The New York Times - 6/14/2012 12:00:04 AM ET (Also Available On NBC News)
Helicopters in Syria may not be new, US officials say.
Clinton trying to 'put the Russians in a difficult position,' one source says
“She put a little spin on it to put the Russians in a difficult position,” said one senior Defense Department official.
WASHINGTON — When Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton accused Russia on Tuesday
of shipping attack helicopters to Syria that would “escalate the conflict quite dramatically,” it was the
Obama administration’s sharpest criticism yet of Russia’s support for the Syrian government.
What Mrs. Clinton did not say, however, was whether the aircraft were new shipments or, as
administration officials say is more likely, helicopters that Syria had sent to Russia a few months ago
for routine repairs and refurbishing, and which were now about to be returned.
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pKK0ecfdLpc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
“She put a little spin on it to put the Russians in a difficult position,” said one senior Defense
Department official.
Mrs. Clinton’s claim about the helicopters, administration officials said, is part of a calculated effort to
raise the pressure on Russia to abandon President Bashar al-Assad, its main ally in the Middle East.
Russia has so far stuck by Mr. Assad’s government, worried that if he were ousted, Moscow would lose
its influence in the region.
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=Hillary-Clinton_2246717b.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/Hillary-Clinton_2246717b.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
This Lady Is For Spinnning
Helicopters in Syria may not be new, US officials say.
Clinton trying to 'put the Russians in a difficult position,' one source says
“She put a little spin on it to put the Russians in a difficult position,” said one senior Defense Department official.
WASHINGTON — When Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton accused Russia on Tuesday
of shipping attack helicopters to Syria that would “escalate the conflict quite dramatically,” it was the
Obama administration’s sharpest criticism yet of Russia’s support for the Syrian government.
What Mrs. Clinton did not say, however, was whether the aircraft were new shipments or, as
administration officials say is more likely, helicopters that Syria had sent to Russia a few months ago
for routine repairs and refurbishing, and which were now about to be returned.
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pKK0ecfdLpc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
“She put a little spin on it to put the Russians in a difficult position,” said one senior Defense
Department official.
Mrs. Clinton’s claim about the helicopters, administration officials said, is part of a calculated effort to
raise the pressure on Russia to abandon President Bashar al-Assad, its main ally in the Middle East.
Russia has so far stuck by Mr. Assad’s government, worried that if he were ousted, Moscow would lose
its influence in the region.
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=Hillary-Clinton_2246717b.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/Hillary-Clinton_2246717b.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
This Lady Is For Spinnning
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