Posted on 02/20/2012 5:41:38 PM PST by U-238
As the violence in Syria worsened in recent days, amateur video showed the forces of President Bashar al-Assad rolling through the besieged city of Homs in vintage Soviet battle tanks.
Other photographs, including satellite images released by the State Department, showed deployments of Soviet-designed truck-mounted rocket launchers and two models of a self-propelled howitzer whose sweet-scented names in Russian, Gvozdika and Akatsiya (Carnation and Acacia), are no reflection of their fearsome firepower.
Seemingly undeterred by an international outcry, Moscow has worked frantically in recent weeks to preserve its relationship with the increasingly isolated government of Mr. Assad, even as the Syrian leader turns his guns on his own citizens, and the death toll mounts. Not only has it continued to arm Syria, but its veto with China of a United Nations Security Council resolution calling on Mr. Assad to resign provided the political cover for a more severe crackdown on rebel forces.
Russia has praised Mr. Assad’s call for a constitutional referendum, a step that the United States and other governments have dismissed as meaningless. On Thursday, Russia was one of just a dozen countries, among them China, Iran and North Korea, to vote against a General Assembly resolution urging Mr. Assad to step down.
And many analysts say that without Russia’s backing, including a steady supply of weapons, food, medical supplies and other aid, the Assad government will crumble within a matter of months if not sooner.
It has done all this in the face of stinging international criticism, and so far it has shown no signs of backing down. While Moscow has a number of reasons to guard its relations with Damascus, the most concrete, many analysts say, is the longstanding arms sales to Syria.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Russia forgave 75% of Syria’s outstanding debt.
Cheap skates, most of the time we forgive 110%.
Yikes... the rascals... in Syria expect continued support...
It is ALL a scam....
ping
Its the carrot and the stick.
Thanks for the ping!
“On Thursday, Russia was one of just a dozen countries, among them China, Iran and North Korea, to vote against a General Assembly resolution urging Mr. Assad to step down.”
Incredible how this assortment of countries is doing more to preserve the lives of Christians in Syria (at least 2,000,000 of them) than the United States is willing to do.
Maybe some people got a bit cocky thinking that the so-called Arab Spring was a bunch of Jeffersons and Lincolns taking over from dictators, but at this point, that ain’t the case. And regardless of what people say, the bloodbath in Syria will be lot worse if the rebels win, just as in Egypt and Libya.
Thanks for the ping, mountn man!
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