Vladimir Putin has made a chilling warning to the West that Russia’s campaign in Syria was perfect training for World War 3.
In an earlier article, the Inquisitr reported that a former CIA agent and top U.S. defense expert warned that the world is more dangerous than it has ever been due to the rise of heavily armed and well-funded terrorist groups. Now that Vladimir Putin has begun making idle boasts about how ready for World War 3 his troops are, danger on a global scale appears to have intensified.
Like a boot boy on steroids with the chip the size of a small, emerging nation on his shoulders, Putin likes to throw his weight around, and he’s certainly guilty of crashing around like an elephant in a china shop when it comes to Russia’s campaign in Syria.
There’s been bombs, bombs, and more bombs during the five-and-a-half-month bombing campaign, which activists state has claimed thousands of civilian lives.
Putin, on the other hand, considers the bloody bombing campaign an expression of Russian might, an overwhelming success, and a solid indicator to the world that Russia is ready, if provoked, to hit the ground running if World War 3 should break out and drag the world screaming into an abyss of no return.
In a speech where Putin hailed the perceived successes of Russia’s bombing campaign in Syria, the world leader growled that it has prepared Russia’s armed forces for all-out war, and he could have thousands of extra troops on the ground and ready to rumble in hours if necessary.
The Express reports that daily sorties of Russian fighter jets cost the country 33 billion roubles (£336 million), but Putin remains adamant that the costly campaign was worth the price to bolster President Bashar al-Assad and Russia’s influence in the region.
In the same speech, Putin thanked the Russian armed services for their dedication before announcing with no little glee that the operation proved far better training for any possible World War 3 scenario than any war games on home soil ever could.
It’s a strange thing for a world’s statesman to say, but then again, the Russian bear has never been renowned for his nuanced style or masterful diplomatic skills.
Under Putin, Russia boasts more nuclear weapons than any other country in the world and has 765,000 well-trained troops at her disposal.
Although Moscow has made a partial withdraw from Syria, Putin has announced that his country will continue to aid and abet President Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian government in combating Islamic State and the equally dangerous extremist group al-Nusra Front.
To put his military might where his mouth is, Vladimir Putin has left behind the S-400 air defense missile system that is equipped to bring down a commercial or fighter plane so that President Bashar’s head can rest easy on his silk pillows at night.
At a Kremlin medal ceremony held for military personnel who have served in Syria, Putin also killed any notion that a rift had developed between Russia and the Syrian government and was quick to stress that the Russian bear still had President al-Assad’s back.
“If necessary, literally within a few hours, Russia can build up its contingent in the region to a size proportionate to the situation developing there and use the entire arsenal of capabilities at our disposal.”
Putin’s triumphant speech and bold boast that Russia was battle ready for World War 3 will be seen by many as the usual bluff and bluster leading into a kingdom of smoke and mirrors, where wrong is right and right is wrong.
Behind all the bombs and bombast, human rights groups on the ground in Syria have accused Russia of launching an air campaign of hate which has led to the death of about 2,000 civilians.
Chris Woods, the director of monitoring group Airwars, believes any strategic benefits to Russian have come at too high a cost to innocent people.
“Any strategic benefits of Russia’s intervention have come at a bloody cost to civilians, with all local casualty recorders in agreement that 2,000 or more non-combatants have died.
“Thousands more opposition fighters have also died, in a Russian campaign which has outstripped the coalition both in terms of tempo and aggressiveness.”
[Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images]