Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday accused Russia of
providing attack helicopters to Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.

The statement put the Pentagon in an awkward position, as the U.S.
military has come under criticism in Congress for working through what
is apparently the same Russian firm to purchase helicopters for the
Afghan army.

It also followed a blunt acknowledgement by the U.N. Tuesday that the
country has descended into civil war, only adding to the concern that
violence could continue to escalate in Syria.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, had initially raised questions about the
Russian contractor. He had written a letter Monday to Defense Secretary
Leon Panetta expressing "grave concerns" about U.S. dealings with the
firm that is "arming the Assad regime" in Syria.

Asked about those concerns Tuesday, Pentagon spokesmen did not deny
that Russia was allegedly providing attack choppers to Assad through the
same firm the U.S. uses to buy Mi-17 helicopters.

The spokesmen also struggled to answer why the U.S. is not pushing
for an arms embargo against Syria, as it did against Libya and
Yugoslavia.

But Navy Capt. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, said the key issue is how the Syrians use the materiel.



"Let's not let the Assad regime off the hook here," he told
reporters. "The focus really needs to be more on what the Assad regime
is doing to its own people, than the cabinets and the closets to which
they turn to pull stuff out. It's really about what they're doing with
what they've got in their hands."

In recent days, the State Department has decried what it calls
"horrific new tactics" by Syrian forces, including helicopters attacks
on civilians.

Clinton's latest comments came at a public appearance with Israeli President Shimon Peres.



She said the U.S. was "concerned about the latest information we have
that there are attack helicopters on the way from Russia to Syria."

She said the shipment "will escalate the conflict quite dramatically."



Diplomatic hopes have rested on Washington and Moscow agreeing on a transition plan that would end the 40-year Assad regime.



But Moscow has consistently rejected the use of outside forces to end
the conflict or any international plan to force regime change in
Damascus. Despite withering criticism from the West, it insists that any
arms it supplies to Syria are not being used to quell anti-government
dissent.

With diplomacy at a standstill, the reported shipment of helicopters
suggests a dangerous new turn for Syria after more than a year of harsh
government crackdowns on mainly peaceful protests and the emergence of
an increasingly organized armed insurgency.

There was no immediate reaction from the Russian Foreign Ministry.



Cornyn, on Monday, wrote that the Defense Department had awarded a
no-bid contract to the Russian firm Rosoboronexport last June, though he
was told months later by the Pentagon that the firm "continues to
supply weapons and ammunition" to Assad's regime.

"I remain deeply troubled that the (Defense Department) would
knowingly do business with a firm that has enabled mass atrocities in
Syria," Cornyn wrote, suggesting sanctions against Rosoboronexport would
be more appropriate than a contract.

A Pentagon spokeswoman, though, defended the contract.



Spokeswoman Tara Rigler said in an email to FoxNews.com that it is
"the only legal method to purchase the military version of the Mi-17 and
to provide an appropriate measure of flight safety and airworthiness."

"As we have noted before, these aircraft remain crucial to the
development of Afghanistan's Air Force capability and therefore
important to our mission of ensuring that Afghan forces can ultimately
defend their own sovereignty," Rigler said.

She said Panetta has received Cornyn's letter and would respond to the senator "promptly" about his concerns.


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