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Re: The S-300 missile system in Syria - two posts discussing the crisis
Just on your appreciation of the S-300 system on the deployment, my humble opinion is that your comment that this small deployment will be overwhelmed by a full Israeli or US attack is irrelevant.
Yes it will be overwhelmed in this case, but the last operation of this kind was launched in 2003 when Iraq was attacked. Since then the usual air operation is involving a small number of aircraft, and so even one modern SAM battery could be enough to counter such an attack, especially in our world where the loss of an aircraft will be seen as a big issue, not even to speak of the fate of the crew.
Still the past history has shown that a modern air force can sweep missile defences with relatively light losses, but it is more a political move than a military one. So the idea is to SHOW the batteries rather than hide them as will be more logical on a pure military level. By the way there is still the possibility that other hidden batteries are deployed.
But the most important part is the fact that these batteries are displayed just near Russian ones, and so any attack on a Syrian position may result in a serious incident with Russia. And that is probably the main reason that will stop the USA, and very probably Israel too, to attack them, or the targets they protect.
As for you second article on Russia joining the Axis of Evil, Russia is the only country in the world I can think of that invaded and annexed foreign territory (according to international law) in the current century. So if one country deserves to be called rogue state by the US, it is Russia. I don't see any difference in what Iran is doing in the area in the last years compared to what Saudi Arabia or the USA are doing. The terrorists that are active those days are rather based or supported by Saudi Arabian or Pakistanese networks, two US allies, than by Iran.
Best regards
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