4 Reasons To Not Underestimate The Russian Military

Popular Mechanics: 4 Ways Russia's Military Is More Advanced Than You Might Think

With Russia itching to fight after one of its jets was shot down by Turkey, we assess why Putin's war tech might be better than many people believe.

Vladimir Putin is not a man to back down from provocation, especially a direct, lethal provocation like the shooting down of a Russian Su-24 aircraft by Turkey on Tuesday. Such an attack raises the possibility of a direct military confrontation, and makes you wonder just what Russia could do if you rattled its cage. How dangerous are they?

Russia's defense complex may be just a shadow of the old Soviet Union, with defense spending only about 12 percent of the USA's. As such, many in the West tend to see Russian hardware as second-rate—stuck with 1970's electronics, crude manufacturing standards, and no money to improve matters. If the Russians make anything good, the thinking goes, they must have copied it from the West. The poor performance of the Russian-equipped Iraqi army in 2003 (and Russian-supplied Arab forces against the Israelis) reinforces the idea of inferior Russian military tech.

WNU Editor: Like DARPA in the U.S., the "weird stuff" is what has always interested me.

Russia Intensifies Bombing Campaign In Northern Syria

Reuters: Russian air strikes kill at least 30 in stepped up raids in northwest Syria

Air strikes believed to have been carried out by Russian jets killed at least 30 people in the town of Ariha in northwestern Syria on Sunday, rescue workers in the rebel-held area said, part of an escalation of Russian strikes near the Turkish border.

In separate air strikes closer to the frontier with Turkey, jets believed to be Russian hit a truck depot that was also struck on Thursday, destroying 10 trailers and killing five people, a rebel in the area said.

Officials at the Russian defense ministry could not immediately be reached for comment. Syrians in rebel-held areas of northwestern Syria near the Turkish frontier have reported intensified air strikes in the days since Turkey downed a Russian warplane near the border.

More News On Russia's Bombing Campaign In Northern Syria

Dozens killed in Russian airstrike on marketplace in Syria's north-west, activists say (ABC News Australia)
Stepped-up Russian strikes kill at least 43 in Syria -- Daily Star
Civilians killed in suspected Russian strikes on Syria -- Al Arabiya
'At least 40' killed after Russian airstrike hits popular marketplace in Syrian town controlled by rebels -- Daily Mail
‘Russia’ air strikes kill at least 18 civilians in Ariha town in Syria -- Middle East Online

Iran Is Denying Reports That Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Commander Of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' Has Been Injured In Syria

Qassem Soleimani visits front line with ISIS in Iraq. Reuters

Defense News/AFP: Iran General Soleimani Lightly Wounded in Syria

BEIRUT — Gen. Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' foreign operations wing, was lightly injured in fighting against Syria rebels near Aleppo, a monitoring group and a security source said Wednesday.

Soleimani "was injured a few days ago" in an offensive in the southwest of Aleppo province, a security source on the ground told AFP.

The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor of the war, also said the general was hurt.

He was "lightly injured three days ago in the Al-Eis area in the south of Aleppo province," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

WNU editor: This story has been making the rounds on the news for the past few days, but Iran is dismissing these reports .... Iran Dismisses Reports on General Soleimani’s Injury (Tasnim news Agency). More denials here.

More News On Reports That Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Commander Of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' Has Been Injured In Syria

IRAN: Qods Force’s Qassem Soleimani severely injured in Syria -- NCRI
Senior Iranian General Lightly Wounded in Syria -- Haaretz
Head of Iran’s Quds Force reported injured in Syria -- Times of Israel
Was Iran's terror commander Soleimani gravely wounded in Syria? -- Arutz Sheva
Qassem Soleimani reportedly injured in Syria’s Aleppo -- Al Arabiya

Here's Russia's Version On The Events That Led To Turkey Shooting Down It's Su-24 Fencer Bomber

The Aviationist: “Turkish Air Force F-16s ambushed the Su-24 Fencer”: here’s Russia’s version of the controversial shootdown

On Nov. 24, a Su-24M Fencer bomber was shot down by a TuAF F-16 near the Turkey-Syria border. The Turkish Air Force claims the Russian bomber violated the Turkish airspace after ignoring several radio warning issued by a GCI (Ground Controlled Intercept) radar station.

