Replies to post #237462 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[StephanieVanbryce]

I'm concerned. I have read that WE are most troubled by the Russians suddenly building up in Syria. Building another airport .. barracks and what not. What are they up to? Are they going to fight daesh? Or are they going to fight our coalition OR are they going to fight anyone fighting against Assad? ... I don't like it, nor does anyone with half a brain in our government. Sec. Kerry, more or less openly challenged the 'smooth liar' and they will be meeting again .. doesn't sound good to me. I trust russia not one bit, they are desperate in so many ways ... and of course he is responsible for a shitload of deaths.. all at the same time as he has stuck his money in places where the sun don't shine for him and his 'beloveds' .. if and when they need it .. I don't know if it's true or not but I have read that 'he '. .. is the richest man in the world. that he has been stealing for years . .and years. I'd expect nothing less. BUT, I'm more concerned about wtf he is doing there, in Syria! .. Assad must go.. I'm sure his wife is already living in Russia as we speak .. ..Assad needs to follow her. Of course, the problem is . .then what? another Libya or worse? could happen.. shit! I believe our policy in Syria has been a huge failure ... and yes, I hold Obama responsible. EVERY time I see the migrants walking into Hungary, leaving on rubber boats to Greece .. I think and I believe ... WE are responsible for these people suffering. We, the U.S. It's shameful imo. I still admire Obama and believe he has been overall very good for our country .. but I still hold him directly responsible for all the murdered kids in Syria all the migrants .. And I hold him responsible for the rape of our daughter the daesh raped before we accidentally killed her .. .And no I don't know what we could have done .. but I have an idea that a whole lot smarter minds than mine .. do know what we could have done ... but ...oh well, ... they keep dying and they keep coming. And we're still doing very little... what we've taken in 10 refugees? .. (kidding but truly not many more for a big country like this! )

[StephanieVanbryce]

The West’s policies on Syria remain hazy .. LMAO!

no kidding. gee, wonder what happened to those all those guys we were gonna spend kazillions
of dollars on to fight him? . .One MORE .. LMAO! .. geeez .. get Prateaus out of retirement!

[StephanieVanbryce]

U.S. Warns Russia Over Military Support for Assad

Michael R. Gordon
SEPT. 5, 2015


Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of Russia, left, with Secretary of State John Kerry, right, at a meeting in
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in August. Joshua Paul/Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry told his Russian counterpart on Saturday that the United States was deeply concerned by reports that the Kremlin may be planning to vastly expand its military support for President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, warning that such a move might even lead to a “confrontation” with the American-led coalition, the State Department said.

Mr. Kerry called Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, “to discuss Syria, including U.S. concerns about reports suggesting an imminent enhanced Russian military buildup there,” the State Department said in an unusually blunt statement.

“The secretary made clear that if such reports were accurate, these actions could further escalate the conflict, lead to greater loss of innocent life, increase refugee flows and risk confrontation with the anti-ISIL Coalition operating in Syria,” the State Department added, using an acronym for the Islamic State.

The statement did not say if Mr. Lavrov provided any sign of Russia’s intentions, but there was no indication that he had eased Mr. Kerry’s concerns. The statement noted that the two diplomats planned to continue their discussions in New York this month, when the United Nations General Assembly is to meet.

Russia has sent a military advance team to Syria and has transported prefabricated housing units for hundreds of people to an airfield near Latakia, according to American intelligence analysts. Russia has also delivered a portable air traffic station to the airfield and has filed military overflight requests through September. [ http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/05/world/middleeast/russian-moves-in-syria-pose-concerns-for-us.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news ]

While American officials have said they are not sure of Moscow’s intentions, they say the airfield could be used to transport military supplies for the Assad government or to carry out Russian airstrikes to help Syrian government troops. The housing could accommodate as many as 1,000 Russian military advisers and other personnel, according to American officials, and one official suggested that the eventual Russian deployment might be even larger.

The United States-led coalition has been bombing Islamic State positions in Syria. The United States and Turkey are also conducting airstrikes to try to clear Islamic State militants from the northern border area and support moderate Syria opposition fighters there.

The State Department warning that a major Russian deployment might “risk confrontation,” officials said, pointed to the danger that Russian airstrikes might interfere with the air operations that the United States and its partners are carrying out in Syria, or the possibility that Russian aircraft or Russian-backed Syrian government forces might attack opposition groups Washington is supporting.

The Russian moves come as Mr. Kerry has sought to persuade Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, to work with the United States on a political solution to the bloody conflict in Syria. The Obama administration has repeatedly said that any diplomatic solution must require that Mr. Assad, a Russian ally, relinquish power.

On Friday, Mr. Putin presented his own ideas, which he said had been endorsed by Mr. Assad. They called for holding “early elections” and bringing “healthy” elements of the opposition into a governing coalition.

Mr. Putin did not say which members of the Syrian opposition would be acceptable, but there have long been tensions between the Russian government and the moderate opposition backed by Washington.

Some analysts say there are different views in Moscow over whether Russia should strongly back Mr. Assad as a bulwark against the Islamic State or seek a political transition in which he might be eased out of power.

“The escalation is completely in keeping with hard-line Russian positions on Assad, which are juxtaposed with more conciliatory positions by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” said Andrew J. Tabler, an expert on Syria at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

There was no immediate comment in Moscow on the State Department statement.


http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/06/us/politics/john-kerry-russia-syria.html?ref=topics


On the Fourth.

