[This article has been written for the Unz Review]
Informationclearinghouse recently posted an article by Darius Shahtahmasebi entitled “Israel Keeps Bombing Syria and Nobody Is Doing Anything About It”. Following this publication I received an email from a reader asking me the following question: “Putin permitting Israel to bomb Syria – why? I am confused by Putins actions – does Putin support the Zionist entity, on the quiet like. I would appreciate your feedback on this matter. Also – I have heard, but not been able to confirm, that the Russian Jewish immigrants to Occupied Palestines are the most ardent tormenters of the Palestinians – it takes quite some doing to get ahead of the likes of Netanyahu. Please comment“. While in his article Darius Shahtahmasebi wonders why the world is not doing anything to stop the Israelis (“Why haven’t Iran, Syria, and/or Hezbollah in Lebanon responded directly?“), my reader is more specific and wonders why Putin (or Russia) specifically is not only “permitting” Israel to bomb Syria but even possibly “supporting” the Zionist Entity.
I often see that question in emails and in comments, so I wanted to address this issue today.
First, we need to look at some critical assumption implied by this question. These assumptions are:
- That Russia can do something to stop the Israelis
- That Russia should (or even is morally obliged) to do something.
Let me begin by saying that I categorically disagree with both of these assumptions, especially the 2nd one. Let’s take them one by one.
Assumption #1: Russia can stop the Israeli attacks on Syria
How? I think that the list of options is fairly obvious here. Russian options range from diplomatic action (such as private or public protests and condemnations, attempts to get a UNSC Resolution passed) to direct military action (shooting down Israeli aircraft, “painting” them with an engagement radar to try to scare them away or, at least, try to intercept Israeli missiles).
Trying to reason with the Israelis or get the to listen to the UN has been tried by many countries for decades and if there is one thing which is beyond doubt is that the Israelis don’t give a damn about what anybody has to say. So talking to them is just a waste of oxygen. What about threatening them? Actually, I think that this could work, but at what risk and price?
First of all, while I always said that the IDF’s ground forces are pretty bad, this is not the case of their air forces. In fact, their record is pretty good. Now if you look at where the Russian air defenses are, you will see that they are all concentrated around Khmeimim and Tartus. Yes, an S-400 has a very long range, but that range is dependent on many things including the size of the target, its radar-cross section, its electronic warfare capabilities, the presence of specialized EW aircraft, altitude, etc. The Israelis are skilled pilots who are very risk averse so they are very careful about what they do. Finally, the Israelis are very much aware of where the Russians are themselves and where there missiles are. I think that it would be pretty safe to say that the Israelis make sure to keep a minimal safe distance between themselves and the Russians, if only to avoid any misunderstanding. But let’s say that the Russians did have a chance to shoot down an Israeli aircraft – what would be the likely Israeli reaction to such a shooting? In this article Darius Shahtahmasebi writes: “Is it because Israel reportedly has well over 200 nukes all “pointed at Iran,” and there is little Iran and its allies can do to take on such a threat?” I don’t see the Israelis using nukes on Russian forces, however, that does in no way mean that the Russians when dealing with Israel should not consider the fact that Israel is a nuclear armed power ruled by racist megalomaniacs. In practical terms this means this: “should Russia (or any other country) risk a military clash with Israel over a few destroyed trucks or a weapons and ammunition dump”? I think that the obvious answer is clearly ‘no’.
While this is the kind of calculations the USA simply ignores (at least officially – hence all the saber-rattling against the DPRK), Russia is ruled by a sane and responsible man who cannot make it a habit of simply waltzing into a conflict hence the Russian decision not to retaliate in kind against the shooting down of the Russian SU-24 by the Turks. If the Russians did not retaliate against the Turks shooting down one of their own aircraft, they sure ain’t gonna attack the Israelis when they attack a non-Russian target!
There are also simply factual issues to consider: even if some Russian air-defense systems are very advanced and could shoot down an X number of Israeli aircraft, they are nowhere near numerous enough to prevent the entire Israeli air force from saturating them. In fact, both Israel and CENTCOM simply have such a numbers advantage over the relatively small Russian contingent that they both could over-run the Russian defenses, even if they would take losses in the process.
So yes, the Russian probably could stop one or a few Israeli attacks, but if the Israelis decided to engage in a sustained air campaign against targets in Syria there is nothing the Russians could do short of going to war with Israel. So here again a very basic strategic principle fully applies: you never want to start an escalatory process you neither control nor can win. Put simply this means: if the Russians shoot back – they lose and the Israelis win. It’s really that simple and both sides know it (armchair strategist apparently don’t).
And this begs a critical look at the second assumption:
Assumption #2: Russia has some moral duty to stop the Israeli attacks on Syria
This is the one which most baffles me. Why in the world would anybody think that Russia owes anybody anywhere on the planet any type of protection?! For starters, when is the last time somebody came to the help of Russia? I don’t recall anybody in the Middle-East offering their support to Russia in Chechnia, Georgia or, for that matter, the Ukraine! How many countries in the Middle-East have recognized South Ossetia or Abkhazia (and compare that with the Kosovo case!)? Where was the Muslim or Arab “help” or “friendship” towards Russia when sanctions were imposed and the price of oil dropped? Remind me – how exactly did Russia’s “friends” express their support for Russia over, say, the Donbass or Crimea?
