Michael Snyder<\/p>\n
(RINF<\/a>) – Why has Barack Obama airdropped 50 tons<\/strong> of ammunition into areas that \u201cmoderate rebels\u201d in Syria supposedly control? This is essentially the equivalent of poking the Russians directly in the eyes. Much of this ammunition will end up in the hands of those that the Russians are attempting to bomb into oblivion, and so to Russia it appears that we are attempting to make their job much harder. And of course the truth is that there aren\u2019t really any \u201cmoderate rebels\u201d in Syria at all. Nearly all of the groups that are fighting are made up primarily of radical jihadists and\/or hired mercenaries. Personally, I don\u2019t see anyone over there that you could call \u201cthe good guys\u201d. At the end of the day, the U.S. supports just about anyone that wants to get rid of the Assad regime, and the Russians are working very hard to keep Assad in power. Just like the civil war in Ukraine, the conflict in Syria is in great danger of being transformed into a proxy war between the United States and Russia, and many fear that these conflicts could eventually be setting the stage for World War III.<\/p>\n The ferocity of Russian airstrikes in Syria has surprised observers all over the planet<\/a>, and over the past couple of days these airstrikes have been extended\u00a0to include some new areas<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n Russian Air Forces have extended the range of their airstrikes on Islamic State positions in Syria to four provinces, focusing primarily on demolishing fortified installations and eliminating supply bases and the terrorists\u2019 infrastructure.<\/p>\n Over the last 24 hours Russian aircraft have attacked terrorist positions in the Hama, Idlib, Latakia and Raqqa provinces of Syria. In total, 64 sorties targeted 63 Islamic State installations, among them 53 fortified zones, 7 arms depots, 4 training camps and a command post.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n When I read reports like this, I am deeply troubled. The Obama administration claims that it has been bombing ISIS positions in Syria for over a year. So why in the world do these targets still exist?<\/strong><\/p>\n Was the U.S. military incapable of finding these installations?<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t seem likely.<\/p>\n So why weren\u2019t they destroyed long ago?<\/p>\n Did the Obama administration not want them destroyed for some reason?<\/p>\n What seems abundantly clear is that the Russians are doing what the Obama administration was either unwilling or unable to do. There is now mass panic among ISIS fighters, and\u00a0thousands of them are fleeing the country<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n An estimated 3,000 Islamic State fighters as well as militants from other extremist groups have fled Syria for Jordan fearing a renewed offensive by the Syrian army in addition to Russian airstrikes, a military official has told RIA news agency.<\/p>\n \u201cAt least 3,000 militants from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS\/ISIL), al-Nusra and Jaish al-Yarmouk have fled to Jordan. They are afraid of the Syrian army having stepped up activities on all fronts and of Russian airstrikes,\u201d<\/em> the RIA source said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The mainstream media in the United States is not talking much about this, are they?<\/p>\n But the U.S. media is reporting on this latest airdrop of ammunition to rebel groups in Syria. For example, the following comes from\u00a0CNN<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n U.S. military cargo planes gave 50 tons of ammunition<\/strong> to rebel groups overnight in northern Syria, using an air drop of 112 pallets as the first step in the Obama Administration\u2019s urgent effort to find new ways to support those groups.<\/p>\n Details of the air mission over Syria were confirmed by a U.S. official not authorized to speak publicly because the details have not yet been formally announced.<\/p>\n C-17s, accompanied by fighter escort aircraft, dropped small arms ammunition and other items like hand grenades in Hasakah province in northern Syria to a coalition of rebels groups vetted by the US, known as the Syrian Arab Coalition.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n If you were the Russians, how would you feel about this?<\/p>\n I know how I would feel.<\/p>\n And just as Joe Biden has previously admitted, the \u201cmoderate middle\u201d in Syria simply does not exist. The following is an extended excerpt from a piece that was originally written by investigative journalist Nafeez Ahmed<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n The\u00a0first<\/a>\u00a0Russian airstrikes hit the rebel-held town of Talbisah north of Homs City, home to al-Qaeda\u2019s official Syrian arm, Jabhat al-Nusra, and the pro-al-Qaeda Ahrar al-Sham, among other local rebel groups. Both al-Nusra and the Islamic State have claimed responsibility for vehicle-borne IEDs (VBIEDs) in Homs City, which is 12 kilometers south of Talbisah.