Putin Says Russia Can Ramp Back Up in Syria ‘Within Hours’ (Video)
The Russian president made several important points about Syria in a speech Thursday.
The pan-Arab daily al-Hayat (Life) summarized Russian sources on Thursday’s speech by Russian president Vladimir Putin:
Putin made several points:
1. Russia hopes that the ceasefire and Geneva peace negotiations can now go forward relatively smoothly toward a political settlement in Syria
2. Russia will continue to bomb al-Qaeda (the Nusra Front) and Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) in Syria.
3. Russia will go on supplying the Syrian Arab Army with training, with weapons, and with military advice.
4. Russia is leaving in place powerful anti-aircraft batteries and will blow interlopers out of the air if they enter Syrian air space (a reference to Turkey).
5. If the opposition tries to take advantage of the cessation of hostilities to mount a substantial assault on the Damascus regime, Russia can ramp back up its forces in Syria “within hours.”
A Russian general is quoted in the same piece saying that the bulk of Russian planes and helicopter gunships will be withdrawn from Syria within two or three days at the most.
Your support matters…Independent journalism is under threat and overshadowed by heavily funded mainstream media.
You can help level the playing field. Become a member.
Your tax-deductible contribution keeps us digging beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that unearths what's really happening- without compromise.
Give today to support our courageous, independent journalists.
Most observers are puzzled as to why British Prime Minister Theresa May is hosting a Trump visit to her country, a visit that is likely to offer opportunities for serial embarrassment to all concerned.
The recent meal he hosted may have been designed to offer a different image of himself to cast doubt on the conclusion that Islamophobia lies behind his Muslim ban.
The country's turn to wind and solar is not only to protect the environment, although the Chinese government faced increasing urban protests if it did not clean up the air.
The secretary of state's speech on Iran lays out a wide range of Iranian behavior he would like to change, and specifies harsh U.S. financial sanctions as his instrument.
The term functions similarly to the Nazi technical term “untermensch,” or underman, subhuman.
Social media is outraged by the language Western media use to describe the peacefully protesting Palestinians shot in cold blood by Israeli snipers.