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How Far Will Russia Go In Syrian Conflict, ISIS Excuse?
Editor’s Note – We find ourselves asking, with Russia jumping in with both feet in the Syrian conflict, what is the point? Quoting a recent Zero Hedge post from Sept. 5th,
Over the past 48 hours or so, we’ve seen what certainly appears to be visual confirmation of a non-negligible Russian military presence in Syria. For anyone coming to the story late, overt Russian involvement would seem to suggest that the geopolitical “main event” (so to speak), may be closer than anyone imagined.
Russia’s excuse for being in Syria is the same as everyone else’s: they’re there, ostensibly, to fight ISIS. As we mentioned yesterday, and as we’ve detailed exhaustively as it relates to Turkey, the fact that ISIS has become a kind of catch-all, go-to excuse for legitimizing whatever one feels like doing is a dangerous precedent and Turkey’s crackdown on the Kurds proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Islamic State will serve as a smokescreen for more than just the preservation/ouster (depending on which side you’re on) of Bashar al-Assad.
Having said all of that, going into the weekend Russia had yet to confirm publicly that it had commenced military operations in Syria despite the fact that it’s the next closest thing to common knowledge that at the very least, the Kremlin has provided logistical support and technical assistance for a period that probably spans two or more years.
But on Friday, Vladimir Putin looks to have confirmed the scope of Russia’s military role, even if he stopped short of admitting that Russian troops are engaged in combat. Here’s The Telegraph:
Russia is providing “serious” training and logistical support to the Syrian army, Vladimir Putin has said, in the first public confirmation of the depth of Russia’s involvement in Syria’s civil war.
And while the highlighted passage there is actually impossible to prove given that the term “depth” is subjective, it certainly does appear that Putin is now willing to concede that support for Assad goes far beyond “political”.
Here’s AFP as well:
Asked whether Russia could take part in operations against IS, Putin said: “We are looking at various options but so far what you are talking about is not on the agenda.”
“To say we’re ready to do this today — so far it’s premature to talk about this. But we are already giving Syria quite serious help with equipment and training soldiers, with our weapons,” RIA Novosti state news agency quoted Putin as saying.
And back to The Telegraph briefly:
Speculation is growing that Russia has significantly expanded its involvement in recent months, including with deliveries of advanced weaponry, a raft of spare parts for existing machines, and the deployment of increasing numbers of military advisers and instructors.
Last week Syrian state television released images showing an advanced Russian-built armoured personnel carrier, the BTR-82a, in combat. Videos have also appeared in which troops engaged in combat appear to shout instructions to one another in Russian.
Of course whether or not the troops Russia has on the ground were sent to Syria with explicit orders to join the fighting is largely irrelevant when the bullets start flying. As Pavel Felgenhaeur, an independent commentator on Russian military affairs told The Telegraph, “it was quite conceivable that members of the advisory mission occasionally found themselves in combat or had even suffered casualties.”
So in other words, they’re at war, and even as Putin is now willing to admit, with a two year (at least) lag, that Russian boots are indeed on the ground, it may be a while before he admits to their role in direct combat and if Ukraine is any guide, he might never acknowledge the extent of Russia’s involvement. But make no mistake, the Russian presence has nothing to do with the “threat” ISIS poses to the world and everything to do with ensuring that Assad’s forces can fight on – at least for now.
The absurd thing about the whole effort is that ISIS itself is now just cannon fodder both for Russia and for the US led coalition flying missions from Incirlik that Turkey has suggested may soon include Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jordan. Even more ridiculous is the fact that since none of this has anything to do with eradicating ISIS in the first place, the bombing of ISIS targets by the US, Turkey, and Russia doesn’t really serve much of a purpose at all.
That is, everyone’s just biding time to see how far the other side is willing to go in support of their vision for Syria’s political future – a political future which, as we noted yesterday, almost certainly will not be decided at the ballot box, that is unless it’s after US Marines have stormed Damascus at which point the US will benevolently allow whatever civilians are still alive in Syria to choose between two puppet leaders vetted and supported by Washington.
