Russia and China firm as Syria crisis deepens

MONITORING global strategy I am perplexed at the speed of developments that bring us all closer to catastrophe.

Until recently the crisis over Iran was little cause for concern but today, just 12-months later, some say a war is imminent. The peoples of governments squaring up do not want it but when did rotating dictatorships ever taken notice of the electorate?

Surely no one can fail to see signs of NATO subversion behind unrest in Syria. It is war by other means; the American war machine some say is fuelling insurrection with the aim of toppling from within the country’s leader, President Bashar al-Assad.

I believe they did exactly the same with Libya; they imported, armed and assisted mercenaries and had the brass neck to call them ‘rebels’ or ‘revolutionaries.

The important thing is the Libyan National Bank and Libya’s mineral deposits are now in the hands of Western powers. I hope NATO’s service personnel are proud of what can surely be described as piracy on behalf of the banking cartels.

I guarantee you that if things go NATO’s way in Syria, the removal of which government is an essential prerequisite to war on Iran, in 12-months time they will be gloating at the part they played in toppling President Assad’s government, but not so quick.

Russia and China have already signalled that an attack on Iran would seriously damage their own interests. In diplomacy language this is, ‘back off or else.’

Or else what? Russia has already warned that if further development of the U.S. led European defence shield continues, they will blockade NATO supply routes to Afghanistan. The U.S. has backed off for now.

They cannot effectively attack Iran without their bases in Afghanistan. If Iran is attacked it seems is inevitable that Russia’s patience will snap. Russia’s President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin are no pushovers.

Russia still has massive military capability and as in all previous wars geographical advantages. The Russian high command is edgy and straining at the leash; they are urging Russia’s leaders to draw a line in the Syrian sand. We Western Europeans are no longer behind the lines.

If Syria falls then NATO controls access to the Black Sea. This leaves Russia’s only western outlet the Baltic Sea. The obvious move would be for Russia to secure the Baltic by re-occupying the Baltic States. Another option is to respond by blocking NATO access to the Mediterranean.

The largest U.S. NATO base in Spain is situated at Rota just outside Cadiz. It has been described by the U.S. Navy as ‘the gateway to the Mediterranean.’ Figuring out Russia’s defence strategy targets is not rocket science but then again it might be just that. Sleep well.