F/A-18 Super Hornet Written by  The Saker ; Originally appeared at  The Unz Review By now most of you have heard the latest bad news of out Syria: on June 18 th  a US F/A-18E Super Hornet (1999) used a AIM-120 AMRAAM (1991) to shoot down a Syrian Air Force Su-22 (1970). Two days later, June 20 th , a US F-15E Strike Eagle shot down an Iranian IRGC Shahed 129 drone. The excuse used each time was that there was a threat to US and US supported forces. The reality is, of course, that the US are simply trying to stop the advance of the Syrian army. This was thus a typical American “show of force”. Except that, of course, shooting a 47 year old Soviet era Su-22 fighter-bomber is hardly an impressive feat. Neither is shooting a unmanned drone. There is a pattern here, however, and that pattern is that all US actions so far have been solely for show: the basically failed bombing of the Syria military airbase, the bombing of the Syrian army column, the shooting down of the Syrian fighter

Iraqi security forces march on the outskirts of Najaf, south of Baghdad…Iraqi security forces march on the outskirts of Najaf, south of Baghdad November 19, 2014. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani (IRAQ – Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CIVIL UNREST) Four ISIS fighters launched a surprise attack on Iraqi Army positions in al-Shohadaa region in al-Baghdadi west of Anbar. According to ISIS, 40 Iraqi soldiers were killed as a result of the attack and many others were wounded, including the director of Al-Baghdadi township, Sharhabil al-Obeidi and the commander of the Fourth Corps, Kamal al-Obeidi. According to the ISIS-linked News Agency Amaaq, the attack lasted for 6 hours and ended with the four attackers bowing themselves among with Iraqi soldiers. In Mosul city, ISIS claimed that its fighters have been able to repel an attack by the Iraqi Federal Police in Bab Jadid and Bad al-Baid districts in Old Mosul Area. 10 Iraqi soldiers were allegedly killed and 30 were injured in the failed attack.

Pro-Kurdish sources claimed that the Turkish Army and the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) are planning to attack Afrin City and the surrounding areas. According to reports, that SAA and Turkey-led forces closed all roads leading to Afrin and imposed a siege on the city. However, local sources reported that the road connecting Aleppo to Afrin is still open despite some problems appeared the Kurds have attacked some people from the towns of Nabol and Al-Zahra following the downing of the Syrian fighter by the US-led coalition. On Friday, the self-administration in Afrin announced preventing the passage of civilians from Turkey or the opposition-held areas to Afrin for “security reasons” and it’s unknown if that statement includes the Aleppo-Afrin road. SAA sources denied any involvement of the SAA in the expected Turkish operation. It is worth mentioning that SAA doesn’t have any troops in Afrin and it’s not committed to defending it. The SAA hasn’t promised the Syrian Democratic Force