Can somebody please explain to me why Russia has some moral obligation towards Syria or Iran or Hezbollah when not a single Muslim or Arab country has done anything to help the Syrian government fight against the Takfiris? Where is the Arab League!? Where is the Organization of Islamic Cooperation?!
Is it not a fact that Russia has done more in Syria than all the countries of the Arab League and the OIC combined?!
Where do the Arab and Muslims of the Middle-East get this sense of entitlement which tells them that a faraway country which struggles with plenty of political, economic and military problems of its own has to do more than the immediate neighbors of Syria do?!
Putin is the President of Russia and he is first and foremost accountable to the Russian people to whom he has to explain every Russian casualty and even every risk he takes. It seems to me that he is absolutely right when he acts first and foremost in defense of the people who elected him and not anybody else.
By the way – Putin was very clear about why he was ordering a (very limited) Russian military intervention in Syria: to protect Russian national interests by, for example, killing crazy Takfiris in Syria so as not to have to fight then in the Caucasus and the rest of Russia. At no time and in no way did any Russian official refer to any kind of obligation of Russia towards Syria or any other country in the region. True, Russia did stand by President Assad, but that was not because of any obligation towards him or his country, but because the Russians always insisted that he was the legitimate President of Syria and that only the Syrian people had the right to replace (or keep) him. And, of course, it is in the Russian national interest to show that, unlike the USA, Russia stands by her allies. But none of that means that Russia is now responsible for the protection of the sovereignty of the Syrian airspace or territory.
As far as I am concerned, the only country which has done even more than Russia for Syria is Iran and, in lieu of gratitude the Arab countries “thank” the Iranians by conspiring against them with the USA and Israel. Hassan Nasrallah is absolutely spot on when the calls all these countries traitors and collaborators of the AngloZionist Empire.
There is something deeply immoral and hypocritical in this constant whining that Russia should do more when in reality Russia and Iran are the only two countries doing something meaningful (and Hezbollah, of course!).
Now let me address a few typical questions:
Question #1: but aren’t Syria, Iran and Hezbollah Russian allies?
Yes and no. Objectively – yes. Formally – no. What this means is that while these three entities do have some common objectives, they are also independent and they all have some objectives not shared by others. Furthermore, they have no mutual defense treaty and this is why neither Syria, nor Iran nor Hezbollah retaliated against Turkey when the Turks shot down the Russian SU-24. While some might disagree, I would argue that this absence of a formal mutual defense treaty is a very good thing if only because it prevents Russian or Iranian forces in Syria from becoming “tripwire” forces which, if attacked, would require an immediate response. In a highly dangerous and explosive situation like the Middle-East the kind of flexibility provided by the absence any formal alliances is a big advantage for all parties involved.
Question #2 : does that mean that Russia is doing nothing or even supporting Israel?
Of course not! In fact, Netanyahu even traveled to Moscow to make all sorts of threats and he returned home with nothing (Russian sources even report that the Israelis ended up shouting at their Russian counterparts). Let’s restate here something which ought to be obvious to everybody: the Russian intervention in Syria was an absolute, total and unmitigated disaster for Israel (I explain that in detail in this article). If the Russians had any kind of concern for Israelis interests they would never have intervened in Syria in the first place! However, that refusal to let Israel dictate Russian policies in the Middle-East (or elsewhere) does not at all mean that Russia can simply ignore the very real power of the Israelis, not only because of their nukes, but also because of their de-facto control of the US government.
Question #3: so what is really going on between Russia and Israel?
As I have explained elsewhere, the relationship between Russia and Israel is a very complex and multi-layered one and nothing between those two countries is really black or white. For one thing, there is a powerful pro-Israel lobby in Russia at which Putin has been chipping away over the years, but only in very small and incremental steps. The key for Putin is to do what needs to be done to advance Russian interests but without triggering an internal or external political crisis. This is why the Russians are doing certain things, but rather quietly.
First, they are re-vamping the aging Syrian air defenses not only with software updates, but also with newer hardware. They are also, of course, training Syrian crews. This does not mean that the Syrians could close their skies to Israeli aircraft, but that gradually the risks of striking Syria would go up and up with each passing month. First, we would not notice this, but I am confident that a careful analysis of the types of targets the Israelis will strike will go down and further down in value meaning the Syrians will become more and more capable of defending their most important assets.
Second, it is pretty obvious that Russia, Iran and Hezbollah are working synergistically. For example, the Russians and the Syrians have integrated their air defenses which means that now the Syrians can “see” much further than their own radars would allow them to. Furthermore, consider the number of US cruise missiles which never made it to the Syrian air base Trump wanted to bomb: it is more or less admitted by now that this was the result of Russian EW countermeasures.
