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Russia Ready to Defend Syria's Bashar al-Assad
by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700
Copyright
May 28, 2014
All Rights Reserved.
Watching the Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant seize large swaths of Syria and Iraq, Russian President Vladimir Putin
won’t sit idly by while his friend and ally Bashar al-Assad is driven out of
Damascus. President Barack Obama
needs to get on the same page when it comes to dealing ISIS before the anarchy
and chaos engulfs the entire Middle East.
Whatever al-Assad’s misdeeds in Syria, they pale in comparison to the
brutality and barbarism of ISIS now encroaching on Baghdad and Damascus. Since the Syrian revolt started
March 11, 2011 in the wake of the Arab Spring, Obama has opposed everything
Putin. Putin knows the dangers of
Islamic terrorism much the same way the U.S. learned a bitter lesson Sept. 11. Putin no doubt dislikes much of
al-Assad’s Mideast politics but knows that his authoritarian Baathist regime is
preferred over Islamic extremism.
Reports of ISIS seizing more cities and towns in Iraq and Syria forced
Putin to employ Russian security services to combat a growing Islamic threat. “Russia will not remain passive to
the attempts by some groups to spread terrorism in the region,” said Russian
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Rybakov in Damascus. Watching ISIS descend on Baghdad has
given Putin the green light to defend al-Assad’s forces against more
encroachment by radical Islam. With
all-too-common terror attack by Chechen extremists in Moscow, Putin has decided
to deploy the Russian fighter jets to help al-Assad reverse ISIS’s forward march
on Damascus. U.S. officials railed
at the prospects of Iran sending its al-Quds’ militia into Iraq to offset gains
by ISIS, now getting dangerously close to Baghdad. Russian officials now see the
same threat in Syria spilling over into Iraq and beyond.
White House officials need to commit to the same counterinsurgency plans
to stop ISIS from gaining more a foothold in Iraq and Syria. “The situation is very dangerous in
Iraq and the foundations of the Iraq state are under threat,” said Rybakov. Russia sees other anti-al-Assad
radicals joining ISIS to move more decisively to topple Baghdad and Damascus. Obama wanted to arm “moderate”
Islamic factions opposed to al-Assad, instead of realizing, like Putin, that
arming any Islamic faction could wind up in the wrong hands. “There can be no alternative to a
political solution,” said Rybakov, opposing armed conflict but recognizing
there’s no political fix in sight.
Russia made it clear they oppose Obama’s $500 million attempt arm Syrian and
Iraqi rebels which might have ties to ISIS. “We reject this U.S. policy. It is in
everybody’s interest, including the Americans, to act responsibly on Syria.”
Russian opposes the U.S. giving any cash or weapons to Syrian rebel
groups for the same reasons ISIS has gained and upper hand in Iraq. Putin’s told Obama that you can’t tell in whose hands the cash and weapons will go,
especially because ISIS absorbs so many less capitalized groups into their
network. Unlike more targeted
Saudi-backed rebel groups fighting al-Assad, ISIS has one goal: The establishment of a pan-Islamic
state in the Middle East. Instead
of opposing Russia’s agenda in Syria, the White House should coordinate efforts
to contain, rollback and reverse ISIS’s influence in Syria and Iraq. While there are many objections to
al-Assad’s rule, if ISIS succeeds in sacking Damascus, the same chaos and
anarchy seen in Iraq would follow.
U.S. officials must admit that the Iraq War opened up the floodgates of Islamic
terrorism and destabilized the entire region.
Whatever the differences between Russia and the U.S. on Ukraine, the two
sides have much in common working to defeat a common enemy in Syria and Iraq. Obama would find Putin a
more-than-willing partner to join forces against ISIS. Arming or paying any rebel group in
Iraq carries big risks of supporting ISIS in its forward march toward Baghdad
and Damascus. “The decision is a
year and half too late,” said Ahmad Ramadan, a senior member of the
Western-backed Syrian National Coalition.
Ramadan blames Obama’s reluctance to arm other Islamic rebel groups for
the spread of ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
When Obama ended the Iraq War Dec. 15, 2011, he wanted to keep the U.S.
from more meddling in Mideast sectarian wars.
Meeting with Syrian opposition leader Ahmed al-Jarba in Jeddah, Saudi
Arabia, Secretary of State John Kerry pledged backing to fight ISIS.
White House officials have a perfect opportunity to mend fences with
Russia, joining a united front to combat ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Instead of working directly with
al-Jarba, Obama and Kerry should contact Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
to coordinate a U.S.-Russian response to combat ISIS. “ISIS is currently the top dog with
most money in the jihad universe.
Siding with them would seem like a rational choice, at least temporarily,” said
Bilal Saad, senior fellow for Middle East Security at the Atlantic Council’s
Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security. With so many jihadists defecting to
ISIS, it only makes sense that a combined effort by the U.S. and Russia would
have far greater success. Any plan
on Obama to fund a pit alternative Islamist groups against ISIS is bound to
backfire. Instead of going it
alone, the U.S. and Russia should get on the same page.
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