by: Susan Sunflower | Jun 29, 2017 4:36:43 PM | 13
National Post blowhard isn't giving up:
Posted by: spudski | Jun 29, 2017 4:39:58 PM | 14
Paveway IV's correct to wear a wet blanket; Canthama at SyrPers is equally skeptical and wants more proof beyond Twittersphere. But I sympathize with Grieved's argument, too. Yet it must be admitted that at the Macroscale of our ongoing Hybrid Third World War we see the unipolar ambition of the Outlaw US Empire losing ground to the surging Multipolar Alliance, while at the Microscale we might even see Dier Ez Zor relieved by the G-20 meet in Hamburg.
I find it very interesting that 8 days ago Russia announced its biggest ever airborne training exercise will occur in early July as if it anticipated the Trump false flag announcement, https://sputniknews.com/russia/201706211054825207-russia-airborne-troops-drills/ I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a portion of those troops treated to a live-fire exercise deployment to the Syrian desert in tandem with SAA advance to Dier Ez Zor or Al-Bukamal.
Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 29, 2017 4:58:20 PM | 15
It seems very possible now that the US has handed off the war to the Saudis with the $350 Billion dollar weapons deal with the Saudis and probably for the mercs also. With the change of leadership to the more ruthless and former defense minister, Mohammad bin Salman. The Saudis have wanted Assad ousted for a very long time. It appears that the US has given the Saudis the job of executing the war in Syria.
Posted by: Rons | Jun 29, 2017 5:07:47 PM | 16
"Trump is now confirmed to be meeting with Putin at G20."
I hope Trump does not try something stupid, thinking that the G20 meeting will give an element of surprise. If I thought about that possibility, what are the chances that the Russian Military has thought of it too?
Posted by: JaimeInTexas | Jun 29, 2017 5:13:44 PM | 17
Negotiating with President Putin about what?
Act of desperation or rather 3D-Chess?
https://twitter.com/KremlinRussia_E/status/880492604189798400
Posted by: manigi | Jun 29, 2017 5:14:38 PM | 18
And the lies continue: http://wsenmw.blogspot.com/2017/06/video-america-is-one-big-lie-and-you.html
Posted by: Rawdawgbuffalo | Jun 29, 2017 5:23:23 PM | 19
According to Putin's Kremlin website, "Henry Kissinger is in Russia to attend the Primakov Readings International Forum," http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/54910
Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 29, 2017 5:27:00 PM | 20
"And all that Kurdish oil stolen from the Syrians and Iraqis isn't going to get to Haifa by itself."
That is not the plan. This is the plan. It is due to be operational by 2015
Israeli troops are already in Cyprus, running joint exercises. The IDF confirm that they are just visiting, not occupying.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvQJfqnPuME
Posted by: Yonatan | Jun 29, 2017 6:17:59 PM | 21
The U.S. military even moved a HIMARS missile launcher with 300 km reach from nearby Jordan to al-Tanf. That was a laughable stunt. It made no difference in capabilities from the earlier launcher position in Jordan just a few miles west. But someone in the U.S. military believed that showing off such weapons in a doomed area would impress Syrian or Russian forces and change the facts of life. It didn’t. It was clear that the U.S. would have tomove out.
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...their only option is to die of boredom...
a mollifying epitaph 'twould be
Posted by: john | Jun 29, 2017 1:15:45 PM | 1