http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelledeen/2015/09/26/were-losing-the-war-do-something/Sep 26, 2015 @ 09:11 PM
We're Losing The War, DO Something
Michael Ledeen
What will it take to get pundits and pols to stop looking at the current crisis as a random collection of national and regional issues, rather than what it is: a global war? They ought to be able to see it easily by taking a snapshot of current events in and around Syria.
The Russians are moving in, with thousands of troops, tanks, and military aircraft. They are fighting alongside Hezbollah (aka Iran), whatever fragments are left of the Syrian Army, and“official” Iranian fighters from General Suleimani’s Quds Force (the foreign legion of the Revolutionary Guards). Plus, they’re also operating in Iraq. Some reports say there is now a joint Russian/Iranian/Iraqi coordinating “cell” in Baghdad, others say Putin is simply coordinating movement in the skies with the Iraqis. The Russians have also installed a “hotline” to the Israeli military, presumably also to stay out of each others’ way. For extras, the Chinese are joining the party, sending an aircraft carrier and accompanying missile ship to Tartous, the Syrian port that has long served the Russians.
Don’t forget the North Koreans, who are working with the Iranian regime to hide its nuclear weapons activities from annoying inspectors from the United Nations. And don’t forget Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia and Nicaragua, who collaborate with the Iranians to spread radical jihadis throughout our hemisphere, launder money, and rally their followers to combat America.
That’s a potent military, economic and polical force and it suggests that we’re not dealing with mere gestures. Putin and Khamenei, the two main commanders in chief of this adventure, are not given to leading from behind. For both of them, the survival of Bashar al Assad’s Syria is a vital interest, and he’s been losing ground of late to various Islamist jihadis, from ISIS to al Qaeda, and groups whose names will soon likely be forgotten by all but the adepts if the key countries get the overall control they are now fighting for.
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