Posted on 09/08/2015 5:02:46 PM PDT by keat
They're brandishing guns, smiling and posing in front of posters showing Presidents Assad and Putin. But who exactly are the Russian soldiers and fighters posting pictures of themselves inside Syria?
The presence of Russian soldiers in Syria is nothing new. As long ago as 1971, Moscow leased a small naval installation in the Mediterranean port city of Tartus. But as talk of further Western strikes against Syrian targets increases, there's been intense speculation that Russia will now go beyond just training President Bashar al-Assad's forces. Indeed some people already think there's evidence that Russian troops are fighting on the ground, although there's no hard evidence of that so far.
Now, a series of striking pictures, including selfies that seem to have been posted by Russian troops in Syria, are being shared on Russian social media - and prompting an intense debate.
The solider selfies are being re-shared by Russian opposition activists, in particular the opposition War In Ukraine (WIU) group, which first came to prominence investigating Russia's involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
After analysing social media posts from Syria, WIU activist Ruslan Leviev summarised his findings in a blog post - from which perhaps the most striking element was photos of Russian soldiers or fighters who, according to their profiles on Facebook and the Russian-language social networking site Vkontakte, have been deployed to Syria.
What can we tell from these photos? Well, many are geo-tagged - they include location information. Almost all, Leviev says, were taken in or near the Russian naval installation at Tartus. Nothing so far, then, to contradict Moscow's officially stated policy.
But some of the photos are tagged with locations in Syria's huge Homs province, which includes areas which have seen intense fighting.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Bunch of guys that don’t give crap what US president thinks Perhaps
How do you say “Get Some!” in Russian?
If they are taking out muzzys, more power to them.
“americans” truly live inside The Matrix. They have NO idea what the real world is. I have been talking to “a middle of the road” chick: she worships BBC and Al jazeera
Syria turning into a proxy war for the US and Russia becomes a potential renewal of the Cold War if not WW3.
And I can imagine the Muslim jihadis exacerbating it, because Russia and the US (though the latter barely) fighting them stops if they are fighting each other.
Go Russians!
The revolutionary socialist government, (US Govt) is angry. They wanted, and have been trying for years, to fly top cover against Assad to help ISIS. They say its only moderate rebels they want to help, but if they win, ISIS would blow them out in an afternoon.
Now we are flying pinprick missions for show against ISIS, but the real goal was to turn US fighters against Assad, and to establish a no fly zone for the Syrian Air Force.
Russians have just made that impossible.
Little over a year, then Obama, Kerry, and the whole sorry lot will be flushed.
In before the Ezekiel 38 crowd.
US backs Islamic terrorists.
Russia backs the man who protected the Christian minority.
Now who are the good guys and the bad guys again?
Yeah, there they are after half the country is lost, what it is, is, Putin also said Assad was ready to share power with “healthy opposition”, so maybe such a deal is worked out and the Russians are there just to keep order if it is required. Look at a map, Assad’s troops control only a small part though surely, a lot of ISIS land is desert, then you have the Kurd land that is a bit sizable as well. I don’t think we will really see the Russians push back on ISIS which in itself is full of people from the former USSR including Russia: http://www.rferl.org/archive/under-the-black-flag/latest/17257/17257.html
France is gearing up to do air strikes on ISIS, surveillance today.
Hell, some folks have said Assad’s airforce has been ISIS’s airforce, if he protects Christians, that’s news to me, he also protected the Druze who have just had big protests against Assad after one of their leaders got killed in bombings blamed on the regime.
The Christians, Assyrian Christians: http://aina.org/news/20150905184843.htm (Assyrian Christian website)
“Assyrians Escape Terrorism and Tyranny in Syria”
Sounds like they don’t really side with the Government.
“Hell, some folks have said Assad’s airforce has been ISIS’s airforce”
Utterly idiotic. You cannot demonstrate a single instance of Assad supporting ISIS.
Send your complaints to the journalist who say so then.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-assads-air-force-now-191616721.html
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-assads-air-force-now-191616721.html
http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/pipermail/marxism/2015-June/262209.html
www.nytimes.com/2014/08/23/world/middleeast/assad-supporters-weigh-benefits-of-us-strikes-in-syria.html
adandachi.com/istanbul/obliterate-assads-air-force/
And the list goes on.
Syria Daily, June 2: Assad’s Bombs Aid Islamic State Offensive in Aleppo Province
If you had one oddball article, that would be one thing, there are many sources for this.
Assad and Putin are the good guys.
These guys are probably Spetsnaz. Tough hombres
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