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From – IOL (So. Africa)

Russia’s unyielding support for Damascus throughout the 16 months of Syria’s escalating crisis has earned Moscow strong condemnation from Washington and other Western governments, but the reasons for Russia’s implacable position have never been fully explained by Moscow or its critics.

Washington’s latest clash with Moscow came on Tuesday when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Russia’s assertion that it sold only defensive weapons to Damascus “patently untrue”. That was after Clinton accused Russia of shipping attack helicopters to Syria to crush the rebellion, a charge denied by Moscow.

The New York Times reported on Thursday that Russia was only returning repaired helicopters sold to Syria decades ago. . . . .

. . . . . But a clearer image of Russia’s stance comes into focus when put in the context of Moscow’s 30-year struggle against encroachment into its sphere of influence by militant Islam. The support at times given these groups by the US and Gulf Arab nations has opened a three-decade rift with Russia that began in Afghanistan and has run across the Northern Caucasus to the Balkans and now into Syria.

Russia is opposed to regime change in Syria not only on principle, but because the likely new regime would be headed by an Islamist government inimical to Russian interests, analysts and diplomats say.

“You can talk about arms sales, and the port, but the real thing that Russia is worried about is an Islamic government coming to power in Syria,” said a senior Western diplomat, who would only speak on condition of anonymity because of the current tension in Western-Russian relations.

“Russia is obviously concerned about Islamic regimes and perhaps most important of all it is terrifiedof chaos,” said Mark Galeotti, who chairs the Centre for Global Affairs at New York University. He said chaos andanarchy in the Middle East fuels the rise of Islamic extremism.

“Russia feels that the West doesn’t know how to handle regime change and that the outcome is almost invariably the kind of chaos from which Islamic extremist movements arise,” Galeotti said.

The dominant member of Syria’s opposition is the Muslim Brotherhood, suppressed for 40 years by al-Assad and his father Hafiz al-Assad before him. The discord in the Syrian opposition arises largely from differences between the Brotherhood and secular liberal groups, the Western diplomat said.

The emergence of al-Qaeda affiliated groups, responsible for several bombings, has added a menacing dimension.  . . . (more)

http://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/opinion/why-russia-really-supports-syria-1.1320809