Although the violation (the last in a series of alleged incursions) was extremely short (17 seconds) the intruding Su-24 was hit by an air-to-air missile and caught fire. Both crew members ejected: one died after being fired upon while descending towards the ground; the other one was rescued by a CSAR (Combat SAR) mission.

However, the Russian Air Force has a different version of the story.

Here’s the release by the Russian MoD (highlights mine):

WNU Editor: The more that I think about this incident, the more that I am shaking my head. Turkey had to realize that there was going to be blow-back from Russia for such an incident .... and that any  Syrian rebel group aligned with Turkey would then become primary targets. And while there is a lot of speculation that Turkey's Erdogan purposely ordered this shoot-down to galvanize NATO support for his own involvement in Syria .... it is not happening. Sanctions and an intensified military campaign against Turkish allies in Syria have become the end result, and I do not see it ending any-time soon.

Turkey Recovers Body Of Downed Russian Pilot From Syrian Rebels

Reuters: Turkey recovers body of pilot from downed Russian jet

Turkey recovered the body of a Russian pilot from northern Syria and presented it to Russian diplomats on Sunday, five days after shooting down his warplane in an incident that wrecked relations between two of the main powers involved in Syria's war.

A coffin carrying Oleg Peshkov arrived by ambulance on the tarmac of Hatay Airport in southern Turkey near the Syrian border, a Reuters photographer said.

It was flown to the capital Ankara, where according to Russia's RIA news agency it was met at an airfield by Moscow's ambassador and military attache. The Russian embassy declined to comment and Turkish officials did not immediately disclose when the body would be repatriated to Russia.

WNU Editor: The repatriation of this Russian pilot's body is not going to calm or placate Russia. Events are now in motion, and I do not see any halt in Russia's bombing of Turkish allies in Syria ... at least for the foreseeable future.

More News On Turkey Recovering The Body Of The Downed Russian Pilot

Russian pilot's body flown to Ankara after honours -- BBC
Turkish warplane delivers body of pilot of downed Su-24M bomber to Ankara -- TASS
Turkey gives body of pilot to Russia -- Sydney Morning Herald
Russian Su-24 pilot's body in Turkey, about to be sent home - Turkish PM -- RT
Body of Russian pilot killed after Turkey shot down his jet is recovered from rebels -- Daily Mail
Turkey says pilot’s body will be flown to Russia -- USA Today
Turkey to return body of Russian pilot killed after downing of war plane over Syrian territory -- Daily News
Turkey hopes return of pilot’s body will ease tensions with Russia -- The Times

The Myth Of The 70,000 Moderate Syrian Rebels

Thousands of anti-war protesters marched on Downing Street this weekend. Credit: Reuters

Robert Fisk, The Independent: David Cameron, there aren't 70,000 moderate fighters in Syria - and whoever heard of a moderate with a Kalashnikov, anyway?

The Blairite Labour MPs are going to vote with Dave because they loathe Corbyn more than Isis

Not since Hitler ordered General Walther Wenck to send his non-existent 12th Army to rescue him from the Red Army in Berlin has a European leader believed in military fantasies as PR Dave Cameron did last week. Telling the House of Commons about the 70,000 “moderate” fighters deployed in Syria was not just lying in the sense that Tony Blair lied – because Blair persuaded himself to believe in his own dishonesty – but something approaching burlesque. It was whimsy – ridiculous, comic, grotesque, ludicrous. It came close to a unique form of tragic pantomime.

At one point last week, one of Cameron’s satraps was even referring to this phantom army as “ground troops”. I doubt if there are 700 active “moderate” foot soldiers in Syria – and I am being very generous, for the figure may be nearer 70 – let alone 70,000. And the Syrian Kurds are not going to conquer Isis for us; they’re too busy trying to survive the assaults of our Turkish allies. Besides, aren’t the “moderates” supposed to be the folk who don’t carry weapons at all? Who’s ever heard before of a “moderate” with a Kalashnikov?

