The Middle East

Turkey seeks NATO deployment of Patriot missiles on Syria border

Turkey's foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu says NATO is preparing to deploy patriot missiles to bolster defenses on its border with Syria. The surface-to-air missiles will be able to shoot down aircraft up to 160 kilometers

RT,

7 November, 2012

Davutoglu's comments were reported on Al Jazeera television news. 

The foreign minister's comments appeared to be in direct contradiction to a statement from the Turkish Prime Minster Recip Tayyip Erdogan, who has denied that his country has made a request to NATO for the missiles.

"We do not have any thoughts of aquiring patriots by paying money," Erdogan said in a press statement quoted by the Turkish Anadolu Agency.  

NATO also said that they hadn't received an official request from Turkey for the missiles.

Patriot is a long-range, all-weather, all-altitude system designed to counter tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and advanced aircraft.

The possibility of enforcing a no-fly zone in Syria, where rebel fighters would be protected from attacks by the government’s air force, has been on the table for some time despite NATO’s reluctance to intervene in the Syrian conflict without a mandate from the UN Security Council.

The Patriot missile deployment is one of several scenarios currently being considered, the official said. Plans for the deployment were put on hold pending the results of the US election, the source explained, speaking on condition of anonymity because of ministry prohibitions on speaking with the media.

The official said that any missile deployment might happen under a "NATO umbrella," although NATO maintains it will not intervene without a clear UN mandate. 

Linsday German of Stop the War Coalition told RT that despite the missile being a largely defensive weapon, it could in fact be used to intervene in Syria’s internal conflict.

“Having the Patriot missiles is a prelude to using a no-fly zone. We’ve seen the effect of no-fly zones, for example in Libya, for example in Iraq, where they actually didn’t bring peace to the region – they were the lead-up to if not war, then intensive bombing. I fear the developments in Turkey point in the same direction,” she said.

Tensions between Turkey and Syria escalated in October, when shells coming from Syria landed in the Turkish border town of Akcakale, killing five civilians.

Turkey retaliated for several days. At least ten Syrian troops were reportedly killed by Turkish fire.

Turkey previously requested the deployment of the Patriot system during the first and second Iraq wars. In both cases, deployments were carried out by the Netherlands – one of the few NATO members equipped with the system.

Report: Deaths Dropping in Syrian Civil War, Army Deaths Up

Toll Reflects Stalemate in Aleppo

Antiwar,

7 November, 2012

Calculating a death toll for Syria is no easy task, with the UN having long since given up on the task and the Syrian state media no longer reporting even a fraction of the fighting ongoing. The Syrian Network for Human Rights is still trying, however.

And the interesting thing from their tolls is that near as they can figure deaths have actually slowed down from their peak in August, with September and October more or less flat. This reflects a decrease in deaths reported in Aleppo Province.

Which may be surprising, since neither side ever won and Aleppo is still hotly contested. But after fighting for the city began in earnest, it quickly stalemated and despite a lot of fire being traded, the death tolls aren’t nearly what they were when both sides thought victory was imminent.

Another figure from the report is likely even more controversial, claiming that more Syrian soldiers have died in the fighting than rebels in the past month. Since some rebel factions regularly fold their own deaths into the “civilian” toll, this may be the toughest number of all to reliably figure.

It is noteworthy that among the reported rebel deaths, only a small portion are actually military defectors fighting for the Free Syrian Army (FSA), which may suggest the rebellion is more made up of irregulars than previously acknowledged.

Israeli Cabinet Talks ‘Punishment’ Over Palestinian UN Recognition

With Sure Victory for Observer State, Israel Looks for Revenge

 

Antiwar,

7 November, 2012

Palestine’s upgrade to UN “non-member observer state” status is virtually a foregone conclusion, with an overwhelming majority of the UN General Assembly expected to vote in favor and only a handful, led by the US and Israel, in opposition.

The question then is what Israel’s reaction will be, and the nation’s cabinet met today to discuss possible “punitive” measures to punish the Palestinians for getting the enhanced level of recognition on the international stage.

Exactly what the move will be remains unclear, and with Israel already not negotiating with the Palestinians and already expanding settlements, the number of options that will actually feel like “punishment” instead of just business as usual is limited.

The most likely proposal on that front is for Israel to freeze all Palestinian tax dollars, though Israel does this too on a semi-regular basis to express displeasure, and with the West Bank’s economy already on the brink of collapse a prolonged move to cut off funds to PA employees could be diplomatically difficult for Israel as well.

In the end the most likely new moves will also be the least impactful, imposing harsh new restrictions on Palestinian detainees who by and large aren’t involved in the PA to begin with and who have no say over their recognition anyhow. This has been a go-to activity for Israel’s government several times in the past, forcing Palestinians in prison to go to court to get access to things like paper and pencils.