There are two subjects Russians talk about a lot: history and geography. In recent days, there’s been much public discussion of both.
Russian officials and the media have been constantly recalling « Yugoslavia – 1999 », « Iraq – 2003 » and « Libya – 2011 » as examples of Western military intervention which resulted in regime change.
The suspicion in Moscow is that the West is plotting to add « Syria – 2013 » to the list.
One of the headlines this week in the Russian government daily Rossiskaya Gazeta was: « Will Obama risk repeating the Libyan-Iraqi scenario in Syria? »
Moscow appears now to be expecting a US strike on Syria. According to the head of the foreign affairs committee of the Russian Parliament, Alexei Pushkov: « It’s only a question of time. »
But the Russians have not stopped arguing their case that military intervention would be wrong.