Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Russia Sends Warships To Syria

Russia Sending Warships On Maneuvers Near Syria

Russia said on Tuesday that it had dispatched a flotilla of 11 warships to the eastern Mediterranean, some of which would dock in Syria. It would be the largest display of Russian military power in the region since the Syrian conflict began almost 17 months ago. Nearly half of the ships were capable of carrying hundreds of marines.


The announcement appeared intended to punctuate Russia’s effort to position itself as an increasingly decisive broker in resolving the antigovernment uprising in Syria, Russia’s last ally in the Middle East and home to Tartus, its only foreign military base outside the former Soviet Union. The announcement also came a day after Russia said it was halting new shipments of weapons to the Syrian military until the conflict settled down.

But the unusually large size of the force announced on Tuesday was considered a message, not just to the region but also to the United States and other nations supporting the rebels now trying to depose Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad.

Tartus consists of little more than a floating refueling station and some small barracks. But any strengthened Russian presence there could forestall Western military intervention in Syria.

The announcement came as a delegation of Syrian opposition figures was visiting Moscow to gauge if Russia would accept a political transition in Syria that excludes Mr. Assad. It also coincided with a flurry of diplomacy by Kofi Annan, the special Syria envoy from the United Nations and the Arab League, who said Mr. Assad had suggested a new approach for salvaging Mr. Annan’s sidelined peace plan during their meeting on Monday in Damascus.


A statement by the Defense Ministry said ships had embarked from ports of three fleets: those of the Northern, the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea, and would meet for training exercises in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Taking part, the statement said, would be two Black Sea Fleet landing craft that can carry marines: the Nikolai Filchenkov and the Tsezar Kunikov.

Russia’s Interfax news agency cited an unnamed military official as saying that an escort ship, the Smetlivy, would stop in Tartus for resupplying in three days — though it had presumably recently left its home port of Sevastopol, in the Black Sea.



6 comments:

Anonymous said...

As I stated earlier, bulls realize they are in DEEP TROUBLE here as
it is, that is why they are playing
the UN for all it's worth with Mr.
Annan to STOP an Israeli/Syria
problem.


IBM has an interesting chart, it is
breaking down, that is a KEY STOCK
and bulls know it !!!! I mean if they
can not BULL IBM, they are pathetic,
really.

I noticed this LIBOR scandal is quiet all of a sudden, really ??

NOT FOR LONG

Stocks are going nowhere tonite,
about UNCHANGED....

EWI counts are VERY BEARISH,
one needs to remember that in
the start of a BIG BEAR move,
a market will sell off SLOW and
deceptive, picking up SPEED when
bulls realize they are trapped.

One last note: you guys all KNOW
who I am, I am never an ANON...

Stephen >>>>>>>>>>>>

Anonymous said...

Having so much Russian naval power creeping around here is a clear message to the U.S., and now I see why they want Assad to stay in. Is Putin afraid that a more Islamic Brotherhood type government will jeopardize their hold on Tartus?

Israeli Believer

Caver said...

Yikers....considering the size of our and Europe's fleet in the area as well.....certainly is a lot of firecrackers concentrated in an awful small area. If something pops, it would seem a lot of the firepower of much of the world's powers would be immediately involved.

Just not enough room to hide....everybody's exposed and they just keep raising the stakes.

Caver said...

One final thought.....as close proximity all this naval power is, if they don't push the "fire" button at the first hint of hostilities there doesn't seem to be the time for a second chance.

Guess what I'm trying to say....there won't be time for evaluation and confirmation. It will be react or die.

The chance for accidental conflict seems huge to me. Just no room for error or time for verification.

Anonymous said...

I'm not doing any hording in case of an EMP or something like it, just my usual for a rainy day; however I did decide to buy a wind-up radio/torch and wind-up lantern. Being in the dark and not knowing what’s happening is a nasty feeling whatever the reason.
God bless you and keep you all safe in Israel.

Ally said...

The answer is yes! Lol! And frankly I agree with him on this one!!!! Praying for you and your nation almost daily!