From Syrian fishing port to naval power base: Russia moves into the Mediterranean

The Chief remembers his time in the late 60’s on active duty aboard USS Sellers (DDG-11) with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. A significant part of our time was watching, and being watched by Soviet naval and air forces based in Russia-friendly places like Egypt, Libya, and,…Syria. Looks like some of those same circumstances are re-organizing in the (allegedly) post-Soviet Russia, and old buddy Syria.

Tartous is being dredged and renovated to provide a permanent facility for the Russian navy, giving Moscow a key military foothold in the Mediterranean at a time when Russia’s invasion of Georgia has led to fears of a new cold war.

Fears of a new cold war? Uh, situational awareness dictates that “fears of a new cold war” are way behind the curve. Historically, it was a pattern of assertive and at times confrontational behavior that marked the start of Cold War I, which was formally recognized by Churchill’s famous “Iron Curtain” speech at Fulton, Missouri’s Westminster College in 1946. By the way, it’s STILL worth reading…and makes the Chief wonder where the West might be able to find another Churchill…but I digress.

The bolstering of military ties between Russia and Syria has also worried Israel, whose prime minister, Ehud Olmert, was in Moscow yesterday seeking to persuade the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, to stop Russian arms sales to Syria and Iran. Mr Olmert later said he had received assurances that Russia would not allow Israel’s security to be threatened, but offered no indication he won any concrete promises on Russian arms sales.

Igor Belyaev, Russia’s charge d’affaires in Damascus, recently told reporters that his country would increase its presence in the Mediterranean and that “Russian vessels will be visiting Syria and other friendly ports more frequently”.

That announcement followed a meeting between Medvedev and the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, at the Black sea port of Sochi in the immediate aftermath of Russia’s victory over Georgian forces and its recognition of the breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia – actions Assad supported.

The bolstering of military ties between Russia and Syria has also worried Israel, whose prime minister, Ehud Olmert, was in Moscow yesterday seeking to persuade the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, to stop Russian arms sales to Syria and Iran. Mr Olmert later said he had received assurances that Russia would not allow Israel’s security to be threatened, but offered no indication he won any concrete promises on Russian arms sales.

The Chief is a great believer in the principle that “If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and has white feathers and a flat bill, then it MUST be a duck.” It looks enough like the first one, so as far as the Chief is concerned, it IS in fact Cold War II.