17/04/2018 - Israeli defense minister claims right of 'total freedom of action' in Syrian airspace
Israeli defense minister claims right of 'total freedom of action' in Syrian airspace
Israel will not accept any limitations to its operations in Syrian airspace against 'Iranian threat', the defense minister said, expressing hope that "communication" lines with Moscow will help avoid any "friction" in the air.
On Tuesday morning, a series of missile strikes once again targeted Syrian military infrastructure. The Pentagon, which led the coordinated April 14 assault against Syrian targets with its British and French allies, denied its involvement in attacking a new set of targets. Israel, which struck Syria's Tiyas (T-4) airfield in Homs province on April 9, also failed to acknowledge bombing its neighbor.
"We will maintain total freedom of action. We will not accept any limitation when it comes to the defense of our security interests," Lieberman told Walla News on Monday,
noting that
"all options are on the table."
Two Israeli F-15 fighters targeted Syria's T-4 airbase in Homs province, the Russian Defense Ministry revealed after the surprise attack on April 9. The jets fired eight guided missiles, but five of them were shot down before they hit the airfield. The attack on the T-4 base came at a critical time after Western powers accused the Syrian government and vowed retaliation for an alleged chlorine attack in the militant-held town of Douma on April 7.
Russia, which has a military coordination hotline with Israel to avoid clashes over Syria,
called the strike a
"very dangerous development." Moscow also noted earlier that it will shoot down any projectiles that could threaten Russian personnel on the ground.
On Monday, Lieberman praised the Israeli-Russian deconfliction hotline, noting the success of the established mechanism to avert any
"friction" in the Syrian skies.
"We do not want to provoke the Russians," Lieberman told Walla News. "
We have an open line of communication at the level of senior officers. The Russians understand us and the fact is that for years we have managed to avoid friction with them."
While respecting Russia's interests in Syria, Israel will keep on confronting the Iranian threat on its borders, Lieberman noted, reiterating Tel Aviv's position that Israeli armed forces have the right to strike Iranian-linked targets that Israel believes are destined for Lebanese Hezbollah.
We have to do what we are forced to do. We will not allow Iranian consolidation in Syria," Lieberman said. "We will not tolerate a significant Iranian military force in Syria in the form of military ports and airports or the deployment of sophisticated weaponry."
Speaking to members of the IDF General Staff later on Monday, the defense minister called for
"further strengthen preparedness" for the Israeli military to tackle the Iranian threat.
"We are facing a new reality—the Lebanese army, in cooperation with Hezbollah, the Syrian army, the Shiite militias in Syria and above them Iran—are all becoming a single front against the State of Israel," Lieberman
noted.
The T-4 strike earlier this month, which Israel has yet to officially acknowledge,
reportedly targeted Iran's drone program. The attack allegedly killed seven Iranian soldiers out of at least 14 reported fatalities.
On Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassem condemned the attack, noting that Israel will
"sooner or later receive the necessary responses to its recent crime and aggression."
"Gone are the days of 'hit and run' for Israel," Qassem
said.
"Resistance forces in the region are able to respond at the right place and the right time."
17/04/2018 - Russian military releases full report for US-led missile attack on Syria, what air defense systems were used and their effectiveness
Russian military releases full report for US-led missile attack on Syria, what air defense systems were used and their effectiveness
The Russian military has released a full report on the US-led missile attack against Syria during the morning hours of April 14, part of which details what Syrian air defense systems were used and the effectiveness of such weapons.
According to the report, one hundred and three (103) US, British and French cruise missiles fired at Syria were engaged by a range of Syrian air defense systems including Pantsir-S1, Buk-M2, Kub, Strela-10, Osa, S-125 and S-200 that, in turn, replied with 112 surface-to-air missiles (SAM).
In order, the effectiveness of these air defense systems were recorded as follows:
- Pantsir-S1: 25 missiles fired, 23 hits scored.
- Buk-M2: 29 missiles fired, 24 hits scored.
- Kub: 21 missiles fired, 11 hits scored.
- Strela-10: 5 missiles fired, 3 hits scored.
- Osa: 11 missiles fired, 5 hits scored.
- S-125: 13 missiles fired, 5 hits scored.
- S-200: 8 missiles fired, 0 hits scored.
The complete ineffectiveness of the S-200 to successfully engage any of the attacking cruise missiles has been put down to the SAM system’s biased design towards intercepting high-altitude aircraft, not low-flying missiles.
The statistics likely fail to account for Western cruise missiles that were downed or driven off target due to ‘soft-kill’ electronic warfare systems – something which Russian sources will never confirm the use of.
In any case, going by official numbers, the interception rate of Syrian air defenses during the US-led missile attack stands at about 70 percent.
