Originally Posted by Bristoe
Originally Posted by Pete E
Originally Posted by Bristoe

There are no "moderate rebels". The U.S. government is simply funding Islamic radicals to be proxies in the war against the Assad government.


My post was a reflection what Russia's current primary goal is in the region, ie propping up Assad and didn't really comment on the sheer stupidity of American Foreign policy in the region..



Actually, I think Putin is propping up stability. Iraq and Libya are representative of what happens to a failed state in the Middle East. The crazies who control U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East want Syria to become another Iraq.


This is on the money. There is no real tradition of democracy in the ME. Without a strong dictator in place, they quickly devolve back to their tribal identities and the kind of free for all's we have been seeing. It almost seems like the Obama administration isn't even that interested in the situation or maybe its that they are incredibly incompetent. Putin having a strategic presence in the region has long term strategic consequences. The Russians have a big advantage in this type of warfare. Likely minimal rules of engagement and no lawyers approving tactical targeting.