The Russian Bear Roars: Plans to Ramp-up Bombing Campaign in Syria

Much to the chagrin of policy makers in the West, Russia is promising to ramp up their bombing campaign in Syria.

From Reuters:

“A senior Russian military officer said Russian jets based in western Syria had carried out more than 60 sorties in 72 hours across Syria. ‘We will not only continue strikes… We will also increase their intensity,’ said Andrei Kartapolov from the Russian army General Staff.”

This action comes in spite of much bawling and words of woe from Western leaders, including President Barack Obama, who warned Russia their Syrian air campaign would bog down the Russian Bear and its Shia allies in a “quagmire.”

The West has criticized Russia’s entry into the on-going four year civil war for the Kremlin’s support of Syria’s embattled President Bashar al-Assad. And while Russia claims they are targeting Islamic State positions, the West claims they are targeting US-backed rebels.

Of course, the propaganda war between the Kremlin and the West reveals an all too real conflict of interests between the two former Cold War adversaries regarding the continued reign of the Assad regime as well as the complex and potentially dangerous hodge podge of rebel factions struggling to dominate the Levant’s Northernmost country.

More from Reuters:

“Britain’s defense minister said that only one in 20 Russian air strikes in Syria were aimed at the hardline Islamic State forces, which control large parts of eastern Syria and western Iraq.

Michael Fallon accused Russia of dropping unguided munitions on civilian areas, and against Assad’s Western and Gulf-backed enemies. Russia says that it is targeting Islamic State with precision bombs, and that the raids are having an impact.

Russia said in the last 24 hours it had targeted a command post and underground weapons bunker near Raqqa, the eastern Syrian stronghold of the Islamic State militants, as well as a weapons store in Maarat al-Numaan.

Maarat al-Numaan, in Syria’s northern province of Idlib, is not known as an Islamic State base. Most fighters in the area are from the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, the Islamist Ahrar al-Sham and other insurgent groups, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.”

The current death toll from the four year old conflict is now estimated to be between 240,381–330,381 according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.