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Originally Posted by Targan
Utterly destroying ISIL is a very worthy goal, but western ground forces rolling into Syria? There's no legal basis, just as there wasn't any legal basis for rolling into Iraq in 2003. And rolling into Iraq in 2003 (and the subsequent really, really stupid decisions by the US governing administration in Iraq such as totally dismantling all Baathist institutions, the police and the Iraqi military) are what created ISIL in the first place. Like it or not, invading sovereign states without legal basis is a very slippery slope.
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ISIL originated in Iraq and invaded Syria. Assad's government is also Baathist, and Russian and Iranian forces have been sent to Syria. And the West worries about a legal basis for intervention!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Targan
Russia's motives are more complicated than just to undermine Western influence in the region. Supporting Assad's regime is an entirely reasonable goal for Russia, if for no other reason that Russia's only Mediterranean naval base for its Black Sea Fleet is located in the Syrian port of Tartus.
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Russia's naval base in Tartus is a small refuelling and maintenance facility. It cannot support any major Russian warship or nuclear submarine, and it would be completely indefensible in a conflict with NATO or Israel. Its lack of strategic importance was actually stated by the Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs on 26th June 2013. However Russia is using it as a basis for intervention in Syria, and Russian intervention is part of a larger strategy to undermine Western influence in the region and reinforce the divide between Sunni and Shia Muslims in the Middle East, with Russia being the main backers of the Shia faction. Iran and Assad's regime in Syria is Shia.