Moscow sets up Russian Golan brigade, warns Israel Sunnis plus al Qaeda are bigger threat than Assad
DEBKAfile Special Report - DEBKAfile, June 10th, 2013
Russian MI-24 helicopters designated for Golan
Moscow is not ready to give up on getting Russian troops posted on the divided Golan as part of the UN force policing the Israeli-Syrian separation sector, even after rejections by the UN and Israel. Monday, June 10, the Russian lawmaker Aleksey Pushkov, an influential foreign relations policy adviser to the Kremlin, said: “The issue has not been yet solved, it is being considered. We must take some real action because we cannot exclude that the Syrian-Israeli topic would be involved in large-scale military action.”
Shortly before he spoke, the military announced in Moscow that the Russian Airborne Troops had formed a separate brigade especially designed to serve as peacekeepers “under the aegis of the United Nations or as part of the force set up by the Russian-led CSTO (Russian-Asian) security bloc for combating terrorism. Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan contribute special units.
Vladimir Shamanov, commander of Russian Airborne troops, said the new brigade had been awarded the status of “a peacekeeping unit” on June 1. He did not say by whom. debkafile’s military sources disclose the Moscow proposes to give the “peacekeeping” brigade from the Russian Airborne Troops “teeth” in the form of of MI-24 combat helicopters.
The idea of placing Russian peacekeepers on the Golan was first voiced by President Vladimir Putin on June 7, after Austria decided to withdraw its 377-strong contingent from the area over an outbreak of fighting there between Syrian troops and rebels.
The idea was quickly shot down by the United Nations and Israel on the grounds that the Israeli-Syrian 1974 ceasefire accord barred veto-wielding UN Security Council members from participation in the peacekeeping force.
On June 8, debkafile reported exclusively that Putin was determined to override Israeli and UN objections and get Russian troops deployed on the Syrian Golan by hook or by crook.
On June 9, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu publicly rejected the Putin offer, saying Israel could not afford to place its security in the hands of international forces.
Speaking at a Moscow press conference on Monday, MP Pushkov went on to say that it was too early to say that Vladimir Putin’s suggestion of placing Russian peacekeepers on the Golan Heights lacked perspectives or could not be implemented.
As though on cue, the Hizballah-controlled Lebanese Al Akhbar Monday quoted President Bashar Assad as warning that, for him, opening a front on the Golan against Israel was “a serious matter” and would not just consist of firing a few improvised rockets from time to time.
As though on cue, the Hizballah-controlled Lebanese Al Akhbar Monday quoted President Bashar Assad as warning that, for him, opening a front on the Golan against Israel was “a serious matter” and would not just consist of firing a few improvised rockets from time to time.
This gave Pushkov the opening for his warning to Israel: That Israeli authorities would oppose this step (Putin’s offer) was not surprising, he said, but he warned about possible consequences: “Assad could be replaced by radical Islamists in comparison with whom Assad would seem an angel from heaven,” said the Russian lawmaker.
“The people who are now offering friendship to Israel would not necessarily see Israel as their partner when they come to power, rather they would see it as an enemy,” the Russian MP said, hinting at the references made by Hizballah and Syrian government spokesmen to the relations Israel had purportedly formed with certain Syrian rebel groups. Hizballah broadcasts even depicted outdated Israeli tanks and other equipment, booty captured in its 2006 war with Israel, to prove its point.
Therefore, Pushkov advised Israeli leaders to pay more attention to the possible future scenarios in Syria and take into account that Russia could play a positive and stabilizing role in the region.
debkafile notes that this was the first time any Russian official had mentioned the unmentionable: a possible future turn in the wheel of the Syrian conflict that would oust Assad and bring his foes, the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood and al Qaeda, to power in Damascus.
"Other Russian officials were more direct. "The data on Assad's use of chemical weapons is fabricated just like the lies about weapons of [Saddam] Hussein's weapons of mass destruction," read a tweet on the feed of Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the Russian parliament's international relations committee. "Obama is going down the path of G. Bush."
ReplyDeleteThe Kremlin opposes any international action against its longtime client, Mr. Assad. Russian officials have said they plan to fulfill a 2010 contract for the S-300 missiles as a way to deter potential outside military intervention in the Syrian civil war. Western powers and Israel have opposed the sale of the system."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323734304578545062769525132.html
So now the Russians can claim that they are sending S-300 missiles to Syria to counteract the American no-fly zone.
--David
Once again we are becoming involved in a civil war, one in which we have no reason to become involved.
ReplyDeleteWell, it started as a civil war (which continues), but was complicated by Hezbollah/Iran/Iraq government coming to the aid of Assad and al-Qaeda from Iraq coming to join the fight against Assad and Hezbollah. Now we have the Russians and Obama coming in, as well as Saudis and others. I am wondering how far Obama and Putin are prepared to go with the no-fly zone by us and the S-300 missiles coming to Syria from Russia. Somebody is going to have to blink eventually!
ReplyDelete--David
This is how world wars start. Everyone putting their two cents in and all of a sudden, thousands if not millions of people are involved. This is not going to end pretty.
ReplyDelete"The Islamist ascendancy has amplified the sectarian nature of the war between Sunni Muslim rebels and the Shi'ite supporters of Assad. It also presents a barrier to the original democratic aims of the revolt and calls into question whether the United States, which announced practical support for the rebels last week, can ensure supplies of weapons go only to groups friendly to the West.'
ReplyDeletehttp://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/19/us-syria-rebels-islamists-specialreport-idUSBRE95I0BC20130619
We thought the Shiite government we installed in Iraq would be "friendly to the West." How did that work out? Besides, as soon as these "moderates" lose battles with Assad or intercine wars with Islamic radicals, all these weapons we send them will end up in the hands of Assad or al-Qaeda.
We agree. This is not going to end pretty.
--David
"Weeks before the Qusayr campaign, in April, Mr. Nasrallah met with Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei in Tehran and with Russia's deputy foreign minister in Beirut, presumably to coordinate their positions."
ReplyDeletehttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324520904578553380445251720.html
I had no idea they were that coordinated. As the article states, a close alliance between Hezbollah, Iran, and Russia would be bad news for Israel. I see this as a real threat, but probably not until the Syrian war is over. Putin makes me nervous.
--David
Putin has always scared me. I don't understand why Russia is so interested in Syria. There must be something of value there. Any idea?
ReplyDelete