US President Barack Obama has said the Russian bombing campaign in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad is driving moderate opposition underground and “only strengthening” Islamic State.Mr Obama said he rejected the Russian assertion that all armed opponents of the “brutal” Mr Assad were terrorists.Moscow insists its air strikes – which began on Wednesday – are targeting IS.But the Syrian opposition and others have suggested non-IS rebels are bearing the brunt of Russian attacks.Russia said its aircraft had hit IS command centres, arms depots and military vehicles. Targets included the IS stronghold of Raqqa, but also Aleppo, Hama and Idlib – provinces with little IS presence. The cold war, which started with the end of the World War-II, lasted till collapse of Soviet Union in 1991 but there are clear signs during the last few years that Russia is re-emerging on the world scene. The tension between the US-led West and Russia has been increasing and it was quite visible during so-called Arab Spring, conflicts in the Arab world especially Syria, Iranian nuclear issue and the Ukraine crisis. The ‘Bear’ became inefficient and ineffective but credit goes to Valdimir Putin who fundamentally changed Russia domestically and reasserted the country internationally. Diplomats point out that Russian re-emergence on the scene is probably going to instigate a power rivalry which would shake the US dominance andlead the both towards a new cold war era. This could be a blessing in disguise for third world countries, who were comparatively safe and secure during bi-polar world and are being blackmailed, pressurized and invaded by the world’s only super power now, which is mindlessly pursuing the policy of preventive strikes, destabilization of vulnerable states and changing the popular regimes.
pk.shafaqna.com
