U.S.-Armed Jihadist in Syria Shoots Down Russian Plane, Kills Pilot

February 4th, 2018

Awake Goy

U.S.-Armed Jihadist in Syria Shoots Down Russian Plane, Kills Pilot

By Eric Zuesse.
washingtonsblog.com

Eric Zuesse

A U.S.-armed jihadist shot down, on February 3rd, in the Idlib area of Syria, a Russian Su-25 jet, and killed its pilot.

In a leaked radio conversation, a rebel commander ordered his fighters to kill the pilot then burn his body.

At first, the rebel who did the shoot-down and killing was claimed to be from the Al-Qaeda-supported Jaysh al-Nasser group, but subsequently a different Al-Qaeda-supported group, Tahrir al-Sham, (formerly called Jabhat al-Nusra”) officially confirmed that it had downed the warplane with a MANPAD (a shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile). U.S. President Donald Trump had in October decided to supply MANPADs to the rebels in Syria. Those shipments started to be received by Jaysh al-Nasser on October 8th. In any case, this incident is the first time that Al Qaedas U.S.-backed affiliates in Syria have publicly claimed to have downed a Russian plane.

Later on February 3rd, Russias Tass news agency headlined “Russian weapons deliver strikes on area from which Su-25 was shot down , and reported that:

Massive high-precision weapons strikes have been delivered at targets in the area, from which a missile from the man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS) was launched to bring down the Russian Su-25 fighter jet, 30 militants of the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group (banned in Russia) have been killed, Russias Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

“A series of high-precision weapons strikes has been delivered on the area controlled by the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group, from which a MANPADS missile was launched at the Russian Su-25 jet,” the ministry said adding that “according to radio intercepts, more than 30 Jabhat al-Nusra militants were killed.

So, now, Russia has officially announced that it has killed U.S.-armed rebels in Syria, and the U.S. will have to decide how to respond to that.

There is no legal basis for U.S. troops in Syria. These troops train and arm the rebels in Syria. The U.S. has an estimated 14 military bases in Syria. A major matter of speculation has been: when will Syrias President, Bashar al-Assad who has repeatedly condemned the illegal military occupation of Syria by U.S. troops simply order them to leave Syria. Such speculation doesnt exist regarding Russias troops there, because Syrias Government had requested Russias military assistance against the various jihadist groups that have infiltrated into Syria during the past six years.

The U.S. has been arming Al Qaeda affiliates in Syria ever since 2012, but the decision to arm them with MANPADS was made by U.S. President Trump, not by his predecessor, Obama. Trump has simply escalated Americas invasion and occupation of that country. He didnt start it. Hes merely continuing Obamas war. Perhaps Trump thinks hes doing the job better than his predecessor did.

Investigative historian Eric Zuesse is the author, most recently, of Theyre Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010, and of CHRISTS VENTRILOQUISTS: The Event that Created Christianity.