Russians in Syria

Joshua Rhodes

Since the start of the Russian strikes on Syria, there are rising tensions between the U.S., and with their recent attacks by air and sea, the involvement of their military has been causing U.S. fighters to change their flight paths, so then they fly safely while performing these air strikes. However it is said that Russia is performing air strikes against ISIS, to support Assad and Syrian forces, than to fight terrorism. What is the real goal of Russia? Russia has been quite aggressive since they have begun air strikes. In a related story, a Russian general came to the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, and informed that they are going to perform airstrikes.

                Putin is assisting Assad not to fight terrorism, but to have a good place in the Middle East for a multitude of reasons. One being the strategic placement of Russian Forces, their presence in Syria and north of turkey, it seems that they are testing the waters for what they can get away with. Over the week they have been testing the United States in airspace, and even testing turkey with flying into their airspace. However the U.S. forces as well as foreign affairs staff (embassy, military, etc.) have noticed their behavior.

                The response of the United States is a mixed one because they are trying to find out why they are so willing to support Assad and enter Syria. One other thought that came to mind is to change the world view of Russia since they were invading Ukraine, this attempt to support the Syrian government and to allegedly “fight terrorism”, could be a new way that Putin is putting his foot down and to show not only is Russia a major player in foreign policy, but that they can also spread their ideals “positively” in a similar fashion as the United States has in the middle east, though that may not be the most efficient way judging that the United States has not ended the conflict.

                But what can the United States really do? For the next several weeks we will see how the already shakey relationship between our two countries play out, I feel that the united states should keep a close eye on the Russians and what they do after the ISIS conflict is resolved, will they play out a middle eastern attempt of spreading their influence? I do believe this is the perfect opportunity for Russia to make a comeback from the Ukraine conflict and to increase its relations to the world to challenge the already strong American relations with many other nations.