Tartus to expand as permanent Russian naval base in Syria

AP ^ | Sept 12, 2008 | SAM F. GHATTAS

[rjp2005]

Russia said Friday it was renovating a Syrian port for use by the Russian fleet, signaling an effort to establish a firmer foothold in the Mediterranean at a time of tensions with the United States over Georgia.

Syria was Moscow's strongest Mideast ally during the Cold War. The alliance largely waned after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, though Russia has continued some weapons sales to Damascus.

But Syrian President Bashar Assad has increasingly reached out to Russia recently, including seeking weapons and offering broader military cooperation.

Friday's announcement was the first tangible sign of any new cooperation. The Itar-Tass news agency reported a vessel from Russia's Black Sea fleet had begun restoring facilities at Syria's Mediterranean port of Tartus for use by the Russian military.

The two countries' naval chiefs also met in Moscow on Friday and discussed "further strengthening mutual trust and mutual understanding between the two states' fleets," a Russian naval official, Igor Dygalo, told Itar-Tass....

The old bait and switch. No, we're just doing some small repairs, nothing to see. 2 years later after winning the Georgian gambit - oh, by the way, Syria and Russia are now full partners and we're building a naval base here. They never change.

[rjp2005]

A few years ago, it was reported that Russia began dredging at the port of Tartus in Syria to handle some larger ships. Of course, Russian officials passed it off to the media as "simply a re-fueling point, not a permanent naval base." Surprisingly, they actually said "not a permanent naval base".

Well, here we are a few short years later with this:

Russia's ambassador to Damascus, Igor Belyev, said Russian ships already patrol the area, but "a new development is that the Russian presence in the Mediterranean will become permanent."

[germanicus]

Whoa! The next major Middle East conflict, which is right around the corner could very well see Israeli warplanes destroying Russian warships. Sounds like the start of Armageddon.

[usshadley]

you may fire when ready Gridley

[DoughtyOne]

We should have taken out Iran and Syria as part of the WoT. And if we didn’t have the level of service to do so, that should have told us something. Now we’ll have to deal with at least one terrorist state that is Russia’s naval base in the Med.

[mathurine]

That will make it easier to spy on the Russian Navy, not that it is particularly difficult anyway.

[kidd]

Lines are being drawn.

McCain will hold them firm.
Obama will snort them.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

An old Navy hand reported his destroyer shadowed an old Soviet sub coming into the Med back in the 1970s. He was sure the crew had permanent hearing loss from three or four days of constant “Bonggg.”

[mathurine]

Long ago, when I was going to the Naval War College, there were some officers from the Indian Navy attending a version of the program for foreign military. Their navy had some Russian ships and submarines and said they were not very good in warmer seas, lacking adequate ventilation, a/c, etc. so that the crew space just heated up from the sun and the sea temperature. Look for some fried Russians defecting.

[rjp2005]

I don’t think Israel will do that. They’ll increase spy ops though.

Revelations events begin with Iran attacking the rest of the Middle East and Europe. Russia probably will be a sideline accomplice and an enforced boundary forcing Iran/Iraq’s aims westward/southward.