Russia to withdraw forces from Syria

[Deleted]

Well, guess when we said it will be three-four month operation back in October we actually meant it.

Looks like there will be no advertised "quagmire" for Russia in Middle East :P

Nah you dont get how sensationalism work.
You now officially lost. Sowwie.

[Independent voter]

I guess ISIS will see this as a huge victory and get all kinds of converts because of it. *sigh*

[PACOX]

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this kind of abrupt and sudden?

What did they achieve?
What were their motivations?

They back the moderates into a corner and then just pull out?
They completely ignored ISIS for the most part, only bombing Syrians with legitimate complaints against Assad.

I'm fine with them saying that they went there with the sole purpose of making sure their base was secure but that doesn't seem to be the case.

I'm going to say they can't afford the fight.

[Deleted]

See shalcker?

[Kuntantee]

Means ceasefire is likely to persist longer. Good news.

[Independent voter]

Means ceasefire is likely to persist longer. Good news.

Why would that be? If we believe the Russians were bringing the Sunnis to the negotiating table, wouldn't more bombings of Sunnis be more effective?

[Shibito]

Yea you wouldnt want another Afghanistan Rusboys

[Shakadam]

Well, I don't think anyone here knows all the reasons Russia had for intervening in the first place, but the reason they stated publicly have largely been achieved.

The Syrian regime is now in a much stronger negotiating position for the upcoming peace talks than it was back in the autumn before Russia started bombing, anyone can clearly see how much more of the country is now under regime control compared to the situation back in September.

I guess a stronger Syrian regime was pretty much all Russia wanted in order to secure their own interests in the region. Rooting out the remaining rebel strongholds probably wasn't cost effective (neither economically nor politically) if their current progress was deemed enough to get the outcome they wanted.

[Skroe]

Well, I don't think anyone here knows all the reasons Russia had for intervening in the first place, but the reason they stated publicly have largely been achieved.

The Syrian regime is now in a much stronger negotiating position for the upcoming peace talks than it was back in the autumn before Russia started bombing, anyone can clearly see how much more of the country is now under regime control compared to the situation back in September.

I guess a stronger Syrian regime was pretty much all Russia wanted in order to secure their own interests in the region. Rooting out the remaining rebel strongholds probably wasn't cost effective (neither economically nor politically) if their current progress was deemed enough to get the outcome they wanted.

Which means it is up to the CIA's and Saudis arm-the-rebels program to kick into higher gear.

By the way (not to you Shak), I guess this all lays bear the lie that Russia was fighting ISIS once and for all? Because ISIS is very much still in existence.

In any event, more opportunities for the US.

[Mavett]

Did they achieve the goal or Russia simply didn't want to lose the entire Sunni world and their $$$, by completely aligning itself to Iran and the shiite Axis..

[stomination]

can we photoshop Putin here?

Wasn't the mission accomplish banner that because the ship broke some record of being out in sea?

[Kreo]

Which means it is up to the CIA's and Saudis arm-the-rebels program to kick into higher gear.

By the way (not to you Shak), I guess this all lays bear the lie that Russia was fighting ISIS once and for all? Because ISIS is very much still in existence.

In any event, more opportunities for the US.

So, CIA and Saudis supplying insurgents (CNN loves to call them rebels, and Syrian government nothing other than regime. Good job Lukas, you made it so simple to breed sheeps) with weapon and money to overthrow governments they don't like, or oppose their interests in any way, and you see this as a good thing?

[Crispin]

Is this one of thoose "pulls back from the Ukraine border" type of things, or is he actually doing it?

It's a smart move from a pure Russian POV, can't blame Putin for wanting to get the heck out of there ASAP, but if things turn around he'll send them back?

[stomination]

So, CIA and Saudis supplying insurgents (CNN loves to call them rebels, and Syrian government nothing other than regime. Good job Lukas, you made it so simple to breed sheeps) with weapon and money to overthrow governments they don't like, or oppose their interests in any way, and you see this as a good thing?

Welcome to earth. These things have been happening for a quite a few centuries.

[Gref]

Pulling back? achieved? achieved what exactly? I see it no more money to spend. There is nothing achieved there. IS is there rebels are there Assad is there. achieved what?

[Crispin]

Pulling back? achieved? achieved what exactly? I see it no more money to spend. There is nothing achieved there. IS is there rebels are there Assad is there. achieved what?

Assad is still in power and Russia got an important seat at the peace negotiations, Putin knows the west will continue to battle ISIS and obviously the proxy war against Assad stops through the peace talks.

Obviously he managed to ruin relations with Turkey in the process, and it seems odd from a western viewpoint, that he apparently doesnt care that ISIS took down a Russian airliner.

[Visor]

now we can again to see full power of western coalition. Who will fail to ISIS again I suppose. And Russians have to back again lol to fix this fail.

[ringpriest]

I'm not going to toot my own horn here, and quote myself from last October:

Now, what will be telling is what will happen when (or if - it'll probably take months unless there's a collapse or the Damascus regime gets a lot of more ground troops from somewhere) the other extremist groups fighting the Alawites & Co (Assad's faction) are decisively beaten... that will be telling. I see a couple of options: 1) the Russians and their Damascus puppet can cut a deal (explicit or de facto) with the Islamic State, stabilize the border on a much bigger Syrian 'rump state' and call it a day; 2) they can mostly stop advancing, but keep up airstrikes and occasionally seizing territory when its to their advantage; or 3) keep on rolling until Daesh is kicked out of Syria, or gone from both Syria and Iraq.

If I had to guess, I'd bet on a mix of 1 & 2 - they'll get the Alawites the better part of Syria, then spend a month or two hitting Daesh directly, declare victory, say "we did our part", mock the US & Company, and try to push Daesh into fighting the Saudis instead of the Shia part of Iraq.

Not perfect, but it seems to be reasonably close.

[Independent voter]

now we can again to see full power of western coalition. Who will fail to ISIS again I suppose. And Russians have to back again lol to fix this fail.

I wonder if the Russians will come back a second time. Someone said the Russians plan on parking their aircraft carrier off the coast of Syria so they can bomb the Sunnis from safety. That doesn't sound good for Assad, it basically says the Russians have lost faith and that ground bases will be indefensible.

[Deleted]

Welcome to earth. These things have been happening for a quite a few centuries.

great argument

- - - Updated - - -

By the way air and naval support is staying. Only troops are gone.
http://www.euronews.com/2016/03/15/putin-orders-partial-pullout-of-forces-from-syria/