Turkish officials said they had evidence that the Assad regime could
resort to ballistic missiles if its air campaign against the rebels fails and
has requested NATO missile defense. On Sunday December 2,
the Guardian published an article exploring this question.
"A request by Turkey for Nato Patriot missile defences to be deployed
on its territory followed intelligence that the Syrian government was
contemplating the use of missiles, possibly with chemical warheads.
The officials said they had credible evidence that if the Syrian
government's aerial bombardment against opposition-held areas failed
to hold the rebels back, Bashar al-Assad's regime might resort to
missiles and chemical weapons in a desperate last effort to survive,"
the Guardian writes.
"First they sent the infantry in against the rebels and they lost a
lot of men, and many changed sides. Then they sent in the tanks, and
they were taken out by anti-tank missiles. So now it's air power. If
that fails, it will be missiles, perhaps with chemical warheads. That
is why we asked Nato for protection, " the Guardian quotes an unnamed
Turkish official.
"Turkish officials still believe the best chance of a breakthrough
that would cut short the conflict would be for Russia to withdraw its
backing for Assad, forcing the Syrian president, his family and
immediate entourage into exile, and thereby removing the most serious
obstacle to talks between the opposition and the government",
the newspaper reports.
