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Rumbling Rumors

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Russia To Send

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Nuke Missiles To Syria?

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Plus Mediterranean & Baltic Locations 

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Above: Russia's Iskandar Short-range Cruise Missile - portable ground version 

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Above: Russia's Iskandar Short Range Cruise Missile - Naval Version

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(A-O Newswire) -- Syrian President Assad was given a hastily called invitation to Moscow for a friendly conversation about military defense and a possible military shopping spree or more. President Assad quickly flew to Russia after the hasty invitation for a 2-day Summit.

As I reported in the A-O Intelligence Report's latest edition, rumors are swirling around various diplomatic circles and western think tanks with talk of Russia sending short-range nuclear missiles to Syria. Those rumors hadn't hit mainstream media and probably wouldn't have now except for the sudden trip to Moscow by Syria's Assad and his own statement indicating the talks were defense related.

Various intelligence reports and rumors suggest the following developments between Russia and Syria:

1. Syria allows Russia to "park" short-range Iskander nuclear-tipped missiles inside Syrian territory

2. Russia establishes 1 or 2 "nuclear" naval bases in either or both Syrian ports of Tartus or Latakia. Russian warships would be armed with nuclear weapons with a Syrian port serving as home-base.

3. Russia provides further air defense support to Syria

4. Russia offers additional weapons deals of varying smaller dimensions such as small-arms and ground support weaponry, possible tank deals and or further aircraft deals.

The Russians can afford to be generous with Syria, in part because Russia is awash in extra oil-money as oil prices remain well above the $100 level. For Russia, those extra oil dollars are like "found money" well spent to create surrogate allies to shield Russia and extend Russian reach to avoid being encircled by American interests. A naval base in Syria would give the pitiful Russian navy the ability to avoid being bottled up in the Black Sea and the Bosporous Straits unable to access the Mediterranean.

Moscow's surface navy is almost non-existent, with the vast majority of its fleet in drydock, rusting away or in decrepit condition and barely sea-worthy. The Russian submarine fleet isn't in much better shape with no more than 6 strategic submarines able to put to sea for short or medium range patrols. Intelligence analysts have reported that at least until recently, Russia is hard pressed to dispatch more than 3 nuclear-missile subs to extended patrols along America's coastlines.

The hasty Moscow-Damascus Summit portends further the idea that a new "Cold War" is developing quickly between Russia and the West and now spreading into the Middle East. Yet again, Israeli defense strategists are being forced to re-examine Israel's defense strategies as the prospects of a new Cold War re-emerge and spread into the Mideast region.

As Russia creates a stranglehold on Natural Gas flowing to Europe, Turkey and to Israel's Arab neighbors, concerns mount that Russian control and implications of a Russian cut off of energy might unduly influence other nations to back away from support to Israel in any future military conflicts Israel might face. It also strengthen's Iran's hand as the alternate energy resource to Russia, meaning yet again, Israeli allies would face undue pressures to abandon Israel in an hour of need.

For more on this story, LINK HERE. Turkish media story, LINK HERE.

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