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.
October 7 th , 14 th , 28 th &
November 4 th
5:30 PM to 7:30 PM
Advance Registration Required
Most Major Insurances,
Medicare, Medicaid
For more information or to register
541-278-3249
To find out how to get your financial goals
on track, call or visit today.
Melissa Naff, RD, LD, CDE
2801 St. Anthony Way
Pendleton, OR 97801
www.sahpendleton.org
FAP-1966B-A-AD
Diabetes Educator • 541-278-3249
Bob Blanc
Mac H Levy
Ben Buchert
304 S Main St
Pendleton, OR
97801
541-276-6257
244 SW Dorion Ave.
Pendleton, OR
97801
541-278-1600
348 SW First St.
Pendleton, OR
97801
541-278-1200
Pam Stocker
Kacie Levy, CFP®
Casey Hunt
245 E Main Suite B
Hermiston, OR
97838
541-564-9734
204 E Main St.
Hermiston, OR
97838
541-567-0390
304 S Main St
Pendleton, OR
97801
541-276-6257
www.edwardjones.com
Member SIPC