| Submit your comments on this article |
| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Putin’s Misguided Move in Syria |
| 2015-09-27 |
| A few quibbles I won't address here. Russia’s incompetent bully of a leader, Vladimir Putin, has just committed his latest blunder. He’s decided to prop up the dying Assad regime with weapons and soldiers. Good luck! The USSR’s fiasco in Afghanistan and America’s in Iraq have clearly failed to deter the Kremlin’s serial bumbler from committing his latest strategic mistake. The mortar shell that struck Russia’s embassy compound in Damascus on September 20th is a foretaste of things to come. As Russian troops intervene in greater numbers—as they surely will in order to prop up a doomed regime—Russian casualties will mount. Eventually, ISIS will engage in its usual barbarism and beheaded Russian soldiers will appear on television. At that point, Western commentators, who’ve mostly interpreted Putin’s intervention as a devilishly clever move, will start saying that Russia stumbled into a conflict it cannot win. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #5 Fear Notteth, NORTH AFRICA, the Bammer will send Drones! |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2015-09-27 23:41 |
| #4 From the GUARDIAN.UK this Guam AM ... * GUARDAIAN.UK > ENGLISH-SPEAKING FEMALE JIHADIS IN LIBYA ISSUE ISLAMIC STATE CALL TO ARMS. Calling on Muslims to join the ISIS/ISIL + open a new NORTH AFRICA front in LIBYA. TIME FOR EGYPT [Libya?] TO INVITE VLADVEDEV = RUSSIA BACK TO ITS AIRFIELDS + NAVAL PORTS??? ARE WE MISSING UNCLE MUAMMAR + MUBARAK YET??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2015-09-27 23:40 |
| #3 I have to disagree wid the Artic, as I highly doubt that struggling Putinist Russia will be able to handle both CHINA + ISIS/ISIL THREATS TO CENTRAL ASIA = CENTRAL RUSSIA, + RUSSIAN FAR EAST, + EAST ASIA [read, China + India] IN GENERAL, NOT counting historically suspicious Mama Russia's fear of a Neo-Ottoman or Hard-Boy controlled Nuke-armed Turkey, + return of any aggressive Nuke-armed Germany to the world stage. Lest also NOT fergit the ISIS/ISIL threat to already Nuke-armed Pakistan vee poten takeover of alleged PAK ISI-controlled, Pak or AFPAK-centric PAK Talibunnies. AS EX-KGB, DARTH VLAD/VLADVEDEV WILL PREPARE FOR THE WORST-CASE SCENARIOS AS PER ALL THE ABOVE. RUSSIA HAS A LOT TO FEAR BUT DOES NOT HAVE THE STABLE ECON TO HANDLE IT ALL. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2015-09-27 20:58 |
| #2 I suspect the professor is more than a little biased against Putin. Every move the professor claims as 'stupid' seems to have worked in favor or Putin so far except the economy conversion bit which the professor makes sound as if it's an easy move. The way I see it Russia has three issues (1) They have a large number of Muslims in Central Asia to think about that the West often forgets (2) They like to sell their military hardware and feel they need pseudo-client states to secure those sales (3) They are/were a Great Power and aren't willing to just accept decline the way the West has so Putin would rather be damned for trying even if something doesn't work. Which leads us to Syria. A loyal client beset by crazy Muslim and a hostile but mostly indifferent US. If Putin can save Syria he shows all his other clients (and potential clients) that doing business with the Russian bear comes with certain guarantees. It also puts Russia against the craziest muslims before their zealotry can infects those Central Asian states. Thirdly by backing up the guarantee to client states he is acting like a Great Power and the world cannot help but compare/contrast what happened with the US client in Iraq who was abandoned. Personally I think Putin's move is very wise as long as he doesn't put a lot of feet on the ground but instead provides support for Syrians fighters. If I was Putin my next step would be a regional alliance with Israel, Iraqi-Kurdistan, Turkey, Syria and Lebanon and Iran to secure current land, destroy Isis, and dismember Iraq. Lastly I'd support the Hashimite claim to Mecca, or at least threaten the Saudi's with that potentiality. I'm not saying any of this is necessarily good for the West, but it would be good for Putin. The West should be fracking the hell out of the ground (short term) and building nuclear power plants (long term) to get off foreign oil as best possible. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2015-09-27 16:16 |
| #1 An Ukrainian AND a professor of political science. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2015-09-27 03:38 |