Monday, December 14, 2015

Is Iran Retreating From Syria?

Michael Ledeen

"My friend and terrific reporter, Eli Lake, has reported that American and other Western defense experts believe that Iran is withdrawing troops from Syria. The Saudis’ London outlet says the same, with feebler sources (some FSA guy who says he was listening to Iranian communications).
"I have my doubts. An Iranian retreat would be a watershed event, because it would mean that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had done a 180 on a fundamental principle of his regime: doing whatever it takes to save Bashar al-Assad’s tyrannical rule in Syria.
"Our eyes in the skies are very keen, and no doubt some Iranian ground forces, spurred by the significant loss of life they have suffered in the past couple of years, are returning to the Islamic Republic. On the other hand -- if you follow Emanuele Ottolenghi’s tweets (@eottolenghi) -- you’ll see significant air traffic between Iran and Syria. As Emanuele says, those airplanes are carrying weapons, ammunition, and fighters. It doesn’t look as if this resupply operation is diminishing."

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