Barack Obama has left it too late to change the course of the Syrian war by saving the rebels from defeat at the hands of the Syrian army. The Russians are already lined up counter-measures for stalling US aid to the rebels and step into its shoes.

Russia and the West are suspected of stirring up Turkish dissent – the first to frustrate Turkish intervention in Syria, the second to ignite the Iranian street. The protesters will fight tooth and nail to upset his bid for the presidency with extended almost dictatorial powers.

Bashar Assad could hardly lose the war with the hefty backing of Russia, Iran, Iraq and Hizballah. Hizballah tilted the fighting against the rebels, while Iraq is feeding his war chest with billions of petrodollars.

The IDF has disclosed that Israeli Arrow II missile batteries stand ready to intercept Syrian missiles launched against Israel. debkafile reports close coordination between the Israeli Arrow and US Patriot deployments in Jordan and Turkey.

Moscow’s strong military momentum on Bashar Assad’s behalf includes the positioning of Russian troops within easy reach of Syria. But are Russian missiles a match for the Israeli Air Force? Only real combat can provide the answer.

The widening military intervention by Russia, Iran, Hizballah and latterly Iraq has turned Syria’s civil war into a Russian-West contest and is propelling Iran up to the top regional power spot. All four are winning by default against an unresisting US-led West and Israel.

Russia has claimed it has penetrated the US missile shield and it no longer poses a military threat to Moscow. If this is true, Israel and the Gulf emirates are exposed to Iranian ballistic missiles unless because their early warning systems are integrated in the US network.

Israel insists its  air force attacks on Syria targeted Hizballah and its Iranian weapons shipments. This does not cover explain the targeting Sunday, May 5, of Mt. Qassioun, moving Assad to threaten a war of attrition. The US plans to follow the Israeli operation with arms supplies for Syrian rebels and US air strikes.

The big news on Syria this week is the surreptitious pact forged in Beirut by Russia’s visiting deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov witgh Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah which covers their collaboration in the war for keeping Bashar Assad in power and guarantees Hizballah a Russian shield against a potential Israeli ...

Amid detailed coverage of Korean crisis through North Korean and American moves, important Chinese and Russian military movements are ignored. Moscow and China are unlikely to bring Kim Jong-Un to heel until Washington agrees to link the Korean case to its disputed policies on Iran and Syria.

As Israeli offshore gas came on stream, the jockeying for a stake was in full spate. Netanyahu is believed to have been hustled by Washington into picking Turkey as Israel’s energy partner rather than Russia.

The rebel fighters’ newly-acquired antitank guided missiles-ATGM (of both Russian and American manufacture) are knocking over the T-72 tanks of the 4^th Republican Guard Division and the 3^rd Division, the backbone of the capital’s defenses, while their portable MANPAD air defense systems have brought practically all takeoffs and landings ...

Iran and Russian step up their cooperation for boosting Assad’s army with continuous airlifts of war materiel, landed close to the war arenas against a prospective Western invasion of Syria. This could bring US and Israeli troops into direct confrontation with Iranian combatants.

Moscow talks delayed as Assad holds out for victory in the coming chemical war. The rebels are meanwhile receiving financial aid for buying arms from US and Russia alike.

When Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak met US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel at the Pentagon Tuesday, March 5, he heard for the first time in years American criticism of the Israeli army for under-reacting – in this case to the chemical weapons threat emanating from Syria. Israel was also berated for under-estimating this menace and failing to take into account the likely need to send troops into Syria. Barak received official US confirmation that chemical weapons had reached HIzballah.

Syrian peace talks are set to open in Moscow on March 5 between the Syrian opposition and Assad regime representatives, debkafile reveals. The ...

The Syrian opposition and rebels have come to terms with their inability to beat Assad’s army on the battlefield and are ready to talk. Assad won’t hear of stepping down and is preparing to run for another presidential term in 2014. Moscow which is hosting the talks stands behind ...

If Russian personnel pushed the button of the anti-air missile that allegedly downed an Israeli done over the Lebanese Beqaa Valley, it carried a message from Moscow to Jerusalem to that Lebanon as well as Syria is under its protection.

The Islamist factions of the Syrian rebellion are now getting anti-tank missiles from Serbia, Kosovo and Albania through Kosovo Liberation Army contacts. The new heavy arms have brought the rebels three victories in one week.

The Israeli air strike on a military site near Damascus announced by Syria Wednesday, Jan. 30, was strongly condemned by Moscow as “blatantly violating the UN Charter and unacceptable, no matter the motives to justify it.“ debkafile: High military alerts declared across the region including Syrian Golan units, the Turkish, Jordanian, Lebanese and Israeli armies, US units in Turkey and Jordan and Russian warships off Syria. Western intelligence agencies predict more military action between Israel, Syria, Hizballah and possibly Iran.