Okay:
President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered Russian forces in Syria to start withdrawing, saying that after a two year military campaign, Moscow and Damascus had achieved their mission of destroying Islamic State.
America and our allies destroyed the Islamic State. Russia focused on the west of Syria, where a new offensive is underway:
The Syrian army and Iranian-backed militias backed by Russian air power stepped up a military campaign against rebels in eastern Hama province in a push towards the rebel stronghold of Idlib province in northwestern Syria, rebels and witnesses said.
They said dozens of aerial strikes believed to be conducted mainly by Russian jets in the last 48 hours hit opposition held villages and towns in the northeastern Hama countryside and the southern part of Idlib province.
We've seen Russian pledges to withdraw following victory before:
"In accordance with the decision of the supreme commander of the Russian armed forces Vladimir Putin, the Russian defence ministry is beginning the reduction of the armed deployment to Syria," Gen Valery Gerasimov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
That was back in January, after the actual victory over rebels at Aleppo. I didn't think the war was over then.
And the multi-war is not over now. Unless the rebels give up or if foreign backers give up supporting rebels.
Or if the government backers--a minority of the population--finally lose hope of ending what might seem like endless war and endless sacrifice.
Of course, such an order might signal that Russia isn't on board any Iranian and Assad plans to reconquer the east, cementing a new DMZ there and avoiding a clash between America and Russia along that line.
UPDATE: The good, the bad, and the ugly of Russia's Syrian adventure.
Basically Russia prevented a defeat by propping up Assad that in the short run Putin can paint as a victory for domestic political purposes and regional influence.
Note that our efforts failed to prevent Iran from establishing an overland link between Iran and Lebanon through Iraq and Syria. Assad's forces now reach the Iraqi border. Our best hope now is that Iraq can be brought back into the Arab fold to reject Iranian influence in Iraq.
In regard to Russia, we should continue to work against Assad and Iran in Syria to complicate Russia's problems and puncture that balloon; and to prevent Russia from focusing resources on fighting Ukraine and threatening the NATO Baltic states.