Finally, the Russians are clearly “covering” for Hezbollah and Iran politically by refusing to consider them as pariahs which is what Israel and the USA have been demanding all along. This is why Iran is treated as a key-player by the Russian sponsored peace process while the USA and Israel are not even invited.
So the truth of the matter is simple: the Russians will not directly oppose the Israelis, but what they will do is quietly strengthen Iran and Hezbollah, which is not only much safer but also much more effective.
Conclusion
We live in a screwed-up and dysfunctional society which following decades of US domination conflates war and aggression with strength, which implicitly accepts the notion that a “great country” is one which goes on some kind of violent rampage on a regular basis and which always resorts to military force to retaliate against any attack. I submit that the Russian and Iranian leaders are much more sophisticated then that. The same goes for the Hezbollah leadership, by the way. Remember when the Israelis (with the obvious complicity of some members of the Syrian regime, by the way) murdered Imad Mughniyeh? Hezbollah promised to retaliate, but so far, almost a decade later, they have not (or, at least, not officially). Some will say that Hezbollah’s threats were empty words – I totally disagree. When Hassan Nasrallah promises something you can take it to the bank. But Hezbollah leaders are sophisticated enough to retaliate when the time is right and on their own terms. And think about the Iranians who since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 have been in the crosshairs of both the USA and Israel and who never gave either one of them the pretext to strike.
When you are much more powerful than your opponent you can be stupid and reply on brute, dumb force. At least for the short to middle term. Eventually, as we see with the USA today, this kind of aggressive stupidity backfires and ends up being counterproductive. But when you are smaller, weaker or even just still in the process of recovering your potential strength you have to act with much more caution and sophistication. This is why all the opponents of the AngloZionist Empire (including Hezbollah, Syria, Iran, Russia, China, Cuba, Venezuela) do their utmost to avoid using force against the AngloZionists even when it would be richly deserved. The one exception to this rule is Kim Jong-un who has chosen a policy of hyperinflated threats which, while possibly effective (he seems to have outwitted Trump, at least so far) is also very dangerous and one which none of the Resistance countries want to have any part in.
The Russians, Iranians and Hezbollah are all “grown adults” (in political terms), and Assad is learning very fast, and they all understand that they are dealing with a “monkey with a hand grenade” (this fully applies to both Israeli and US leaders) which combines a nasty personality, a volatile temper, a primitive brain and a hand grenade big enough to kill everybody in the room. Their task is to incapacitate that monkey without having it pull the pin. In the case of the Israeli strikes on Syria, the primary responsibility to respond in some manner would fall either on the target of the strikes (usually Hezbollah) or on the nation whose sovereignty was violated (Syria). And both could, in theory, retaliate (by using tactical missiles for example). Yet they chose not to, and that is the wise and correct approach. As for the Russians, this is simply and plainly not their business.
Addendum 1:
One more thing. Make no mistake – the Israeli (and US!) propensity to use force as a substitute for diplomacy is a sign of weakness, not of strength. More, accurately, their use of force, or the threat of force, is the result of their diplomatic incompetence. While to the unsophisticated mind the systematic use of force might appear as an expression of power, history shows that brute force can be defeated when challenged not directly, but by other means. This is, by necessity, a slow process, much slower than a (mostly entirely theoretical) “quick victory”, but an ineluctable one nonetheless. In purely theoretical terms, the use of force can roughly have any one of the following outcomes: defeat, stalemate, costly victory and a relatively painless victory. That last one is exceedingly rare and the use of force mostly results in one of the other outcomes. Sometimes the use of force is truly the only solution, but I submit that the wise political leader will only resort to it when all other options have failed and when vital interests are at stake. In all other situation a “bad peace is preferable to a good war”.
Addendum 2:
Contrary to the hallucinations of the Neocons, Russia is absolutely not a “resurgent USSR” and Putin has no desire whatsoever to rebuild the Soviet Union. Furthermore, there is no meaningful constituency in Russia for any such “imperial” plans (well, there are always some lunatics everywhere, but in Russia they are, thank God, a tiny powerless minority). Furthermore, the new Russia is most definitely not an “anti-USA” in the sense of trying to counter every US imperial or hegemonic move. This might be obvious to many, but I get so many questions about why Russia is not doing more to counter the USA in Africa, Latin America or Asia that I feel that it is, alas, still important to remind everybody of a basic principle of international law and common sense: problems in country X are for country X to deal with. Russia has no more business than the USA in “solving” country X’s problems. Furthermore, country X’s problems are usually best dealt with by country X’s immediate neighbors, not by megalomaniacal messianic superpowers who feel that they ought to “power project” because they are somehow “indispensable” or because “manifest destiny” has placed upon them the “responsibility” to “lead” the world. All this terminology is just the expression of a pathological and delusional imperial mindset which has cost Russia and the Soviet Union an absolutely horrendous price in money, energy, resources and blood (for example, the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan was justified in terms of the “internationalist duty” of the Soviet Union and people to help a “brotherly nation”). While this kind of nonsense is still 100% mainstream in the poor old USA, it is absolutely rejected in modern Russia. For all the personal credibility of Putin with the Russian people, even he could not get away with trying to militarily intervene, nevemind police the whole planet, unless truly vital Russian interests were threatened (Crimea was such a very rare case). Some will deplore this, I personally very much welcome it, but the truth is that “the Russians are *not* coming”.
