Russia Sends Advanced Missiles to Syria

Maybe Jen Psaki and John Kerry can send Vlad another “Overcharge” button.

Russia has sent advanced antiship cruise missiles to Syria, a move that illustrates the depth of its support for the Syrian government led by President Bashar al-Assad, American officials said Thursday.

Russia has previously provided a version of the missiles, called Yakhonts, to Syria. But those delivered recently are outfitted with an advanced radar that makes them more effective, according to American officials who are familiar with classified intelligence reports and would only discuss the shipment on the basis of anonymity.

The Obama regime responded to the news with a forked tongue today. The Pentagon acknowledged that the new missile shipment is a huge problem. The State Department denied that Russia was sending in any new missile shipments at all. Bystander Obama will chuckle about it all when he reads about it in the paper. And if there’s a problem, by gum, Barack’ll fix it!

The new missiles would complicate any US-UN-NATO effort to arm the rebels, should we decide to make that mistake.

“It enables the regime to deter foreign forces looking to supply the opposition from the sea, or from undertaking a more active role if a no-fly zone or shipping embargo were to be declared at some point,” said Nick Brown, editor in chief of IHS Jane’s International Defense Review. “It’s a real ship killer.”

Jeffrey White, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a former senior American intelligence official, said Syria’s strengthened arsenal would “tend to push Western or allied naval activity further off the coast” and was also “a signal of the Russian commitment to the Syrian government.”

Russia wants Assad to stay. Assad is a nasty butcher. But given the nature of his opposition, it’s hard to say that they’re wrong. Two things are certain. Our government is run by corrupt hacks who don’t look out for the nation’s interests. Russia’s government is corrupt but at least it’s professionally corrupt and does look out for Russian interests. Another Islamist state is not in Russia’s or America’s interests.