With the recent announcement by Vladimir Putin that Russia is beginning a withdrawal of specific military personnel and equipment from Syria on Tuesday, March 15, the Western corporate media has been on fire with speculation that Russia is evacuating the country, retreating, and giving up on its military objectives. Indeed, the Western press is presenting the Russian announcement as a total withdrawal and a quick move out the exit door.
Those who are both pro-Assad and anti-Assad have all shared their opinions, with many even on the pro-Assad/pro-Russian side opposing the Russian scale down of military involvement out of fear that the Russians are abandoning Assad. At the crux of this opposition to the Russia move, of course, is the fundamental misunderstanding of what the “withdrawal” actually is.
The Withdrawal
Despite the presentation of the Russian announcement as a total pullout from Syria, coming with everything except pictures of Syrian civilians hanging on to helicopters and airplanes being dumped at sea, the “withdrawal” is merely the reduction of specific military personnel and equipment. The withdrawal is not really a withdrawal in the sense that most readers would understand it. Instead, it is being presented as such by Western press outlets for propaganda purposes.
Remember, Putin has made it clear that the Tartus port will remain open and that the airbases Russia has previously established and operated from will remain functional. Russia is also continuing to drop bombs on ISIS positions. Indeed, on the night before the “withdrawal” was scheduled to begin, Russian planes obliterated a number of ISIS strongholds near Palmyra.
Thus, it should be understood that the Russian “withdrawal” is not a retreat, but simply a scale down of specific forces and readjustment of strategy.
It should also be pointed out that Russian objectives were never to seize and hold Syrian territory as an occupying force. That was the plan of the Americans. Russian objectives were to disrupt and defeat ISIS and shore up the Assad government. Russia has done that and is continuing to do it.
The Reason For The Withdrawal Announcement
So why would Putin announce a partial “withdrawal,” especially since we can presume that he would be well aware of the way in which he would be represented in the Western press? Why would Putin feel the need to make the announcement public at all? Why not simply make the directive, allow it to be carried out, and maintain the public perception that Russia is still fully involved in Syria?
Most likely, the Russian announcement was more politically based than anything else. For instance, one aspect of the announcement, particularly since it coincides with the new “ceasefire” agreement and the United Nations “peace talks,” is that it allows Russia to appear as the most rational actor in the fight and the side most committed to actual peace in Syria. This has been Russia’s methodology since the beginning of its involvement in the crisis where the United States – when forced to go toe to toe with Russia politically – has ended up with egg on its face every time.
Remember, when the U.S. wanted to invade Syria under the pretext of chemical weapons usage, the Russians swooped in and negotiated a deal to remove Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile. Many had valid arguments against the disarmament, but, politically speaking, Russia came away looking diplomatic and peaceful while the West, especially the U.S., came away looking like the bloodthirsty warmonger that it is.
On numerous occasions, when the U.S. was screaming at the top of its lungs that peace could only come from “rebel” victory or the removal of Assad, the Russians came in and organized “peace talks” of their own. These talks ultimately failed but the result portrayed the Russians as the side leaning toward peace and diplomacy while the U.S. was bent on bloody warfare. Russia has been incredibly shrewd and effective on the political front as well as the military front, and the recent announcement seems to be one more aspect of that strategy.
The second aspect is that, domestically, Russia is now able to tout a “mission accomplished” moment, a sort of victorious military triumph, without actually landing on an aircraft carrier and declaring the mission officially over while troops are engaged in a bloodbath on the ground. Putin is able to have his cake and eat it too by pointing out that some military objectives have been achieved but still not claiming the mission is over and leaving Assad to the wolves. It is both an international stance toward peace and a domestic stance toward victory even if for no other reason than public relations.
Going Forward
As mentioned earlier, Russia has reaffirmed that not only is the airbase in Latakia and the naval facility in Tartus continuing to operate, but that it will continue air operations against ISIS forces in Syria. Only a day after Putin’s announcement, Russian Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov stated that “Certain positive results have been achieved. A real chance has emerged to put an end to this long-running standoff. But it is still early to talk about victory over terrorism. The Russian aviation group has the task to continue carrying out strikes on terrorist facilities.”
