was the result of a targeting error , it is a direct consequence of the U.S. side 's stubborn unwillingness to coordinate its action against terrorist groups on Syrian territory with Russia . The accusation that the U.S. was intentionally helping ISIS by targeting Syrian Army troops received fierce rebuke from Samantha Power , the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations , who emerged from an emergency Security Council meeting late Saturday night , one demanded by Moscow , by calling Russia 's stance on the incident " uniquely cynical and hypocritical . "
He listed the practical worries that had preoccupied him . “ We had UN inspectors on the ground who were completing their work , and we could not risk taking a shot while they were there . A second major factor was the failure of Cameron to obtain the consent of his parliament . ” The third , and most important , factor , he told me , was “ our assessment that while we could inflict some damage on Assad , we could not , through a missile strike , eliminate the chemical weapons themselves , and what I would then face was the prospect of Assad having survived the strikelife.injure.injurycausedbyviolenteventsand claiming he had successfully defied the United States , that the United States had acted unlawfully in the absence of a UN mandate , and that that would have potentially strengthened his hand rather than weakened it . ” The fourth factor , he said , was of deeper philosophical importance . “ This falls in the category of something that I had been brooding on for some time , ” he said .
The RAF has sent two further Tornado aircraft and six Typhoons to bolster aircraft now flying sorties to both Iraq and Syria The group has sent a memorandum outlining its questions and concerns to the US Department of Defence but said it has not yet received a reply . A survivor of an air strikelife.injure.injurycausedbyviolenteventsthat hit two houses where civilians were sheltering in Ayn al - Khan , al - Hasaka governorate , on 7 December last year described being woken by a huge explosion . “ The house shook and began to crumble , the windows shattered , ” he said . “ I ran outside and saw my neighbour ’s house completely destroyed .
Read more Turkey ’s shelling of the Syrian Kurds comes just days after a plan to end hostilities in Syria was presented in Munich after a meeting of the so - called International Syria Support Group ( ISSG ) , in which Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov , US Secretary of State John Kerry , and UN Special Envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura participated . ‘ We will strikelife.injure.naPYD ’ – Turkish PM Earlier on Saturday , Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu threatened Syrian Kurds with military action , saying that Turkey will resort to force against the Syrian Kurdish People ’s Protection Units ( YPG ) if it considers the step “ necessary . ” “ As I have said , the link between the YPG and the [ outlawed Kurdistan Workers ’ Party ] PKK is obvious .
An Iranian nuclear weapons capability would not only end that nuclear monopoly but could also prompt other adversaries , like Saudi Arabia and Egypt , to go nuclear as well . The result would be a precarious nuclear balance in which Israel could not respond to provocations with conventional military strikes on Syria and Lebanon , as it can today . If Iran were to reach the threshold of a nuclear weapons state , Tehran would find it much easier to call on its allies in Syria and Hezbollah to strikelife.injure.naIsrael , knowing that its nuclear weapons would serve as a deterrent to Israel responding against Iran itself . It is , Clinton continues , the “ strategic relationship between Iran and the regime of Bashar Assad in Syria ” that makes it possible for Iran to undermine Israel ’s security . This would not come about through a “ direct attack , ” Clinton admits , because “ in the thirty years of hostility between Iran and Israel ” this has never occurred , but through its alleged “ proxies . ”
" If this airstrike was caused by target location error , then this is a direct consequence of the U.S. side 's stubborn reluctance to coordinate with Russia its actions against the terrorist groups operating in Syria , " Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj . Gen. Igor Konashenkov said today . U.S. Central command denied that claim , saying it voluntarily warned the Russians ahead of time about the impending airstrike . " Coalition members in the Combined Air Operations Center had earlier informed Russian counterparts of the upcoming strikelife.injure.injurycausedbyviolentevents, " Central Command said in its statement . " It is not uncommon for the Coalition Air Operations Center to confer with Russian officials as a professional courtesy and to deconflict Coalition and Russian aircraft , although such contact is not required by the current U.S.–Russia Memorandum of Understanding on safety of flight . " Nevertheless , the Russians are claiming their Syrian allies have been killed by the U.S. military , just as the U.S. and Russia are trying to maintain the fragile , nationwide cease - fire that went into effect Monday .
