Getting Serious On Syria, Part 3

When the State Department tells all Americans to get the hell out of a foreign country that's been on our naughty list for some time, it's a pretty good sign something new and ugly is coming.  Fast.  Probably involving things that go boom.

The U.S. Embassy in Damascus urged its citizens in Syria to depart "immediately," and Turkey's foreign ministry urged Turkish pilgrims to opt for flights to return home from Saudi Arabia to avoid traveling through Syria.


"The U.S. Embassy continues to urge U.S. citizens in Syria to depart immediately while commercial transportation is available," said a statement issued to the American community in Syria Wednesday and posted on the Embassy's website. "The number of airlines serving Syria has decreased significantly since the summer, while many of those airlines remaining have reduced their number of flights."

Yeah folks, this isn't a "maybe you should think this over", this is "get the hell out of Dodge before the bombs start falling."  Picking a fight with Syria means Iran gets involved, and Iran getting involved means Russia and China get involved.  Russia at least is already making loud noises of its own.

Russia threatened on Wednesday to deploy missiles to target the U.S. missile shield in Europe if Washington fails to assuage Moscow's concerns about its plans, a harsh warning that reflected deep cracks in U.S.-Russian ties despite President Barack Obama's efforts to "reset" relations with the Kremlin.

President Dmitry Medvedev said he still hopes for a deal with the U.S. on missile defense, but he strongly accused Washington and its NATO allies of ignoring Russia's worries. He said Russia will have to take military countermeasures if the U.S. continues to build the shield without legal guarantees that it will not be aimed against Russia.

The Russians aren't stupid.  They know what's coming and they're telegraphing two, three moves down the chessboard right off the bat, going straight to "You really don't want to do this, pal."  Believe me, the two issues are related.

Most likely this is just before some sort of NATO/UN sanctions are leveled as the Arab League's no-fly zone (led by Turkey) might be shaping up sooner rather than later and Russia is just driving around with full beams on all the time, making a show.  On the other hand, the Russians are clearly looking for a fight right now if anybody other than the Arab League gets involved.

Just the same, Tyler Durden notes we've moved an aircraft carrier group over to Syria this week.