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The number of special operations troops in Syria would be fewer than 50, said a senior administration official, speaking ahead of an announcement on Friday by the administration. One U.S. official said the number was likely to be in the range of 20 to 30 but could not provide details. The decision by Obama, deeply averse to committing troops to unpopular wars in the Middle East, would mark the first sustained U.S. troop presence in Syria and raise the risk of American casualties, although U.S. officials stressed the forces were not meant to engage in front-line combat.
People inspect a site hit by missiles fired by Syrian government forces on a busy marketplace in the Douma neighborhood of Damascus, Syria
The Obama administration is under pressure to ramp up America's effort against Islamic State, particularly after the fall of the Iraqi city of Ramadi to Islamic State in May and the failure of a U.S. military program to train and arm thousands of Syrian rebels. The planned deployment adds to an increasingly volatile and complex conflict in Syria, where Russia and Iran have increased up their military support for President Bashar al-Assad's fight against rebels in the four-and-a-half year civil war.
Russia said when it began air strikes last month that it would also target the Islamic State militant group, but its planes have hit other rebel groups opposed to Assad, including groups backed by Washington. The new U.S. strategy to assist in the fight against Islamic State in Syria will be accompanied by a new special operations force in Erbil in northern Iraq, "intensified" cooperation with Iraqis in retaking Ramadi and expanded security assistance to Jordan and Lebanon, a senior congressional source said.
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The announcement of the small ground force came as diplomats from more than a dozen countries held talks over Syria, which for the first time in the more than four-year-old civil war were attended by President Bashar al-Assad's ally Iran. In a rare hint of diplomatic progress, Tehran signaled it would back a six-month political "transition" period in Syria followed by elections to decide Assad's fate, although his foes rejected the proposal as a trick to keep the president in power.
A man reacts as he mourns the death of his relative after missiles were fired by Syrian government forces on a busy marketplace in the Douma neighborhood of Damascus, Syria
The Vienna talks ended without a specific conclusion apart from an agreement to reconvene in some form next week, delegates said. In addition to Assad's fate, key sticking points have long included the question of which rebel groups should be considered terrorists and who should be involved in the political process. In Washington, U.S. officials said the small special forces contingent in Syria would work with local "moderate rebel" groups to fight against Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. Washington has targeted the group with air strikes for more than a year since fighters seized swathes of eastern Syria and northern Iraq and proclaimed a caliphate to rule over all Muslims.
Russia's decision a month ago to join the conflict in Syria by bombing Assad's enemies has upended the strategy of the United States and its allies, who say Assad must go, as his presence makes it harder to fight the jihadists. A senior U.S. administration official said President Barack Obama had authorized sending fewer than 50 U.S. special forces troops to northern Syria to work with local groups. Washington has acknowledged conducting special forces raids into Syria in the past but has not stationed troops there.
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Dozens of people were killed and hundreds were wounded early Friday when government airstrikes exploded a crowded market and residential neighborhoods in northern and southern Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said forces fired 12 missiles into the market in Douma, a rebel-held town about 10 miles northeast of the national capital. It was reported that President Bashar Assad's regime carried out the strike. "This market is at the heart of Douma and supplies everyone here," a Syrian Civil Defense officer told Al Jazeera. "This is the second time this market has been targeted."
A Syrian boy carries an infant as he looks for relatives in the rubble of destroyed houses following what local activists say was an airstrike by Russian forces in the rebel-held area of Kallasah, on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Friday, October 30, 2015. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, dozens were killed and hundreds were wounded in separate attacks Friday on a busy market in Damascus and neighborhoods in Aleppo.
Artillery fire, mortars and airstrikes continued for several hours afterward, opposition activists said. Also Friday, others were killed and injured in northern Syria after military forces reportedly launched attacks in Aleppo neighborhoods. Witnesses and officials said Russian forces are responsible for the attack on Aleppo, Syria's largest city. Friday's strikes came as foreign officials, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, met at a conference in Vienna to support a U.N.-led diplomatic effort to end the hostilities in Syria that started five years ago. An agreement from the Vienna conference means the Syrian government and opposition groups can move forward with the process -- which is now supported by multiple nations including the United States, Iran and Russia.
However, U.S. and Russian officials remain split on the future of Assad -- who is an ally to Moscow and a foe to Washington. "Countries are meeting in Vienna to decide his fate, and he's telling them 'I can kill the Syrian people, no problem,'" opposition activist Yousef Albostany said. "We are hostages of a megalomaniac criminal who wants to defy these countries with our blood." Russia has maintained military air support for Assad's regime in Syria since last month -- a point of some contention between Moscow and Washington -- to fight Islamic State rebels in the country. While U.S. and Russian officials are united in their goal to defeat the terror group, they do not agree on President Vladimir Putin's desire to keep Assad in power.
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And we have to deal with more al-Qaeda Propaganda.This is what Putin and Iran are supporting...
