US Army Special Forces Secretly Fighting Saudi Arabia’s War in Yemen

May 3, 2018 at 10:04 pm

(ANTIWAR.COM) — The US military is more deeply involved in the Saudi War in Yemen than officials ever admitted. In fact, new evidence suggests the Pentagon lied to Congress during the March debate about US involvement, presenting the US role at present being limited to targeting and mid-air refueling of Saudi warplanes.

The New York Times is reporting on Thursday that there are actually a small number of US special forces on the ground at the Saudi border with Yemen. Those troops have not only been on the ground since late 2017, but are there on a mission to help the Saudi military fight Yemen’s Shi’ite Houthi movement.

No public debate took place with respect to this deployment. Indeed, the Pentagon appears to have gone to great lengths not to tell the American public or the Congress about the Green Berets they sent to the border. The Green Berets are intended to help the Saudis “locate and destroy” Houthi missile caches, and attack Houthi launch sites inside Yemen.

This has been going on despite the Trump Administration telling Congress that America’s involvement in Yemen was purely “non-combat,” and again, despite the Pentagon repeatedly saying that America’s sole involvement in Yemen was logistics and support for the air war.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) said the Pentagon was deliberately “blurring the lines between train and equip missions and combat.” It is unclear from the New York Times report if the US troops crossed into Yemen, but given that their mission was to target Houthi sites, it seems almost certain that they have.

Centcom Commander Gen. Joseph Votel, during the March debate, did say that he had authorization to “help the Saudis defend their border.” At that time, however, he told the Senate this was being done purely through intelligence sharing and “military advice.” Clearly, it also involved physical US troops on the border.

It remains to be seen what the consequences of the Pentagon’s deception will be domestically. At the very least it seems like this could provide a new pretext for a vote on ending US involvement in the Yemen War, as Congress lacked all the information they needed to have an informed vote in March.

======================================

De aanval van de VS, GB en Frankrijk, als reactie op ‘een gifgasaanval van het Syrische leger’ tegen de stad Douma, blijkt niet alleen totaal illegaal te zijn (en dat weer niet alleen vanwege het feit dat er geen gifgasaanval werd gepleegd op die stad), maar deze actie was ook nog eens totaal contraproductief….

Dat zit zo: Rusland overweegt als reactie op die laatste aanval haar S-300 defensie raketten te leveren aan Syrië…. Deze raketten hebben een groot bereik en kunnen bijvoorbeeld de illegale aanvallen van Israël (intussen meer dan 100 aanvallen en stuk voor stuk oorlogsmisdaden) tegen Syrische doelen worden voorkomen. Deze raketten zouden Israëlische toestellen al in het Libanees luchtruim uit kunnen schakelen…… (ook die laffe manier van aanvallen via het luchtruim van een ander land, is een grove schending van internationaal recht, immers Israël begeeft zich illegaal in Libanees luchtruim, alweer een enorme oorlogsmisdaad van terreurstaat Israël……).

Ofwel Syrië wordt door deze illegale aanval straks veel beter beschermd tegen dit soort illegale aanvallen, of die nu van van de fascistische apartheidsstaat Israël komen, dan wel van terreurentiteiten VS, GB en Frankrijk (of andere NAVO landen). Ik noem die laatste landen, daar deze de aanval openden met kruisraketten, die laag kunnen vliegen om detectie te voorkomen, echter ook met deze verdedigingsraketten kunnen kruisraketten van de VS, GB en Frankrijk (en anderen) uit de lucht worden gehaald, of ter plekke het lanceerplatform (schepen, vliegtuigen, of lanceerplatforms op land) vernietigen dat laatste hoorde ik onlangs op WDR….. Al moet gezegd worden dat ook zonder de nieuwe Russische raketten, het merendeel van de afgeschoten kruisraketten werd vernietigd, voordat het doel werd bereikt!

Het is te hopen dat Rusland deze S-300 raketten levert aan Syrië zodat er een eind kan worden gemaakt aan de westerse en Israëlische terreur in Syrië. Volgens het Russische dagblad Kommersant is de (gratis) levering van het S-300 raketsysteem een feit en worden er al onderdelen afgeleverd in Syrië, iets dat de Syrische regering ontkent, men zou hier nog een besluit over willen nemen. Reuters citeerde Lavrov die stelde dat zowel de Russische als de Syrische autoriteiten nog niet hebben beslist over een definitieve levering van dit defensie systeem.

De corrupte en psychopathische massamoordenaar in de persoon van de Israëlische premier Netanyahu, heeft al aangegeven dat met de levering van het S-300 raketsysteem aan Syrië (alweer) een spreekwoordelijke rode lijn zal worden overschreden en dat Israël daarop actie zal ondernemen…….

Niet vreemd dus dat de commandant van de VS terreurtroepen, in deze van CENTCOM, Joseph Votel terreurstaat Israël in het geheim bezocht, immers dit raketsysteem is ook een gevaar voor het agressieve VS leger in de regio……

Commander of US Troops in Syria Makes “Secret and Unprecedented” Visit to Israel

April 23, 2018 at 10:33 pm

Written by Tyler Durden

(ZHE) — Increasingly it appears that the recent US coalition missile strikes on Syria have utterly backfired: instead of weakening Syria or degrading its military capabilities, the attack may have actually served to strengthen Syria’s defenses.

Since the massive strike which involved the US, UK, and France launching over 100 cruise missiles, Russia is rumored to be moving forward on delivery of its advanced S-300 missile defense system, which would be a monumental upgrade allowing Syrian defenses to far surpass current capabilities which utilize the Soviet-made S-125 and S-200 air defense systems.

Crucially, S-300s have a range of up to 150-200 kilometers (or 120 miles), bringing Syrian deterrent reach easily to within Lebanese airspace (as Israel has routinely struck targets inside Syria while firing over “neutral” Lebanese airspace in recent years), and could even extend airspace coverage into Israel itself.

