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A comment on The Pentagon Is Spending Up To $2.2B on Soviet-Style Arms for Syrian Rebels. Parent comment

Re:The Pentagon Is Spending Up To $2.2B on Soviet-Style Arms... by misja111 on Wednesday September 13, 2017 @11:09AM (#15238953)
The war in Syria is a proxy for a battle between two countries: Iran on the one side, which supports Assad's regime, and Saudi Arabia on the other side, which supports the Sunnite rebel groups ISIS and Al Qaida.

Saudi Arabia is an ally of the US and Iran an enemy, so therefore the US supports the rebel groups that fight Assad's regime. What's more, US's close ally Israel is right at the border of Syria and Israel is a long time enemy of Iran as well.

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Re:The Pentagon Is Spending Up To $2.2B on Soviet-Style Arms... by Quarrelsome on Wednesday September 13, 2017 @11:17AM (#15239039)
Assad is also Russia, that's a pretty big deal. Its worth noting how this conflict also draws in people linked to Hamas and Hezbollah. Its suspected that part of ISIS's emergence was due to Turkey as they expanded towards the Kurds (a key demographic that Turkey is keen on subduing) so it really is a clusterfuck before we even start to consider US/Russian involvement.
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Re:The Pentagon Is Spending Up To $2.2B on Soviet-Style Arms... by travmatt on Wednesday September 13, 2017 @11:25AM (#15239140)
Syria is also home to a large Russian airbase and contains strategically/economically important warm water ports - Syria is a very valuable Russian ally, probably why the prospect destroying that relationship is so enticing.
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