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Russian Marine & Air Power Head For Syria Versus Western Intervention
Debkafiles ^ | June 19, 2013, 5:32 PM

Posted on 06/19/2013 4:31:34 PM PDT by drewh

Just one day after the G8 Summit ended in the failure of Western leaders to overcome Russian resistance to a resolution mandating President Bashar Assad’s ouster, Moscow announced Wednesday June 19, the dispatch to Syria of two warships carrying 600 Russian marines.

They were coming, said the official statement, "to protect the Russian citizens there."

Russian Deputy Air Force Commander Maj.-Gen. Gradusov added that an air force umbrella would be provided the Russian expeditionary force if needed. debkafile's military sources report that the pretext offered by Moscow for sending the force thinly disguised Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intent to flex Russian military muscle in response to the delivery of Western heavy arms to Syrian rebels – which debkafile first revealed Tuesday, June 18.

Putin was giving the West due warning that if they persisted in arming the rebels any further, a Russian troop landing in Syria would take place in the guise of an operation to evacuate endangered Russian nationals.

Some 20,000 Russians live in Syria. In former stages of the conflict, they were given the locations of assembly points should Moscow decide to lift them out of the war-torn country. The evacuation of Russian citizens would in itself dramatically denote the expansion of the Syrian conflict.

The Russian Interfax news agency identified the warships heading for Syrian shores as the Nikolai Filchenkov Large Landing Ship and the Vice Admiral Kulakov, a Udaloy 1 class destroyer, each carrying 300 marines.

Aboard the former are also 20 tanks and 15 armored troop carriers or military trucks, while the Kulakov is designed mainly for anti-submarine warfare.

Military sources also reveal that, although Moscow described the warships are preparing to depart for Syria, they have actually been cruising in the Mediterranean since mid-May. Upon receiving their orders, they could reach Syria in just a few hours.

Maj.-Gen. Gradusov was quoted as saying: "We won't abandon the Russians and will evacuate them from the conflict zone, if necessary."

Asked if the Russian aircraft were intended as air cover for the Russian warships coming to Syria, he declined to answer, saying said only "They will act on orders."

The Moscow communiqué does not say when the Russian forces are scheduled to reach port in Syria or in which part of the country they are to operate. Our military sources say their impending presence in the war zone and the possibility of Western-supplied weapons in Syrian rebel hands causing Russian casualties are enough to contribute three more perilous dimensions to the Syrian conflict:

1. The harming of Russian soldiers would give Moscow an excuse to pile on more military reinforcements in Syria;

2. Russian air power is on its way to Syrian airspace before any decision is taken in the West about imposing a US-led no-fly zone over Syria;

3. The presence of Russian military personnel in Syria would pour more fuel on the already highly incendiary diplomatic and military tensions between Washington and Moscow over this conflict.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Israel; News/Current Events; Russia; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: iran; israel; jordan; lebanon; russia; syria; turkey; waronterror

1 posted on 06/19/2013 4:31:34 PM PDT by drewh
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To: drewh

Add to this mix amateurish, naïve, foolish people in American positions of power and you have a recipe for disaster.

And, are we really backing people who not only hate us, but have promised ethnic cleansing, executed children for blasphemy and eaten their enemies? Gosh...wow...


2 posted on 06/19/2013 4:41:47 PM PDT by Gen.Blather
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To: drewh

One, this is Debka, which is about as reliable as the carnival psychic. Two, the only way you are could pack 300 grunts on a Udaloy 1 class destroyer would be to lash them to the weather deck because there would not be any room below.


3 posted on 06/19/2013 4:42:08 PM PDT by Ronin (Dumb, dependent and Democrat is no way to go through life - Rep. L. Gohmert, Tex)
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To: drewh

Putin is not kidding around. He’s going to make a stand.


4 posted on 06/19/2013 4:46:38 PM PDT by CMB_polarization
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To: Ronin

You’d think people would have given up on DUMBKA after their silly “Chinese sending troops to fight for the Taliban” story in 2001.

Wikipedia lists the Udaloy complement at 300, so some dimwit at DUMBKA probably looked that up and changed “crew” to “marines.”

Conservatives need to stop relying on embarrassingly stupid sources for military information like DUMBKA and Wing Nut Daily. It’s mostly because both sites provide scary and interesting information, and people don’t care if it’s false.


5 posted on 06/19/2013 4:57:43 PM PDT by Strategerist
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To: drewh

On that site did you guys see this ad: http://www.randpacusa.com/nsa_lawsuit_signupPAC2.aspx?pid=05b


6 posted on 06/19/2013 5:06:37 PM PDT by nomad
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To: drewh

This dumb-@ss in the White House will do anything, anything, to distract the public from his epic failures, his outright treason, and using our money to fund his little ‘get out of the ghetto’ vacations around the world.


7 posted on 06/19/2013 5:28:59 PM PDT by patriotsblood
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To: patriotsblood

I am willing to bet that Israel forgot the codes to those S-300 systems Russia will be deploying.


8 posted on 06/19/2013 5:36:29 PM PDT by EQAndyBuzz (The reason we own guns is to protect ourselves from those wanting to take our guns from us.)
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To: EQAndyBuzz
Believing Debka is one thing, but if you look around the world to find stories about this new war, rumors are that in addition to the S-300, Syria will be getting some systems that are the most advanced in the world of their kind.

Russian Advanced Weapons for Syria: Unrevealed Secrets of Vladimir Putin’s Recent Visit to London

And the idiotic mainstream belief amongst the DC power elite is that Russia will fold.

Won’t allow no-fly zone ‘as a matter of principle’, says Russia

9 posted on 06/19/2013 6:16:24 PM PDT by justa-hairyape
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To: EQAndyBuzz

This could get out of hand really fast—one wrong move and plane loads of Russians could be coming in to Syria within hours. What about Russia’s allies like Armenia? What happens if they close down our air corridor to kabul? This could devolve into a general war.


10 posted on 06/19/2013 6:59:08 PM PDT by Forward the Light Brigade (Into the Jaws of H*ll)
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Berosus; bigheadfred; Bockscar; ColdOne; Convert from ECUSA; ...

Thanks drewh.
Some 20,000 Russians live in Syria. In former stages of the conflict, they were given the locations of assembly points should Moscow decide to lift them out of the war-torn country. The evacuation of Russian citizens would in itself dramatically denote the expansion of the Syrian conflict.

11 posted on 06/20/2013 9:28:07 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (McCain or Romney would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)
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To: SunkenCiv

>>>>Some 20,000 Russians live in Syria. In former stages of the conflict, they were given the locations of assembly points should Moscow decide to lift them out of the war-torn country. The evacuation of Russian citizens would in itself dramatically denote the expansion of the Syrian conflict.<<<<

19900 of them are mail ordered brides and their children.


12 posted on 06/20/2013 10:12:29 PM PDT by cunning_fish
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