Russia sends spy ship as US prepares for possible Syria strike

Syria has become an international chess match between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama.  Who has the advantage between the former KGB and the former community organizer?

The Guardian reports Russia is sending a reconnaissance ship to the eastern Mediterranean as the US prepares for a possible military strike in Syria, it was reported on Monday.

The Priazovye left Russia's naval base in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Sevastopol late on Sunday on a mission "to gather current information in the area of the escalating conflict", said an unidentified military source quoted by the Interfax news agency. The defence ministry declined to comment.

Barack Obama said on Saturday he would seek congressional authorization for punitive military action against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad after what the US says was a sarin gas attack that killed more than 1,400 people.
Russia says the US has not proved its case.

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The military stakes are getting higher!

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Russian Prez Vladimir Putin calls Obama’s claims "utter nonsense", challenges present chem. attack evidence to U.N.

Wow!  What a slap in the face to President Obama!  

The Guardianreports Vladimir Putin at a meeting with regional heads in Khabarovsk, Russia. The Russian president went on the offensive against the US over Syria.  

 Vladimir Putin has rejected US intelligence claims that Bashar al-Assad's regime used chemical weapons in Syria, saying it would be "utter nonsense" for government troops to use such tactics in a war it was already winning.

"That is why I am convinced that [the chemical attack] is nothing more than a provocation by those who want to drag other countries into the Syrian conflict, and who want to win the support of powerful members of the international arena, especially the United States," Putin told journalists in Vladivostok.

The Russian president also challenged the US to present its case for military intervention to the UN security council, after suggesting that if Barack Obama was worthy of his Nobel peace prize, he should think about the possible victims of any intervention by foreign forces.

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I think Vlad is getting some payback on Obama for his “bored kid in the back of theclassroom comment.” 

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AP sources: Intelligence on weapons no 'slam dunk'

So Obama is considering taking the U.S. to war on shaky evidence? 

Associated Press reports the intelligence linking Syrian President Bashar Assad or his inner circle to an alleged chemical weapons attack is no "slam dunk," with questions remaining about who actually controls some of Syria's chemical weapons stores and doubts about whether Assad himself ordered the strike, U.S. intelligence officials say.

President Barack Obama declared unequivocally Wednesday that the Syrian government was responsible, while laying the groundwork for an expected U.S. military strike.

"We have concluded that the Syrian government in fact carried these out," Obama said in an interview with "NewsHour" on PBS. "And if that's so, then there need to be international consequences."

However, multiple U.S. officials used the phrase "not a slam dunk" to describe the intelligence picture — a reference to then-CIA Director George Tenet's insistence in 2002 that U.S. intelligence showing Iraq had weapons of mass destruction was a "slam dunk" — intelligence that turned out to be wrong.

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Does Obama really know what he’s doing?

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Iran warns west against military intervention in Syria: There will definitely be perilous consequences for the region-Attack on Israel

In a very clear warning the rogue state of Iran has pledged to come to the defense of their ally Syria if the United States moves forward with a military attack.    

The Guardian reports Iran has warned that foreign military intervention in Syria will result in a conflict that would engulf the region. 

The threatening rhetoric from Tehran came in response to a statement by the secretary of state, John Kerry, on Monday that the US would respond to the "undeniable" use of chemical weapons in Syria.

In the strongest signal yet that the US intends to take military action against the Assad regime, Kerry said President Bashar al-Assad's forces had committed a "moral obscenity" against his own people. 

"Make no mistake," Kerry said. "President Obama believes there must be accountability for those who would use the world's most heinous weapon against the world's most vulnerable people. Nothing today is more serious, and nothing is receiving more serious scrutiny".

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Abbas Araqchi, indicated it was equally resolved to defend Assad. 

"We want to strongly warn against any military attack in Syria. There will definitely be perilous consequences for the region," Araqchi told a news conference. "These complications and consequences will not be restricted to Syria. It will engulf the whole region."

Shi'ite Iran is Syria's closest ally and has accused an alliance of militant Sunni Islamists, Israel and western powers of trying to use the conflict to take over the region.

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Maybe Obama wants Israel attacked?

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Is War with Syria immanent? US Navy ships ready to act if Obama orders strike over Syria chemical-weapons attack

President Obama last year warned Syria not to cross a red line by using chemical weapons on its people.  There have been photos published in the press suggesting these attacks have already occurred. 

So what does Obama do now?  Take us to another war?  Progressives aren’t very good at that. 

New York Post reports U.S. military forces in the Mediterranean are ready to act if President Obama orders a strike at Syria in response to last week’s alleged poison-gas attack, top officials said.

“The Defense Department has a responsibility to provide the president with options for all contingencies,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters.

“That requires positioning our forces, positioning our assets, to be able to carry out different options, whatever option the president may choose,” Hagel said.

Four Navy destroyers armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles are in position and awaiting orders, officials said.

Obama huddled with his military and national security advisers at the White House yesterday to craft a response to the Syrian government’s alleged chemical massacre of what is now being tallied as hundreds of Damascus-area civilians.

A range of options is being mulled, White House officials said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron was to confer with Obama by phone yesterday, and was also reported to be considering military options, including surgical missile strikes designed to show the regime of President Bashar al-Assad that chemical weapons will not be tolerated.

Britain’s Royal Navy has a nuclear-powered Trafalgar class submarine, armed with Tomahawk missiles, on patrol in the region and could join in limited, US-led strikes.

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I’m with Sarah Palin, let Allah sort it out.  Unless oil shipment s from the region is cut off, let the Muslins kill each other and we stay out of it. 

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