Saudi visit showcases Putin's growing Middle East influence

transporter · Oct 14, 2019

Saudi visit showcases Putin's growing Middle East influence

RIYADH (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Saudi Arabia on Monday for the first time in over a decade, seeking to capitalize on growing influence borne of military advances in Syria, strong ties with regional rivals and cooperation on energy policy.

Moscow accrued power in the Middle East in 2015 by sending troops to Syria, where it and Iran have been key backers of President Bashar al-Assad amid civil war, while the United States pulled back.

On the eve of Putin’s trip, U.S. troops were evacuating northern Syria as their erstwhile Kurdish allies struck a deal with Assad’s Russian-backed army aimed at halting a Turkish offensive.

Russia has also strengthened ties with both Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shi’ite Iran, which are locked in a decades-old contest for influence that veered towards open conflict after a recent spate of attacks on oil assets in the Gulf that Riyadh and Washington blame on Tehran. Iran denies the charges.

So comrade GURPS...do you see why we should keep some troops in Syria?

Isn't it convenient that Trump (currently the world's biggest whimp) pulls all our troops out, turns our backs on an ally, then Russia swoops in to make a deal???

Yooper · Oct 14, 2019

From the OP's linked article:

Moscow accrued power in the Middle East in 2015 by sending troops to Syria, where it and Iran have been key backers of President Bashar al-Assad amid civil war, while the United States pulled back.

Hmmm. An interesting misrepresentation of what actually happened & why.

transporter said:
So comrade GURPS...do you see why we should keep some troops in Syria?

Isn't it convenient that Trump (currently the world's biggest whimp) pulls all our troops out, turns our backs on an ally, then Russia swoops in to make a deal???

This is really shallow. Not shallow analysis, just shallow.

For a bit of real analysis (whether you agree or not), go here:

Syria: a Festival of Bad Options

Time to quote myself from 2013 with regards to the Syrian Civil War; However one comes to, "Syria; not our fight" - I frankly don't car...

cdrsalamander.blogspot.com

Here's a teaser snip (if you want to know what the options are you'll have to click over):

We are doing a version of 3. I don’t think 1 or 2 are smart options. I think option 4 only sounds good in faculty lounges, the permanent FP nomenklatura who see wonderful rent seeking job security here, or on Earth 2 where this might actually work.

Our partners of convenience (YPG) is a partner with a terrorist organization (PKK) that threatens a treaty ally on whose nation we have thousands of military personnel and family members, aircraft, and nuclear weapons stationed on. With the major threat gone, it is only natural that Turkey will adjust their tolerance of a threat to their security – a comparable one we would not suffer long on the Mexican or Canadian border. If you don’t like that calculus, then first you need to get our nukes out of Turkey, then our military personnel, and then Turkey out of NATO. If you do that, then I will entertain arguments why our military should stand against the military of Turkey over a bit of territory that was, for centuries until 100 years ago, Turkish. No promises I will agree with you, but I will entertain arguments.

If you'd like a bit more of a Syria/regional primer go here (a nice 4-part series):