“'These weapons cannot be used to destabilize the region,' maintained former Russian Federation foreign minister Igor Ivanov at a press conference of the Luxembourg Forum, a group of leading US and Russian experts dedicated to preventing a nuclear catastrophe, in Washington for a major conference.
He pointed to 'provisions in the contract with Syria' that specifically bar Damascus from transferring these weapons to a third party, noting that the manufacturers were also only allowed to work on the weapon installation with the Syrians."
Syria won't be able to transfer these missiles to Hezbollah? Yeah, right.
Israel discovered in 2006 that advanced Russian anti-tank missiles had been transferred from Syria to Hezbollah and used against Israeli armored vehicles with deadly effect. Initially, Russia denied that their missiles had been used, until the evidence was brought to Moscow.
Even if the new agreement now bars Syria, a tyrannical rogue state if ever there was one, from transferring Yakhont cruise missiles to Hezbollah, what happens if the missiles nevertheless find their way into the hands of Hezbollah? The Russians then declare: "Bad, bad Bashar"?
Alternatively, what happens if the Yakhonts are shipped from Syria to Iran and fired at U.S. naval vessels in the Persian Gulf? It won't be pretty . . .
Again being tested, Obama is not up to the job.
I am not sure, how you came to your conclusion...
ReplyDeleteRussians just do not care about Israel or stability in the Middle East. How can America change it?
Hi Marina,
ReplyDeleteIf the Yakhonts are passed from Syria to Iran, this becomes primarily the problem of the U.S. Navy in the Persian Gulf.
There are a multitude of incentives which can be used by the U.S. to cause Russia to cancel this deal.