The Saker
It is a sad day as Alan Hart has passed away.
http://www.alanhart.net/
His book, “Zionism, The Real Enemy Of The Jews” is a must read for everyone but I would say especially Jews.
RIP
Russia has every moral obligations to not only defend Syria/ME but all of humanity against the anglo/zionist scum that run the west. Russia has the obligation to restore the USSR. The USSR should have gone all the way to the Atlantic in 1945 and saved us from the neo-liberal suit wearing socialist whores that today pimp out Europe including my country Portugal.
In the hell of Moscow 1941 and Stalingrad 1943 the moral authority was placed on the Soviet Union – the Soviet Union that stood against the Austrian corporal whore who drove both Russia and Germany into ruin. All at the command of the occultist zionist banksters.
Today – right now – in Syria the fight for the future of humanity is playing out. The battle of Syria is not just Syria but the whole world – including the liberation of America.
Putin and Russia are our last hope to fight against the most abusrd evil of humanity. Russia needs to drag the rest of the planet kicking and screaming into the future or we are all lost. Sigue Sigue Sputnik!
@Russia has the obligation to restore the USSR.
God forbid! “The last error shall be worse than the first”!
Never been and never is the intention of Russia to reestablish “Old Glory” USSR.
Switch off your CIA Network News blackbox and take a deep breath.
Feel your brains coming back functioning again.
A very good article, Nice to see such thinking in a world full of knee jerk blunders.
Thanks.
Then why is russia in syria ?
Just to test her arms?
21/12/2017.
Quote – ” think Putin has shown conclusively that he is not interested in having Russian military personnel fight all of Assad’s enemies (such as the US-backed SDF) and court increased confrontation with”
It means Russia has betrayed assad who invited russia only ti fight all intruders in syria abd not a few selected ones.
It shows that russia acts like a coward who does not want to use s400 against anglo americans.
Only Rogozin the deputy pm for defence acquisition , can save Russia now.
Otherwise others are just traitors or incompetents out to impress and please their anglosaxon enemies rather than caring about their own people and allies.
https://youtu.be/SME4w037FgA
6
Those were the days when Soviets would give fitting reply to American intruders in the black sea where they were not supposed to be.6666
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https://www.rt.com/news/405644-putin-strike-north-korea/
Russian treachery against her allies like north korea ,syrua ,libya, iraq and iran where russia helped anglos to impose sanctions through UNSC.
Russia is real degenarate state that even talks of nuke strike on her ally by angloaerucans as if it matters little to her. Russia is a sold out betrayar of her allies in iraq, iran, libya ,syria and yemen. She just watches her allies being taken out one by one and support un uk enemies in uN resolutions ! Russia and china are next target and are rightly doomed now.
3rd term of Putin has been utterly disastrous for Russia both militarily but worse politically.
Putin wasted time in replying to and deflecting useless lying accusations from angloamerica n cabal rather than concentrating on making his army and navy strong and making his central bank free of angloamerica n hands who also control y foreign minister.
Russia betrayed her allies and called for cease-fire when assad was winning g all due to traitor lavrov the most unsuccessful foreign minister of any country.
Russia could not get any resolution passed in UNO though she approved go many against her allies passed by her enemies.
Russia betrayed her allies up please her enemies.
Russia must get either Rogozin or see herself destroyed by traitors in her foreign ministry and economic ministries.
Russia wants to live in delusion but the time is up now.
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Russian Logic in Effect: In exchange for Pepsi products, Russia gave Pepsi 17 submarines, a cruiser, a frigate, and a destroyer. When this occurred in 1989, it was 2nd largest submarine fleet in the world.
—**************************(*(
You should not expect the Russians to maintain their lead for much longer. Putin fixed Russia’s falling demographics, but in a typical Putin half-job didn’t do anything about the education system. The last engineers educated the Soviet era are in their forties now. In about a decade Russia will face severe shortages of skilled manpower.
——-======================_How a 3rd rate country with borrowed nuke can brawl with the Russians.
Simple. For the English punk .
All because Russia has shown herself to be a half baked clueless nation which could not covert easily winnable war in Donna and Syria to victory ,all the time looking over shoulder as to what the west will say.
This has encouraged any tin pot nation to brawl before Russians on whom Britain is waging a full spectrum war so much so that even her athletes are not allowed to compete.
British have no nukes- theirs is nuke who they begged from the Americans..
As long as ruusiians will act as idiot traitors the English enemy of Russia will take full advantage of russian weakness.
