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Russia Prepares For A US-Israeli Military Strike Against Iran
Saturday, 28 April 2012 21:41:02
http://hamsayeh.net/articles/1769-russia-prepares-for-a-us-israeli-military-strike-against-iran.html?tmpl=component&print=1&page=
Saturday, 28 April 2012 20:42 By Clara Weiss 28 April, 2012
WSWS.org
Russia has undertaken intensive preparations during the past few months
for a possible military strike by Israel and the United States on Iran.
According to recent reports, the Russian General Staff expects a war
against Iran this summer, with enormous repercussions for not only the
Middle East but also the Caucasus.
Russian troops in the Caucasus have been technically upgraded, and a
missile division situated on the Caspian Sea has been placed in readiness.
The missile cruisers of the Caspian flotilla are now anchored off the coast
of Dagestan. The only Russian military base in the South Caucasus, located
in Armenia, is also on alert for military intervention. Last autumn, Russia
sent its aircraft carrier Kuznetsov to the Syrian port Tartous following
the escalation of the conflict in Syria. Experts believe that Russia would
support Tehran in the event of war, at least on a military-technical level.
In a commentary in April, General Leonid Ivashov, president of the Academy
of Geopolitical Science, wrote that `a war against Iran would be a war
against Russia' and he called for a `political-diplomatic alliance' with
China and India. Operations were being undertaken throughout the Middle
East in order to destabilise the region and proceed against China, Russia
and Europe. The war against Iran, Ivashov wrote, would `end up at our
borders, destabilise the situation in the North Caucasus and weaken our
position in the Caspian region.'
Of central concern for Moscow are the consequences for the South Caucasus
in the event of a war against Iran. Armenia is the only ally of the Kremlin
in the region and has close economic links with Iran, while neighbouring
Georgia and Azerbaijan maintain military and economic ties with the United
States and Israel.
The Kremlin fears above all that Azerbaijan could participate in a military
alliance alongside Israel and the United States against Iran. Azerbaijan
borders Iran, Russia, Armenia and the Caspian Sea, and since the mid-1990s
has been an important military and economic ally of the US in the South
Caucasus, housing several American military bases.
Relations between Iran and Azerbaijan are already very tense. Tehran has
repeatedly accused Baku of participating in terrorist attacks and acts of
sabotage, most probably in collaboration with the Israeli and American
intelligence agencies. In recent years, Azerbaijan has doubled its military
spending and in February completed a weapons deal with Israel worth US$1.6
billion involving the supply of drones and missile defence systems.
Citing senior sources in the Obama administration, Mark Perry told the
American journal Foreign Policy in late March that Baku had allowed Israel
access to several air bases on the border to northern Iran that could be
used for an air strike on Tehran. The magazine quotes a senior government
official saying, `The Israelis have bought an airport and this airport is
Azerbaijan.' Perry warned, `Military strategists must now take into account
a war scenario, which includes not only the Persian Gulf, but also the
Caucasus.'
The Baku government immediately denied the report, but the editor of the
Azerbaijani newspaper Neue Zeit, Shakir Gablikogly, warned that Azerbaijan
could be drawn into a war against Iran.
Even if Azerbaijan should not prove to be the starting point for an Israeli
attack on Iran, there is the danger that war will lead to a military
escalation of other territorial conflicts such as the dispute between
Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. The region has been
independent since the end of the civil war in 1994, but the government in
Baku, the US and the European Council insist it be regarded as part of
Azerbaijan. There have been repeated border conflicts between Armenia and
Azerbaijan in the past two years, and commentators have warned that the
dispute could escalate into a war involving Russia, the United States and
Iran.
In a recent interview with Russia's Komsomolskaya Pravda, military expert
Mikhail Barabanov said that conflicts in the post-Soviet region could lead
to military intervention in Russia. Any intervention in the region by the
US or other NATO power would bring with it `the inevitable risk of the use
of nuclear weapons.' Russia has the second largest nuclear arsenal in the
world after the US.
