Posted on 10/01/2015 10:47:57 AM PDT by keat
There should be no surprises about what the Russians have done.
They have consistently made clear their support for President Assad. It was hardly a great secret that they had moved military assets into Syria - and the Russian pilots hadn't flown their fighter aircraft over to the Eastern Mediterranean to earn some extra air miles.
President Vladimir Putin had a meeting with President Barack Obama on Monday night to explain what Russia's plan was - and although there were profound differences, US officials said they understood better what Russia's intentions were.
And yet.
Isn't there something totally jaw-dropping, gob-smacking, eyebrow-arching, ear twitchingly extraordinary - and not to mention, casual - about the way the Americans learnt about Russian plans?
It began with a phone call from a Russian diplomat to his counterpart in Baghdad to say "we've got something interesting to tell you".
Then a three-star Russian general leaves the Russian embassy compound and knocks on the door of the American one, and asks to see the US military attache.
He tells the American military man that bombing starts in an hour, so you'd better get out of Syrian airspace now and move any assets you have off the ground. And 60 minutes later, the bombing started.
Wow. To say the Americans were blindsided by this unorthodox line of communication is to put it mildly. Having had their "clear the air" meeting on Monday night there was an anticipation that though there might be big policy differences, there would be a degree of co-ordination and openness.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Oh, all of a sudden it’s “US” that got blindsided.
We don’t need some in-depth analysis to figure this one out. The answer is easy — Obama is president and he’s a naïve fool.
This was probably one of those secret agreements no one could as part of the Iran deal
Nature abhors a vacuum and Obama/Kerry Mideast agenda clearly sucks.
Mon/Wed/Fri - Russians have Syrian Airspace
Tue/Thu/Sat - Americans have Syrian Airspace
Sun - Church for Putin / Golf for Obama
Settled.
As it says below our reply window every time we post,
Loose lips sink ships.
Why should Russians risk the betrayal of their plans? Do we think they did not form their own opinion of this administration’s true sympathies after Benghazi?
I know, "us"; U.S. strategy, U.S. leaders, the Pentagon, etc....
How nice.
Mon/Wed/Fri - Russians have Syrian Airspace
Tue/Thu/Sat - Americans have Syrian Airspace
Sun - Israelis have Syrian Airspace; Church for Putin / Golf for Obama
Settled.
Could that be why all those fighting-age men walked to Europe when the Russians started showing up?
I agree. This is in the Secret Protocol to our Non-Aggression Pact with Iran/Russia. Hopefully the Secret Protocol is revealed at 0bama’s trial.
Eight years ago, everything that went wrong was hung around the neck of one man.
Now, it’s “US” that screwed up.
Obama keeps forgetting that Syria and Russia have been allies for over 50 years. We have absolutely no interest in Syria.
Utter chaos is his goal.
Not US, Obama.
This is just scrubama exercising his post-election “flexibility” with the Kremlin.
No surprises here...
Both Obama and Kerry were strong supporters of the Soviet Union. Putin is basically trying to restore what was the Soviet Union. So their fake concerns over what is going on means nothing.
Putin said , Look ,and then kicked Obama in the Skirt
Russia has already achieved its principal strategic goal in Syria: the establishment of a permanent land based military presence. Who they're using it to bomb at any given moment is actually irrelevant compared to that fact. "Anyone they want to" is the correct answer. Nor is this any stunning new development in that part of the world - they watched what worked for the U.S. in Iraq and have implemented it themselves, presumably with a will to remain that turned out to be absent in the 0bama administration, who ignored what we learned while the Russians were relearning it themselves.
It is a little comical as well as profoundly tragic that the current navel-gazers at State are (and have been since Hillary) flailing wildly to attempt to keep track of the shifting alliances within that region - the locals can't do that themselves, it's the nature of the beast. Running weapons to one side and being dismayed at their turning up in the hands of the others is the mark of amateurs who are ignoring the entire history of the region.
There is, however, one piece of logic driving the thing: oppose us and we will bomb you. The Russians are now in a position to do that, a position that the 0bama administration gave up. That is the single fundamental strategic change that has taken place and the Beltway Boys seem a little slow on the uptake.
What of your boy Putin's true sympathies? ie, allying with Israel-hating Iran (the world's leading state sponsor of islamic terrorism), helping them get nukes, his/Russia's long history of arming and supporting America's various other enemies, including Saddam Hussein. He is as dangerous, if not more so, than Obama!
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