17/04/2018 - Syrian Air Defenses Target Missiles over Homs, Damascus - Syrian TV
Syrian Air Defenses Target Missiles Over Homs, Damascus - Syrian TV
Syria's air defenses shot down missiles targeting Shayrat air base in Homs province early Tuesday, state media reported, as a Hezbollah media arm said missiles targeting Dumayr base near Damascus were also intercepted. Iranian news agencies also reported missiles being fired toward Shayrat. Approximately nine missiles reportedly targeted the base; their source isn't yet clear.
A Hezbollah milita media unit shortly afterward stated that Syrian air defenses intercepted three missiles that targeted the
Dumayr airport in northeast Damascus. Reports of that attack had been swirling on social media before the announcement.
Syrian news agency SANA stated that "Syrian air defense shot down missiles which violated airspace over Homs." The agency did not indicate the source of the strike, but later said no casualties or material damage had been reported as a result of it. Social media reports are pointing the finger at Israel for the strikes.
"There is no US military activity in that area at this time," Eric Pahond, a Pentagon spokesman said when asked about the strike in Homs. "We do not have additional details to provide."
A local reporter for The Arab News said Israeli warplanes were spotted in Syrian airspace just before the missiles were reported.
According to the reporter, missiles crossed into Syria through Lebanon. This incident follows the April 13 strike the US, UK and France carried out in Syria as a response to the alleged chemical attack in Douma, which both Russia and Syria have repeatedly stated never happened. The operation, which was carried out in less than 60 minutes, targeted three main chemical weapons-related sites and one command center.
17/04/2018 - Trust between Russia and US nearly lost, but not zero – Lavrov to BBC
Trust between Russia and US nearly lost, but not zero – Lavrov to BBC
(3:06 min.)
(Un-edited 32:31 min.)
(15:39 min.)
Russia is losing the last remnants of trust with its US partners after unsubstantiated claims of a Syrian chemical attack and the Skripal poisoning case, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov told the BBC, adding that some trust still remains.
BBC HARDtalk’s host Stephen Sackur started his interview with Lavrov by stating:
“You say there’s no trust, you mean, zero trust, now between Russia and the US… But the Foreign Minister corrected the journalist, saying that: “I said we’re losing the last remnants of trust, which is not yet zero.”
Lavrov said that the current state of relations between Russia and the West is
“worse” than during the Cold War. Back then,
“there were channels of communication and there was no obsession with Russophobia,” but now the number of such channels has significantly decreased, he explained. Still, the
“de-conflicting channel was engaged all the time” between the Russian and the US militaries, Lavrov added.
“We don’t accept” the Western claims that the missiles strikes on Syria only targeted chemical facilities and weren’t aimed at promoting regime change in the country,
Lavrov said. “You have hard talk. We want hard facts,” he added.
When asked if there was a real threat of a direct military conflict between Russian and American forces over the missile strikes on Syria by the US and its allies, the FM replied:
"Well, I don't think that was very close.”
“I believe it was a situation created by very reckless behavior of our Western colleagues, who accused the Syrian government and us as allies of the Syrian government of applying chemical weapons against civilians without waiting for the OPCW [Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons] to inspect the place," he said.
The FM reiterated that
“there is no proof that on April 7 chemical weapons were used in Douma” and that the claimed attack was staged. All the so-called evidence of Syrian government’s guilt that is being provided by the Western leaders is
“based on the media reports and on social networks,” he added.
“When some time ago the three western countries, who are leading this crazy campaign said: ‘if Assad uses chemical weapons then we would use force.’ I believe that was a signal to the bad guys, including the White Helmets to stage a provocation,” Lavrov said.
“Now after they stuck on April 14, they say again if you do this again we will use force again – this is another invitation to the opposition; to the extremists to resume fighting, which they did already. They tried to attack Damascus immediately after the strike.”
It was “ridiculous” when UK Prime Minister Theresa May sanctioned Russia after saying that it “highly likely” behind the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, Lavrov said.
“‘Highly likely’ is a new invention of the British diplomacy to describe why they punish people – because these people are ‘highly likely’ guilty. Like in ‘Alice in Wonderland’ by Lewis Carroll when he described a trial… and the King said: ‘Let’s ask the jury’ and the Queen shouted: ‘No jury! Sentence first! Verdict afterwards!’ That’s the logic of ‘highly likely,’” he explained.
I had searched for "Roger Waters white helmets" in the forum search engine, and as I didn't find it, I posted it ... thanks Yas, and much agreed with you, that while more messages such as these spread, much better to counteract the disinformation of the mass media that is really schizoid and coarse.
