Russian officials are warning the US they will attack Anti-Assad forces and their support near our military outpost west of the Syrian village of At Tanf. The Google Earth picture below shows the At Tanf base near the Syrian/Jordanian border. Joe Trevithick at The Warzone has written a great article on what this means. I recommend The Warzone to all my readers.
In anticipation of possible conflict, the US has deployed additional forces to the base. One hundred US Marines with their fire support have been moved to the desert base. US forces held live fire exercises from the At Tanf base over the last few days.
Syria has become a very dangerous place. The Israeli Air Force have made over 200 air strikes across Syria. The air strikes have destroyed Iranian ballistic missile infrastructure, UAV facilities at T4 Air Base in central Syria, and Iranian Republican Guard Corps facilities. The twitter page for ImageSat International has some excellent articles and satellite photos of the targets, another page I recommend.
The Russians continue to build up their forces in Syria. Russian supplies come by ship to the Syrian port in Tartus. Yoruk Isik took great pictures of Russian Navy ships transiting the channel on his twitter page. The Russian sent a Krivak destroyer to escort freighters and amphibious assault ships to Tartus, where they unloaded.
The US is also deploying forces to the region. The amphibious assault ship USS America is now positioned in the eastern Mediterranean Sea with it’s contingent of US Marines and air wing. What makes America’s air wing unique is it’s the first deployment of F-35Bs, the Takeoff and Vertical Landing or STOVL version of the Lightening II. The Israeli Air Force has been very successful with their F-35s, now we will see how the US version does.
The last time a Russian and Syrian force came against US forces in Syria it was a blood bath for the Russians. Several hundred On the night of 6-7 February 2018 Syrian forces aligned with Bashar Assad and mercenaries from the Russian Wagner Group attacked an outpost near Deir Ez Zor with about 40 American troops in it. Over three hundred Russian mercenaries and Assad troops were killed in airstrikes during the Battle of Khasham. Members of the Wagner Group who survived said it was a massacre.
I doubt Secretary of Defense Mattis is resting on his laurels, he openly says he keeps other people awake at night, and I’m sure US Central Command is ready for whatever may happen if the Battle of Khasham is an indication.