Russians launched their first airstrike in Syria, hitting the Homs area and killing 27 people, 6 kids included.
The justification for the bombing that Putin gave at the UN General Assembly is that this is a way to fight ISIS. Of course, there is no ISIS anywhere close to the place where the Russian bombs hit.
Obviously, Syrians are only of interest to Putin inasmuch as he can use them to please his voters by defying Americans.
The Russian Orthodox Church is praising Russia’s invasion of Syria as “Holy War.”
Clarissa's Blog 
Last week I was in Lebanon, and saw their drones or aircraft operating off of the coast.
LikeLike
Wow, that’s scary.
LikeLike
Putin has no interest in smashing ISIS. On the contrary, it’s in his interest for ISIS to continue wreaking havoc with America’s Middle Eastern allies.
Putin’s actual goals in Syria are threefold:
To ensure the survival of the Assad regime, so that Russia won’t lose its naval port at Tartus, which is Russia’s only warm-water port outside Crimea.
To reintroduce a Russian military presence in the Middle East (absent since Egypt’s Anwar Sadat kicked out Russian advisors in 1972).
To push American influence out of the region completely.
With Obama as commander-in-chief, Putin’s going to have the upper hand for the foreseeable future.
LikeLike
Absolutely true. I’d put “humiliating Americans” at the top of the list because that’s his driving force both personally and politically.
LikeLike
Expect to see the fawning over Putin’s actions on sites like Consortium News and CounterPunch. Can’t wait to see Stephen Cohen and Eric Zuesse fawning over this. Granted, if an American President had pulled this, they would be screaming about how it was a war crime and that President needed to be dragged in front of the Hague.
But it’s Putin, he’s giving the West the finger, and that warms their cockles.
LikeLike
Never mind the far-left pundits — they have no real power except to be hysterical. The actual danger to the world is what the people holding power in our government are saying.
Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter gave a press conference this morning where he stated that, while disappointed, he’s STILL taking “the Russians at their word” about their intentions in Syria!
LikeLike
It’s like Carter is trying to provoke the Russians to ramp up the bombing. Putin will escalate until the US takes him seriously.
LikeLike
The Russians told the US to clear the sky over Syria for Russian planes. The US refused.
Can anybody imagine what will happen if a US plane hits a Russian plane by mistake?
LikeLike
Well, it won’t be World War III. Putin’s not that crazy. But things can get a lot worse before they get better.
LikeLike
A high-ranking Russian official made a statement saying that Putin has the mandate to bomb not just Syria but any country because “these Syrian cockroaches” (I apologize, but that’s the language he used) can run to other countries and it’s important to pursue them.
This is scary as hell.
LikeLike