'Syrian opposition victory possible, but at an absolutely unacceptable price' – Moscow

"The fighting will become even more intense, and (Syria) will lose tens of thousands and, perhaps, hundreds of thousands of civilians,'' he warned. "If such a price for the removal of the president seems acceptable to you, what can we do? We, of course, consider it absolutely unacceptable.''

Many Russian diplomats view this latest development as a major setback in the Syrian conflict, arguing that the newly recognized coalition does not adequately represent the political will of the Syrian people.

"Recognition of the Syrian opposition as ‘legitimate’ authorities by the ‘Friends of Syria’ gives up on any attempts to find a political solution. The only option now is war," Alexei Pushkov, the State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, wrote on his Twitter account on Thursday.

Source

Interesting choice of words in my opinion, 'the only option now is war'. They also talk in this article about the consequences if the FSA were to attack Russian citizens.

Pushkov then hinted at what could transpire in the event that the militants resort to violence against Russian consulate officials and civilians in the region.

"Syrian militants have threatened to attack the embassies of Russia and Ukraine in Damascus to ‘take care of’ the Russians. The US sends special operations forces in such cases," he warned.

Why does the US send the special operations forces in then?

Let's see what happens next.

I see major war on the Horizon... This is not going away quietly, thats for sure.

Syria has two main allies, Russia and Iran.

Neither share a border with Syria. Even if they wanted to assist with troops it will prove very difficult.

I think that Syria may indeed fall. But, I can tell you this, Iran will not fall. Russia and Iran both have coasts on the Caspian Sea.

Caspian Sea Flotilla

This will be a natural corridor protected by naval units and by Air force units.

The problem for both Russia and Iran is getting forces to Syria and that involves major ship movements having to go the long way around. They cannot act swiftly. I think as far as Russia is concerned this is the last straw. The fall of Syria will be the red line drawn in the sand.

The recent re-deployment of US Military into Iraq is to prevent both Russia and Iran from being able to use this corridor by overflying Iraq airspace.

Time will tell.

P

How can you get the US will send in SF units out of that? I tell you what the way I read it, is that if they do target Russian and Ukrainian civillian personnel they will soon find Russian SF units knocking on their door. Contrary to popular belief here on ATS the US is not the only boogie man on the planet.

Russians will intervene since there's no political solutions. They must have a quantity of weapons readied to deploy for escalations once open warfare is declared. They seemed to tone down but quietly building up their war preparations.

Hezbollah is a factor too. They won't survive if the FSA got in and Iran will be busy too.

The Associated Press ‏@AP
BREAKING: Russia's Foreign Ministry denies diplomat said Assad losing control of Syria

ok?

ETA:

Al Arabiya English ‏@AlArabiya_Eng
#BreakingNews: Head of NATO's Syria committee says President Bashar al-Assad will be forced out of power

Originally posted by pheonix358
Syria has two main allies, Russia and Iran.

Neither share a border with Syria. Even if they wanted to assist with troops it will prove very difficult.

I think that Syria may indeed fall. But, I can tell you this, Iran will not fall. Russia and Iran both have coasts on the Caspian Sea.

Caspian Sea Flotilla

This will be a natural corridor protected by naval units and by Air force units.

The problem for both Russia and Iran is getting forces to Syria and that involves major ship movements having to go the long way around. They cannot act swiftly. I think as far as Russia is concerned this is the last straw. The fall of Syria will be the red line drawn in the sand.

edit on 13/12/2012 by pheonix358 because: sp

Iran already has over 15,000 Revolutionary Guards in Syria (more by now, probably) and Russia had recently deployed around 500 marines and 12 APC's into their Tartarus base to defend Russian citizens (Not too sure on the number tbh)

Syria haven't deployed their full military either. Syria has around 300,000 active units and 400,000 reserve forces. Even if half the reserves don't deploy, the Syrian Armed Forces will still number over 500,000 men.

Syria won't fall without Foreign Intervention, with Russia and Iran both backing them.

Also, Turkey (where the main NATO thrust will be from I think) borders both Iran AND Russia. They move against Syria, and their country will crumple under the attacks from the 12th most powerful country (Iran, - GlobalFirePower.com) and the 2nd most powerful nation (Russia, same website).

Originally posted by Trajan

Originally posted by pheonix358
Syria has two main allies, Russia and Iran.

Neither share a border with Syria. Even if they wanted to assist with troops it will prove very difficult.

I think that Syria may indeed fall. But, I can tell you this, Iran will not fall. Russia and Iran both have coasts on the Caspian Sea.

Caspian Sea Flotilla

This will be a natural corridor protected by naval units and by Air force units.

The problem for both Russia and Iran is getting forces to Syria and that involves major ship movements having to go the long way around. They cannot act swiftly. I think as far as Russia is concerned this is the last straw. The fall of Syria will be the red line drawn in the sand.

edit on 13/12/2012 by pheonix358 because: sp

Iran already has over 15,000 Revolutionary Guards in Syria (more by now, probably) and Russia had recently deployed around 500 marines and 12 APC's into their Tartarus base to defend Russian citizens (Not too sure on the number tbh)

Syria haven't deployed their full military either. Syria has around 300,000 active units and 400,000 reserve forces. Even if half the reserves don't deploy, the Syrian Armed Forces will still number over 500,000 men.

Syria won't fall without Foreign Intervention, with Russia and Iran both backing them.

Also, Turkey (where the main NATO thrust will be from I think) borders both Iran AND Russia. They move against Syria, and their country will crumple under the attacks from the 12th most powerful country (Iran, - GlobalFirePower.com) and the 2nd most powerful nation (Russia, same website).

Syria will fall and no foreign intervention will be needed. First of all Syrian troop numbers are meaningless as the main body of the opposition forces are Syrian troops that have gone over and continue to do so whenever given a chance. Assad has a small group of truly loyal forces but, they will not be able to stand against the steady stream of both high and low level defections. Iran can do nothing and Russia is not going to and could not even if they wanted to. Russia wants a market for its arms. They will not put a single Russian life on line for it but, they will talk a lot just like the west has been. Nobody wants to go into Syria period. Well, accept here at ATS where people seem to hope for a war that will not come.