Putin never wanted to go to war with the United States over Syria. His goal has always been to block the Saudi pipeline. So long as Assad is in power, he accomplishes that. The Saudis have been trying to oust Assad with their army of jihadis. The Saudis are losing so they need American air power to tip the scales. Putin’s move gives up nothing but keeps us out of the skies over Syria.
Assad stays in power, the Saudis don’t get their pipeline, Russia’s monopoly on the European natural gas market is intact, and America is embarrassed internationally.
I’d call this a decisive victory for Russia and Putin.
Your analysis is 100% right on! However I believe if push comes to shove Putin will fight and this scenario only strengthens his hand on the situation all around.
That pretty much sums it up! You are better than any ME “analyst” or whatever talking heads out there!
Excellent encapsulation.
“I’d call this a decisive victory for Russia and Putin.”
Well said, but you forgot the part where Iran gets the bomb because a weak US does nothing. Iran dominates the Persian Gulf region as a Russian proxy.
I thought that the gas pipeline was actually for Russia. In fact, read that Israel has agreed to sell their new gas to Russia.
Supposedly, Saudi Arabia is opposed to the gas line, as it threatens their income from oil to Europe, etc, and they are funding the rebel forces.
We need to do a little more digging on this, and I am off to look for links in my “history”- Understanding all this is so important.
One thing I am sure of, it is a “quagmire”.