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Subscribe to RSSNBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports that a Russian military ship carrying troops is on its way to Syria to protect a Russian deep water port.
Russia is sending armed troops to Syria amid escalating violence there, United States military officials told NBC News Friday, in a move certain to frustrate Western efforts to put pressure on the regime of President Bashir Assad.
Moscow has sent a ship carrying a small contingent of combat forces to guard Russia’s deep-water port and military base at the Syrian city of Tartus, the US officials said.
The U.S. officials also said Russia has not sent additional attack helicopters to the Syrian government, but replacement parts for the Russian helicopters the Syrians are already flying.
Days before President Barack Obama's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, there has been a war of words between the U.S. and Syria's longtime military supplier. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.
It comes after the conflict was declared by France on Wednesday to be a full-blown civil war.
The head of the U.N. observers in Syria said Friday a recent spike in bloodshed is derailing the mission to monitor and defuse more than a year of violence and could prompt the unarmed force to pull out.
"Violence over the past 10 days has been intensifying willingly by the both parties, with losses on both sides and significant risks to our observers," Maj. Gen. Robert Mood told reporters in Damascus. "The escalating violence is now limiting our ability to observe, verify, report as well as assist in local dialogue and stability projects."
Tartus is one of Russia’s most strategically-important assets, giving it military access to the Mediterranean Sea.
Russia and China, both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council with veto power, frustrated attempts by key Western figures, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to enforce a United Nations peace plan brokered by special envoy Kofi Annan.
Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday repeated Moscow's strong opposition to external interference in Syria, said it was not discussing plans for a Syrian political transformation following the exit of Assad.
At a news conference after talks with his Iraqi counterpart, Lavrov said he had seen reports saying U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland had suggested Washington and Moscow were discussing a post-Assad strategy in Syria.
"If that was really said then it's not true," Lavrov said. "Such discussions are not being held and cannot be held, because to decide for the Syrian people contradicts our position completely.
"We do not get involved in overthrowing regimes - neither through approval of unilateral actions by the U.N. Security Council nor by participation in any political plots."
Nuland was asked at a news conference on Thursday whether the United States and Russia were discussing a transition of power similar to that seen in Yemen last year, in which President Ali Abdullah Saleh was replaced by a deputy.
"We are continuing to talk about a post-Assad transition strategy in that context," she said.
Government forces in Syria have driven rebel fighters out of the town of Haffa near the Turkish border and are now allowing UN monitors to enter the area. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
Lavrov said any broad international talks on Syria must include Iran and must only address ways to create conditions for a political dialogue in Syria - not the content of that dialogue or preconditions such as Assad's exit.
Russia, which has come under increasing criticism from the West for arms deliveries to Syria, responded to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's allegations that attack helicopters were on the way from Russia to Syria.
In a statement on the Foreign Ministry website, Russia said it had made no new deliveries of military helicopters to Syria but under old contracts it had repaired helicopters sent to Syria "many years ago".
"There are no new deliveries of Russian military helicopters to Syria. All arms industry cooperation with Syria is limited to a transfer of defensive arms," the ministry said on its website.
"As regards helicopters, planned repairs of (helicopters) delivered to Syria many years ago were conducted earlier," it said. It did not say when they had been repaired or, if they were repaired in Russia, when they were returned to Syria.
Inside Syria: War-torn city of Homs scarred by violence, riddled with fear
Syria's ambassador to Russia said on Thursday Russia had not sent new attack helicopters to Syria.
Russia says it is fulfilling existing contracts for air defense systems against external attacks. President Vladimir Putin, due to meet U.S. President Barack Obama next week, said the weapons Russia sends could not be used in civil conflicts.
A source close to Russia's arms exporting monopoly Rosoboronexport said Clinton's comments may have referred to helicopters sent to Russia in 2009 for repairs and which may be on the way back to Syria.
The source said on Wednesday at least nine Mi-25 helicopters were sent to Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad to be repaired by Oboronservis, owned by the Defense Ministry.
Russia delivered three different missile systems including Bastion anti-ship missile units and another anti-aircraft system to Syria last year.
At least two ships carrying Russian weapons have reportedly travelled to Syria since the beginning of the year, though possibly not on behalf of state arms exporter Rosoboronexport.
Reuters contributed to this report. Jim Miklaszewski is the chief Pentagon correspondent for NBC News.
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I have to ask, Why are we buying weapons from Russia to give to Afghanistan? To the tune of $550,000,000. Can't Americans make these weapons to give to Muslims? Why are we giving money to Russia to arm Muslims? Backroom Barack is at it again.
I don't know if we will give them support but it sure looks like we have picked a side. SUNNI. Too bad Shiites. Your days are numbered.
I don't trust Putin and I hope their troops get the same welcome as we got in Lebanon in 1983, the US Marines should of never been sent to Lebanon and I mourn their loss. The Syrians are in for a long and bloody civil war and we should sit this one out.
Prophecy Alert Ezekiel 38:1-5 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Son of man, set thy face against Gog(leader of Russin People), the land of Magog(southern Russia), the chief prince(ruler) of Meshech(Moscow) and Tubal(Tubolsk), and prophesy against him, And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.
And I will turn thee back (Russia has been turned back to Communism they tried to be pro-west ever day now they become more Anti-west anti-Israel), and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: Persia (IRAN), Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
How was Hillary going to "enforce a peace plan"? We'll make 'em peaceful if we have to kill everyone of 'em. Enforce by definition mean the use of force. Seems kind of ironic to use force to enforce a peace plan. If you have to enforce it sounds like neither side wants it. Having Russia and China on the Security Council with veto power means nothing is going to get done. Of course Russia and China have "rights" to be on the council. This means it is like the US Congress with the Democrats and Republicans not speaking to each other. We saw how that worked earlier. The Constitution says "insure domestic tranquility and provide for the common defense" . That pertains to the US not the middle east and rest of the world.
