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Post by Admin on Sept 30, 2015 20:12:34 GMT
Showdown at the UN. A much-hyped face off after two long years. The ultimate “you talking to me?” geopolitical moment. And then Russian President Vladimir Putin said it’s imperative to form a broad international coalition against terror – especially of the ISIS/ISIL/Daesh kind - similar to the WWII anti-Hitler drive. And US President Barack Obama, predictably, blinked. So, in the end, “they didn't discuss coalitions in the classical sense of the word,” according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. For the media pack/vulture coalition, Lavrov also had to specify, once again, what Moscow is doing in Southwest Asia: “Both governments of Iraq and Syria received [this] assistance from us. We sent our military specialists to help use this equipment and we believe that all those who fight on the ground against the terrorist groups ISIL and others must be coordinated. Not necessarily under a single command.” Putin insisted at the UN on coordination between all anti-ISIS/ISIL/Daesh forces based on UN principles. The key principle at stake is statehood. In the Syria case, that translates as support for the government in Damascus, which may have monstrous flaws, but it’s the only game in town. The “alternative” is the Salafi-jihadi barbarians. So this is the way the regime change obsession of the Obama administration ends; not with a bang, but a whimper. The question is how will the Obama administration still plan to use Salafi-jihadis for its “Assad must go” operation while also fighting them as leaders of a coalition. Certainly not by using the “no more than five” moderate rebels it trained and weaponized with a $500 million budget.
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Post by Admin on Oct 1, 2015 20:18:56 GMT
Claiming to target ISIS, Russia conducted its first airstrikes in Syria, while U.S. officials expressed serious doubts Wednesday about what the true intentions behind the move may be. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, warplanes targeted eight ISIS positions, including arms, transportation, communications and control positions. But U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter countered that claim. "I want to be careful about confirming information, but it does appear that they (Russian airstrikes) were in areas where there probably were not ISIL forces," he told reporters. ISIL is another acronym for ISIS. A senior U.S. administration official told CNN's Elise Labott that a Russian airstrike near the Syrian city of Homs "has no strategic purpose" in terms of combating ISIS, which "shows they are not there to go after ISIL." Syrian state-run news agency SANA reported that Russian warplanes had targeted "ISIS dens" in al-Rastan, Talbiseh and Zafaraniya in Homs province; Al-Tilol al-Hmer, in Qunaitra province; Aydoun, a village on the outskirts of the town of Salamiya; Deer Foul between Hama and Homs; and the outskirts of Salmiya. The official said the United States had no intention of preventing the strikes, but that Russian planes didn't seem to be flying in areas where the United States is operating.
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Post by Admin on Oct 2, 2015 20:15:38 GMT
The Russian President is taking a chance by intervening in a bloody civil war in Syria, but his gamble is a calculated one. You have to give Vladimir Putin credit—he has a special talent for changing facts on the ground and daring others to do something about it. Russian bombs are now falling on Syria, though Putin’s intentions remain a subject of debate. But here’s the bottom line: Russia’s strongman has restored his country’s status as a major international player. These 5 facts explain Putin’s calculations for joining the fight for Syria. Invading Ukraine has kept Putin’s dream of the Eurasian Union alive, but it has come at quite a price—all told, the IMF believes Western sanctions could end up costing the Russian economy 9 percent of its total GDP over the next few years. But Syria offers Putin a way to mend relations with the West. Europe is currently beset by a wave of refugees fleeing Syria’s civil war, and the U.S. remains unsure about how best to tackle ISIS. Putin calculates that if Russia successfully turns the war tide against ISIS by sending in 28 fighter aircraft and 2,000 military personnel, Europeans will gladly let the sanctions against Moscow lapse in coming months, especially if it re-stabilizes the region and allows Syrian refugees to start returning home. The U.S. will be harder to crack, as it continues to refuse any solution in Syria that leaves Syrian President Bashar Assad—a close Russian ally—in power. But even that is to Putin’s benefit—standing up to the West scores him serious domestic political points. And if he is able to succeed where the U.S. failed in Syria, he may have just secured himself the Russian presidency through 2024.
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Post by Admin on Oct 5, 2015 20:17:08 GMT
Russia said Sunday it has "intensified" airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria, while embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad hailed the Russian attacks as the only way to save the Middle East from terrorism. Assad, in his first remarks since the Russian airstrikes began Wednesday, told Iran's Khabar TV that the U.S.-led coalition to fight the Islamic State will only spark more instability in his country. He also accused Western nations of fueling a massive exodus of Syrians that, added to migrants fleeing other Asian and African countries, has created the largest crisis in Europe since World War II. Assad said the Russian air campaign could succeed because it is supported by Iran and has international, if not Western, support. “It must succeed or we are facing the destruction of a whole region, and not a country or two,” he said, according to the Associated Press. “The chances for success are large, not small.”
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Post by Admin on Oct 8, 2015 19:57:19 GMT
Syrian troops and militia backed by Russian warplanes mounted what appeared to be their first major coordinated assault on Syrian insurgents on Wednesday and Moscow said its warships fired a barrage of missiles at them from the Caspian Sea, a sign of its new military reach. The combined operation hit towns close to the main north-south highway that runs through major cities in the mainly government-held west of Syria, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based group which tracks the conflict via a network of sources within the country. Islamic State militants have seized much of Syria since civil war grew out of anti-government protests in 2011, but the areas targeted in Wednesday's combined assault are held by other rebels, some U.S.-backed, fueling accusations by Russia's critics that its real aim is to help the government.
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