Russia orders up more troops for U.S. rockets to kill in Ukraine; U.S. troops defend Conoco in Syria
(Originally published Aug. 26 in “What in the World“) Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his military to add another 137,000 recruits to feed his war against Ukraine and the West. The new decree boosts the maximum size of Russia’s military personnel by approximately 14% and would help replace the estimated 75,000 killed in Ukraine since February’s invasion.
China’s navy and air force can now effectively blockade Taiwan to compel it into reunification if peaceful efforts fail, according to a New York Times analysis. Beijing still hasn’t imposed any deadline—at least not publicly—for peaceful reunification. So, the question is: what might convince Beijing that peaceful efforts have failed, short of Taiwan declaring independence? U.S. accusations that stepped-up military activity by China around Taiwan is a prelude for invasion appears to be a self-fulfilling prophecy, as signals of support for Taiwan have provoked China into a more vigorous display of its military capabilities against Taiwan.
The U.S. military has released more details of its attack earlier this week against Iranian-backed militias in northeastern Syria. The airstrikes were conducted by AH-64 Apache attack helicopters ( BA -0.11%↓ ), C-130 gunships (LMT -0.10%↓ ) and M-777 artillery (BAE Systems) and killed four militia members in a “proportional” response to rocket attacks against U.S. military outposts in southeastern Syria that wounded one U.S. soldier who has already returned to duty.
What are U.S. troops still doing in Russian-backed Syria after having defeated the Islamic State in 2019? The base the militias attacked doesn’t show up on Google Maps, but the name says it all: Mission Support Site Conoco, which is likely just north of the Conoco (COP 0.36%↑) gas plant outside Khasham. Khasham was the site of a 2018 battle between U.S. and Kurdish militias against Russian-backed Syrian government forces using Russian tanks and possibly accompanied by the same Russian mercenaries now operating in Ukraine, the Wagner Group. Militias also attacked another U.S. post an hour’s drive south along the Euphrates, Green Village.