Activist Post
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Syria Shoots Down U.S. Drone Over Latakia
by Brandon Turbeville, via Activist Post.com:
On March 17, 2015, the Syrian military apparently shot down a U.S. Predator Drone drove over the Northwestern city of Latakia in Syria.
The United States has confirmed that it lost contact with a drone but has stated that it was unclear whether or not the drone had been shot down.
Syrian state media has described the drone as “hostile” but has not given any further details.
Sana news agency stated, “Syrian Air Defense systems shot down a U.S. UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) north of Latakia Province.”
The Pentagon has stated that it is “looking into” the incident.
It is important to note that, while some drones are used for reconnaissance, Predator drones are outfitted for both surveillance and warfare. This calls into question whether or not the drone (already a violation of Syrian sovereignty and territorial integrity) was preparing to launch such an airstrike against the Syrian government or whether it may have been a provocation to coax the Syrian military into shooting it down.
After all, the United States has been looking for any justification it can get its hands on in the last few months in order to take direct military action against Syria.
The downing of the drone will mark the first time Syrian and United States militaries proper have clashed.
Such an incident was bound to happen, however, as the United States afforded itself the right to bomb targets inside Syria a year ago.
In February, the United States announced that it was going to allow phantom “moderate rebels” (aka ISIS, al-Qaeada, al-Nusra, etc.) to call in airstrikes against their opponents, making the U.S. officially al-Qaeda’s Air Force.
The shootdown of the drone comes as the United States and its proxy forces are accusing the Syrian government of using chemical weapons in Idlib province.
No credible evidence has been provided proving that the Syrian government has used those weapons, leading many informed observers to suspect that the US is once again engaged in a propaganda campaign against the secular government of Bashar al-Assad.
All previous claims of the use of chemical weapons, while blamed on Assad by NATO and the U.S., were later determined to have been deployed by the jihadist rebels funded by the West.
