Russians Taking a Stand in the Sand:
China Russia Iran and Syria have one concern these days; the West and specifically, the United States. Clearly making a statement and a serious power play to restructure influence in the Middle East, Russia has taken control of the Syrian conflict, leaving the U.S. and its allies flustered and impotent.
With no UN resolution on the table to place an embargo on weapons sales to Syria, the Russians see business as usual and nobody can stop them. All the gum bumping in the world from Hillary Clinton won’t amount to a shot of cheap vodka when it comes to strong arming Vladimir Putin.
Insisting upon bringing the Iranians in on the Syrian discussions is a purposeful finger in the U.S.’ eye, as the Russians know how badly the West wants to isolate Tehran into oblivion. These are in your face moves. This is the play of a global gangster. This is game on!
If the Obama “on the down-low crews" have any assets in the area, they might consider covertly assisting Putin’s growing opposition to cool his ass off a bit. A domestic crisis involving calls for his resignation would not only keep him busy at home but also expose his near return to tyranny. Passing laws to heavily fine protestors, while rounding up opposition leaders before planned peaceful demonstrations will fuel a negative narrative until the smoldering grassroots can be ignited.
Literally stoking the flames of a civil war, the Russians reportedly are hooking up the Syrian government with helicopter gunships and other military hardware to seriously kick some rebel ass. The rebels, whomever they really are, are getting support from “mysterious donors”, to keep the fight as even as possible. It appears, everybody’s got a beef, everybody’s got a gun and everybody is ready to fight, save for the expendable-women and children.
Currently out gunned and out manned, the “mystery fighters” are holding their own, as they’ve secured huge swarths of territory, albeit temporarily. Government forces and loyalist are mercilessly bombarding the shit out of the resistance in Homs in an effort to soften them up before ground crews can go in and mop up the remains.
The very unofficial body count is roughly 15,000 to date and now that the fight has gone viral, the death toll should escalate exponentially. Unfortunately, there’s still far too many unknowns and invisible components to this conflict to focus on viable options.
With the United States being severely weakened and no longer positioned to influence anyone in the middle east, regional players are grouping together in units and partnerships to fill that vacuum.