Complementando la
nota del día de ayer, posteamos un artículo de Alex Gorka aparecido hoy en el
sitio Strategic Culture Foundation. El autor concluye apoyando los actuales
acercamientos de EEUU y Rusia en torno a la situación en Siria. Acá va:
Título: Russia’s
Military Operation in Syria: Results and Conclusions
Texto: Moscow's
military involvement in the Syrian crisis has led to an increasingly important
role for Russia in regional and global politics. The military operation is
Russia’s first combat deployment away from its borders in decades. So far, it
has demonstrated advanced military capabilities in a highly visible manner.
The Russia’s
Aerospace Forces launched a military operation in Syria on September 30. Over
1,000 sq. kilometers have been liberated from Islamic State militants. The
aircraft have flown 5,662 sorties. The military have launched 97 cruise
missiles against terrorist targets, Lt.Gen. Sergei Rudskoy, the head of the
Chief Operations Directorate of the Russian General Staff, said on January 15.
«Since September
30, the Russian Aerospace Forces in Syria have made 5,662 sorties, including
145 sorties made by strategic missile and long-range bomber aviation, the
Russian military have also carried out 97 launches of sea-based and air-based
missiles», he reported.
The General noted
that the airstrikes are targeted at infrastructure sites, fortified facilities
and concentrations of manpower and weapons systems. Previously, Rudskoy said
that since December 25, 164 sorties have been flown and 556 terrorist targets
have been hit in the provinces of Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia, Hama, Homs, Damascus,
Deir Ezour and Raqqa. The rate of attacks is increased to cut off the Islamic
State from supply routes. Setting aside the question who is to blame for
Turkey’s downing of a Russian Su-24 bomber - and there are good reasons to
consider Ankara’s actions both disproportionate and dangerous - a jet, a pilot
and a soldier attempting to rescue the plane’s crew were the only losses Russia
has suffered up to now.
The Syrian Army
has made advances in Aleppo province thanks to Russian air support. According
to Rudskoy, the Syrian troops have considerably expanded the security zone
around Kweiris airbase.
There is another
aspect that is somehow rarely mentioned by media. The Russian military provides
humanitarian aid to Syrian civilians. Although a number of international
non-governmental organizations are involved in humanitarian activities, most of
the supplies have gone to the territory under terrorists’ control and got into
wrong hands. There have been attempts to deliver arms and munitions, and
evacuate wounded militants under the guise of humanitarian convoys. At present,
most of the aid is channeled to Deir ez-Zor, which was under siege by terrorists
for a long period of time, Rudskoy said. The first 22 tons of humanitarian aid
have been delivered by Syrian Il-76 transport aircraft using Russian parachute
platform airdrop systems.
Let me add some
more facts to the picture. In addition to Hmeymim, Russia has used Shairat
airfield in Homs and al-Gayas airfield in Palmyra. In order to protect the
facilities, the 810th marine brigade, special operations units and airborne
units were deployed on Syria soil.
The operation
marked the first combat use of the advanced Kh-101 cruise missile. This
strategic air-to-surface missile utilizes stealth technologies and can hit
targets at a distance of up to 5,500 km, with an accuracy of five meters. The
missiles were fired by Tu-160 strategic bombers which did not even need to
enter the Syrian airspace.
Pantsir-S1 and
S-400 Triumf air defense systems have been deployed to protect the Russian
aircraft.
The Russian
forces in Syria have also been supported from sea. In early-December, the B-237
Rostov-on-Don submarine fired Kalibr-PL missiles against Islamic State
positions in Syria. Guided missile surface ships of the Caspian Flotilla were
involved in the operation. On October 7 and then on November 20, they fired
Kalibr missiles from the Caspian Sea to successfully hit the targets from a
distance of 2,500 km.
Russian military
operation has acquired a new political dimension. Russia has come up with an
initiative to act as an intermediary between Saudi-Arabia and Iran to mitigate
the growing conflict. It has been involved in bilateral coordinated effort with
France after the Paris terrorist attacks in November. The
Russia-Syria-Iran-Iraq coordination cell has been set up in Baghdad to exchange
information on the Islamic State. A few days ago a Russian war room was set up
in Jordan to bring the coordination with Amman, a traditional US ally, to a
much higher level.
So far, Russia
has successfully coordinated its activities with Israel.
Sheikh Tamim bin
Hamad Al Thani had talks with Russian President on January 18 on a visit to
Moscow. The both leaders agreed that a «satisfactory solution» to the Syrian
crisis should be found. The summit took place just a week ahead of planned
peace talks in Geneva. «Russia plays a main role when it comes to stability in
the world. We very much want to develop relations with Russia and find a
solution to a number of problems related to stability in some countries of our
region», Sheikh Tamim said at the outset of the meeting.
Qatar is an old
US ally.
On December 18,
2015, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution delineating the
main contours of the political resolution of the conflict in Syria. It was a
unanimous decision to reflect the key actors’ new determination to end Syria’s
internal conflict. The conflict management process is definitely related to the
results of Russia’s military campaign in Syria in 2015, as well as to the
challenges faced by anti-Islamic State forces in 2016.
The US diplomatic
efforts to isolate Russia have gone down the drain. The strategic dialogue with
the US, which was not easy to renew, has been intensified and broadened. Moscow
is viewed as a partner well prepared for decisive action in the fight against
the global threat while cooperating on equal terms. This fact was confirmed by
the January 20 meeting between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The Russia-US
contacts are conducted according to the pattern that Moscow had been promoting
for a long time. The two great powers responsible for global security will
discuss confidentially the most pressing security issues. Obviously Ukraine,
the issue intensively discussed recently on bilateral basis, Syria and the
fight against Islamic State will dominate the agenda making other issues pale
(for instance, non-proliferation), but that’s a start.
It’s not another
«reset», for sure. Russia no longer needs it. The contacts take place in the
format of «situational but equal partnership». And it serves the purpose.
The US and Russia
must work together to solve the various international problems. As in the case
of the agreement on the Iranian nuclear program, progress reached benefits all.
The January 20 Russia-US foreign chiefs meeting is another step on the way of
developing fruitful dialogue on the basis of equality.
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