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| The Grand Turk | |
| Patriot missile defense battery operational | |
| 2013-01-27 | |
| NATO says the first of six Patriot missile defense batteries deployed to southern Turkey to intercept possible rocket fired from Syria has been declared operational. The alliance’s supreme commander Adm. James Stavridis said Saturday the deployment represented “a clear demonstration of the agility and flexibility of NATO forces and of our willingness to defend allies who face threats.” The United States, Germany and the Netherlands are providing two batteries each of the latest version of the U.S.-made Patriots, which is optimized for intercepting incoming rockets. The first battery to become operational was a Dutch unit. It will help to protect the city of Adana, NATO said. The rest of the units are expected to become fully operational in the next few days. Syria has not fired any of its surface-to-surface missiles at Turkey during its nearly two-year civil war. Its government has described the NATO deployment as a provocation.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 OK, except that Assad hasn't threatened Actually, he has. It's essentially the Syrian, (likely) non-nuke, version of the 'Samson Option'. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2013-01-27 20:47 |
| #2 "a clear demonstration of the agility and flexibility of NATO forces and of our willingness to defend allies who face threats." So what exactly are the “threats” that would justify NATO deployment of Patriot missile batteries? Why it’s to intercept “possible” rockets fired from Syria you silly goose. OK, except that Assad hasn’t threatened, has absolutely no desire, nor is there any strategic advantage to expanding operations into Turkey. In fact, when a Turkish aircraft was downed Damascus nearly shit itself apologizing. Moreover, they don’t have to. The Syrian forces have been mostly successful in pounding the ratlines out of Turkey on their side of the border anyway. It all may seem a bit counter intuitive until to recall Hillary’s Smart Power admonishing. What does it matter? |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2013-01-27 11:14 |
| #1 Ummm... anyone count the number of days this took? I think it was 9. Which is worrisome. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2013-01-27 03:34 |