sleeping because the soviet union threatened to get in on that war. militarily. on behalf of not just egypt but their long-time ally syria. the soviets and syria were like this. and us and israel were like this. so if syria and israel are going to go to war, that was going to mean us and the soviet union going to war? ultimately, we of course did not go to war with the soviet union in 1973. a cease-fire was brokered. but it got close. it got defcon three close. and it got that close because of syria s great protector in moscow. for decades the soviet union supplied syria with billions of dollars worth of weapons and military aid, and syria was their great ally in the middle east. the two countries signed an official treaty of friendship and cooperation in moscow in 1980. and the years that followed that treaty, when the soviet union was occupying afghanistan for a decade, you ll recall of course that the muslim world was enraged at that occupation. except for syria.
of de facto exchange program over the last few decades. syrian military officers go to russia to study. and then they return to syria with their education and with russian wives. there are a lot of russian women who are married to syrian men who are living in syria. the two countries have had their share of disagreements over the years, but honestly, they have stuck together. at times when syria has not had a friend in the whole world they have had russia. and vice versa. this is a scud missile. scud missiles are of russian design. they re basically entry-level ballistic missiles, in the words of a bbc story about them today. ballistic missiles 101, if you will. scuds are not that accurate, but they are easy to move around. they re not that big. they re not that complicated. you can put all sorts of different warheads on them. eke. and as ballistic missiles go, skud scud missiles are fairly ubiquitous in the world. there are a lot of them around, in part because russia during the cold
henry kissinger. and it had to be given because this fight in the middle east stopped being just a fight in the middle east. we went to defcon three that year while president nixon was sleeping because the soviet union threatened to get in on that war. militarily. on behalf of not just egypt but their long-time ally syria. the soviets and syria were like this. and us and israel were like this. so if syria and israel are going to go to war, that was going to mean us and the soviet union going to war? ultimately, we of course did not go to war with the soviet union in 1973. a cease-fire was brokered. but it got close. it got defcon three close. and it got that close because of syria s great protector in moscow. for decades the soviet union supplied syria with billions of dollars worth of weapons and military aid, and syria was their great ally in the middle east. the two countries signed an official treaty of friendship and cooperation in moscow in 1980. and the years that followed that
except for syria. syria, they were fine with it, because russia was their best friend. and this best friendship has survived the cold war. russia and syria have had a sort of de facto exchange program over the last few decades. syrian military officers go to russia to study. and then they return to syria with their education and with russian wives. there are a lot of russian women who are married to syrian men who are living in syria. the two countries have had their share of disagreements over the years, but honestly, they have stuck together. at times when syria has not had a friend in the whole world they have had russia. and vice versa. this is a scud missile. scud missiles are of russian design. they re basically entry-level ballistic missiles, in the words of a bbc story about them today. ballistic missiles 101, if you will. scuds are not that accurate, but they are easy to move around. they re not that big. they re not that complicated. you can put all sorts of different warhead
scud missiles are fairly ubiquitous in the world. there are a lot of them around, in part because russia during the cold war sent scud missiles all over the world. everybody that was allied with russia, at least enough to do business with them, was getting scud missiles. and as these countries have held on to them and as these countries have sold them on to other countries, in some cases even improving them as they go. north korea apparently has a really nice scud upgrade. scuds have turned up in all sorts of conflicts over the decades. in that israel crisis in 1973 during watergate egypt fired scud missiles at the western side of the suez canal. after the u.s. bombed libya in the 1980s libya fired scud missiles at a u.s. facility on an italian island. the soviets used them in afghanistan. the iranians and the iraqis shot them at each other during their war. scuds have turned up all over the place. and they still do. so the news this week that syria is using these scud missiles right n