First of all, what emerged in 2013 wasn’t that the Syrian government had chemical weapons in its possession-it was that the government was using them to slaughter children.
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Kerry said the expansive military presence by the Russians evokes “serious questions” about Moscow’s role in the region as a conquering power.
Russia has been providing military aid to the Assad regime, including the construction of a Russian military base. Already it has attempted to wield local authority to force population swaps in order to explicitly divide Sunni and Shiite Syrians. The same way Putin mediated the chemical weapons situation after President Obama flailed, Putin has come into Syria as a key worldwide mediator amid a awful refugee crisis and the United States’ failure to defeat the Islamic State.
There are already reports that Russians are stealing food from stores and even “killing those who are incapable of defending themselves”.
Mr Robert Munks, editor of IHS Jane’s Intelligence Review, said satellite imagery showed two sites near Latakia airport, in President Bashar al-Assad’s traditional heartland, “may be preparing to receive Russian forces“.
A Syrian military source, who declined to be named, said that newly supplied Russian aircraft flown by Syrian pilots had been used in the attacks.
He said that Russia’s military buildup in Syria appears initially meant to protect its existing assets and personnel on the ground. Russia’s only interest was in protecting Assad. As if to shore up that case, the Syrian air force has begun striking IS targets like the group’s “capital city” of Raqqa, something it has rarely done over the course of the war.
Russia and Israel might be sharing intelligence, but Israel also provided its American allies with information about classified Russian technologies, so Russian aircraft can be spotted quickly and clearly.
The outlet supposed that Washington now fears President Putin’s scheduled address at the 70 th Session of the UN General Assembly on September 28, where he is believed to call for an worldwide coalition against the Islamic State, thus seizing the initiative from the US.
Russian Federation says the U.S.-led air strikes against IS positions in Syria are unlikely to be successful and it has called for an global dialogue with Assad.
Michael Fallon suggested that the operation was an added obstacle to peace in Syria. If Russian Federation wanted to fight IS extremists, it could have joined the more than 60-member coalition and help with airstrikes against the militant group, he said. This is a point on which leaders from both countries have shown some recent flexibility. It is conceivable that Russian Federation would agree to an illusionary “transition” in which Assad steps aside but the infrastructure of his police state remains.
Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said the two men agreed to talk more about how to ensure that American and Russian aircraft avoid unintended incidents as they operate over Syria. The Cold War model, where outside powers control and ultimately end a local or regional conflict, has long since ceased to be relevant, as the Syrian war has thus far made abundantly clear.
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“Meanwhile, Iran, as the benefactor of the Syrian army, is trying to build a second terror front against us from the Golan”.
