Putin Ups the Syrian Ante

Evidence is in that Russia is putting boots on the ground in Syria, ostensibly to fight ISIS, just like we're doing, kind of. Zerohedge was ahead of pack, two days ago, and had this to say:

"Of course, what is left unsaid is that since Russia is there under the humanitarian pretext of fighting the evil ISIS, the same pretext that the US, Turkey, and the Saudis are all also there for, when in reality everyone is fighting for land rights to the most important gas pipeline in decades, the US is limited in its diplomatic recoil.

"Indeed as we sarcastically said last week: 'See: the red herring that is ISIS can be used just as effectively for defensive purposes as for offensive ones. And since the US can't possibly admit the whole situation is one made up farce, it is quite possible that the world will witness its first regional war when everyone is fighting a dummy, proxy enemy which doesn't really exist, when in reality everyone is fighting everyone else!'"

What's the real driver behind the halfhearted  fight against ISIS, Assad's backing by Russia, and the Saudi, Qatari, US focus on deposing him? Oil and gas. Here's a helpful infographic, again, from Zerohedge:

The tragedy of this, to my mind, is the massive scale of human suffering unleashed by the Western power and its oil allies in their attempt to break Gazprom's leverage over Europe. Russia, understandably, wants to protect its interest and Putin appears to have upped the ante. We won't look so good fighting ISIS by, er, fighting the people fighting ISIS.

In the meanwhile, Syrian refugees should have the automatic right to resettle in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and inside the Beltway. Not that I'd imagine they'd want to go to any of those places.

Putin continues to ride the Bear.

LSP