Due to its geostrategic importance, Eurasia has become the epicentre for
economic and political rivalries and military conflicts between the US and
Russia following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Azerbaijan, Georgia and
Armenia form a bridge between resource-rich Central Asia and the Caspian
Sea on one side, and Europe and the Black Sea on the other.
The US has sought to win influence in the region via economic alliances
since the 1990s. In 1998, the then US vice president Richard Cheney
declared, `I can not remember a time when a region so suddenly gained such
huge strategic importance as the Caspian.'
In his book The Grand Chessboard (1998), Zbigniew Brzezinski, former
national security adviser to US president Jimmy Carter, wrote: `A power
that dominates Eurasia would control two thirds of the most advanced and
economically productive regions of the world. In Eurasia, there are about
three-quarters of the known energy resources in the world.'
The central importance of the region is its role as a transit area for
energy supplies to Europe from Asia, which bypasses Russia. By supporting
alternative pipeline projects, Washington has sought to weaken Russian
links to Europe, which depends heavily on Russian oil and gas.
So far, Georgia is the key country for the transit of gas and oil supplies
and has been at the heart of conflicts in the region. Georgia's `Rose
Revolution' in 2003 was instigated by Washington to push Mikhail
Saakashvili into power as president in order to safeguard US economic and
strategic interests in the region. It led to an intensification of tensions
with Moscow for geostrategic supremacy. The war between Georgia and Russia
in the summer of 2008 represented a further ratcheting up of the rivalry
between the two countries with the potential to expand into a
Russian-American war. Relations between Russia and Georgia remain very
tense.
US influence in the Caucasus and Central Asia has declined significantly in
recent years. In addition to Russia, China has emerged as a major force in
the area, establishing significant economic and military ties with Central
Asian states such as Kazakhstan. Although Russia and China remain rivals,
they have struck a strategic alliance in their competition with the United
States. For the US, war against Iran represents a further stage in its
growing confrontation with China and Russia for control of the energy
resources of Central Asia and the Middle East.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Saturday, 28 April 2012 21:41:02
http://hamsayeh.net/articles/1769-russia-prepares-for-a-us-israeli-military-strike-against-iran.html?tmpl=component&print=1&page=
Saturday, 28 April 2012 20:42 By Clara Weiss 28 April, 2012
WSWS.org
Russia has undertaken intensive preparations during the past few months
for a possible military strike by Israel and the United States on Iran.
According to recent reports, the Russian General Staff expects a war
against Iran this summer, with enormous repercussions for not only the
Middle East but also the Caucasus.
Russian troops in the Caucasus have been technically upgraded, and a
missile division situated on the Caspian Sea has been placed in readiness.
The missile cruisers of the Caspian flotilla are now anchored off the coast
of Dagestan. The only Russian military base in the South Caucasus, located
in Armenia, is also on alert for military intervention. Last autumn, Russia
sent its aircraft carrier Kuznetsov to the Syrian port Tartous following
the escalation of the conflict in Syria. Experts believe that Russia would
support Tehran in the event of war, at least on a military-technical level.
In a commentary in April, General Leonid Ivashov, president of the Academy
of Geopolitical Science, wrote that `a war against Iran would be a war
against Russia' and he called for a `political-diplomatic alliance' with
China and India. Operations were being undertaken throughout the Middle
East in order to destabilise the region and proceed against China, Russia
and Europe. The war against Iran, Ivashov wrote, would `end up at our
borders, destabilise the situation in the North Caucasus and weaken our
position in the Caspian region.'
Of central concern for Moscow are the consequences for the South Caucasus
in the event of a war against Iran. Armenia is the only ally of the Kremlin
in the region and has close economic links with Iran, while neighbouring
Georgia and Azerbaijan maintain military and economic ties with the United
States and Israel.
The Kremlin fears above all that Azerbaijan could participate in a military
alliance alongside Israel and the United States against Iran. Azerbaijan
borders Iran, Russia, Armenia and the Caspian Sea, and since the mid-1990s
has been an important military and economic ally of the US in the South
Caucasus, housing several American military bases.
