A lot of neocons seem to hate Putin mainly because he foiled their plan to do in Syria what Obama did in Libya - bring down the government and give free rein to jihadi crazies. From what I’ve Syrian Christians who would have been slaughtered are grateful to Putin. Assad is no angel, but he protects them from bloodthirsty jihadis
WilliamIII,
Most foreign recruits to ISIS hail from Russia. Moscow has the highest population of Muslims in all of Europe, to the point where Islamic holidays force Russian public schools near mosques to shut down or open later due to the overflow of crowds who need outdoor space to pray.
1) Consider the threat of cultural instability posed by the three Islamic republics within the Russian Federation: Tatarstan, Dagestan, and most significantly: Chechnya, which is basically a borderline theocracy headed by Putin’s pal Kadyrov.
Not to mention the growing hotbeds of terrorism the former Soviet states of Central Asia are proving to be: Uzbekistan, Kazahkstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan - workers from which Russia heavily relies upon as it battles low birthrates and a major demographic crisis (of ethnic Russians) and impending labor shortage.
2) Indeed, Putin has seized upon the West’s military misadventures in the Middle East and elsewhere. And decided hey, Russia deserves to have some “fun” too. Neocon style. Consider Russia’s alliance with Iran, Consider Putin’s foray into Eastern Ukraine, Georgia, etc...
3) Although a liability no many fronts, consider Putin’s continued support of North Korea. (North Korean “Kim” dynasty was installed in the 1940s by Stalin in case people forgot.) Today, China and Russia see it in their interest to protect status quo of Korean peninsula, lest U.S. interests be served by a united Korea.
3) And above all, consider this:
In addition to persecuting Christians, Russia projects power abroad to subvert Western audiences and support anti-Western and Islamic forces to the detriment of Western values and U.S. national security objectives. Just as Moscow supports “Christian” actors who serve Kremlin interests, Moscow supports Islamic actors who serve Kremlin interests. In fact, Putin stated that the Russian Orthodox Church has “much in common with Islam,” that “Islam is one of the traditional religions of Russia and deserves the support of the [Russian] government,” and that Russia will always be “a reliable ally” to the “Islamic world.” Perhaps Putin’s endorsement of Islam helps explain why the Kremlin has been supportive of a litany of radical Islamic regimes and tyrants.
The protection of Christians by Assad was the unanimous point of view of my numerous Syrian students in my high school classes, now sadly a bygone day.