Russian Moves in Syria Pose Concerns for U.S.

Michael R. Gordon and Eric Schmitt


President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, right, discussed the war in his country with the Russian deputy foreign minister,
Mikhail Bogdanov, during a meeting in December 2014 in Damascus, Syria. Uncredited/SANA, via Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Russia has sent a military advance team to Syria and is taking other steps the United States fears may signal that President Vladimir V. Putin is planning to vastly expand his military support for President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, administration officials said Friday.

The Russian moves, including the recent transport of prefabricated housing units for hundreds of people to a Syrian airfield and the delivery of a portable air traffic control station there, are another complicating factor in Secretary of State John Kerry’s repeated efforts to enlist Mr. Putin’s support for a diplomatic solution to the bloody conflict in Syria.

The Russians have also filed military overflight requests with neighboring countries through September.

American officials acknowledge that they are not certain of Russia’s intentions, but some say the temporary housing suggests that Russia could deploy as many as 1,000 advisers or other military personnel to the airfield near the Assad family’s ancestral home. The airfield serves Latakia, Syria’s principal port city.

Other American officials say they see no indication that Russia intends to deploy significant numbers of ground forces, but they say the housing would enable Russia to use the airfield as a major hub for ferrying in military supplies for the Syrian government, or possibly as a launching pad for Russian airstrikes in support of Mr. Assad’s forces.

American intelligence analysts are also looking at ship loadings in Russia to determine what might be bound for Syria, and one official speculated that the Russian deployment might eventually grow to 2,000 to 3,000 personnel.

“There are some worrisome movements — logistical, preparatory types of things,” said an administration official, who added that there was no confirmation that large numbers of Russian soldiers, aircraft or heavy weapons had yet arrived. Officials asked for anonymity because they were discussing classified intelligence reports.

Syria is one of Russia’s major arms clients, and is also host to a Russian naval base at the port city Tartus. But the new concerns from intelligence analysts, as well as news and social media reports in the Middle East, led to warnings this week from the State Department and White House about Mr. Putin’s intentions.

“We have regularly and repeatedly expressed our concern about Russian military support for the Assad regime,” said John Kirby, the State Department spokesman. “But we’re also watching their actions very carefully. If these reports are borne out, it would represent a very serious shift in the trajectory of the Syria conflict and call into question any Russian commitment to a peaceful settlement.”

Mr. Kerry flew to Sochi, Russia, in May to meet with Mr. Putin to explore whether the two sides could cooperate on Syria. In August, Mr. Kerry followed up with an unusual three-way meeting in Qatar on the Syria crisis with Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, and their Saudi counterpart, Adel al-Jubeir.

Stepped-up Russian military support for the Syrian government could pose a problem for the United States in several ways. If Mr. Putin’s intention is to support not just the Syrian government but also Mr. Assad, that could undercut Mr. Kerry’s contention that the Syrian president needs to leave power as part of any political solution to the conflict.

And if Russian pilots carried out airstrikes, administration officials say, the choice of targets might further aggravate the growing chaos. Russian strikes on Islamic State militants could interfere with, or at least complicate, the air operations that the United States-led coalition is already conducting in Syria against the group. But if Russia targets rebel groups that are opposed to Mr. Assad, they might be striking some of the moderate Syrian fighters who have been trained by the C.I.A. and the Pentagon.

Another possibility is that Russia is taking these steps to secure its own interests in the event that the Assad government collapses, reaches a power-sharing agreement with the opposition or is replaced. By expanding its military influence in Syria, Russia might be in a stronger position to shape the political outcome as the Assad government’s military position weakens by encouraging it to share power with opposition members Moscow supports.

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It is not clear if the Obama administration has pressed the Russian government on its intentions, although some officials said such a discussion was likely in the coming days.

On Friday in Vladivostok, Russia, Mr. Putin dismissed news reports that Russia had sent ground troops to fight in Syria as “premature.”

“We are looking at various options, but so far what you are talking about is not on the agenda,” he said at a news conference at the Eastern Economic Forum.

But Mr. Putin said Russia was supplying arms to the Assad government under contracts that go back five to seven years and suggested that the Syrian authorities should be part of a new international alliance against terrorism.

“We have already lent serious support to Syria with our equipment, with training soldiers, with our weapons,” he added. “We really want to create some type of international coalition to fight terrorism and extremism.”

Outlining his ideas on a potential diplomatic solution, Mr. Putin suggested that it be carried out in parallel with the fight against extremists and that Mr. Assad should play a role in the political process.

“The Syrian president, as a matter of fact, agrees with that, including holding early elections, parliamentary elections, and establishing contact with the so-called ‘healthy’ opposition, bringing them into governing,” Mr. Putin said. He did not elaborate on which opposition should be considered “healthy,” although Moscow has periodically been at odds with the main exile opposition group supported by Western governments.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Mr. Jubeir, who accompanied the Saudi king to Washington for a meeting at the White House on Friday, said his country was trying to confirm whether the Russians had offered direct military assistance to Syria. But he expressed alarm over the prospect.

“If true, this would represent a serious escalation and a very dangerous escalation,” Mr. Jubeir said at a news conference in Washington.

Jeffrey White, a former Defense Intelligence Agency officer who now studies Syria at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that Mr. Putin’s intentions were clear. “All this tells me is that the Russians are not backing away from the Assad regime,” he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/05/world/middleeast/russian-moves-in-syria-pose-concerns-for-us.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news