Exclusive: Russian Troops Join Combat In Syria - Sources

[Purveyor]

Wed Sep 9, 2015 1:59pm EDT

Russian forces have begun participating in military operations in Syria in support of government troops, three Lebanese sources familiar with the political and military situation there said on Wednesday.

The sources, speaking to Reuters on condition they not be identified, gave the most forthright account yet from the region of what U.S. officials say appears to be a new military buildup by Moscow, one of President Bashar al-Assad's main allies, though one of the sources said the numbers of Russians involved so far were small.

Two U.S. officials said Russia has sent two tank landing ships and additional aircraft to Syria in the past day or so and has deployed a small number of naval infantry forces.

The U.S. officials, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said the intent of Russia's military moves in Syria remained unclear. One of the officials said initial indications suggested the focus was on preparing an airfield near the port city of Latakia, an Assad stronghold.

The moves come at a time when forces of Assad's government have faced major setbacks on the battlefield in a four-year-old multi-sided civil war that has killed 250,000 people and driven half of Syria's 23 million people from their homes.

more...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/09/us-mideast-crisis-syria-exclusive-idUSKCN0R91H720150909

[Xolodno]

1. The fix is in...

...what the article doesn't say (or for that matter, any major news outlet in the US)

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/09/questions-russia-moves-syria-150906031701354.html

1. US, Saudi and Russian Diplomats meeting on Aug 3.

2. "The Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers were later received separately in Moscow, as were representatives of various Syrian opposition groups."

3. "President Barack Obama for his part received Saudi King Salman on Friday for talks dominated by Syria. They advocate a political solution that would include Assad's departure from power."

And when you add the refugee crisis, I'm thinking Europe may have exerted some pressure on the US and Saudi's to get this over with.

[geek tragedy]

2. Are they on vacation too? nt