Russians tell US to remove warplanes from Syria, senior official says

[txradioguy]

EXCLUSIVE: Russian officials have demanded that American warplanes exit Syrian airspace immediately, a senior U.S. official told Fox News early Wendesday.

The official told Fox News that Russian diplomats sent an official demarche ordering U.S. planes out of Syria, adding that Russian fighter jets were now flying over Syrian territory.

The move by Moscow marks a major escalation in ongoing tensions between the two countries over military action in the war-torn country and comes moments after Russian lawmakers formally approved a request from the country's president, Vladimir Putin, to authorize the use of troops in Syria.

The Federation Council, the upper house of Russia's parliament, discussed Putin's request for the authorization behind the closed doors. Sergei Ivanov, chief of Putin's administration, said in televised remarks that the parliament voted unanimously to approve the request.

Ivanov said the authorization is necessary "not in order to achieve some foreign policy goals" but "in order to defend Russia's national interests."

Putin is obligated to request parliamentary approval for any use of Russian troops abroad, according to the Russian constitution. The last time he did so was before Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March 2014.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/09/30/boots-on-ground-russian-lawmakers-back-putin-sending-troops-to-syria/?intcmp=hpbt1

[JohnnyReb]

Putin sees US as the JV team. Let the Russian pro's kill Muslims.

Ok that's a very simplistic remark but it's close to the truth...... my typing finger would be sore and worn to a nub before I could finish typing out a complete analysis of this situation Obama has gotten US into.

[txradioguy]

Russian warplanes have begun bombarding Syrian opposition targets in the war torn nation's north, working on behalf of dictator Bashar al Assad, according to a senior military official.

The official said airstrikes targeted fighters in the vicinity of Homs, located roughly 60 miles east of a Russian naval facility in Tartus, and were carried out by a "couple" of Russian bombers. It was not clear if the strikes targeted ISIS, Al Qaeda or other forces opposed to Assad, who Moscow is aiding.  According to a Twitter handle belonging to the Syrian government, the Russian strikes were initiated at the request of Assad.

The development came after Pentagon officials brushed aside an official request from Russia to clear air space over northern Syria, where Moscow intends to conduct airstrikes against ISIS on behalf of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, according to sources who spoke to Fox News.

The request was made by a Russian three-star general who spoke with U.S. officials at the American embassy in Baghdad, sources said. The general, who was not identified, used the word "please" when delivering the verbal request, known as a "demarche," according to the written transcript of the exchange.

"If you have forces in the area we request they leave," the general said.

A senior Pentagon official said the U.S., which has also been conducting air  strikes against ISIS, but does not support Assad, said the request was not honored.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/09/30/boots-on-ground-russian-lawmakers-back-putin-sending-troops-to-syria/?intcmp=hpbt1

[The Stranger]

Russian will continue in the middle east until we have a leader in the WH, he just can if for no other reason. He will just bomb the hell out of Isis then take control of the oil. He has to raise the price just for his own country's sake. This will raise our oil prices and then the Libs can BLAME the cons for not sucking up to the administrations alternative energy policy. See they win!

[txradioguy]

Russian will continue in the middle east until we have a leader in the WH, he just can if for no other reason. He will just bomb the hell out of Isis then take control of the oil. He has to raise the price just for his own country's sake. This will raise our oil prices and then the Libs can BLAME the cons for not sucking up to the administrations alternative energy policy. See they win!

Problem is by the time we get someone back into office that WILL stand up to Putin...it's gonna be too late.

General Breeedlove...the SACEUR stated yesterday that Russia has already put in place in Syria a multi layer air defense and denial system that could interfere with anything we try to do air wise in the Med...which means they could also shoot down any IDF jet trying to bomb Hezbollah rocket sites near the Golan.

It's the same kind of system they've set up in the Crimea which has the capability to hit aircraft in Poland.

IMHO needing oil is just the cover for what Russia is doing in the ME.  Nature abhors a vacuum and our so called Foreign Policy has left a huge hole in that part of the world.  One that Russia is more than happy to step in and fill.

[DumbAss Tanker]

How dare they interfere with our lethal-yet-strategically-pointless ****ing around doing nothing while spending billions of dollars to pretend we're fighting a war which neither party in this country has any actual desire to prosecute and neither on cares enough about to commit American ground combat forces?

