Russia is plastering the CIA-backed rebels in Syria, and one of its officials recently said we should not be surprised to see "volunteers" enter the fray. See: http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-concludes-russia-targeting-cia-backed-rebels-in-syria-1444088319 This euphemism is a blend of covert forces from the Russian Intelligence Services (the FSB mostly) and regular army troops who are said to be "on leave" or vacationing in some hot spots where nobody in their right mind goes. In this case, it is a little less subtle than in Ukraine because the world's press services have been tracking the Russian efforts in Ukraine and know how they bring in forces. They are looking for the same clues now in Syria.
Start watching Facebook. In a now famous incident in Ukraine, a Russian soldier "on leave" was spiked at several locations inside Russia and inside Ukraine, just by watching the locations of his photos. He and his buddies took lots of pictures of each other and posted them, complete with geo-location information. Anyone could tell where they were. We don't need satellite photos and human intelligence to collect that kind of data.
Watch news stories in Russia. The Russians have identified their enemies in news articles and had show trials to demonstrate their power over anyone who disagrees with them. Some of those rebel groups will start showing up as "war criminals" or just criminals, and prosecuted in absentia in Russia or Syria. The Russians are anything but subtle. What they do is prosecute people so they are tied up at border crossings when international warrants are posted on their enemies. They don't have to be guilty of anything except opposing Russia's support for Assad.
Since Assad already has tight control of his press, there won't be much need for the kind of death squads that targeted the press corps in Ukraine or more subtle, arrested and held them in small jails and let them go. That kind of intimidation is something Assad will do for them. There will be less reporting of events by foreign reporters in Syria and there is already not very much.
Watch satellite photos of bases in Syria. The Russians are not hiding much of anything. When the SU 30's flipped on their targeting radars over Turkey yesterday, they were not very sly about their intent. They are not going to tolerate any interference with Russian operations, so check your sovereignty unless you are prepared to enforce a border. They brought enough anti-air weapons to shoot down another civilian airliner, so for those just passing through, remember the past. They will stop anyone from interfering with their operations, and they will put weapons in the hands of their allies, who are considerably less careful about how they handle themselves.
The Russians will want communications under their control. You can bet Russian telecommunications companies came in with their military and are setting up their own coms right now. They shouldn't be too hard to identify. Just watch for them.
The Russians will deny everything we say about them. They already deny they are targeting anyone but ISIS, when it is obvious they are not. The lie is just as effective as the truth to them. They only understand one truth, put enough military hardware in the hands of your friends and support them with ammo and food. Eventually, you get what you want. What a novel idea.
The WSJ article says there are two groups of U.S. supported rebels, one run by CIA and one run by Defense. That can't be true, can it? What bunch of idiots would allow two separate groups, each with the same mission, which to be handled by different agencies? For more about now the Russians maneuver us around, see The New Cyberwar on Amazon.
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