US Protest Of Russian Intercept Of US Reconnaissance Plane Bogus

By:  Marshall Ramsey II, Worthy News U.S. Correspondent

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. is protesting an intercept of a U.S. reconnaissance plane by a Russian fighter jet last week, calling it "unsafe and unprofessional" amid what it views as increasingly aggressive air operations by Moscow.

        (Facts: U.S. protesting intercept of one of its reconnaissance planes by a Russian fighter jet last week; is being called unsafe and unprofessional.)

Pentagon spokesman Mark Wright on Sunday said the U.S. was filing a complaint to Russia after the April 7 incident over the Baltic Sea.

        (Facts: Incident happened on April 7, 2015; U.S. filing a complaint to Russian government, according to Mark Wright, Pentagon spokesman.)

Russian officials have denied their pilot did anything wrong, according to several news reports.

        (Facts:  Russia denies wrongdoing in incident; does not deny the incident happened.)

According to the Pentagon, the U.S. RC-135U plane was flying in international airspace north of Poland. U.S. officials say a Russian SU-27 fighter intercepted the U.S. aircraft at a high rate of speed from the rear, and then proceeded to conduct two more passes using "unsafe and unprofessional maneuvers" in clsoe proximity.

        (Facts:  Plane was an RC-135U; intercepting plane was a Russian SU-27 fighter jet; fighter jet first intercepted U.S. plane from rear; two more passes made using "unsafe and unprofessional maneuvers" in close proximity)
        (Statement by Mr. Wright of "unsafe and unprofessional maneuvers" suggests the intercept was expected by the Pentagon, which in turn suggests the actions of the Russian pilot was agreed upon by both the Russian government under Vladimir Putin and the U.S. government under President Obama.  This makes the nature of the protest merely a cover story designed to dissuade the reader from a greater issue, which appears to be the imminent attack of Russian forces on American soil.)

"Unprofessioinal air intercepts have the potential to cause harm to all aircrews involved. More importantly, the careless actions of a single pilot have the potential to escalate tensions between countries," Wright said.

        (Facts:  The intercept was called unprofessional.  It occurred in international waters, which, technically, makes it illegal as both the U.S. and Russia are members of the United Nations; since the intercept was expected to have happened, the statement by Mr. Wright should be regarded as 'shock-and-awe,' a false statement designed to evoke emotion from the reader and dampen critical thinking skills.

        (Mr. Wright's statement, "the careless actions of a single pilot," should also be regarded as false, and thus criminal in nature, as the intercept and the cover story were both approved by the U.S. government not only as an attack on the morale of the citizens of the United States of America but also part of a larger conspiracy with the Russian government to make the United States of America vulnerable to military attack.)

"This air activity takes place in the context of a changed security environment in view of Russia's aggression against Ukraine," he said.

        (Facts:  The intercept of the American reconnaissance plane stems directly from altered security procedures; these security procedures were changed as a result of Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

        (Russia's aggression in the past weeks and months have not only been against Ukraine, but against other nations as well, including Ireland.  From the available data, one can only conclude that the security procedures set forth by the United States of America and European nations have changed not to make America and Europe more secure, but less.  This means that an agreement between the U.S., Russia, and various European nations has existed since the time of Russia's assault on Ukraine.  It now raises the possibility that the United Nations knows about the deal between the U.S. and Russia and is possibly a participant with them.)

It isn't the first time the U.S. has protested to Moscow what it considered to be an unsafe intercept. Last April, a Russian fighter jet intercepted a U.S. reconnaissance plane in international airspace over the Sea of Okhotsk.

        (Fact:  The Russian military attack on the satellite nation of Ukraine first took place in February 2014.  In April 2014, another American reconnaissance plane was intercepted by Russian military aircraft.  Since we know that there exists an agreement between the United States and Russia in favor of increased Russian aggression against the United States, we must conclude that the 2014 intercept was also part of the agreement.  This means that before late February 2014, a meeting between U.S., Russian, European, and possibly UN, officials took place to discuss the terms of Russia's attack on Ukraine and their increased aggression against both European and American air craft and air space.  Indeed, a series of meetings did take place in 2013 between the United States and Russia regarding Syria.