 

[samspade]

Here is a crazy thought.  What if our planes are being used  curtsy of obama  to help spot enemy forces for ISIS?  I would not put it pass him.

[thundley4]

How dare they interfere with our lethal-yet-strategically-pointless ****ing around doing nothing while spending billions of dollars to pretend we're fighting a war which neither party in this country has any actual desire to prosecute and neither on cares enough about to commit American ground combat forces?

 

Obama has had no coherent, sane strategy for the middle east since taking office. Ina ll foreign policy he has been reacting to events instead of being proactive.

Obama doesn't think the US deserves to be a world leader and he is doing his best to make that happen.

Enemies do not fear the US and former allies don't respect the US nor trust Obama to keep his word.

[FlaGator]

Russian will continue in the middle east until we have a leader in the WH, he just can if for no other reason. He will just bomb the hell out of Isis then take control of the oil. He has to raise the price just for his own country's sake. This will raise our oil prices and then the Libs can BLAME the cons for not sucking up to the administrations alternative energy policy. See they win!

It would be very difficult for Russia to raise the oil prices if the rest of OPEC undercuts them.

[The Stranger]

It would be very difficult for Russia to raise the oil prices if the rest of OPEC undercuts them.

He will eventually start bombing sites other then ISIS and the area will become unstable and prices will rise as they do when there is a problem in the area. He will support Iran, Syria and Iraq eventually letting them making the area more unstable.
Oh OBlamer will just draw another line and go golfing.

[samspade]

Obama has had no coherent, sane strategy for the middle east since taking office. Ina ll foreign policy he has been reacting to events instead of being proactive.

Obama doesn't think the US deserves to be a world leader and he is doing his best to make that happen.

Enemies do not fear the US and former allies don't respect the US nor trust Obama to keep his word.

Frankly for obama it is hard to be proactive when other important things occupy your mind such as global warming, hating whites, next golf junket, and vacation plans.

Less I forget, obama has to actually attend meetings

[DumbAss Tanker]

All sarcasm aside, Russia's goals are not nearly as Bond-villain-complex as targeting the Arabian Peninsula states, but Putin does want to accomplish several more-straightforward things here:

1.  Stabilize Syria and quell the budding disorder in the northern Muslim world which is on the doorstep of Russian territorial interests and Muslim populations already under Russian governance.

2.  Displace the US entirely in Iran/Iraq/Syria, relatively easy to do since Obama has completely abdicated any serious role in the region and NEITHER party in the US would seriously contemplate the heavy ground force commitment now and for decades to come that would be necessary to regain and assert US influence.  From the point of view of the regional states, us having the locals do all the bleeding while we fly some jets and play stupid games with who will get our logistic goodies offers NOTHING that they can't get cheaper and/or easier from the Russians or Chinese.

3.  Stabilizing Syria also stems the refugee outflow, for which the Left-leaning Internationalist governments of Western Europe will be very grateful, more grateful to Russia than to the US, actually, since the latter has offered nothing but sanctimonious platitudes and BS and they might rightly look at the US as being part of the cause of the problem to boot.  On the plus side for us (Not so much for American Leftists and Internationalists) it will have the long-term effect of empowering more nationalistic outlooks in Europe and so bringing back some semblance of reality to their world outlook.

4.  A stable Syria allied with Iran, and both tight with the Russians, secures a 150-year-old paramount goal of Russia's:  Warm-water naval bases and shipping ports, not bottled up inside narrow waterways controlled by NATO like the Bosporus or the Kattegat/Skaggerak, for access to the world's open oceans.

[thundley4]

All sarcasm aside, Russia's goals are not nearly as Bond-villain-complex as targeting the Arabian Peninsula states, but Putin does want to accomplish several more-straightforward things here:

1.  Stabilize Syria and quell the budding disorder in the northern Muslim world which is on the doorstep of Russian territorial interests and Muslim populations already under Russian governance.

2.  Displace the US entirely in Iran/Iraq/Syria, relatively easy to do since Obama has completely abdicated any serious role in the region and NEITHER party in the US would seriously contemplate the heavy ground force commitment now and for decades to come that would be necessary to regain and assert US influence.  From the point of view of the regional states, us having the locals do all the bleeding while we fly some jets and play stupid games with who will get our logistic goodies offers NOTHING that they can't get cheaper and/or easier from the Russians or Chinese.