Could this be the reason for some major behind-the-scenes diplomatic scrambling?

Undated file photo of S-300 air defense missiles launched at Ashuluk shooting range in southern Russia.

On Monday VOA News chief White House correspondent Steve Herman announced that US CENTCOM commander General Joseph Votel is in the midst of “a secret and unprecedented visit to Israel.”

Knowledge of the “secret” visit was based on exclusive footage broadcast by Israel’s Kann News, which first reported, “the commander of the American Central Command arrived for the first time to Israel, and met with senior security officials, including the Chief of Staff.”

Steve Herman

✔@W7VOA

 Israeli public broadcaster reports @CENTCOM commander General Votel making a secret and unprecedented visit to #Israel. https://twitter.com/kann_news/status/988462149520457728 …

7:22 PM – Apr 23, 2018

No doubt the potential for what weapons experts have commonly described as the “exceptionally advanced” Russian-supplied S-300 in Israel’s backyard is making Tel Aviv and its allies nervous. Israel has repeatedly called delivery of the S-300s a “red line” for which it would act, however, plans for just such a scenario could be hastening.

Early Monday morning Israel’s Channel 10 senior diplomatic correspondent broke the following, subsequently confirmed in the Times of Israel and Reuters:

Russian newspaper Kommersant reports that Russia might deliver S-300 anti aircraft missiles to Syria in the very near future in order to defend Damascus & Strategic Syrian army bases from Israel & U.S. airstrikes.

Kommersant reported Russia will give the S-300 missiles to Syria for free from Russian army supplies as part of its military assistance to Syria. This way the delivery could be done very quickly.

Russian military sources said parts of the S-300 will be delivered soon to Syria via cargo planes or Russian navy ships. Until Syrian officers will be trained to operate the system it will be operated by Russian military experts in coordination with the Syrian army.

According to Kommersant Russia believes that delivering the system will stabilize the situation in Syria and deter Israel and the U.S. from continuing its airstrikes in Syria. Russian sources said that if Israel attacks the missiles the results would be catastrophic.

Barak Ravid

✔@BarakRavid

1 \ Russian newspaper Kommersant reports that Russia might deliver S-300 anti aircraft missiles to Syria in the very near future in order to defend Damascus & Strategic Syrian army bases from Israel & U.S. airstrikes

8:21 AM – Apr 23, 2018

Though still being hotly debated and contested among analysts, Syria’s over 30-year old current deterrent system appears to have performed well, likely stunning the West and neighboring Israel (which itself played a part in the coalition attack) as it reportedly shot down 71 of the 103 cruise missiles, according to official Russian and Syrian government sources.

As we previously described, Pentagon officials have vehemently denied that their “nice and new and smart” cruise missiles were actually shot down, and Russia now further claims to be in possession of at least two non-detonated coalition missiles. Most Western media reports continue to assert that Syrian missile defense failed to shoot down a single inbound missile. Notably, the Pentagon has been careful in all statements to say Russia’s S-300 system (currently present aboard Russian battleships in the Mediterranean) did not engage.

However, there are other possibilities that the coalition’s missiles simply failed in reaching their targets in some instances without intercept by Syrian defenses, or even that advanced Russian air defense Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) may have been in play.

But one doesn’t need to take the Russian Defense Ministry’s word for it. It is entirely possible and even likely that Russian intercept claims are inflated, yet that there were a number of intercepts that night was also reported by several important outside sources, including by Syrian pro-rebel media, foremost being the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which has for years been a chief go-to source for all mainstream reporting on Syria (though ironically when SOHR contradicts the mainstream media, such as in this case, its numbers are ignored).

SOHR reported, based on “several intersected sources” on the ground, that “the number of missiles that were downed exceeded 65.” That anti-Assad/anti-Russia pro-rebel SOHR is saying this is hugely significant, and is consistent with Russia’s claim.

But all of this will perhaps quickly become a moot point if Russia does indeed deliver the S-300 system to Syria after warning immediately on the heels of the US-led strike, that there would be consequences.

Graphic and Info Source: Jane’s Strategic Weapons Systems via Graphic News

On the very morning after the US strike took place, Russia’s first deputy chief of staff, Sergei Rudskoi, said Russia would “reconsider” whether to supply the air defenses to Assad – an issue previously thought dead as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had reportedly successfully lobbied President Putin against the possibility in 2013.

Netanyahu was quoted at the time as saying of the S-300 system, “We’ll destroy your missiles if you deliver them to Assad” – a warning which has recently been repeated in the form of an Israeli “red line”. However, Russian military sources have this week been quoted in the Times of Israel as saying: if Israel tried to destroy the anti-aircraft batteries—as analysts have indicated Israel likely would—it would be “catastrophic for all sides.”

But on Monday, Reuters reported that no decision had been made on S-300 delivery to Syria, citing Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who said, “We’ll have to wait to see what specific decisions the Russian leadership and representatives of Syria will take.” Lavrov added, “There is probably no secret about this and it can all be announced (if a decision is taken).”

However, given Israel’s past history of “strike first” in Syria and negotiate later, we could witness missiles flying before any official announcement takes place.

By Tyler Durden / Republished with permission / Zero Hedge / Report a typo

Category: Votel

VS vecht in Jemen, Pentagon loog weer eens >> Congres eindelijk ‘wakker’

US Army Special Forces Secretly Fighting Saudi Arabia’s War in Yemen

Rusland wil Syrië nieuwe antiraketsysteem leveren tegen aanvallen van derden, de reden voor geheim bezoek van VS commandant aan Israël……

Commander of US Troops in Syria Makes “Secret and Unprecedented” Visit to Israel