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Russia's air strikes in Syria explained

submitted by theali

8 years 7 months 3 weeks ago

YT: At the request of al-Assad’s government, Russia has started an air strike campaign over Syria. Moscow stated that they would target extremists groups such as ISIS but so far the air strikes have mainly targeted NATO supported rebels.

Even though most of the mainstream media has put a negative spin of the Russian air strikes, one thing must be put into perspective. None of the external actors involved in the Syrian conflict, are in it for the sake of the Syrian people, democracy or human rights. This is a geopolitical conflict, not a soap opera. Russia is pursuing its own interests in the region, just as the US, Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia are respectfully pursuing theirs.

Russia has been engaged in the Syrian conflict since the start. Ever since 2011, Russian diplomats have provided crucial support in favor of the al-Assad government. By casting vetoes, the Russians prevented the adoption of UN resolutions aimed at banning the al-Assad government from the international community. And now, at al-Assad’s request, Putin has launched an air strike campaign in Syria. Since al-Assad’s administration is still the only legal executive authority in the state of Syria, the Russian air strikes are entirely within international laws. So what does Russia hope to achieve in Syria and how do the air strikes fit in the Russian geopolitical design?

5 Comments

CaspianReport's an awesome channel for history related stuff overall. Nice summary.

yea fantastic summary - cuts through all the bull.

It's pretty easy to watch Putin's recent video's on the sift where he is very persuasive in getting you to think it's all about American imperialism - but he's just as complicit.

*quality

Boosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by enoch.

What? How could anyone seriously propose Obama stop NATO help for Ukraine linked to removing Assad from Syria? What good would that do to anyone but Putin?

Obama does not decide what NATO does and where.

Ukraine will fall to Putin without west European help.

Syria is a tribal and religious mess where no one has anything to gain right now, Assad is hated but legitimate. Rebels are split into factions with unclear objectives. Who exactly would the USA support in Syria if Assad was somehow "removed" by the Russians?

No one wants to fight the IS; Syria wants to fight rebels, Turkey wants to fight Kurds, Iran wants to fight Iraq, everyone wants to fight Israel. OK Kurds want to fight the IS but Kurds dont get much love on this planet. Even Kurds and Assad and Russian air support are unlikely to be enough to fight the IS.

Russia "good cop" in Ukraine... excuse me? You lost me there...

PS: Obama may just have to rethink his position on Assad, everything else is just a standoff hoping to force Putin to respect international treaties that he has agreed to. Which is unlikely. The only possible way out is for Putin to succumb to internal Russian problems over time.

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