Russian PM: "US On Brink Of Military Clash With Russia"

Zero Hedge ^ | 04/07/17 | Tyler Durden

[Enlightened1]

In a statement on Friday morning, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that the US missile strike violated not only international, and added that the attack “was on the brink of military clashes with Russia.”

“Instead of their much-publicized thesis about a joint fight with a common enemy, Islamic State [IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL], the Trump administration has proven that it will fiercely fight against the legal government of Syria,” Medvedev wrote on his Facebook page.

Ealier in the day, the Kremlin released a statement according to which "President Putin views the U.S. strikes on Syria as aggression against a sovereign state in violation of the norms of international law and on a made-up up pretext. This step by Washington will inflict major damage on U.S.-Russia ties."

"President Putin views the U.S. strikes on Syria as aggression against a sovereign state in violation of the norms of international law and on a made-up up pretext," said a Kremlin statement. "This step by Washington will inflict major damage on U.S.-Russia ties."

Moscow suspended communication with U.S. forces designed to stop planes colliding over Syria. A Russian frigate carrying cruise missiles sailed through the Bosphorus Strait into the Mediterranean Sea, although there was no indication it was directly in response to U.S. action.

* * *

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Criss told Reuters that the situation in Syria "amounts to an international armed conflict" following U.S. missile strikes on a Syrian airbase.

"Any military operation by a state on the territory of another without the consent of the other amounts to an international armed conflict," ICRC spokeswoman Iolanda Jaquemet told Reuters in Geneva in response to a query.

"So according to available information - the U.S. attack on Syrian military infrastructure - the situation amounts to an international armed conflict."

[Garth Tater]

If Assad wants to see it that way and strike back I guess he’s free to take his best shot. lol

You really think this was an attack on Assad?

We attacked Russian military, political and economic interests last night. Assad's life or death is small potatoes compared to the billions of dollars, euros and rubles at stake in the Gulf States/Saudi natural gas pipeline project. Russia holds all of Europe by the short hairs as their ONLY natural gas supplier ONLY as long as the GS/Saudi pipeline does not go through Syria. We attacked a vital Russian economic interest when we attacked that Syrian airbase.

Putin rules Russia as a defacto dictator ONLY as long as he protects the Russian people and is seen as standing strong against the world that has been "out to get them" ever since the fall of the Soviet Union. Read a bit outside of the MSM pablum and you will see that Putin cannot back down here. Some form of retaliation will be done. Russian politics DEMANDS it.

Militarily, Syria provides Russia it's only warm water oceanic port. They will not willingly give this up. As long as Assad provides this port Assad stays in power.

We attacked vital, strategic economic, political and military interests of a nuclear armed world power last night and you think it matters a hill of beans what Assad says or does? Clueless bravado - lots of fun until you have to start counting your dead..

[TigersEye]

It was an attack on the use of chemical weapons. If Russia was involved with that then the message was for them too.

Back to your first point though, this was not a declaration of war and we are not at war with Syria or Russia. Any opinion to the contrary is hyperventilating neurotic delusion.

[Garth Tater]

In case you forgot, we declared victory in Vietnam and then packed up and left. Just as the Russians did in Afghanistan. Neither of those "wars" were existential actions by either of us, they were just side actions in the US/Soviet Cold War - the REAL war, If Russia's borders or vital strategic interests are ever threatened nukes will come out, biological WMDs will be released and hell will have its way. Russia will not be losing a "conventional" war with the US because it will never stay conventional long enough for them to lose.

The rah-rah cheerleaders here on Free Republic are fools that have no idea what Russia is capable of. They can literally destroy this planet and if there is one people on this planet that would do that before they give up their country it is the Russians. Statements like, "We will kick their butts in a conventional war." are fools words and nothing more.

[Garth Tater]

we are not at war with Syria or Russia. Any opinion to the contrary is hyperventilating neurotic delusion.

We are at war with Russia when and if Russia says we are at war. It does not take two countries to declare war. One is sufficient and we just attacked a nuclear armed world power with MANY vital interests on the line.

[TigersEye]

Russia won’t go to war with us.

[Garth Tater]

Russia won’t go to war with us.