<\/p>\n The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reports that as part of \u201cUS and Turkish efforts to establish an ISIS \u2018free zone\u2019 in the northern Aleppo countryside,\u201d al-Nusra \u201cwithdrew from the border and reportedly reinforced positions in this rebel-held pocket north of Homs city\u201d.<\/p>\n In other words, the US and Turkey are actively\u00a0sponsoring<\/a>\u00a0\u201cmoderate\u201d Syrian rebels in the form of al-Qaeda, which Washington DC-based risk analysis firm Valen Globals\u00a0forecasts<\/a>\u00a0will be \u201ca bigger threat to global security\u201d than IS in coming years.<\/strong><\/p>\n Last October, Vice President Joe Biden\u00a0conceded<\/a>\u00a0that there is \u201cno moderate middle\u201d among the Syrian opposition. Turkey and the Gulf powers armed and funded \u201canyone who would fight against Assad,\u201d including \u201cal-Nusra,\u201d \u201cal-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI)<\/a>,\u201d and the \u201cextremist elements of jihadis\u00a0who were coming from other parts of the world\u201d.<\/p>\n In other words, the CIA-backed rebels targeted by Russia are not moderates. They represent the same melting pot of al-Qaeda affiliated networks that spawned the Islamic State in the first place.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n It has been well documented that many of these so-called \u201cmoderate rebel groups\u201d in Syria have fought alongside ISIS and have sold weapons to them. So this false dichotomy that Barack Obama keeps trying to sell us on is just a giant fraud. The following comes from a recent\u00a0Infowars report<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n In September, 2014 a commander with the FSA admitted cooperating with ISIS and the al-Nusra Front.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are collaborating with the Islamic State and the Nusra Front by attacking the Syrian Army\u2019s gatherings in \u2026 Qalamoun,\u201d Bassel Idriss<\/a> said. \u201cLet\u2019s face it: The Nusra Front is the biggest power present right now in Qalamoun and we as FSA would collaborate on any mission they launch as long as it coincides with our values.\u201d<\/p>\n In July of 2014 a report in Stars and Stripes documented how the 1,000 strong Dawud Brigade, which had previously fought alongside the FSA against al-Assad, had defected in its entirety to join ISIS<\/a>.<\/p>\n The same month factions within the FSA \u2013 including Ahl Al Athar and Ibin al-Qa\u2019im \u2013 pledged services to the Islamic State<\/a>.<\/p>\n Members of the Islamic State claim to cooperate with the FSA and buy weapons provided by the U.S.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are buying weapons from the FSA. We bought 200 anti-aircraft missiles and Koncourse anti tank weapons,\u201d ISIS member Abu Atheer<\/a> told al-Jazeera. \u201cWe have good relations with our brothers in the FSA. For us, the infidels are those who cooperate with the West to fight Islam.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n U.S. anti-tank weapons are playing a critical role in the Syrian conflict. As reported by the Washington Post<\/a>, U.S.-made anti-tank missiles are being used by the rebels to destroy lots of Russian-made tanks that are being used by the Syrian army\u2026<\/p>\n So successful have they been in driving rebel gains in northwestern Syria that rebels call the missile the \u201cAssad Tamer,\u201d a play on the word Assad, which means lion. And in recent days they have been used with great success to slow the Russian-backed offensive aimed at recapturing ground from the rebels.<\/p>\n Since Wednesday, when Syrian troops launched their first offensive backed by the might of Russia\u2019s military, dozens of videos<\/a> have been posted on YouTube showing rebels firing the U.S.-made missiles at Russian-made tanks and armored vehicles belonging to the Syrian army. Appearing as twirling balls of light, they zigzag across the Syrian countryside until they find and blast their target in a ball of flame.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Like I said earlier, this is looking more and more like a proxy war between the United States and Russia.<\/p>\n Could that be what Obama actually wants?<\/p>\n Obama is poking China in the eyes lately too. CNN is reporting<\/a> that U.S. warships may soon be sailing into territorial waters around the Spratly Islands. These are islands that the Chinese government claims ownership over, but the U.S. government disputes that claim, and Obama seems determined to flex his muscles in the area\u2026<\/p>\n The United States (US) may soon deploy war ships near China\u2019s artificial islands in the South China Sea.<\/p>\n It wants to send a message that it does not recognize China\u2019s territorial claims over the area.<\/p>\n This is according to a Financial Times report quoting a senior U.S. official who said its ships will sail within 12-nautical-mile zones that China claims as its territory around the Spratly Islands within the next two weeks.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n