Mother Russia is back, or so it seems. President Putin wants the entire globe to see that Russia is still a global power with which to reckon. Except, it seems that he's using Syria as his leading hand.
TheTardus Naval Port in Syria was bought by the USSR in 1971 with no stated intention given their Naval presence in more strategic locations. And when the Soviet Union fell, Russia found that it didn't have the money to invest in Tardus.
When Gaddafi fell, leaving long time Russia supporter, Lybia, no longer friendly to Putin, Tardus became Russia's only presence in the region The discovery of vast gas deposits just offshore have transformed the once insignificant Tardus port into a strategic necessity.
Since Putin's time as a KGB officer, over half the population of the Soviet Empire has left as has a quarter of its land mass, and most of its world power. Putin has described the Soviet Union's fall as a "geopolitical catastrophe."
The growing trend among the Western Powers to remove disapproved administrations in other sovereign countries and a program to isolate Russia has Putin looking to for any possible way to assert himself with influence. That influence rests with Tardus
With the US directing military operations in Syria with Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia at a control center in Adana about 60 miles from the Syrian border, which is also home to the American air base in Incirlik, the Russians are keen to remind the Americans and Europeans that their dealings with the various Moslem extremists can bring grave danger.
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