AP, United Nations :Syria’s foreign minister is to address the summit of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday as Russia’s decision to start bombing targets in the war-torn nation adds another layer of tensions to the region.The Kremlin says it is acting on request of the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad. The United States opposes Assad and has questioned Moscow’s assertion that it is targeting Islamic terrorists, saying the areas hit close to Homs are strongholds of the moderate opposition to Assad.As Russian war planes bombed Syria for the second day Thursday, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov rejected claims that Moscow is targeting those moderates, the opposition Free Army.Meanwhile, Russia’s launch of airstrikes in Syria is prompting discussions within the Pentagon about whether the U.S. should use military force to protect U.S.-trained and equipped Syrian rebels if they come under fire by the Russians.U.S. officials said Thursday that senior military leaders and defense officials are working through the thorny legal and foreign policy issues and are weighing the risks of using force in response to a Russian attack.Defense Secretary Ash Carter declined to discuss the problem when asked about it this week. But U.S. officials acknowledged that this is one of the questions being asked as they debate the broader dilemma of how the administration should respond to what White House press secretary Josh Earnest described as Russia’s “indiscriminate military operations against the Syrian opposition.”The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss ongoing deliberations publicly.Tensions between the United States and Russia are escalating over Russian airstrikes that apparently are serving to strengthen Syrian President Bashar Assad by targeting rebels – perhaps including some aligned with the U.S. – rather than hitting Islamic State fighters it promised to attack.The Pentagon on Thursday had its first conversation with Russian officials in an effort to avoid any unintended U.S.-Russian confrontations as the airstrikes continue in the skies over Syria. During the video call, Elissa Slotkin, who represented the U.S. side, expressed America’s concerns that Russia is targeting areas where there are few if any Islamic State forces operating. Slotkin is the acting assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs.A key concern is the prospect of the United States and Russia getting drawn into a shooting war in the event that Russian warplanes hit moderate Syrian rebels who have been trained and equipped by the U.S. military.At U.N. headquarters in New York, Secretary of State John Kerry said: “What is important is Russia has to not be engaged in any activities against anybody but ISIL. That’s clear. We have made that very clear.””We are not yet where we need to be to guarantee the safety and security” of those carrying out the airstrikes, he said.In an interview late Thursday on CBS’s “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Kerry described the military consultations as “a way of making sure that planes aren’t going to be shooting at each other and making things worse.”
