Russian forces take Syrian chemical, biological weapons under control

[Christians4LessGvt]

Russian forces take Syrian chemical,
biological weapons under control

DEBKAfile Special Report

December 22, 2012


Russia's airborne special forces

The chemical warfare threat looming over Syria?s civil war and its neighbors has taken an epic turn with the announcement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Saturday, Dec. 22, that ?the Syrian government has "consolidated its chemical weapons in one or two locations amid a rebel onslaught and they are under control for the time being.:

He added that Russia, "which has military advisers training Syria's military, has kept close watch over its chemical arsenal."

debkafile's military and intelligence sources report: The Russian foreign minister's statement was a message to Washington that the transfer of Syria?s weapons of mass destruction to one or two protected sites was under Russian control. This had removed the danger of them falling into the hands of the al Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra ,which had come ominously close Friday, Dec. 21, when the Islamists spearheaded a Syrian rebel assault for the capture of the al-Safira military complex and Bashar Assad's chemical and biological stores.

Lavrov did not go into detail about how this arsenal was removed and to which locations. But his reference to "Russian military advisers training Syria's military" clearly indicated that Russian forces were directly involved in removing the WMD out of the reach of the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists. His assertion that they were "under control" indicated that Russia was also involved in safeguarding them.

debkafile reported Friday, Dec. 21:

The Syrian Air Force is again firing Scud missiles, this time to stem the general offensive Syrian opposition forces, including jihadis, launched Friday, Dec. 21, to capture the Syrian army?s military-industrial complex at al Safira and the big chemical and biological weapons store adjoining the facility. It is there, that Scud D missiles stand ready for launching, loaded with chemical weapons.

Rebel forces are converging on Al Safira from the east, the west and the south. Among them are brigades of the Jabhat al-Nusra which the US has designated part of al Qaeda in Iraq.

debkafile military sources report extremely heavy fighting. The rebels have reached points 1-2 kilometers from the perimeter walls of the Al Safira chemical weapons stores and are being pounded by Syrian warplanes and assault helicopters as well as Scuds, in a desperate effort to halt their advance.

Success in seizing control of those stores would re-tilt the balance of the war in their favor and bring President Bashar Assad face to face with a decision on whether to broach the perilous dimension of chemical warfare on the rebels or even against NATO or US targets outside Syria.

A prime factor in his decision would be the information received in Moscow and Tehran and almost certainly passed on to the Syrian ruler that taking part in the offensive are rebels who underwent training in recent weeks in northern Jordan by US, Czech and Polish officers in tactics for seizing chemical or biological caches and dismantling them.

Russian and Iranian intelligence watchers suspect that elements from all three armies as well as Jordan are present in the rebel assault force, in order to be on the spot when the weapons of mass destruction are captured and appropriate them to forces under NATO command.  They must beat Jabhat al-Nusra's fighting brigades to this target, although at this moment, the jihadis are ahead of the race.

The battle for al Safira has brought US and NATO into direct intervention in Syrian hostilities. Western intelligence services estimate that even if Assad removed some of the banned weapons from this complex, large quantities remain and must be prevented from reaching the wrong hands.

http://www.debka.com/article/22627/Russian-forces-take-Syrian-chemical-biological-weapons-under-control

[Xavier_Onassis]

There is a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes in Syria. It is not to anyone's advantage that Syria's chemical weapons be used or commandeered by anyone. The Russians certainly do not want them to fall into the hands of the Chechen, South Ossetian and other Muslim resistance groups in the Russian Federation. Iran has some allies in these groups, as do the Azeris.

[Plane]

Remarkable!

Who will own these things next year?

[Christians4LessGvt]

Remarkable! Who will own these things next year?

Israel backs Russia's avowal that Syrian chemical arms are secure "for now"

DEBKAfile Special Report

December 23, 2012   


Chemical weapons store

"At the moment, [Syria's] chemical weapons are under control," said senior Israeli defense official Amos Gilad Sunday, Dec. 23, echoing the statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Saturday that the Syrian government has "consolidated its chemical weapons in one or two locations amid a rebel onslaught and they are under control for the time being."