So with the ceasefire agreement barely holding on, the “peace talks” taking place at the United Nations, and the threat of a Turkish/GCC invasion of Syria looming in the background, the question now is whether or not the situation will gradually trend toward peace and de-escalation or whether it will in fact escalate to a wider war between the opposing forces in Syria as well as other interested international actors.
After all, Staffan de Mistura, the UN Special Envoy for the Syria crisis, has already described the talks as essentially the only thing holding back an even wider full-scale war in Syria. While he made no effort to clarify what he meant by comment, the world outside of the Western countries are generally aware of the American agenda in Syria. Informed observers generally recognize that the NATO bloc, along with Israel and the GCC, are not content to simply admit they have been routed, pick up their ball, and go home. They continue to adapt their own methods in much the same way as the Russians and will respond as soon as they have surveyed the chessboard and have selected their next move.
An adjustment of strategy can take many forms but the most concerning is the possible NATO commitment to some type of gamble where it is believed or assumed that the Russians will indeed retreat instead of fight back in the event of a direct military invasion by the regional players and/or the United States.
If such a catastrophic military move ever happens, it will be one that affects every human being on the planet as it would pit two nuclear powers in conflict with one another.
Conclusion
Regardless, the manner in which the Russian announcement has been portrayed in the corporate Western press has served only to stir up a number of panicked responses from confused onlookers while, at the same time, providing a complete mystification of the true situation on the ground. Thus, it will become even more confusing to any casual observer attempting to gain any accurate representation of the Syrian crisis.
Unfortunately, what makes a leader look weak in the eyes of many Americans may very well make him look honorable in the eyes of the rest of the world, particularly those parts of it continuing to suffer under American imperialism, war, and destabilization.
Brandon Turbeville – article archive here – is the author of seven books, Codex Alimentarius — The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies, Five Sense Solutions and Dispatches From a Dissident, volume 1 and volume 2, The Road to Damascus: The Anglo-American Assault on Syria, and The Difference it Makes: 36 Reasons Why Hillary Clinton Should Never Be President. Turbeville has published over 650 articles on a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties. Brandon Turbeville’s radio show Truth on The Tracks can be found every Monday night 9 pm EST at UCYTV. His website is BrandonTurbeville.com He is available for radio and TV interviews. Please contact activistpost (at) gmail.com.
This withdrawal, or down scaling, is a little suspicious considering it is happening just as saudi and all of their mafia allies have announced a huge increase/invasion.
On the next tier, the three big “mission accomplished” objectives for the Rockefeller / Rothschild Mafia were:
(1) The creation of global boogeyman ISIS to re-ignite their fear based control meme;
(2) A refugee crisis that has flooded western nations with immigrants for multicultural divide and conquer;
(3) A strengthened UN role and a proto-global military force comprised of several nations.
With a lot of side benefits thrown in the mix…
I listened to the Russian Scaleback this AM on RT and then over on one of the US propaganda outlets. So amusing to listen to my nations news reporters, all they do is regurgitate what the Administration wants them to voice. Very little makes any point. Sad that in appearance Putin and Russia look more helpful than the destructive New World Order regime in DC
I can’t tolerate listening to western media anymore. And I loath people I work with talking like its fact!
Reading through the lies of the american money interests is like reading TEA LEAVES.
I’ve found it easier and usually more accurate to just think of the opposite of what they are trying to sell you.
All the money trails signal that Russia and China are also doing what they are told to do. The world stage is just that, a stage. They will use the appearance of great conflict to stabilize the entire world under a universal system of government and Russia and China also will cause the rest of the world to trust in the new government that will be subject to the G7 nations.
“And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”
Damascus shall fall………. Isaiah 17
Great tribulation is at the door. Matthew 24, Luke 21, Mark 13, Revelation, Daniel 7- 12
I give zero credibility to people who base their ideas on ‘prophecy’, particularly from such a filthy source as the ‘old testament’. Why don’t you learn to Think based on the situation as it is rather than trusting thousand year old bullshit?
The old testament is the most shocking thing I have ever ‘tried’ to read…
Yes, I found it disgusting even as a child, particularly what they did to the inhabitants of Jericho after the ‘walls came tumbling down’ (they butchered everybody and ‘salted’ the fields so they could no longer grow anything if I remember correctly). So different to the story told to me during my brief stint of ‘Sunday School’.
I recently listened to a talk video, done by a person raised as a ‘Jehovah’s Witness” who really knew his bible quotes. He effectively proved, using quotes from the old testament, that ‘Jehovah’ actually demanded/required human sacrifice especially of all the first born male babies. Filthy stuff. It’s hard to understand how they regard it as ‘The Good Book’ – they seem to be able to completely segregate what they read from anything ‘Real’, the murder and genocide seems invisible to them.
The roman catholic church is 100% jesuit order. How many people know that I wonder? Or ever read the oaths of the jesuit order? People need to think a bit more for sure!
Hummm… The Jesuit’s, I don’t know nearly enough about that bunch. I always saw them as the Vatican’s CIA but I’d sort of put them off for future research, one thing I learned just recently is they were not a creation of the Vatican but were independently created (Where, When and by Who?) and sort of volunteered themselves as the Popes ‘protectors’. I haven’t even read their oaths. But you’ve set me into research mode – I’ll have to get back to you on this one, some digging required before we can talk sensibly about it.
No worries buddy. One thing I can confirm is that the pope himself is a fully blown jesuit. So is Tony Abbott lol. They are a cruel bunch for sure; as you will see after reading the oaths which they must live and die for…
Whoops, ‘Hold on, this is waiting to be approved by Activist Post.’
But they usually pass my stuff, we’ll see. I’ll get back to you tomorrow.
I had a post taken down too?
Looks like their both up now – my net connection has been down all day, it just came back so I’m really behind, catching up slowly though…
I CAN SAY ONE THING THAT …THANK GOD POPE FRANCIS IS A JESUIT??.. IF?? INDEED?? BECAUSE WE WANT AND NEED THE MASONS OUTED!! GREEDY BASTARDS! AND ULTIMATELY THEY WILL NEVER SEIZE FULL CONTROL FROM THE CORE JESUITS!
I think the masons and the Jesuits are just different faces of the same beast.
p,s, All caps hurts my eyes.
hey sorry/// caps
No worries mate 🙂
SOO many people I’ve asked to tone it down have said “F*** you” and Insisted it was their ‘Right of Free Expression” that I hesitated to ask, so thank you PGirl.
They are the Santa Sede.
Please tell me more – I’m curious.
THE JESUITS ARE THE CODE KEEPERS, CODE WRITERS AND CODE ENFORCERS! OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL LAWS WITHIN THE CHURCH AND OUTSIDE THE CHURCH AND FOR THE RULING OF THE MASSES OF HUMANITY!
THEY ARE THE POWERFUL LAW KEEPERS AND LAWS MAKERS! THEY KEEP THE DIKTATS CORRECT AND COMING FORTH FROM THE CHURCH OF ROMES HIGHEST RULING COUNCILS!
THE PROBLEMS THE JESUITS HAVE NOW IS THE INFILTRATION OF MASONIC CONVOCATIONS TAKING OVER WITHIN THE RULING RANKS OF THE CHURCH IN ROMES INNER HIERARCHIES! THIS IS ALL DOCUMENTED OF COURSE.
YES THE INTERNAL POWER STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE SACROSANCT ESTABLISHED TRADITIONAL CARDINALS AND THE MASONIC BRANCHES ARE AT WAR FOR QUITE A WHILE!
HEY GUYS… YES THE JESUITS SUCK AND THEY HOLD THE KEYS! TO THE DOOR OF THE HOLY SEE AND HER CHURCH AND ALL! WELL THE OLD TESTAMENT WAS RE-WRITTEN TO SUIT THE POLITICAL MOVEMENTS OF THE TIMES THEY WERE USED IN TO FOR TELL THE CURRENT CRISIS AND READ THE FUTURE AND PENDING FUTURE. AS WITH ALL ANCIENT TEXT BOOKS THEY MUST BE READ AND COMPREHENDED UNDER THE TIMES THEY WERE REFERENCED TOO. SEE HISTORY BOOKS PURGED AND RE-WRITTEN TODAY IN THE SAME MANNER AND FASHION AS HISTORIANS DID LONG AGO! TO KEEP THEIR HEADS ON AND INFLUENCE OVER THE KINGS AND HIGH COURTS AND IN FAVOR WITH THE HIGH PRIEST!!
