In Syria last week, the Russian military raised the stakes in their global confrontation against the Western world when they launched a series of airstrikes against the New Syrian Army (NSA), a specially-selected group of moderates who are trained and backed by the United States.
And it was brazen. Not only does the New Syrian Army frequently have Western and Jordanian special operations forces embedded with them, but they have American air support. Which means that the Russians may not only have killed or injured allied special operations forces, but they could have found themselves in air-to-air combat with U.S. fighter jets. It was reminiscent of the Cold War concept of Crazy Ivan, the possibility that a rogue Soviet commander could commit an action causing all-out war.
The attacks took place on June 16 near the al-Tanf border crossing in Syria. Two NSA fighters died and as many as 18 were injured.
During the course of the attack, the NSA called for help and American F/A-18 fighter jets came screaming into the rescue. The Russian jets fled, but then returned once the F/A-18’s left to re-fuel. Brazen!
The Pentagon has paid at least $500 million to train moderate forces in Syria and the NSA are widely considered the best of the bunch. Not only have they been extensively vetted, but they’ve all signed documents pledging to fight only ISIS, not the government of Syria.
The only group the NSA was fighting near al-Tanf was ISIS. Thus the Russians were not only risking a greater confrontation against the West, they were effectively defending ISIS, acting as their air force.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has made it clear how he feels about the situation: “Russia needs to understand that our patience is not infinite,” he said.
Russian Army General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the armed forces staff and first deputy defense minister, was ready with a reply: “If anyone’s patience on Syria is waning, it is ours, not the United States,” he said. “We are in full compliance with our obligations to…ensure national reconciliation in Syria.”
While it’s impossible to predict how things will turn out, one thing is certain: Crazy Ivan is back.
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