Is Russia going to put boots on the ground in Syria? Speculation has risen sharply in recent days with the delivery of advanced armored vehicles of a type that the Kremlin has never before supplied to the Assad regime. Many pundits are predicting that at the very least, Russia will be sending Spetsnaz special forces units to deal with Assad's advancing enemies. Assertions by the Kremlin that they have no intention of becoming involved do not deserve credence. Putin will do whatever most suits Russia's purposes, regardless of the further misery and massacre that his meddling will cause. A key consideration must be the Russian naval base at Tartus, modernized and expanded just before the Syrian people rose up against the Assad dictatorship. This is the Kremlin's only naval facility in the Mediterranean. With the seizure of Crimea last year, the Russian navy has had unrestricted access to its dockyard facilities which are now seen as a major strategic asset. Not so many years ago, the Black Sea fleet was largely made up of rusting, abandoned hulks. The picture today is very different as the Russian government pours money into its armed forces including the navy. Russian admirals must surely be pushing Putin to keep the Tartus base. The only way that will occur is for the Assad regime to survive. The moment the dictator is toppled, Russia has lost Tartus. More worryingly, the Syrian port can clearly act as the secure base for a buildup of Russian ground forces. As and when the Kremlin feels it must come to Assad's aid, it will be a relatively simple matter to bring in troops and equipment. Close air support could come from Russian carriers, one of which, the Admiral Kuznetsov is just completing a refit in the Crimea. The question is how such soldiers would be used. It seems clear that the deadliest threat to Assad is Daesh (self-proclaimed IS). Indeed, the ruthless terrorists are hardly less deadly to the members of the Free Syrian Army, to whom they once pretended to be loyal allies. Therefore, Russian troops could find themselves up against hardened thugs. Putin would undoubtedly claim that Russia was playing its part in the international war on terror. But since Assad chose to characterize any of his countrymen who sought his overthrow as terrorists, Russian soldiers would also almost certainly be fighting members of the FSA. Given the US-led coalition airstrikes against Daesh, in which warplanes from the Kingdom are also taking part, the Russians could find themselves confronting the same evil. But then of course the international community, with the exception of Iran and Russia, wants an end to Assad's bloody rule. Syria has become a devil's brew of evil with warring parties tearing the country apart. And the responsibility for this rests firmly at the door of President Vladimir Putin. His refusal to counsel Assad to go quietly, when the Syrian dictator had the chance, has cost the lives of well over a quarter of a million people, turned millions into refugees and spawned the wicked and remorseless killers of Daesh.
