The Middle East Media Sampler 2/13/2012: Russia Digs In -- In Syria

From DG:

1) Russia protects Syria 

The Washington Post reports Syria needs time for dialogue, Russia says

Speaking in Moscow a day after talks with Assad on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stressed the Syrian president’s willingness to engage in a national dialogue, even though an overwhelming majority of members of the opposition, both inside and outside the country, have said that dialogue is no longer an option.
...
Lavrov also said Wednesday that the abrupt departures from Syria in recent days of the U.S., French, British and Persian Gulf country ambassadors — some temporarily and others permanently — were irrational and did not “contribute to the implementation of the Arab League plan to resolve the crisis,” Syrian state media reported. 

The Optimistic Conservative, however, writes in Syria, Russia: It all looks different from out there: