Syria: What and who is Russia bombing with?
Until yesterday, the exclusive copyright holders of footage of desert bombings in third world countries filmed by UAVs were the United States and its closest NATO allies. These shots have always been a silent warning (microphones are not provided on combat drones) to all enemies of democracy: we see everything and we will get you everywhere. Now this important psychological monopoly has been violated by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
Sources of the Russian newspaper Kommersant in the military department allow us to form an idea of the mixed Russian air group whose forces are carrying out these strikes. It is based at the Khmeimim airfield near the city of Latakia and consists of front-line bombers Su 24M and the latest SU 34, attack aircraft Su-25SM, modern multi-role fighters SU-30SM, as well as attached attack helicopters Mi-24 and multi-purpose Mi-8.
The planes were flown to Syria through the airspace of Azerbaijan, Iran and Iraq, as well as along a similar route, but over the Caspian Sea bypassing Azerbaijan. A source of the Interfax news agency in the Ministry of Defense reported that to protect the temporary Air Force base in Latakia and the Navy technical support base in Tartus, marine units of the Black Sea Fleet have been brought in, which will subsequently be replaced by special forces soldiers and the 7th Airborne Assault (Mountain) Airborne Division .
In the official commentary on the video footage of the bombing, it was reported that the target of Russian strike aircraft was the infrastructure of the ISIS group. However, Western observers were skeptical.
Thus, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter expressed concern that, in his opinion, the strikes were not carried out on the positions of the Islamic State, and instructed his subordinates to contact the Russian command “as soon as possible” to clarify this issue.
His French colleague Jean-Yves Le Drian also said that the Russian strikes did not achieve their stated goal. Anonymous sources in the American administration told journalists from Reuters and the Wall Street Jornal that the wrong militants suffered from the bombing. Allegedly, instead of supporters of the Caliphate, the targets were fighters trained as part of a secret CIA program and members of the Syrian Free Army, an armed group of the secular opposition.
However, there is every reason, following Vladimir Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov, to ask the question - does the Syrian Free Army even exist?
Two years have already passed since a dozen groups announced their withdrawal from this army and the creation of a new association - the Army of Islam. According to The Washington Post estimates, up to 75% of all combat-ready forces of the Syrian opposition led by Jabhat Al-Nusra joined this association. However, this association turned out to be rather virtual and did not last long.
In March of this year, the creation of a new movement with a similar composition was announced. The Guardian, in a recent article entitled "The Four Questions We Need to Answer Before Bombing Isis or Assad," describes the situation this way: "Qatar and Saudi Arabia have abandoned their support for secular opposition forces in favor of their own proxies. Although the US-backed Free Syrian Army is fighting Assad, the major recent gains have been made by the so-called Army of Conquest ( Jaish al-Fatah, a more apt translation of the name "Victorious Army" – an umbrella brand for various jihadist groups not affiliated with ISIS, the most prominent of which are the al-Nusra Front, Ahrar al-Sham, and the Muslim Brotherhood. – A.V. ), backed by Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. In July, the latter effectively attacked US-trained rebels on their territory."
In fact, recent hearings in the US Senate Defense Committee chaired by John McCain stated the “terrible failure” of the American program for training an armed secular opposition to the Assad government.
Today it is almost impossible to prove whether a particular anti-government militant killed by a Russian bomb is a rebel fighting for democracy, an al-Qaeda terrorist fighting for his share of the houris in paradise, or an ISIS terrorist fighting for the Caliphate. Apparently, the Russian military will be guided exclusively by the operational situation when choosing targets.
Syria : What and Whom Russia Bombs