Truthdig
VIDEO: Is Russia Ramping Up Its Military Involvement in Syria?
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/russia_ramping_up_military_involvement_i
n_syria_video_20150910/
Posted on Sep 10, 2015
By Juan Cole
This post originally ran on Juan Cole’s
website(http://www.juancole.com/2015/09/ramping-military-involvement.html) .
Reuters reports, based on sources in
Beirut(http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/09/us-mideast-crisis-syria-exc
lusive-idUSKCN0R91H720150909) , that Russia is increasing its involvement in
Syria, backing the military of beleaguered dictator Bashar al-Assad. Russia
appears to be offloading tanks at its Tartous naval base on the Syrian
coast, and may also be establishing an interior air field for Russian
planes. Increased numbers of Russian advisers and support troops are being
embedded in Syrian army units.
Al-Assad has been on a losing streak in the past few months, having lost all
of Idlib province in the north to a coalition, the Army of Conquest, one
major component of which is al-Qaeda (the Support Front). He also lost the
desert town of Palmyra in the east, to Daesh (ISIS, ISIL).
Russia is determined not to lose one of its few remaining Middle Eastern
client states. Moreover, it doesn’t want a Daesh or al-Qaeda-ruled state
only 20 hours drive from its Caucasus provinces, such as Chechnya. (Chechen
volunteers are fighting in Daesh, and President Vladimir Putin fears that a
Daesh victory in Syria could embolden Chechens to launch another holy war.)
The increased Russian presence has upset the United States, which is
unilaterally intervening in Syria against Daesh, and which has called from
al-Assad to step down. Given the lack of a UN Security Council
authorization of the use of force, the American bombing of Syria might be
seen as a violation of international law. But the Syrian government appears
to have given its blessing to US air strikes on Daesh, so that the
intervention in Raqqa is probably not illegal.
The increased Russian presence is likely intended to deter the US from
striking at al-Assad forces, as Washington said it was contemplating in
early August. The US can’t hit Syrian forces if it isn’t sure it won’t
also be killing Russians. In early August, a Putin spokesman said that US
air strikes on Baath Party targets would just help Daesh/ISIL. Vedomosti
reported, according to BBC monitoring:
“Petr Kozlov and Aleksey Nikolskiy article headlined “Russia to help
Syria” says that Russia has increased military supplies to Syria since
early August. The USA has expressed concern about the move. Russian pundit
Yevgeniy Satanovskiy believes that Washington and its allies “have launched
active anti-Russian propaganda as they are preparing an attack on Syrian
President Bashar al-Asad and Russia’s military supplies may wreck it”; p
2″
Genuine Russian fears that the US might target al-Assad from the sky may be
behind Moscow’s attempt to bolster the Syrian military.
Russia seems mainly, however, to intend to put some steel in the spine of
al-Assad’s forces. If the reports of increased Russian presence in Syria
are true, these steps resemble the Obama administration’s reestablishment
of an Iraq command from last year in the face of the Daesh onslaught.
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Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines
(c) 2015 Truthdig, LLC. All rights reserved.
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Truthdig
VIDEO: Is Russia Ramping Up Its Military Involvement in Syria?
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/russia_ramping_up_military_involvement_i
n_syria_video_20150910/
Posted on Sep 10, 2015
By Juan Cole
This post originally ran on Juan Cole’s
website(http://www.juancole.com/2015/09/ramping-military-involvement.html) .
Reuters reports, based on sources in
Beirut(http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/09/us-mideast-crisis-syria-exc
lusive-idUSKCN0R91H720150909) , that Russia is increasing its involvement in
Syria, backing the military of beleaguered dictator Bashar al-Assad. Russia
appears to be offloading tanks at its Tartous naval base on the Syrian
coast, and may also be establishing an interior air field for Russian
planes. Increased numbers of Russian advisers and support troops are being
embedded in Syrian army units.
Al-Assad has been on a losing streak in the past few months, having lost all
of Idlib province in the north to a coalition, the Army of Conquest, one
major component of which is al-Qaeda (the Support Front). He also lost the
desert town of Palmyra in the east, to Daesh (ISIS, ISIL).
Russia is determined not to lose one of its few remaining Middle Eastern
client states. Moreover, it doesn’t want a Daesh or al-Qaeda-ruled state
only 20 hours drive from its Caucasus provinces, such as Chechnya. (Chechen
volunteers are fighting in Daesh, and President Vladimir Putin fears that a
Daesh victory in Syria could embolden Chechens to launch another holy war.)
The increased Russian presence has upset the United States, which is
unilaterally intervening in Syria against Daesh, and which has called from
al-Assad to step down. Given the lack of a UN Security Council
authorization of the use of force, the American bombing of Syria might be
seen as a violation of international law. But the Syrian government appears
to have given its blessing to US air strikes on Daesh, so that the
intervention in Raqqa is probably not illegal.
The increased Russian presence is likely intended to deter the US from
striking at al-Assad forces, as Washington said it was contemplating in
early August. The US can’t hit Syrian forces if it isn’t sure it won’t
also be killing Russians. In early August, a Putin spokesman said that US
air strikes on Baath Party targets would just help Daesh/ISIL. Vedomosti
reported, according to BBC monitoring:
“Petr Kozlov and Aleksey Nikolskiy article headlined “Russia to help
Syria” says that Russia has increased military supplies to Syria since
early August. The USA has expressed concern about the move. Russian pundit
Yevgeniy Satanovskiy believes that Washington and its allies “have launched
active anti-Russian propaganda as they are preparing an attack on Syrian
President Bashar al-Asad and Russia’s military supplies may wreck it”; p
2″
Genuine Russian fears that the US might target al-Assad from the sky may be
behind Moscow’s attempt to bolster the Syrian military.
Russia seems mainly, however, to intend to put some steel in the spine of
al-Assad’s forces. If the reports of increased Russian presence in Syria
are true, these steps resemble the Obama administration’s reestablishment
of an Iraq command from last year in the face of the Daesh onslaught.
Jeremy Corbyn Set to become Leader of UK’s Labour Party, Against Huge Odds
U.N. Headquarters to Fly Palestinian Flag After General Assembly Vote
U.S. Special Ops Missions in Africa Fail to Stem Terror Groups, Coups, and
Human Rights Abuses
Bad Food Is the Leading Cause of Early Death Worldwide
Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines
(c) 2015 Truthdig, LLC. All rights reserved.
Signup for Truthdig's newsletter
