December 19, 2006, 1:04 PM (GMT+02:00) Syrian president Bashar Asad arrived in Moscow Monday night, Dec. 18, with two items for his host, President Vladimir Putin: A shopping list for weapons and half a billion dollars put up by Iran - in cash if needed - to purchase Russian arms. In recent months, Tehran has been dispensing colossal sums to its Middle East allies and pawns, mostly to stock up on war materiel and upgrade their military strength. (The Palestinian Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya alone was awarded quarter of a billion dollars for his war chest when he visited...