Syria to Putin: Get the Fuck Out

Good riddance

Ok.

I’ll admit it.

Today was the first time in a very long while that I kept smiling all the way through until I finished a story. It was one of those rare occasions.

If someone had told me a year ago that Putin would be kicked out of Syria, I would have laughed at their opinion. The Russian group in the region is known as the PMTG — Permanent Mediterranean Task Group.

Permanent.

The Russian lease for the Tartus Naval Port in Syria runs to 2068. This port is a crucial warm water facility for Russia and the only Russian naval base in the Mediterranean equipped with the infrastructure necessary to support their naval operations in the region, as well as in the Middle East and Africa.

The fully packed Russian ships at the Tartus Naval Base before their departure (Credit: @imagesatint/Twitter)

Without that naval base, Russian submarines, warships, and naval transport ships couldn’t operate freely in the region. They couldn’t escort Iranian oil tankers or keep an eye on NATO forces in the Mediterranean.

Had the Russians not set foot in Syria and established their military presence using the Tartus Naval Base and Khmeimim Air Base, US…