The footage bore the extremist group ’s al - Furqan media logo and showed the destruction of churches and desecration of religious symbols . A masked fighter made a statement threatening Christians who did not convert to Islam or pay a special tax . 29/40 2015 - May Abu Bakr al - Baghdadi , the leader of Isis has been " incapacitated " by a spinal injuries sustained in a US air strikeconflict.attack.nain Iraq . He is being treated in a hideout by two doctors from Isis ’ stronghold of Mosul who are said to be " strong ideological supporters of the group " . 30/40 2015 - May Isis has also claimed responsibility for killing 300 of Yazidi captives , including women , children and elderly people in Iraq AP
Who would Trump appoint to the top positions in the Pentagon , at Strategic Command and at other U.S. combatant commands with nuclear responsibilities around the world ? Once again , Trump ’s nuclear tentacles could reach deeply into the world of nuclear operations . His own finger might be severed by a decapitation strikeconflict.attack.na, but his hand - picked generals and advisers who survive him could ensure that the Trump " dead hand " kept a ghostly finger on the nuclear button . One can only speculate on Trump ’s leadership if events conspire to embroil his presidency in a full - blown confrontation with a nuclear armed opponent . Although he has expressed very strong reservations about using U.S. nuclear weapons to settle any dispute , his views on crisis diplomacy , the military utility of nuclear weapons , nuclear strategy and many other subjects that bear on the question at hand — such as his likely picks for senior security positions in his administration — are unformed .
Were these same “ experts ” the targets of the Russian strike ? Considering that US lives were lost at the hands of the Russian military , it ’s very telling that the Western media has refused to cover this story . Even though the corporate media loves to blame Russia whenever possible , their failure to cover the deaths of US military officers by a Russian missile strikeconflict.attack.nastrongly implies that the US and the other foreign officers killed in Aleppo were doing something that the US government does not want to be made public . The Russian airstrike may also have been a covert response to a US - led coalition airstrike less than two weeks ago that “ accidentally ” killed 62 and wounded over 100 Syrian soldiers . ISIS attacked within 7 minutes of the strike , implying that the terrorist group knew of the airstrike in advance .
As diplomats sparred at the Security Council , Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu said that Moscow was sending an aircraft cruiser to the Mediterranean to strengthen its capabilities there . The Russians have denied that they were behind the attack on the UN convoy and instead have offered a series of explanations that Kerry detailed at the Security Council meeting .. Russia initially said that the strikelife.injure.nawas a necessary response to an alleged offensive by an al - Qaeda - linked terror group , Kerry said . Then Russia claimed they were bombing elsewhere , then that the aid convoy had been followed by militants with mortars , and then that the trucks caught fire . " The trucks and the food and the medicine just spontaneously combusted , " Kerry said .
Deir al - Zour , where the airstrike took place , is far from the populated western region where the separate civil war that is the subject of the cease - fire is focused . The Islamic State controls much of the province , although there are some scattered Syrian military installations . The Central Command statement said that U.S. surveillance had been “ tracking ” an Islamic State fighting position “ for a significant amount of time before the strikeconflict.attack.bombing. ” The Defense official , among several officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the developing situation , said that the militants appeared to have a number of vehicles and a tank . Coalition airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria are coordinated through U.S. military planning cells located in the Middle East . Target tracking is done through a variety of means , including aerial reconnaissance by surveillance drones and communications intercepts .
I 'm proud to stand by our allies in NATO against any threat they face , including from Russia . I 've laid out my strategy for defeating ISIS . We will strikelife.injure.injurycausedbyviolenteventstheir sanctuaries from the air , and support local forces taking them out on the ground . We will surge our intelligence so that we detect and prevent attacks before they happen . We will disrupt their efforts online to reach and radicalize young people in our country .
No one tracked their movements and phone calls , a notable lapse since both men ended up among the 19 hijackers . ) Voters had no problem re - electing a president who did nothing after receiving an intelligence briefing weeks before 9/11 headlined “ Bin Laden Determined to Strike in the U.S. ” In his September cover story for The Atlantic , Steven Brill recounts how the political lessons of those early years evolved into an approach he succinctly summarizes as “ never again . ” Politicians and government bureaucrats understood that the public would not forgive a second , devastating strikelife.injure.injurycausedbyviolentevents. For the administrations of both President Bush and President Obama , “ never again ” has meant saying yes to any initiative that could be sold as plausible protection against a future attack . The “ never again ” approach has remained in place even as those who commit acts of terrorism have shifted in recent years to take advantage of the lethal possibilities of the ever - more connected world .
