Syria: The Poland of the Middle East?

Apparently that is how Assad sees Syria:

Syrian President Bashar Assad has made an offer to his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, allowing the latter to counter the US's involvement in Poland by planting Russian missiles on Syrian soil, Russia Today TV reported Thursday.

According to the report, Assad claims that the placing of Russian artillery in Syria provides an adequate response to the US's placement of its own artillery in Poland and the Czech Republic. The news channel did not report Medvedev's answer to the offer.

Of course comparisons between Syria and Poland are obvious:

• Poland's alliance with the Czech Republic to dominate the region
• Polish aspirations to control and eventually annex Slovakia next door
• Polish assassinations of democratic leaders

Getting back to reality, Noah Pollak writes about how Russia is enjoying the possibilities:

Robert Farley points out the Israel angle, in which the Russians might “relish this deployment as an opportunity to send a message to Israel” over its close military ties with Georgia. I think “relish” is the right word, and it applies perhaps more to Syria than to Putin. For Damascus, the appearance of having earned another patron will be played to the hilt. For Russia, docking at Tartus is simply another means of issuing a blunt communique to the world, and securing another venue through which to annoy the United States and its allies. It will be interesting to see the U.S. Navy’s response to the presence of a Russian fleet in the Mediterranean.

It would be even more interesting if there was hope that President Bush would reverse his current trend and take some decisive action.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Technorati Tag: Israel and Russia and Syria and Middle East.