        (On August 9, 2013, a 2+2 meeting took place between Homeland Security Secretary Chuck Hagel, Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Washington, D.C. to discuss "strategic stability, missile defense, political-military cooperation, and regional security."  Since both Ukraine and the US are next door neighbors to Russia, a deal between the two countries certainly could have taken place at that time for the permittance of Russia's increased aggression and the purposeful lack of response by the United States and its European, and thus, NATO, and UN, allies.)

Source article:  http://news.yahoo.com/us-protests-intercept-reconnaissance-plane-russia-040542666.html
Reference articles:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014%E2%80%9315_Russian_military_intervention_in_Ukraine
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2013/08/213031.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Shoygu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Lavrov

President Obama Acquiring Chemical Weapons From Syria; Plans To Use Them In U.S. Drones

By:  Marshall Ramsey II, Worthy News U.S. Correspondent

WASHINGTON, District of Columbia (WorthyNews) -- The United States government, under President Obama, is acquiring chemical weapons from Syria for use in drone strikes.

Under the pretense of destroying Syria's chemical weapons stockpile, the United States will begin processing their own chemical weapons on board the MV Cape Ray.

Marketed as being used in the destruction of these stockpiles, it conflicts with a report from 2013 that the United States government recently destroyed four chemical weapons incinerators located within the United States.  The Pentagon spent $10.2 billion over three decades burning tons of deadly nerve gas and other chemical weapons stored in four states — some of the agents so deadly even a few drops can kill.

The United States Army is currently spending $1.3 billion on a project dismantling the incinerators they spent so much money on building and using.

The MV Cape Ray was built in 1977 by Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., Japan, and called the MV Seaspeed Asia.  It was acquired by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration April 29, 1991, and named the Cape Ray February 1, 1994.

The MV Cape Ray is currently in the Caribbean Sea heading toward the Mediterranean where it will meet up with ships from Denmark and Norway, which will then transfer a portion of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile for use in U.S. drone strikes.

The current position of the Cape Ray contradicts press releases from www.afp.com and www.defensenews.com/ which state that the vessel is still two weeks from being seaworthy due to the supposed outfitting of the ship with equipment designed to destroy chemical weapons.

The need for the U.S. to acquire chemical weapons from Syria is thrown into question by Frank Kendall, a top Pentagon weapons-buyer, said on Jan. 2.

"This is not new technology.  This is not a high-risk thing that hasn't been done before.  This technology has been used for the past 10 years to destroy our own chemical weapons," he said.

In 1993, the United States ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which prohibits the "development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, and transfer or use of chemical weapons."  If Mr. Kendall is to be believed, it appears that the United States only started destroying its chemical weapons stockpile in 2003, the same time as the passage of the Syria Accountability Act, signed by then-President George W. Bush.

Another piece of information that gives rise to the belief that the U.S. is trying to weaponize and/or use chemical weapons in drone strikes is the cost.  According to an unnamed U.S. official, “The system in question is a neutralization system.  It is both more expensive and less reliable than incineration due to the need to deal with the millions of gallons of waste product.”

If the sea-based hydrolysis system is more costly than incineration, why go through the trouble of building it?  A safer guess would be that there is no intention to neutralize these chemicals, but the "increased cost" is the actual cost of building a sea-based chemical weapons production facility.

Another suspicious piece of information is the fact that the MV Cape Ray, owned by the United States government, is flying the flag of the Marshall Islands.  While it is true that the Marshall Islands were once governed by the United States, they received full autonomy in 1986 under a "Compact of Free Association" with the United States, and have been an independent nation ever since.

Syria's chemical weapons stockpile was picked up at the port town of Latakia.  Latakia is approximately 53.53 miles from the city of Tartus, which, in 2012, was speculated to be the site of a chemical weapons pickup from Syria by Russia .  It was believed at the time that Russia would take possession of the chemical (and biological) weapons and agents from Syria, process them in facilities in Russia, and then deliver them to Syria at a later date.

