US keeps operating in ’blame Russia for everything’ mode
The Obama administration knows what it is doing in the rhetoric war with Russia, says retired US Air Force Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski. And yet they do not have any idea what they are doing on the ground in Syria, she added.
After an air attack which destroyed 18 of 31 trucks in a humanitarian aid convoy near Aleppo on Monday, UN has suspended all aid deliveries in Syria.
Twenty civilians are reported killed, a senior local official of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent among them.
Benoit Matsha-Carpentier of the International Red Cross confirmed to RT that a director of “a sub-branch in Aleppo” was among the victims.
“We have very diverse information and it is still quite difficult to get a full picture of the situation. Very tragically, once again we have volunteers and staff from this year in the Red Crescent who has been attacked. We only have confirmation that one of them died on Monday,” he said. The identities of “several people” who have allegedly been killed in the attack on the aid convoy are not known yet, the official said.
“For us, the priority is safety and protection of our volunteers and staff on the ground. And that is why we are calling on all parties in the conflict to make sure that they are protected and they can provide safely assistance for those in need. Not reaching areas like Aleppo will obviously affect the population on the ground. It had been quite a while since a convoy has been able to enter,” Matsha-Carpentier told RT.
US State Department spokesman John Kirby said the US was “outraged” at the attack, adding that “the destination of this convoy was known to the Syrian regime and the Russian Federation and yet these aid workers were killed in their attempt to provide relief to the Syrian people.”
“The United States will raise this issue directly with Russia. Given the egregious violation of the Cessation of Hostilities we will reassess the future prospects for cooperation with Russia,” Kirby said.
The United States is outraged by reports that a humanitarian aid convoy was bombed near #Aleppo today. pic.twitter.com/yCurP3rwUV
— John Kirby (@statedeptspox) September 20, 2016
According to retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski, Russia is the first the State Department and the Pentagon blame for “just about everything.”
“That is the mode that we have been operating in for the last couple of years. We’ve seen it in a different number of areas,” she told RT.
One thing that could raise questions regarding that accusation is that “a convoy as a target is something that is kind of obvious,” she said.
“It is unlikely that it was an accident; whoever took it out was intending to take out the convoy of aid.”
These accusations came just a day before the UN General Assembly session and Syria is expected to be one of the topics high on the agenda at the gathering.
“The position of blaming Russia will be a continuation of what we have seen in the past weeks,” she said. “It looks like the rhetoric war. It is very clear that the Obama administration knows what it is doing in the rhetoric war and yet they do not have any idea what they are doing on the ground in Syria,” Kwiatkowski added.
On Saturday, the US coalition carried out airstrikes on the Syrian Army near the eastern city of Deir ez-Zor on Saturday, which resulting in the death of more than 60 soldiers.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
