U.S., rebels urge gloomy Moscow to help oust Assad

syria, check.
north korea, check.
soviet union, check.
chemical weapons, check.
anonymous sources, check.

What? 3 weeks for the patriot defence system for Turkey’s borders.
This is neglectful to say the least! And now scuds!. man o man where is all the help for the opposition? Too little too late!

Why is Russia saying this instead of sending military help.
I thought Russia was a partner. partners help each other in
difficult times. Never gave 1cm to the fundamentalists.

If Russia wants to be a realiable partner then he has to proove it. If not then the role of Russia in the world is over.

Alas, the Russians have come to their senses and now admit that Assad may lose this battle. The obvious is elusive to those in denial and a shock to the Russians. Had they not supplied the weapons that have killed nearly 40,000 Syrians it would have ended months ago. They too can be held accountable for the war crimes and crimes against humanity when Assads trial is held.

Tough luck Russia. Guess you won’t be “putin” your crony on Syria’s throne much longer. Watch China, Russia, Lebanon & Iran turn Very silent after Assad gets beheaded. They eat anything in China, sell Assad’s head to them. After a few bites, they’ll need alka seltzer, not al qaida.

“and Moscow was preparing to evacuate Russian citizens if necessary.”

You mean those Russian citizens that are “Advisors” to the Syrian Military?

Why would there be ONE Russian citizen in Syria if they weren’t there for some sort of support for the Assad government?

> “Russia, which along with China has blocked any U.N. Security Council measures against Assad, criticized Washington’s decision to grant the coalition formal recognition, saying it appeared to have abandoned any effort to reach a political solution.”
— Who do they think they’re kidding! I thought Kofi Annan (no less) said months ago that the time for a political settlement was past? Political solution!!!

> “The fall of Damascus to the rebels was not a prospect Moscow relished: “The fighting will become even more intense and (Syria) will lose tens of thousands and, perhaps, hundreds of thousands of civilians,” Bogdanov told Russia Today television.”
— Fancifully pessimistic. If the entire conflict to date has cost tens of thousands of lives, then why would similar numbers (or 10× that number) die in the final days of the conflict, unless they died because of the incendiary & chemical weapons that Assad is alleged to be contemplating deploying? Just look at other conflicts. How many people died in the final fall of Saigon, during the Vietnam War? Or, how many people died during the fall of Tripoli, during the recent Libyan civil war, in comparison who died through the bombardment and sniper action in other cities?

The time for political solutions was last year. With the Assad régime proving itself unwilling to offer any meaningful reform, or, unable to prevent Syrians from being killed by “unknown gunmen”; the only way to stop the killing is for the conflict to end — i.e., for the other side to win.

The article reads, “Russia says Syrian rebels might win”

Russia is right and doesn’t care because Russia (USSR, really) knows that the “rebel” leadership is also related to the Assad family bloodline! I bet you didn’t know that, huh?

@Harry079: There are citizens of virtually all countries in Syria. For example, some countries haven’t withdrawn their diplomatic staff yet, or are still in process of doing so. Who knows. The Russians are not the only ones playing the game you describe (which doesn’t make it right to get involved in these conflicts, of course; especially whilst exhorting other nations “not to get involved in this internal matter”).

@Doc62: Can you tone down the rhetoric? Still, it will be interesting to see how Iran reacts. Will their growing isolation signal time for a change in diplomatic stance?

I’m sure that if we knew the real story behind Syria we would be dumfounded. Having said that, Assad can’t be toppled soon enough for me. He made his bed when he started brutally killing protestors.

I bet allah is really having a hard time keeping up with all of this. There are only so many virgins to go around you know.

Another website a day ago was quoting a senior Turkish military officer saying that he thought Assad would be killed by others in the regime if he tried to flee or negotiate a capitulation.
He likened Assad to a cornered cat, unpredictable, and the need for vigilance and preparedness for various possible actions.

Moscow looking for way out ? I am not sure. They they don’t care about Syria, they know they already lost it. Their purpose in Syria is to make transition to democracy as long, difficult and painful as possible to discourage other people from the same type of revolution, first in Iran, but in the long run in Russia itself. All hopes of cooperation with Moscow are null and void, can’t people of the world see it ? Don’t they see the truth after two years of this very brutal war ?

Next- Lebanon!

Russia is spot on with calling the war, a battle for the UN to get rid of those that don’t do it’s bidding,and want a global community run by( of course), the UN. With all it’s committee being taken overmy leftists and rebel Arabs,plus some dictators. It is really sickening to watch what Obama is doing.

I have read all the comments and are dumbfounded by the ignorence of people. Assad protected the Christians. The “Free Syrian Army” ,is all Muslim Brotherhood,and anyone NOT a Muslim will be slaughtered when it’s finished. The world leaders AND the UN know this.But they close their eyes to the slaughtering that is already happening. It will become another Muslim state just like Egypt. Stupid people,open your eyes.

80 percent of the Syrian population support bashar. He will not lose. This isn’t Iraq, Egypt, or Libya. His inner circle and military are very loyal. The Russians are deceiving the west by making statements like that. You forgot putin is a former KGB.

American fairy tales.

Russia denies senior diplomat’s comments on Assad’s fall
Comments were believed to have signaled a change in Russia’s stance on the Syrian president’s crumbling regime; denial comes about 22 hours after the diplomat’s remarks were made public.

Source:HAARETZ,an ISRAELI newspaper.

Google Russia denies comments…Many news organizations are reporting this but Reuters, the NYT, Le monde et “their friends” are still running with the lies…