Why Is Putin Sending Troops to Syria?

Newsweek ^ | 9/3/15 | ELLIOTT ABRAMS

[MinorityRepublican]

Russian fighter pilots are expected to begin arriving in Syria in the coming days, and will fly their Russian air force fighter jets and attack helicopters against ISIS and rebel-aligned targets within the failing state.

According to Western diplomats, a Russian expeditionary force has already arrived in Syria and set up camp in an Assad-controlled airbase. The base is said to be in area surrounding Damascus, and will serve, for all intents and purposes, as a Russian forward operating base. In the coming weeks thousands of Russian military personnel are set to touch down in Syria, including advisors, instructors, logistics personnel, technical personnel, members of the aerial protection division and the pilots who will operate the aircraft.

Past reports have stated that the Russians were in talks to sell the Syrians a package of MiG-29 fighter jets, and Yak-130 trainer jets (which can also serve as attack aircraft.) The current makeup of the expeditionary force is still unknown, but there is no doubt that Russian pilots flying combat missions in Syrian skies will definitely change the existing dynamics in the Middle East.

[Smittie]

You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah. Maranatha, brother.

Indeed, come quickly, Lord Jesus!

[Greysard]

7. Because the army should be supplied with realistic training and targets that shoot back, even though that costs some serious money and is bound to incur losses. An army that is sitting in barracks for decades cannot be an effective force. Russia will rotate a whole lot of crews through this conflict.

[LeoWindhorse]

I can imagine how Putin will react when we see the first Russian aviator in an ISIS steel cage ....

[Zhang Fei]

As long as Assad is in place, ISIS will grow; Assad’s attacks on Syria’s Sunni population mean that he serves as a recruiter for ISIS. Because our central goal is the defeat of ISIS, we must work to remove the Assad regime, but its survival still seems to be the central Russian goal—as it is the central Iranian goal.

Assad's repression of Syria's Kurdish minority was obviously* why those dastardly Kurds attacked us on 9/11.

* Why do these foreign policy analysts say these laugh-inducing things? While I understand it's nice to play chess with flesh-and-blood pieces, it would be nice if they'd come up with hobbies that don't cost American taxpayers thousands of dollars each (Operation Iraqi Freedom).

[Zhang Fei]

Bashar is running out of cannon fodder.

That won't happen until every non-Sunni Arab is dead. 1/3 of Syria's population is either non-Sunni or non-Arab. Given the high likelihood of genocide at the hands of Sunni Arab Islamists, I expect everyone outside of that community, including a fair chunk of Sunni Arab secularists, will fight on Assad's side, because it's the only viable alternative to the different variants of al Qaeda in the Levant, declared or otherwise. As long as Assad doesn't run out of cash and weaponry. The Iranian deal means he won't.

[EinNYC]

If ISIS put any Russians in a cage, Putin would turn their city into glass.

[justa-hairyape]

The Obama/McCain/Hillary Roman Senate plan to conquer Assad with terrorists and rebels has failed miserably. Iraq is devastated, Turkey is being drawn in and terrorist within Syria and Iraq have acquired WMD capabilities. Complete utter failure. To stop the bleeding, the Roman Senate is forcing an alliance with Iran in the east, and letting Russia into the theater to fight ISIS in the west. Have you heard anyone at State complain about this Russian involvement ?

[PIF]

Already sent 6 MiG 31s; 1000 Kornet missiles brought in by Condors; large number of logistical troops (aka expeditionary forces) are building mil base in the Jablah district of Lattakia province, Syria; US pulled Patriot missiles out of Turkey to ensure no accidental shoot downs of MiGs. Regular Russian combat forces (ground, air) to follow on with US approval.

Didn’t Nostradamus make a prediction about a Bear from the North arriving in the Middle East with a large arm? And then a dragon from the East with another army?