An escalation of conflict over Syria (and Edward Snowden)

Russia ‘committed’ to delivering S-300 missiles to Damascus

In an attempt to bolster Syria’s war-battered economy, Russia is considering extending a loan to Damascus and is still committed to delivering S-300 missiles in defiance of the West, a top Syrian official said Monday.

al-Arabiya,

22 July, 2013

Visiting Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil said after meeting Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow that the issue of a Russian credit was discussed at the talks and Damascus hoped for an agreement by the end of the year.

“We discussed it, although it is still early to talk of concrete figures,” Jamil said, quoted by Russian news agencies. “We hope that the question will be solved by the end of the year, experts are now discussing it.”

The Syrian official added that all arms agreements with Russia, including Moscow’s controversial contract to deliver S-300 missile systems to Damascus, were still in place.

“All agreements between Russia and Syria in the area of arms deliveries are in place,” the Syrian deputy prime minister said.

“Relations between Syria and Russia are strengthening for the good of peace in the region,” he added.

Lavrov said the Syrian government and opposition must work together to expel all “terrorists and extremists from Syria.”

“We are continuing to meet with the government and all opposition groups to convince them all to accept the initiative to convene the international conference as soon as possible,” Lavrov said at the start of talks with Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil.

“Unfortunately, most of the opposition, in contrast to the government, is not showing this readiness,” he added, according to AFP.

Jamil is meeting Lavrov, in an effort to seek ways of ending the 28-month Syrian conflict after clashes with rebels left dozens dead.

The move comes as Russia and the United States seek to convene an international conference on Syria but amid differences over its parameters.

The Syrian government has expressed its willingness to participate in such a meeting as it seeks to subdue the rebels.

Meanwhile, deadly violence raged across Syria on Sunday as regime shelling killed at least 18 civilians in the northwest while 28 rebels died in Damascus battling government forces, a monitoring group said.

Yes. yes. yes. There is absolutely a connection between The Snowden decision and these events.

Time to cook your pig out meal. Popcorn won't do it for this part...

---Mike Ruppert

US And Russia Simultaneously Announce Intent To Arm Opposing Sides In Syria

Yahoo,

22 July, 2013

In an almost palpable irony, Russian and U.S. officials simultaneously announced their intent to move forward with controversial arms transfers to opposing sides in the Syrian civil war Monday.

If there were any doubts about the proxy nature of Syria for the two sides, the announcements should put them to bed.

Congressional hurdles have been lifted and weapons will soon flow into the hands of Syrian rebels,  according to a Reuters report

"We believe we are in a position that the administration can move forward," House of Representatives Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers told Reuters Monday.

Half a world away, a representative of Syria's embattled President Bashar al Assad left a meeting with Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.

“All agreements between Russia and Syria in the area of arms deliveries are in place,” said Qadri Jamil on Monday. “The contracts continue and are in force.”

The representative of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad also asked Russia for a monetary loan, one that Moscow is still as of yet considering.

Meanwhile, the weapons Russia intends to deliver are of the S300 surface-to-air variety — which make enforcing a Western-backed no-fly zone all that much more dangerous, not to mention improbable.

The weapons transfers for the Americans have met resistance from within Washington political ranks. Vetting rebel groups in the middle of a civil war is a very difficult process.

"I think we also have to expect that some of the weapons we provide are going to get into the hands of those who would use them against us," Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told Reuters.

Washington has urged Russia not to arm Assad — especially with weapons that can threaten Israeli airliners in Israeli airspace and, importantly, block Israel from further strikes in Syria.

Israel has outright told Russia that any S300 shipments would be destroyed.  Analysts have said bombing those systems would result in Russian casualties .

In the thick of it all, Lavrov leaves his meeting with the Syrian rep and states that Assad is ready to talk peace.

All the U.S. has to do is bring the opposition forces to the table

Top US General Dempsey: US is Considering the Use of Military Force in Syria

Holy Shit! -- I've never seen McCain more hostile and abrasive. He's a madman in the service of madness. And as I watched I got the clear sense that there's some serious dissatisfaction in the military which we can only pray will become manifest.

===Mike Ruppert

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=M_CGoNUG3lM

This article is from 2 months ago. The Israelis have threatened to bomb any shipments of Russian missiles

Israel threatens to bomb Russian arms shipment to Syria

Israel Today

30 May, 2013

Israeli officials this week said they would "know what to do" if Russia goes through with the planned sale of an advanced anti-aircraft system to Syria. Given Israel's recent pinpoint air strikes in Syria, the remarks were taken as a thinly veiled threat to destroy the Russian arms the moment they touch Syrian soil.

"Delivery [of the S-300] has not taken place – I can attest to this – and I hope it does not. But if, by some misfortune, they arrive in Syria, we will know what to do," Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon told reporters.

Israel had tried to convince Russia to cancel the arms sale, arguing that the S-300 would enable embattled Syrian dictator Bashar Assad to more easily transfer chemical weapons to his Hezbollah allies. Two earlier Israeli air strikes purportedly prevented similar transfers.

There is also the risk that should Assad fall, the S-300 itself will fall into the hands of Hezbollah or one of the radical Islamic groups making up the Syrian rebel army. Israeli officials noted that, in the hands of terrorists, the S-300 could be used to quite easily bring down civilian airliners.

But at a meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin rebuffed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's concerns, insisting that Assad is a stabilizing factor in the region and that his regime must be given every chance to remain in power.

Meanwhile, Assad on Thursday claimed on Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV that he had already received the first shipment of S-300 missiles and radar systems. The Syrian dictator went on to warn Israel that any further air strikes would result in an immediate Syrian retaliation.

Following Israel's last air strike against a suspect chemical weapons storehouse at Damascus airport, Arab media reported that Syria had aimed the bulk of its considerable long-range missile arsenal at the Jewish state.