'US embarrassed by Russia’s anti-Daesh campaign in Syria'
Russia’s campaign of airstrikes against the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group in Syria amounts to an embarrassment for the United States, says a retired US Army official.
“As much as I think it is embarrassing for President Obama, the Russians are doing a job the United States should have done a year ago,” Anthony Shaffer told Press TV on Friday
“Russia is doing what we should have done a year ago, hitting the hard sites of ISIS inside of Syria,” he added.
Shaffer, a retired US Army reserve lieutenant colonel, made the comments in reaction to reports stating that US-trained militants in Syria have been targeted in Russian air raids.
Alleged evidence suggests that Moscow has targeted US-backed militants that fight Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government, the Telegraph reported on Friday.
Russia carried out its first airstrikes near the Syrian city of Homs on Wednesday, following a warning that the US should clear the skies in the area.
Russia announced on Saturday that its fighter jets have carried out some 60 raids against Daesh (ISIL) positions, three days into the campaign.
Russia’s military operations in Syria have raised concerns in Washington that they will target militant units trained and armed by the Pentagon and CIA, and bolster the Assad government.
This is while US military aircraft have been carrying out airstrikes in Syria since September last year. American officials claim their strikes are aimed at Daesh, but critics assert the operations are also directed against infrastructure vital to the Syrian government.
The US has announced military-to-military talks with Russia to explore ways to keep their forces apart, which highlights the risks of keeping rival air campaigns in Syria going.
On Thursday, the Pentagon and Russian military officials spoke through video teleconference.
During the video call, Elissa Slotkin, the acting assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, expressed US concerns that Russian military is targeting areas where there are few if any Daesh (ISIL) forces operating.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, has repeatedly stressed that the Russian jet fighters are targeting ISIL terrorists.
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