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu then said enigmatically: "We are facing a near possibility of far-reaching changes in the Syrian regime with ramifications for the sensitive weaponry [chemical, biological] present there."

Like Lavrov's comments, neither Israeli statement accounted for the sudden reversal of events in the last 48 hours in the turbulent history of its northern neighbor. As recently as Friday, Bashar Assad?s Scuds and warplanes were battling the rebels to keep his big chemical and biological warfare arsenals at the Al Safira complex near Aleppo out of the hands of al Qaeda adherents who were moving in fast on this target.

Twenty four hours later, the Russian foreign minister asserted the weapons were secure.

debkafile's military sources disclose that the battle of al Safira was abruptly interrupted by a foreign military force which stepped in and stopped the fighting in order to commandeer the chemical and biological stocks.

In its report Saturday, debkafile identified this force as a Russian special unit.

The entire episode is covered in a heavy blanket of secrecy, imposed from Moscow, Washington, Jerusalem and Damascus. They are using the public preoccupation with the holiday period in the West to keep it dark. However, from the scraps of evidence available, it is transpires that the foreign special unit reaching al Safira gave both sides, the Syrian army and the rebels, an ultimatum to hold their fire until the arsenals were removed, or else this special unit would mete out crushing punishment.

Since then, the Syrian army and rebels do not appear to have resumed fighting and it is not clear which side remains in control of the al Safira military complex.

One of the many enigmas surrounding this episode is whether the Russians carried out their operation for the capture of Assad's WMD alone, or in conjunction with the US and Israel. And whether this cooperation extended up to and including implementation, or was confined to the intelligence and preparatory stages.

Amos Gilad's comment points to a measure of international cooperation. 

Furthermore, it is not clear whether the Syrian ruler gave permission for the removal of his unconventional weapons out of the reach of the rebels. Neither is their destination known.  And most of all, what makes Russian and Israeli officials so sure that they are in safe hands?

In his statement Saturday, Lavrov divulged that it had been "consolidated in one or two places" and that "Russian military advisers... kept close watch over [Syria's] chemical arsenal."

The Israeli defense official was in rare tune with Moscow on the fate of the Syrian ruler. He asserted that the civil war between Assad and opposition forces fighting to topple him had become deadlocked, but that the Syrian leader showed no signs of heeding international calls to step down.

"Suppose he (Assad) does leave, there could be chaos ... in the Middle East you never know who will come instead. We need to stay level-headed; the entire world is dealing with this (another reference to multinational action in Syria). At the moment, chemical weapons are under control, despite the fact that President Bashar al-Assad has lost control of parts of the country," Gilad said.

http://www.debka.com/article/22629/Israel-backs-Russia?s-avowal-that-Syrian-chemical-arms-are-secure-?for-now?

[Henny]

Remarkable!

Who will own these things next year?

Hopefully a country that doesn't share a border with the country where I live.

But seriously - I saw the headline of this post on my RSS feed and had to stop in to say, why are the Russians suddenly trustworthy with Syria's chemical weapons? They're pretty friendly with Iran.

[Christians4LessGvt]

But seriously - I saw the headline of this post on my RSS feed and had to stop in to say,
why are the Russians suddenly trustworthy with Syria's chemical weapons?
They're pretty friendly with Iran.

Because I suppose Moscow is the lesser of two evils.
If it boils down to al-Qaeda or Russia getting the WMD's....I'll take Russia.
Russia has had WMD's for decades and pretty much refrained from using them,
but we cant be sure about al-Qaeda using them sooner rather than later.

Henny...
even-though I am very anti-Iranian
I have been very leery of cheering for the overthrow of Assad because of who some of the rebels are.
Sure Assad is probably not a great guy.....but jeezz wouldn't it be even worse if an al-Qaeda linked group took over Syria?
I am curious as to your take on the Syrian "civil war".

[Plane]

Remarkable!

Who will own these things next year?

Hopefully a country that doesn't share a border with the country where I live.

But seriously - I saw the headline of this post on my RSS feed and had to stop in to say, why are the Russians suddenly trustworthy with Syria's chemical weapons? They're pretty friendly with Iran.

