Tag Archives: Russian Neo-Imperialism

Six of Six – To Russia, Ever So Politely, U.S. Embassy Syria Tweets Advice

29 Friday Jul 2016

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Islamic Small Wars, Syndicate Red Brown Green

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USEmb6-6Tweets

BackChannels best guess for “CoH” — “Cessation of Hostilities”.

That “weakness invites aggression” or “peace through strength” should be concepts well known, but even so, the circumstances in total want for someone’s “good gamble”.

Are we there yet?

For NATO, the headlines from countercoup Turkey are not looking so good: NYT: “With Army in Disarray, a Pillar of Modern Turkey Lies Broken”; Reuters: “Turkish military a fractured force after attempted coup”; Fox: “Turkish military faces overhaul after failed coup”.

It was good to have won the war and the peace in 1945, but that was 66 years ago, and most of that Great Generation that fought are today permanently at rest, and what the present generation — raised on football and Kardashians — has on its plate in Moscow, Damascus, Tehran, Pyongyang, Beijing, and a few elsewheres are the kind of “Great Leaders” capable of producing what has been witnessed in Syrian and what has been recorded in the histories of their own states in their rise to power.

Posted to YouTube 7/24/2016.

Addendum – August 1, 2016

Gutman, Roy.  “As Obama Dithers, Syrian Rebels in Aleppo Brace for Putin’s Onslaught.”  The Daily Beast, August 2, 2016:

In several days of phone conversations with Moscow, Kerry was unable to obtain clarifications of how the new decision was compatible with the talks he’s been holding with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

European diplomats said Kerry’s current initiative, which involved a highly controversial concession to share intelligence with Russia and to conduct joint and coordinated attacks on Jabhat al-Nusra, could collapse in short order.

According to Assad’s political opponents, that is not the worst of it.

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Noting Iranian Forces in Syria

19 Thursday May 2016

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Iran, Russia, Syria

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Beirut- Asaad al-Zoubi, head of the Syrian opposition delegation of High Negotiations Committee (HNC) in Geneva, said that Iranian forces are gradually arriving to battle zones in Syria. Over 11 thousand Iranian fighters had recently, boarding cargo jets, arrived at the Damascus International Airport and to Hama city, located on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria.

Diab, Youssef and Fath al-rahman Youssef.  “Al-Zoubi to Asharq Al-Awsat: 80 thousand Iranian Units in Syria.”  Asharq Al-Awsat, May 18, 2016.

Almost 700 Iranian soldiers and militia fighters have been killed in Syria’s civil war, laying bare the scale and cost of Tehran’s intervention to preserve Bashar al-Assad’s grip on power.

Blair, David.  “Almost 700 Iranian troops and militia fighters ‘killed in Syria’ to preserve Bashar al-Assad.”  The Telegraph, May 10, 2016.

Blair pegs the total Iranian commitment of troops, Quds Force and IRGC at 3,000.

For some years now, BackChannels has chained together Moscow, Damascus, and Tehran as equal co-defenders of the “medieval absolute power” on which their respective kleptocracies depend for existence.  That balance of nefarious power may be changing:

“Russia has reduced its air strikes Syria, and so all those Iranians are getting killed because of a lack of air cover,” Kamhawi said. “This seems to be part of a Russian strategy to marginalise Iran’s role in Syria and make its influence unparalleled.”

Al-Tamimi, Jumana.  “Russia moves to check Iran’s power in Syria: Moscow has reduced its air cover of Iranian and Hezbollah militants fighting in Syria.”  Gulf News, May 15, 2016.

Although RT may deny it, Russia’s military presence in Syria appears in the news alternatives (like AP, Fox News — those “alternatives”) to be expanding.

Cole, Brendan.  “War on ISIS: Row rages over Russian military base in ancient Syrian site of Palmyra.”  International Business Times, May 19, 2016.

Mroue, Bassem.  “Russia builds military camp near ancient site in Palmyra.”  AP The Big Story, May 17, 2016.

As “scrape and comment” hasn’t lasting appeal to this blog’s editor — even though at a computer, one naturally looks things up — this post will stop about here and on this note: While Iran has produced a greater fighting presence in the Syrian Tragedy, it may be the Phantom of the Soviet that has irrevocably planted new military assets in the state.

Additional Reference

BackChannels.  “FTAC — Russia’s Not So Appealing Turn in Syria.” March 6, 2016.  The piece contains additional reference to Russia’s expanded military presence in Syria.

The Tower.  “Wave of Iranian Volunteer Soldiers in Syria Causing Further Destabilization.”  May 15, 2016.

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