The Only Foreign Intervention in Syria - Russia in Syria

Thanks @ArabSpringFF

Arms deliveries to Syria surged almost 600 percent from 2007 to 2011 compared with the previous five years, a leading think tank said on Monday, with Russia supplying the bulk of the country’s weapons. 

The report underlined how Moscow has continued to supply Syria with firepower while the United States, European Union and others have imposed arms embargoes in response to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s bloody crackdown on unrest.

World powers have been unable to stop more than a year of bloodshed in Syria, a country that sits on the fault lines of several regional and ethnic conflicts. Recent army gains against rebel positions have not succeeded in quelling the violence and no negotiated settlement is in sight.

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In a nondescript apartment room in Turkey, just across the border from Syria, clouds of cigarette smoke drift toward the ceiling as Syrian opposition activists ponder how to keep people and supplies moving across the border.

Abu Jafaar is the alias of a Syrian smuggler who has been dodging Syrian army patrols for the past several months.

He says the smugglers are still getting back and forth, but the Syrian army has begun occupying entire villages to block their path. They have to be very careful when villagers rise up and protest, because that attracts the security forces.

Syrian civilians fleeing the army’s assault on rebel-held neighborhoods are also crossing the border, into Turkey and Lebanon, with tales of horrific damage and brutal killings.

Russia faces a growing international outcry over its arms sales to Syria but shows no sign of bowing to pressure and has even increased deliveries of arms that critics say are helping keep President Bashar al-Assad in power.

The biggest importer of arms to Syria, Russia sold Damascus nearly $1 billion worth of arms including missile systems last year, while shipments of hard-to-track Russian small weapons have risen since the uprising against Assad started, government defectors say.

Thanks @hadeelasayegh

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A Russian ship that made an unscheduled stop in Cyprus while carrying tons of arms to Syria was technically violating an EU embargo on such shipments, say Cypriot officials.

The vessel, however, was allowed to continue its journey Wednesday after changing its destination.

The cargo ship, owned by St. Petersburg-based Westberg Ltd., left the Russian port on Dec. 9 for Turkey and Syria, which is 65 miles (105 kilometers) east of Cyprus, the officials said.

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Russia will honor all arms contacts with Syria despite continuing violence against anti-government protesters in the country, a senior military official said on Sunday. “Since there are no restrictions on the supply of arms to Syria, Russia will fulfill its obligations under the contracts signed with this country,” Vyacheslav Dzirkaln, deputy head of Russia’s Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation, told reporters in Dubai.

Dzirkaln said Moscow saw “dialogue between the government and opposition as the only solution to the current crisis” and called on Damascus to end its crackdown on protesters.

Rights groups more than 3,500 people have been killed since protests against President Bashar al-Assad began in March.

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Thanks @farGar

Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) — China and Russia are calling for an end to violence in Syria after an Arab League-brokered peace accord failed to stop troops from killing protesters. They still oppose sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad.

The countries’ position is motivated by a desire for stability in the region, said Dan Darling, an analyst at defense-research firm Forecast International in Newtown, Connecticut. While China is the second-largest consumer of crude oil after the U.S., Russia sold $6.8 billion of arms to Syria between 2003 and 2010.

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THE RUSSIAN FLAG HAS BECOME OUR DANCE-FLOOR: Despite all the death and destruction by Russian made weapons at the hands of Bashar’s forces, these free Syrians still find joy in trampling on the the Russian flag to show their disgust for a government which refuses to halt arms exports to a regime that mutilates young women and little boys.

The Russians cant even bring themselves to back a meaningless UN resolution. The guilt is too much for them … but not enough for a couple of extra dollars (a drop in the bucket)