The Russians seem to have more ulterior motives than anyone elese on Earth, but they already have the biggest chemical wepons stockpile on Earth. Combining this stockpile to the chemical wepons Russia already controlls gets rid of one problem without signifigantly changing the other.

[Henny]

But seriously - I saw the headline of this post on my RSS feed and had to stop in to say,
why are the Russians suddenly trustworthy with Syria's chemical weapons?
They're pretty friendly with Iran.

Because I suppose Moscow is the lesser of two evils.
If it boils down to al-Qaeda or Russia getting the WMD's....I'll take Russia.
Russia has had WMD's for decades and pretty much refrained from using them,
but we cant be sure about al-Qaeda using them sooner rather than later.

Henny...
even-though I am very anti-Iranian
I have been very leery of cheering for the overthrow of Assad because of who some of the rebels are.
Sure Assad is probably not a great guy.....but jeezz wouldn't it be even worse if an al-Qaeda linked group took over Syria?
I am curious as to your take on the Syrian "civil war".

You make a good point about the lesser of two evils - and you are entirely right that at least the Russians have demonstrated over decades that they have self-control.

About the Syrians and my take on the war over there... I think that they are probably more well educated and ready for this kind of change than Libya was. I don't believe that Assad was entirely evil, and I understand their politics are incredibly complicated - that in the true understanding of it, Assad himself probably has a lot less to do with what is happening now than Ba'ath military leaders. Or something like that. (Middle East politics make me kind of queasy since the beginning of the Arab Spring, so I often take a "la-la-la-la-la-I-can't-hear-you!" approach to in-depth news reports.)

But the fact of the matter is, the "civil war" has turned into a brutal government slaughter of dissidents. People here post videos of Syrians running across the border into Jordan (45 minute drive from Amman) - entire families with tiny children - and being gunned down by the Syrian military on their way in. Including the children. That is terrible enough, but also Jordan can't support so many more refugees. Every family in the region is giving what they can, some opening their homes to let Syrian families live with them, but so many are still freezing in refugee tents on the border.

Someone has to do something, is my opinion. But CU4, let me ask you - the world went running in to help Libya. Why, in your opinion, is no one doing anything to help Syria? Many say it is because Libya had oil, Syria doesn't. That's the only conclusion I can come up with - but there must be other considerations.

(And in the meantime, there are reports, that Syria is "aiming their weapons at Jordan" in advance preparation for the West intervening - because "the West" would come through Jordan. For this and so many other reasons I am working on a company transfer to Amsterdam. Enough!)

[Christians4LessGvt]

But CU4, let me ask you - the world went running in to help Libya. Why, in your opinion, is no one doing anything to help Syria? Many say it is because Libya had oil, Syria doesn't. That's the only conclusion I can come up with - but there must be other considerations.

Henny let me first say I am pretty much of the opinion that we should not have been involved at all in Libya. I am afraid the people of Libya may have been better off under Khadfi than what they will end up with now. The West basically forced Khadafi out by providing much needed air cover to the rebels, (and who the hell are these "rebels"?)...no way the rebels would have been able to do it alone. Obama basically conducted a "regime change" which in my opinion we had no business doing...but to his credit he did it without loss of very many American lives.

With that said I think tactically Libya may have been a much easier target than Syria. Libya was more isolated and didn't "matter" to as many people. Syria is very important to Russia and Iran....plus it is right in the middle of the "hornet's nest" with Israel, Hezbollah, Hamas..ect....and thus a more difficult target.

(And in the meantime, there are reports, that Syria is "aiming their weapons at Jordan" in advance preparation for the West intervening - because "the West" would come through Jordan. For this and so many other reasons I am working on a company transfer to Amsterdam. Enough!)

I don't blame you. There is no telling where this might all end up. It is a very dangerous situation. And once again I suspect we may be on the wrong side. The rebels in Syria....many of them appear to be very, very bad characters...I guess we'll see. Be safe Miss Henny!

[Plane]

I dont think the US was anything but surprised by the "Arab Spring" ,there was no plan in place to exploit or assist.

In hindsight, better moves that could have been made become apparent.