The drones, which are set to carry chemical weapons into battle, are to be used not only in joint military efforts around the world, but also with "combination forces," that is, U.S. and foreign militaries fighting as a single force.

Another mystery surrounding the situation is the need for rapid transfer of said weapons into international control.  According to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, the "amount and type of chemical weapons must be agreed and "rapidly" placed under international control."

The amount and type agreed portion of the statement suggests that only certain types of chemicals and weapons were held in interest.  That they should be desired for "rapid transfer" to international control, indicates that the United Nations has an interest in acquiring chemical weapons, not for the purpose of destroying them, but for using them, possibly on dissident or rogue nations and/or people.

While this conclusion may seen incredible, even conspiracy theorist in nature, it clearly fits the evidence at hand.  The only question now is, "Who will be on the receiving end of the wrath of the United States, Russia, and the United Nations?"



UPDATE:  Due to what is believed to be the revelations made by this report, the MV Cape Ray is currently not moving.  It is in a stationary position in the Caribbean Sea, approximately 10 mi (15 k) from San Fernando, Trinidad.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrolysis
http://conspiracyprophecyguy.blogspot.com/2012/07/are-russians-getting-chemical-weapons.html
http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/54/549679.htm
http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/details/ships/538090370
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20140103/DEFREG02/301030024
http://fpif.org/the_us_and_chemical_weapons_no_leg_to_stand_on/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Islands
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_of_Free_Association
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2532800/Military-drones-set-stronger-chemical-weapons-soon-make-OWN-decisions-missions.html
http://nation.time.com/2014/01/02/drones-of-the-future-will-make-own-decisions/
http://news.yahoo.com/us-ship-equipped-destroy-syria-39-chemical-weapons-233657115.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory
http://www.defenseinnovationmarketplace.mil/resources/UnmannedSystemsIntegratedRoadmapFY2011.pdf
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/03/us-syria-crisis-chemicals-idUSBREA020I320140103?feedType=RSS
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24091633
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2013/09/214247.htm
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/nov/17/us-army-scrapping-4-chemical-weapons-incinerators/

John Kerry: US will sign UN Arms Treaty

(From June 3, 2013; original post found at http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/03/lawmakers-urge-obama-to-reject-un-arms-treaty-as-it-opens-for-signature/)

Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that the Obama administration would sign a controversial U.N. treaty on arms regulation, despite bipartisan resistance in Congress from members concerned it could lead to new gun control measures in the U.S.

The treaty would require countries that ratify it to establish national regulations to control the transfer of conventional arms and components and to regulate arms brokers, but it will not explicitly control the domestic use of weapons in any country.

Kerry, releasing a written statement as the U.N. treaty opened for signature Monday, said the U.S. "welcomes" the next phase for the treaty, which the U.N. General Assembly approved on April 2.
"We look forward to signing it as soon as the process of conforming the official translations is completed satisfactorily," he said. Kerry called the treaty "an important contribution to efforts to stem the illicit trade in conventional weapons, which fuels conflict, empowers violent extremists, and contributes to violations of human rights."

Last week, 130 members of Congress signed a letter to Obama and Kerry urging them to reject the measure for this and other reasons.

"As your review of the treaty continues, we strongly encourage your administration to recognize its textual, inherent and procedural flaws, to uphold our country's constitutional protections of civilian firearms ownership, and to defend the sovereignty of the United States, and thus to decide not to sign this treaty," the lawmakers wrote.

Still, gun-rights supporters on Capitol Hill warn the treaty could be used as the basis for additional gun regulations inside the U.S. and have threatened not to ratify.

The United Nations has organized a high-level signing ceremony at U.N. headquarters on Monday -- a sign of the treaty's global importance -- and several dozen countries are expected to sign, the first step to ratification.

The chance of adoption by the U.S. is slim, even if Obama goes ahead and signs it -- as early as Monday, or possibly months down the road. A majority of Senate members have come out against the treaty. A two-thirds majority would be needed in the Senate to ratify.