3.  Stabilizing Syria also stems the refugee outflow, for which the Left-leaning Internationalist governments of Western Europe will be very grateful, more grateful to Russia than to the US, actually, since the latter has offered nothing but sanctimonious platitudes and BS and they might rightly look at the US as being part of the cause of the problem to boot.  On the plus side for us (Not so much for American Leftists and Internationalists) it will have the long-term effect of empowering more nationalistic outlooks in Europe and so bringing back some semblance of reality to their world outlook.

4.  A stable Syria allied with Iran, and both tight with the Russians, secures a 150-year-old paramount goal of Russia's:  Warm-water naval bases and shipping ports, not bottled up inside narrow waterways controlled by NATO like the Bosporus or the Kattegat/Skaggerak, for access to the world's open oceans.

I don't blame Putin for his actions. Everything he is doing helps his country.  I wish we could say the same thing about Obama.

[wasp69]

All sarcasm aside, Russia's goals are not nearly as Bond-villain-complex as targeting the Arabian Peninsula states, but Putin does want to accomplish several more-straightforward things here:

4.  A stable Syria allied with Iran, and both tight with the Russians, secures a 150-year-old paramount goal of Russia's:  Warm-water naval bases and shipping ports, not bottled up inside narrow waterways controlled by NATO like the Bosporus or the Kattegat/Skaggerak, for access to the world's open oceans.

#4 is the money shot, folks.  This, above all others, is the main goal.

[Belle]

Michael Savage on the radio, on Obama:

"...he is the Capricorn One of the Presidency."

"...speaks loudly & carries a broken stick."

Franklin Graham on Russian airstrikes:

"What Russia is doing may save the lives of Christians in the Middle East.  You understand that the Syrian government for their good and for their bad over the history of this country, they have protected Christians, they have protected minorities from the Islamists."

"If you look at ISIS, ISIS came about because of the failed leadership of President Obama. His generals told him not to pull the US troops out of Iraq. He did it anyway.  The government of Iraq began to marginalise the Sunnis. So when the Sunnis saw that they didn't have a seat at the table anymore, ISIS was formed and they joined with the ISIS inside of Syria."

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/franklin.graham.on.russian.airstrikes.in.syria.theyre.helping.save.christian.lives/66256.htm

[libertybele]

Obama's foreign policy is a disaster.  I  for one do not believe that Obama simply has made tremendous mistakes over in the Middle East.  I feel that they were done by design. I think the Iranian "side deals" have gone awry.  Currently, Kerry is in negotiations with Putin. Putin's advancements and purpose in the Middle East is not to fight ISIS but rather to defend his allies and to extend his power in the region. This is not the first time that Russia has had a presence in the Middle East and most recently fought in Afghanistan in the late '70's and '80's.

"In January 1980, foreign ministers from 34 nations of the Islamic Conference adopted a resolution demanding "the immediate, urgent and unconditional withdrawal of Soviet troops" from Afghanistan, while the UN General Assembly passed a resolution protesting the Soviet intervention by a vote of 104–18. Afghan insurgents began to receive massive amounts of aid, military training in neighboring Pakistan and China, paid for primarily by the United States and Arab monarchies in the Persian Gulf...

By the mid-1980s the Soviet contingent was increased to 108,800 and fighting increased throughout the country, but the military and diplomatic cost of the war to the USSR was high. By mid 1987 the Soviet Union, now under reformist leader Mikhail Gorbachev, announced it would start withdrawing its forces. The final troop withdrawal started on May 15, 1988, and ended on February 15, 1989. The war was considered part of the Cold War. Due to its length it has sometimes been referred to as the "Soviet Union's Vietnam War" or the "Bear Trap" by the Western media, and thought to be a contributing factor to the fall of the Soviet Union...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet%E2%80%93Afghan_War

[Zathras]

I don't blame Putin for his actions. Everything he is doing helps his country.  I wish we could say the same thing about Obama.

Actually we can say that about the Empty Suit. Everything Obama is doing helps Putin and the Russians.

[samspade]

Michael Savage on the radio, on Obama:

"...he is the Capricorn One of the Presidency."

"...speaks loudly & carries a broken stick."

I have to wonder if this is a metaphor for something else

[Boudicca]

I have to wonder if this is a metaphor for something else

To compensate for his broken...stick, Kerry owns a mega gigantic yacht.