French and British engaged alongside the insurgents
(BRUSSELS2) France is determined to “provide effective support to the opposition (Syrian), including in the field“, this little sentence of François Hollande after his telephone conversation with the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, will not have escaped us. It thus confirms the turning point in the civil conflict in Syria, which is increasingly taking on an international dimension. We already knew the Iranian forces involved in this conflict, in particular the forces of the Pasdaran, the Revolutionary Guards, from the start. Some of its commanders had also been placed on the European Union's "blacklists" very early on (read: The command of the Revolutionary Guards on the Syria list). Even if they try to create a diversion, it is no secret that the Russians do not only support the regime in words in the Security Council but also assure it of the provision of advisers (former soldiers) and ammunition resupply, such as helicopter maintenance.
On the side of the rebellion, Turkey with its training camps, Qatar and Saudi Arabia with certain funding, are also clearly committed. The NATO allies - in particular the United States, France, the United Kingdom... - are also involved, providing discreet assistance in terms of advisers, in particular to train the rebels or to exfiltrate the various officials of the regime wishing to do defection, but also in diverse and varied "means of communication". Who says means of communication does not only say secure walkie-talkies or GSM. We are talking about passive or active intelligence.
The presence of the German Oker, who made the front page of BILD this weekend which is causing trouble across the Rhine is therefore not an isolated case. Leaving from Cagliari in Sicily, the AIS signal - which identifies any boat - had been interrupted (stopped?) at some point, as my colleague Thomas Wiegold, from Augengeradenaus, relates in detail. here et leaves.
Front line intelligence
The Allies are well helped by the geographical layout of the country in conflict. Syria is a stone's throw from Lebanon where the UNIFIL operation is taking place and another from Cyprus, a formidable vantage point – where the British have military bases, sovereignty, and where many ships call. The Mediterranean is also a regular passageway for ships of all kinds - which go for example in anti-piracy operations or on their return. It is also the subject of a number of military exercises, such as the one which, in March, associated French and Lebanese for an amphibious landing exercise around Jounieh (north of Beirut). Not to mention the fact that a NATO operation still takes place there intermittently.
NATO in maneuvers
Operation Active Endeavor - set up after the attacks of September 11, 2001, under article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, is intended to monitor the eastern and central Mediterranean against the risk of terrorism. Even if it is no longer permanent, as at the beginning, it still intermittently brings together ships and planes which patrol the area in all directions. Nothing then forbids the Awacs to slightly broaden the spectrum of their field of investigation towards the land, nor the ships to listen... An "air surge" spreading over ten days thus took place at the beginning of July, bringing together various air assets (a Boeing E-3A Sentry) and maritime resources from SNMG 2 (with the German frigate Bayern as flagship, the Courbet (France) and the TCG Gediz (Türkiye) (read the NATO press release here et leaves).
The Jean Bart in Cyprus
On the French side, we are not left out... Recently, the Jean Bart was in the region, stopping off in Cyprus. A ship renowned for being a precursor. Equipped with various electronic equipment, it had been engaged very early in the military operation in Libya, in "isolated precursor", as we call it in military language. At that time, the no-fly zone had not been set up. And the sky belonged to the planes of the regime. Its objective was then clear: "to make intelligence ".
