If it is about Syria, it is about Russia...

[kentuck]

As we know, Barack Obama and Vlad Putin are not on the best of terms.

It started before Edward Snowden's journey to Russia, and the Ukraine civil war has done nothing to help the relations.

Syria and it's leader, Assad, has been an ally of Russia for a very long time. A year ago, the US was threatening to bomb Syria and Russia negotiated an agreement to destroy Syrian chemical weapons, which turned down the heat a little on the tension.

Now, we have ISIS rebels traveling back and forth across the borders of Syria and Iraq creating turmoil and violence in the weak and divided provinces of Iraq. They are a threat to all the neighboring countries in the region.

We should not assume that Syria and Russian have nothing to do with the ISIS rebels. The US is threatening Syria with surveillance drones and possible attacks on rebel sites in Syria. Syria says it would be a breach of international law. Meanwhile, Russian continues to build up it forces on the Ukraine eastern border.

Perhaps we should look at the events in Iraq and Syria from a big picture perspective?

[CJCRANE]

1. Good try, but no.

ISIS is a Sunni Extremist group. All of our allies in the region are Sunni countries.

ISIS are wiping out the Shia. Iran is a Shia country allied with Russia.

[kentuck]

2. So the US is threatening to bomb Syria because...?

...the rebels are operating out of Syria and Assad has no control over them? No, I think it is more than that. Why would we threaten Syria?

[CJCRANE]

3. Syria has agreed to let America bomb ISIS.

They just have to inform Syria first.

Of course Assad has no control over them. They are "rebels". It's in the name.

[kentuck]

5. But who has been arming these rebels??

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-08-22/best-way-stop-isis-syria-stop-arming-isis-syria

<snip>
U.S. foreign policy is schizophrenic.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says we need to attack the Sunni militants in Syria.

The deputy national security adviser to President Obama says we should go after ISIS in Syria.

Okay …

But the U.S. and our closest allies have long supported Sunni militants.

And the U.S. and our closest allies have been arming and training Islamic jihadists in Syria for years. And see this, this, this and this.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist or a fortune-teller to have known this was a bad idea.

....more

[CJCRANE]

6. I think it has probably always been like this

but less people noticed because we didn't have the internet, international news channels etc.

But now the whole world has noticed that our foreign policy is absurd.

[kentuck]

7. And Syria has warned the US not send surveillamce drones over their country...

...so they do not agree with US intentions.

[CJCRANE]

8. Syria is scared that their infrastructure will be bombed instead.

Remember what happened to Gadaffi. That was meant to be just about protecting Benghazi but turned into an 8 month long war.

[kentuck]

9. And likewise, Russia is concerned for their ally...

..as they were last year.

[ozone_man]

10. Mostly the Saudis apparently.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/iraq-crisis-how-saudi-arabia-helped-isis-take-over-the-north-of-the-country-9602312.html

Saudi sympathy for anti-Shia "militancy" is identified in leaked US official documents. The then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrote in December 2009 in a cable released by Wikileaks that "Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qa'ida, the Taliban, LeT [Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan] and other terrorist groups." She said that, in so far as Saudi Arabia did act against al-Qa'ida, it was as a domestic threat and not because of its activities abroad. This policy may now be changing with the dismissal of Prince Bandar as head of intelligence this year. But the change is very recent, still ambivalent and may be too late: it was only last week that a Saudi prince said he would no longer fund a satellite television station notorious for its anti-Shia bias based in Egypt.

I think Assad is requesting that the U.S. ask permission before entering their air space, and bombing ISIS. That is a normal request for any sovereign country, though not a condition to assume when dealing with the U.S.

The blame for ISIS goes beyond the Saudis though, and includes the neighboring Sunni majority countries, Turkey, Qatar... The U.S. has enabled them by creating a vacuum in Iraq and Syria. I suppose from a conspiracy level, it creates good sales for the MIC, to fund the resistance, ISIS indirectly, by having such good friends as the Saudis.

[jaysunb]

4. I'll bet it's already has the attention of the foreign policy folks

long ago.....