Russian jets in Syrian skies
Russia has begun its military intervention in Syria, deploying an aerial
contingent to a permanent Syrian base, in order to launch attacks against
ISIS and Islamist rebels; US stays silent.
Alex Fishman YNET Published: 08.31.15, 15:34 / Israel News
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4696268,00.html

Russian fighter pilots are expected to begin arriving in Syria in the coming
days, and will fly their Russian air force fighter jets and attack
helicopters against ISIS and rebel-aligned targets within the failing state.

According to Western diplomats, a Russian expeditionary force has already
arrived in Syria and set up camp in an Assad-controlled airbase. The base is
said to be in area surrounding Damascus, and will serve, for all intents and
purposes, as a Russian forward operating base.

In the coming weeks thousands of Russian military personnel are set to touch
down in Syria, including advisors, instructors, logistics personnel,
technical personnel, members of the aerial protection division, and the
pilots who will operate the aircraft.

Past reports have stated that the Russians were in talks to sell the Syrians
a package of MiG-29 fighter jets, and Yak-130 trainer jets (which can also
serve as attack aircraft.) The current makeup of the expeditionary force is
still unknown, but there is no doubt that Russian pilots flying combat
missions in Syrian skies will definitely change the existing dynamics in the
Middle East.

The Russians do not harbor offensive intentions towards Israel or other
sovereign states in the area, and their main stated goal is battling ISIS
and preserving Assad's rule. However, their presence will represent a
challenge to the Israeli Air Force's freedom of operation in the skies above
the Middle East.

Western diplomatic sources recently reported that a series of negotiations
had been held between the Russians and the Iranians, mainly focusing on ISIS
and the threat it poses to the Assad regime. The infamous Iranian Quds Force
commander Major General Qasem Soleimani recently visited Moscow in the
framework of these talks. As a result the Russians and the Iranians reached
a strategic decision: Make any effort necessary to preserve Assad's seat of
power, so that Syria may act as a barrier, and prevent the spread of ISIS
and Islamist backed militias into the former Soviet Islamic republics.

The Russians are not the only ones coordinating their Middle East policy
with the Iranians; The US has also jumped aboard that train. American
government officials have been holding intensive consultations with
representatives of the Iranian regime concerning a stronger joint effort
against ISIS in Iraq. It seems that the US government currently views Iran
as a central and necessary force in the campaign against ISIS within Iraq.

The Iranian-American cooperation is focused on two focal points: The first
being Anbar province, where the Iraqis have thus far failed to expel ISIS;
and the second Mosul, where the Iraqis have yet to come up with a feasible
plan to recapture the city.

Western diplomatic sources have emphasized that the Obama administration is
fully aware of the Russian intent to intervene directly in Syria, but has
yet to issue any reaction. The absence of a vocal opposition from the Obama
administration is compounded by its cessation of calls for the dissolution
of Assad's murderous regime.

This and more: The Iranians and the Russians- with the US well aware- have
begun the struggle to reequip the Syrian army, which has been left in
tatters by the civil war. They intend not only to train Assad's army, but to
also equip it. During the entire duration of the civil war, the Russians
have consistently sent a weapons supply ship to the Russian held port of
Tartus in Syria on a weekly basis. The ships would bring missiles,
replacement parts, and different types of ammunition for the Syrian army.

Arab media outlets have recently published reports that Syria and Russia
were looking for an additional port on the Syrian coast, which will serve
the Russians in their mission to hasten the pace of the Syrian rearmament.

In the meantime, Assad's army is in full scale retreat in the strategic
province of Idlib. Mere days ago, a force from the Jaesh Al Fatah (A
coalition or rebel groups including Jabhat al-Nusra) advanced on the Abu
Duhur military airfield in southwestern Syria's Iblib province, which
borders on Latika. Alwaite and Christian residents of the area have fled to
the last remaining Alawite Bantustans along the country's coastline.

Even Turkey, which has so far avoided any action which would strengthen
Assad, has had to come to terms with the Russian-Iranian move and the
resulting American silence, leading it to launch its own bombing campaign
against ISIS in Syria.

During a recent trip to Qatar, Erdogan reached understandings with the
Qataris and the Saudis regarding a program to arm Muslim Brotherhood backed
rebels who are fighting against ISIS, de-facto fighting both Assad and ISIS