Il est certainement très important de ne pas laisser dire que l’État islamique aurait pu dézinguer l’avion jordanien avec un missile, parce que dans le cas contraire, on serait amené à se demander s’il ne s’agit pas d’un de ces jolis « mobile antiaircraft missiles » que les Séoudiens s’engageaient à livrer aux rebelles en février dernier, par l’intermédiaire de la… Jordanie. (Et ce serait drôlement ballot.)
Février 2014 : Saudis Agree to Provide Syrian Rebels With Mobile Antiaircraft Missiles
▻http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304703804579382974196840680
But if the Manpads are supplied in the quantities needed, rebels said it could tip the balance in the stalemated war in favor of the opposition. The antiaircraft and Russian Konkurs antitank weapons would help them chip away at the regime’s two big advantages on the battlefield—air power and heavy armor.
“New stuff is arriving imminently,” said a Western diplomat with knowledge of the weapons deliveries.
Rebel commanders and leaders of the Syrian political opposition said they don’t know yet how many of the Manpads and antiaircraft missiles they will get. But they have been told it is a significant amount. The weapons are already waiting in warehouses in Jordan and Turkey.
Earlier in the conflict, rebels managed to seize a limited number of Manpads from regime forces. But they quickly ran out of the missiles to arm them, the Western diplomat said.
Rebel leaders say they met with U.S. and Saudi intelligence agents, among others, in Jordan on Jan. 30 as the first round of Syrian peace talks in Geneva came to a close. That is when wealthy Gulf States offered the more sophisticated weapons.