Tension heightened in the
Mediterranean on Thursday as the
United States and Russia deployed
warships to boost military presence in
the region.
For the US Navy, this was the fifth
destroyer; the USS Stout, being
deployed to the region. Other
destroyers that have been earlier
deployed include the Ramage, the
Barry and the Gravely. Each is said to
be capable of launching their
Tomahawk missiles directly from the
sea toward Syria if ordered. Russia, a
stout ally of Syria, is said to have
deployed an anti-submarine ship and a
missile cruiser.
In addition, six Royal Air Force jets
belonging to the British government,
were said to have been deployed from
Cyprus on Thursday. The world powers
have each in turn, defended their
actions, citing them as either routine
military actions or precautionary
measures.
Russian government news service,
Rianovosti , described the movement as
part of a planned rotation, unconnected
with the situation in Syria. A naval
spokesperson said, "The vessels in the
Mediterranean, like those in other parts
of the world, act under plans by the
Russian Naval Command and General
Staff, and fulfil tasks set.
"On completion of these tasks, the
vessels then either return to their
bases, or are replaced by other vessels
to complete the tasks set. This does
not amount to a renewal of any
grouping or groupings, it is a planned
rotation."
Britian's Defence Ministry also released
a statement on the deployment of the
air force jets on Thursday. It read,
"This is a movement of defensive
assets operating in an air-to-air role
only. It is not to take part in military
action against Syria. The (prime
minister) has made clear no decision
has been taken on our response and
the Government has said that there will
be a Commons vote before direct
military involvement."
The defense official, speaking on
condition of anonymity was quoted by
News24 as saying that it was normal
for three destroyers to patrol the
Mediterranean in an anti-missile
defence role. The official also indicated
that the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and
its escorts would remain in the area of
the US Fifth Fleet, which extends from
the Red Sea to the Gulf and Arabian
Sea.
As military action inched closer, Syrian
President Bashar al Assad's forces are
said to have removed several Scud
missiles and dozens of launchers from
a base north of Damascus, possibly to
protect them from bombardment,
opposition sources claimed.
The White House said it is on track to
release an unclassified intelligence
report on Syria this week, although the
information is not a "slam-dunk" that
will make an open and shut case for
military action.
A spokesman added that what the US
is contemplating in terms of its
response is "very discrete and limited",
Skynews reports.
Russia and the US are taking part in an
"urgent" meeting of the five permanent
UN Security Council members in New
York – the second such meeting in two
days.
Russia is strongly against any military
intervention in Syria, with Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
believing it would seriously destabilise
the region.
UN Security Council members
discussed Syria behind closed doors
Thursday as British Prime Minister
David Cameron argued the use of
chemical weapons requires Western
intervention in that nation's civil war.
Britain's Joint Intelligence Committee
has concluded it was "highly likely"
that Syrian government forces used
poison gas outside Damascus last
week in an attack that killed at least
350 people, according to a summary of
the committee's findings released
Thursday.
Speaking in the House of Commons,
Cameron said failure to respond would
undo "decades of painstaking work" to
prevent such weapons from being
unleashed.
"The global consensus against the use
of chemical weapons will be fatally
unraveled," he said. "A 100-year taboo
will have been breached."
CNN reports that the debate appears to
be putting the brakes on possible
strikes against Syria, even as the
United States moved an additional
warship into the eastern Mediterranean
Sea.
"It certainly seemed 48 hours ago that
there was an all-party consensus that
Parliament today would be endorsing
the bombing of Syria this weekend, and
I think people have pulled back from
that," said Diane Abbott, a Commons
member from the opposition Labour
Party.
In Washington, White House
spokesman Josh Earnest said
President Barack Obama was still
weighing a potential response, but said
his administration was working on a
"compressed timeline."
And in New York, the Security Council
convened Thursday afternoon in a
session called by Russia, Syria's
leading ally, a Western diplomat told
CNN.
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