Inspector Clouseau could not be reached for comment
Inspector Clouseau could not be reached for comment, Power Line,
Reading the page-one story (accessible here via Google) by Adam Entous in today’s Wall Street Journal, I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry. The Obama administration appears to be shocked, shocked that Vladimir Putin has not been entirely straightforward with them about Russian intentions in Syria. Entous reports:
Russia has targeted Syrian rebel groups backed by the Central Intelligence Agency in a string of airstrikes running for days, leading the U.S. to conclude that it is an intentional effort by Moscow, American officials said.
The assessment, which is shared by commanders on the ground, has deepened U.S. anger at Moscow and sparked a debate within the administration over how the U.S. can come to the aid of its proxy forces without getting sucked deeper into a proxy war that President Barack Obama says he doesn’t want. The White House has so far been noncommittal about coming to the aid of CIA-backed rebels, wary of taking steps that could trigger a broader conflict.
“On day one, you can say it was a one-time mistake,” a senior U.S. official said of Russia’s strike on one of the allied rebel group’s headquarters. “But on day three and day four, there’s no question it’s intentional. They know what they’re hitting.”
U.S. officials say they now believe the Russians have been directly targeting CIA-backed rebel groups that pose the most direct threat to Mr. Assad since the campaign began on Wednesday, both to firm up regime positions and to send a message to Mr. Obama’s administration.
Russian officials said last week that they had launched the air campaign in Syria to fight the extremist group Islamic State and other terrorists—adopting the language that the Syrian regime uses to refer to all its opponents. U.S. intelligence officials said the primary mission of the operation appeared to be shoring up the Assad regime and preventing rebels gaining any additional ground on government-controlled areas, rather than fighting Islamic State.
Hope abides, however, as the Obama administration continues to repose its faith in the good will of the Supreme Leader and lesser authorities leading the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Explore posts in the same categories: Assad, Foreign policy, Insurgents, Iran - Syria war, Iran military, Islamic State, Middle East, Nursa Front, Obama - Middle East, Obama's foreign failures, Obama's legacy, Putin, Russia - Middle East, Russia - Syrian warTags: Assad, Foreign Policy, Insurgents, Iran - Syria war, Iran military, Islamic State, Middle East, Nursa Front, Obama's foreign failures, Obama's legacy, Putin, Russia - Middle East, Russia - Syria war
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WarSclerotic 
October 7, 2015 at 3:22 AM
Obama’s Anti-ISIS Coalition Uses ISIS to Fight Assad in Favor of the Rebels http://tinyurl.com/ndghhjx
October 7, 2015 at 11:27 AM
If you are Barack Obama, every day is “Groundhog Day”.
If, on the other hand, you have read any history, you’d know that Russia has been trying to extend it’s influence from the Arctic Ocean to the Persian Gulf for at least the last two hundred years.
As, by the way, the United States once was obsessed with the “Manifest Destiny” of extending it’s sovereignty from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and some in America thought it should also expand from the North Pole to the Panama Canal.
If we could actually see inside Obama’s mind (perish the thought) we’d find a dusty store room of nineteenth century Marxist ideology and twentieth century anti-colonialist manifestos and other random delusional fantasies. The horror… but we’d be hard put to find anything grounded in reality.
October 7, 2015 at 1:45 PM
Russia has maintained a base in Syria for 45 years.
“Tartus Syria hosts a Soviet-era naval supply and maintenance base, under a 1971 agreement with Syria, which is still staffed by Russian naval personnel. Tartus is the last Russian military base outside the former Soviet Union, and its only Mediterranean fueling spot, sparing Russia’s warships the trip back to their Black Sea bases through straits in Turkey, a NATO member.”