What impact the treaty will have in curbing the estimated $60 billion global arms trade remains to be seen. The U.N. treaty will take effect after 50 countries ratify it, and a lot will depend on which ones ratify and which ones don't, and how stringently it is implemented.

The treaty covers battle tanks, armored combat vehicles, large-caliber artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles and missile launchers, and small arms and light weapons.

It prohibits states that ratify it from transferring conventional weapons if they violate arms embargoes or if they promote acts of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes. The treaty also prohibits the export of conventional arms if they could be used in attacks on civilians or civilian buildings such as schools and hospitals.

In addition, the treaty requires countries to take measures to prevent the diversion of conventional weapons to the illicit market. This is among the provisions that gun-rights supporters in Congress are concerned about.

Fw: DEBKA Newsletter, May 31, 2013

DEBKAfile SPONSORED ADVERTISEMENT Summary of DEBKA Exclusives, May 31, 2013 May 24, 2013 Briefs: Kerry harps on the Palestinian issue while terrorist forces build up in SyriaDEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis 24 May. After spending 48 hours in Jerusalem and Ramallah, trying to talk Israeli and Palestinian leaders into returning to peace diplomacy, US Secretary of State John Kerry's exit line, May 24, called for "hard decisions." DEBKAfile: As he spoke, two rival terrorist groups, Al Qaeda and Hizballah, continued pouring fighting strength into Syria – both of them, enemies of Israel, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. The most conspicuous feature of Kerry's current Middle East tour is the strong dichotomy between his public statements and the events taking place in the real world around him. Israel's leaders may decide to ignore Kerry's message and focus their "hard decisions" on warding off the perils looming from Syria. May 25, 2013 Briefs: French soldier stabbed in the neck by man of North African originThe soldier was injured but will survive. He was patrolling the business area of western Paris when a bearded man, about 30, stabbed him in the neck. The assailant who fled the scene was later caught and proved to be a Muslim who attacked the soldier from "religious motives." Hizballah leader: Assad is serious about an anti-Israel Golan frontHizballah Dep. Secy Sheikh Naim Qassem says President Bashar Assad is serious about opening a front against from the Golan. It only remains to be done. "Syria has the capabilities for carrying this out, but if necessary, we'll help." Qassem also warned Europe against some members plans to list Hizballah's military arm as a terrorist organization. MI5 approached London attack terrorist six months earlierA friend of Michael Adebolajo, one of the two terrorists who slaughtered a British soldier in Woolwich last week, told BBC Newsnight that Adebolajo had rejected an attempt by the MI5 security service's to recruit him about half a year before the attack. After the interview, the friend, Abu Nusaybah, was arrested by the London Metropolitan police Counter-Terrorism Branch. Nasrallah pledges tens of thousands of volunteers to AssadDEBKAfile Special Report 25 May. Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah vowed Saturday night, May 25, to expand his movement's military role in the Syrian civil war and muster tens of thousands of volunteers. Al Qaeda fighters were streaming into Syria and Israel planned more attacks, he said. DEBKAfile: This amounts to a pledge to fight for Assad to the finish. The Hizballah leader said if Sunni Islamists took over in Syria, they would pose a threat to the entire Lebanese population. If Assad falls, so too will the "resistance front" against Israel as well as the Palestinian people of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. "Hizballah will not let that happen!" Nasrallah declared. May 26, 2013 Briefs: Khamenei heads for dynastic rule – his repression and Syrian role unopposed by the WestDEBKAfile Exclusive Report 26 May. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei aims for the whole pot in the June 14 presidential election. He is running a dark horse who is both tame – unlike the outgoing president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - and also family. DEBKAfile names him as former Majlis Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel, 68, whose daughter is married to the ayatollah's son, Mojtaba Khamenei. This candidate would fit into his boss's plan to keep the presidential seat warm for Khamenei Junior, Mojtaba, to take over in the next election in 2017. May 27, 2013 Briefs: Iran: Stop flow of Syrian rebels and arms - or second Assad front against… IsraelIran's Deputy Foreign Ministry Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned Monday that unless the flow of fighting strength and arms to the Syrian rebels is halted, Syrian ruler Bashar Assad would launch a second from the Golan against… Israel. DEBKAfile: Tehran, Damascus and Hizballah have turned to the tactic of dumping on Israel's head any untoward development in Assad's war in Syria. Russia raises Strategic Air Force combat readinessMonday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said he had raised the readiness level of the Aerospace Defense (ASD), Strategic Air Force, and military transport aviation to test the combat readiness of the Russian army. Practical missile launches on Ashuluk range in the Astrakhan Region will be discussed in the process, including flight tests of the Angara space rocket complex. Egypt impounds SA-18 rockets for new Hamas anti-air unitDEBKAfile's military sources report that Egyptian police seized large consignments of weapons destined for the Gaza Strip as part of their campaign to halt the flow of contraband Libyan weapons to the Palestinian enclave. The shipments included a large number of the advanced SA-18 IGLA bound for the new Hamas anti-air unit, as well as improved Qassam rockets and 100 military vehicles. They were seized in several raids in Sinai and the Western Desert on the Libyan border. Large-scale Israeli home defense drill starts MondayThe two-day "Turning Point 7"exercise practices war scenarios in Israeli towns including a surface missile attack on Natzrat Ilit, a terrorist raid on the Yavne district, unconventional arms attacks, such as chemical weapon assaults on Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Safed. Hizballah rocket fired from Lebanon toward Israeli MetulaDEBKAfile Special Report 27 May. A Hizballah rocket fired from Lebanese Marjayoun landed harmlessly on open ground in Metula, the northernmost Israeli town, 48 hours after Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah's war speech. Metula was attacked the day after three Grad missiles were fired from a point east of Mt Lebanon to explode in the Hizballah-controlled Dahiya district of Beirut, injuring five people and causing some damage. It was fired by local Sunni elements sympathetic to the Syrian rebels in protest against Hizballah's participation in Bashar Assad's war. Sunday and early Monday, another 2,000 elite Hizballah combatants poured into Syria from Lebanon to augment the 5,000-6,000 already fighting there. The new arrivals were transferred straight to the battlefront in south Damascus. Sunday overnight, Hizballah secretly ordered the call-up of reserves. May 28, 2013 Briefs: Erdan: Iron Dome couldn't stop a barrage of hundreds of missilesHome Front Minister Gilead Erdan warned Tuesday that the Iron Dome anti-missile system is not designed to intercept a large barrage of hundreds of missiles in the event of Israel's northern neighbors declaring war. Russia: S-300 anti-air missiles will deter "hotheads" from SyriaRussian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said deliveries of the S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to the Assad regime would go ahead because hey were a "stabilizing factor" that could dissuade "some hotheads" from entering the conflict. He also condemned the EU's decision to end its arms ban for Syrian rebels as damaging the prospects for convening the international conference for a political solution of the Syrian conflict.. Kerry: Israel must grant Palestinians North Dead Sea coastDEBKAfile Exclusive Report 28 May. US Secretary of State John Kerry put a package of proposals for reviving the moribund Israel-Palestinian peace process before Israeli leaders Monday, May 27. He is keeping the package firmly under his hat. However, DEBKAfile's exclusive sources reveal that Kerry wants Israel to make strategic and national concessions for buying Palestinian consent to sit down and talk – such as a Palestinian international airport in Jericho and withdrawal from the Dead Sea's northern coast. Mahmoud Abbas need make no real contribution. The Palestinians will also be awarded a $4 billion investment in an Economic Reconstruction Program. May 29, 2013 Briefs: Defense Minister in charge of action for ultra-religious draft dodgersThe ministerial committee for determining the procedures for the conscription of ultra-religious (haredi) yeshiva seminarists to the armed forces settled a major controversy Wednesday. Defense minister Moshe Ya'alon won a year's extension from three to four years for the interim period for applying criminal sanctions against haredi youths who fail to report for military duty. The authority to apply those sanctions was vested in the