Relations between Iran and Azerbaijan are already very tense. Tehran has
repeatedly accused Baku of participating in terrorist attacks and acts of
sabotage, most probably in collaboration with the Israeli and American
intelligence agencies. In recent years, Azerbaijan has doubled its military
spending and in February completed a weapons deal with Israel worth US$1.6
billion involving the supply of drones and missile defence systems.
Citing senior sources in the Obama administration, Mark Perry told the
American journal Foreign Policy in late March that Baku had allowed Israel
access to several air bases on the border to northern Iran that could be
used for an air strike on Tehran. The magazine quotes a senior government
official saying, `The Israelis have bought an airport and this airport is
Azerbaijan.' Perry warned, `Military strategists must now take into account
a war scenario, which includes not only the Persian Gulf, but also the
Caucasus.'
The Baku government immediately denied the report, but the editor of the
Azerbaijani newspaper Neue Zeit, Shakir Gablikogly, warned that Azerbaijan
could be drawn into a war against Iran.
Even if Azerbaijan should not prove to be the starting point for an Israeli
attack on Iran, there is the danger that war will lead to a military
escalation of other territorial conflicts such as the dispute between
Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. The region has been
independent since the end of the civil war in 1994, but the government in
Baku, the US and the European Council insist it be regarded as part of
Azerbaijan. There have been repeated border conflicts between Armenia and
Azerbaijan in the past two years, and commentators have warned that the
dispute could escalate into a war involving Russia, the United States and
Iran.
In a recent interview with Russia's Komsomolskaya Pravda, military expert
Mikhail Barabanov said that conflicts in the post-Soviet region could lead
to military intervention in Russia. Any intervention in the region by the
US or other NATO power would bring with it `the inevitable risk of the use
of nuclear weapons.' Russia has the second largest nuclear arsenal in the
world after the US.
Due to its geostrategic importance, Eurasia has become the epicentre for
economic and political rivalries and military conflicts between the US and
Russia following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Azerbaijan, Georgia and
Armenia form a bridge between resource-rich Central Asia and the Caspian
Sea on one side, and Europe and the Black Sea on the other.
The US has sought to win influence in the region via economic alliances
since the 1990s. In 1998, the then US vice president Richard Cheney
declared, `I can not remember a time when a region so suddenly gained such
huge strategic importance as the Caspian.'
In his book The Grand Chessboard (1998), Zbigniew Brzezinski, former
national security adviser to US president Jimmy Carter, wrote: `A power
that dominates Eurasia would control two thirds of the most advanced and
economically productive regions of the world. In Eurasia, there are about
three-quarters of the known energy resources in the world.'
The central importance of the region is its role as a transit area for
energy supplies to Europe from Asia, which bypasses Russia. By supporting
alternative pipeline projects, Washington has sought to weaken Russian
links to Europe, which depends heavily on Russian oil and gas.
So far, Georgia is the key country for the transit of gas and oil supplies
and has been at the heart of conflicts in the region. Georgia's `Rose
Revolution' in 2003 was instigated by Washington to push Mikhail
Saakashvili into power as president in order to safeguard US economic and
strategic interests in the region. It led to an intensification of tensions
with Moscow for geostrategic supremacy. The war between Georgia and Russia
in the summer of 2008 represented a further ratcheting up of the rivalry
between the two countries with the potential to expand into a
Russian-American war. Relations between Russia and Georgia remain very
tense.
US influence in the Caucasus and Central Asia has declined significantly in
recent years. In addition to Russia, China has emerged as a major force in
the area, establishing significant economic and military ties with Central
Asian states such as Kazakhstan. Although Russia and China remain rivals,
they have struck a strategic alliance in their competition with the United
States. For the US, war against Iran represents a further stage in its
growing confrontation with China and Russia for control of the energy
resources of Central Asia and the Middle East.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress