… The most cynical read of this situation is that the U.S. is acting as the de facto ISIS air force. And, while officially no one will admit to this, this is the operational truth on the ground.

And the response from Russia was swift. They will no longer communicate with the U.S. to coordinate the fight against ISIS, since it is becoming more and more obvious to even the casual observer that from the U.S.’s side, that fight is mostly symbolic.

So, expect the Russians to push the boundaries of what the U.S. keeps calling agreed to ‘de-confliction zones’ and the Russians keep vehemently denying.

The Syrian Arab Army cut off the U.S.-backed forces in Southeastern Syria last week by pushing to the Iraqi border. By making this move, described by Secretary of Defense James Mattis as, “unexpected,” the SAA have encircled U.S.-backed forces and cut them off from joining up with forces allied with SDF Kurdish forces, currently pushing ISIS out of Raqqa.

If this move by the SAA was unexpected to Mattis then he admits publicly he is incompetent…

Read the rest at Halseynews.com