US to Continue Ignoring Damascus Government on Military Strikes in Syria

© AFP 2023 / LOUAI BESHARA Banner bearing a portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a street in the city of Damascus
Banner bearing a portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a street in the city of Damascus - Sputnik International
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The United States will continue to carry out military operations in Syria and in the airspace over it without recognizing or notifying the country’s government, Department of Defense spokesperson Peter Cook told reporters.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The forces of the US-led coalition against ISIL remain active every day in Syria, Cook noted.

"We’ve made it clear from the start that the Syrian government should not be interfering with our operations," Cook told the Defense Department daily press briefing on Thursday.

However, "We’re not notifying, not coordinating with the Syrians on anything," he explained.

Cook insisted that the US government wanted to avoid clashes or any kind of misunderstanding with Russia, which is working with the Syrian government to support its armed forces battling ISIL.

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"We want to avoid miscalculation, we want to avoid problems," Cook insisted.

However, he added that the Obama administration remained determined to maintain its current level of military involvement in authorizing air strikes against Islamic State forces without getting them approved or coordinated in any way with the Syrian government of President Bashir Assad.

"We want to keep as much as possible coalition aircraft operating in this space," he said.

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The Defense Department and US Central Command (CENTCOM), which directs US military forces and training programs to fight ISIL, are facing growing criticism over revelations their efforts to train moderate opposition fighters have proven a complete failure.

On Wednesday, CENTCOM Commander, General Lloyd Austin, admitted to the US Senate Armed Services Committee that currently only "four or five" individual trained opposition troops were active against ISIL when the US goal had been to train and deploy 5,400 by the end of 2015.

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