Putin Has His Own No-Fly Zone in Syria

[Jesus Malverde]

After years of debating a U.S.-led no-fly zone inside Syria to protect rebels and civilians, Vladimir Putin has established his own no-fly zone in a matter of days -- to protect his new base there.

In the U.S. there is an increasing bipartisan call for the U.S. to move toward some form of a no-fly zone or humanitarian buffer zone in Syria. Hillary Clinton said Thursday that if she were in office, she would be advocating for a no-fly zone to protect civilians and stem the flow of refugees. Putin made it look easy.

NATO's supreme allied commander for Europe, General Philip Breedlove, was the first top Western official to publicly state that Russia’s new military infrastructure inside Syria, which includes anti-aircraft defense systems, was a de facto no-fly zone. He warned on Tuesday that Russia had created a new anti-access/area-denial bubble in Syria where U.S. planes could no longer travel.

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-10-02/putin-has-his-own-no-fly-zone-in-syria

[Comrade Grumpy]

1. Wait a minute! We've been tacitly encouraging the Russians and Iranians?

And the Pootman kind of snookered us?

And it's time to rethink our policy? Ya think?

From the article:

Behind the scenes, Obama administration officials have been telling the Russians and the Iranians for over a year that the U.S. would not object to an expanded security role for them inside Syria, multiple officials told me. The U.S. was willing to accept that in exchange for Russian and Iranian helping to move Assad out of power.

“The idea was that Assad would step aside and the Russians and Iranians would play a greater role, and the U.S. would say that’s inside the framework of the Geneva communiqué,” said Andrew Tabler, senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “But they grabbed what we were offering and didn’t give us what we wanted, and then we were surprised.”

Since the Russian buildup began last month, the U.S. has been signaling that it is ready to accept Russian and Iranian security control inside Syria without any promise by them to push Assad out any time soon. Kerry has said publicly the U.S. is flexible as to the timing of Assad’s departure. Other voices close to the White House have gone even further.

“The current policy of the United States and its partners, to increase pressure on Assad so that he ‘comes to the table’ and negotiates his own departure -- must be rethought,” Philip Gordon, the former White House coordinator for the Middle East, wrote this week. “It is fanciful to imagine limited airstrikes, arms to the opposition, or the establishment of a no-fly-zone would lead Assad to behave differently from Saddam, Milosevic or Gaddafi.”

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. Russia, China, Iran aligning with Suria

and it just kinda happened before the US could get prepared for the idea.

Hell, we have gone into enough foreign countries and established no fly zones, and all sorts of rules.
Putin is calmly copying our behavior, as he said he would in his UN speech earlier.

[karynnj]

5. Josh Rogin is not all that reliable

There are many things he has written that continue to state as Obama policy things denied by the State Department but said by McCain. His go to experts tend to be neocons.

[delrem]

2. I imagine that the USA establishes "no fly zones" above it's own military bases.

After all...

A difference from the way the US has operated, to overthrow the gov'ts of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and to try to overthrow the gov't of Syria, is that Russia is working with the Syrian gov't as well as with the gov'ts of Iraq and Iran.

Unlike the USA, Russia is not interested in "regime change" in Syria.
There won't be any "gray areas" between Russia and IS, as there are between the USA and IS.

[karynnj]

4. Russia is allied with Syria and started with bases there

Two rather major differences. In fact, when the US started flights in Syria, it was deconflicting with Syria.

To implicitly equate Russia having a "no fly zone" to the US doing so is completely disingenuous. The only "truth" might be that they raised the stakes, which were already high, of the US or our allies attacking Assad by air.

Not to mention, while Rogin speaks as though Russia ' s presence is new. The entire paragraph that the US would "allow" Russia and Syria the role they already had and have had for decades was surreal. In fact, their presence was a factor in why we could not without enormous risk have our own no fly zone there.

By the way, the think tank is the one allied with AIPAC and Josh Rogin has often leaned towards neo cons.

[AngryAmish]

6. 1. There is no Syria

2. Russia is allied with the Alawite tribes and their supporters.

[karynnj]

9. there is an internationally recognized government

Despised as it is, it has an air force and had the ability to shoot down planes.

[bemildred]

7. +1. nt

[bemildred]

8. Breedlove is a moron.

There are ten countries bombing Syria, the notion of a "no-fly" zone is ludicrous.