Posted on 10/08/2015 11:58:03 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Baghdad (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin's bullish entry into the Syrian conflict has worked wonders for his popularity in neighbouring Iraq, where some await "Hajji Putin" like a saviour.
Sitting at his easel in his central Baghdad workshop, painter Mohammed Karim Nihaya touches up a portrait of Putin he copied from the Internet.
"I have been waiting for Russia to get involved in the fight against Daesh," he says, referring to the Islamic State (ISIS) group that last year declared a "caliphate" straddling Iraq and Syria.
"They get results. The United States and its allies on the other hand have been bombing for a year and achieved nothing," the bespectacled artist says.
The US-led coalition has had some successes in helping Iraqi forces reconquer territory lost to IS in 2014 but overall the campaign has also suffered setbacks.
Russian warplanes began bombing targets in Syria on September 30 and on Wednesday Moscow ramped up its air war, unleashing cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea.
Some of them crossed Iraqi airspace and many here, especially among the Shiite majority, would welcome a bit of Russia's firepower on home soil as a much-awaited game-changer.
Only a fraction of Russian air strikes in Syria may have been destined for ISIS but Mohammed, a young jobless man outside the painter's shop, does not let statistics cloud his enthusiasm.
"We don't want the international coalition, we want only Russia and we will slaughter a sheep to welcome them," he says.
Some Iraqis see Moscow -- which has staunchly backed Damascus and Tehran in recent years -- as a more natural ally than the United States, which occupied the country for eight years.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Our trillion dollars spent to bring liberty and democracy to Iraq was clearly well spent. /s
That's because one (Putin) sees islamic terrorism as an existential threat and has the will to crush it, while the other (Obama) views it as a part-time irritant to be minimally managed.
Because Obama is a little B*tch that needs to be ear boxed off the world stage. He is an ignorant, lazy, stupid, puny, nothing-man who never should have been allowed near the reins of power in our nation.
We can thank the Media for presenting him to the American people as a plausible candidate. They lied, and there needs to be consequences to them for having done this to us.
The world will not be set straight until those people who misuse the brainwashing power of media have been brought to justice.
Since 9/11 we were more concerned with winning the so called “hearts and minds” of these medieval savages. To Russia’s credit, they are more concerned with getting results.
I've seen counts as high as $6 Trillion - and 4400+ dead Americans. And the lying MSM now tells us Putin is their hero. The whole thing makes my blood boil.
It is in Russia’s political and economic interest to put ISIS out of business, especially since Iran has become more and more tied economically with the Russians.
“”They get results. The United States and its allies on the other hand have been bombing for a year and achieved nothing,” the bespectacled artist says.”
The damage OBunghole has done to our reputation will take decades to repair (if ever).
The Russians will bring no rebuilding money , they’ll just strip every building bare when they leave ,if they leave
But the Shiites will be happy because they killed a bunch of Sunnis.
I think Shi’ites are what were once Christians and Zoroastrians and Neo-Platonists (sort of a late Roman empire philosopher religion like Confucianism) that adopted a slightly different form of Islam to separate themselves from their Sunni conquerors. They allow images in their art, they venerate saints, relics and holy sights and other different practices from Sunni Wahhabist Islam. In some cases, some Shia sects like the Alawites are considered Crypto-Christians by the Sunnis because they go to churches along side Christians on high holy days like Easter.
I like your tagline, lol
Then let him have the place.
Thanks!!!
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