It's becoming clear that in Syria, the Russians and Iranians have joined forces with ISIS. It's not a formal alliance; the Russo-Iranian alliance just has the same goals as ISIS and the two sides are now cooperating. Right now, the Russians and Iranians are trying everything that they can to keep Bashir al Assad in power in Damascus. The strategy reached by the two countries has been to use their military force to try to destroy all of the Sunni rebels other than ISIS. If that goal is reached, then the rest of the world will have to decide whether Assad is better than ISIS as the ruler of Syria. Putin and the mullahs are sure that the world will choose Assad, and he will remain in power. Meanwhile, ISIS has been focusing its efforts in Syria on attacking the other Sunni forces rather than those who back Assad. ISIS, too, wants to be the only Sunni force in the field in the hopes that the rest of the Sunni Moslem world will fall in behind them.
If anyone doubts that ISIS and Russia are cooperating, he need only look at the events of the last week. Russian air strikes have rained death down on the non-ISIS Sunni forces. There have been one or two strikes on ISIS for show, but there have also been more than 100 on positions of the Free Syrian Army, (FSA) the main non-ISIS Sunni group. After Russian planes softened up the Free Syrian Army positions, Assad forces combined with Iranian infantry and armed with Russian weapons have moved in force to attack FSA positions. Yesterday, ISIS ground troops also launched a major offensive against the FSA. The coordinated attack against the FSA by the two forces is putting major pressure on that group.
It is worth noting that the USA has been supporting the FSA for the last year, at least verbally. The program to train local fighters to confront ISIS was run by the USA through the FSA. In the face of the combined attack by ISIS and Russia/Iran against the FSA, president Obama has taken exactly the path that one would have suspected was coming. Yesterday, Obama's administration announced that the USA was suspending any further assistance to the FSA. We are abandoning those who we said we would help. (No wonder the Israelis don't believe Obama when he tells them that he has their back.)
If anyone doubts that ISIS and Russia are cooperating, he need only look at the events of the last week. Russian air strikes have rained death down on the non-ISIS Sunni forces. There have been one or two strikes on ISIS for show, but there have also been more than 100 on positions of the Free Syrian Army, (FSA) the main non-ISIS Sunni group. After Russian planes softened up the Free Syrian Army positions, Assad forces combined with Iranian infantry and armed with Russian weapons have moved in force to attack FSA positions. Yesterday, ISIS ground troops also launched a major offensive against the FSA. The coordinated attack against the FSA by the two forces is putting major pressure on that group.
It is worth noting that the USA has been supporting the FSA for the last year, at least verbally. The program to train local fighters to confront ISIS was run by the USA through the FSA. In the face of the combined attack by ISIS and Russia/Iran against the FSA, president Obama has taken exactly the path that one would have suspected was coming. Yesterday, Obama's administration announced that the USA was suspending any further assistance to the FSA. We are abandoning those who we said we would help. (No wonder the Israelis don't believe Obama when he tells them that he has their back.)
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