Mikhail Bogdanov made the announcement in an interview with the
Al-Hayat newspaper. “Presently, the Russian Defense Ministry
has not a single person stationed in Syria. The base does not
have any strategic military importance,” the newspaper quoted
the Russian official as saying.
Russian media have verified the statement and the business daily
Vedomosti quoted an unnamed source in the Defense Ministry as
saying that this was true as all military and civilian personnel
had been evacuated from the Tartus base and there were no Russian
military instructors working with the Syrian military forces. The
source added that the withdrawal was prompted not only by the
increased risks caused by the ongoing military conflict, but also
by the fact that in the current conditions any incident involving
Russian servicemen would likely have some unfavorable reaction
from the international community.
Russia currently has a 16-ship flotilla in the Mediterranean Sea
but none of them has called at the port of Tartus in recent
months and there were no reports of such plans.
Mikhail Bogdanov is also Russian President’s plenipotentiary for
Middle East issues and he headed the Russian delegation at this
week’s talks between Russia, US and UN on preparations of the
major international conference on Syria, dubbed Geneva-2.
This could be a sign that the rebels are winning. Or it could be nothing. Hmmm.
Russia is defying America by granting Edward Snowden, who exposed some
of the most classified secrets of our government, safe haven as he
continues to elude capture.
...
This comes on top of Russia defying America’s wishes in the Syrian
civil war, with Russia once again reasserting its presence in the Middle
East after having been essentially expelled from there in the 1970s (a
product of Henry Kissinger’s masterful diplomacy).
Russia was an early and strong supporter of the Assad regime, while
America is a late and weak supporter of the rebel groups. President
Obama wants Russia to help us; Putin wants Assad to win. And thanks in
good measure to Russia, Assad (and hence Iran) is winning.
The Syrian debacle comes in the aftermath of Obama scrapping in 2009 a
missile-defense system the Poles and the Czech Republic had agreed to
house despite Russian threats, as a way to pacify Putin. (“The U.S.
reversal is likely to please Russia, which had fiercely opposed the
plans,” CNN reported at the time.)
Add to that Putin’s support for Iran’s nuclear ambitions and his crackdown at home. (The Washington Postwrites
that in “an attempt to suppress swelling protests against his rigged
reelection and the massively corrupt autocracy he presides over, Mr.
Putin has launched what both Russian and Western human rights groups
describe as the most intense and pervasive campaign of political
repression since the downfall of the Soviet Union.”). Taken all
together, you can see that the Obama “reset”–which at the dawn of the
Obama administration was described as a “win-win” strategy for both nations–has been a rout for the Russians.
The best line I saw about Russia's behavior in the Snowden affair was this one on Twitter (I've added a link to the Super Bowl ring story):
How is the American government supposed to get Russia to give up Edward Snowden when Putin won't even give up a Super Bowl ring?
— Bryan Cranston (@BryanCranston) June 25, 2013
Russian ships gathering off Syrian coast to prevent ground op, Assad to speak
According to a report in the Times of London, Russia has deployed five loaded warships off the coast of Syria in order to discourage the West from taking action to depose Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
According to the report, the ships are carrying military vehicles and
hundreds of Russian marines, and are being accompanied by combat
vessels.
While officially Russia has claimed the ships have been deployed to
partake in an exercise to "improve the management, maintenance and
testing of the interaction of naval forces,” the Times
quoted the diplomat as saying the marines were meant to deter the West
from deploying ground forces in the uprising against Syrian President
Bashar Assad.
“Russia should be prepared for any developments, as it believes the situation in Syria might reach its peak before Easter,” the Times quoted the diplomatic source as saying.
The report came as Assad was set to make his first public speech on the uprising against his rule in months.
The Russians aren't the only ones preparing for the possibility of Western intervention.
The United States military said US troops and equipment had begun
arriving in Turkey on Friday to oversee the deployment of US and
European Patriot surface-to-air missile batteries to the Turkish-Syrian
border.
Turkey and NATO say the missiles are a safeguard to
protect southern Turkey from possible Syrian missile strikes. Syria and
allies Russia and Iran say the deployments could spark an eventual
military action by the Western alliance.
I guess the Russian don't under 'reset' in quite the same way that the Obama administration understands it. What a shock....
When is the sale of missile technology by a government company not official government policy?
