The U.S. has made it official that they will begin open military operations in Syria. Previously it has been semi-official with the funding, training, and arming of the “Free Syrian Army” forces. According to an article in the Washington Post, U.S. President Barack Obama will begin Special Operations. The U.S. is claiming that they will be focusing efforts on combating ISIS in the country.

According to the article:

President Obama is sending a small number of Special Operations troops to northern Syria, marking the first full-time deployment of U.S. forces to the chaotic country.

The mission marks a major shift for Obama, whose determination to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has been balanced by an abiding worry that U.S. troops not be pulled too deeply into the in­trac­table Syrian conflict.

The latest deployment will involve fewer than 50 Special Operations advisers, who will work with resistance forces battling the Islamic State in northern Syria but will not engage in direct combat, Obama administration officials said.

Coming at this time, the move is no coincidence. Russia at the invitation of Damascus has begun military operations there in support of the Assad government. It has been known for some time that the U.S. has been engaged in a long running operation to oust Assad as president. Russian assistance has been very effective in combating ISIS, putting U.S. efforts to shame. Russia has done more damage to ISIS in one week than the U.S. has in years. The reason being that there never was a real intention to combat them. ISIS has been very successful at carrying out U.S. interests by causing the desired destabilization. Unfortunately for them, Russia is now pushing back against it.

The U.S. claims that it will be sending advisors to help the so-called “moderate” elements of the FSA against the Assad government. These forces are also being destroyed by Russia. What’s really going on here is a building battle between the U.S. and Russia. The U.S. is supplying and funding the FSA, while Russia is destroying it. New U.S. Special Operations are no doubt designed to combat Russian successes in the country.

There is a very clear danger here: U.S. forces are dangerously close to Russian forces. It could easily be the case where Russia bombs a position that is holding a U.S. operative. Such an incident would severely damage what little relations there are between the two countries. It could possibly escalate into open war between the two of them.

Special operations being sent to Syria is a desperation move by the U.S. to prop up their puppet groups in the FSA. Many of these groups are radical Islamists who have used chemical weapons on the Syrian people. The U.S. imperialist front against the legitimate government of Bashar al-Assad is crumbling before Russian military power. This is the last step they can take before sending actual combat troops into the country. Such a move would be highly unpopular, and most likely would be met with grounds forces from Russia as well.