united states of america. these are not average people that did this beating. this is erdogan s security detail. somebody told them to go out there and beat up on these peaceful demonstrators, and i think it should have repercussions including identifying these people and bringing charges against them. overseas the united states launched an air strike against pro assad forces in syria. the strike appears to be the first publicly known direct confrontation between the united states and fighters loyal to the assad regime. it happened in the city of al tun. the strike occurred after pro regime forces made advances well inside a well established deconfliction zone and posed a threat to u.s. forces. defense secretary jim mattis says the strike should not be viewed as an increased american