![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sparkmannThe good news is that the U.S. response was swift and brutal. While there are no hard figures on casualties, some Russian press outlets reported that more than 200 Russian mercenaries were killed.
This brings us back to Mattis, and why he declined to directly blame Russia for the incident. "My guess is he said he was perplexed because he was sending a signal to the Russians: 'I am willing to give you a little time to cut this out, but don't do it again,'" Farkas told me. "And the Russians know they are playing with fire, if you look at how they are responding."
There is a downside, though, to this kind of noble lying. Considering that mercenaries like Wagner are a key part of Russia's broader strategy and tactics, it's also important for the U.S. to deny Moscow its plausible deniability. Russia needs to be told, going forward, that an attack by its mercenaries will be treated as an attack by its armed forces.
Read More ›››
Don't Be Fooled: Russia Attacked U.S. Troops in Syria | Bloomberg
Mattis gave Putin "plausible deniability" for a military assault that went badly awry.
↱www.bloomberg.com
This brings us back to Mattis, and why he declined to directly blame Russia for the incident. "My guess is he said he was perplexed because he was sending a signal to the Russians: 'I am willing to give you a little time to cut this out, but don't do it again,'" Farkas told me. "And the Russians know they are playing with fire, if you look at how they are responding."
There is a downside, though, to this kind of noble lying. Considering that mercenaries like Wagner are a key part of Russia's broader strategy and tactics, it's also important for the U.S. to deny Moscow its plausible deniability. Russia needs to be told, going forward, that an attack by its mercenaries will be treated as an attack by its armed forces.
Read More ›››
Don't Be Fooled: Russia Attacked U.S. Troops in Syria | Bloomberg
Mattis gave Putin "plausible deniability" for a military assault that went badly awry.
↱www.bloomberg.com