Posted on 06/15/2013 6:27:18 PM PDT by kristinn
The United States said on Saturday it would keep F-16 fighters and Patriot missiles in Jordan at Amman's request, and Russia bristled at the possibility they could be used to enforce a no-fly zone inside Syria.
Washington, which has long called for President Bashar al-Assad to step down, pledged military support to Syrian rebels this week, citing what it said was the Syrian military's use of chemical weapons - an allegation Damascus has denied.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has approved a Jordanian request for American F-16s and Patriot missiles to remain in the Western-backed kingdom after a joint military exercise there next week, a Pentagon spokesman said.
Western diplomats said on Friday Washington was considering a limited no-fly zone over parts of Syria, but the White House noted later that it would be far harder and costlier to set one up there than it was in Libya, saying the United States had no national interest in pursuing that option.
Russia, an ally of Damascus and fierce opponent of outside military intervention in Syria, said any attempt to impose a no-fly zone using F-16s and Patriots from Jordan would be illegal.
"You don't have to be a great expert to understand that this will violate international law," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
The idea of a no-fly zone was endorsed by Egypt, the biggest Arab nation. President Mohamed Mursi, an Islamist more distant from Washington than his deposed military predecessor, made a keynote speech in Cairo throwing Egypt's substantial weight more firmly than before against President Bashar al-Assad.
Despite their differences, the United States and Russia announced in May they would try to convene peace talks involving the Syrian government and its opponents, but have set no date.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Bashir Assad vs Al-Queda backed Rebels.
We have zero, zilch, nada, none, NO REASON WHATSOEVER to get involved in this fight.
But, I know why they want to. John McCain, Lindsay Graham and the other RINOs are infected with the same disease that the liberals are - If we help them out, the Muslim’s will like us.
Moron’s, all of them.
me too, not that I trust lefty BBC all that much
” Washington was considering a limited no-fly zone over parts of Syria”
When I last checked, Syria is a sovereign country. Any no fly zone that is established by the United States (even if it gets BS UN approval) becomes an act of war.
Somebody better tell the African Queen in the White Hut that this ain’t Libya.
Now that is funny. Silly fools. Law ? Emperor Zero is the Law.
I don't think they will play any better in Jordan than they will in New Jersey but maybe the change of location will do them good
Putin might teach Obama a lesson with this. I hope it doesn’t come to that.
“revenge is a dish best served cold” ... putin to the boy “lil barack” ...
The actions will come when the politics are right.
The Muslim Brotherhood president of Egypt announced a break in diplomatic relations with Syria today.
Things are moving towards something.
Oh yeah, I’m really buying the King of Jordan voluntarily asking for a bunch of American F-16’s. I’ll bet it was the price of leaving the missile batteries there.
It’s those amputations when they lose that’ll perk them right up.
Even dims would agree to that. Check out the muck in HuffPo — we need to reach across the aisle to stop this Sunni President supporting Alqaeda
There are fifty different ways for Putin to smack the President back. There are probably sixty KGB guys now in Jordan surveying the whole US deployment. They’ve probably moved at least a dozen collector ships out into the Med. And I’d bet on at least fifty Russian special ops guys already in Turkey.
Wait until a Russian is killed by an American jet, or an American jet is shot down by Russian advised anti-aircraft.
Also, China would love for the U.S. to get bogged down in the Middle East again.
Maybe electing a Community Organizer for POtuS wasn’t such a good idea.
Well, actually, we do owe the runt King of Jordan a few favors. He helped us immensely in getting to Saddam and putting up with Iraqi refugees just to note an example of his recent helpfulness. Now he has a huge problem with Syrian refugees and Basher has been trying to kill them on their way to Jordan. So far the plan as I can read it is more to help Jordan defend itself than to beat Basher’s teeth in——yeah, it’s not our fight but we do the little guy for past help.
Point well taken. Not enough for our involvement in my opinion but something that had slipped my mind nonetheless.
I wonder what Little Boy Zer0 will do if the Russians decide to send MiGs aloft over Syria.
Maybe I’ve been a little too hesitant toward our being involved in the Syrian morass.
Let’s field-test the gaily festooned pink battalions of New America’s homosexualized military. Pair them up with units of our new allies in the Syrian insurgency, the Bin Laden Martyrs Army. Integrate them... have them train and live together to develop trust. What could possibly go wrong?
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