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I really think their mistake was not going full in back in 2014-2019. They should have acted like a real ally and behave like a strong country. They left the SAA look like a ragtag militia,when USA would equip the Iraqis,Afghans and some Kurds with modern gear,like ballistic vests,camo,new helmets,armored vehicles and night vision equipment.This is a geopolitical catastrophe for Russia.
They should have acted like a real ally and behave like a strong country. They left the SAA look like a ragtag militia
It's as if they were keeping them just strong enough to keep some areas in order to control them better. But then again...they didn't think it through. The Americans for example want their allies to be able to defend on their own,their Russians just want them weak.The Ragtag militia is easier to have leverage over. Putin went out of his way to accomodate Israel by not transferring anything of significance, so as to keep Netanyahu happy. The only time they gave something of significance had more to do with Israel making Russia angry over shooting a russian plane. After Which the S-300 system was given to Syria. Other than that nothing significant was transferred.
Even the S-300 was taken back in 2022.
The Americans for example want their allies to be able to defend on their own
And they still gave way better equipment and weapons to Iraqis and Afghans than Russians gave to the Syrians. And quantity!Thats also not true, given what we saw in Afghanistan and Iraq.
In Afghanistan they refused to give heavy weapons to the Afghan army.
In Iraq too, they weren't building an army, they were building counter insurgency policmen with small arms and no strategic weapons.
In Ukraine too, the goal is not to arm Ukraine to the point where it can beat Russia, its to bleed Russia. Thats why you see weapons arrive in a small trickle and the new platforms slowly get introduced, instead of giving everything at once to boost strength immediately.
They told ukraine to not do the Peace Agreement in Istanbul when Ukraine had the upper hand, but at the same time didn't send more weapons until 6 months later, when the advantage had deteriorated.
And they still gave way better equipment and weapons to Iraqis and Afghans than Russians gave to the Syrians. And quantity!
They gave Iraqis:They didn't give the Iraqis anything other than some Abrams. But those didn't help b/c the army b/c it was a glorified police force, not an army that knows how to fight.
The Afghans just receives some Humvees, no tanks. they were getting outgunned by the taliban.

They gave Iraqis:
Yes,they bought some of those or a lot of those,but they also got a lot of equipment as donations from the US and other countries. In the case of Syria,the Russians only gave them from what I remember 10 BTR-80s,then some BTR-82As(or BTR-80As),some T-90As and T-62s(I think some T-62Ms as well),a handful of Tigr vehicles and a very old S-300PS systems. I think a few Pantsir-S1 as well. This is from memory,they might have given them some artillery pieces as well and definitely more small weapons,but the problem is: it was very small quantities. Also,they didn't do anything to improve the look of the SAA when it comes to personal equipment and gear. For example,the Americans gave the Iraqis
- TOW
- Stinger
- Abrams
- M113s
- Caiman,Cougar,MaxxPro,Oshkosh MRAPs
- Humvees by the thousands
- Armored and unarmored trucks by the hundreds
- M109 SP artillery
- HAWK AA systems,Radars
- Helicopters
- F-16s
View attachment 96685
But I did say they bought a lot of stuff themselves. In any case,you can't disagree that Iraqis were way more better-equipped for this kind of war compared to the SAA. I mean come on! You know it!look at the date for delivery of those systems. The F-16s were not delivered until later(2014), and they were under-equipped, and Iraq bought it with their own money. And the only reason it was sold was b/c Iraq was buying Russian equipment and would have likely bought aircraft as well. As well as b/c of the Pressure over Daesh. Before that it wasn't seen as a priority to transfer to Iraq.
Iraq bought a lot of things with its oil money, it wasn't donated.
But I did say they bought a lot of stuff themselves. In any case,you can't disagree that Iraqis were way more better-equipped for this kind of war compared to the SAA. I mean come on! You know it!
Edit: Yes,they got a lot of stuff later and the 2014 chaos was equally if not even more dangerous(black caliphate barbarians almost reached Baghdad)as the 2004 insurgency.
Two points:Iraqis bought from everyone b/c they had money. Syria had no money. US didn't give for free.
Look at the equipment before when the US hadn't done the initial withdrawal. no equiptment. There was no air force no air defense(there still isn't really any air defense), no TOS launchers, just a few abrams and humvees and small arms.
Also in the Afghan they didn't even give tanks.
You don't believe Russians should or could have equipped and armed the SAA and NDF with more and better equipment?
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