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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2015)
NATION/WORLD Thursday, October 1, 2015 East Oregonian Page 7A Russia begins airstrikes in Syria, West disputes targets Associated Press MOSCOW — Russia launched airstrikes Wednesday in Syria, sharply escalating Moscow’s role in the conÀict but also raising questions about whether its intent is ¿ghting ,slaPic State Pilitants or protecting longtiPe ally, 3resident Bashar Assad. 3resident 9ladiPir 3utin called it a preePptiYe strike against the Pilitants, and the Russian 'eIense Ministry said its warplanes targeted and destroyed eight positions belonging to e[trePists IroP the ,S group, also known as ,S,/ or ,S,S. ,t did not giYe speci¿c locations. But )rench 'eIense Minister -ean<Yes /e 'rian told lawPakers in 3aris ³Curiously, they didn’t hit ,slaPic State. , will let you draw a certain nuPber oI conclusions yourselYes.´ 8.S. 'eIense Secretary Ash Carter also said the Russians appeared to haYe targeted areas that did not include ,S Pilitants and coPplained Moscow did not use IorPal channels to giYe adYance notice oI its airstrikes to Washington, which is conducting its own airstrikes in Syria against the ,slaPic State group. He said the Russians should not be supporting the Assad goYern- Pent and their Pilitary PoYes are ³dooPed to Iail.´ 8.S. Secretary oI State -ohn Kerry said Washington was prepared to welcoPe Russian Pilitary action in Syria as long as it is directed against ,S and other al-4aida aI¿liates, but would haYe ³graYe concerns´ iI it conducted strikes against other groups. The U.S. and Russia both agree on the need to ¿ght the ,slaPic State but not about what to do with Assad. The Syrian ciYil war, which grew out oI an uprising against Assad, has killed Pore than 250,000 people since March 2011 and sent Pillions oI reIugees Àeeing to other countries in the Middle East and Europe. Russia’s ¿rst airstrikes in Syria caPe aIter 3utin Pet Monday with 3resident Barack ObaPa on the sidelines oI the U.1. *eneral AssePbly in 1ew <ork, where they discussed Moscow’s Pilitary Homs Media Centre via AP In this image made from video provided by Homs Media Centre, which has been verified and is con- sistent with other AP reporting, smoke rises after airstrikes by military jets in Talbiseh of the Homs province, western Syria, Wednesday. buildup in the country. ObaPa had said the U.S. and Russia could work together on a political transition, but only iI the result was Assad’s departure. White House spokesPan -osh Earnest said the Russians’ new action ³calls into question their strategy, because when 3resident 3utin and 3resident ObaPa had the opportunity to Peet at the U.1. earlier this week, Puch oI their discussion was Iocused on the need Ior a political transition inside Syria.´ 3utin, who is Assad’s Post powerIul backer, Musti¿ed the airstrikes as a PoYe to not only stabili]e Syria, but also help stiÀe global terrorisP. ³,I they Pilitants succeed in Syria, they will return to their hoPe country, and they will coPe to Russia, too,´ 3utin said at a goYern- Pent session. According to a statePent IroP Assad’s oI¿ce, the Syrian leader had asked 3utin Ior the support. Kerry said Russian operations Pust not support Assad or interIere with those oI the U.S.-led coalition that is already attacking ,slaPic State targets. He called Ior an urgent start to Pilitary-to-Pilitary talks to preYent any kind oI conÀict between Russia and the coalition. ³,I Russia’s recent actions and those now ongoing reÀect a genuine coPPitPent to deIeat the ,slaPic State then we are prepared to welcoPe those eIIorts and to ¿nd a way to de-conÀict our operations and thereby Pultiply Pilitary pressure on ,S,/ and aI¿liated groups,´ Kerry said. ³But we Pust not and will not be conIused in our ¿ght against ,S,/ with support Ior Assad.´ He added that the U.S. ³would haYe graYe concerns should Russia strike areas where ,S,/ and al-4aida aI¿liated targets are not operating,´ he said. ³Strikes oI that kind would question Russia’s real intentions ¿ghting ,S,/ or protecting the Assad regiPe.´ Russia targeted positions, Yehicles and warehouses belieYed to belong to ,S Pilitants, 'eIense Ministry spokesPan ,gor KonashenkoY told Russian news agencies. A senior U.S. oI¿cial, howeYer, said the airstrikes don’t appear to be targeting ,S, because the Pilitants aren’t in the western part oI Syria, beyond HoPs, where the strikes were directed. ,t appears the strikes were directed against opposition 1o shutdown Congress approYes Iunding bill WASH,1*TO1 A3 — -ust hours beIore a Pidnight deadline, a bitterly diYided Congress approYed a stopgap spending bill Wednesday to keep the Iederal goYern- Pent open — but with no assurance there won’t be yet another shutdown showdown in 'ecePber. 'ePocrats helped belea- guered House Republican leaders pass the Peasure by 2-151 — a lopsided Yote shrouding deep disagree- Pents within the *O3 — aIter the Senate approYed it by a 78-20 tally earlier in the day. The Yotes sent the bill to 3resident Barack ObaPa Ior his signature, but not without White House carping. ³The APerican people deserYe Iar better than last-Pinute, short-terP legislating,´ said spokesPan -osh Earnest in pressing Ior a broader, longer-lasting budget deal. ApproYal oI such stopgap Peasures used to be routine, but debate this year exposed acriPonious diYisions between pragPatic Republi- cans such as House Speaker -ohn Boehner and Pore Munior lawPakers in the party’s tea party wing who are less inclined to coPproPise. The tea partyers had dePanded that the Pust-pass Peasure be used to punish 3lanned 3arenthood, stripping it oI Iederal Poney because oI its practice oI supplying tissue IroP aborted Ietuses Ior scienti¿c research. House Republicans opposed the Peasure by a clear Pargin, but 'ePocratic support was unaniPous. The legislation ¿nances the goYernPent through 'ec. 11, proYiding 10 weeks to negotiate a Pore wide- ranging budget deal that would carry past the 2016 presidential election. But the talks proPise to be diI¿cult, and success is not assured. Boehner is resigning IroP Congress at the end oI October, a decision he announced last week aIter inIorPing Republicans he would not risk a goYernPent shutdown oYer 3lanned 3arenthood. A siPilar ¿ght oYer iPple- Penting ObaPa’s health care law sparked a 16-day shutdown two years ago that Boehner, Senate MaMority /eader Mitch McConnell oI Kentucky and other top Republicans did not want to repeat in election season. McConnell is seeking to protect ePbattled incuP- bents in 'ePocratic-leaning states such as Wisconsin and 3ennsylYania, while soPe *O3 conserYatiYes are Pore apt to use the battle to appeal to the party’s core Yoters on the right. ³Today was a win Ior the Washington cartel, and another setback Ior the APer- ican people,´ said Rep. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who is using coPbat with Washington *O3 leaders to help de¿ne his caPpaign. ³Republican leadership chose to abandon its constitutional power oI the purse and to Iund 100 percent oI 3resident ObaPa’s Iailed agenda.´ Support IroP 'ePocrats also helped power the Peasure through the Senate, the opposition coPing IroP conserYatiYe Republicans. /ongtiPe lawPakers bePoaned the chronic dysIunction on Capitol Hill and the collapse oI the annual appropriations process that is supposed to be wrapped up by now. groups ¿ghting Assad, according to the oI¿cial, who wasn’t authori]ed to discuss the Russian airstrikes publicly and spoke on condition oI anonyPity. Syrian state T9 quoted an unidenti¿ed Pilitary oI¿cial as saying that Russian planes targeted ,S positions in central Syria, including the areas oI Rastan and Talbiseh, and areas near the town oI SalaPiyeh in HaPa proYince. ,S controls parts oI HoPs proYince, including the ancient town oI 3alPyra. HoPs also has positions run by al-4aida’s aI¿liate in Syria, known as the 1usra )ront. Both groups haYe ¿ghters IroP the IorPer SoYiet Union, including Chechens. *eneYieYe Casagrande oI the ,nstitute oI the Study oI War said the airstrike on Talbiseh, ³did not hit ,S,S Pilitants and rather resulted in a large nuPber oI ciYilian casu- alties.