Once Russia deployed its advanced air defense missile systems in Syria, as reported by the Daily Mail, Washington became uneasy about launching new provocations against Russia, like the one carried out by the US Air Force on September 17, targeting Syrian government forces with heavy bombing.
For this reason, the United States began demanding from its allies, both from the ranks of Jabhat al-Nusra and the so-called Western coalition members, to carry out such provocations instead.
It seems that the Obama administration has no illusions about the future of America’s primacy in the world, once Russian airpower along with Syrian ground forces finish their assault of Aleppo, leaving no chance for the White House to seize victory amid the Syrian conflict. For this reason, Washington has unleashed instead, propaganda on Russia and Syria, in a bid to present both Moscow and Damascus as evil “regimes”, that are allegedly killing Syria’s civilian population en masse, allegedly for the sake of it.
As a part of the ongoing propaganda effort, the EU Foreign Affairs Council condemned Syrian airstrikes in Aleppo, accusing Damascus of “deliberately targeting” schools and hospitals. Similar accusations have been leveled against Russian warplanes operating in the area. It’s been claimed that since the beginning of the offense in Aleppo, Syria and Russia have subjected eastern sections of the city with disproportionate aerial bombardments. The EU Foreign Affairs Council believes that it is time to bring charges of war crimes against Damascus before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
And now we have a perfect pretext for such a proceeding, since on the night of October 18, the Syrian village of Hassager was subjected to unannounced airstrikes that resulted in six dead and four more injured. It was announced in the aftermath of the attack that the aircraft of the US-led coalition were operating in the area, while Russian and Syrian warplanes were operating in Aleppo. In particular, radar stations on the ground spotted two Belgium F-16s, prompting Moscow to demand an explanation from both Brussels and Washington, along with condemnation for the attack.
It must be pointed out that there are a total of six Belgian Air Force F-16s operating in Syria within the framework of the so-called US-led coalition, which, as it reported earlier by the Ministry of Defence of the Kingdom, “are fulfilling a wide range of missions.”
In response to Russia’s demands, Washington decided to take a pause and not comment at all on the situation.
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As for Brussels, it has been vigorously trying to distance itself from its involvement in the attack, going as far as addressing NEO directly on Twitter. The Belgian Defence Minister Stephen Vandeputa has claimed that Belgium was not involved in airstrikes on Aleppo and that such claims are “Russian disinformation.” However, despite such statements, the Belgian parliament demanded its Defence Ministry allow greater transparency regarding its military operations in the Middle East.
Since it’s clear that Syria’s airspace is being closely monitored 24/7 by a number of major international players, and that there’s been F-16s spotted in the area prior to the attack, bearing the paint scheme of the Belgian Air Force specifically, one might consider one more option: those were American F-16 repainted to resemble those used by Brussels in Syria. The US military is already know to practice the repainting of its warplanes to resemble Russian jets. Maybe that’s why the White House remains silent, in a bid to buy itself time and cover its tracks.
The fact that the US constitutes an empire of lies invites such suspicions from all corners. And now international analysts are aware of America’s practice of repainting its warplanes, either for training or covert operations.
But it is doubtful that such “tricks” would allow Washington and its allies to escape responsibility for unleashing war against Syria, for countless civilian deaths and the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Syrians, Iraqis, Afghanis, and Libyans from their homes to Europe in a bid to escape US aggression.
Martin Berger is a freelance journalist and geopolitical analyst, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook.”