Last night's airstrikes on ISIS in Syria [4] came as a surprise to some (though apparently not ISIS who local reporters note had time to move weapons and personnel) as President Obama - and his local arab nation allies (acting in support), though notably no Western nations - unleashed hell on Assad's sovereign territory. The first stirrings of responses from Russia have been creeping out and now Israel is involved in the anti-ISIS coalition. The State Department has just confirmed that they did not give advance warning to the Syrian regime. If you are playing along at home, key words include "broad coalition", "Assad still a bad guy", "Vladimir who?", and "not Muslim."
- *KERRY DID NOT SEND LETTER TO SYRIAN REGIME, PSAKI SAYS
- *U.S. DID NOT GIVE SYRIA ADVANCE NOTICE AT MILITARY LEVEL: PSAKI
- *PSAKI SAYS U.S. INFORMED SYRIA OF INTENT TO TAKE ACTION
- *PSAKI SAYS U.S. DID NOT ASK SYRIAN PERMISSION FOR STRIKES
State Department clarifies: "We warned #Syria [5] not to engage US aircraft," Psaki says. "We did not request the regime's permission." #jpost [6]
— Michael Wilner (@mawilner) September 23, 2014 [7]
President Obama is due to speak at 10amET (set your alarm accordingly)