I think that in each such conflict the US government should openly pick a favorate  and lend support, it should always be clear that our support has conditions, first of which is that the will and rights of the people be respected.

That is not what we do, I think we make a new decision each time.

I suppose this means we avoid making the same mistake over and over again, by making a diffrent mistake every time. 

[Christians4LessGvt]

The Pentagon alone spent $1.1 billion on the Libya mission....
in total it cost us at least $2 billion.
And after our regime change operation
who will end up being in charge
there that is sooo much better than Khadfi?

[Xavier_Onassis]

I am sure that you will not know. But since you really hate all Muslims, it is sure to be someone you will hate.

Note that constant turmoil in Libya would take Libyan oil off the market and therefore raise everyone's prices for everything.

The US prevented Qaddaffy from killing thousands of Libyan citizens. It must really rankle you to see how much more successful President Obama has been at foreign policy that the idiot Juniorbush and his despicable henchman Cheney.

[Christians4LessGvt]

you really hate all Muslims, it is sure to be someone you will hate.

Lie #1 and makes no sense. (so what else is new about a liberal?)
I hire and employee multiple Muslims.
A Muslim is my highest paid and best worker.
I invited and had Thanksgiving dinner with Muslims last year.
I welcomed a Muslim to my house yesterday (Christmas Day).
So you see....you're just plain wrong...and demonize not based on fact.
Khadafi was a Muslim and I suspect he was better for the Libyan people
than will be the Islamists that Obama helped bring to power in a regime change.

Note that constant turmoil in Libya would take Libyan oil off the market and therefore raise everyone's prices for everything.

Exactly....so thanks Obama for helping raise the prices on everything for everybody!

The US prevented Qaddaffy from killing thousands of Libyan citizens.

Oh yeah that was it....Obama felt so protective of Libyans
but not so much of Syrians?
Ha Ha....the Oligarchy that controls Obama wanted regime change in Libya
it had nothing to do with killing Libyan citizens.

It must really rankle you to see how much more successful President Obama has been at foreign policy that the idiot Juniorbush and his despicable henchman Cheney.

Ha Ha....oh yeah sure.
US Ambassador murdered.
Friendly regimes towards the US  being replaced by Islamist thats a real success!
The Muslims love us so much more since Obama's Egyptian speech!
A 2012 Zogby poll showed America to be less popular in the Arab world
than before Obama took office!
In Egypt, 30% viewed America favorably before 2008, compared to 5% now!
Obama's wild shameful spending is obviously a national security problem.
There have been over twice as many US Soldier deaths in Afghanistan under
Obama as Bush....in fact 70% of the deaths and nearly 80% of the injuries in Afghanistan
have occurred under Obama's watch.
Bush ordered a surge and it was successful.
Obama ordered a surge and the Taliban will probably take back over!

[Plane]

I am sure that you will not know. But since you really hate all Muslims, it is sure to be someone you will hate.

Note that constant turmoil in Libya would take Libyan oil off the market and therefore raise everyone's prices for everything.

The US prevented Qaddaffy from killing thousands of Libyan citizens. It must really rankle you to see how much more successful President Obama has been at foreign policy that the idiot Juniorbush and his despicable henchman Cheney.

What in particular is Obama doing diffrently and better than Bush would?

What in particular is the better result?

If it is good to help the Libians , why is it bad to help the Iriqui?

[Xavier_Onassis]

What in particular is Obama doing diffrently and better than Bush would?

He did not monger two  wars without planning an exit strategy orbothering to define what a victory even might look like?

What in particular is the better result?

The wars in Afghanistan cost over 3000 American lives and took many, many years to get us out of. No US troops were lost in Libya and it cost a fraction as much.  Why are you asking such obvious questions?

If it is good to help the Libians , why is it bad to help the Iriqui?

We did not invade Iraq to "help the 'Iriqui' as you call them. We were told that it was because Saddam had nuclear, chemical, and atomic  WMD's that he was going to attack us with. It was all false. The Libyan assistance was done simply to prevent the slaughter of Libyans, and no American troops were endangered. And it is not a question of "good and bad", it is a question of doing the possible with clearly defined goals as opposed to doing the stupid with falsely defined goals.