© Sergey Mamontov / RIA Novosti
Consent was necessary for deployment of troops for foreign combat missions under the Russian constitution.
Comment: Russia lives by its ideals. Compare to the U.S. Consent from Syria? Nope. Consent from the UN? Nope. Consent from Congress? Nope.
The request for use of force was sent by the president after considering the large number of Russian citizens, who went to join terrorist groups fighting in Syria, head of the presidential administration Sergey Ivanov told media. There are thousands of them, and Russia's national security would be under threat, should they return home, he added.
Ivanov stressed that no ground operations are planned in Syria. Russia would use its warplanes to hit terrorist targets when requested by the Syrian government. He stressed that unlike the US-led coalition of countries that bombs militant troops in Syria, Russia was invited to do so by the legal authorities of Syria and thus follows international law.
The bombing campaign is time-limited, Ivanov said, not revealing a clear deadline for it. He said he was not authorized to disclose details of the operation such as the number of warplanes involved.
Previously, Russia provided the Syrian government with advanced weapons and military instructors to teach the Syrians how to use them.
The development comes after Moscow has intensified involvement in Syria, establishing an Iraqi-based military communications center with Damascus, Baghdad and Tehran.
It also happened just days after President Putin called for an international anti-terrorist effort in Syria that would include the government of President Assad at the UN General Assembly. Western nations have been seeking to oust Assad since 2011, but several key nations such as Germany, France, Britain and the US have confirmed they would not be opposed to Assad staying in power for a transitional period, which would include defeating the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorist group.
IS has taken over large portions of Syria and neighboring Iraq and is on its way to creating a caliphate. Islamic State has consolidated its position with a combination of successful raids, barbaric brutality and active campaigning on social media targeting potential recruits and supporters worldwide.
There are other significant militant groups active in Syria, including an Al Qaeda branch in the region, Al Nusra Front, which competes with IS for territory, resources and fighters. Another major player in the country is the Kurd militia, which has been defending the Kurd-populated north from IS with assistance from the US-led coalition.
Comment: Putin's strategy has worked like a charm. First, there were around 2 weeks of murky, rumor-filled reports of a build-up of Russian military activity in Tartus and Latakia, Syria. Some were false, some had a seed of truth, but it got everyone talking. This at the same time that Western media was hyping the refugee crisis and the danger of ISIS 'infiltrating Europe'. Second, there was talk of a new coalition to fight ISIS. This irked the West: Russian assistance in Latakia makes any no-fly zone in Syria a no-go. And a real coalition risks actually defeating ISIS, which the West doesn't really want. (They were counting on ISIS as the means or pretext of taking out Assad.) Now this, quick on the heels of Putin's talk at the UN and his meeting with Obama, using the West's own pretext: the threat of radicalized nationals 'returning home'. Of course, Russia has other reasons for going to Syria, too: Burying ISIS and unipolarity together: Putin at the UN