Syria, the new Afganistan of 1980s in the making.

( This may be read along with my blog of Jan 31, 2011: Potential solutions are the feared more than current problems )

President Putin's ability to out-manure the US and its western allies is becoming legendary. ( Russia begins to bomb targets in Syria, The Hindu , Oct 1, 2015) The former KGB spymaster is brining all his skills to his foreign policy.He has managed to open a new front in Syria making the West to 'forget' his deeds in Ukraine, though President Obama made some reference to it at the UN! 

Russia's latest involvement in Syria is aimed at getting a military base at the door step of Europe; to make good for the loss of eastern European satellites. In the guise of controlling the IS terrorists , Russia will be bombing the other Syrian rebels who are aligned with West but are opposed to President Assad. Russia will not be 'wasting' its military might on IS , which in any case are being Bombed by West. The West taking on IS and Russia taking on the other Assad rebels is the best that can happen for President Assad. If Assad manages to survive this , he will be 'obliged to invite ' Russia to have a permanent military base in Syria. This will be a major irritant to western world and NATO. 

Moreover, this will complicate the already challenging  fault lines in the Arab world - the Sunni Shia divide. The US and allies will be backing the Sunni Monarchies and Russia will be backing the Shia regimes of Syria, Iran and now Iraq. The new 'intelligence sharing axis' among this Russian backers is a precursor to the emerging scenario. 

If this happens, we can expect an Afghanistan of 1980s again in Syria. Who says history don't repeat.