defense minister. Compulsory conscription for that community will be introduced gradually over a five-year period. Home front drills chemical attack on JerusalemPrime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu attending a home front rehearsed of a chemical-tipped missile attack on a Jerusalem suburb said: "Israel's home front is the best protected in the world but also the most threatened" by the perils mounting around us. US drone kills Pakistani Taliban deputy chief The US drone attack on Waziristan Wednesday is reported to have killed Wali Ur Rehman, the second-in- command of the PakistanTaliban and six others. Le Monde attests to chemicals used in Damascus. Kerry: No evidenceTwo Le Monde reporters who spent two months concealed in the Damascus district of Jobar attest first hand to the effects of chemical weapon against Syrian rebels: "The men cough violently. Their eyes burn, their pupils shrink, their vision blurs. Soon they experience difficulty breathing… the worst affected need to be evacuated before they suffocate." US Secretary of State John Kerry in Addis Baba denied Wednesday concrete evidence of the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Widening Russian-Hizballah intervention in Syria troubles IsraelDEBKAfile Special Report 29 May. 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 into top regional power status. All four are winning by default against an unresisting US-led West and an Israel still not recovered from its disastrous miscalculation that Bashar Assad was doomed. A senior Israeli military officer told DEBKAfile: "A military and strategic catastrophe for the West and Israel is in full flight in Syria, yet no one is lifting a finger." At a time that the US and Israel should be using their heaviest military guns to slow Iran's race for a nuclear bomb, Iran with Russian backing has brought its military assets up close to Israel's borders in Syria and Lebanon and openly threatens to use them. Unlike Syria and Iran, Israel can't count on supportive big powers against an aggressor. No part of the Obama administration favors military action in Syria. Even the direct evidence of chemical warfare falls on deaf US ears.  May 30, 2013 Briefs: Letters threatening Mayor Bloomberg test positive for ricinTwo letters that contained threats to New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg — one addressed to him, the other to Mark Glaze, the director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a group Mr. Bloomberg helps run and finances, have tested positive for the deadly poison ricin. Israeli intelligence denies first Russian S-300s arrive in Syria - contrary to Assad's claim DEBKAfile Special Report 30 May. Senior Israeli intelligence sources insist that Syria had still not received the first consignment of Russian S-300 anti-missile batteries – contrary to Syrian President Bashar Assad's claim that the first batch had arrived and a second was on the way. In an interview prerecorded for broadcast Thursday night, Assad taunted Israel about the missiles in response to a quote from National Security Adviser Yakov Amidror that the batteries had not arrived and when they did, Israel would destroy them before they were operational. Wednesday, May 29, DEBKAfile reported the landing at Latakia airport of a large Russian transport carrying 60 tons of unidentified freight. Labeled by Moscow "humanitarian aid," it may in fact have contained the first S-300 delivery to which Assad referred.Continuing in the same vein, Assad said that not only would the Syrian army react to any further Israeli attacks, he "would not stand in the way of Syrian groups that want to fight for the liberation of the Golan." DEBKAfile reported a short while ago. Israel and Syria cross verbal swords over S-300s as Hizballah pushes southDEBKAfile Special Report 30 May: Fresh Hizballah forces entered Syria early Thursday, May 30, hours after the United States called the presence of the Hizballah fighters from Lebanon in Syria "unacceptable" and "dangerous" and demanded their immediate withdrawal. Already fighting on three fronts – Damascus, Homs and al Qusayr - DEBKAfile's military sources report the new Hizballah increment was assigned to a fourth: the rebels' southern stronghold of Deraa, 30 kilometers from Israel's Golan border.Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem has meanwhile pitched in to warn that another Israeli strike against Syria would elicit an immediate Syrian response proportional to the Israeli attack. In Helsinki, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reacted to the European Union's to lift its arms embargo on the Syrian rebels by intimating that Moscow's hands were no untied for supplying Bashar Assad with weapons banned by international treaties.