Four US soldiers wounded in alleged anti-ISIS raid in northeast Syria

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
17 Feb 2023 19:42

The US Central Command says the servicemembers were transported to Iraq for medical treatment.

A US military vehicle stationed near an oil rig in Syria (BBC)

A raid last night by US occupation forces in Syria allegedly against a senior leader from the terrorist Islamic State (ISIS) left four American soldiers wounded.

The claimed operation took place in northeastern Syria and included units from the US-backed Kurdish forces (SDF), as per the CENTCOM's statement.

"Last night, during a partnered U.S. and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) helicopter raid in northeastern Syria, an explosion on target resulted in four U.S. servicemembers and one working dog wounded. The targeted senior ISIS leader, Hamza al-Homsi, was killed," the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on Friday.

The Command added that the wounded soldiers and a working dog were transferred to a US medical facility in Iraq to receive medical treatment.

The United States is destroying Syria

The United States has been for years supporting the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militias, and the US-backed forces are currently occupying parts of the provinces of Al-Hasakah, Deir Ezzor, and Raqqa, where the largest Syrian oil and gas fields are located.

The actions carried out by the United States constitute state piracy with the aim of plundering Syria's oil resources and depriving the Syrians of their own resources amid a harsh economic situation caused largely by the US occupiers.

Convoys of tens of vehicles, including tankers loaded with stolen oil from oil fields occupied by US forces in Syria, are frequently seen crossing toward northern Iraq, in addition to trucks loaded with military equipment.

ISIS Senior Leader Killed and Four U.S. Servicemembers Wounded in Helicopter Raid in Northeastern Syria pic.twitter.com/j2a8IWsQw2
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 17, 2023

Congress has never authorized the Syrian intervention; however, "a bipartisan hawkish coalition, led by neoconservative Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), pushed through a resolution denouncing Trump for even considering a withdrawal of the illegal U.S. occupation force."

What is more peculiar about US intervention in Syria is that although official accounts note that 500 American troops were stationed in Syria, evidence shows that the actual numbers swim between 2,000 and 4,000.

In December 2022, the National Interest published a report pointing out that US military presence in Syria should be "objectionable on constitutional, moral, and strategic grounds, yet it retains widespread bipartisan support in Congress and the foreign policy establishment."

The news site argued using a multitude of points how the ongoing US meddling in Syria is a losing project and slammed the intervention as becoming increasingly unjustifiable, noting that it is no coincidence that Washington has positioned its forces in northeastern Syria, where significant oil reserves are situated, mobilizing Kurdish militias to do the security work.

Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by the US, is a critical client in the region, and is hardly even democratic, the report said, adding that not only is Washington's support for the so-called democratic forces problematic, but the presence of US troops is also causing difficulties with Turkey, which is a NATO ally.

Calling the US policy toward Syria "unwise", the report explained that Barack Obama's attempts to "tie together" Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and other regional powers to oust Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad should not become an extension in Biden's policy.