Russian Helicopter Sales to Syria Complicate US-Russia Arms Deal
As new reports emerge that Russia is providing attack helicopters to Syria, writes Richard Sisk, the US Defense Department is struggling to justify a $375 million deal to buy similar helicopters for the Afghan Air Force from the same Russian agency.
The Barack Obama administration is facing growing difficulty reconciling its goals for Afghanistan, Syria and Russia as Congress tries to block a controversial US arms deal with Russian military suppliers of the Damascus regime.
With new reports Tuesday (June 12) that Russia is providing attack helicopters to Syria, the US Defense Department is struggling to justify a $375 million deal to buy similar helicopters for the Afghan Air Force from the same Russian agency.
The political spillover from the arrangement with Moscow has put the US State and Defense Departments out of sync and left President Obama open to an election-year charge of double-dealing on foreign policy.
The dilemma crystallized Tuesday at the Brookings Institution where Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, with Israeli President Shimon Peres at her side, charged that Russia was preparing to send more attack helicopters to Syria as part of another major arms package.
