Czar Vladimir I
(Shutterstock photo)
Here’s NATO top general Philip Breedlove on Russia’s Syria deployments:
“As we see the very capable air defense [systems] beginning to show up in Syria, we’re a little worried about another A2/AD bubble being created in the eastern Mediterranean,” said Breedlove to an audience at the German Marshall Fund Monday.
A2/AD stands for anti-access/area denial. During the early stages of warfare, A2/AD could have been a moat around a castle, or spikes dug into the ground—anything to keep the enemy off a certain swathe of territory. In the 21st century, however, A2/AD is a combination of systems such as surface-to-air missile batteries and anti-ship missiles deployed to prevent forces from entering or traversing a certain area—from land, air or sea.
Ostensibly Russia’s deployments are intended to defend the Assad regime from terrorists and rebels. But deployments are intentions, and neither the ISIS nor any of the rebel groups have airplanes to shoot down or warships to sink.
We and our allies, however, do.
Syria is fast becoming the Middle East outpost of the New Russian Empire.
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