´ ³,I con¿rPed, the airstrike would signal Russian intent to assist in the Syrian regiPe’s war eIIort at large, rather than securing the regiPe’s coastal heartland oI /atakia and Tartous,´ she said. Khaled KhoMa, head oI the Syrian 1ational Council opposition group, said at the U.1. that Russian airstrikes in Iour areas, including Talbiseh, killed ciYilians, with ¿Ye children aPong the dead. The claiP could not be independently Yeri¿ed. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoPan Maria =akharoYa said claiPs oI ciYilian casualties were part oI an ³inIorPation war ... which, it appears, soPeone prepared well.´ U.S. State 'epartPent spokesPan -ohn Kirby said a Russian oI¿cial in Baghdad had told U.S. EPbassy personnel in the ,raqi capital that Russian Pilitary aircraIt would shortly begin Àying anti-,S Pissions in Syria. The Russian oI¿cial also asked that U.S. aircraIt aYoid Syrian airspace during those Pissions Wednesday. Kirby didn’t say whether the U.S. agreed to that request. The U.S. oI¿cial who spoke on condition oI anonyPity said there were no conÀicts with the Russian strikes, and they had no iPpact on coalition Pissions, priParily in the north and east. Earlier Wednesday, Russian lawPakers Yoted unaniPously to allow 3utin to order the airstrikes in Syria, where Russia has deployed ¿ghter Mets and other weapons in recent weeks. The Federation Council, the upper chaPber oI the parliaPent, discussed 3utin’s request Ior the authori]ation behind closed doors in a debate notable Ior its speed. 3utin insisted Russia will not send ground troops to Syria and that its role in Syrian arPy operations will be liPited. ³We certainly are not going to plunge head-on into this conÀict,´ he said. ³First, we will be supporting the Syrian arPy purely in its legitiPate ¿ght with terrorist groups. Second, this will be air support without any participation in the ground operations.´ 3utin’s strategy in Syria could bring bloody blowback at hoPe, said Andrew Weiss, an analyst at the Carnegie EndowPent Ior ,nter- national 3eace. ³3utin has ³basically created a giant recruiting poster Ior the global Mihadist PoYePent. He’s put Moscow on the Pap Ior Mihadist groups who haYe been operating in Syria,´ Weiss said. Federal health program for 9/11 responders set to expire WASH,1*TO1 A3 — A law that proYides Pedical Ponitoring and treatPent Ior Sept. 11 ¿rst responders e[pires at Pidnight Wednesday due to the Iailure oI Congress to act. For now, ¿rst responders who rushed to the World Trade Center aIter the 2001 terrorist attacks, worked Ior weeks and now suIIer IroP illnesses like pulPonary disease and cancers will still be able to get their health care. But Iederal oI¿cials who adPinister the prograP say it will Iace challenges by February and will haYe to start shutting down by next suPPer. /etting the prograP expire creates ³enorPous anxieties and Iears in the Pinds oI Yery sick people,´ said Sen. Kirsten *illibrand, '-1.<., who has been lobbying her colleagues to Pake the prograP perPanent and recently was Moined by coPedian -on Stewart. The Sept. 11 prograP is one oI seYeral that will expire at Pidnight due to congressional inaction. While Congress PoYed toward passing legislation to keep goYernPent agen- cies open, there are soPe prograPs that depend on Iurther action to operate long-terP. The =adroga Act, naPed aIter a responder who died aIter working at ground ]ero, ¿rst becaPe law in 2010 aIter a debate oYer the bill’s cost. When it comes to your to-do list, put your future first. Diabetes Education Series Decisions made in the past may no longer be what’s best for the future. To help keep everything up to date, Edward Jones offers a complimentary financial review. Diabetes Self Management Series A financial review is a great opportunity to sit face to face with an Edward Jones financial advisor and develop strategies to help keep your finances in line with your short- and long-term goals. 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