The fact that even england dared throat against russia means that their spy agencies have good assessment that Russia is rotten coward inside with no guts to win any war
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Russia current debt: 149,226,911,431 ie 149+ billion 14.97% debt to GDP ratio, debt/citizen $1,020 USA current debt: 19,507,877,786,105 ie 19+ trillion 104.5% debt to GDP ratio, debt/citizen $60,152
Quote ” Russia intervening, it did it long time ago, but the standard school history text books never make a hint of it! Russia intervening on behalf of on UNION in American Civil, prevented British forces attacking from Canada and French forces that had occupied Mexico to attack from South, as well Russia poured in grain, gun powder, lead and leather boots etc for the Union.
“Russia views the world as a conglomeration of independent sovereign nation states, who treat each other with mutual respect and courtesy and engage in trade and cultural exchanges, never interfering in each other’s domestic issues and all abiding by international rules of law.
America views the world as prey, for America to invade, steal from and dictate to, forced to accept whatever ideology America is currently using, and being bombed into destruction and abject submission if they refuse this.
The world, it would appear, amazingly and bafflingly, seems to prefer the Russian view of the world; indeed, to a large extent, it shares it.
The “Exceptional People” are once again out there, exceptional by being alone.”
“
It is disingenuous to claim that the Russians are doing all that they can under the circumstances. Putin can STOP the Israelis and the Americans without firing a single shot let alone an S-400 rocket simply by repudiating the DOLLAR. STOP selling valuable Russian oil and gas for anglozionist dollars. The Russians just sold Russian gas to the Americans CHEAPER than the Americans produce it for in America. The dollar is WORTHLESS and ILLEGAL according to the Constitution of the United States! All Putin and the Russians have to do is cite the US Constitution and pull the plug on the economic foundation of the the anglozionist MIC. No one is going to fire nukes in anger to Russia for the “crime” of respecting the US Constitution?
Why does Putin keep supporting America and Israel if he’s not a zionist? Why does the Russian government give away Russian natural resources and Russian arms essentially for free (worthless dollars) when it can turn off the economic spigot that feeds the Beast?
But you, Saker will you print this comment? And what will that make you? (note to commentator … we are here to discuss the ideas and events of the day … not to make grade school remarks …. mod)
“Anglo-Zionist”
I understand the “Zionist”, but why the “Anglo”?
Do you mean UK? English-speaking (USA+UK+Canada etc)? Or something else?
You forgot Australia.
Five Eyes – UK, USA, Canada, Australia, NZ.
“megalomaniacal messianic superpowers who feel that they ought to “power project” because they are somehow “indispensable” or because “manifest destiny” has placed upon them the “responsibility” to “lead” the world. ”
Not quite. The US logic behind bombing the shit out of everyone everywhere has two main threads. 1) active infrastructure destabilization prevents social cohesion which in turn allows for unchecked resource exploitation (a lesson learned very well from the Dutch, Portuguese and British), and 2) physical presence ensures control over the spoils.
The drivel you quote is merely propaganda and I believe the quality of your analysis would improve if you stayed calm and looked more closely at US behaviors and outcomes. Part of what we’re seeing now is the natural catabolic disintegration of the power bloc that instituted this policy.
One theory is that (since Carter really) the trilateralist ascendancy in Western political dogma has undermined the traditional finance/commodity/war triangle of power causing shifts in old alliances which weakens. On the other side, neo-liberal economics has returned with the financiers unfettered again (thanks Mr. Clinton!).
The bewildering inconsistencies of Western politics are simply the lasts gasps of a dying paradigm with the US having no meaningful plan, thus confusion abounds. It has all to do with a propagandist’s philosophy of America’s place in the world.
Hi Saker,
don’t be surprised by questions about Russia’s lack of response to Israeli actions. You yourself wrote 14 months ago, that Russia has established a “no fly zone” in Syria /making-sense-of-the-russian-naval-task-force-off-the-coast-of-syria/ You were overoptimistic at that time – both with respect to technical capabilities of Russian anti-aircraft defences, but also with respect to Russia’s deterrence potential. We all have to humbly embrace reality. (In this respect the news of S-400 being attacked by drones sounds tragicomical, does it not ?)
Regarding lack of Russia’s moral responsibility: I agree that Russia is bound to protect only its own sovereignty. The notion of responsibility for others is very often used as a pretext for arms race and militarism, leading to major military conflagrations with horrific human costs.
300’000 Russian priests were murdered by yevreys and still they allowed them to have hold on their nation. Amazing. It’s not that others are smarter but Russia is not like other country. It a giant and should rise to its statute and not foreign ethnicity to suck them and do their bidding. If Putin said that Russia won’t fight another war on its territory so why they don’t win the war in Syria which is partially or wholly undetected against them ?
Answer it.
Hopefully the yevreys give them good final lesson soon .
In Syria, Russia is simply fighting on its own front line and taking the final good opportunity to do so while this frontline is away from Russia’s border.
The fact they have the moral high ground is simply a natural consequence of this, insofar as a defensive war is where the moral high ground usually lies.
