Foreign Policy expert Daniel McAdams of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace asks whether an atrocity near the Turkish-Syrian border was an act of reprisal by the French government for last week’s terror attack.





On Wednesday, the Syrian government demanded that the UN take immediate action against France and the United States, after the US-led anti-Daesh coalition in Syria killed at least 140 civilians, following reports of between 20-65 dead from a US airstrike in Manbij on Monday, and at least 120 dead in the village of Toukhan Al-Kubra, near the Turkish-Syrian border, following a French airstrike on Tuesday.

The Syrian government has called on the United States to remove itself from the country and immediately suspend all airstrikes, following the attack in Manbij, with similar words for the French government.

"The government of the Syrian Arab Republic condemns, with the strongest terms, the two bloody massacres perpetrated by the French and US warplanes and those affiliated to the so-called international coalition which send their missiles and bombs to the civilians instead of directing them to the terrorist gangs,” said the Syrian Foreign Ministry in a statement. “Syria also affirms that those who want to combat terrorism seriously should coordinate with the Syrian government and army."

Many in the international community wonder whether Tuesday’s deadly airstrike by the French government was an act of reprisal for the deadly massacre in Nice, France, last week that killed 84 and injured hundreds of others after a 31-year-old French-Tunisian, loyal to the Daesh terror network, drove a large delivery truck through a crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day, a national holiday marking the 1789 French Revolution, and also opened fire on the crowd.

In the wake of the Nice terror attack, French President Francois Hollande vowed for the country to intensify anti-Daesh bombing in an effort to degrade and destroy the terrorist network that has claimed responsibility for a series of gruesome attacks across the country.

On Wednesday, Daniel McAdams, the Executive Director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, took Washington and Paris to task for the deadly assault on Syrian civilians, during an interview with Radio Sputnik.

"There has not been any punishment for these types of strikes in the past. This might be a terrible accident rather than a specific strike on the people, but it is part of a broader policy and that is what should be put on trial," stated McAdams. "The entire anti-[Daesh] operation in Syria is illegal. We haven’t been invited by the legitimate Syrian government, so every action we undertake on their soil is illegal."

Why haven’t US-led airstrikes causing civilian deaths received condemnation in the past?

"Unfortunately, the US media, by and large, is propaganda. Where is the reporting on this massive death toll? I have seen the pictures. Even the pro-opposition outlets, like the Syrian Observer, said this is what is happening," said McAdams.

"To many this looks like the French retaliation for Nice. 84 civilians die, so they ramp up strikes so that they can let their citizens know that they are protecting them,” said the analyst. “Then they go and kill 120 or 140 civilians, but the media doesn’t cover it."

"The Intercept is a fine publication, but it is not the New York Times. Who is covering it? And they won’t cover it, because to cover it would be to question the policy. They won’t cover it because the US has been propagandized that they must hit [Daesh] everywhere or they aren’t safe in their beds. It is a big propaganda lie," argued McAdams.

"They are creating a big danger by going over there and bombing in the Middle East and that is the danger of blowback which we are seeing more and more."

Assuming the airstrike was an accident, why do these types of accidents keep happening?

"The US is not only at war with [Daesh] in Syria, they are also at war with the Assad government and this entire airstrike has been to the benefit of the US-backed opposition which would be able to take this territory if they are able to run [Daesh] out of it," said McAdams.

"It would be occupied by groups of rebels who are involved with and not all that different than [Daesh] so there is no way to adequately protect these people because the US is at war with the government that could give them the intelligence to stop killing so many people there."

By Sputnik News