WNU Editor: Robert Fisk unleashed. The funny thing is that years ago I was not sympathetic to Robert Fisk and his analysis .... now .... he s making sense.

Hat Tip Jay for the link.

Editor's Note

Finishing up on a renovation project on my home today. Blogging will return early this evening.

On a side note I have done something that I have not done in a long time .... I checked this website's stats. WOW!!!! .... a lot of people are now reading this blog, and the audience is global. What can I say but thank-you, I want all of you to know that I am humbled by this recognition.

U.S. Generals: 'We Were Just Following Orders'

Ray Starmann, US Defense Watch: We were just following orders – The Joint Chiefs and the War with ISIS

Across the world, the War with ISIS is exploding; in Paris, Brussels, in the Middle East and at the US/Mexican border. ISIS continues to attack, attack, attack, following George Patton’s motto of “l’audace, l’audace, toujours l’audace (audacity, audacity, always audacity).

While the world seems to be continually shocked by one ISIS atrocity after another, in the White House, one thing is crystal clear, President Obama has chosen to fight rising seas and disappearing glaciers before taking the fight to the marauding maniacal murderers of ISIS.

While the President has been pelted for two weeks for having no strategy to fight ISIS, no one in the press has mentioned the architects of the war against ISIS, the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Oh, those guys…

Those guys…

WNU Editor: A brutal commentary .... read it all.

Hat Tip to Rantburg for the above post.

The Libyan City Of Sirte Is Becoming A Stronghold For The Islamic State

NYT: ISIS’ Grip on Libyan City Gives It a Fallback Option

MISURATA, Libya — Iraqi commanders have been arriving from Syria, and the first public beheadings have started. The local radio stations no longer play music but instead extol the greatness of the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

When the Libyan arm of the Islamic State first raised the group’s black flag over the coastal city of Surt almost one year ago, it was just a bunch of local militants trying to look tough.

Today Surt is an actively managed colony of the central Islamic State, crowded with foreign fighters from around the region, according to residents, local militia leaders and hostages recently released from the city’s main prison.

“The entire Islamic State government there is from abroad — they are the ones who are calling the shots,” said Nuri al-Mangoush, the head of a trucking company based here in Misurata, about 65 miles west of the Islamic State’s territory around Surt. Many of its employees live in Surt, and five were jailed there recently.

As the Islamic State has come under growing military and economic pressure in Syria and Iraq, its leaders have looked outward.

Update #1: Islamic State Entrenches in Sirte, Libya (WSJ)
Update #2: How ISIS Halted a Revolt After Cleric’s Death (WSJ)

WNU Editor: The Libyan government and military are too fragmented to drive out the Islamic State from this part of the country. What will be needed will be a joint Libyan-Egyptian-NATO-U.S. military intervention. Unfortunately .... Egypt is focused on their insurgency in the Sinai, Europe is militarily weak and unwilling to intervene into Libya again, and 2016 is a U.S. election year with Hillary Clinton being the Democrat Presidential nominee .... revisiting her policy and support for the overthrow of Libya dictator Ghadaffi that has helped bring about this mess is something that I suspect she will not want to be brought up. My prediction .... this will be a problem for the next U.S. President to solve (or contain) whoever he or she may be.

Russia's Use Of The Caspian Sea To Launch Missiles At Syrian Targets Is Making Neighbouring States 'Nervous'

The Diplomat: Turkey-Russia Tensions Put Caspian States in a Bind

Moscow’s broader international military engagements might worry its Caspian neighbors.

Russia’s intervention in the Syrian Civil War is leaving the former Soviet republics on the Caspian Sea littoral in an uncomfortable place. Caught between their historic relationships with Moscow and concerns for their own security, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan are clearly in an unenviable political position. Moreover, unprecedented Russian military action risks destabilizing otherwise steady diplomatic ties.

A November 4 security agreement concluded by Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan is one indication that something is amiss in the Caspian Sea. The plan notably provides for joint Kazakhstan-Azerbaijan naval exercises on the inland sea.

WNU Editor: These neighbouring states may feel uneasy, but for the moment they are going to remain quiet.