Your analysis is fine as far as it goes, but it overlooks the fact that there are others involved besides the Alawites and Sunnis. Syria has a sizable Christian minority, which has always backed the Ba’athist government — Ba’athism being the only popular ideology among the Arabs that is actually secular, most Arab Christians in the Middle East, if they are political at all are Ba’athists — and most Syrian Christians are, like Russians, Orthodox.
During the Ottoman period, Russia acted as the protector of Orthodox Christians under Ottoman rule by periodically saber rattling to force concessions from the Sultan. Church-State relations in Russian having returned to more or less the status quo ante the Bolshevik seizure of power, it is natural for Russia to return to the role of protector of the Middle Eastern Orthodox.
Interesting history, thanks. This is a welcome development as far as I can see. The Western leaders have shown they don't give a fig for the Christians of the Middle East. So get out and leave the field to someone who does.
My guess is Orthodox and Catholics in the Middle East will feel way more protected under Vlad than under a wimpified America.
To try to think of Putin, a former KGB Colonel, leading a Crusade to protect Middle Eastern Christians would stretch one's wishful thinking to the breaking point. However, it could make a convenient cover story in an attempt to hide his true intentions, and, in my humble opinion, his motive is as follows:
Before this is over, Iran, with Russian and Chinese support, will invade Saudi Arabia and seize the Saudi oil fields. With Russia and Iran in control of most of the world’s developed oil reserves, they can not only say, “Death to America,” but they can then make it happen, and who do we have to blame for this? We have no one to blame but ourselves, for it was the American people who voted politicians into office, both Democrat and Republican, who could be bought by the Saudis through campaign contributions and outright bribes to prevent the development of our own oil reserves. We will soon be dependent on oil reserves controlled by our enemies, who will not hesitate to use this dependence to destroy us.
Once our oil supply is interrupted, our economy could collapse before we can replace Saudi oil with our own. If our economy can no longer provide for the 47% of our population who refuse to provide for themselves but depend on “Free Stuff” in exchange for their vote, our population could fragment and slide into the abyss of violence and racial hatred.
All of Europe would then be totally dependent on Russian controlled oil and gas for their survival, and when this happens, Putin's motive for invading the Middle East will be apparent to even the most rabid Putin apologists. Russia will have finally gained something they've been trying to achieve for centuries, total political control of all of Europe. Yes, "Putin The Great" will be remembered for many years to come
Putin, the chess player that he is and thinking five moves ahead, knows that Obama, an impotent homosexual, doesn’t have the courage to prevent him from taking control of the Middle East, and by the time Obama is out of office in 2017, it’ll be too late.