The Obama administration is attempting to ignore the fact that Russian government-owned defense contractors are supplying Iran with missile technology to enable the development of long-range ballistic missiles.
Russian missile manufacturers provided goods to Iran’s ballistic missile program, but U.S. intelligence agencies claim the proliferation is not part of an official Moscow policy of backing Tehran weapons programs.
The unclassified assessment by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was sent in April to Congress following a request from Capitol Hill to explain the current state of Moscow-Tehran missile trade. The new intelligence on the missile trade could trigger sanctions under the Iran, North Korea, and Syria sanctions law or limit U.S. government interaction with Moscow.
“We assess that individual entities have provided assistance to Iran’s ballistic missile programs,” the DNI statement by legislative director Kathleen Turner said.
The new assessment differs from an earlier intelligence statement supplied to Congress that was more categorical on the transfers and did not contain legalistic references included in an apparent effort to avoid linking the Russian government to recent missile-related transfers.
The assessment could affect a requested presidential waiver sought by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration that is needed prior to the next U.S. payment to Russia for the International Space Station.
A State Department official said the Russia-Iran missile trade has not been raised in recent meetings between U.S. and Russian officials.
Current law requires the president to certify that it is Russia’s policy to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear and missile technology and systems.
“NASA wants another waiver to allow us to make payments to Moscow for the International Space Station, but the president cannot certify that Russia has a policy to prevent their own assistance to Iran’s missiles, to say nothing of the nuclear program, and what’s going on in Syria,” said a congressional aide close to the issue.
The waiver is required under the nonproliferation law before any payments can be made.
Additionally, the administration is pressing Congress to pass permanent normal trade relations legislation for Russia, raising further questions that the administration is ignoring Russian arms proliferation to Tehran.
“What message will all this send to Putin,” the aide said. “I think we know: The Obama administration reset cancer is now metastatic to all U.S. policy.”
The statement concludes that, while it is not official Russian policy to assist Iran’s missile programs, Moscow is incapable of implementing a policy to halt such exports or prevent state-owned arms manufacturers from assisting Iran, the aide said.
The assessment appears to be in line with President Obama’s conciliatory policies toward Russia. The president was overheard during a conversation with then-Russian President Dmitri Medvedev in March as telling the Russians not to pressure him during the current election campaign. Obama promised “more flexibility” in stalled talks on missile defenses after his presumed reelection, according to the conversation that was recorded by television cameras.
Isn't the Obama administration's attitude of forgiveness toward American enemies amazing? Too bad he doesn't cut the same slack to American allies.
As to his director of national 'intelligence,' James Clapper, you might recall that Clapper was the guy who told Congress that the Muslim Brotherhood is a 'secular' organization.
So on the Russian front, if God forbid Obama is reelected, by 2016 we will have no US missile defense, an Iranian ICBM with Russian technology, and every state in the Middle East other than Israel (assuming it still exists) gone Islamist.
Well, so much for Barack Hussein Obama's re-set with the Russians.
On Russian state television (owned and sanctioned by Mother Russia), a news reporter let everyone know exactly what she - and presumably the Russian government for whom she speaks - thinks of Barack Hussein Obama.
Let's go to the videotape (Hat Tip: Atlas Shrugs).
Business as usual for Iran's mad dash to nuclear weapons
Iran has made major progress in its attempt to put its nuclear facility at Bushehr online, according to its Russian patron.
Iran’s drive to jump-start an operational nuclear program reached a turning point today. Speaking of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, Vladislav Bochkov, a spokesman for the Russian state company Rosatom which constructed the plant, said, “This means that a nuclear reaction has begun. This is one of the final stages in the physical launch of the reactor.”
In other words, it is business as usual for Iran’s mad dash to become a nuclear powerhouse. The international community, particularly the Obama administration, simply ignores the Russian-Iranian duo’s nuclear plant in the southwestern port town of Bushehr. As part of its “reset” strategy with the Russians, the Obama administration appears to have chalked up the Bushehr plant to a harmless desire for Iranian civilian nuclear energy. President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton’s naïve departure point is that the Russians can housebreak any renegade Iranian military proliferation activity at Bushehr.
Given that the Russian government has consistently watered down sanctions against Iran for its illicit nuclear program, and that its country’s gas and oil companies continue to violate U.S. Energy sanctions targeting Tehran, one wonders what the Obama administration’s “reset” policy has achieved.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
