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The Adventures of the Russians in Syria

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Clarissa

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Russians have now installed surface-to-air missiles in Syria and brought over combat aircraft armed with air-to-air missiles.

“But this is all to battle ISIS, right?” John Kerry begged. “This is all about you helping us to defeat ISIS, right? Please, tell me it’s all about ISIS. Pretty please, somebody?”

Of course, it is painfully obvious to everybody that one can’t fight ISIS with surface-to-air missiles. It is also painfully obvious to everybody whom one can fight in Syria with combat aircraft  and surface-to-air missiles. Hope springs eternal, though, and the White House keeps clinging on to the belief that if you shut your eyes really tight, unpleasant, scary things will disappear.

19 responses to “The Adventures of the Russians in Syria”

  1. cliff arroyo Avatar
    cliff arroyo

    The great weakness in the liberal philosophy of foreign policy is the inability to recognize ill will and unwillingness to accept that sometimes leaders (and residents) of other countries may be operating out of a very, very different set of values.

    A liberal like Kerry has an easier time in believing in the ill will and evil intentions of his domestic political opponents than in foreign leaders.

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    1. cliff arroyo Avatar
      cliff arroyo

      I’ll add here that the weakness of the conservative philosophy of foreign policy is the inability to recognize anything but ill will.

      What they have in common is the inability to recognize that people in other cultures often have very, very different values than do most Americans.

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      1. Clarissa Avatar
        Clarissa

        “What they have in common is the inability to recognize that people in other cultures often have very, very different values than do most Americans.”

        • Different values and interests of their own.

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    2. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      I’ve been thinking the same thing. There is this very strange idea that absolutely everything that a foreign leader does and says comes from good will and is, of necessity, completely sincere. I believe that the basis for this is an incapacity to see foreigners as fully human. This is the kind of humanity that, as you say, is accorded to domestic opponents but not to anybody outside the national borders.

      And it’s the same attitude that characterizes the approach of Western Europeans to the refugees. The refugees are treated as stray puppies that need to be adopted, washed, fed and vaccinated and, in return, they will love and worship you. But these are people, human beings, who are as complex and as filled with their own thoughts, feelings, needs, desires as any Westerner. Their love and devotion cannot be bought with a plate of chow.

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      1. cliff arroyo Avatar
        cliff arroyo

        “And it’s the same attitude that characterizes the approach of Western Europeans to the refugees”

        Yep. It’s the idea of political opinions “we have to help the poor, poor refugees” as status markers rather than as people with their own goals and agendas which might be very different from the western europeans preening and looking down upon them.

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      2. el Avatar
        el

        // the approach of Western Europeans to the refugees. The refugees are treated as stray puppies that need to be adopted, washed, fed and vaccinated and, in return, they will love and worship you.

        May be, they think about the American approach of the past days of mass migration which worked then?

        “Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
        With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
        Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
        The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
        Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
        I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

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        1. Clarissa Avatar
          Clarissa

          The migration of Westerners to the American continents was hugely successful for the Westerners. It was a bit less successful for the indigenous occupants, though. In North America, for instance, they are almost entirely extinct. In Central and South America, their languages and cultures are struggling to survive. So this success is a bit one-sided.

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          1. el Avatar
            el

            \ In Central and South America, their languages and cultures are struggling to survive.

            I am very ignorant about the issue. What kind of cultures are we talking about?Wouldn’t it have happened anyway in the modern world, if their cultures radically defer from the Western worldwide (at least, in the 1st world) culture which supports capitalism, individualism, democracy, etc?

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  2. valter07 Avatar
    valter07

    But Putin was quite effective with this deployment: the very same Kerry just said that Assad must go… some day, subject to negotiation… (perhaps after ISIS is defeated, which will take about as long as it took USSR to defeat the mujaheddin in Afghanistan – my interpretation, not Kerry’s words)

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    1. Avatar
      Anonymous

      Actually the USSR ultimately didn’t defeat the Afghan forces. The Russians won most of the actual battles during the long war, just as the U.S. had done in Vietnam. But then Gorbachev made the political decision to withdraw Russian troops, and after the troops pulled out, the friendly Communist government that the Russians had installed fell.

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      1. valter07 Avatar
        valter07

        I know, I was being sarcastic.

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  3. valter07 Avatar
    valter07

    Besides, they do not have to fight anybody. Their role is that of glorified hostages, similar to that of NATO air defense mission in the Baltic States. Several fighter planes cannot really protect the Baltic states, their capacity as a deterrent is in increasing probability that the aggressor will face reprisals for destroying them.

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  4. Dreidel Avatar
    Dreidel

    Surely, Kerry can’t be delusional enough to actually believe that the Russians are there to fight ISIS. (Exactly how many military aircraft does ISIS have???)

    Like valter07 says, the only purpose of anti-aircraft missiles in Syria is to protect the Assad regime from the air forces of neighboring countries that would like to depose him — and to deter U.S. airstrikes attacking ISIS from hitting too close to Assad’s remaining territory.

    At least, Hillary is now publicly referring to Obama’s handling of Syria as “a failed program.”

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  5. el Avatar
    el

    Reports: Russian troops refusing deployment to Syria
    …
    At first, the soldiers assumed they were being sent to eastern Ukraine. But On September 16, the army told them they would be sent to Latakia and that they may have to participate in the fighting alongside Syrian troops.
    http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4702715,00.html

    Two thoughts:

    1 – So Ukraine is not frightening, but Syria is? Despite Ukraine being a stronger country (I hope)?

    2 – This story is probably everywhere in the Western press now, or will be soon. All in the attempt to persuade the West Russian soldiers are too afraid to go to Syria to present danger to West’s interests, whatever Putin says.

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  6. Dreidel Avatar
    Dreidel

    Israel is getting VERY alarmed about Russian military forces and equipment going into Syria, so much so that Netanyahu is flying to Russia next week to meet with Putin.

    Netanyahu’s main concern is that advanced military weapons may ultimately end up in the hands of forces dedicated to fighting Israel and not ISIS. In the past, Israel preemptively bombed nascent nuclear facilities in both Iraq and in Syria, but obviously won’t dare bomb anything under Direct Russian control.

    This is an extremely troubling situation developing…

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      You are absolutely right, this is a very serious situation. Part of Assad ‘ s arsenal of chemical weapons is at risk of falling into the hands of ISIS. Plus, the Russians are careless and who knows where their weaponry can end up.

      There doesn’t seem anything anybody is willing to do. The US leadership will not do anything until the American voters begin to care. And they won’t begin to care.

      There is one thing the US could do if there was political will to do it: disconnecting Russia from SWIFT. That would have an impact. But nobody is even considering it.

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  7. Editor (Retired) Avatar
    Editor (Retired)

    Just when we thought things in Syria couldn’t possibly get any worse . . . yep, here comes Russia. Clarissa, I’ve sometimes wondered if you were paranoid about Russia and Putin, but now I’m feeling paranoid as well.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      Everything I say about Russia is based on extensive familiarity with what is going on in the country. I wish I had better news bit everything I see happening there is very discouraging.

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    2. Dreidel Avatar
      Dreidel

      Hey, it’s only paranoia if it isn’t true…

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A conservative literary critic and college professor

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