US-led overt war on Syria is underway

Russia’s defense ministry blamed Israeli forces for putting the Il-20 in danger by flying four F-16 fighter jets in the vicinity, thereby possibly confusing Syrian radar signals to fire on an allied Russian plane. Was that a deliberate move by the Israelis?

But here’s the infuriating thing. Israel is saying that the “Assad regime” is fully to blame for the shoot-down of the Russian aircraft, adding that it “regrets” the loss of Russian lives.

At around the time of the Russian plane disappearing from radar screens, air strikes were being conducted on the northwest city of Latakia, as well as the port city of Tartous, according to Syrian state media reports. It is not clear who was firing the missiles.

Israeli warplanes were active, but it could also have been American and other NATO forces.

Russia’s defense ministry claims that a French navy frigate was firing missiles at the time. It seems certain that, at the very least, the US would have approved the air strikes by the Israelis, if they carried them out. The suggestion is a concerted NATO-Israeli offensive.

Hold it a moment. How insulting is that? It is Israel and other NATO military forces that are attacking Syria in flagrant violation of international law. Syria is facing intensified aggression, and yet the aggressors are shifting their culpability to somehow impugn Damascus.At around the time of the Russian plane disappearing from radar screens, air strikes were being conducted on the northwest city of Latakia, as well as the port city of Tartous, according to Syrian state media reports. It is not clear who was firing the missiles.

Israeli warplanes were active, but it could also have been American and other NATO forces.

Russia’s defense ministry claims that a French navy frigate was firing missiles at the time. It seems certain that, at the very least, the US would have approved the air strikes by the Israelis, if they carried them out. The suggestion is a concerted NATO-Israeli offensive.

Earlier, over the weekend, the Israelis carried out air strikes on Syria’s international airport in the capital, Damascus. Those strikes follow hundreds of similar attacks by the Israeli air force on Syrian territory over the past two years.

In the south of Syria, US land forces are conducting live dire drills with  jihadists under their control, near al Tanf. In northeast Syria, US-backed Syrian Kurdish militants have recently carried out murderous attacks on the Syrian Army. The American presence in Syria is totally illegal, having been imposed without any mandate.

 In the coming days it will be clear if the low-intensity aggression on Syria by NATO forces and their Israeli accomplice mounts into a full-fledged war on the country.But it seems already clear that a US-led overt war on Syria is underway with aggression from different directions.

Given the combustible configuration of forces in Syria – with NATO, Israel and Saudi Arabia potentially pitted against Russia and Iran – the dangerous dynamic could explode into an all-out regional war, if not a world war.

The silence of the UN and the Western news media is shameful. The aggression being waged against Syria is transparent and totally unacceptable. What is particularly unacceptable is the way Syria and its sovereign right to defend its territory is being blamed. The victim is being vilified.

https://sputniknews.com/columnists/201809181068141450-blaming-victim-aggression/