Sunday, September 1, 2013

Possible Russian Responses To An American Attack On Syria

Photo: Putin said on Saturday that it would be 'utter nonsense' for the Syrian government to use chemical weapons when it was winning the war

How Russia Might Respond To An American Strike In Syria -- ABC News

Russia has dismissed U.S. accusations that Syrian forces used chemical weapons, calling the charge "utter nonsense," and warned that a military intervention without United Nations authorization would be a violation of international law. But what, if anything, could Russia do to retaliate?

It's a question that's sparked a fair share of handwringing in the past week, given Russia's close alliance with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. But experts agree there's little evidence to suggest that Russia will do much more than complain loudly and continue to do what it's already been doing in Syria.

"Russian options for 'punishing' the U.S. appear limited," Steven Pifer, a former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine who is now with the Brookings Institution, told ABC News.

Read more ....

Update: Putin urges U.S. to hold off on military action against Syria and says it would be 'utter nonsense' for Assad to use chemical weapons -- Daily Mail

My Comment: The U.S. - Russian reset would be dead, and any hope of Russian assistance to issues like Iran's nuclear weapons program would be "dead".

1 comment:

James said...

Putin worry, he's already backed Obama down. Any come back Obama may make Putin can portray as recklessness, make Obama look the destabilizer.