Thursday, October 01, 2015

The Pro-Assad Russo-Iranian Offensive Against ISIS Begins

by JASmius



In the interview, Kerry also stressed in talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, both the United States and Russia agree on "some fundamental principles" for Syria – and insisted the war-wracked country can be "saved."

"There was agreement that Syria should be a unified country, united, that it needs to be secular, that ISIS needs to be taken on, and that there needs to be a managed transition," he said.

"You cannot bring peace to Syria as long as [Bashar] Assad is there. If you can resolve this transition of Assad, it is absolutely possible" to work with Russia to defeat ISIS, Kerry said.

Which cannot be resolved, because Putin, just as with Ali Khamenie, is a stout ally and sponsor of Boy Assad, something he and they have already made abundantly clear.

What I cannot help wondering about is how Lavrov looks at Kerry's delusional ramblings.  That's a forfeiture of a whole lot more than just U.S. credibility; if I were the Russians and Iranians, I'd be wondering if there were a single sane human being in the entire United States government.

I would also move quickly to fully exploit and take advantage of this gaping window of opportunity while I could.  Which is precisely what Czar Vlad is doing. [emphases added]

- Me, two days ago


For Barack Obama's ISIS friends, let's just say that "business" is about to pick up:

Russia has conducted its first airstrike against ISIS in Syria, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said Wednesday.

The airstrike targeted ISIS military equipment, communications centers, vehicles and ammunition, Major-General Igor Konashenkov said, as part of pinpoint strikes against ISIS ground targets.

The Russians will crush ISIS, and quickly, because (1) they have an eminently logical reason for doing so - their unqualified support for Bashar al-Assad - and consequently, (2) they have absolutely no reason to hold back against the jihadist entity attempting to depose him.

- Me, yesterday


Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah, that is:

Hundreds of Iranian troops have arrived in Syria in the last ten days and will soon join government forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies in a major ground offensive backed by Russian air strikes, two Lebanese sources told Reuters.

"The (Russian) air strikes will in the near future be accompanied by ground advances by the Syrian army and its allies," said one of the sources familiar with political and military developments in the conflict.

"It is possible that the coming land operations will be focused in the Idlib and Hama countryside," the source added.

The two sources said the operation would be aimed at recapturing territory lost by President Bashar al-Assad's government to [ISIS and/or other jihadists].

It points to an emerging military alliance between Russia and Assad's other main allies - Iran and Hezbollah - focused on recapturing areas of northwestern Syria that were seized by [ISIS and/or other jihadists] in rapid advances earlier this year.

"The vanguard of Iranian ground forces began arriving in Syria: soldiers and officers specifically to participate in this battle. They are not advisors ... we mean hundreds with equipment and weapons. They will be followed by more," the second source said. Iraqis would also take part in the operation, the source said. [emphasis added]

I think it's safe to say that at no time in the past thirty-six years, going back to the worst of the Cold War years, could the Russians and Iranians be conducting such military operations in the Middle East, entirely and brazenly in the open, with so little fear or even heed for what the U.S. reaction might be.  Indeed, neither power would have dreamed of daring such a thing for precisely that reason.  But now?  We're gone.  Thanks to Barack Obama, we have zero influence in the region, no way to get it back, and it doesn't even occur to our enemies to take the U.S. into any kind or sort of consideration.  Moscow and Tehran have an absolutely free hand to do whatever they want, and that clearly includes saving Bashar al-Assad's bacon (pun intended) - which the Obama Regime continues to impotently claim is "unacceptable" to them, for whatever unfathomable reason.  It's not like they can do anything about that, either.

If you ever wondered what it would be like to be spectators to our country's own slow but ever-accelerating demise, now you know.

Exit question: How soon until Israel gets dragged into this conflict?  Surely it's only a matter of time.

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