Update on the escalation in the East Meditteranean

Some parts of the report from yesterday have been confirmed (even though I don’t have any links) while the claim that the Americans had warned the Russians of an attack remains unconfirmed (presumably false).

ATTENTION!! - Major escalation in the Middle East

CRUISE MISSILE STRIKE GROUPS IN EAST MEDITERRANEAN, PERSIAN GULF AND RED SEA FOR POSSIBLE STRIKE AT SYRIA - update

SUNDAY 18 MARCH 2018 :9:06 AM EDT --

firstly it is CONFIRMED that France is requesting journalists to leave Syria. It is also CONFIRMED that the UN have been asked to move from Damascus.

France CONFIRMED they HAVE asked to form a coalition to strike the Assad regime in response to chlorine attacks.

It is DISPUTED that the US have informed Russia of any strikes in Syria at this time. Normal procedure is to give the Russian's about 1 hour warning. There has been no warning yet.

The carrier group in the region is on usual station; it is supposed to be there. That said, it is CONFIRMED that cruise missile equipped ships are indeed positioning in various places.

It is also CONFIRMED there has been some deployment of bomber aircraft out of the USA.

In sum, there is certainly some prep work going on but I don't think the go signal has been given yet. That said, plenty of pieces moving on the board.

UPDATE SUN. 18 MARCH 3:57 PM EDT --

Below is map showing the previous deployment of forces in the eastern Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Syria in 2013.  I am told that the PRESENT deployment is larger and that "this is an explosion waiting to happen . . ."

 A total of five Russian warships, frigates and corvettes, two refueling ships, an electronic escort ship and three submarines equipped with cruise missiles (conventional propulsion but two of the new Kilo II class) are currently east of Crete.

Russia Claims US Deploys Warships For Imminent Attack On Syria, Trains Militants For False Flag Attack

Zero Hedge,
18 March, 2018



Last April, in one of the Trump administration's first "diplomatic" ventures, the US fired 59 Tomahawk missiles on Syria, in stated retaliation for the latest alleged chemical attack by the Assad regime, the same "false flag" excuse which was used by the US to officially enter the conflict back in 2013 when military tensions between the US and Russia nearly resulted in a regional war.

ABC News

✔@ABC

MORE: U.S. official after U.S. missiles fired at Syrian airbase: “We’re done until another decision is made.” http://abcn.ws/2oOXE8K 

2:45 PM - Apr 7, 2017

US launches military strike on Syrian air base

Responding to a Syrian chemical weapons attack on Tuesday that left scores dead, the United States initiated a military strike Thursday on an airbase in Syria, multiple U.S. officials have confirmed,...

abcnews.go.com

Well, it appears that Assad is a relentless glutton for punishment, because not even a year later, the WaPo reported two weeks ago that the US is considering a new military action against Syria for - what else - retaliation against Assad's latest chemical attack, which took place several weeks earlier.

How do we know Assad (and apparently, Russia) was behind the attack? We don't: in fact, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in a moment of bizarre honesty, admitted that he really doesn't know much at all about "whoever conducted the attacks." But hey: just like it is "highly likely" that Russia poisoned the former Russian double agent in the UK - with no proof yet - so it is "highly likely" that a clearly irrational Assad was once again behind an attack which he knew would provoke violent and aggressive retaliation by the US, and once again destabilize his regime.

And so we now wait for that flashing, red headline saying that US ships in the Mediterranean have launched a missile attack on Syria, just like a year ago. Only this time Russia - which is allied with the Assad regime - is not planning to be on the defensive, and according to Russia’s Defense Ministry, "US instructors" are currently training militants to stage false flag chemical attacks in south Syria, i.e., the catalyst that will be used to justify the US attack on Assad. The incidents, the ministry said, will be used a pretext for airstrikes on Syrian government troops and infrastructure.

“We have reliable information at our disposal that US instructors have trained a number of militant groups in the vicinity of the town of At-Tanf, to stage provocations involving chemical warfare agents in southern Syria,” Russian General Staff spokesman General Sergey Rudskoy said at a news briefing on Saturday.

According to the Russian, "early in March, the saboteur groups were deployed to the southern de-escalation zone to the city of Deraa, where the units of the so-called Free Syrian Army are stationed."

"They are preparing a series of chemical munitions explosions. This fact will be used to blame the government forces. The components to produce chemical munitions have been already delivered to the southern de-escalation zone under the guise of humanitarian convoys of a number of NGOs."

And, using the exact same worn out narrative as last April, and every prior "chemical attack by the Assad Regime", the "planned provocations will be widely covered in the Western media and will ultimately be used as a pretext by the US-led coalition to launch strikes on Syria", Rudskoy warned.

"The provocations will be used as a pretext by the United States and its allies to launch strikes on military and government infrastructure in Syria."

Confirming the WaPo's report from early March, it now appears that an attack is imminent.

“We’re registering the signs of the preparations for the possible strikes. Strike groups of the cruise missile carriers have been formed in the east of the Mediterranean Sea, Persian Gulf and Red Sea.”

Rudskoy also warned that another false flag chemical attack is being prepared in the province of Idlib by the “Al-Nusra Front terrorist group, in coordination with the White Helmets.” The militants have already received 20 containers of chlorine to stage the incident, he said.

Moscow and Damascus have repeatedly warned about upcoming chemical provocations, and have highlighted that banned warfare agents have been used by the militants. Of course, none of that matters to the Western press which has its marching orders to expose the bloodthirsty killer Assad as an irrational despot who will use the exact same military method month after month and year after year, knowing well the response he will get from the US.

Meanwhile, just a few days ago, Syrian government forces reportedly captured a well-equipped chemical laboratory in Eastern Ghouta. Footage from the facility has been published by the SANA news agency.

The installation contained modern industrial-grade hardware of foreign origins, large amounts of chemical substances as well as crude homemade munitions ad their parts. It was unclear if the chemical lab was capable of synthesizing the novachok nerve gas used in the attempted murder of the Russian agent in the UK that has resulted in the latest diplomatic scandal involving Russia and the west.