RUSSIAN FORCES IN SYRIA

Assad and Putin

In a report from The Guardian, Russian military advisers are manning some of Syria's more sophisticated air defenses.

The advisers have been deployed with new surface-to-air systems and upgrades of old systems, which Moscow has supplied to the Assad regime since the Syrian revolution broke out 21 months ago.

 BENGHAZI: LET US NOT FORGET 

The depth and complexity of Syria's anti-aircraft defenses mean that any direct western campaign, in support of a no-fly zone or in the form of punitive air strikes against the leadership, would be costly, protracted and risky. The possibility of Russian military casualties in such a campaign could have unpredictable geopolitical consequences.

The upgrades were supplied by Moscow, which sees them as a bulwark against western-imposed regime change and protection of a longstanding investment in Syria. The country includes Russia's biggest electronic eavesdropping post outside its territory, in Latakia, and its toehold on the Mediterranean, a small naval base at Tartus.

Turkish officials, who accurately predicted the Syrian regime would use Scud missiles after several warplanes were shot down by rebels, also believe President Bashar al-Assad has twice come close to using chemical weapons including sarin, the nerve gas.

ARMED FORCES INTO TURKEY 

The Turks and western officials say there are signs Assad sees chemical weapons as another step in the escalation of force, rather than a Rubicon-crossing gamble that could end his regime. The US, UK, France and Turkey have warned Syria that its use of such weapons would trigger military retribution. But any such a response would be fraught with difficulties.

Air strikes against chemical weapon depots would potentially disperse lethal gases over a vast area, triggering a humanitarian disaster. US and allied special forces have been trained to seize the air bases where the warheads are kept, but it is unclear what the next step would be. It would be physically impossible to fly the hundreds of warheads out of the country, while it would take thousands of troops to guard the arsenal for what could be many months. In the interim, those western troops could easily become the target of Islamist groups fighting the government in Damascus.

The Syrian air defense command is comprised two divisions and an estimated 50,000 troops with thousands of anti-aircraft guns and more than 130 anti-aircraft missile batteries.

3000 U.S. TROOPS SECRETLY RETURN TO IRAQ- 17,000 MORE EN ROUTE

A Syrian air campaign would also require stealth aircraft and a great amount of signals intelligence, satellite imagery and aerial reconnaissance, all of which are US specialties. For all those reasons, Washington would not be able to "lead from behind" as it did in Libya.

U.S. SENDS TROOPS INTO AFRICA  

BENGHAZI REPORT IS A LOAD OF CRAP  

BENGHAZI AND THE SEVEN STOOGES