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Pentagon: Russia Has Moved Its First Tactical Fighter Jets to Base in Syria--Update

As Russia liberates Syria, Europe stock markets fell lots post Fed. But to me deeper issues emerging. US sacrificing its USD for world's sake as others are soaking up the goodies.

By Dion Nissenbaum in Washington and Nathan Hodge in Moscow
Russia has moved jet fighters to a base in Syria for the first time, U.S. defense officials said Friday, a major military escalation that heightens fears Moscow is set to play a more direct role in propping up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad .
The deployment of a small number of tactical jets came just hours before U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter spoke to his Russian counterpart about Moscow's deepening role in Syria , a call that ended a long pause in high-level military communication between the U.S. and Russia .
U.S. defense officials said the nearly hourlong conversation was designed in part to help avert a confrontation in Syria between the U.S. and Russia , which have long been on opposite sides of the five-year-old civil war.
Russia's decision to send in jets, however, is the clearest indication Moscow is preparing to use military might to help Mr. Assad as he clings to power.
U.S. policy in Syria , which has for years sought to avoid getting drawn into the protracted and bloody conflict, is at a turning point, prompted by the flood of refugees into Europe and the surprising Russian escalation.
In addition, the Obama administration is considering whether to scrap its troubled plan to arm moderate Syrians to battle the extremists of Islamic State, which controls much of Syria .
The direct involvement of Russian forces in the Syrian civil war on behalf of Mr. Assad would mark a new twist that could put American pilots, who regularly fly surveillance flights and airstrike missions, in substantially greater danger.
Russian officials have sought to play down the buildup at the coastal Syrian airfield as routine military support for Syria that should not be alarming to the U.S. and its allies, however.
During their call, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu told the Pentagon chief that Russia's military buildup in Syria is "defensive in nature" and "designed to honor commitments made to the Syrian government, " according to a senior U.S. defense official.
Even though Russian support would be aimed also at subduing Islamic State, it runs counter to current U.S. policy, which calls for Mr. Assad's ouster. And it opens up the possibility that Russian jets could attack U.S.-backed Syrian forces battling Mr. Assad.
Defense officials said over the past two weeks Russia has stepped up development of an airfield near the port city of Latakia by sending in housing for up to 2,000 people, attack and transport helicopters, artillery, tanks and armored personnel carriers.
The jets, believed to be Sukhoi Su-27s, which are designed for air-to-air combat, could be used to challenge U.S. planes flying over Syria or to help Syrian forces defending the Assad regime.
Last year, to protest Russia's intervention in Ukraine , the Pentagon suspended military cooperation with Moscow , a move that cut off bilateral talks, joint exercises and planning sessions.
The Obama administration decided in recent days the time was right to resume high-level military ties, despite the implication that Russia was being forgiven.
"It will help to define some of the different options that are available to us as we consider next steps in Syria ," Secretary of State John Kerry said in London . "Clearly, if you're going to have a political settlement, which we've always argued is the best and only way to resolve Syria , you need to have conversations with people and you need to find a common ground."
Friday's call between Mr. Carter and Mr. Shoygu marked the first time the two officials have spoken, and it gave the U.S. a chance to press Moscow on its intentions in Syria , which remain opaque to Washington . U.S. defense officials wouldn't say whether or not Mr. Carter was informed of the jet fighters' arrival in Syria before his call with Mr. Shoygu.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest sought to play down potential military cooperation with Russia as limited, saying it would only be on "a practical, tactical level" in Syria , designed to avoid any inadvertent conflict between U.S. and Russian forces.
"That's obviously different than the kind of military-to-military cooperation between our two countries that was in place prior to Russia's inappropriate and unjust interference in eastern Ukraine ," Mr. Earnest said.
The U.S. has said it would welcome Russian airstrikes against Islamic State militants, but not if they were in support of Mr. Assad. It seems unlikely that Russia would join the U.S.-led coalition carrying out attacks on Islamic State forces, which means the U.S. could be forced to coordinate with Russia if both countries are flying missions over Syria .
In Iraq , Iran has carried out a limited number of airstrikes, but they have not created a serious risk of confrontation with U.S. planes.
Russia , one of Mr. Assad's most important allies, stepped up its military role in Syria after Mr. Assad admitted in July that his forces had lost control of more than half of the country to militants.
Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov , a spokesman for Russia's ministry of defense, confirmed the conversation between Messrs. Carter and Shoygu.
"In the course of an hour-long discussion, the two held a detailed discussion on both the situation in the Middle East in general, and in Syria in Iraq in particular," Gen. Konashenkov said. "The ministers confirmed the re- establishment of direct military-to-military contacts between both countries and agreed to continue consultations."
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that John Tefft , the U.S. ambassador to Russia , had also met Friday with Mikhail Bogdanov , a deputy Russian foreign minister, to discuss the Syria crisis.
The news that the U.S. and Russian militaries were ready to engage on the Syria issue follows a series of phone calls between Mr. Kerry and his counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov .
"We are also ready to engage in discussion" about military-to-military contact over Syria , said Maria Zakharova , the spokeswoman for Russia's foreign ministry. "Lavrov proposed it many times to Kerry."
Carol E. Lee and Felicia Schwartz contributed to this article.
Write to Dion Nissenbaum at [e-mail] and Nathan Hodge at [e-mail]
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
09-18-15 1834ET
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