Oh my: Russia threatens to sell S-300 to Iran if US attacks Syria without UN backing

In an interview as part of the lead up to the G20 summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the Associated Press and Russia's state Channel 1 television that his country would consider selling the S-300 anti-missile defense system to 'certain regions' in the event that the United States attacks Syria without United Nations backing. The statement was taken as a veiled hint that Russia would

Hmmm... Russia suspending S-300, MiG29 delivery to Syria

Claiming they haven't been paid, Russia is suspending delivery of the S-300 anti-missile system and of new, modern MiG29M/M2 fighter jets to Syria.

Russia has suspended the delivery of S-300 missile systems to Syria,
Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed in an interview on Wednesday,
AFP reported.

Over the weekend, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported the shipping of the S-300

Obama tells the rabbis what to say, doesn't mention Iran

President Obama had a conference call with about 1,000 rabbis on Friday in which he gave them New Year's greetings and reflected on the high holidays.

Obama in the call on Friday afternoon extended the greetings on behalf
of himself and the first lady for a sweet, happy and healthy New Year.
He noted that the Jewish High Holidays provide an opportunity for Jews
to reflect on the past year

Can we trust Obama?

Hat Tip for the cartoon: MFS - The Other News.

Several American allies don't trust President Obama to carry out an attack on Syria. And in Israel, there is consternation over the fact that he is framing the attack on Syria in terms of protecting us, and fear of the consequences for Iran of the American decision, whatever it might be.

"If the Hill does not approve this, no one will believe

Obama setting Israel up to be scapegoat for Syria failure

Is President Obama setting Israel up to be the scapegoat for the failure of his Syria policy? Here's Soccer Dad's Middle East Media Sampler for Tuesday, September 3.

Setting Israel up for the President's Failure

Politico reports:


The Obama administration is using a time-tested pitch to get Congress to
back military strikes in Syria: It will help protect Israel.
Right. The reason the

New Syrian campaign: 'Over our dead bodies'

Supporters of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria are reported to be carrying out a campaign called 'Over our dead bodies.'

Let's go to the videotape.



I'm willing to bet that this campaign is orchestrated (and not spontaneous as suggested by the video above) and that many of those camping out are actually prisoners and dissidents who are being forced to be there.

On Monday, those Assad

Israel 'sticks to a routine'

Seen on a highway in northern Israel on Saturday... (Hat Tip: Meir G).

Another picture John Kerry would like you to forget

Here's another picture John Kerry would like you to forget. On Monday, I posted a picture of Kerry and his wife having dinner with Assad and his wife in Damascus. This picture is part of the same trip. It's from Kerry's April 2010 meeting with Assad. Here's why he went to Damascus.

On Thursday, Kerry came to town.

Assad
on Sunday called on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to

Flashback: Nancy Pelosi leads Dem delegation to Syria over Bush objections

We haven't heard a lot from Nancy Pelosi on Syria. Maybe this has something to do with why (original source here).

Ms. Pelosi was criticized by President Bush for visiting Damascus at a
time when the administration -- rightly or wrongly -- has frozen
high-level contacts with Syria. Mr. Bush said that thanks to the
speaker's freelancing Mr. Assad was getting mixed messages from the
United

Report from Syria: There are moderates and they do control territory

Elizabeth O'Bagy has been to Syria many times over the past year, and reports that the stories about the rebels being dominated by al-Qaeda are not true. She says that while there are extremists among the rebels, there are also non-Islamists. She believes that an American attack on Bashar al-Assad ought to benefit the non-Islamists.

Contrary to many media accounts, the war in Syria is not

Britain sold nerve gas to Syrian government 10 months AFTER uprising began

The Daily Record's Sunday Mail reports that Britain allowed British companies to sell nerve gas to Syria ten months after the Syrian uprising began.

Export licences for potassium fluoride and sodium fluoride were
granted months after the bloody civil war in the Middle East began.

The
chemical is capable of being used to make weapons such as sarin,
thought to be the nerve gas used in the

Kissinger: Yes, there is a good option for Syria

Henry Kissinger, who knew Bashar al-Assad's father Hafez well, claims that there is a good option for dealing with Syria. It involves undoing a nearly 100-year old mistake.

But the West is wrong to think it has no good options. It has a
superb and just option, one that will let history unfold as it should
have long ago. That option — to break up Syria into coherent nations —
was proposed

Sunni Arab allies exasperated with Western inaction

'Our friends, the Saudis' and other Sunni Arab countries are exasperated by the West's inaction on Syria.

Representing Saudi opinion, Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg, writing in
the Saudi Arab News on Sunday, urged the international community to act against
Syrian President Bashar Assad: “But is it really true that there is nothing else
that can be done? Are we really that paralyzed? Or could the

IDF releases reservists

Israel discharges most of the military reservists it drafted last week in anticipation of Western strikes on Syria - @Galey_Zahal
— Dan Williams (@DanWilliams) September 1, 2013
The IDF has released most of the reservists that it called up in anticipation of a US attack on Syria.

That's not surprising since President Obama has decided to wait for Congress to come back from vacation, which won't

Kerry: Hair and blood samples tested positive for signatures of sarin in Syria

Secretary of State John Kerry told NBC's David Gregory on Meet the Press Sunday that the United States has hair and blood samples from Syria that tested positive for signatures of sarin, a nerve gas.

Let's go to the videotape.



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That sounds pretty definitive, doesn't it?

Israeli diplomat in Turkey invited to official function for the first time since Mavi Marmara incident

An Israeli diplomat, Yosef Levi Sfari, Israel's charge d'affairs at its embassy in Ankara, was invited to an official Turkish function for the first time since he was posted to Ankara in 2011. It was also the first time any Israeli diplomat was invited to a Turkish function since the Mavi Marmara incident. Turkey's Daily Hurriyet tried to tie the story to Prime Minister Netanyahu's apology, but

Syrian media publishes target list for Israel, Cyprus and... Turkey

Syrian media has published a list of targets that Syria plans to hit in the event that the United States attacks Syria. The targets are in Israel, Cyprus and Turkey. There's just one small problem: Syria's air force is reported to be on its last legs, and a US attack could be the end of it. This is from the first link.

Aerial photos of the purported targets were released by state
media, 

Dear Assad....

Heh.

Obama speaks Israel's language

For the Hebrew-impaired, it means 'talk to me after the holidays.' (Hat Tip: Elie K).

British intelligence caught Syrian commanders telling captain 'fire chemicals or be shot'

Part of the evidence that the West has that the Assad regime carried out chemical weapons attacks against his people is conversations overheard by RAF eavesdropping in which a Syrian army captain was ordered by senior commanders to fire chemicals at civilians or be shot.
In one heated exchange, a regional commander was
overheard demanding the captain of an artillery battery in a