Comments on: Syria, Russia: It all looks different from out there

By: February 18, 2012: Weekly 5 minute update (Audio Only) « Watchman of Zion

February 18, 2012: Weekly 5 minute update (Audio Only) « Watchman of Zion — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 23:17:27 +0000

[...] UN peacekeepers in Syria 4) Russia says Syria ceasefire needed before peacekeeping mission 5) Syria, Russia: It all looks different from out there 6) Assad wins out against opposition as Russia and Iran strengthen ties 7) Assad sets date for [...]

By: UPDATE: Syria, Russia: It all looks different from out there « The Greenroom « Regional Wars!

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:29:22 +0000

[...] post: Syria, Russia: It all looks different from out there « The Greenroom February 14th, 2012 | Tags: Crisis, Iranian, news, Obama, outside-the-united, Russian, the-crisis, [...]

By: Difficultas_Est_Imperium

Difficultas_Est_Imperium — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:23:25 +0000

Reporting from December and January (see links at my earlier post above) indicated that Russia was moving troops into the Southern Military District. In late January, the Russian defense minister announced the deployment of additional special forces (Spetsnaz) troops to Stavropol and Kislovodsk, which lie in the Caucasus close to the border with Georgia’s breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia (see map).

These areas are also nearby the location of the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Security and having a response ready are sure to be of concern as well.

Putin needs a distraction for domestic reasons. jjthetraveler on February 13, 2012 at 1:36 AM

See my comment above.

By: NaCly dog

NaCly dog — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:03:59 +0000

We have an Arleigh Burke DDG in the Black Sea in a BMD role. Is she being trailed and counter-marked like a deployed battlegroup had it’s assigned tattletale during the Cold War?

By: jjthetraveler

jjthetraveler — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 06:36:06 +0000

Russia while a nuke power isn’t conventionally powerful. Putin needs a distraction for domestic reasons. If Russia really did fire on US or EU personal they would have a rude surprise. And it is true that the demographics are changing for the worse and they have severe substance abuse problems. I seriously doubt Putin would actually fire. He doesn’t need a major loss during this election cycle.

By: Instapundit » Blog Archive » J.E. DYER on Russia and Syria….

Instapundit » Blog Archive » J.E. DYER on Russia and Syria…. — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 03:00:07 +0000

[...] J.E. DYER on Russia and Syria. [...]

By: golembythehudson

golembythehudson — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 02:34:00 +0000

good post, one caveat that i would like to mention, Russia is a decayed and poor country, it’s infrastructure is rotting and decrepit, and most young people want to leave, the ones that stay acquire horrible heroin addictions, millions of young people are on heroin there, plus the demographic decline means that it will lose 30 percent of it’s current population, replaced by central asian muslims from former soviet republics or caucus regions. The events in syria are the least of it’s problems, i don’t think they will do anything, like a prizefighter flailing his arms at his nurse on his deathbed, it’s merely a shell of it’s former self.

By: airmonkey

airmonkey — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 02:20:48 +0000

And you all laughed at the end of the movie Blast from the Past when the genius scientist started pacing out his new fallout shelter…he just knew we were dumb enough as a nation to elect “O.”

Who’s laughing now?

By: callingallcomets

callingallcomets — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 02:17:00 +0000

We are really back into the 19th century world of power politics based on national interests rather than ideology. Alliances and partnerships will shift as they did 1815-1914. The danger for the west is that we too often over moralise on foreign issues. We should be more hard nosed and machiavellian..unfortunately govts in Washington & London too often fear the reactions of the NYT,BBC & UK Guardian.
Thanks JED for rising above the cartoonish posturing that usually masquerades as foreign policy at Hot Air