[rjp2005]

A few years ago, it was reported that Russia began dredging at the port of Tartus in Syria to handle some larger ships. Of course, Russian officials passed it off to the media as "simply a re-fueling point, not a permanent naval base." Surprisingly, they actually said "not a permanent naval base".

Well, here we are a few short years later with this:

Russia's ambassador to Damascus, Igor Belyev, said Russian ships already patrol the area, but "a new development is that the Russian presence in the Mediterranean will become permanent."

[germanicus]

Whoa! The next major Middle East conflict, which is right around the corner could very well see Israeli warplanes destroying Russian warships. Sounds like the start of Armageddon.

[DoughtyOne]

We should have taken out Iran and Syria as part of the WoT. And if we didn’t have the level of service to do so, that should have told us something. Now we’ll have to deal with at least one terrorist state that is Russia’s naval base in the Med.

[kidd]

Lines are being drawn.

McCain will hold them firm.
Obama will snort them.