In this regard, Russia usually has the moral high ground when they choose (or need) to fight.
– Regards, Shyaku
Key word of the day: Asymmetric.
– Regards, Shyaku
Russia, more than most other countries, can cause a lot of damage to the US aristocracy without firing a weapon. Much civil unrest could be caused to the USA if Russia would just reveal to ordinary Americans via their media network exactly what brought down the towers during 911 and also by giving graphic evidence of how American troops are actively guarding opium crops in Afghanistan in order to pay their mercenaries (i.e. ISIS, Al-Qaeda) through sales of the drug as a byproduct of the crop they guard.
Dear Saker
I fully understand your vieuw on this matter. And Russia is the most smart player in this game simply by boosting up the airdefence of Syria. Its better to see the USA collapse under its weight of the tremendous costs of their Army etc then to wage any kind of war directly.
I only hope that the time will be in the advantage of Russia before Russia will be the next main goal. You know of course the 7 countries (Russia was not mentioned but in reality is the KIng in this Chess play to get with China as the Queen) Wesley Clark mentioned which will be targetted by the USA. There was some delay but they will never let loose you know. And I m confident Putin knows that he/Russia eventually will be the target too, if you say hes not a fool; then he will take it into account.
But Saker one thing worries me
and I would like to have your comment on this especcially you made a good analyse of what would be the outcome of an US-Russian airwar above Syria in theory. The main trumpcard the russians have is their SS airdefence system.
BUT
Why the hell; can you explain to me why Russia is so stupid to sell their most sophisticated Airdefence system to a anglo-zionist lapdog of the US? (=Israel) Saoedi Arabia? Is there any common sense in why they want to sell it to Dictator Erdogan and NATO member Turkey?? Would the US be so stupid to sell their best stuff to a country allied to Russia like Venezuela or Cuba?? It is the most stupid move they could do.
Saker:
Man is a rationalizing animal.
Every single day, Putin is insulted and slapped by his “partners” and he does nothing!
How degrading!
As I was reading your article it was as if you were reading my thoughts. Russia does not owe anything to anybody. Russia still helps the whole world much more than most nations do. Russia freed Europe from Fascism and Nazism and look how the likes of the Poles and Lithuanians pay back, with insane hatred. Some time I have to reminds some “scholars” like Mark Sleboda who is always suspecting Putin of a hidden agenda when it comes to Russia intervention in Donbas or now with Russia tactical alliance with Turkey. Putin is the modern father of Russia and with disproportionate resources has protected, strengthened Russia and challenged Western Hegemony and will continue to do so. He is a man of principle! Thank you Saker for your regular insight.
The moral question of Russia’s responsibility to protect and advance certain interests in Syria, ie. to confront Israeli aggression in Syria.
Russian goals and objectives for its current and future national interests are necessary to consider in any discussion of undertaking “moral actions” that are militarilly confrontational and pose risks.
According to Russia national doctrine, and apparent from its geopolitical aims, objectives and actions are two main points to consider in the discussion.
Russia’s main strategic imperative in its domestic and geopolitical calculus is defense. (As opposed to intervention, empire building, and foreign entanglements ). Russia has to balance its strategic interests in the ME and its commitments to its defense allies like Syria and Iran with its own territorial encirclement by NATO. This is why I believe it has maintained an effectively measured restraint and limited operation in Syria. Air support, S- model anti-aircraft stationing, and advisors. It does not want to be dragged into a larger committed Syrian war, for many logical reasons. Is it the right time and place for staging an escallating conflict against NATO nations?
I think Putin is playing 3-D chess.
Its second imperative is economic development and economic expansion. Its gas supplies to Europe and Eurasia, its economic ties to the Federation, SCO, partnership in the Silk Road etc. Russia is playing a smart waiting game, maneuvering into the yuan-oil-gold bourse, accumulating gold, economic development, awaiting the inevitable rapidly approaching Western economic disaster.
It is not a moral imperative for Russia to take on the IDF. It is not in its best interests at this time considering its military and economic goals. Its day may come, but its not yet.
While I agree that the world is threatened by the “Anglo Zionist” bankers, has been for over 100 years… the globalist usary ponzi finance debt scheme enforced upon the world… this long disaster is in its final act, plus an epilogue.
My opinion is that the Russians have played this particular geopolitical game imacculately. The build, partner, diplomacy, limited strategic engagement, and accumulating economic gains while patiently waiting game… meanwhile its Western antagonists dig their own debt graves with appropriate epiphet markers.
There is no blame or accusations that can be reasonably and honestly leveled against the Russian restraint and diplomacy ongoing. Especially when compared to the long history of Western empire intrusions and wars upon any nation that attempts to maintain its own sovereignity, its Machiavellian diplomacy at gunpoint.
In the moral and ethical calculus.
What we would like to see happen as informed individuals, cannot always happen as we would wish. In the bigger, long range strategic framework, my estimation is that Russia has carefully weighed all options and has chosen the best strategic path so far.
