Quote:Marty,  

The Russians run things a little differently then the US. The Russians have no problem wiping out a whole town or region of it serves their purpose. They play hardball and that is about the only thing most of the middle east understands. The Russian are also okay with civil wars and unrest as long as it does not effect their interests.

Before anyone brings up Afghanistan let me be clear that the Soviets only left because of the massive investment by the US in arms and training for the Afghans fighting the Soviets.

 

Holding sway over a large portion of the worlds oil supply is Russia's goal, I believe. It is strictly a financial move and a power play by Putin.

We should care because our oil prices and petroleum prices in general will skyrocket.  The worlds oil market is one market. What happens in one part of the world can and usually does effect the market world wide.

 

Northendzone,

I don't see how the Russians can get to the world's oil supply through Syria.  God knows, no one in Syria, not even the Assad regime, is going to allow the Russians to control Syria.   And certainly Iran and Saudi Arabia aren't going to allow the Russians into their countries, either.   And as we have seen in our own example, our military involvement in the middle east has come at a huge cost, in terms of military expenditures on a scale far beyond what the Russians could ever afford, and in also in terms of making the US a target for Islamic extremists.   In short, Putin is plunging Russia into a quagmire that they cannot possibly manage successfully.   It's really a stupid strategy. 

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