Although it ’s highly likely Trump would lose a general election , there are no guarantees . Hillary Clinton could be indicted . Terrorists could strikelife.injure.natwo days before Americans head out to vote . If nothing else , the course of the presidential race so far should instill a healthy modesty in anyone inclined to make blanket assertions about what will happen in six months .
There is no risk and no danger for the United States and all of us . For them , the greatest military build - up on the borders of Russia since World War Two has not happened . On May 11 , Romania went “ live ” with a Nato “ missile defence ” base that aims its first - strikeconflict.attack.naAmerican missiles at the heart of Russia , the world ’s second nuclear power . In Asia , the Pentagon is sending ships , planes and special forces to the Philippines to threaten China . The US already encircles China with hundreds of military bases that curve in an arc up from Australia , to Asia and across to Afghanistan .
A reconnaissance check revealed that airstrikes destroyed nine trucks loaded with munitions , two armored vehicles and over 40 jihadists . In Daraa province , a Sukhoi Su-34 bomber wiped out a hardened terrorist position near Ghariyah settlement . The strikelife.injure.injurycausedbyviolenteventsthat destroyed the fortified strong point also eliminated two armored vehicles parked nearby .
American airstrikes may have mistakenly killed Syrian government forces instead of ISIS fighters , U.S. officials said on Saturday . " We are still gathering information at this time but we have been able to confirm that earlier today , the United States struck what we believe to be an [ ISIS ] target , " said Samantha Power , the U.S. 's ambassador to the United Nations . " If we determine that we did indeed strikelife.injure.injurycausedbyviolenteventsSyrian military personnel , that was not our intention and we , of course , regret the loss of life . " The Russian Defense Ministry said the American strikes south of Deir el - Zour killed 62 Syrian soldiers and wounded 100 in four separate airstrikes . U.S. officials could still not confirm those numbers or whether Syrian armed forces had actually been killed in the strike .
An Iranian nuclear weapons capability would not only end that nuclear monopoly but could also prompt other adversaries , like Saudi Arabia and Egypt , to go nuclear as well . The result would be a precarious nuclear balance in which Israel could not respond to provocations with conventional military strikes on Syria and Lebanon , as it can today . If Iran were to reach the threshold of a nuclear weapons state , Tehran would find it much easier to call on its allies in Syria and Hezbollah to strikelife.injure.injurycausedbyviolenteventsIsrael , knowing that its nuclear weapons would serve as a deterrent to Israel responding against Iran itself . It is , Clinton continues , the “ strategic relationship between Iran and the regime of Bashar Assad in Syria ” that makes it possible for Iran to undermine Israel ’s security . This would not come about through a “ direct attack , ” Clinton admits , because “ in the thirty years of hostility between Iran and Israel ” this has never occurred , but through its alleged “ proxies . ”
The RAF has sent two further Tornado aircraft and six Typhoons to bolster aircraft now flying sorties to both Iraq and Syria The group has sent a memorandum outlining its questions and concerns to the US Department of Defence but said it has not yet received a reply . A survivor of an air strikelife.injure.nathat hit two houses where civilians were sheltering in Ayn al - Khan , al - Hasaka governorate , on 7 December last year described being woken by a huge explosion . “ The house shook and began to crumble , the windows shattered , ” he said . “ I ran outside and saw my neighbour ’s house completely destroyed .
The Syrian Arab Red Crescent ( SARC ) has condemned the strike that killed around 20 humanitarian volunteers and one staff member , calling it “ totally unacceptable ” . The UN and Red Crescent convoy was delivering aid supplies to Uram al - Kubra , west of Aleppo city , when it was struck on Monday night . At least 18 of the 31 trucks in the convoy were hit in the strikelife.injure.injurycausedbyviolentevents, which is believed to have been carried out by either Syrian or Russian forces . Russia has denied that its planes carried out the strike , and Syria has denied deliberately targeting the convoy . Mr Kerry – who personally negotiated the truce during months of intensive diplomacy with Russia – spoke about the crumbling ceasefire after emerging alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov from a meeting of foreign ministers of 20 countries , gathered to discuss Syria in New York on Tuesday .
