putin medvedev
Hængedynd i Syrien? LOL.
Overskrifter fornyligt fra det "Officielle Washington": Det ovennævnte er blot vrøvl og propaganda. Det repræsenterer det typiske selvbedrag blandt højborgen i Washington. Den russiske regering og dets militær vidste præcist, hvad de gik ind til. Efter nu 100 dage af russisk militær støtte til den syriske regering kommer resultaterne ind. De ser gode ud. Den Islamiske Stat mistede det meste af sin olieindtægt og er blevet reduceret i sin formåen. Den syriske hær og dets allierede gør fremskridt imod en blanding af fjender på adskillige fronter. Udgifterne for den russsiske ekspedition er relativt begrænsede.


Kommentar: Denne artikel er blot delvis oversat til dansk af sott.net fra:
Russian quagmire in Syria? Not so much


This reality is now setting in.
Three months into his military intervention in Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin has achieved his central goal of stabilizing the Assad government and, with the costs relatively low, could sustain military operations at this level for years, U.S. officials and military analysts say.
...
"I think it's indisputable that the Assad regime, with Russian military support, is probably in a safer position than it was," said a senior administration official, who requested anonymity. Five other U.S. officials interviewed by Reuters concurred with the view that the Russian mission has been mostly successful so far and is facing relatively low costs.

The U.S. officials stressed that Putin could face serious problems the longer his involvement in the more than four-year-old civil war drags on.

Yet since its campaign began on Sept. 30, Russia has suffered minimal casualties and, despite domestic fiscal woes, is handily covering the operation's cost, which analysts estimate at $1-2 billion a year. The war is being funded from Russia's regular annual defense budget of about $54 billion, a U.S. intelligence official said.
With the Russian help time is now in favor of the Syrian government's position. The longer it takes to get to some negotiated end-state with the various groups supported from the outside, the less power on the ground and the less say in the outcome will those groups and their sponsors have. The Islamic State and several other Salafi groups like Ahrar al Sham will shrink back into underground terrorist forces. These will be able to continue random attacks but will not be able to hold ground. Unfortunately incidents like today's triple suicide bombing in Homs, which killed some 50 civilians, will continue to occur for some time. The biggest challenge will be the defeat of al-Qaeda in Syria under the name Jabhat al-Nusra. That group has pushed roots into the local ground and population and will be the hardest to eradicate. It will have to be isolated from its sponsors and all resupply before it can be defeated. Local intelligence will have to penetrate the group to go after its leadership.

Russia has not yet brought its full power to bear in Syria. It waits until a more complete intelligence picture has formed to pursue smaller and smaller opposition units. This may take some additional months. The big government offense against its enemies in Idleb province and city is also still in preparation. Unless some unforeseen exterior event happens it will be the major move over the next six month.