By Hailey Brace '19
Russia recently shocked the world by launching its first airstrikes in Syria, giving the United States just a one-hour notice. This notice came in the form of a warning to the U.S. that it should evacuate Syrian airspace—advice that the U.S. declined to heed. The strikes, which began on September 30th at the request of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, continued with subsequent rounds the next two days.Officially, Russia claims that it is launching the airstrikes to fight the Islamic State (ISIS). The U.S. and its allies, however, have pointed out that the strikes are actually targeting areas where ISIS has little or no presence. In fact, the U.S. has openly accused Russia of using airstrikes to combat the Syrian rebel forces that pose a threat to President Assad’s regime.Russia and the U.S. have sharply conflicting views on the military conflict in Syria. While leaders of both nations have advocated for a political solution to the crisis, they have funneled support to opposing sides of the conflict. Russia supports President Assad, believing that the survival of his regime is critical to Russian interests throughout the Middle East, and has worked to keep him in power by supplying weapons to the Syrian army. The U.S., by contrast, has offered support to the very opposition forces that are fighting to remove Assad from power. The U.S. believes that Assad has used chemical weapons to attack his own people, which is one of its main reasons for opposing the regime.One obvious danger resulting from the Russian airstrikes is a cramped Syrian airspace. With Syrian, Russian, and American aircraft operating in the space, there is significant risk that someone in these planes will make a deadly mistake. Another implication of the strikes has been outrage from American politicians and the Pentagon. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter has stated that the airstrikes will only “inflame the civil war in Syria.” Internationally, the U.S., Britain, Turkey, France, Germany, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia have released a joint statement accusing Russia of targeting Iraq and Egypt. Both Iraq and Egypt, however, have issued statements of support for the airstrikes. Further consequences of the airstrikes in Syria will be seen in the coming weeks, as strikes continue and it becomes clear who Russia is truly targeting and how the White House will respond to attacks on U.S.-backed Syrian forces and civilians.Sources:http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/09/30/world/middleeast/syria-control-map-isis-rebels-airstrikes.htmlhttp://www.cnn.com/2015/10/01/world/russia-syria-airstrikes-explainer/http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/russia-begins-surgical-strikes-targeting-isis-syria-n436106http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/30/politics/russia-syria-airstrikes-isis/http://www.wsj.com/articles/cameron-adds-to-criticism-of-russian-airstrikes-in-syria-1443886450http://www.albawaba.com/news/egypt-backs-russian-airstrikes-syria-750508http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/10/04/turkey-says-russian-airstrikes-in-syria-unacceptablehttp://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-23849587