Russia bombing Isis/ Syria?

[Ducado]

Dunney - you post as if the West's destabilising interference in the Middle East has not created the utter chaos in the region, well before any Russian involvement ?

The Cold War between the West and Russia (or the USSR) the Russians have been knee deep there for years

 

[inchy14]

Yet more evidence that you shouldn't just stride into these situations, cock in hand.

Ah so that's why i had all that trouble at Sharm el Sheik airport last week.

 

[TonyM]

I can see where Russia are coming from in backing Assad. Maybe the world would be a safer place if the west kept backing Saddam.

I bet some old CIA guys feel a bit vindicated now as to why they backed dictators for years despite all our collective public outrage.

Pity those who pay the price though.

 

[west didsblue]

Dunney - you post as if the West's destabilising interference in the Middle East has not created the utter chaos in the region, well before any Russian involvement ?

The Arab Spring started it all, without Western interference, in Tunisia. The West's response to that didn't help but it's difficult to say what (if anything) the West should have done.

 

[BlueHammer85]

Pretty disgusting this, let's recognise it for what it is.

Putin/Russia feigned at the bombing campaign being against IS, instead, they've gone after the only reasonably moderate rebel opposition to Assad's wanton genocide. The rebel opposition the West are backing in lieu of intervening themselves.

Russia is militarily intervening to support a military dictatorship that has been massacring its people for years because they're a regional ally to Russia.

The Western world really can't win now. They recognised Assad was a war criminal, slaughtering his own people, but held no appetite to intervene militarily however, from the public or the powers that be. So there became a policy of, "let's give the regime's opposition non leathal aid and turn a blind eye to munitions getting into their hands with a little help from Turkey"..

Oh, stalemate. The conflict deteriorates into poisonous sectarianism, Hezbollah, Iran, and Russia all aid Assad's regime on the ground with everything from munitions to actual boots on the ground. Vile extremists like IS emerge from the shadows in the gulf of security and the lawlessness of occupied territories. Completely destabilises Iraq and leads to war there also.

Full blown clusterfuck is the result.

Now Russia is attempting to stamp out the only feintly legitimate opposition to Assad using the Western lead bombing campaign against IS to legitimise it.

This just leaves IS and Assad. Two polar extremes that need each other. Each justifies each other's existence.

Assad keeps his strangle hold of power, and emerges with the narrative of having defeated the "West's terrorists" in the form of the FSA. IS remain everyone's enemy and they allow Assad some legitimacy, and Russia also in backing Assad.

- Everyone loses. Besides Russia, Assad and IS.

In which case, yeah, everyone loses.

Entirely fucked up this. Who knows what would've happened if Obama didn't show himself to a complete and utter clown once Assad called his bluff re the 'red line' and used chemical weapons on his own people, with no military response forthcoming. The dramatic U-turn with the air strikes against the regime served as more or less a green light to Assad and Russia.

The West is weak and lacks a leadership with bottle. Is scarred by the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, with no appetite to get involved in another conflict, however just or unjust that may be.

I don't think it's any coincidence that Russia invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea shortly after.

Or that Russian spy planes and bombers are now rountinely entering British airspace. Or stirring unrest in other ex Soviet countries.

We even have a situation where Russia sponsored goons, seemingly accidentally, shoot down a civilian passenger jet over Ukraine killing more than 200 people (most of them Western Europeans), with an anti aircraft battery that was photographed returning across the border to Russia, and the whole world mourns for a while, and that's that.

These are very strange times.

Russian warplanes have destroyed an Islamic State command centre in Syria.

 

[BigJoe#1]

Russian warplanes have destroyed an Islamic State command centre in Syria.

As has been said earlier, the Russians are bombing ANY opposition to Assad, which includes, but is not exclusively limited to ISIL.... unlike the West.

 

[sir baconface]

Seems like you back either murderous twats or murderous pricks in cultures where democracy and religious tolerance are alien concepts. What's the point?

 

[sir baconface]

Yet more evidence that you shouldn't just stride into these situations, cock in hand.

Ah so that's why i had all that trouble at Sharm el Sheik airport last week.

Haha. Living up to your username I see. Were you charged excess baggage?

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

Saddam is to blame for all this. If he had just stayed out of Kuwait all those years ago......

 

[SlinkyKinky]

Look at Libya, Egypt and to a lesser extent Iraq after the *allegedly back "revolutions" that ousted their crazy leaders....total chaos in the countries between warring factions....the same revolution tactics tried to happen in Syria and backfired massively. Perhaps it takes a crazy person to keep a crazy country in order.

Russia are doing their thing to protect their listening post in Syria and their only deep water port in the med....looking out for their countries interest whilst taking out a world threat....if it was on the other foot I don't think people would have been to bothered.

And as for russia not distinguishing between "moderate' us backed terrorists and "extreme" terrorists....why distinguish? A terrorist is a terrorist.