Russia Condems Syria for Massacre

[Starbuck]

This is important, and represents a departure from the past Russian stance of, "We don't believe it."


Russia condemns ally Syria over massacre of 108, says it doesn't support Syrian government
A weekend massacre of more than 100 people emerged as a potential turning point in the Syrian crisis Monday, galvanizing even staunch ally Russia to take an unusually hard line against President Bashar Assad's government.

Analysts said Russia may be warning Assad that he needs to change course or lose Moscow's support, which has been a key layer of protection for the Syrian government during the uprising that began in March 2011.

Russia has grown increasingly critical of Damascus in recent months, but Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's latest comments were unusually strong. Although he said opposition forces have terrorists among them, he put the blame for 15 months of carnage primarily on Assad's government.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/05/28/russia-chides-ally-syria-over-massacre-108/#ixzz1wE3nmmz6
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There could be major changes in the wind........

[noonwitch]

If Russia were to turn its back on Syria and/or Iran, it would really mess with Jack van Impe's and Hal Lindsay's predictions about how near we are to Armeggedon.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Never take anything a Russian diplomat says at face value.

[Odysseus]

This is important, and represents a departure from the past Russian stance of, "We don't believe it."



There could be major changes in the wind........

Syria is an Iranian proxy, and Russian support for Assad has the dual effect of providing support for the mullahs, who are major clients of Russian nuclear and arms exporters. If they are turning on Assad, it may mean that they are wising up to the threat of a nuclear Iran (which borders several former Soviet republics).

[Gina]

I'm not celebrating just yet but this would be good.

If Obama were any kind of leader, he would be more outspoken about Syria and their wrongs. Scared of Russia isn't a good look for America.

[Odysseus]

The issue with Syria is that none of the likely outcomes benefit us or our allies. Assad is, as stated, a proxy for Iran, and Syria provides a land route between Iran and its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, so the loss of Syria would cripple Hezbollah. Unfortunately, Syria is a majority Sunni state, and the Muslim Brotherhood has been the best organized element in the opposition, which means that if Assad is overthrown, the next regime will be allied with Hamas and al Qaeda.

At this point, we ought to simply declare a safe haven in the Kurdish area, gather up our allies, protect, train and arm them, and then unleash them when the time comes.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Correct on the political analysis. All the people yammering for military action, Left and Right, are clueless about what a quicksand-bog long-term clusterfuck they are trying to wedge us into, or how fruitless the eventual results would be for us, and I include McCain in that crew.

[Starbuck]

Correct on the political analysis. All the people yammering for military action, Left and Right, are clueless about what a quicksand-bog long-term clusterfuck they are trying to wedge us into, or how fruitless the eventual results would be for us, and I include McCain in that crew.

Yup. Let's go free the Syrians. That way we can be thunderstruck when they turn on us like a pack of enraged Pitt Bulls.:biggrin-new:

[Bailey]

Correct on the political analysis. All the people yammering for military action, Left and Right, are clueless about what a quicksand-bog long-term clusterfuck they are trying to wedge us into, or how fruitless the eventual results would be for us, and I include McCain in that crew.

I cant see any benefit to US so we might as well let them fight it out.