I strongly agree that Russia is obliged only to Russian interests, to the citizens of the Russian Federation. Russia is not obliged neither to the so-called islamic world nor to Israel.
But as a German national and former member of the German Communist Party (DKP) I have to add the following arguments:
1. The majority of the later Arab states supported Hitler in his fight against the British in Northern Africa.
2. In 2009 or 2010 SS-Hauptsturmbannführer Alois Brunner, right hand of Adolf Eichmann, died in Damascus. He like many other Nazis fled to Syria and Egypt after WWII and they helped these two states to form new armies and develop rockets. In this context I want to mention General Schmitt and the family of Mahmout Sabit.
4. I know from a high ranking German communist – he died last year – that he was congratulated by a high ranking member of the Lebanese Communist Party because Hitler killed the Jew.
5. The parents of my Turkish pupil (I help him without taking any remuneration) told me that they would vote for Hitler if he would be still alive. When I asked them why, they told me “because he killed the Jews”.
6. When Putin visited Israel in 2005 he met his former teacher in German in Leningrad. She was a Russian Jew who emigrated to Israel. Putin had tea with her and he bought her a flat which he now inherited after the death of that lady.
7. Up till now no islamic country apologized to the Soviet Union or to Russia for siding with Hitler in WWII.
With kind regards
Otto Kern
Berliner Str. 9
Herzberg – the Esperanto City
DE-37412 Herzberg
DE-37412
Und Mahmout Sabit, dessen Familie in die Sache mit General Schmitt verstrickt ist.
“Can somebody please explain to me why Russia has some moral obligation towards Syria”
Because (words in all caps are against the blog rules,MOD)Russia will eventually lose their naval base in Syria if U.S. installs a puppet government there. Russia needs to fight harder against the violation of Syria by the U.S. and its proxies. Russia should stop being so cautious and soft or it will lose more ground and allies or non-enemies/NATO puppets.
I have followed the Syrian “thing” from day one – primarily via the sort of media I am dabbling in, right here and to me, it has become a “story” that just doesn’t wash – any more so than does the “story” of 9-11. SOMETHING IS ROTTEN IN DENMARK! Think about it. Think hard.
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2011/10/25/th
This the link to a veryinteresting article by Wayne Madsen = who I admire very much as an accurate and honest investigator.
Imagine! The Saudi “royal” family are Jews. So is a big part of the ruling power in Turkey!
Not to take this all into account leaves us quite blind about the upheaval in the ME. The CONSTANT misery inflicted by you know who.
2 Points:
1. The Ashkenazi/Gog invaders of the Syrian Province of Palestine are not Jews. They are not of Judah or Israel.
And, it is a lie and blasphemy to call them to be of Judah or Israel, as they are enemies of the King of Judah & Israel. They are cut off. See Revelation 2:9 & 3:9
2. Russia is a Syrian nation. Syria is the mother of Russia, Wextern Cvilization & Christianity. The US & it’s sinogog of satan coalition wants to eliminate that heritage and replace it with a Talmudic/Pharisee story.
Russia has the Birthright given to Jacob/Israel, and Edom & Ashkenaz want to eliminate that & replace it with their “superiority”. The USA has officially endorsed Talmudism as the foundation of civilization.
This is why Russia is obligated to save Syria.
Russia can be the New Jerusalem that all nations come to inorder to learn the ways of Peace.
https://raifwp.wordpress.com/
@ Ashkenazi/Gog invaders
More of the Khazar/Shmazar deception?
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2011/10/25/th
The Saudi “royal” family are Jews. Their Wahhabi cult is a peculiar mixture of Islam and Judaism, or perhaps si
First, Russia while it has a sizable Air Force, stopping Israel would be by no means easy for them. Russia has in inventory right now 550 Fixed wing craft, of these there are only 427 active Fighter or Attack craft, that means if they were to position enough fighters to take on Israel Russia would have to bring about 2/3’s of their whole air force to Syria. Israel, on the other hand, has over 400 fighters, that means with a shorter distance to the area of conflict Israel would be able to pull far more sorties then Russia could.
The reason Russia doesn’t stop Israel is simple, they know they would lose the assets they have in Syria trying.
As far as I’m aware, the Russians have radar at Khmeimim that can see into most of Israel, most of Syria and much of Turkey. IOW the Israelis cannot take off, land, or conduct movement in the air without Russia knowing about it. Similarly, the Israelis have radar and intel facilities for knowing everything that goes on in Syria. Finally, the West has that base in Cyprus that watches over and listens to a vast area of the Middle East. None of the participants is unaware of what the others are doing.
As far as I am aware, Russia went into Syria for two reasons. The first was long-standing since the days of his father Hafez Assad; the SU has had a permanent interest in/involvement with Syria. There have been Soviet advisors there since the ‘70s, and now Putin has established a permanent Russian presence at Tartus and Khmeim. The Russians are not leaving Syria any time soon.
