Obama Authorizes Airstrikes to Defend US-Trained Militants

Local Editor

The US president had reportedly authorized the Air Force to protect Syrian militants trained by Washington by bombing any force attacking them, including Syrian government troops.

Thus the US may become involved in the war in Syria on the militant side.

The change was first reported by US officials speaking on condition of anonymity. The first airstrikes to protect American trainees in Syria had already taken place on Friday, July 31, when the US Air Force bombed unidentified militants who attacked the compound of the US-trained militant.

So far, the fighter jets of the anti-"ISIL" US-led coalition had been bombing targets in Syria's north and the national air defense units were turning a blind eye to foreign military aircraft in their airspace.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama's decision reportedly involved inflicting airstrikes against any force that attacks the Syrian militants being trained by American instructors and armed on money from the US budget.

"For offensive operations, it's "ISIS" only. But if attacked, we'll defend them against anyone who's attacking them," a senior military official declared on Sunday.

Neither the Pentagon nor the White House officially commented on the decision about the new broader rules of engagement. So far the US had been avoiding direct confrontation with the Syrian forces.

"We won't get into the specifics of our rules of engagement, but have said all along that we would take the steps necessary to ensure that these forces could successfully carry out their mission," said White House National Security Council spokesman Alistair Baskey, stressing that so far only US-trained militants had been provided with a wide range of support, including "defensive fires support to protect them."

Though, the Kremlin said that US airstrikes against Syrian troops would further destabilize the situation.

Moscow had "repeatedly underlined that help to the Syrian opposition, moreover financial and technical assistance, leads to further destabilization of the situation in the country," Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said, adding that "ISIL" terrorists may take advantage of this situation.

The US militant training program launched in May implied military instruction of up to 5,400 insurgents a year. The program is reportedly so hard for the trainees that some candidates are being declared ineligible from the start.

According to reports, the Pentagon has been planning to have 3,000 militants trained by the end of 2015. Reportedly, so far fewer than 60 militants had been trained.

In fact, there are now multiple groups taking part in the war in Syria, as Syrian government's troops are fighting not only the militants, but also other militant groups, such as al-Qaeda's Syrian wing, the so-called al-Nusra Front, and "ISIL". The militant groups, in turn, are fighting not only the Syrian government's troops, but each other too.

"We recognize, though, that many of these groups now fight on multiple fronts," said Pentagon spokeswoman Commander Elissa Smith.

However, as a result, the US warplanes may end up bombing government troops under the command of a legitimate president, Assad, an act of aggression against a sovereign country that only the UN Security Council could authorize.

Consequently, September will mark one year for commence of the US-led coalition campaign. Although already in November 2014 there were reports that the so-called anti-"ISIL" campaign could be nothing else but a move to allow the US military to oust President Assad through less direct means.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team