Russia Concerned Over Syrian Opposition Possessing Mobile Air-Defence Missile Systems

[Purveyor]

Russia is concerned over the fact that the Syrian opposition has mobile air-defence missile systems which arrived there from Libya, Head of the Kremlin Administration Sergei Ivanov said in Vienna.

Where they will find themselves later and whose civilian plane will be shot down by them is unknown.

This is dangerous and very serious, Ivanov stressed, adding that Russia was not supplying offensive arms to Syria.

MORE...

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_11_30/Russia-concerned-over-Syrian-opposition-possessing-mobile-air-defence-missile-systems/


Al-Qaida forces join Syrian rebels in airbase attack

--CLIP--
The attacked base is Taftanaz airbase from where government forces have been launching air attacks on rebel-held towns.The ability to launch such attacks has given President Bashar Assad's forces the upper hand during recent weeks in the Syrian civil war. Both warplanes and helicopters have been used from the airbase.

The civil war continues apace with thousands of deaths still occurring as Qatar prepares to host an international conference to help unite opposition to Assad's regime with the support of major powers such as the United States. It is hoped by many that opposition leaders currently in exile can be brought to the fore and lead a united front against the Syrian government.
What might be of concern for the west is that the rebels seem to have been joined by fighters from Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaida-inspired Islamic militant group made up of foreign jihadis.

It would seem impossible for the US to offer backing to the rebels if they are indeed now aligned with al-Qaida. Any backing or actual arming of such an alliance would be seen as hypocritical by most and perhaps even stupid by those who remember the US backing for the Taliban when they were fighting to get rid of the Russians from Afghanistan.

MORE...

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/13323174-us-foreign-policy-unravels-as-alqaida-forces-join-syrian-rebels-in-airbase-attack

[leveymg]

1. So should everyone else, particularly the US. Libyan and Syrian regime change invites blowback,

many, many blowbacks. One shipping container of SA-18s could put a halt to US commercial air travel for a while. Including the slightly less effective SA-7s, some 15,000 were looted in Libya.

[Purveyor]

2. PBS Newshour had a segment on this last night and I hoped to use them as the source for this

topic but I couldn't find it mentioned at their website.

Troubling, indeed!