NOTHING HAS CHANGED IN THE LAST 5000 YEARS EXCEPT HUMANITIES SUFFERING HAS NOT CEASED OR DWINDLED AS PROMISED. THE SOCIAL PARALLELS ARE THE SAME. CLASS SOCIAL CONDITIONING THE SAME. CLASS SYSTEMS THE SAME!!
Very true, Paris! Good post. You nailed it right there…
I agree the old tesament was thrown out by Yashua himself. But most of your lost morons in the chief still believe the garbage spewed in the Old Testament. If god “is the same today and the same tomorrow” and never changes then why did he want us to kill innocent animals in worship of him in the Old Testament but in the New Testament he does not???? Use your brains people, for more than a hat rack. The Old Testament says god is a jealous god, vengeful god…..really???? A perfect mind with flawed human atributes, do you people really believe that garbage????
Did you see my post where I said that apparently wanted human sacrifices too? He specified ‘male first born babies’.
The members of the UN Security Council have their commonality and criminality rooted in the fact that they are all gun runners who owe a debt to the central banking system.
ty for this article and I appreciate the commenters. Not any real people believe the MSM – it is all nwo all the time.
Hopefully the Syria ‘thing’ (since the don’t declare war) will come to an end and all the men and women in U.S. uniform will come home and protect our borders. If IsRaHEll wants war let them fight the war, notice how none of the gold collar scum nor their kids ever fight in the war – being the chickenshits they are.
Withdrawal is always defeated by the US withdrawing from Vjetnam etc.
Just a bit of feedback – you’re making no sense Zina. At least I can’t extract your meaning.
I suspect that Putin is doing a sort of Aikido move, expecting an attack he decided to be not there to attack, thus throwing his opponents off balance.
Putin has way too much KGB in him still…
At the snap of his fingers he could draw up a million conscripts in a day, send them to syria in a week, have them kill everything like the plague, then bring them home after a month…
But he likes to play mind games… Too much KGB…
In the days after the withdraw of Russians, in Europe we start listening in the ¨news¨ that same song about terrosits here, terrosists there, that have me thinking if the west is looking for an excuse of a new attack. In Turkey too, things looking much the same.
Putin has to know that since he didn’t kill all the cockroaches, when he pulls back, that will embolden all the supporters from the west, turkey and so on. Why hand over all your work of advancement?
Doesn’t make sense.
NO MORE VILE THAN A THE MASONIC RITUALS! REALLY! THE CATHOLICS ARE JUST A BIT MORE BLOOD CURDLING! AND DRAMATIC!! FILLED WITH PASSIONATE ADORATION’S AND RITUALS ! LOVE THAT DRAMA!! AND DOGMA!! HAND IN HAND WE’LL RULE THE WORLD! THE PRIESTS GO FORTH! FOR CONVERSION AND CONVOCATION!
HEY BRETT I LIKED YOUR SYNOPSIS OS THE RC CHURCH! YEAH I LIVED IT TOO. YEARS AT SCHOOLS WITH THE NUNS!
I WAS RAISED RC AND MY DAD WHEN TO JESUITS SCHOOL FROM 1st GRADE TO COLLEGE GRAD. HE USED TO GIVE US MANY DISSERTATIONS EVERY NIGHT AT THE DINNING TABLE WALKING UP AND DOWN! PREACHING PROPERLY…IF THERE IS ONE THING I KNOW ABOUT IT’S THE JESUITS!
So what do you think now, Johno? Well done, buddy. I listened to a 3 hour talk on this one night not so long ago. I was horrified. You will find a connection with the sexual corrupting of children as one of their favoured pastimes as they believe it elevates them to a higher place. Its a form of worship! So Tony Abbott puts them in all our schools? Beware people and trust NO ONE! Thanks Johno…
Again my post is being moderated…
Ok mate. Are we on a out of bounds subject lol?
Beats me, it makes no sense to me… But at least they get posted eventually.
“Western corporate media has been on fire with speculation that Russia is
evacuating the country, retreating, and giving up on its military
objectives.” this is the kind on nonsense you get when you mutilate genitals of those journalists.