WORLD_ Syria is to Russia what Israel is to America

Syria is to Russia what Israel is to America

By Con Coughlin
World Last updated: July 11th, 2012
202 Comments
Comment on this article

(Con Coughlin Con Coughlin, the Telegraph's executive foreign editor, is a world-renowned expert on the Middle East and Islamic terrorism. He is the author of several critically acclaimed books. His new book, Khomeini's Ghost, is published by Macmillan.)

Russia has sent a group of warships to the Syrian coast


As if the Syrian crisis is not bad enough already, the decision by Russia's macho-man president Vladimir Putin's to dispatch a flotilla of warships and amphibious landing vessels to Syria is hardly likely to ease the tensions.

While UN special envoy Kofi Annan continues with his somewhat futile mission to resurrect his six-point ceasefire plan, Moscow's decision to send two destroyers and three amphibious landing craft to Syria suggests that the Russians have no interest in easing tensions in the region.

As Mr Annan continues with his shuttle diplomacy, most recently visiting Iran to win the ayatollahs' support for his peace plan, there had been suggestions that Moscow was preparing to abandon its defence of the Assad regime, and might throw its support behind a plan whereby Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his clique of Ba'athist thugs are allowed to go into exile somewhere congenial to their outlook - like Tehran.

Personally, I have always been sceptical about any suggestion that the Russians were giving serious consideration to ditching their most important regional ally. Syria is to the Russians what Israel is to the Americans, a vital strategic ally that can be relied upon through thick and thin to defend and represent Moscow's interests at all times. In addition, it also provides the Russian navy with an important resupply base at Tartus, its only naval base in the Mediterranean.

Mr Putin's nationalistic sympathies are too deeply ingrained to allow this vital ally of the Kremlin to be overthrown just because Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, is calling for regime change in Damascus. Indeed, the dispatch of the Russian warships from their bases in the Artic and Black Sea can be seen as Mr Putin's response to Mrs Clinton's call at the weekend for Moscow to play a more responsible role in resolving the Syrian crisis. Dream on, Mrs Clinton.


Tags: Bashar al-Assad, Israel, Russia, Syria, U.S., Vladimir Putin




Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .



conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
17072012
___________
CSVN là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC