Obama Approves Air Surveillance over Syria As Step to Strike ISIS
Written by : Mohamed Abdel Fattah
23 August 2014
United States began to conduct exploration and surveillance planes over Syria after the approval of President Barack Obama on it, according to the Associated Press, in a move that could pave the way to the air strikes against ISIS.
Defense officials said Monday evening that the Pentagon was sending in manned and unmanned reconnaissance flights over Syria, using a combination of aircraft, including drones and possibly U2 spy planes. Mr. Obama approved the flights over the weekend, a senior administration official said.
U.S. officials said the United States is preparing military options in order to put pressure on "Islamic state" in Syrian territory, but stressed that they have not yet made any decision to expand U.S military action except limited air strikes taking place in Iraq.
President Barack Obama sought for limited military campaign in Iraq, focusing on "the protection of U.S. diplomats and civilians under immediate threat." But officials have not ruled out a military escalation on the Islamic State, which has increased from overt threats to the United States.
That comes after days from released a video on Tuesday which purported to show the beheading of American journalist James Foley
The video, posted on YouTube and disseminated on other social media showed a masked from Islamic State (Isis) beheading a kneeling man dressed in an orange jumpsuit who is purported to be James Wright Foley .
Foley, 40, a freelance photojournalist from Rochester, N.H., who was taken prisoner in northwest Syria in November 2012 while on assignment for the Global Post, an online news site.
Isis fighter also claimed in the video to be holding U.S. journalist Steven Sotloff and said his life depended on U.S. President Barack Obama's next move.
The video was posted after Obama resumed air strikes in Iraq for the first time since the end of the U.S. occupation in 2011.
Syria has declared it is ready to help confront the rising threat from the Islamic State group but warned the US against carrying out air strikes on its territory without the consent of Damascus, saying any such attack would be considered an aggression.
Walid al-Moallem, the Syrian foreign minister, said his government was ready “to co-operate and co-ordinate” with any side, including the US, or join any regional or international alliance against Isis. But he said any military action inside Syria should be co-ordinated with the Syrian government.
"Syria is ready to cooperate and coordinate with regional and international efforts to combat terror in accordance with U.N. resolutions and respect of Syrian sovereignty," Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem told a press conference in Damascus.
"Everyone is welcome, including Britain and the United States, to take action against ISIS and Nusra with a prior full coordination with the Syrian government," al-Moallem continued.
The Western-backed opposition, which oversees the Free Syrian Army, has, however, urged the United States and other allies to stop the ISIS advance amid what they say a shortage of rebel fighters and ammunition.
The Islamic extremist group, which has taken over large areas of Syria and Iraq, wrested the Al-Tabqa air base from the Syrian military on Sunday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group that monitors the conflict.
Syrian state television reported that the Syrian military had evacuated the air base in Raqqa province to regroup and was still carrying out strikes against ISIS fighters in the area.
Moallem said Damascus had warned repeatedly of the threat of terrorism and the need to cut off resources and funding but “no one listened to us”. Syria’s government has long described the rebels fighting to topple Assad as “terrorists” in a foreign conspiracy.
Sources
www.cbsnews.com/news/syria-welcomes-u-s-strikes-against-isis-there-with-conditions/
edition.cnn.com/2014/08/25/world/meast/syria-isis/
www.nytimes.com/2014/08/26/world/middleeast/obama-syria-ISIS.html?_r=0
23 August 2014
United States began to conduct exploration and surveillance planes over Syria after the approval of President Barack Obama on it, according to the Associated Press, in a move that could pave the way to the air strikes against ISIS.
Defense officials said Monday evening that the Pentagon was sending in manned and unmanned reconnaissance flights over Syria, using a combination of aircraft, including drones and possibly U2 spy planes. Mr. Obama approved the flights over the weekend, a senior administration official said.
U.S. officials said the United States is preparing military options in order to put pressure on "Islamic state" in Syrian territory, but stressed that they have not yet made any decision to expand U.S military action except limited air strikes taking place in Iraq.
President Barack Obama sought for limited military campaign in Iraq, focusing on "the protection of U.S. diplomats and civilians under immediate threat." But officials have not ruled out a military escalation on the Islamic State, which has increased from overt threats to the United States.
That comes after days from released a video on Tuesday which purported to show the beheading of American journalist James Foley
The video, posted on YouTube and disseminated on other social media showed a masked from Islamic State (Isis) beheading a kneeling man dressed in an orange jumpsuit who is purported to be James Wright Foley .
Foley, 40, a freelance photojournalist from Rochester, N.H., who was taken prisoner in northwest Syria in November 2012 while on assignment for the Global Post, an online news site.
Isis fighter also claimed in the video to be holding U.S. journalist Steven Sotloff and said his life depended on U.S. President Barack Obama's next move.
The video was posted after Obama resumed air strikes in Iraq for the first time since the end of the U.S. occupation in 2011.
Syria has declared it is ready to help confront the rising threat from the Islamic State group but warned the US against carrying out air strikes on its territory without the consent of Damascus, saying any such attack would be considered an aggression.
Walid al-Moallem, the Syrian foreign minister, said his government was ready “to co-operate and co-ordinate” with any side, including the US, or join any regional or international alliance against Isis. But he said any military action inside Syria should be co-ordinated with the Syrian government.
"Syria is ready to cooperate and coordinate with regional and international efforts to combat terror in accordance with U.N. resolutions and respect of Syrian sovereignty," Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem told a press conference in Damascus.
"Everyone is welcome, including Britain and the United States, to take action against ISIS and Nusra with a prior full coordination with the Syrian government," al-Moallem continued.
The Western-backed opposition, which oversees the Free Syrian Army, has, however, urged the United States and other allies to stop the ISIS advance amid what they say a shortage of rebel fighters and ammunition.
The Islamic extremist group, which has taken over large areas of Syria and Iraq, wrested the Al-Tabqa air base from the Syrian military on Sunday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group that monitors the conflict.
Syrian state television reported that the Syrian military had evacuated the air base in Raqqa province to regroup and was still carrying out strikes against ISIS fighters in the area.
Moallem said Damascus had warned repeatedly of the threat of terrorism and the need to cut off resources and funding but “no one listened to us”. Syria’s government has long described the rebels fighting to topple Assad as “terrorists” in a foreign conspiracy.
Sources
www.cbsnews.com/news/syria-welcomes-u-s-strikes-against-isis-there-with-conditions/
edition.cnn.com/2014/08/25/world/meast/syria-isis/
www.nytimes.com/2014/08/26/world/middleeast/obama-syria-ISIS.html?_r=0
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