Syria: Missile strikes by government forces kill dozens, injure hundreds
Oct. 30, 2015 - The Aleppo attack is being blamed on Russian forces, while the Syrian government supposedly launched the strike on the Damascus area market.
Dozens of people were killed and hundreds were wounded early Friday when government airstrikes exploded a crowded market and residential neighborhoods in northern and southern Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said forces fired 12 missiles into the market in Douma, a rebel-held town about 10 miles northeast of the national capital. It was reported that President Bashar Assad's regime carried out the strike. "This market is at the heart of Douma and supplies everyone here," a Syrian Civil Defense officer told Al Jazeera. "This is the second time this market has been targeted."
A Syrian boy carries an infant as he looks for relatives in the rubble of destroyed houses following what local activists say was an airstrike by Russian forces in the rebel-held area of Kallasah, on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Friday, October 30, 2015. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, dozens were killed and hundreds were wounded in separate attacks Friday on a busy market in Damascus and neighborhoods in Aleppo.
Artillery fire, mortars and airstrikes continued for several hours afterward, opposition activists said. Also Friday, others were killed and injured in northern Syria after military forces reportedly launched attacks in Aleppo neighborhoods. Witnesses and officials said Russian forces are responsible for the attack on Aleppo, Syria's largest city. Friday's strikes came as foreign officials, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, met at a conference in Vienna to support a U.N.-led diplomatic effort to end the hostilities in Syria that started five years ago. An agreement from the Vienna conference means the Syrian government and opposition groups can move forward with the process -- which is now supported by multiple nations including the United States, Iran and Russia.
However, U.S. and Russian officials remain split on the future of Assad -- who is an ally to Moscow and a foe to Washington. "Countries are meeting in Vienna to decide his fate, and he's telling them 'I can kill the Syrian people, no problem,'" opposition activist Yousef Albostany said. "We are hostages of a megalomaniac criminal who wants to defy these countries with our blood." Russia has maintained military air support for Assad's regime in Syria since last month -- a point of some contention between Moscow and Washington -- to fight Islamic State rebels in the country. While U.S. and Russian officials are united in their goal to defeat the terror group, they do not agree on President Vladimir Putin's desire to keep Assad in power.
MORE
What really happened:This is what Putin and Iran are supporting...
Syria: Missile strikes by government forces kill dozens, injure hundreds
Oct. 30, 2015 - The Aleppo attack is being blamed on Russian forces, while the Syrian government supposedly launched the strike on the Damascus area market.
Dozens of people were killed and hundreds were wounded early Friday when government airstrikes exploded a crowded market and residential neighborhoods in northern and southern Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said forces fired 12 missiles into the market in Douma, a rebel-held town about 10 miles northeast of the national capital. It was reported that President Bashar Assad's regime carried out the strike. "This market is at the heart of Douma and supplies everyone here," a Syrian Civil Defense officer told Al Jazeera. "This is the second time this market has been targeted."
A Syrian boy carries an infant as he looks for relatives in the rubble of destroyed houses following what local activists say was an airstrike by Russian forces in the rebel-held area of Kallasah, on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Friday, October 30, 2015. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, dozens were killed and hundreds were wounded in separate attacks Friday on a busy market in Damascus and neighborhoods in Aleppo.
Artillery fire, mortars and airstrikes continued for several hours afterward, opposition activists said. Also Friday, others were killed and injured in northern Syria after military forces reportedly launched attacks in Aleppo neighborhoods. Witnesses and officials said Russian forces are responsible for the attack on Aleppo, Syria's largest city. Friday's strikes came as foreign officials, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, met at a conference in Vienna to support a U.N.-led diplomatic effort to end the hostilities in Syria that started five years ago. An agreement from the Vienna conference means the Syrian government and opposition groups can move forward with the process -- which is now supported by multiple nations including the United States, Iran and Russia.
However, U.S. and Russian officials remain split on the future of Assad -- who is an ally to Moscow and a foe to Washington. "Countries are meeting in Vienna to decide his fate, and he's telling them 'I can kill the Syrian people, no problem,'" opposition activist Yousef Albostany said. "We are hostages of a megalomaniac criminal who wants to defy these countries with our blood." Russia has maintained military air support for Assad's regime in Syria since last month -- a point of some contention between Moscow and Washington -- to fight Islamic State rebels in the country. While U.S. and Russian officials are united in their goal to defeat the terror group, they do not agree on President Vladimir Putin's desire to keep Assad in power.
MORE
Maybe, the story is bullshit and just intends to avoid Russian air raids.This sending in U.S. soldiers to fight with the NORTH SYRIANS is a RUSE by the Manchurian muslim.... He's hoping Russia will bomb the shit out of our own men, and start a SITUATION where HE will declare that PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS are going to be PUT ON HOLD indefinitely, and declare he will stay in office UNTIL this SITUATION is straightened out ( it will only be escalated SLOWLY after that so the situation is NEVER fixed), and he gets to stay on as dictator.
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