And lest anyone should forget what this is all about…
Pipelines, that’s the point! Now the Obama administration is actually saying something about it, as always, years late, a few billion dollars short, and hundreds of thousands dead, maimed and wounded, with millions on the run or in refugee camps. How many are coming to the USA, and how many are IS terrorists posing as refugees? Please read on:
US warns Russia against more aid to Assad amid new violence
By Sarah El Deeb – MyWay News
BEIRUT (AP) — Anti-government violence erupted Saturday in a southern Syrian province that had largely stayed on the sidelines of the country’s civil war. Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports suggesting that Russia was planning to expand its military support for Syrian President Bashar Assad prompted a warning from the U.S. that such actions could lead to a confrontation with coalition forces.
The violence in Sweida province, a stronghold of the Druze minority sect, followed the killing of a prominent cleric in rare explosions Friday that claimed the lives of at least 25 others, activists and pro-government media said.
Rioters holding the government responsible for the cleric’s death destroyed the statue of late Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad and besieged security offices, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and other activist groups said.
In Washington, the State Department issued a statement after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to express concern over unconfirmed reports “suggesting an imminent enhanced Russian military build-up” in Syria.
While not elaborating on or confirming the accuracy of those reports, the State Department said Kerry made clear to Lavrov that such actions “could further escalate the conflict, lead to greater loss of innocent life, increase refugee flows and risk confrontation” with the anti-Islamic State coalition operating led by the U.S. that is carrying out strikes in Syria.
Russia has been a stalwart ally of Assad throughout Syria’s civil war and has provided diplomatic support and weaponry to help the Syrian leader maintain his grip on power. Moscow also maintains a small naval facility at the Syrian port of Tartous on the Mediterranean Sea.
The cleric killed Friday, Sheik Wahid Balous, was a prominent critic of Assad and had called on youth in Sweida province to refuse to serve in the military. He was also a critic of the Islamic State militants who have taken over a third of the country and are fueling the civil war that has killed more than 250,000 people and wounded more than 1 million.
Balous, who was a strong supporter of rebels trying to topple Assad, died in one of two consecutive car bomb explosions, including one near the National Hospital in Sweida.
The Observatory said the death toll rose Saturday to 37, including six security personnel killed in clashes with rioters. The city had witnessed large rallies in the days before the explosions against the failure of the government to provide basic services. Activists reported that there was no Internet service for the past few days.
Syria’s official news agency and other activist groups put the death toll from the blasts at 26. There was no immediate claim of responsiblity for the bombings.
The Syrian government called the blasts “cowardly terrorist acts.” A police commander in the city, Mohammed Samra, said Sweida was “calm and stable” and denied any unrest, saying reports of anti-government violence were aimed at undermining security in the area.
Some of Balous’ supporters said in a statement they will expel security forces from Sweida province, which until now has largely stayed out of the fighting in Syria’s civil war.
City elders appealed for calm, warning against attempts to drag the province toward violence. Another statement from the city’s Druze leaders urged supporters to be patient as the cleric’s brother, who was seriously wounded in the attack, recovers.
A 10th century offshoot of Shiite Islam, the Druze made up about 5 percent of Syria’s prewar population of 23 million people, and is split between supporters and opponents of Assad.
In neighboring Lebanon, which also has a sizeable Druze population, the sect’s political leader Walid Jumblatt said Balous’s death was a “painful strike” to the community.
“It is time for the honorable citizens (of Sweida) to rise up in the face of the Syrian regime that wants repression and to spread sedition,” he told the anti-government Syrian Orient TV.
The National Syrian Coalition opposition group in exile also blamed the Syrian government for the killing of the cleric, known as “the Dignity Sheikh,” saying it was part of an attempt to stop the anti-government protests in recent days. In a statement, coalition member Suheir Attasi said killing Balous only “increased the popular anger in the province.”
—
Associated Press writer Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, contributed to this report
The post How Far Will Russia Go In Syrian Conflict, ISIS Excuse? appeared first on The SUA Blog | Stand Up America US.
Source: http://www.standupamericaus.org/breaking-news/how-far-will-russia-go-in-syrian-conflict-isis-excuse/