The second reason was that Gulf states were considering piping gas to Europe through trans-Syria pipelines, if Assad had been removed and if a Saudi friendly regime had replaced him. This gas would have undercut Russian gas prices, significantly affecting the Russian economy. The Saudis and Putin had a meeting before the Syrian business began where Saudi tried to bribe Putin to stay out of Syria. Putin refused. Now it is the Saudis who are eating humble pie.
I get fed up with all the anti-Zionist crap. Israel is there and will always be there. End of story. Whatever happens to the Palestinians is up to Allah. Seems no other Arabs care much about them. Israel has 8 million people, non-Arabs. Since the 1990s,there are 1.5 million Russians (mostly Jewish some non-Jewish) who went to Israel at that time. They, the 1990s immigrants now compose around 1:4 of the population, so around 2 million Russians, whose loyalty may be questionable. I’d guess that Putin gets a lot of info/intel from these, many of whom visit Mother Russia regularly. I guess Israeli security keeps tabs on some but not all, hasn’t the resources.
So, Putin knows far more about the inner workings of Israel than just about anyone else. He is supporting Syria and Iran. And now he is helping Saudi. The US is looking on relatively helplessly.
So why is Putin allowing Israel to bomb Syria? I’d say it’s the easier of two options, the other being to shoot Israel down and start a serious escalation. This is in no one’s best interests. Syria has been experiencing war, death, and destruction for 8 years now. The odd Israeli raid hardly adds to that in the death calculus. What it does do is to let Russian AF intel learn about the IAF tactics and capabilities. Every time the Israelis attack Syria, they give something away. Russia learns and develops accordingly. I’d say Putin has no great love for either Israel or the Palestinians. He just treats them as actors in the wider Middle East. Pragmatism , not ‘morality’ is his guiding principle…the West could learn from him if it wasn’t blind, deaf, dumb and increasingly infantile…
There is no morality in any of it. Its self-interest, alliance ad information gathering. all this anti-Zionist BS gets us nowhere, doesn’t even help its supposed benefactors, the Palestinians. Why bother with it?
Quite simple, Folks, it is not Russia’s task to protect Syria in the style we use to think about the imperialistic way US is “protecting its friends” by firstly occupying land of “the friend”, then shoot a bit into the air, and thereafter will never go away.
Russian Federation is working on request of the friendly nation asking for help, Russia helps and after assignment accomplished is it will return to Mother Russia again.
It is called : Mission Accomplished.
It doesnot mean like US: in the meantime I steal your land (thereafter your country), build me a base and will never leave the country again (for now it is mine).
Hey Saker
Considering what has been going on between the Brits with that fake poisoning of former Russian spies (A British spy. Mod) these last few days or so I need to ask. How can you leave them out of the equation?
Especially if one factors what Thierry Meyssan reports in this article from the Voltairenet.org, ‘Four days to declare a Cold War’ http://www.voltairenet.org/article200232htmcl
In the article Mr Meyssan describes how the Brits tried to get the US to bomb Damascus over that fake poisoning fiasco. It seems if the ain’t the zio’s trying to leverage the US into more conflict, it’s the Brits.
At any rate the Rus got wind of the plot and instead of going thru normal diplomatic channels The Rus Chief of Staff General Valeri Guerassimov contacted his counterpart General Joseph Dunford and clued him into the plot.
Blah, blah, blah. Tillerson gets fired the plot foiled, and Trump saves the day.
Please comment. Thank you.
Putin is an Orthodox Christian and like so many has misinterpeted Ezekiel 36-38. This is a moot point because the current state of Israel is counterfeit. Twice in Revelation Jesus says: They call themselves Jews but, are not but, are of the synagog of Satan. The Irony is that there are 90 million “Christian Zionists” in the U.S of A. Who falsely believe this is a fullfillment of prophecy.True Israel are spiritual Jews from all the Elect of God. Read: Galatians slowly and carefully compairing scripture with scripture. Stop following blindly your pastor who generally lives in a better home,eats better food, drives a better car than you because he has convinced you to tithe more. But, the real sad part is you are hearing about the fake state of Israel more than Jesus who only died for HIS ELECT. SEE: EPHESIANS 1:1 Read the KJV only yourself. Not the Scoffield ,NIV, or any other corruption of a “bible”
The writer here states that Israel would nuke Iran. Does the writer really think Israel would be allowed too start WW3 ?
I liked your ” monkey with a hand grenade” comment. I had high hopes for Mr Trump, hope sees he is being played for the sake of the whole world.
@their de-facto control of the US government.
It is the de-facto control of ALL ‘Western’ and ‘aspirationally western’ governments (and of many Muslim ones, BTW), which consider the ‘defense’ of Israel their sacred duty. What they want is that Russia ‘be true’ to its innate and irrepressible ‘aggressiveness’ and attack Israel so that they finally be able to respond in force and remove once and for all the ‘threat’ and hang Putler for crimes against humanity and because of the pension reform (and share the spoils of ‘victory’).
As it can be seen it has a control on the minds of a great many ‘anti-Zionist’ armchair strategists and Pan-Slavic ‘patriots’.