plawolf
Lieutenant General
For the sake of practicality of this thread, I am going to avoid most of the contentious parts that might see us get bogged down in heated ideological debates and arguments.
The first thing we should establish is that this is purely a hypothetical scenario, so there is no reason to get bogged down with the likelihood of this happening, or the morality of it.
For all intents and purposes, the decision to intervene has already been made, and this is purely a thread focused on the practicalities of what assets the PLA can deploy, where, how and to what ends.
For the sake of context, lets just assume that an UN resolution was passed branding ISIS as a terrorist organisation and threat against world peace, and has authorised military force against ISIS to protect civilians.
Russia has already deployed combat air and naval assets and is actively engaged in the fighting. The Iranians are supplying significant ground troops.
The Iraqis are on side and have opened up their airspace to allow over flights of both supplies and combat assets. The Egyptians are allowing access via the Suez.
The Syrian government has formally requested direct military assistance from China, offering the unrestricted use of any and all Syrian government controlled bases, and China has agreed.
The date is 01.01.2016.
Russia has made it clear it will support and match any Chinese deployment, so if China sends in ground forces, so will Russia.
The question is, what assets should the PLA deploy, and what level of involvement? Air and naval support only, maybe with limited special forces participation and leave the ground war to the Syrians and Iranians, or full commitment, with significant ground forces as well?
The first thing we should establish is that this is purely a hypothetical scenario, so there is no reason to get bogged down with the likelihood of this happening, or the morality of it.
For all intents and purposes, the decision to intervene has already been made, and this is purely a thread focused on the practicalities of what assets the PLA can deploy, where, how and to what ends.
For the sake of context, lets just assume that an UN resolution was passed branding ISIS as a terrorist organisation and threat against world peace, and has authorised military force against ISIS to protect civilians.
Russia has already deployed combat air and naval assets and is actively engaged in the fighting. The Iranians are supplying significant ground troops.
The Iraqis are on side and have opened up their airspace to allow over flights of both supplies and combat assets. The Egyptians are allowing access via the Suez.
The Syrian government has formally requested direct military assistance from China, offering the unrestricted use of any and all Syrian government controlled bases, and China has agreed.
The date is 01.01.2016.
Russia has made it clear it will support and match any Chinese deployment, so if China sends in ground forces, so will Russia.
The question is, what assets should the PLA deploy, and what level of involvement? Air and naval support only, maybe with limited special forces participation and leave the ground war to the Syrians and Iranians, or full commitment, with significant ground forces as well?