Syria Is to Russia What Israel Is to U.S.

As if the Syrian crisis is not bad enough already, the decision by Russia's macho-man president Vladimir Putin's to dispatch a flotilla of warships and amphibious landing vessels to Syria is hardly likely to ease the tensions. While UN special envoy Kofi Annan continues with his somewhat futile mission to resurrect his six-point ceasefire plan, Moscow's decision to send two destroyers and three amphibious landing craft to Syria suggests that the Russians have no interest in easing tensions in the region.