Can't Rub It In Anymore

Haaretz (04.21.05):

"The SA-18 missiles Russia is selling Syria 'will of course make it difficult to fly over the residence of the Syrian president,' Russian President Vladimir Putin bluntly stated yesterday. 'It will make flying low difficult,' implying what has long been believed to be the reason for the sale of the anti-aircraft missiles: Syrian embarrassment over Israeli air force planes 'buzzing' presidential palaces in Syria to issue warnings to Syrian President Bashar Assad." Putin: Sale of missiles to Syria will block Israeli flyovers

According to Mr. Putin, "the missiles would be vehicle-mounted, and impossible to convert into shoulder-launched rockets that could end up in the hands of one of the terror organizations that Damascus hosts." "Although the air force has various means to disrupt anti-aircraft weapons fired at its planes, the presence of advanced anti-aircraft weapons in Syria would require a change in the flight profiles of the Israeli planes on Syrian sorties in the future."