Was this the coalition or could it have been an air strike by the Syrian regime , or shelling by one of the armed groups fighting IS ? Image copyright AP Image caption IS proclaimed the creation of a caliphate stretching across Syria and Iraq in 2014 While there is no record of a coalition air strikeconflict.attack.bombingon Abu Kamal on the day the hospital was hit - 6 March - a coalition press release does talk about an oil pipeline nearby being bombed . In one sense , it does not matter . IS claims it was a coalition air strike and uses it as propaganda in the battle for Sunni Muslim public opinion .
The United States military said the coalition stopped the attacks against what it had believed to be Islamic State positions in northeast Syria after Russia informed it that Syrian military personnel and vehicles may have been hit . The United States relayed its " regret " through the Russian government for what it described as the unintentional loss of life of Syrian forces in the strike , a senior Obama administration official said in an emailed statement . Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said in an emailed statement that Russian officials did not voice concerns earlier on Saturday when informed that coalition aircraft would be operating in the strikelife.injure.naarea . The 15-member Security Council met on Saturday night after Russia demanded an emergency session to discuss the incident and accused the United States of jeopardizing the Syria deal . The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations , Samantha Power , chastised Russia for the move .
WASHINGTON ( AP ) — The United States called Friday for a war crimes investigation of Russia and Syria , ramping up the rhetoric against Moscow for its part in a deadly military offensive in Aleppo while potentially making it harder to restart diplomatic efforts to end the conflict . Secretary of State John Kerry said Syrian forces hit a hospital overnight , killing 20 people and wounding 100 , describing what would be the latest strikelife.injure.injurycausedbyviolenteventsby Russia or its ally in Damascus on a civilian target . A spokesman said the attack occurred Thursday outside Damascus , while human rights group accuse the pair of killing thousands in their assault on Aleppo , Syria ’s largest city . “ Russia and the regime owe the world more than an explanation about why they keep hitting hospitals and medical facilities , and children and women , ” Kerry told reporters alongside French Foreign Minister Jean - Marc Ayrault , who arrived in Washington directly from meeting Russian officials in Moscow .
The deterrence against conventional war in Europe , as opposed to proxy wars elsewhere such as Vietnam or Afghanistan , was nuclear war . Wars that did not involve primary and overwhelming interests did not involve the risk of nuclear war . There was no military target worth a nuclear strikeconflict.attack.nain either country , nor would either country risk immolation over Vietnam or Afghanistan . Therefore , these wars could take place . I think this is Steinmeier 's point .
Gates , once much more hawkish himself but now tempered by the experience of recent decades , summarizes the realist critique : On the left , we hear about the “ responsibility to protect ” civilians to justify military intervention in Libya , Syria , Sudan and elsewhere . On the right , the failure to strikeconflict.attack.bombingSyria or Iran is deemed an abdication of U.S. leadership . And so the rest of the world sees the U.S. as a militaristic country quick to launch planes , cruise missiles and drones deep into sovereign countries or ungoverned spaces . Though Gates may differ sharply with him on domestic policy , Sanders is by Gates ’s own criteria probably the only foreign - policy realist left in the presidential race .
Russian jets however , reportedly attacked the base a second time 90 minutes later , despite warning signals sent from U.S. aircraft . U.S. officials and rebel leaders claim cluster munitions were used in the attacks and that four people were killed . According to Interfax 's source in Moscow , the strikeconflict.attack.bombingtook place because the U.S. refused to provide Russia with information on their activities regarding the areas where moderate Syrian opposition were active and observing a cease - fire . Russia had warned the U.S.-led coalition of imminent Russian air strikes in the area of At - Tanf , the source claimed . “ The Russian side has already given a full explanation on this matter , " the source said .
Now , they are the source of terrorist threats . Our goal is to prevent the same from happening in Syria . ” Putin also detailed his version of the breakdown of the long - negotiated joint operation between Washington and Moscow in Syria , claiming the key turning point was the September 16 US - led coalition strikelife.injure.naon a Syrian army unit , which the Pentagon maintains was accident . “ Our American colleagues told us that this airstrike was made in error . This error cost the lives of 80 people and , also just coincidence , perhaps , ISIS took the offensive immediately afterwards .