If you want to know what the Russians think about Syria, this op-ed in The Guardian from Russia’s ambassador to the UK will give you a pretty good idea:
We entered the conflict on 30 September 2015. The western coalition had already been active there for years, dropping bombs and missiles, and supporting the highly-praised “moderate opposition†against the radicals – as they say. And still, Syria was on the edge of collapse. Isis, a byproduct of ham-fisted western social engineering in Iraq, gained new ground, pushing back the Syrian army as well as rival anti-government forces.
They brought the conflict to a new degree of barbarity and cruelty unseen since the days of Nazi Germany. Massacres, public tortures and executions, and a slave trade on an industrial scale were a daily reality in the areas held by Isis – not to mention the destruction of many historic sites and artifacts. And they seemed to be moving in for the kill: preparing to take Damascus and rule the country by right of conquest. The establishment of a terrorist state in Syria would pose a grave threat to Russia and Europe.
A year after Russia sent in its air force, reacting to a request from the legitimate government of Syria, the picture looks different. Isis is in retreat, having lost more than 4,600 square miles of territory and up to 35,000 fighters. The Syrian army and local militia freed 586 towns and villages from Isis. Their leaders – who a year ago promised to bring slaughter and chaos to other regions, including Europe – went remarkably silent.
Read the whole thing. It’s a good deal different from the saber-rattling you’ll read in the New York Times, the Washington Post, or the Wall Street Journal. Is it the whole truth? Unquestionably not. But it’s a different version of the truth than you’ve likely been exposed to.
U. S. policy in Syria is hopelessly muddled. We’ve been simultaneously fighting DAESH and arming it. While seeking peace, we’ve been prolonging war.
