This is what we get when we elect ignorant and arrogant dilettantes who think that they understand the complexities of geopolitical intrigue.

At Ace of Spades Open Blogger tells us about a change in the way Syria responds to Israeli jets flying over their airspace. Syria used to do nothing about it. Now Asaad thinks Russia has his back. Micah Halpern reports at Observer, (Tuesday)

Syria shot two surface-to-air missiles at Israeli jets—and they shot at the Israeli jets not even over their own air space.

These were not errant missiles or spillover shots which is military parlance for mistakes. These missiles were calculated and intentionally targeted shots from an S-200 Russian missile system aimed at Israeli jets that were, quite frankly, targeting Syrian rocket launchers.

This is a major change in Syrian engagement. It could signal an escalation of tensions between Israel and Syria, especially because three mortars were shot from Syria into Israel later that day.

We know that Russia has given Syria the green light in many areas. I cannot imagine, however, that Russia signed off on this latest adventure. Russia does not want to test its technological military prowess against Israel over Syria.

The potential embarrassment to Russia would be so humiliating to them and jeopardize their entire Middle East plan. Imagine if there engaged in a dog fight over Syria or the Mediterranean and Russia took more losses than Israel. The entire episode would take only a few seconds—blink and it’s over. If Israel were to emerge victorious, which is highly probable, not only would Russia lose face but the ripple effect of that encounter in the Arabic and Muslim world would turn Israel into a superpower even greater than the Arab world already believes her to be.

Russia cannot afford that kind of risk. They are playing for the long run in the Middle East. This was an amateur move on Syria’s part. There will be repercussions.

Read more here.

Open Blogger adds this important observation,

This is what we get when we elect ignorant and arrogant dilettantes who think that they understand the complexities of geopolitical intrigue. The world is going to suffer for a very long time because Obama and his idiot surrogates in the state department think they can outmaneuver the rest of the world.

They haven't yet...not once, and it has been almost eight years.

Read more here.