[Sioux-san]

No downside except unless our Spoiled Brat in the WH (and McCain prods it along) goes after Russia with our own troops on the ground in Syria. This is where WW3 will kick off officially in the not to distant future.

[RC one]

We got involved in the region mainly to assure access to Persian Gulf oil. That imperative is less urgent than before, since we are producing more oil at home and consuming less

There's so much more to it than that now. Like it or not, we have to play the great game with Russia in the middle east.

[robowombat]

The downside can be due to both distraction by the political class with the upcoming Presidential campaign and the usual decline in capacity of an administration in its last year that the US will gradually drift into a conflict with the Russians within Syria. This administration is now basically whistling past the grave yard in foreign policy areas and its concentration is on whether to try and sink Hillary. In spite of a hugely expensive Executive apparatus it is well known that an administration can't focus on two big issues at once.(yes I know Reagan did at some times but he doesn't count and during Iran-Contra his White House was just as consumed by this petty (in relative terms) scandal as was Clinton over his zipper problems.) BHO or more correctly Valerie Jarratt is now focused on Hillary after the Iran deal has been finessed.

The big problem is there is now a direct great power confrontation looming with no one really strong in place. Take a look at our team, The Mahdi, The Viet-Nam Hero at State and that sad sack Martin Dempsey of diversity is more important than troop security fame as CJCS and that clod Capper from the old USAF Security Service as intel chief and crypto-Muslim Brenner at CIA. This is a situation made for real danger. Putin will try to get a firm position in Iraq as well as Syria and there probably be shoot down incidents with USAF aircraft as we sure aren't sharing IFF info with the Russians. This could burn on into next year and then really explode during the election cycle.

[morphing libertarian]

I hope he didn’t step across Obama’s red line.

[Hugin]

Media darling Carly wants us to declare a “no fly zone” around the so called Free Syrian Army (who are allied with Al Qaeda) and shoot down any Russian jets that bomb them. Why? We don’t even need mideastern oil anymore. If Russia wants to fight muslims, let them.

[DJ Taylor]

What isn’t mentioned here or in any postings I’ve read so far is that both the U.S. and Russia have entered into a religious war between the Sunni sect and the Shiite sect of the Islamic religion that has been ongoing now since the 7th Century AD.

Russia’s obvious motive for taking part in this Muslim religious war on the side of Syria’s Shiite President Assad and Shiite Iran is clearly to establish Russian influence and control in the Middle East. The United States’ just as obvious motive for taking sides with the Syrian Sunni rebels who are attempting to remove Syria’s Shiite President from power and install a Sunni leader can only be attributed to Sunni Saudi Arabia’s influence within our government.

The fact that the Syrian Sunni rebels are almost indistinguishable from the Sunni ISIS/ISIL Jihadists who are also actively striving to remove Syria’s Shiite President and install Sunni leadership seems to be apparent to the Russians but obtuse to the U.S.

Your guess is as good as mine as to why these facts aren’t being openly discussed by our government spokesmen and our Main Stream Media.

[Parley Baer]

“Republicans regard this as a calamity. But what’s the downside?”

In this guys mind McCain represents all Republicans. That sends up a red flag to me.

[octex]

Author of the piece, Chapman, seems to be an idiot.

Who are the Republicans he claims that see Russia’s actions in Syria as a “calamity”? He doesn’t bother to name them.