Of course not. Full-fledged war between 2 nuclear armed powers is unthinkable. It's MAD. That's why Russia won't go to war with us over an attack on their vital national interests. They will find a way to hit back at our interests and they will hit hard enough that this situation doesn't pop up again for a long time. Of course when they hit us we will be unwilling to go to war with them because that would also be MAD. So, we'll just have to accept the pain and maybe if we're foolish begin a cycle of tit for tat. Not real smart getting that sort of thing going again, but hey, who said anyone in charge on either side was smart?

[TigersEye]

And you think Pres. Trump can’t handle whatever Putin throws at him.

Fair enough.

[shanover]

There is still not enough information. We may never know. That’s how it is now with secret government and imbecile media. Show me that Assad did this, then we can move on and equally say Russia is complicit. All I see is grandstanding, sources and innuendo.

[jdsteel]

“We are doing the bidding of the Saudis.”

IF the pipelines that Trump just approved, the EPA rollbacks, the restrictions to fracking removed don’t prove that Trump is not in bed with the Saudi’s NOTHING will.

[jdsteel]

The best analysis yet.

[topher]

I care about military lives. Donald Trump showed he cared when the first US Combat casualty of his administration was returned home. Trump went to the place the body was being flown into.

But Syria borders Israel. If Syria were to drop some Sarin gas on Israel to sway Arab opinion (like SCUD attacks on Israel by Iraq), then Israel might respond by using a hydrogen bomb on Syria.

That would be very messy.

I would make any confrontation with Russia over Syria conditional: only if the US could get the support of the Urkaine as well as many other nations as possible (NATO, including Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq).

Also the UN should be involved in getting the Sarin gas removed.

I would hope Russia would not start a war, and I would not want the US to start a war.

But there are problems with Syria having Sarin gas as well as Iran having nuclear weapons.

We have a problem with North Korea because they are developing rockets to launch their nuclear weapons with.

[elhombrelibre]

No, one of the three broke ranks and told it in an article. Do some research and you’ll see that’s correct. By the way, who was Tyler Durden and what was his views of life and capitalism?

[elhombrelibre]

You know Leftist used to try to shutdown criticisms of the Soviet Union the same way. Anyone speaking of the Gulag or the cruelties of communism was told he was a warmonger and reminded that the Soviets have nukes. It didn’t stop me and most anti-communist then and it’s not going to stop me now when I speak up for liberty.

[elhombrelibre]

Well, a lot of Americans see the world as putin does now, so they believe that vision when they’re told it. They believe the conspiracy theories. They believe the USA is no better than any other country. Indeed, many of them believe the USA is the focus of evil in the world. They accept the idea that putin is a paladin of Christianity, and his puppet Assad is a virtuous statesman under siege only be al Qaeda and ISIS despite his near utopian secular state. So I get it if you believe Tyler Durden is a real person with brilliant insights on foreign policy. But even the real Tyler Durden was repulsive. Read the book.

[CitizenUSA]

What do you call it when one nation attacks another sovereign nation? Is that not war? What if Syria had claimed America violated international law and bombed us? Would we not consider that an act of war?

[CodeToad]

kabuki theater. Russia doesn’t have the resources for war.

It’s got a $1.8 trillion economy. that’s it.

[TigersEye]

No, that is clearly not the definition of war. LOL

[riverdawg]

We never declared victory in Vietnam, and neither did the Soviets in Afghanistan. We turned the Vietnam War over to what remained of the South Vietnamese army, which was then defeated by the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese within two years. The retreat by the Soviet army from Afghanistan was al thousand kilometers long, body bags in tow. There are several graphic documentaries of it.

[Garth Tater]

You don't have any Vietnam vets in the family do you?

"We declared victory in Vietnam and then packed up and left." is heard at every family gathering. It's sardonic humor.



Were you around back then? Do you remember the wild rooftop parties?




and the chaotic victory celebrations on the ships off the coast



We have another victory celebration coming up soon in Afghanistan.
New war, new generation. Same as it ever was.



The gist of my post (minus the attempt at humor) was: Neither of those "wars" were existential actions by either of us, they were just side actions in the US/Soviet Cold War - the REAL war

If Vietnam had been a real war we would have mined Haiphong during the war to cut off the north's resupply and not waited until 1972 when we were already declaring victory and heading out the door.

[riverdawg]

As Jay Leno said, humor is best left to the professionals. And, yes, I have/had family and friends who served in Vietnam. For all of them, the Vietnam was, in fact, an “existential threat”, and for three of them the threat became reality.