Russia supplies gas masks to Syria

By Shoshana Bryen

WASHINGTON, D.C. — NATO operations in support of the Libyan revolution were seen by Russia as a victory for the West and, consequently, a defeat for Russian interests. The need to prevent another Western “victory” is part of what motivates Russian support for the murderous regime of Bashar Assad in Syria. Russian diplomats have provided rhetorical support at the UN and have been preventing a UN Security Council resolution on the upheaval (they’ve moved slightly over the past few days). Russian ships have been in port in Tartus and Latakia, and military equipment has been flowing to Damascus.

Among the latest Russian military deliveries to Syria, according to several sources, are 72 Yakhont shore-to-sea missiles (SSN-26). These can hit targets up to 3000 km away (over the horizon) and have a radar that is hard to detect until it is close to the target. This, coupled with the missile’s speed, enables the Yakhont to often strike before the target has time to activate its defense measures. Reports are that the missiles have been deployed along the coast to discourage a Western naval attack from the Mediterranean.

These might be considered reasonable means with which Russia intends to prop up a client and defend it from attack – but they also raise the distinct possibility that the Russians simply want to give Assad cover to continue to destroy the opposition without interference from abroad. This would apply as well to the reported 3,000,000 gas masks also delivered to Syria. The masks, according to news reports, will be distributed not only to the Syrian military, but also to family members of the military and Ba’ath party officials, presumably to ensure their allegiance as the regime continues its murderous rampage.

The Turkish newspaper Zaman reported that Damascus has armed, “600 one-ton chemical warheads to use in the event of a foreign military intervention. Furthermore… Assad ordered the deployment of 21 missile launchers along its border with Turkey. Syria’s medium-range missiles that can be equipped with chemical warheads have a range of up to 1,300 kilometers and would include the southern and central provinces of Turkey.”

The Turks are rightly concerned that chemical weapons would be used across the border and that their deployment is intended to deter Turkish participation in a Western attack against Damascus. But there are also two other possibilities: that the regime will use chemical weapons against the opposition; or less likely, that opposition military officers have gained control of chemical capabilities and will use them against the regime.

In any case, their use would be a war crime, although that by itself may not be a deterrent to a regime that has been credibly accused of massacring demonstrators including children, torturing prisoners and “disappearing” the opposition.

History tells us that the greatest deterrent to the use of chemical weapons is the fear of comparable retaliation. The German army was well-equipped, but Hitler did not use chemical agents during WWII because he feared retaliation from the Allies – but gas was his method of choice against Jews. Egypt used chemical weapons in its war against Yemen, but not against Israel. Saddam did use chemicals against the Kurds in northern Iraq and against similarly defenseless Marsh Arabs in the south – but not against the US-led coalition, even as his regime was crumbling.

Protecting the regime from a feared chemical strike by its opponents could be one thing – although there is simply no evidence that the opposition is in control of any large-scale military installations, much less in control of such an important part of the Syrian arsenal. But permitting the Syrian regime to think of itself as protected against retaliation should it decide to use its chemical arsenal would be criminal.

US policy must not only be to find a way to stop Assad, it must also strongly protest against Assad’s Russian enablers.

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Shoshana Bryen has more than 30 years’ experience as a defense policy analyst and has been taking American military officers and defense professionals to Israel since 1982 and to Jordan since 2004. She was previously senior director for security policy at JINSA. She may be contacted at shoshana.bryen@sdjewishworld.com