CrowBat...Russian troops are inbound if this is correct.....statements reflects large number of officers with peacekeeping experience.....this IMO tends to point to both the Russian 14th and 15th Peacekeeping Mech Infantry/Armor Brigades are coming in as these are the two Russian designated UN peacekeeping brigades as one would not be able to fully cover Syria with one.
WHY do I say this...check the last paragraph of the Russian statement ...taken straight from their peacekeeping doctrinal presentation which I have a copy of....
Have trained the staff of the 15th in 2012 and 2013 and even got them over to using the US decision making processes (MDMP) including reporting processes complete with translated reports will be interesting to see what they kept and what they discarded in the coming months.
Russian Embassy, UAE ✔ @RusEmbassyUAE
#Russia has started a complex work aimed at #reconciliation in #Syria |
http://goo.gl/Vkq3S9 | #روسيا #سوريا
pic.twitter.com/VsCFUYKj5a
These two brigades would in fact have enough firepower to counter any cross overs by Turkey and or KSA into Syria...if linked into the Russian forces already in Syria......
Want to bet neither Kerry and or Obama knew this when they were negotiating with the Russians otherwise he would not have been talking about a Plan B or DoD/IC would not be saying Russians will not hold to the ceasefire....
BTW ...their unrestricted SOFA fully allows for major stationing of Russian troops and indicates to me Assad is in place until 2020 much as he stated in his interviews and press releases the last two weeks....