This makes sense, they are trying to protect their allies and their assets. A similar situation like in Libya could happen where the Russians and Chinese had a stake in oil refineries amongst others, which were taken over by NATO backed Qatari rebels and such.
Russia has a port to protect and it likely needs protecting, not from the west but the various elements in Syria right now. At this time the rebels want Assad gone but lack anywhere near the fire power to do it. The west should offer refugee's a place to go and inform the rebels that they have no chance of success. At that point when they leave the country or decide to stay and fight on, it will at least be a shorter term conflict. We can't arm them because that will not end in a win anyway and I"m not at all sure that the rebels would bring about a better government in Syria anyway. We need to offer medical assistance and food for the people and we should be working WITH Assad to provide it. This conflict is a no-win for the Rebels in my view. Maybe I'm wrong but the numbers just don't look to be at all on the side of the Rebels and the last thing we need is for a widening of this conflict.
Conrad: UR a sick puppy and should get help right away!
It has been written;
" History repeats itself. It has to. No one listens."
We have been down this road with Russia before, and we refer to it as - Vietnam. Different circumstances; same situation. Obviously we have shoved our own history in this sort of thing under a rug. Nothing good can come from this...
Good evening.
Thus says The Lord God of all creation: YaHuWaH, The God of Israel, is My name!...
I am risen up, as a mighty and terrible One, to punish the nations!... To the destruction of the cities, to the consuming of all flesh!
Do you hear it?!... Listen, I say! Do you hear?!... Do you perceive its sound? Do you feel the earth trembling?! Look!... Do you see the waves increasing in their height, at its approach?...
Have your hearts begun to beat faster? Have your spirits been shaken in anticipation?... Pulses racing! Blood boiling! Lo, the beasts of the earth hear and know already! The angels of Heaven have fallen on their faces!...
THE EARTH SHALL BE AWAKENED!... AND ALL SHALL FEAR!
And shortly thereafter, the first election of My heart
Shall be gone from this place...
And the wicked and the insolent shall be left alone... Desolate...
Says The Lord...
The One and Only True God...
The Everlasting, who is from everlasting to everlasting...
I
AM
LORD!
Oh I cant top that, but we should have a big party if Jesus's coming back and we should buy him some gifts like the first time he came
we have to learn to get along, we have to put our we're right their wrong attitude away !!! and put all religious indifference's aside, and be about prospering the whole entire world !!! if I was given the world we were given and I could be king of it, I know I could make a world where we all prospered, so why don't people believe that all together, that we couldn't make a world where we will all prosper, the creator doesn't want us all to suffer in hardship, that's why he gave us so much !!! we just have to use our brains together, be big men, be real men, and stop being stubborn men !!!
I find it so funny how Hillary Clinton was always bitching about how the Bush Administration couldn't fix problems of the world, Well she can't fix anything. She is the most inept Secretary of State this country has ever had just like the turkey she works for Nobama. The worst President we have ever had!Stay OUT of Syria!!
We have created a monster in America. We use to have the thirty minute news in the evening by three channels. Majority of the news was about America. None of them were political one way. We had Amos and Andy and Jack Benny on the radio, now it's people like Limbaugh with his one way political ways. Now it's national news if one bomb goes off in some far away country. Now we have 24 hour cable news. One strictly republician, the other strictly democrat with thousand of these so call experts giving their comments.
Please!!! Please!!! Give me twelve months of football season!!!
Hooray Wash D.C. at long last cannot use its international policeman foreign policy. At long last let us mind our own damm business. No american soldiers are going to Syria, and no using NATO to go to war as in Lybia. Congress only declares war. Only 2\3 of the states can ammend the constitution, not the congress, president or the courts. Wash D.C. has been out of control for too long.
I love reading the comments of ignorant americans(not saying all americans) If anybody thinks america can woop anybodies ass,then they are sadly mistaken. Take a look at afganistan,10 years,billions of dollars,1000's of lives, 100's of pieces of equipment and military hardware lost,and still can't contain a force of uneducated,ak 47,shoulder launch missile weilding rednecks. the russians tried for 7 years,to woop the hillbillies of afganistan,with absolutely no results,except cowaring home with their tail between their legs. 10 years america, 10 years!!!!
So if you think america is the super power that has the power to subdue or control any situation in the world then you are as stupid, as the republicans. And if you think that launching nukes is the saving grace, then consider this, america is not the only country with nukes,and most of the other countries with nukes are not on the friendliest terms with america right now. Its apparent that Pakistan is corrupt and 2 faced when it comes to Honesty with the rest of the world. They have cut of supply routes for troops, and have kicked the americans out of their bases, thus causing millions of dollars of expenses to keep the supplies flowing, and still america finances a large piece of their failing economy.America cut 30 million in financing when the supply routes were closed,yet, still gives billions to them . Get a clue, cut off all funding to them. Its like the guy who collects his welfare cheque(thats how you spell it,not check) although he has a job under the table.
oh yeah,Syria. america is doing the right thing,keeping that issue at arms length,as they did when assads father slaughtered 10's of thousands of people,in his run as president of the"Syrian Slaughter Your Own People Festival" ( I believe they hold it every 25-30 years, no Event Permit required) It's apparent to me that civil war is on there and the regime is collapsing, I think its just a matter of time for that place. The fact that russia is sending in troops has nothing to do with defense of the regime,but more to do with the defense of their own interests in the country,they also know that civil war is on.
Enough said (for now), next time lets get into china,I love that one :)